On Second Thought...

The Convention Center has been evacuated; so has the Superdome. People are being evacuated from under the I-10 freeway, and from other locations. There is finally some progress in New Orleans.

Meanwhile, the President is trying to recover from the political damage he has sustained in recent days. Those of us who have refrained from pointing the finger of blame have nonetheless been shocked, disappointed and indeed angered by the failure of our government in this past week of crisis.

We have held back from assessing fault to individuals so that those individuals could focus on the task at hand. But we have taken note of the idiotic statements, apparent incompetence, and evident indifference to the plight of our fellow citizens.

Today I heard the President's people blaming Louisiana state officials and the local government in New Orleans. Statements from others loyal to the White House have also pointed the finger of blame away from those we suspect of negligent culpability.

The attempt to shift accountability away from FEMA, DHS, and the Pentagon strikes me as dishonest and unfair. Personally, I think it was unwise to make excuses and to blame others -- a better option would have been to insist that such debate be put off till all the people in distress had been evacuated and cared for.

Only yesterday, that is exactly the suggestion I made here in TBV. I think it represented the high road, but Bush has chosen an alternate route. It seems that the subject of accountability and blame is now open to all comers.

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