NYT's Paul Krugman: "Killed By Contempt"

[babylonsister]

NY Times journalists are telling it like it is; kudos and I'm grateful they are read far and wide!


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/opinion/05krugman.html

Each day since Katrina brings more evidence of the lethal ineptitude of federal officials. I'm not letting state and local officials off the hook, but federal officials had access to resources that could have made all the difference, but were never mobilized.

Here's one of many examples: The Chicago Tribune reports that the U.S.S. Bataan, equipped with six operating rooms, hundreds of hospital beds and the ability to produce 100,000 gallons of fresh water a day, has been sitting off the Gulf Coast since last Monday - without patients.

Experts say that the first 72 hours after a natural disaster are the crucial window during which prompt action can save many lives. Yet action after Katrina was anything but prompt. Newsweek reports that a "strange paralysis" set in among Bush administration officials, who debated lines of authority while thousands died.

more...

[Mass]

1. Krugman nails it here - they dont believe in the federal govt doing good

What caused that paralysis? President Bush certainly failed his test. After 9/11, all the country really needed from him was a speech. This time it needed action - and he didn't deliver.

But the federal government's lethal ineptitude wasn't just a consequence of Mr. Bush's personal inadequacy; it was a consequence of ideological hostility to the very idea of using government to serve the public good. For 25 years the right has been denigrating the public sector, telling us that government is always the problem, not the solution. Why should we be surprised that when we needed a government solution, it wasn't forthcoming?

[supernova]

11. Nice to know he agrees with me

I said something similar in the UK forum yesterday.

[Dudley_DUright]

2. Kudos to both Krugman and Herbert

:applause::applause:

[babylonsister]

9. NY Times got it right today, didn't they?

[Toots]

3. a "strange paralysis" set in among Bush administration officials,

I think that could be called Vacation. The whole damn Administration was on Vacation....

[pippin]

5. Paralysis?

Bush has been comatosed since birth.

[Mairead]

12. It's interesting that he describes it as "debating lines of authority"

That's something the Nazis were notorious for doing--squabbling over lines of authority. Some historians reckon that life would have been much worse for their victims had they not been spending so much of their time quarreling over turf.

BushCo like the Nazis? Nawwww.... Well, on second thought maybe so.

[xchrom]

4. krugman is great.

but i don't know how much faith i have in the public -- the extreme media{known as msm around here} will fall into line with the corporate agenda -- which as far as i can tell is to sell bushco at all possible costs.

yes there were locals to blame -- but before the hurricane came ANYWHERE near NO we all knew this was far bigger than any state or cty could respond to reasonably.

and what does bushco do?
well -- just like 9-11 -- they let it happen.

i'm cynical and jaded beyond measure -- at the end of the day i think bushco will go scott free on this.

[peacetalksforall]

6. This really hurts me - to thank the NYT two times in one day.

Thanks for posting.

Print multiples and distribute.

It is our duty to share and educate for the survival of our country and all the victims. It could have been us. Abandoned. Utterly abandoned.

This past week will go down as the most disastrous act of partisanship and hate onthe part of a ruling regime of extreme fascists.

[lateo]

7. Krugman is the best.

His point about the USS Bataan is huge...it just shows the complete and utter incompetence of this Bush gang.

[babylonsister]

8. Kick - great read.

[Joanne98]

10. BRAVO as usual!