A Tale Of Two States

For those who were agape at the American federal government's inability to deal with Katrina's victims and with Hurricane Rita bearing down on Texas, it's about time you make an effort to comprehend the nature of the federal system that prevails in the USA. American states have a lot of power vis a vis the federal government in DC. And all the states differ greatly in nature, the competence of their governance, wealth etc. These differences are illustrated most dramatically in how two neighbouring states deal with the threat and fallout of an immensely powerful hurricane. On the one hand, look at Texas's advance preparations for Rita. Texas is one organised state, and it'll be interesting to see how it fares after its buffeting at the hands of Rita. I'm predicting we'll see minimal loss of life and a speedy and organised recovery, even though Rita's looking like the most severe hurricane since 1988. Then, you have Louisiana, a state famous for terrible governance. Its response to Katrina was consummate with its reputation, and its people suffered and died accordingly. This tragedy has been in the works for years - spending on the levees under Bush actually increased - however, much of it was diverted by state politicians to pay for their pet/pork projects. It's about time the citizens of Louisiana started scrutinizing their elected officials far more closely.

Naturally, the aforementioned and culpable elected officials and assorted bureaucrats busily passed the buck to GWB when their abysmal pre- and post-Katrina efforts were exposed to the world. This is precisely what the Bush and America haters wanted to hear, and they latched onto this duplicitous piffle with a vengeance. But kids, you're pointing the finger at the wrong man, because you don't understand how the American system of government works. Louisiana's Katrina cockup was due to pathetically poor state and local government preparation and response, from a state that's infamous for its pathetically poor governance. Compare it with a far more effectively governed state, Texas, and its highly organised response to Rita. Remember, you Yankee-haters are the ones who keep banging on about how we should respect other peoples' different ways of doing things. Well, the strong federal system in the USA is America's way, so respect it. And, on the whole, it works. New Orleans is an exception to the Texan rule.