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ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS HERALD |
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DEMOGOGUES, LEADERS AND CLEAN FINGERNAILS As a boy I stood at the parlor window of my grandparents’ farmhouse, in Schuylkill County, PA, on a late-summer day, and watched powerful winds blow the roof off a neighbor’s barn. I recall how the pieces of his roof looked like gigantic playing cards, sailing down across his meadow. This was the great (unnamed) hurricane of August 1949. It roared out of the Caribbean, wrecked Palm Beach, Florida, then tore up through Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. Flooding and winds from the storm caused millions (billions today) in damage. It killed numerous people and necessitated a massive cleanup of the entire eastern seaboard. I know all this now, but I didn’t at age six. However, even then I realized that storms sometimes produced results that are not altogether disadvantageous. I distinctly recall grownups discussing how the neighbor got a new roof for his barn – paid for by his insurance – and that the old roof had blown off because it was no longer sound. (My grandparents’ farm suffered little damage.) Although there was much talk about the storm, I heard no criticism of President Truman or of the federal government for failing to “prevent” the hurricane – that would have been absurd – or for not responding quickly enough. In fact, old reports of the storm don’t say much about the feds. In those days, people tended to look out for themselves and others in their immediate communities. Most folks would have been shocked to see National Guard troops on the scene or federal “relief centers” handing out free food and $2,000 debit cards. In 1972, DC endured ten days of heavy rains from Hurricane Agnes. I had a car accident on Washington’s wet streets. Later, I saw my next-door neighbor out in the downpour, digging in his yard. As I ran out to help I saw that the installers of his above-ground pool had run a perforated overflow pipe underground and through the brick wall of his basement stairwell. Water from the saturated ground was leaching into the pipe and pouring into the stairwell. The torrent had overwhelmed his french drain, and the water level stood halfway up the doorway. Of course, his whole basement was afloat. With a sledge-hammer we knocked the pipe loose and pulled it out to stop the flow. He got no federal funds for the damage to his basement. Ditto for my auto accident. Although I have lived during dozens of hurricanes, and have experienced some first-hand (Carol, 1954; Hazel, 1955; Agnes, 1972), I cannot recall anything like the public name-calling, poisonous rhetoric and political posturing that have marked Katrina. It is the most politicized hurricane in history. The media have gleefully piled on with near-unanimous agreement that Mr. Bush and his government “massively failed” in their response to the New Orleans disaster. Pundits have even suggested that Mr. Bush must gear his next Supreme Court nomination to “controlling the political damage”. The whole episode has been – to put it mildly – unbelievable. Analysts and commissions will argue for months – perhaps years – about who should have done what, and when. A short column like this can only make a stab at it, but we’ll give it a try. First, it is worth noting that most of the charges against FEMA and Mr. Bush are subjective (e.g., the federal response was “too slow”, etc.) and tend to omit critical details about the failures of local officials who had responsibility for immediate response to the crisis. Mayor Ray Nagin made a big media splash by using colorful expletives in his criticism of President Bush during an on-air interview: “They flew down here one time, two days after the doggone event was over, with TV cameras, AP reporters, all kind of goddamn… – excuse my French, but I am pissed… We had an incredible crisis here and his flying over in Air Force One does not do it justice. I have been all around this city and I am very frustrated because we are not able to marshal resources and we are outmanned in just about every respect…” Mr. Nagin was right to be frustrated, but his ire was misdirected. A president’s on-site appearance is mainly symbolic. He brings no supplies with him. Neither FEMA nor federal troops are “first responders”. Their mission is not to pluck people off rooftops by helicopter. Jason van Steenwyk, an Army National Guardsman who has been mobilized for hurricane relief six times, says response to Katrina was faster than for Andrew, Hugo, Iniki, Francine and Jeanne. A typical federal response-time for hurricanes is five days. Federal assistance began arriving in New Orleans after three days. Mr. Nagin, not Mr. Bush, was the guy on the spot. Several key questions about his conduct and “leadership” remain unanswered: (1) Why was the New Orleans hurricane disaster plan not followed? (2) Why were hundreds of buses left in a low-lying area, until they were ruined by flooding, instead of being used to take stranded residents out of the city? (3) Why were residents encouraged to gather by thousands at the Superdome, then left to be victimized by criminals without adequate police protection? (4) Indeed, what happened to the entire NOPD? Officers reportedly deserted in the hundreds. Some, driving their own cruisers, were stopped in Florida and Mississippi. (5) With a five-day warning, why did Mr. Nagin delay his order for a compulsory evacuation until the last minute? (6) Why was the Red Cross denied permission to enter New Orleans when they arrived with supplies and assistance 48 hours after the levees broke? My guess is that when Mr. Nagin saw what a monumental screwup he was (to borrow his vernacular), he took the offensive to divert attention away from himself. Knowing that the media can always be drawn by denunciations of Mr. Bush, Mr. Nagin took the smart tack. He became, in effect, the Cindy Sheehan of Hurricane Katrina. (My city died, and it’s your @#$%^ fault…”) Governor Kathleen Blanco’s contribution seemed to be weeping on TV. She dithered and delayed as the storm broke the levees, destroyed New Orleans and stranded 100,000 people. Mr. Bush declared Louisiana a “disaster area” two days before the storm hit, but the governor waited until two days after it hit to accept the president’s offer of federal troops. What was she waiting for? Senator Mary Landrieu also made headlines by saying she might “punch” President Bush for his inadequate response to the hurricane’s destruction. So Louisiana’s female governor cries on TV, and its female senator talks tough. Great. The mayor thinks public cussing is helpful. Terrific. Louisiana has elected populist demagogues for generations. One of the most famous was Senator Huey Long, in the 1930s. Other politicians – including several Longs – have made successful careers out of colorful rhetoric and corrupt governing. Louisiana’s current crop are heirs to this tradition. Funds for disaster relief and protection have been flowing into New Orleans for decades. Where that money has gone is a parable of Louisiana politics. Katrina has shown us that while demagoguery makes for good politics, demagogues don’t necessarily make good leaders – especially in times of crisis. Louisiana’s pols were in way over their heads on this one. Part of the reason, I believe, is lack of real-world experience. If I could interview potential officeholders, I would ask them these (and similar) questions: - Have you ever done a hard day’s work in your life? - Have you ever shoveled dirt in your backyard? - Have you ever worked on your own car? - Have you ever tried to dry out a flooded basement? - Have you ever spent all day sawing and hammering to build something? Most politicians today – including those in Louisiana and New Orleans – are from the “clean-fingernails crowd”. They would tend to answer those questions in the negative. It’s not politically correct to say so any more – and some of my readers will be cross at me for saying it now – but women have the clean-fingernails problem in spades. Their upbringing – and perhaps their essential nature – does not equip them for tough situations like hurricanes, floods, looting, etc. I heard one woman say her girlhood was occupied with helping injured insects. That’s fine, but how does it prepare one for life’s more difficult realities as head of a city or state? A lot of women in politics like to talk tough (e.g., Mary Landrieu), but that’s not the same as actually dealing with tough physical problems. Mayor Gavin talks tough, too, as if he came up from the ghetto, but he is a well educated man who was VP and general manager of a cable company before being elected to his office. His prior clean-fingernail experience evidently did not prepare him for a real crisis. You can’t cuss your way into toughness. (Ask any kid.) Governing is not just making speeches and handing out jobs, perks, and benefits. Sometimes it means standing up, taking charge, and actually leading. If Katrina was a test of Louisiana’s politicians, then all of them – including its two senior women – get “F”. When the big test came in New York, Rudi Giuliani stood up like a man – strong, positive, optimistic. He never lost his head. He believed in his great city and its people. I don’t recall him cursing on camera or sniveling about all the hurt and suffering people. New Yorkers would have been embarrassed by that. They expected real mettle in their mayor, and they got it. At their time of crisis, New Orleans and Louisiana needed the same mettle. Instead, they got incompetence, indecision, tears, coarse talk, political posturing, victimization, disrespect of the president, and blame thrown fifteen ways from Sunday. I don’t know if Miss Landrieu, Miss Blanco, or Mr. Gavin will be punished by the voters for their disgraceful non-performance in this crisis, but they should be. Their butts ought to be kicked all over Louisiana by the people who trusted and depended on them.
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