If You Must Get Wiped Out, Do So In a Swing State in An Even-Numbered Year

Binky, in a comment to her own excellent post, directs attention to this comparison -- drawn from statements issued by the White House and FEMA itself; this is no lefty gerrymandering of data -- between the federal response to three consecutive hurricanes in a swing state in a presidential election year (i.e., Charley, Frances, and Ivan in Florida), which wrought substantial damage that nonetheless pales by comparison to Katrina, and the response to Katrina.

Both in anticipation of, during, and following the hurricanes in question Florida unequivocally received more preparatory activity, more effective administration during the storm, and more rapid response times in the wakes of the storms. BillMon notes that during that span, Bush went from polling as a 41-47 underdog in Florida to polling 49-41 over Kerry. He notes that it's unfortunate the good people of Louisiana and Mississippi are a bit too reliably red-state-ish to warrant such attention, because it certainly wasn't for want of advance (this is a DHS memo dated August 27 acknowldging the threat posed by Katrina) warning that the Bush admin ordered virtually no preparation for Katrina.

So you can see that when the chips are down, and the need is absolutely dire, this administration can still deliver the kind of coordinated emergency response that once made the U.S. government the envy of the world -- just as it cooly and capably protected the Iraqi Oil Ministry from the chaos and looting that trashed every other government office in post-invasion Baghdad. As is usually the case in public service, it's just a matter of having the right incentives.

The comparison between the TLC showered on Florida last year and Bush's initial "What, me worry?" response to this year's disaster no doubt will go unnoticed by the amnesia patients in the corporate media. And since I'm lucky enough to live in a swing state that is also coveted by GOP political strategists, I probably don't have to worry about it either -- that is, as long as any future disasters around my neck of the woods happen in one of those years divisible by two.

Really, the comparison is must-read stuff. I recognize that logistical problems unique to Katrina did nothing to help evacuation and supply efforts, but there's simply no indication that FEMA prepared for this assault on NOLA half as hard as it did for each of three hurricanes in Florida last year. If it's not race, then it's politics, and in any event its reprehensible.

Also care of Bloodless, this story, about the stage management attendant to Bush's whistle-stop tour of the south, tells a truly harrowing -- and extremely well-sourced -- story of Bush not only standing before one utterly contrived scene after another, but also of urgently needed supplies lying useless on the ground while pretty much everything that flew was grounded so that Bush could do his photo ops. Again, a must read.