Scary in an 'he'd start a Waco if he was in the right mood' way.

He's ex-military. Certain kinds of military guys live for this sort of thing. They're survivalist sorts. More Hobbes, less Locke and Rousseau.

rant:

I don't fault Dubya for not "preventing" the flooding in NOLA. It was going to happen no matter what. That's the way this city was designed and built. It's odd that an "improved" levee collapsed, but I'm not sure what to make of this.

What I do fault Dubya for is that we KNEW this could happen, and he consistently refused to help NOLA -- or any other city facing these sorts of catastrophic events -- get ready. Worse still, one of the great lessons of 9/11 -- poor communication and poor command and control kills -- was never, ever acted on. While millions were going to Alaska to save them from Al-Queda's plan to nuke Anchorage, cities consistently complained that they weren't getting money for disaster planning and training. Even when they did get training (e.g. tabletop exercises), the lessons learned weren't acted on by the Feds.

To me, the problem is the idea of Homeland Security. Dubya has spent gazillions of dollars on mashing together departments into a super-monolith bureaucracy whose modus operandi is to get America ready for TERRORIST attacks and spend pork-barrel money.

Think about this for a second: Major Al-Queda terror attacks since 9/11: 4 (Casablanca, Indonesia, Madrid, London)

Major hurricanes in the Southeast since June 2004: 5 (3 in Florida, Denis, Katrina)

We're spending billions trying to prevent what we can't prevent (loss of life in terror attacks) and neglecting what we can prevent (loss of life in natural disasters). Worse still, we're neglecting the $2-3B costs of getting urban and rural areas ready for disasters, choosing instead to pay the $20-30B costs of search/rescue, rebuilding, and keeping the insurance companies from collapsing or pulling out of areas.

And it comes back to Dubya's beloved Homeland Security. They're so focused on keeping cuticle scissors off airplanes they have neglected the very basics of disaster prevention. But, it's all about the "enemies," and you can't attack the ocean, and you can't declare a War On God.

Oh, and a little preterition: The Dubya administration sold off a section of the radio spectrum to communications companies, a section that was supposed to be used for police and fire radios.

So, I hold Dubya personally responsible for caring less about hurricanes and caring more about terror attacks. And while that's not as glamorous and trendy as blaming him for not funding the Corps, it is extremely damning in my book. If he were the head of a multinational corporation, I would expect his resignation post-haste, and he could expect to get caught up in a class-action suit for willful neglect. Unfortunately, this is politics, so he ain't leaving. Sigh.

/rant

shit. what dw said.

I was sorta hoping his helicopter would go down in NO and they'd have to send in Kurt Russell to rescue him.

Oh, and this is what hell is.

If he were the head of a multinational corporation, I would expect his resignation post-haste, and he could expect to get caught up in a class-action suit for willful neglect. Unfortunately, this is politics, so he ain't leaving. Sigh.

Huh. I wonder - is it possible to bring a class-action suit against a politician? I suppose not while s/he's in office, huh?

Jesse, I think they've known it for a while.

lunch is ordered. head is hurting. work is slowly getting done.

Not to mention, NOLA is a major port. In practical terms, it will be necessary either to rebuild NOLA (at minimum, to get its port facilities back to where they were, plus necessary supporting infrastructure), or to find a new port/increase the capacity of existing ports to take up the slack. Unless we want the U.S. to become more self-sufficient/less dependent on imports, which would have its upside but doesn't appear likely in today's zeitgeist.

Yeah. That's the point I was going to mention. Really, most of the areas where you hear talk about the risks of living there, why should we pay, blah blah blah are major port cities.

Dude. You'll pay one way or another.

Just another part of my increasing frustrageon at how short-sighted people can be. (Not, you know, that we've been having any issues related to repairing/replacing vulnerable structures that are key to the economic security of this whole neck of the woods or anything like that. Oh no.)

is Gmail down for everyone, or does it have a particular hate-on for me?

My gmail is working fine.

More from my friends in Jackson: They're still having trouble getting gas. Problem isn't supply, it's that most of the stations still don't have power.

One friend needs to drive from Jackson to Hattiesburg to deliver food and water to his older relatives who are running low. He has enough gas to get to Hattiesburg, but not enough to get back.

It was hating me earlier today.

frustrageon

Ooh, good word.