Fausta's Blog

American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

September 10, 2005 By Fausta

Val MacQueen and Dr. K, and The Shaming of The Economist and the Beeb
The Economist editorial board’s been watching too much BBCA news, and now they’re on a roll: their latest cover shows an exploitive photo of a very distressed black woman crying — she wears a t-shirt with the words “NEW ORLEANS” across her chest. The title of the cover reads “The shaming of America”, as you can see.

The op-ed article’s lead line says “Hurricane Katrina has exposed both personal and structural weaknesses in America’s government”. This statement alone demonstrates the change in the Editorial perspective at the Economist — I remember the days of old when they had a libertarian slant. Since when, I ask, does government have personal traits?

Then the article starts,

Since Hurricane Katrina, the world’s view of America has changed. The disaster has exposed some shocking truths about the place: the bitterness of its sharp racial divide, the abandonment of the dispossessed,

As for the abandoment charges, I respectfully refer the Economist to my post of two days ago, where I linked to an article that stated that, by last Tuesday evening donations had already dwarfed the first week’s efforts to help victims of last year’s Asian tsunami and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, but let’s continue with The Economist,

the weakness of critical infrastructure. But the most astonishing and most shaming revelation has been of its government’s failure to bring succour to its people at their time of greatest need.

Of course, it’s up the The Economist to teach us while (like the Beeb, which can’t leave no cliché unturned), taking a swipe at Condoleezza Rice for seeing Spamalot on Broadway “while New Orleans’s poor looked out at the floodwaters”:

Local government must shoulder some of the blame. The authorities in Louisiana have a reputation for confusion, inefficiency and worse. Different authorities are responsible for different levees, for example, and several close associates of the former mayor were recently indicted for corruption. Local incompetence exacerbated the disaster: in Orleans Parish, for instance, where 60,000 households do not own a car, hundreds of city buses which might have shipped out stranded people were left to be swamped by the rising waters.

Still, Washington is mostly at fault. The responsibility for mobilising the response to a disaster lies squarely with the federal government. And the responsibility for galvanising the federal government lies squarely with the president.

Dr. Krauthammer has something to say about the #1 and #2 spots:

Let’s be clear. The author of this calamity was, first and foremost, Nature (or if you prefer, Nature’s God). The suffering was augmented, aided and abetted in descending order of culpability by the following:

1. The mayor of New Orleans. He knows the city. He knows the danger. He knows that during Hurricane Georges in 1998, the use of the Superdome was a disaster and fully two-thirds of residents never got out of the city. Nothing was done. He declared a mandatory evacuation only 24 hours before Hurricane Katrina hit. He did not even declare a voluntary evacuation until the day before that, at 5 p.m. At that time, he explained that he needed to study his legal authority to call a mandatory evacuation and was hesitating to do so lest the city be sued by hotels and other businesses.

2. The governor. It’s her job to call up the National Guard and get it to where it has to go. Where the Guard was in the first few days is a mystery. Indeed, she issued an authorization for the National Guard to commandeer school buses to evacuate people on Wednesday afternoon — more than two days after the hurricane hit and after much of the fleet had already drowned in its parking lots.

Val McQueen at Tech Central Station points out the BBC reporters’ certain lack of knowledge, knowledge The Economist also appears to lack

However much BBC correspondents continue to misunderestimate him, Bush had been trying for three days to get Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco to declare a state of emergency so he could release federal funds and aid and have them on the spot when Katrina hit. Blanco and her sidekick, NO’s hopeless mayor (dubbed “genuinely heroic” by BBC correspondent Matt Wells), who had 500 school and local buses lined up per New Orleans’ contingency plan and watched passively as the water rose and rendered them inoperable as tens of thousands of people in the Superdome endured a nightmare, Mad Max world.
. . .
The willful ignorance is breathtaking. Speaking in torturously contrived, insulting clichés is part of the drill. “The winds of Katrina will howl down the corridors of power for many years to come,” keened Frei, clearly thinking Bush is Blanco’s boss and he could simply take over the reins if he chose

Back to the Economist, it’s Spamalot time:

The administration’s initial response recalled Donald Rumsfeld’s reaction to the anarchy in Iraq: stuff happens. George Bush was listless and confused. Dick Cheney, the vice-president, remained on holiday in Wyoming. Condoleezza Rice, the highest ranking black in the country, saw a Broadway show, “Spamalot”, while New Orleans’s poor looked out at the floodwaters.

I guess this means that if Dr. Rice (or any Secretary of State, if you think about it) had missed Spamalot the levees wouldn’t break and flood waters would never rise. The Economist editor must have been watching the BBC when the Beeb reporter said,

‘In the workout room of the condo where I am currently staying in the affluent LA neighbourhood of Santa Monica, an executive and his personal trainer ignored the anguished television reports blaring above their heads on Friday evening’

since Spamalot and personal trainers have about as much to do with the subject. Or perhaps both the Beeb and The Economist believe the Secreatry of State is played by Charlton Heston in The Ten Commandments and can, with a touch of his staff (pun intended), separate the waters. I wonder where the Foreign Ministers of France, Romania, Croatia, Switzerland, Austria and Germany were when the Floods_hit_much_of_Europe_42_die as Europe counts cost of flood chaos.

The Economist continues,

Mr Bush then added disingenuity to leaden-footedness, declaring that nobody had anticipated the breaching of the levees—even though people have been worrying about the possibility for years and an official report published in 2001 warned of impending disaster.

I don’t know about “nobody” but the locals certainly didn’t: take a look at this slide show (via The Anchoress) and tell me if the locals had any sense of urgency. Never mind the fact that the levees that failed were already completed projects.

The Economist editor’s now warmed into a froth:

Mr Bush’s personal weakness is shaming

What’s even more shaming is how these two Brit media enclaves (The Economist is a British mag, even when they call themselves a “newspaper”) can’t seem to find the time to stop echoing each other and learn about the facts. MacQueen explains in his article,

With an inexcusable lack of acquaintance with the political structure of the US, particularly the separation of powers between the states and the federal government, and Louisiana’s 200 years of institutional corruption, the British Broadcasting Corporation barreled into New Orleans with pre-fabricated opinions which it broadcast back to Britain standing against local backgrounds.

You could safely exchange “British Broadcasting Corporation” for “Economist” and reach the same conclusion. At least the BBC had a correspondent in New Orleans.

Update Alice Miles on the racial divide.

PostScript, September 12: Here’s my letter to the Editor of The Economist,

By bringing attention to Dr. Rice’s race (“Condoleezza Rice, the highest ranking black in the country, saw a Broadway show, “Spamalot”, while New Orleans’s poor looked out at the floodwaters.”) you demonstrate both your ignorance of the political structure of the American government, and your exploitation of another black woman’s grief on your cover while pretending to illustrate “The shaming of America”.

As Secretary of State, Dr. Rice has absolutely no authority to do anything about internal USA matters. Her post is similar to that of a Foreign Minister in other countries. I guess you expect that if Dr. Rice (or any Secretary of State, if you think about it) had missed Spamalot the levees wouldn’t break and flood waters would never rise. Going by your premise, one has to wonder where the Foreign Ministers of France, Romania, Croatia, Switzerland, Austria and Germany were when last week’s floods hit much of Europe, leaving 42 dead (the headlines read http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4182758.stm Europe counts cost of flood chaos), and ask why doesn’t your periodical bring attention to their whereabouts.

Your ignorance is inexcusable. Your mendacity, limitless.

(technorati tags katrina, Media, News and politics)

Share

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Tweets by @Fausta
retirees_raise-2015_300x250

Pages

  • About
  • Email

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Previous Posts

  • Mrs. Maisel goes full Alinsky on Mrs. Schlafly
  • Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?
  • You need to unfriend me
  • Go ahead and Kiss the Girl, if you dare
  • Ashamed

Recent Comments

  • Today’s hot topics: Democrats’ collusion shift, tax-return rift, Venezuela drift, and more! – PoliticalWitchDoctor.com on Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?
  • Today’s hot topics: Democrats’ collusion shift, tax-return rift, Venezuela drift, and more! - AmericanTruthToday on Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?
  • Did Venezuela’s Minister of Defense Back Out At The Last Minute? on Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?
  • Roseanne Not Back, Khan not Invited, Operaman’s back, Jobs back, Fausta’s back (but not here yet) Thoughts under the fedora – Da Tech Guy Blog on Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?
  • jeff henry on Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?

Archives

  • 2019
    • December 2019
    • May 2019
    • January 2019
  • 2018
    • December 2018
    • October 2018
    • July 2018
    • June 2018
    • April 2018
    • March 2018
    • February 2018
    • January 2018
  • 2017
    • December 2017
    • November 2017
    • October 2017
    • September 2017
    • August 2017
    • July 2017
    • June 2017
    • May 2017
    • April 2017
    • March 2017
    • February 2017
    • January 2017
  • 2016
    • December 2016
    • November 2016
    • October 2016
    • September 2016
    • August 2016
    • July 2016
    • June 2016
    • May 2016
    • April 2016
    • March 2016
    • February 2016
    • January 2016
  • 2015
    • December 2015
    • November 2015
    • October 2015
    • September 2015
    • August 2015
    • July 2015
    • June 2015
    • May 2015
    • April 2015
    • March 2015
    • February 2015
    • January 2015
  • 2014
    • December 2014
    • November 2014
    • October 2014
    • September 2014
    • August 2014
    • July 2014
    • June 2014
    • May 2014
    • April 2014
    • March 2014
    • February 2014
    • January 2014
  • 2013
    • December 2013
    • November 2013
    • October 2013
    • September 2013
    • August 2013
    • July 2013
    • June 2013
    • May 2013
    • April 2013
    • March 2013
    • February 2013
    • January 2013
  • 2012
    • December 2012
    • November 2012
    • October 2012
    • September 2012
    • August 2012
    • July 2012
    • June 2012
    • May 2012
    • April 2012
    • March 2012
    • February 2012
    • January 2012
  • 2011
    • December 2011
    • November 2011
    • October 2011
    • September 2011
    • August 2011
    • July 2011
    • June 2011
    • May 2011
    • April 2011
    • March 2011
    • February 2011
    • January 2011
  • 2010
    • December 2010
    • November 2010
    • October 2010
    • September 2010
    • August 2010
    • July 2010
    • June 2010
    • May 2010
    • April 2010
    • March 2010
    • February 2010
    • January 2010
  • 2009
    • December 2009
    • November 2009
    • October 2009
    • September 2009
    • August 2009
    • July 2009
    • June 2009
    • May 2009
    • April 2009
    • March 2009
    • February 2009
    • January 2009
  • 2008
    • December 2008
    • November 2008
    • October 2008
    • September 2008
    • August 2008
    • July 2008
    • June 2008
    • May 2008
    • April 2008
    • March 2008
    • February 2008
    • January 2008
  • 2007
    • December 2007
    • November 2007
    • October 2007
    • September 2007
    • August 2007
    • July 2007
    • June 2007
    • May 2007
    • April 2007
    • March 2007
    • February 2007
    • January 2007
  • 2006
    • December 2006
    • November 2006
    • October 2006
    • September 2006
    • August 2006
    • July 2006
    • June 2006
    • May 2006
    • April 2006
    • March 2006
    • February 2006
    • January 2006
  • 2005
    • December 2005
    • November 2005
    • October 2005
    • September 2005
    • August 2005
    • July 2005
    • June 2005
    • May 2005
    • April 2005
    • March 2005
    • February 2005
    • January 2005
  • 2004
    • December 2004
    • November 2004
    • October 2004
    • September 2004
    • August 2004
    • July 2004
    • June 2004
    • May 2004
    • April 2004
    • March 2004
Content Copyright Fausta's Blog

Site Developed and Managed by 300m.com