Twice Told Tales
In the follow up to the tragic effect of hurricane Katrina much of the press has been serving their noble duty of showing the world what is going on. These dramatic reports have caused the nation to seek ways to help in large and small ways. They've also called the nation's emergency response system to account for delays in answering the call.
Along with this responsible journalism we are treated increasingly to what one blogger calls America's 'armchair first responders'. Those are the reporters who's contribution is in finding and assigning blame.
The default position in most newspapers is that racial relations in the country have changed little in the last 50 years. So anyone claiming nefarious motives is given instant respectability. One of the current messages being diseminated is that a large black population was left adrift in New Orleans because of racist attitudes. Because someone is poor and black it's always assumed that they're victims of opression. Seldom are we asked to consider the inverse--that their poverty is the result of individual behavior.
Mayor Ray Nagin is himself black. Although he pleaded with citizens to leave, he too is playing the blame game in order to deflect criticism about his performance. New Orleans could have deployed an idled fleet of city school buses to remove people from the city. Instead he points elsewhere. Sending people to shelter in the Superdome seemed like a good idea at the time. In retrospect it was a disaster. So what does he do? Blames people who didn't make his decision.
Concurrently with levee breaks came the acusations that this was the inevitable result of decisions by Congress and the president to cut levee enhancement projects. Responsible news accounts said that these projects would not have been completed nor would they have made much difference in a category 4 hurricane. Irresponsible media let the lie stand.
Responsible media challenged the notion that global warming has had any effect on hurricane frequency. Irresponsible media let the notion take hold, even going so far as to suggest that signing the Kyoto Protocols equated with an instant solution to warming. Were that the case Bush's recent agreements with China and India to affect potential human contributions to warming surely would have ameliorated such storms.
Along with this responsible journalism we are treated increasingly to what one blogger calls America's 'armchair first responders'. Those are the reporters who's contribution is in finding and assigning blame.
The default position in most newspapers is that racial relations in the country have changed little in the last 50 years. So anyone claiming nefarious motives is given instant respectability. One of the current messages being diseminated is that a large black population was left adrift in New Orleans because of racist attitudes. Because someone is poor and black it's always assumed that they're victims of opression. Seldom are we asked to consider the inverse--that their poverty is the result of individual behavior.
Mayor Ray Nagin is himself black. Although he pleaded with citizens to leave, he too is playing the blame game in order to deflect criticism about his performance. New Orleans could have deployed an idled fleet of city school buses to remove people from the city. Instead he points elsewhere. Sending people to shelter in the Superdome seemed like a good idea at the time. In retrospect it was a disaster. So what does he do? Blames people who didn't make his decision.
Concurrently with levee breaks came the acusations that this was the inevitable result of decisions by Congress and the president to cut levee enhancement projects. Responsible news accounts said that these projects would not have been completed nor would they have made much difference in a category 4 hurricane. Irresponsible media let the lie stand.
Responsible media challenged the notion that global warming has had any effect on hurricane frequency. Irresponsible media let the notion take hold, even going so far as to suggest that signing the Kyoto Protocols equated with an instant solution to warming. Were that the case Bush's recent agreements with China and India to affect potential human contributions to warming surely would have ameliorated such storms.
posted by Robert Holmgren at 9/02/2005
3 Comments:
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Three cheers for Millbrae Morty!! I cannot wait for a complete analysis of this disaster. While there is a lot of blame to go around, I think we will find that the local officials in NO and the state failed to do their jobs and were (and are) incapable of effective decision making in a time of crisis. Also, I wonder how many future terrorists slipped into the country from Mexico and South America under the cover of the confusion. And look how much we have taught them about how we handle a major disaster and where we are vulnerable…
My absolute favorite "blame" in this mess is that the Bush administration environmental policies caused the catastrophic climate changes that led to more hurricanes...frankly, I think most of the increased hot air emanates from a certain Senator from MA.
Second favorite is the playing of the race card in a time of national emergency...unbelievable and desperate move by the left -- and it will haunt them for a long time.
Third is total lack of self-sufficiency by the people and leaders of NO. Everyone in earthquake country is coached to have enough food and supplies on hand to make it through 3 to 7 days without any help.
Finally, the total lack of understanding of how a federal republic works and why the states control the National Guard and the Federal Military can only get involved by invitation (and the Governor of LA dithered) unless there is an insurrection -- and there was no insurrection. For Bush to have sent in troops without local request would be a direct violation of the Constitution....
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