forest foundation

Who's to Blame?

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the state of the city formerly known as New Orleans, the natural question that arises is who to blame for the disaster. I don't doubt that as we watch the various news media report about the handling of the disaster, we'll hear no shortage of anchors surmise that it is inappropriate to inject politics into the discussion amid such massive human loss and suffering. Furthermore, I would suspect our federal government leaders to posit that, in a time like this, the "patriotic" thing to do is offer support to those in need rather than criticize those who lead. Certainly, it is important to help those who need it, but to not question the leadership of the country in such a situation, to quote Theodore Roosevelt, "is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public." So I let's not accept the federal government still speaking in the future tense, that "supplies and troops are on their way," five days after the initial disaster, or vague generalities offered by the president that "people are working hard" to control the situation. After all, we put our protection in the hands of the government every time we go to the ballot booth, so in light of recent events, it is only fair that we ask who's to blame for failing to protect the people of New Orleans. We don't have to look far to figure it out.

posted by forest foundation @ 1:25 PM