I had not planned to write on this particular topic because everything that I would say has already been said, but the President's press conference this morning pushed me over the edge.  More below the fold

President Bush says that in New Orleans, the results that the federal government response in New Orleans has been "unacceptable." I wholeheartedly agree.  However, this display of pure Bushian evasion is not an attempt by President Bush to own up for his lack of action and to take responsibility for the failure of his government.  Instead, it is an attempt by the Commander-in-Chief to deflect responsibility for the failed response in New Orleans from himself and onto others in his malfunctioning government.  People say that this is not the time to politicize this tragedy, and I agree.  However, the phrase "we should not politicize this tragedy" is usually a cowardly way for those responsible to evade accountability.  Instead, everyone who believes that the United States government has the power and responsibility to solve problems, respond to disasters, and protect the lives of its citizens, and who is ashamed and embarrassed by its current failures, must shout from on high about who is truly responsible for this failure on the part of the federal government.  This must be an accountability moment. 

The most basic mission of government is to protect the welfare and lives of its citizens, particularly in times of uncertainty and crisis, by providing for disaster mitigation before crises occur, as well as services, transportation, rations, and medicine when they do.  To fulfill this duty, it is required to provide for necessary infrastructure investments to guard against and mitigate the impacts of catastrophes, and before and after natural disasters, to provide for the allocation of emergency management resources.  The decisions that have been made in the past, the absolute lack of planning to mitigate this potentially catastrophic disaster, as well and the failure to act on the part of this government, show not only a complete and utter disregard for the security and sanctity of human life.  In so many ways this government has failed miserably to perform this most basic duty at a most critical time, and they must be held accountable.  A lack of government foresight and planning, and the failure to provide necessary resources in an efficient manner is directly responsible for the situation in New Orleans.  Policymakers in the White House and in the bureaucracy did absolutely nothing to prevent what was an eminently preventable occurrence, and this dereliction borders on criminal.  

This bungled disaster mitigation and response effort on the part of the federal government is an unambiguous demonstration of incompetence, ineptitude, and failure and responsibility lies at the feet of the GOP.  This is a government that is controlled at every level by Republicans, including the bureaucratic agencies responsible for disaster response, which are controlled and led by Republican appointees.  It is the GOP that failed to provide resources for levee reinforcement and construction.  It is the GOP that diverted the Army Reserve and National Guardsmen and other forces to Iraq, it is the GOP that has dismantled FEMA so that it was unable to properly prepare for and then respond to the disaster in New Orleans.  This event serves not only as a severe implication of Republican priorities (tax cuts and a misguided war before the safety of American citizens) governance, but also belies the shortsighted conservative belief that government can be starved of necessary resources and then be expected to function at its highest capacity.

The failure of the government to both protect the city of New Orleans, and then the failure to prepare and respond to this disaster have been well documented.  Here you will find a complete accounting of how the federal government failed to prevent a disaster of this magnitude from happening, even though it was known that a catastrophe of this magnitude could, and most likely would, happen.