PrintSeptember 1, 2008
The ever-changing politics of Gustav
As Gustav makes its final approach to the gulf, the political ramifications shift with every wobble of the storm itself. The storm is now going to hit to the west, as in to the left, of New Orleans. This leftward physical shift could mean a leftward political shift as well.
If the latest forecasts come to fruition, the new and improved levees fortified post Katrina do not appear to be in line for the brunt of the storm. Levees to the south and west, in an area known as "the west bank," will get Gustav's biggest test. These levees did not breach or even get over-topped in Katrina, and as a result these levees have not been improved to date at the same rate of those on the north and east side of New Orleans. The entire project is on course for completion in 2011 and naturally priority went to those areas that failed in Katrina.
That of couse has not stopped the meda from trying to pick at the scab of Katrina and today there were all over officials about why this job has not been completed. Michael Brown, the discredited former head of FEMA, says that Americans should not wonder why this is the case. "It's government" he said bluntly in an interview on CNBC "Things don't happen at the same speed as they do in the private sector." Brown was thrown under the bus (probably one of the 300 buses Mayor Ray Nagin did not use to evacuate citizens) by the Bush Administration.
The "new tone" administration had some internal calculus that it was preferable to accept all of the blame and fire from within instead of correctly pointing out that the Federal response was late due to the actions of Democrat politicians in Louisiana refusing to allow the Feds to take over.
Regardless, the emphasis of the levee reconstruction will have ramifications for Gustav's resulting damage. There will likely be flooding in the greater New Orleans area incluing the town of Houma and areas near Lake Charles. It will not be as bad as Katrina, but there will be enough flooding to create news video that will look like Katrina. This will be sound byte heaven for the main stream media as well as the Obama campaign (widely believed to be the same thing.)
This will give the media a double whammy. They can blame the Bush administration for not building the levee system up as soon as they should have, and they can blame Republican Governor Bobby Jindal for causing an un-necessary mass evacuation of New Orleans proper and areas to the north and east.
Brown, now unencumbered by political concerns, warned against this type of "Monday morning quarterbacking" and also addressed the issue of how wise it is for the tax payers from across the country for trying to maintain a city that is under sea level in his interview.
Have to wonder whether the tax payers from across the nation should continue to support a levee system to protect a city that is, by design, below sea level.
