By Anthony Cash
In the early hours of August 29, Hurricane Katrina smashed into the coast of Louisiana, leaving devastation in its wake and wreaking havoc on the city of New Orleans. The political wrangling both preceding and following this event is a pungent example of government inefficiency at the expense of those whom our leaders should have been serving. The tragic results of these actions are hardly surprising. In this era of political bitterness, what else should we expect?
The response from every executive department involved in this fiasco has been lackluster and disorganized. The mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin, told citizens who couldn’t escape after his voluntary evacuation that they should seek refuge in the Superdome or the Convention Center, but did not make provisions to see that food, water and medical supplies were there. Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco did not declare a Federal Emergency until less than 24 hours before Katrina hit. Then, when help began to arrive, she refused to give control of her National Guard to the federal government, further slowing the process of aiding survivors. Finally, the federal response didn’t begin to arrive until almost 24 hours after the storm receded. Mistakes were made by all parties, and we would be wise to simply proceed with the business of relief and rebuilding.
Unfortunately, the same people who would tell the press that every office but their own committed an error are the people who made the mistakes to begin with – when you’re too busy covering your own tail to do your job, disaster is imminent. Each and every politician involved has been running public relations damage control from day one. New Orleans was still mostly underwater and senators were already calling for an investigation into the federal response instead of discussing evacuation scenarios for those left behind.
Our media ensures that there is always plenty of time to play politics – but at least wait until people are no longer suffering. Instead, the governor of Louisiana played power games, using her National Guard as chess pieces, while her citizens endured the consequences. The partisan divisions in this nation are so bitter that when disaster strikes and we most desperately need to come together, it seems we are instead driven apart.
While it would be easy to lose heart if one looked only at the rhetoric coming from political activists, media pundits and politicians, there is more to this story. As usual, while politicians quibbled and again proved their inability to effectively respond to a disaster, steadfast American heroes offered the response that was needed. Soldiers of all branches, Red Cross workers, police officers, Para-rescue and Combat Controllers from our own local 123 Special Tactics Squadron (who have personally saved in excess of a thousand lives): their stories are the ones that really matter. They should give every American a reason to hope. No matter how acrimonious it is in Washington, in governors’ mansions or in the press, good people will still come together when desperate times are upon us.
Anthony Cash is a sophmore majoring in Political Science, and a member of the McConnell Scholars program. Contact him at: opinion@louisvillecardinal
