QotD

[queenofstripes]

"Tell me where the line forms to ask hard questions. I yield back the balance of my time." -- Rep. Brad Miller (North Carolina, 13th District), regarding accountability for Katrina and other national crises

(quote and link courtesy of jica, via ktigerI'm still afraid of people not waiting for evidence before they make accusations. But I'm more afraid of

Comments

[postrodent]

The worst thing is that I don't think anything politically dramatic is going to come out of Katrina. Bush has been pressured into launching an investigation, but we've seen how much damage the findings of the 9/11 commission did him. The only thing that's really stuck to Bush *so far* is the Iraq war, perhaps because it continues to manufacture grisly images for the evening news. At the end of the day, and despite the slow awakening of the national media, I suspect that the political scene will be the same: a bitterly divided country, and a lack of any meaningful political opposition to the Dominionist wing of the Republican party.

To me, the only silver lining of the hideous black cloud of Katrina is that America will get to build its first city in a generation or two. This is a horribly costly opportunity, but a very real one nonetheless. For the last four decades, American cities have grown like slime mold, getting worse and worse to live in and less and less sustainable. Now we have the chance to make something that won't poison its residents or trap them in decaying slums or sterile suburbs, something that will bend rather than break when Nature swats at it, something that's made to last and do a job well rather than make a quick profit while dumping one or another type of entropy into its surroundings. It's enough to make me think about going down there, although I'm not sure what I could do besides move bricks around.

[queenofstripes]

I don't think anything dramatic's going to come out of it, either. We're not going to get a Watergate out of this. But I think a slower, subtler and perhaps just as useful shift is going to come. This anger's gonna end up going somewhere.

[rhinoscillator]

My feeling (from up here, at least) is that this could actually stick to Bush. After a terrorist incident there's a 'them' to blame and vilify, but in the case of a natural disaster - especially one that was foreseen years ago - the frustration and anger could end up directed at those in authority.

I dearly hope we learn from all this.

I presume you've also been reading Alan AtKisson. I so needed that. :>

[postrodent]

It's quite possible that this disaster would "stick to" Bush, but from where I sit it's harder to say what that would really mean. The Democrats are weary and have no real ideas, the Greens and Libs are still fringe parties. It seems terribly plausible that, assuming American society is still recognizably intact by 2008, the GOP might push forward some fresh face that was superficially clean of the crimes and blunders of the last eight years and walk off with the show again.

Meanwhile, I read Worldchanging pretty faithfully and I still managed to miss Alan Atkisson's piece. Thanks very much for the link!

[rhinoscillator]

Well... yeah. Maybe not Bush. But there'll be a harsh spotlight cast on all the agencies and organizations that weren't ready this time. And it might finally bring things like climate change and long-term responsibility into the political conversation.