Why is a hurricane George Bush's fault?

King CountyJournal ^ | 8-4-05 | John Carlson

[veronica]

In 1969, Hurricane Camille slammed into the southeastern Gulf Coast, killing hundreds and decimating towns throughout Louisiana and Mississippi. I don't recall anyone blaming Richard Nixon for the destruction and loss of life.

In 1980, Mount St. Helens blew its top and consumed more than 60 people in and around the blast zone. No one blamed their deaths on Jimmy Carter.

During the Clinton presidency, the Bay Area in California was hit with one of its worst earthquakes in 30 years. But no one blamed Bill Clinton when people died there.

And now comes Hurricane Katrina. And somehow, George Bush is to blame. What for?

New Orleans officials who didn't appropriately evacuate their city now blame Bush for the sporadic and sometimes disorganized delivery of aid for the residents who were left or stayed behind.

Bobby Kennedy Jr. blames Bush and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour for the hurricane itself because they didn't support the Kyoto treaty, which somehow would have changed the weather.

The often annoying Arianna Huffington implies that all the National Guardsmen in Louisiana and Mississippi are in Iraq (which isn't true).

And anti-war mom Cindy Sheehan blames the hurricane on ``Bush's environmental policies.''

So saturated with venom is the anti-Bush crowd, that they almost seem to welcome bad news as an opportunity to bash the president, while churlishly ignoring good news (the historic Iraqi elections, for example) because it happened on Bush's watch. If President Bush found a cure for cancer, they'd attack him ``for doing nothing'' to cure influenza.

For the record, as esteemed climate scientist Patrick J. Michaels from the University of Virginia has pointed out, global warming had nothing -- zero -- to do with Hurricane Katrina. For that matter, neither does the Kyoto Accords, which would only reduce the earth's temperature by 1/700th of one degree.

On the disaster relief front, yes it's true, federal aid has been slow (just like local aid and state aid) but that is partly due to the roving gangs of armed looters blocking streets and trying to stop cars, trucks and buses, either to carjack them or rob the occupants. Even the network news crews have armed protection (out of camera range, of course).

As for the levies giving way or being breeched, perhaps now would be a good time to point out that the wall of water pushed inland (the ``storm surge'') from Katrina was the highest ever measured in this country. The previous record, set by Camille, was 22 feet. Katrina was between 25 and 29 feet, according to the International Hurricane Research Center in Florida and scientists from LSU.

It never occurred to me to blame politicians at any level in either party for what happened, even though I'm sure some things could have been done better somewhere at some time to prevent or alleviate some of the suffering and damage. But have you noticed that the critics are blaming only one politician?

How come? Maybe because the politicians most responsible for public safety, order and disaster preparation in New Orleans, namely the mayor, the city council, the Parish (county) executive and the governor, of Louisiana, are all Democrats.

Let's drop the unseemly blame-game and acknowledge two important realities. First, Hurricane Katrina is likely the worst storm in 230 years of American history. The city now flooded happens to be surrounded by water and is largely under sea level in the first place. And second, while we must do everything we can for the victims in New Orleans, let's remember that 80 percent of the Big Easy's residents wisely heeded warnings to leave.

Some who didn't -- the ill, the infirm, the poor who didn't know anybody -- were stuck. But most of those who stayed could have driven, bused or gotten a ride out of town but chose not to, for a variety of reasons. If they had, probably 90 percent of the death, suffering and misery that's resulted from this awful disaster probably could have been averted.

While it's comforting to think that politicians and the government can prevent and soothe all that is wrong when disasters strike, the reality driven home by Katrina is that the merciless forces of nature and the decisions each of us make when danger approaches have much more to do with how we live and when we die.

John Carlson is founder of Washington Policy Center and can be heard daily from 3-6 p.m. on radio station KVI-570. His column appears every other Sunday. Readers can contact him via e-mail at jcarlson@fisherradio.com.

[nuconvert]

"Why is a hurricane George Bush's fault? "

Silly. Because he wouldn't go along with Kyoto Agreement and that caused global warming and that caused the hurricane.

[Doogle]

...simple, democrats can't handle the truth.


Doogle

[satchmodog9]

I guess people have been trained to expect too much of government. It always makes the Rats feel better to point fingers at the President. He is a convenient target to gel all their race hustling and class envy. They also get to use the incompetence card, the war and the environment. It is the 'Perfect Storm' of bullshit for the left.

[atomicpossum]

Why is a hurricane George Bush's fault?

Because he's the most evil Neocon moron since Hitler. [/bleedin' obvious sarcasm]

[mtbopfuyn]

most of those who stayed could have driven, bused or gotten a ride out of town but chose not to

Which is what I've said all week. Their choice, their fault.

[ncpatriot]

Some people think the military has the ability to control the weather, and the president ordered this. Why? I don't know. But I heard this on Coast to Coast AM last night. Weird.

[BonnieJ]

Every negative event past, present, future, world-wide and at home, natural, political, economic, environmental, military, etc. is the fault of President Bush and his administration. In 4 and 1/2 years that man has destroyed the entire world!!!!

[G-dzilla]

Rumor has it that if you look in the dictionary under "weird," you get thumbnail pix of Art Bell and George Noury [phon.spellling]...

[dfwgator]

It is political opportunism, nothing more, nothing less. The good news is that an ABC poll show it may not be working.

[Travis McGee]

I hope that sooner or later the MSM discovers that New Orleans did have a written emergency plan to cover the evacuation of the poor, but that the idiot mayor of New Orleans ignored it, and allowed the evacuation buses to be ruined by the flood, forgotten.

The city leaders had at least two full days to use these hundreds of buses to evac the poor, exactly as their own emergency management plan called for.

Here's the southeast Louisiana evac plan supplement, most recently revised in 2000. Go to page 13, read paragraph 5. It states:

5. The primary means of hurricane evacuation will be personal vehicles. School and municipal buses, government-owned vehicles and vehicles provided by volunteer agencies may be used to provide transportation for individuals who lack transportation and require assistance in evacuating.

[EricT.]

It is the 'Perfect Storm' of bullshit for the left.

My vote for quote of the day.

[satchmodog9]

That's heartening. I can't handle the networks anymore. I get all my news online during this. I even turned FOX off because of the hissie fits Smith and BOR were having.

[parabellum]

i'm leaving for alabama tonight to see if i can help.vios con dios

[mad_as_he$$]

Because Bush is an alien from the ruling reptilian class. They were doing weather control experiments. Where have you been ?

[moog]

Actually, it wasn't Bush who caused the hurricane. It was the teachers--no wait--it was the little green men.

[Deo volente]

Mr. Jabbar Gibson had no trouble implementing the New Orleans Evacuation Plan.

[I got the rope]

I thought his name was Jamal?

[Choose Ye This Day]

Nailed it.

[I got the rope]

Your right...it is Jabbar.

Jabbar for Governor!