Common Sense

Molly Ivins, another journalist who hasn't been caught napping for the past several years, starts to connect the dots:

It is not too soon, however, to make a point that needs to be hammered home again and again, and that is that government policies have real consequences in people's lives. This is not "just politics" or blaming for political advantage. This is about the real consequences of what governments do and do not do about their responsibilities. And about who winds up paying the price for those policies.

This is a column for everyone in the path of Hurricane Katrina who ever said, "I'm sorry, I'm just not interested in politics," or, "There's nothing I can do about it," or, "Eh, they're all crooks anyway."

Read the whole thing. We should never forget that in this country, we are the government and the government is us. The decisions we make as the government, or that the government makes in our name, do make a difference in the way we live. The events surrounding Katrina, before and after the storm hit, are an obvious example of this, but they're not the only ones we have.

Tim Russert, a journalist who, despite his reputation as a tough interviewer, hasn't been paying attention as closely as he should have been, joins the party, as well.

Why weren’t the poor people evacuated? They don’t have SUVs. They travel by public bus. Could they have been evacuated?

Secondly, in terms of pre-positioning, where were the troops, where were the National Guard? If people were to be sent to the Superdome, why weren’t there cots and water and food there?

Second-guessing is easy, but it is also, I think, a requirement of those in a free society to challenge their government, when the primary function of the government is to protect its citizens and they haven’t been protected.

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So, again, it’s very difficult in the midst of a crisis for people to be critical, but I have not talked to anybody, underscore anybody, in official Washington who believes the government at any level has done a good job.