Killed by Contempt - more evidence of the lethal ineptitudeMon Sep 5, 2005 04:3164.140.159.46
Killed by Contempt
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: September 5, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/opinion/05krugman.html
Each day since Katrina brings more evidence of the lethal ineptitude of
federal officials. I'm not letting state and local officials off the
hook, but federal officials had access to resources that could have made
all the difference, but were never mobilized.
Here's one of many examples: The Chicago Tribune reports that the U.S.S.
Bataan, equipped with six operating rooms, hundreds of hospital beds and
the ability to produce 100,000 gallons of fresh water a day, has been
sitting off the Gulf Coast since last Monday - without patients.
Experts say that the first 72 hours after a natural disaster are the
crucial window during which prompt action can save many lives. Yet
action after Katrina was anything but prompt. Newsweek reports that a
"strange paralysis" set in among Bush administration officials, who
debated lines of authority while thousands died.
What caused that paralysis? President Bush certainly failed his test.
After 9/11, all the country really needed from him was a speech. This
time it needed action - and he didn't deliver.
But the federal government's lethal ineptitude wasn't just a consequence
of Mr. Bush's personal inadequacy; it was a consequence of ideological
hostility to the very idea of using government to serve the public good.
For 25 years the right has been denigrating the public sector, telling
us that government is always the problem, not the solution. Why should
we be surprised that when we needed a government solution, it wasn't
forthcoming?
Does anyone remember the fight over federalizing airport security? Even
after 9/11, the administration and conservative members of Congress
tried to keep airport security in the hands of private companies. They
were more worried about adding federal employees than about closing a
deadly hole in national security.
Of course, the attempt to keep airport security private wasn't just
about philosophy; it was also an attempt to protect private interests.
But that's not really a contradiction. Ideological cynicism about
government easily morphs into a readiness to treat government spending
as a way to reward your friends. After all, if you don't believe
government can do any good, why not?
Which brings us to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. In my last
column, I asked whether the Bush administration had destroyed FEMA's
effectiveness. Now we know the answer.
Several recent news analyses on FEMA's sorry state have attributed the
agency's decline to its inclusion in the Department of Homeland
Security, whose prime concern is terrorism, not natural disasters. But
that supposed change in focus misses a crucial part of the story.
For one thing, the undermining of FEMA began as soon as President Bush
took office. Instead of choosing a professional with expertise in
responses to disaster to head the agency, Mr. Bush appointed Joseph
Allbaugh, a close political confidant. Mr. Allbaugh quickly began trying
to scale back some of FEMA's preparedness programs.
You might have expected the administration to reconsider its hostility
to emergency preparedness after 9/11 - after all, emergency management
is as important in the aftermath of a terrorist attack as it is
following a natural disaster. As many people have noticed, the failed
response to Katrina shows that we are less ready to cope with a
terrorist attack today than we were four years ago.
But the downgrading of FEMA continued, with the appointment of Michael
Brown as Mr. Allbaugh's successor.
Mr. Brown had no obvious qualifications, other than having been Mr.
Allbaugh's college roommate. But Mr. Brown was made deputy director of
FEMA; The Boston Herald reports that he was forced out of his previous
job, overseeing horse shows. And when Mr. Allbaugh left, Mr. Brown
became the agency's director. The raw cronyism of that appointment
showed the contempt the administration felt for the agency; one can only
imagine the effects on staff morale.
That contempt, as I've said, reflects a general hostility to the role of
government as a force for good. And Americans living along the Gulf
Coast have now reaped the consequences of that hostility.
The administration has always tried to treat 9/11 purely as a lesson
about good versus evil. But disasters must be coped with, even if they
aren't caused by evildoers. Now we have another deadly lesson in why we
need an effective government, and why dedicated public servants deserve
our respect. Will we listen?
E-mail: krugman@nytimes.com
========================
Tropical Storm Maria as of 8 a.m. Saturday (National Hurricane Center)
At 5 a.m. EDT the storm had maximum sustained wind of 80 kilometres an hour and was centred 1,255 kilometres east-northeast of the northern Leeward Islands, about 1,570 kilometres southeast of Bermuda.
It was moving northwest, a track that could take it east of Bermuda, at 21 km/h, forecasters said.
Maria is the 13th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, one of the busiest on record. Historically, only about four or five named storms form by this time of year, according to the hurricane centre.
If the storm's sustained wind speed reaches 119 km/h as expected, Maria would be the season's fifth hurricane.
The Atlantic hurricane season begins June 1 and ends Nov. 30. Peak storm activity typically occurs from the end of August through mid-September.
- DIPSTICKS IN WASHINGTON, D.C. — Mon Sep 5 05:25
- N.O., Politics, Dishonesty — Mon Sep 5 05:19
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