David Brooks Hits a Homer
I've been looking around all week for a good column coalescing all the emotions of the last week into something real. I think David Brooks obliges in tomorrow's New York Times. I'm going to quote at length, because it's good:
"As Ross Douthat observed on his blog, The American Scene, Katrina was the anti-9/11.
On Sept. 11, Rudy Giuliani took control. The government response was quick and decisive. The rich and poor suffered alike. Americans had been hit, but felt united and strong. Public confidence in institutions surged.
Last week in New Orleans, by contrast, nobody took control. Authority was diffuse and action was ineffective. The rich escaped while the poor were abandoned. Leaders spun while looters rampaged. Partisans squabbled while the nation was ashamed.
The first rule of the social fabric - that in times of crisis you protect the vulnerable - was trampled. Leaving the poor in New Orleans was the moral equivalent of leaving the injured on the battlefield. No wonder confidence in civic institutions is plummeting.
And the key fact to understanding why this is such a huge cultural moment is this: Last week's national humiliation comes at the end of a string of confidence-shaking institutional failures that have cumulatively changed the nation's psyche. ...
Katrina means that the political culture, already sour and bloody-minded in many quarters, will shift. There will be a reaction. There will be more impatience for something new. There is going to be some sort of big bang as people respond to the cumulative blows of bad events and try to fundamentally change the way things are.
Reaganite conservatism was the response to the pessimism and feebleness of the 1970's. Maybe this time there will be a progressive resurgence. Maybe we are entering an age of hardheaded law and order. (Rudy Giuliani, an unlikely G.O.P. nominee a few months ago, could now win in a walk.) Maybe there will be call for McCainist patriotism and nonpartisan independence. All we can be sure of is that the political culture is about to undergo some big change.
We're not really at a tipping point as much as a bursting point. People are mad as hell, unwilling to take it anymore."
He's right. We're not. Who's going to step up? Who's going to lead?
posted by JBD @ 7:23 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
Brooks is a fave of mine and hits it right on the head. It should be added that Giuliani, in addition to his Alpha Dog, take charge personality, had the massive resources of NY City and the Port Authority directly at his disposal- in contrast to the asset-dependent NO's authorities. The lack of clear lines of authority and communication resulted in unnecessary human death and suffering. For what it's worth, those problems can be mended and improved for future emergencies.
That being said, this Administration will bear the brunt of the blame. The President has become a velcro politician.
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I would like to point out comparisons between Mayor Nagin and Mayor Giuliani are pretty asymmetrical. I will never take away from Giuliani what a great job he did on 9-11, but he was not dealing with a city whose entire infrastructure was gone. On 9-11, the largest loss past the buildings and lives was the first responders. The area around the World Trade Centers was a very small portion of New York City while the entire Greater New Orleans area, as well as Mississippi and Alabama's coastline were affected by Katrina and it’s aftermath. Communications equipment, police and all services were completely overrun. This was a textbook example of the need for Federal Government involvement in the first hours. In my opinion, at the very least, the President should have ordered the hospital ships and other military assets to begin the trip to the Gulf Coast on last Saturday, when it was known to be a Category 5 storm. I can't help but think that had this storm been headed for Florida he probably would have. It is amazing how much better a governor can respond with the full cooperation of the Feds at his back. Maybe if Louisiana had a Republican Governor, Senator and Mayor, they would have been given more help in the first hours.
What about all the help that FEMA wouldn't let in like airboats from Florida, and search and rescue teams from Canada? For what reason were these assets been turned away?
There is no comparison that would apply between the Mayor's responses of this disaster because they aren't even on the same scale.
I’m not so hot about Brooks’ theories. Institutionally, there has not been a particularly sharp decline in public confidence. There has been a decline since 9/11 but that is because the terrorist attacks artificially inflated the numbers. Where the decline is noticeable, is that Americans are loosing confidence in the political leaders. This is nether worrisome or unexpected. I don’t see Giuliani or McCain filling the political void. Both have big question marks about their ability to get the nomination. Even if they do get the GOP nod, the Iraq War will hurt them with voters. Already, public opinion is turning away from the war and it is trending in the “bring them home” direction. I think Mickey Kaus is right when he says that a lot of the discussion about Katrina is actually a discussion about Iraq. This could become the political Kabuki performance for the next two election cycles. I admit that it is dangerous to project three years out but if I am right, McCain and Giuliani way past the center on the most important issue around. The two of them just don’t realize it yet.
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