Chapter 6
The Zombie State: When Government Fails
Wealth, Poverty, and Blithering Idiots
Politicians and bureaucrats are being wrongly blamed for the New Orleans debacle.
“When government fails,” is also the headline of The Economist’s latest piece on the subject. So great was the failure of government, according to The Economist, that it has resulted in “The shaming of America.”
French citizens thought their government should have mounted its own rescue operation—pulling U.S. citizens out by helicopter as it had airlifted out French nationals during recent insurrections and civil wars in Africa.
British papers are appalled; they thought America was a civilized place.
Cuba offered disaster relief. So did Iran, and Honduras, the poorest country in Latin America.
The head of FEMA—a Bush appointee—was described by Maureen Dowd, who ought to know one when she sees one, as a “blithering idiot.” The Economist suggests—attributing it to “Bush supporters”—that New Orleans Mayor Nagin, who is black, “proved more adept at berating the federal government than at implementing the city’s pre-prepared emergency plan.” And of course, Bush himself has been portrayed as lackadaisical, incompetent, uncaring, and stupid. The debate is about which officials—federal, state, or local—are the most incompetent.
Here, uncharacteristically and quixotically, we rush to defend our public officials as we would rush to the aid of a drunk trying to find his car keys.
First, we begin our defense ...
