flemmings | (no subject)

Only two things to say about this whole ungodly mess.

I'd thought in the early days Your government isn't doing its job because here it's the government's responsibility to look after people in emergencies or what passes for them coughcough*our blizzard*cough. By me the gov't, city or state or federal or better some combination of both, should have been commandeering buses and arranging mass evacuations of people who couldn't get out on their own steam. But it's common knowledge here that Americans like their fedgov to stay far away from wherever they are, and I've even read people saying Look it was the *state's* responsibility to handle the disaster stop ragging on the feds. Don't know how it looks to you down there, because more people are saying goddammit where was the President when he was needed? but I just mention it.

The other thought was That couldn't happen here which was followed immediately by Wanna bet? If it happened in the Maritimes, if it happened up north, if it happened on a reserve... I'm not betting.

So I'm going off to read some Judge Dee, who for no reason I can think of settles my queasy psychic stomach like nothing else.

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But it's common knowledge here that Americans like their fedgov to stay far away from wherever they are.

I guess that depends on what it is you (the average American, which I can't really claim to be) wants the feds to keep their hands off. For me, that would be my private life. I'm not much for home rule, beccause states, with the possible exception of California, don't have the resources -- money, equipment, people -- to handle an emergency of this scale. That's what FEMA is for ... and they've proved, unfortunately, that they're not equipped to handle it either. While there is blame aplenty to spread about, I would give the lion's share to the federal government.

As the weeks pass and everyone gets out and gets help, I think it will get easier to really look at what went wrong, and how much was a local issue, and how much was a federal, and how in the future, something like this can be prevented. One good thing is that the whole thing has been very well documented, whether by reporters on the scene, accounts from people who survived the hurricane, or the paperwork filed before, during, and after the whole thing.

So I'm going off to read some Judge Dee, who for no reason I can think of settles my queasy psychic stomach like nothing else.
Judge Dee, righting wrongs in T'ang dynasty China and soothing upset stomachs everywhere!

(nod nod) In Ming style dress yet. I suppose the subconscious feeling might be Now *here's* a man who does his job- though the Chinese friend who read them was amused at how very orderly his court was. 'Everything's always ready when he wants it. That's not how it is in reality.'

'Everything's always ready when he wants it. That's not how it is in reality.'
Well, Judge Dee was such an efficient bureaucrat that he always gets his way, administration-wise. Or something like that...