Backsliding

David Remnick has an astounding article in the New Yorker this week about Hurricane Katrina. The article begins with a parallel story from 1965, when Lyndon Johnson was alerted about the devastation of Hurricane Betsy, which also flooded New Orleans. Similarly to today, we were at war; however, there was no 24-hour news channel, no internet, no cell phones.

What did LBJ do without all that modern technology? He flew Air Force One to New Orleans that evening, was led around by flashlight in the dark, drove the motercade through the city, talked to people, and promised to cut all red tape. The next morning he fired a 16-page telegram to New Orleans detailing the recovery plan.

Obviously W is a different kind of president. Letterman said it best the other night when he called W "Quick on his feet, cool in a crisis." Of course the irony isn't as clear written out, but believe me, it was funny.

Ironically, everything these days takes so much longer than it used to. After the earthquake of 1906, San Francisco replaced 50+ cablecar lines in six months. Can you imagine that today? The Golden Gate Bridge went up in four years--it's going to take them until 2012 to put up HALF of the Bay Bridge. This is with new technology, increased productivity -- you name it, it's better. But everything takes so much longer.

Maybe part of it is too much democracy. Generally that's good -- plenty of decisions have been made in smoke-filled rooms over history to the disadvantage of the general public. But it's a bad idea in times of crisis, like Katrina. Things need to get done when a hurricane hits, and talking about it in circles slows down crucial help and decisions. Which is why we elect a president - he's one guy to lead and make decisions and steer the ship through troubled waters.

W didn't do that. The "excess democracy" reasoning doesn't excuse W, either--it's not as if he spent the days after the hurricane caucusing for a unified plan. He simply wasn't doing his job. And he doesn't care about black people. (I can't resist!)