Decision ‘08

The Smartest (and Dumbest) Things I’ve Read On Katrina

Let’s get the dumbest out of the way first; shockingly, it’s from Paul Krugman:

At a fundamental level, I’d argue, our current leaders just aren’t serious about some of the essential functions of government. They like waging war, but they don’t like providing security, rescuing those in need or spending on preventive measures. And they never, ever ask for shared sacrifice.

Well, Paul, and all the other liberal critics are certainly on their high horses, but let’s not lose sight of a fundamental fact: the problems of New Orleans far predated the present Administration. Who’s to blame for New Orleans? Bush, some; Louisiana, some; the town’s founders, a lot; developers, some; FEMA, a lot; we could play this game all day. What really happened is as a society, we rolled the dice, and crapped out, big time.

After Krugman’s typical hatchet job, what a relief to see the words of wisdom from our old friend, the MinuteMan, who sums up the political equation better than any of the media heavyweights I’ve been keeping up with have managed to do:

As grim reality sets in, I predict that the rebuilding of New Orleans will turn into one of the great political spectacles of the 21st century.

Where are we headed? The first steps will include a multi-billion dollar toxic waste clean-up and a multi-billion dollar flood management program (which is itself a environmental disaster for Louisiana’s shrinking coastline and marshes.)

To what purpose? As we have all learned recently, big slices of New Orlean’s housing stock are badly deteriorated, and the inhabitants are poor. Having spent billions to prepare the site, shall we spend billions more on affordable low-cost housing? Is that really a sensible use of the Federal income-assistance dollar? Certainly we could build low cost housing more economically elsewhere.

Or should the rebuilding of New Orleans focus on the industrial port and a restored historic/entertainment district? That makes it sound like Las Vegas with ships - some jazz, some restaurants and bars, some history, a convention center, and a port on the side. But if New Orleans is going to be a playground for Exxon and tourists, how much of the bill should the rest of us foot?

Obviously, we must deal with the short term crisis affecting the people in the region. In the longer term, people like Dennis Hastert will need to think twice before saying the unsayable. And I suspect that anyone opposed to putting up affordable housing in a toxic-waste flood plain will be denounced as racist (go figure).

However, my guess is that a significant fraction of “We the People” will be reluctant to pour billions into New Orleans in order to provide housing for a lot of poor people there, rather than elsewhere for much less. Which is why I see a brutal political season ahead of us. (And although there can be no doubt that the looting and violence is not representative of the vast majority of the people of New Orleans, I also suspect that the televised images are not exactly winning America’s hearts and minds).

A long hot August bleeds into a hotter September…maybe Howard Fineman was more right than I gave him credit for…

22 Responses to “The Smartest (and Dumbest) Things I’ve Read On Katrina”

1 Sean P Says:
September 1st, 2005 at 11:59 pm
I have to respectfully disagree that Krugman’s quote is the dumbest comment about Katrina, bad as it is. The absolute worst quote has to be from the Cindy Sheehan article that “Screw em” Kos is running on his sewer of a website right now, with Robert Kennedy Jr.’s blaming of Gov. Barbour for the disaster a distant second.
2 Mark Says:
September 2nd, 2005 at 12:14 am
Well, okay, the dumbest is an exaggeration…but it’s Krugman, so I should get a little leeway…
3 Jeff Says:
September 2nd, 2005 at 12:18 am
Has anyone really investigated the “toxic waste dump” soon-to-be-meme?

The source may be the EPA, which as you’ll recall, banned DDT for no good reason.

It’s one of those issues that could go either way–kind of like the hurricane itselft. Over-reacation will be criticized, but failure to act is fatal.
4 Mark Says:
September 2nd, 2005 at 6:40 am
Jeff, it’s an issue that has to be addressed, you’re right…and frankly, a good argument against rebuilding rather than relocating…it appears we are in for a vastly different New Orleans, or we should be, at least…
5 AcademicElephant Says:
September 2nd, 2005 at 7:19 am
Let’s see what happens today before we go calling Fineman right. I think there’s an ocean of difference between what the MinuteMan is saying–that there are huge political ramifications to this disaster that will outlast the Bush administration–and Fineman’s prediction of short-term Democratic gains on squabbles like the Roberts appointment. My guess is that today and going through 9/11 Bush will prove Fineman wrong. The MinuteMan points to a much larger issue.

If I understand his remarks correctly, the MinuteMan identifies a situation that will define how we understand goverment in this country. Is rebuilding New Orleans our collective responsibility? Or the responsibility of those who live there? Hastert has a serious tin ear for saying what he did yesterday, but it’s a choice we will have to confront. One would assume that the liberals will line up on the “rebuild with federal money” side, although the disdain/blame game that they’re playing right now doesn’t exactly express such sympathy. I have no doubt that Bush will make promises of rebuilding today, but when push comes to shove this may be the ultimate test of compassionate conservatism as social doctrine–do we support their efforts but encourage private participation and demand accountability instead of pouring billions of unregulated federal dollars into the delta?
6 Mark Says:
September 2nd, 2005 at 9:42 am
AcademicElephant, I should have been more specific - I don’t think the particulars of Fineman’s article will be accurate (though they may), but rather, the political fallout is apparently going to be heavier than I initially thought…
7 Dennis Says:
September 2nd, 2005 at 10:17 am
“What really happened is as a society, we rolled the dice, and crapped out, big time.”

Absolutely, Mark, and this is what drives me nuts in the race for finger-pointing. You’ve got some on the left screaming about how Bush underfunded the levees, but that ignores the fact that the levees haven’t been strong enough to handle a storm like this during the Clinton administration, the Reagan administration, the Eisenhower administration… I mean, why not blame Andrew Jackson at this point?

New Orleans lived with a sword pointed at its throat for over 200 years, and up until now it’s worked out. Heck, San Francisco and Los Angeles still live this way, and no one’s saying we need to depopulate those cities now. Society always takes risks like this.
8 peter Says:
September 2nd, 2005 at 11:52 am
I think that Krugman makes a number of valid points in his piece which ought not to be dismissed. The diversion of human resources and equipment to Iraq has impeded the government’s ability to respond adequately to Katrina. It may have been an unintended consequence of the decision to invade Iraq, but a large-scale commitment overseas will inevitably diminish the government’s ability to respond to natural disasters (or the consequences of terrorist acts – and with the anniversary of 9/11 next week, imagine what would happen if …). It is another cost of the Iraq war, and has to be added to everything else on that side of the ledger when evaluating the wisdom or folly of invading Iraq.

There are many other equally valid points in his piece. You may find the comparison between the failure to prevent looting in Iraq and the similar failure in New Orleans to be a facile comparison, but it’s hard to think of any other sudden event which was adequately prepared for in the Bush administration (certainly not 9/11). Perhaps 9/11 and Katrina were of such a large scale that previous administrations would have been similarly unprepared – hard to tell. However, in reorganizing the bureaucracy into Homeland Security, I think that Bush should be accountable for results – many were skeptical that a behemoth organization like Homeland Security could function as well as individual organizations, and at first glance it certainly seems that things would have been better status quo ante.

Far from being a “hatchet job,” I think there are compelling arguments in Krugman’s piece which deserve to be answered –
9 louielouie Says:
September 2nd, 2005 at 12:40 pm
dennis,
and when that sword drops on SF or LA…..it’ll be NO II.

say, wonder what michael moore is up to today?
10 Mark Says:
September 2nd, 2005 at 12:43 pm
peter, I’m not trying to link you to Krugman’s opinions, since that would be unfair, but my question for Krugman would be how long has New Orleans lived under this threat? Obviously the blame goes way back…probably to whoever decided to build a levee to withstand only a Category 3 hurricane.

Next question: how many National Guard troops are needed? Do you know? Does Krugman? If not, how do we know the National Guard deployment to Iraq affected Katrina? I wager that not one iota worth of difference would have transpired had Iraq never happened, in response to this hurricane.

Homeland Security reorganization? What does that have to with a New Orleans city government, Louisiana state government, and long-time federal bureaucracy that were obviously woefully unprepared for this event…again, I submit to you that had the Homeland Security reorganization never happened, nothing would have changed for New Orleans.

Krugman is a partisan hack; he proves it time and time again. Even former President Bill Clinton has come to Bush’s defense over this…
11 peter Says:
September 2nd, 2005 at 1:32 pm
True, the blame does go way back — but nobody (to my knowledge) is blaming Bush for the fact that the levees collapsed. Rather, he is being held accountable for the response after the disaster hit, which Bush himself acknowledged to be inadequate this morning.

How many National Guard troops are needed? I don’t know, but the answer is “more than has shown up thus far.” One would like to think that there is a ready reserve of tens of thousands of National Guard troops which could be summoned up immediately in case of a natural (or man-made) catastrophe. It’s hard to believe that the immediate deployment of 25,000 or 30,000 troops (and their equipment — Krugman makes a valid point when he notes that many vehicles which can operate in floods are in Iraq) would not have alleviated at least some of the problems.

Re Homeland Security: well, perhaps. This is the sort of thing which will take time to evaluate. However, if the aim of centralizing the bureaucracy into a single organization was to make it more nimble, it’s hard to see how it succeeded.

Whether Krugman is a “partisan hack” or not is irrelevant — the acid test is whether he is right or not. I think his points are valid ones.

I’m trying not to be unfair to Bush: I don’t think it is responsible to blame him for everything which goes wrong in his administration. I don’t blame him for 9/11, even though that happened under his watch. Natural disasters obviously are not his fault either. However, I think that Krugman’s overriding argument — that the basic things which government does are being neglected in favor of ideologically driven agenda such as an aggressive foreign policy — is an argument which should be tested. I don’t recall Bill Clinton getting much of a free ride on anything — I think George Bush should have his feet held to the fire as well.
12 AcademicElephant Says:
September 2nd, 2005 at 2:04 pm
Louie: Michael Moore is being his usual constructive self. See http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?id=183

I wonder how much he’s contributed?

And just for fun, there’s also this:

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/12528538.htm

These people are so helpful in a crisis.
13 Mark Says:
September 2nd, 2005 at 3:37 pm
AcademicElephant, after reading that Michael Moore piece, all I can say is - sigh…
14 AcademicElephant Says:
September 2nd, 2005 at 4:40 pm
I thought, “he’s lucky it’s a free country.”
15 Clint Says:
September 2nd, 2005 at 5:26 pm
Just out of that dark place that forces me to look at a car accident as I pass…

I followed the link from the Michael Moore quote to the Cindy Sheehan tour route…. the “Southern Tour” was supposed to be rallying in Houston, yesterday — where Cindy Sheehan herself would appear, and in Louisiana today. Any word on how that’s going?
16 AcademicElephant Says:
September 2nd, 2005 at 5:39 pm
Yes–she had the rally outside Delay’s office building. And Condi Rice is heartless for buying a pair of shoes…
17 Mark Says:
September 2nd, 2005 at 6:28 pm
Clint, Mother Sheehan was in Austin yesterday; about 300 of our progressive finest gave her a hero’s welcome…
18 Clint Says:
September 3rd, 2005 at 1:43 am
AE-

That’s totally different. Cindy’s doing it because she cares so much.
19 Clint Says:
September 3rd, 2005 at 2:12 am
Peter:

Re: “How many?”… “more.”

Is there any reaction which would be large enough that Paul Krugman wouldn’t say it was too small? Could there have been any reaction which would have been rapid enough that Paul Krugman wouldn’t say it was too slow?

By all means, let’s look to see if we can do something better the next time — but just noting that bad things have happened doesn’t help us do that.

HERE is a concrete example of extraordinarily poor decision making on the part of local authorities — that absolutely must be corrected before the next natural disaster anywhere in this country. Perhaps a mile up the freeway from the Superdome, several hundred school buses are sitting in the city’s lot, rendered useless by flooding. If they had been moved to the Superdome on Sunday, when the Governor and Mayor finally (after President Bush phoned them and asked them to) declared a mandatory evacuation and were telling people who couldn’t leave the city to head to the Superdome — then they would have been available on Tuesday to take all of the stranded people in the Superdome to Houston. In fact, on their way from the lot to the Superdome, they could have been roaming the streets picking up evacuees…

On Sunday, the Mayor of New Orleans authorized local police to comandeer buses for the evacuation. Apparently, no one thought of using the city’s school buses. This absolutely has to be part of the plan next time.

((Dear God! Watching O’Reilly Factor in the background — I kid you not, they are breaking off from New Orleans coverage to bring us an update on Aruba.))
20 peter Says:
September 3rd, 2005 at 11:14 am
Well, I can’t speak for Paul Krugman, so I’m not sure what a satisfactory response would be in his eyes. And could local authorities have done things better? Of course.

But that’s not the point. Rather, with leadership comes accountability, and the Bush administration has to be held accountable for its actions. What were those actions? Cutting the budget for the Army Corps of Engineers for coastal work from a requested $105 million to $40 million. Naming a political hack to head FEMA. Diverting resources to Iraq. Lack of communication and intelligence (Brown didn’t know until Thursday that there were over 10,000 people in the Superdome? Anybody who watched television knew that…). Not taking the possibility of a flood seriously (Bush thought “nobody expected” that this could happen?). A dilatory response to something which was widely and urgently predicted two days before the event.

Nobody blames Bush for the flood — but the response to it has been shameful. Whether that is 20% Bush’s fault, 40%, or 80%, is not the issue. This is his watch, and he is accountable for his administration’s actions. By any conceivable standard, his administration has thus far failed miserably in anticipating, preparing for, and responding to Katrina.
21 Mark Says:
September 3rd, 2005 at 12:52 pm
peter, I do agree with you that the Bush administration must shoulder part of the blame…the hateful response, however, is not productive…we’ve got to learn from this so it absolutely never happens again (the poor response, I mean)…
22 peter Says:
September 3rd, 2005 at 2:20 pm
agreed