Tales Of Brave Ulysses

It’s been amazing watching the collapse of civilization in New Orleans this past week. The collapse happened with shocking rapidity, as the city descended into looting and violence amidst the flood waters. The rule of law has been suspended and a major metropolitan area has been lost. The mayor is talking about the city being closed for months before rebuilding can begin.

The governor of Louisiana is giving orders to the National Guard to shoot to kill in an effort to stop the looting and violent gangs roaming the streets. And once again our fearless leader was too busy goofing off at his ranch in Texas to organize a rapid response. Shades of “My Pet Goat” all over again. Of course it is un-American to criticize Bush’s dim witted response, or his budget’s gutting of FEMA and flood control measures in New Orleans.

It’s not like this was a total surprise. Those pesky scientists modeled this exact scenario years ago, but nobody bothered to heed the warnings. Cutbacks in federal funding and the gutting of FEMA into the distaff child of Homeland Security have turned this into a nightmare scenario.