New Orleans Died for Your Sins

If your name is George Bush, that is. The press and Democrats seem to have adopted that line. Otherwise sane people are claiming that Katrina was caused by global warming (and that adopting the Kyoto protocols would have prevented it), are being promoted by reporters and environmentalists. Last night, I heard Charles Ostman speculate that "weather manipulation may have been used to steer the direction of Hurricane Katrina into America's oil facilities, as a 'geopolitical attack.'". (scroll down to right sidebar with head "Katrina Coverage") Then there are the downright deceitful.

Michael Medved is pointing out coverage by the NYTimes of the measures taken by FEMA and National Guard officials, which were far more aware and sensible than you'd think listening to TV news. Medved's getting a number of angry calls from people who think the government should have been waiting in the streets for people to come out of their houses with buses, water, food and hot towels. One caller accused him of holding the president to a lower standard than the looters. Thus runs the liberal line. One thing I learned was that the levee that broke was on Lake Ponchartrain, not the river, as I had thought. If the river levee had breached, the devastation would have been much worse.

Medved also argues against calls for abandoning the city and not rebuilding it. I'm not sure I agree, but his point is a good one, that this is the biggest port in the world and the most logical center of our current oil industry, which imports vast amounts of oil. Certainly, the port and the oil refineries and storage need to be repaired and put back in service. Some of the refineries are back online today. Keep Bourbon Street and the French Quarter and the Superdome. For people who want to rebuild and can afford to do so, let them do it. But as for the huge housing projects and old houses below filled with old, feeble or helpless people, I say rebuild on higher ground, because when they get flooded, the only thing they know to do is go upstairs or to the roof. This isn't a criticism of them, they just don't have the means, strength or health to evacuate or do much to rescue themselves. It's not reasonable to expect them to make their way out of a city flooded with hazardous waste. There are also hundreds, maybe thousands, of strong, able-bodied men whose response is to take advantage of the disaster and loot stores, attack others, shoot at the National Guard and rescue helicopters, and rape and pillage. The bars that stayed open, were crowded. Some people's response to a hurricane is to get drunk.

What keeps going through my mind as the difference from previous hurricanes is that New Orleans is below sea level. People had foreseen and predicted this, but what could they do about the basic problem? It would have felt like being a castaway on a desert island and seeing a tsunami headed your way. I saw Joe Scarborough criticizing Bush for not having aid on the spot within 24 hours as his brother Jeb did after last year's hurricanes in Florida. Earth to Joe: In Florida, when the hurricane passes, the water runs downhill. New Orleans is a sump. The drainage system can't rely on gravity, it requires electricity and fuel to work. When those are cut off, they siphon back into the city. This is a huge city. It's just not possible to move this many people all at once, or to distribute food and supplies when the roads are all under three or four feet of water.

Ah, well. It's pretty predictable that the president has to keep his head while everyone else is losing theirs and blaming it on him.

Every demagogue in the media and politics is in full blame and outrage mode. I haven't heard of any of them suggesting anything useful, however. It's true that this was foreseeable, even foreseen, but what they should be thinking about is what to do now, not heaping abuse on those trying to do something.

More: A Some people are focusing on what we can learn from this. Others are denouncing those trying to turn this to political advantage.