| Thursday, September 01, 2005 |
| Fall of the mighty |
The world is watching the superpower stumble. The chaos and rapid descent into misery and madness in New Orleans is playing across the international press. The Guardian: "It's like a war zone". The BBC has the gunfire in New Orleans as top story. Now, the Bush administration will send former presidents Bush I and Clinton begging to the international community for relief aid, at the same time our illustrious U.N. ambassador John Bolton is trashing a reorganization plan the Bush administration fears will limit our ability to use force arond the world, and obligate America to intervene in cases of genocide. If it weren't so tragic it would be funny.
The U.S. will need the help. The magnitude of the loss in human lives and livelihoods, not to mention in resources and economic devastation, is only beginning to be calculated. But no doubt it will be huge. President Bush is clearly going to have to rethink some priorities, particularly as this tragedy has ironically punched the nation right in its oil gut -- the Gulf states are our top oil producing and exporting region, and the ports around New Orleans are the nerve center of U.S. transport. Suddenly, privatizing Social Security sounds like a joke, and the ongoing quagmire in Iraq sounds like a waste of time and military resources -- and oddly enough, both that Gulf and our own are sucking the life out of the U.S. oil supply. (Get ready for $4 a gallon gas). Mr. Bush has one hell of a bad luck streak when it comes to crude, stretching back to his days as a failed Texas oil man.
... but what can he do? What options does the president have? The budget is stretched to the limit because of Iraq. We are using active duty military to supplement the beleaguered National Guard. This would be a challenge for the most competant and dynamic of presidents, and unfortunately, George W. Bush has proved to be neither. I say that not to bash the man, but simply to be realistic in my expectations.
That said, what is $4 a gallon gas compared to the loss, misery and desperation facing the people in Louisiana in particular, but also Mississippi... yes, the whole country is going to suffer because of this disaster, but at present it's the people of New Orleans and the surrounding Gulf port area who are in the belly of the beast. For their sakes, we all had better hope George W. Bush finds a way to rise to the occasion. |
posted by JReid @ 10:20 AM   |
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