The problem, as I see it, is not so much that the levees didn’t get upgraded.
The problem is the whole “benevolent dictator” thing. As has been well said, a government powerful enough to give you everything you need is certainly powerful enough to take it away.
And by me saying that, I’m not necessarily dinging even the government. People get the government they elect.
If the people want to end up being little more than sharecroppers living in a shack, they will depend on government. Any time they need something, their first reaction will be to ask government for it.
And the people then become lame. They can’t think for themselves. They can’t build for themselves. They can’t feed or heal themselves. They are out of ideas and motivation.
A people so inclined are not easily conquered, they are already conquered!
The very phrase should give everyone a clue.
Whether Katrina, or Sandy, or a major Tsunami in Indonesia that kills 250,000 in a day...you simply can only do your best, wait it out, and then work with the survivors to rebuild and help as best you can.
If folks will do that, and leave the politics out of it while the disaster is approaching, occurring, and as we clean up after...there will be plenty of time to analyze what went wrong afterwards. Then, if there is a major problem, you point it out and fix it.
My original point was simply to indicate out how the MSM handled Katrina, blaming Bush for every conceivable thing, when no one could have been fully prepared for that type of event. Just like this one.
substitute Sandy in for each reference of "KAtrina" and you are good to go.