The Consensus

So, most of this last week consisted of all the 1L's I know talking incessantly over lunch about the debacle in New Orleans. Keep in mind, none of us have been glued to the TV. It's just that CNN is the only channel broadcast on the two tvs in our cafeteria and, in an effort to avoid talking about law school, we're inclined to pick up whatever topic the boob tube has to offer. Christ, what a mess. The best metaphor that I can think of for the situation is what has happened, contemporaneously, to a pledge drive started by the proprietor of somethingawful.com (start at the bottom here: http://www.somethingawful.com/). The gist is this: Paypal, like our government, is the vehicle of our collective will. Nosh on it for a bit and tell me what you think.

My own feelings were reinforced this morning as I watched some snotty on-the-ground reporter's attempt at 'hard-nosed' journalism. Her name is Campbell something and she proceed to tear into the Mayor of New Orleans over how he handled the crisis, more or less implying that it was all his fault. Nothing like a hack pseudo-journalist raking a small-time politician over the coals for stuff that was well outside of his jurisdiction and, more importantly, his capabilities. After the commercial break, she did a heartrending spot on puppies adrift in the hellscape, left by fleeing (or dead) owners to fend for themselves. In fact, their little action news tribe had adopted and begun feeding no fewer than ten puppies. Who could worry about the dead and dying people when there are puppies to feed!?! Whatever gets you the ratings, kid...

As for who's to blame, I say the lot of them. I blame the Mayor and all the other corrupt politicians in Louisiana for their willful disregard of the pre-hurricane facts. They all knew, beyond a shadow of a friggin' doubt, that their levies and pumps were inadequate to deal with even a Category 3 hurricane, let alone a 5. And they've known this for at least a decade. This knowledge notwithstanding, I'd say that the mayor did a fairly good job handling the situation. He did what he could in the short term with the means he had. It's a given that he relied too heavily on state and federal resources that totally let him and, more importantly, the people if NO down but considering the scope of the event, it's understandable.

Ex post facto, the Department of Homeland Security is at fault for gutting and 'realigning' what used to be one of the most effective bureaucracies in the US: FEMA. Of course, by placing the blame on the DoHS, I'm really blaming the administration (I know, you're all shocked). The fact that the guy they've got running FEMA right now has absolutely NO experience with emergency management is somewhat telling. He's a monkey that got appointed as a favor because he was a Bush loyalist. Trust me, he was kicking it at his beach house, drinking Mai Tai's and collecting a paycheck before this happened. It's sick. Oh, and before I get off my soapbox, lemme just say that seeing Dubya handing out Happy Meals to those suffering in the wake of this tragedy doesn't give me the warm and fuzzies, either. A truly concerned and involved President wouldn't waste is time at a media-friendly photo-op, he'd be on the goddamn horn firing people and promoting their in-the-field, in-the-know underlings.

S.