Editorials by Bob

Here's a perfect example of why I like to wait before I react to something, and why I advise the same for others. There's a message at the bottom for those of you who are writing angry words about President Bush over his handling of Katrina, but you should read the following text first.

Here's the editorial I was originally had written for today:

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Okay, now that the waters are finally receding, people are being allowed back into New Orleans, and some rebuilding is under way, it's time to take a good look at what went wrong. And I'm glad I took some time before doing it, too, because my initial writing of this article had some pretty radical things to say, and with a cooler head I could rewrite them to a more sensible level.

I've seen a lot on the Web -- mostly written or said by less-than-cool heads -- pointing the finger at President Bush, but not a lot talking about the one person who's really responsible for the suffering in New Orleans.

Does anyone wonder why things are so terrible in New Orleans when cities and rural areas in Mississippi, Alabama, and elsewhere in the region are recovering relatively quickly? You have to think about what's different between those areas and the city of New Orleans.

New Orleans has two things those other areas don't have. First, the city has a large percentage of its land below sea level. Where flood waters in nearly any other city on Earth will eventually drain away, in New Orleans it'll just sit there because it has noplace to drain away to. You can blame the city's founders for that -- but there's not much to be done about it now, except maybe evacuate New Orleans permanently.

The other thing is Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco.

The main problem was that Governor Blanco actively and deliberately prevented aid from coming in to New Orleans. That's right -- she actually tried to keep such organizations the Red Cross and Salvation Army from coming in and helping those stranded in the city, and even gave orders for the National Guard to enforce her will.

What is her problem here? Doesn't she realize that she's dealing with the lives of human beings here? Sure, she's given orders that all residents must leave the city, supposedly for their own health and safety. And I really do believe that she believes that she's doing the best thing, with just that logic. But apparently she's forgetting that there are people whose lives just don't make that practical.

The most severe cases are the disabled and infirm, who cannot easily move on their own. There are also people who do not have anyplace else to go; if you remove them from their homes, they become homeless. Some are a little less severe, such as those who are staying behind to help friends and relatives in the first two groups, or to care for beloved pets. And there are hundreds of individual stories that simply cannot be easily lumped into a category.

But rather than recognizing that the people of New Orleans are individuals, Governor Blanco seems to want to lump them all into a big box and ship them out.

Yes, there were people who stayed in New Orleans just out of cussed stubbornness, or the arrogance of "this thing can't hurt me" or "nobody tells me what to do." Such people got what they had coming. However, what I've seen puts these individuals very much into the minority.

I'll be honest here -- if I'd been a New Orleans resident right at the height of the flood, my friends would have had a hard time getting me to not trudge on up to Baton Rouge and assassinate her. It would have been wrong, I'd deserve any punishment the courts handed down, and I do not endorse or condone such a thing -- make no mistake about that -- but that would certainly be my personal inclination, just to get her out of office so someone else with a little more good sense would take over. (This is another part of why I didn't want to post this too early; now it's too late to make a difference.)

More realistically, maybe she should have taken a trip down there when the disaster was at its height and seen what it's like to live like the people down there were doing. I don't mean to take along an entourage with all the needs of life, or going now that the waters are receded and it's safe to move around. I mean to actually go at the height of the disaster and meet some of the disabled, infirm, indigent, and other people to whom she was actively denying food, water, medical help, and other necessities, and to live like that for a few days. (This actually was my second thought -- once I dismissed the idea of assassination, I thought about kidnaping her and forcing her into those conditions.)

It's only a pity that President Bush didn't nationalize the Louisiana National Guard (and it wouldn't have been the first time this was done), taking it from her grasp and giving the order to let the relief workers in rather than keep them out.

The people of Louisiana should try to get Governor Blanco out of office as quickly as possible. I can't determine whether the state has a recall system (from what I can tell it does not), but given the number of people who have died because of her actions an impeachment proceeding for manslaughter and similar crimes might not be out of line.

If all else fails, maybe the people of New Orleans, now that they have left the city, should simply not come back. Despite its status as a major Gulf port city, secondary transportation hub, cultural locus, and artistic center -- and please mind that I'm recognizing all those things, and saying in spite of it all -- it could well also be The City That Should Never Have Been.

Well, maybe that nickname's a bit harsh, and the tactic probably is also, but you get the idea. The nice thing about living in America is that if you don't like how things are done in one area, you can go someplace else.

Unless, of course, you're infirm or poor. But I'm sure Governor Blanco will have someplace for you to go.

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Now I've given Kathleen Blanco a good press drubbing. Then, yesterday, I read this story on America Today where she steps forward and takes full responsibility, without reservation or excuse for everything that went wrong at the state level.

This means I absolutely retract everything above about the intent, intelligence, and character of Governor Blanco. It takes considerable courage to step up to the plate and say she handled it wrong. And it takes similar courage for a Democratic governor to declare, in a true spirit of "screw partisanship, let's get the job done," that President Bush is "a friend and partner" in the recovery effort.

Now, for those of you who have been writing angry words about President Bush, I think you should know that the above is what you sound like to those of us who are more level-headed. Don't I come across as really stupid in the above? OK, maybe it's not that bad, but still, how many minds could I change with it? (No doubt many extremist liberals will point to it as proof of how violent and hateful conservatives are -- as if they're really any better. In fact, my very first text actually did suggest that she should be assassinated -- a very, very wrong sentiment. So waiting and cooling off before you speak really does have its good points over just spouting off the first thing that comes into your head.)

Katrina was a bad and poorly handled situation, but I think when all the analysis is done we'll find that it was poorly handled by everyone involved -- citizenry, government (at every level and on both sides of the aisle), press, and whoever else you want to name. Only the relief organizations such as the Red Cross and the Salvation Army seemed immune from stupidity, and I've just demonstrated that even I myself was not.

In any event, to everyone in New Orleans and across the affected area, I send my best wishes (one of those wishes being that I could send more than just wishes).