Another Good One

Marshall Wittman over at Bull Moose gets it right again today with another must-read post. I'm going to quote from it at length, but please do click through and read the whole thing, it's worth it:

"The Moose laments the lack of sober leadership.

Once again, the nation is faced with a major challenge. In the weeks immediately after 9/11, we joined together on a bi-partisan basis to meet the threat. Alas, that unity was short-lived. As we approach the fourth anniversary of the terrorist assault, the country must address a different type of attack - from mother nature. However, this time we are a nation bitterly divided along partisan lines.

Can our national officials now provide the unifying leadership the nation deserves and desperately needs? We must not only rebuild a region of our country and a a major city, but we are engaged in a war that is not going well. First and foremost, President Bush should show the way and put the national interest first and eschew the polarizing politics of the past several years.

The President's speech yesterday was oddly disconnected from the enormity and scope of the tragedy. It was less Churchillian and more the product of a bureaucratic committee. The speech was more worthy of a Commissioner of Public Works than a President of the United States. Perhaps a four week vacation dulls one's senses and political skills. For this crisis, there is no Giuliani-type presence."

He calls on fiscal responsibility and judgment, suggesting that if the Adminstration and congressional leaders are unwilling, "a bi-partisan congressional coalition should forge a national interest budget that makes the necessary adjustments in fiscal policy to pay for the war and the rebuilding of the gulf states."

The heart-wrenching scenes of desperation and chaos continue to show up on our television screens. As others have said, it is like watching something out of a war zone, or a Hollywood movie, or moments after the December tsunami. Not only those in the devastated region, but all Americans, are looking to each other and to our elected officials for calm, effective leadership - to manage the immediate cleanup as well as the long-term implications of Hurricane Katrina's ravages.