Blame Him! Blame Her! Blame Them! Spin, Spin, Spin!

My blog articles are getting fewer and far between. Like I recently did with my friend Richard, I am sure that I could probably state that it is because I am "too busy." The truth is that I have become disillusioned by the whole process of understanding and then caring with what is going on in our world. The normal avenues of receiving the events of the news have turned into a gaggle of over-reporting, biased, unqualified idiots with political or marketing agendas that are corporately designed to convince all of the American people what they should think. Furthermore, anyone who offers a counter idea or position to the set agenda, has their credibility and existence systematically attacked. With me being a former passive protester to the last unwarranted military attack by my beloved country, I could not stomach the most recent coordinated smear of a mother whose son was killed in Iraq. I am weary of the battle of thought and I am close to giving up.

Then….

Along comes Hurricane Katrina. Billions upon billions of dollars of property damage is done. Several hundred people lose their lives. Over one half of a million people’s lives are significantly altered, many have lost everything. All of America saw the death, suffering and human tragedy on their televisions. The sadness, bewilderment and anger are overwhelming.

When the sky cleared over Alabama, Mississippi and mostly Louisiana, the finger pointing and spin begins. How could so much human suffering have happened in America? Everyone has someone to blame and everyone who is blamed has a strategic counter blame. Over the last 2 weeks I have heard it all – It’s the President’s fault, it’s the Governor of Louisiana’s fault, the mayor of New Orleans "is no Rudy Guilliani" therefore it is his fault and it’s FEMA’s fault. My personal favorite is that God did this to punish all of the sinners in New Orleans!

I consider the word "blame" to be irresponsible and I suggest that anyone with any intelligence and compassion to beware of anyone who recklessly uses it. The basic principle of problem identification/problem resolution requires that a "root cause" be determined before any accurate evaluation of the failures to the people can be completed.

America is at such a point of misdirection for it’s people, that I urge every American to put aside all of their political and self serving influences and ask themselves: "What is my personal expectation of local, state and federal government?"

My own personal answer to this question is rather simple. It is my expectation of local, state and federal government to spend my tax dollars to primarily provide adequate services and safety. When the services and safety cross local, state and federal lines of responsibility; I further expect my Mayor, my Governor and my President to play well together irrespective of their political history or affiliation. This concept is not profound or sexy. There is nothing in this concept that allows for lobbyist or spending my tax dollar on "pork projects" or for taking my tax dollar and attacking another country without declaring war.

I am a trained Information Technology & Business Disaster Recovery Planner. On a much smaller scale, all of the elements of a Business Recover Plan are the same. Although I have no valid insight into the specific plan, decisions and activities by officials associated with the approaching disaster of Hurricane Katrina, I am confident that either no or an inadequate Disaster Plan was in place for the Area of New Orleans.

An adequate plan would have clearly and without flaw:

• Defined the key decision points (and who was responsible to make the decisions)
• Defined the roles, responsibilities and coordination of local, state and federal officials
• Defined all of the resources and requirements for a successful evacuation: personnel, transportation, temporary housing, evacuation routes, etc.
• Defined the security of property after the evacuation
• Define and evaluate a simulated test of the disaster plan every 6 months

The lack of an adequate, tested for success Disaster Plan is the "root cause" of the human tragedy due to Hurricane Katrina. Having a viable plan to save human lives is a basic responsibility of our governments and the omission of the basics is a tragedy of responsibility.

EVERY official who has made decisions to cut resources, spend tax dollars elsewhere and to assume the risk should be held accountable by all Americans. If you are hung up on "blaming" someone, then we Americans should blame ourselves. Afterall, we are the ones who elect these individuals who assume the risk of our lives. Just because I am not a resident of New Orleans or Louisiana doesn't mean that I feel any safer from my own local and state government working with the inept federal government.

The government is tasked with spending our tax dollars on the services that provide for our lives and keep us safe. Unless they do that, they are not doing what they were elected to do. I am tired of hearing "what we have learned" and "what we are going to do". I would prefer to not see bodies floating in the floodwaters or diminished to ashes by falling skyscrapers before there are John Wayne type responses. For those floating or pulverized bodies and my heart, it is too little, too late.