Blame Game

After reading article after article, editorial after editorial regarding the blame for the Gulf Coast tragedy, I have come to a conclusion.

A disaster, any disaster, whether caused by man, or nature, attracts those that have radical agendas. Writers, and/or special interest groups that hate Bush, or anything Republican, choose the disaster as a vehicle for attack, whether or not logic prevails.

Undoubtedly, the formation of the Homeland Security Department was one of the culprits. Any super agency that is new and untested, as this one, is ripe for bureaucratic bungling. We had a perfectly good FEMA, only to merge it into Homeland Security.

Any agency of the Federal Government is by nature a gigantic slug, made operational only by years of professionals toiling in the trenches, trying to overcome the political insanity that surrounds them. Some are incompetent, others not.

Homeland Security, with the paint still wet on it's office signs, simply wasn't ready yet to do anything of great import. Budgets were still being fought out in the halls of Congress. Executives were still settling in, learning their jobs.

As it was pointed out in this morning's Spokesman-Review, Federal Assistance to the States is only available after the States declare a disaster area.

Perhaps it is time to review the various departments of Homeland Security. It is definitely time to start funding the Coast Guard at higher levels. This department is perhaps the most well trained for disaster relief and at the same time, perpetually under funded.

State and local Governments, and the people that ignored warnings to head for high ground are much more to blame than the Feds. The Mayor of New Orleans can only throw racially motivated knives at Bush, when he would have been much more effective taking charge. Racists, as we are learning, come in all colors.

The Governor of Louisiana, when faced with this challenge, breaks into tears, totally unqualified to lead.

Two words, REACTIVE and PROACTIVE come to mind. Reactive screaming of racial motivation is not the answer... This was simply a case of many incompetent, small people, not being qualified to lead during this horrendous experience.

Perhaps it's time to become proactive, and find solutions, replace those that are not up to the challenges of office or position and learn from this how to do better next time around.