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a word of caution regarding finger-pointing and motivations
Maybe it's true that the nature and timing of the federal government's response to Katrina has been motivated, in part, by racial prejudice, or by the fact that New Orleans has been a Democratic stronghold.
But if it's true, it's probably almost impossible to prove. In the meantime, by harping on this issue, vital attention--of which the media and the populace have a strictly limited supply--is diverted away from the very clear evidence of incompetence, lack of preparation, and lack of leadership. If I were the Bush administration, I'd be very happy to be accused of racism in this context: I could point to Rice and to Powell, act indignant, and every second I spend "defending" myself against unprovable accusations is a second that I'm not being barraged by questions about how our self-described "war president" could have screwed this up so very, very badly.
Focus on the mistakes, not on their hypothetical motivation.
But if it's true, it's probably almost impossible to prove. In the meantime, by harping on this issue, vital attention--of which the media and the populace have a strictly limited supply--is diverted away from the very clear evidence of incompetence, lack of preparation, and lack of leadership. If I were the Bush administration, I'd be very happy to be accused of racism in this context: I could point to Rice and to Powell, act indignant, and every second I spend "defending" myself against unprovable accusations is a second that I'm not being barraged by questions about how our self-described "war president" could have screwed this up so very, very badly.
Focus on the mistakes, not on their hypothetical motivation.