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A can’t do government   

Risa at 12:56 am, September 2nd, 2005

Krugman has this exactly right:

I don’t think this is a simple tale of incompetence. The reason the military wasn’t rushed in to help along the Gulf Coast is, I believe, the same reason nothing was done to stop looting after the fall of Baghdad. Flood control was neglected for the same reason our troops in Iraq didn’t get adequate armor.

At a fundamental level, I’d argue, our current leaders just aren’t serious about some of the essential functions of government. They like waging war, but they don’t like providing security, rescuing those in need or spending on preventive measures. And they never, ever ask for shared sacrifice.

Yesterday Mr. Bush made an utterly fantastic claim: that nobody expected the breach of the levees. In fact, there had been repeated warnings about exactly that risk.

So America, once famous for its can-do attitude, now has a can’t-do government that makes excuses instead of doing its job. And while it makes those excuses, Americans are dying.

Politics
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3 Comments on “A can’t do government”   rss feed

  1. Sam Gralla on Sep 2nd, 2005 at 3:54 am

    well put. This is kind of the final straw for me. I voted for Bush in 2000 (well, I wasn’t old enough to vote, but I would have). I didn’t vote in 2004 because I disliked them both. Now, I hate Bush so much I might even replace him with Ralph Nader.

  2. hack on Sep 2nd, 2005 at 12:50 pm

    The hurricane hates us for our freedom. End of story.

  3. spyder on Sep 2nd, 2005 at 3:21 pm

    We are experiencing Grover Norquist’s form of governance. I am afraid we are going to have to get used to it for a while longer.



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