N.O. to the the Boy King: ""That would be a huge mistake, Mr. President."

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/index.html?blog=/politics/war_room/2005/09/13/letter/index.html

The city isn't pumped dry yet -- far from it -- and the news about the government's bungling continues to dribble in. And now, there's this: another letter from the Times-Picayune. While the paper's editors herald the first signs of a rebirth in New Orleans, they've got a message for Bush: "Don't kid yourself, Mr. President." Bush has begun to talk about how the people of New Orleans must make their own decisions about where and how to rebuild, paving the way -- or at least it seems to us -- to ease the federal government out of the equation as soon as the initial emergency passes.

That won't do, the editors say. "It will become easy -- with no evacuees on roofs, no starving, clamoring people at the Superdome and Convention Center -- to decide that you have fulfilled your commitment to New Orleans," they write. "That would be a huge mistake, Mr. President. The New Orleans that we and the nation deserve will be protected by thriving marshlands, walled off for floods, rebuilt even for its poorest citizens. It will be endowed with the schools, roads and new infrastructure that will allow it once again to be a viable urban center, a vital port, a cultural treasure to America and the world."

The editors say that they're "well aware" that the people of New Orleans can't rely on the government alone for help in rebuilding their lives. "But faced with a disaster like this hurricane, no community can fend for itself," they write. "Many of us cannot return to our homes because they were flooded, due to inadequate levees and an inadequate effort to restore the coastline of Louisiana. These are problems that successive administrations, including yours, have ignored.

"All of us deserve a chance to return to decent homes. New Orleanians also deserve to know that our federal government has made an all-out effort to ensure that a disaster like Katrina cannot happen again. Such an effort should include concrete and dirt, creative thinking, and a commitment that will last for years."

[Missy M]

1. The people of NO should have their own decisions of where and...

how to rebuild but it must be with the financial help of the federal government. How can you abandon a city and its citizens who lost everything. I guess he must want Halliburton to decide.

[NorCalDem]

2. Recommended!

[calimary]

3. Oh yes, Absolutely recommended!

Superb editorial. Looks like we will have a Times/Picayune as our nation's conscience, at least for awhile. When everybody else is tempted, or pushed, bullied, and propagandized to think that it's all better now, they will be there keeping this issue alive. Maybe they'll even guilt the nation into remaining vigilant. Hopefully. We can't let the media or our fellow civilians go back to sleep and forget what happened. Lest we risk another calamity that "nobody could have anticipated."

[Nikki Stone 1]

4. nominated

:kick:

[Daphne08]

5. Oh, so we can rebuild Iraq, but we can't rebuild New Orleans?

:grr:

[buddysmellgood]

6. But aren't the people there in the low lying land poor and so black?

George took responsibility. He said it in front of everyone. Now it's over. Go to sleep.

[LittleClarkie]

7. Gee, why can't he take that tactic to Iraq

and ease us out of THERE.

[The Backlash Cometh]

8. Be careful what you wish for.

NOLA should not give full power to the federal government to rebuild. It would be too easy for Bush to give the contracts to his buddies.