Ja no parlen del Katrina

El temps posa les coses al seu lloc, però als media ja no els interessa. Victor David Hanson posa el dit a la llaga.

Remember all of this about Hurricane Katrina?

The destruction was the result of global warming. And it was made worse by too many troops off in Iraq. Endemic racism and neglected environmental legislation were as toxic as flood. Military assets were unused due to incompetence or heartlessness. The neglect of the victims was an indictment of a crass and uncaring society.

But none of that ad hoc "analysis" proved conclusive.

Yes, Hurricane Katrina revealed swearing, crying and stupefied public officials at all levels. Their initial paralysis may have endangered some lives. But the media's coverage turned out to be almost as disturbing as natural calamity and initial bureaucratic ineptness — in both the falsehood it spread and the truth it ignored. Political commentators proved more disturbing, seeking to turn death to partisan advantage.

The public was given few facts about what really happened among those trapped, especially the human mayhem that took place. Most would appreciate evidence before sweeping cultural analysis of half-reported stories that were not followed up because they were either untrue or politically incorrect.

Did hundreds of New Orleans' police — so unlike their New York 9/11 counterparts —really walk off the job or never report for duty amid the crisis? Did law enforcement often allow the stubborn to stay behind and then ignore looters at the height of the peril — only later to evict survivors trying to rebuild when the waters receded? Did looters (in search of food or clothing?) really attempt to vandalize the national shrine of the D-Day Museum that survived the flood waters?

And too many of the hysterical pronouncements of ill-informed officials were reported as gospel truth — and then forgotten — in 24-hour bursts. So "25,000 body bags!" and "10,000 dead" beneath the muck of a submerged city were quietly superseded by the matter-of-fact news reports that the airport would open shortly.
Now we are also told that Mardi Gras may be back on schedule. How could such radical improvement happen at ground zero in a city of corpses that supposedly would not recover for decades?

Most people concluded on their own, without help from any talking heads, that one of the worst natural disasters in American history had at first stunned local, state and federal governments, brought out the worst in Louisiana politics and incited a criminal element.

Llegiu la resta aquí. Traduit (més o menys) al castellà, aquí.