Oh yeah, the blog

I apologize to my vast and enthusiastic readership for my recent haitus from posting. I haven't mainly for two reasons. 1) In the past couple weeks I moved from Washington to Illinois and then to Ann Arbor to start law school and have been very preoccupied. 2) Katrina has (rightfully) dominated the news in the past week and simply isn't the kind of event I can comment on with two paragraphs of cynical/witty observation. Likewise, it seems out-of-place to make fun of Christina Aguilerra or something, while such harrowing devastation is taking place. I'm honestly not sure what to say.

But I will say this. In my second day working at Homeland Security I was asked to take minutes at a meeting of federal officials. I think it had to do with transportation security. Anyway, one immediate impression I came away with was that FEMA is poorly run. This based only on the gentleman they sent for this meeting. But over the next several months that impression was solidified more than it was called into question. FEMA has done a great job in the aftermath of some disasters, but honestly if a hurricane just leaves one big trail of ripped up houses and you get to ride into town with millions upon millions of dollars in federal money and start handing out goodies, it's pretty hard not to be a hero, and hard not to be a well-received overwhelming success. For all its devastation, jobs like the Hurrican Andrew clean-up--as far as the Federal Agency was concerned--was fairly simple. Ride up to people, hand out food/medicine, have them send grant applications to Washington, and then send big checks. Katrina required a response that was aggressive, resourceful, creative, and brave, and judging from the (admittedly limited) vantage point of the casual media observer it appears to have been none of these things.

That really is a shame. It's sad to see the public Katrina talk starting to get nasty, but it's pretty easy to understand the incredible frustration that is being felt, and how readily that frustation could turn to anger over the course of a few days. The greatest tragedy is this: Katrina--awful in every other way--presented a perfect opportunity for a bitterly divided country to rally together. It should have eased partisan tensions in Washington and in the media as leaders came together to help victims and the grim but inspiring tale was told to the American people. It should have brought together white and black citizens of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama as a diverse people found themselves standing together with nothing, seeking solace and help from one another as they faced the loss and tried to move forward together.

As the Mother Hips sang "what good thing do bad things do? Pull us all together." Unfortunately this disaster and its aftermath are now spawning a bitter divisiveness. I'm not pointing the finger at the complainers. The angry protestations of New Orleans' mayor, black legislators, Maureen Dowd, and maybe even Kanye West are well grounded and legitimate. It's easy to become outraged. But it's a shame that what could have contained the silver lining of closing the racial and partisan chasms that exist in America has instead widened them further.