Pointing Fingers

The media's blaming Bush. Nagin's blaming Blanco (having apparently realized that all those school buses sitting under water made it pretty hard to take seriously the claim that it was the fed's fault). Blanco's still trying to decide who to blame--or maybe trying to decide if there will be a hurricane season next year. Perhaps when they select the first woman to play Hamlet...Bush isn't blaming anyone, continuing his trend of loyalty to a fault.

None of this is particularly helpful to the people still stranded in New Orleans. The relief and recovery efforts that are ongoing are what they need. And they're happening at full speed now. The hard part is still to come. There are decisions that need serious consideration before we pour billions into rebuilding a city below sea level in a hurricane-prone region. One of my great concerns is that the political pressures to make up for the "slow response" will lead us to ignore those concerns and just barge ahead...leading to yet another round of tragedy and recriminations in the future.