Four years have passed since America's rude awakening to the threat of terrorism. Since that time, billions have been spent on recovery and then protection. We have seen a massive expansion of the federal government with the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. The USA PATRIOT Act, which gives law enforcement agencies unparalleled access into our personal lives, has been passed and renewed. Armed U.S. Marshals guard our planes, and no sneaker, however foul, goes unchecked by airport security. But one salient fact remains: We are not prepared.
That is the lesson Mother Nature has taught us. All our planning, all our training, all our spending has been for naught. Hurricane Katrina has demonstrated beyond a shadow of a doubt that the government is utterly unprepared to follow through on its most sacred duty: to ensure the safety of the American public. The ineptitude of our officials—local, state and federal alike—is nothing less than an invitation to al Qaeda and anyone else who would do us harm.
Despite the furious denials and spin, responsibility rests at the top. We have had five years of tough talk, homespun folksiness and missions accomplished. How much better off are we for all of it?
Perhaps it's time to get someone in the White House who's serious in his (or her?) concern for America and Americans. Talking a good game means nothing if it's not backed up by action. We need someone with the wisdom to formulate a coherent vision for the future and the humility to accept responsibility for failures to achieve this vision. We need a president, once again, who says "the buck stops here," and means it.
Step forward, wherever you are. Peace with insecurity cannot last. Either the insecurity goes, or else the peace. It's up to us.
Originally published as Peace and Insecurity in Our Time
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Eric Berlin
Pete -- I agree that the credibility of this administration has been damaged.
2 - Anthony Grande
Eric, Yeah that is what your liberal media is saying.
3 - Victor Plenty
Any media outlet stupid enough to claim the hurricane response was handled as well as it could have been deserves a fate no better than lining the bottom of a parrot cage.
4 - Douglas Anthony Cooper
(I just wanted to draw attention to the peculiar lack of irony in the chosen offering from amazon.com: I just checked, and "Peace in Our Time" is an *earnest* celebration of peace. I suppose that whoever chose the title thought that it, you know, sounded good...)
5 - Eric Berlin
Anthony: that's what I'm saying.
6 - Anthony Grande
The response after Katrina was handled well, but the pre-disaster response was terrible.
7 - Victor Plenty
That's priceless, Anthony. Seriously, no amount of argumentation could ever damage your credibility as seriously as you just did in comment 6. Thank you so much for this meritorious service to the cause of your opponents in every debate from this day forward until the end of time.
8 - Anthony Grande
No, these comments Liberal are making about Katrina will effect the outcomes of elections for a long time. Please explain how my credibilty went to hell after comment 6, there are plenty who agree with me.
There was no way to get the thousands of trapped people out, because Mayor Nagin let 550 buses sit there and get flooded.
9 - Tan The Man
"We have seen a massive expansion of the federal government with the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. The USA PATRIOT Act, which gives law enforcement agencies unparalleled access into our personal lives, has been passed and renewed."
If people complain about the extent to which the government claims power, then they should be more active. Being vocal can only do so much and hopefully more people realize that voting is an emmensely powerful tool is guiding the future of the country. MORE PEOPLE NEED TO VOTE. Not just on the presidential level, but House and Senate levels too.
10 - Scott
A.G. in comment 8: "Please explain how my credibilty went to hell after comment 6"
A.G. in comment 6: "The response after Katrina was handled well"
Need we say more?
11 - Anthony Grande
Please tell me how it wasn't handled well.
And also how is my credibility gone??? More than half the people here have been saying the same thing.
12 - Victor Plenty
More than half the voices in your head, maybe.
13 - Anthony Grande
See, the thing is liberal can't loose credibility because they haven't had any credibility since the Florida incident in the 2000 election.
It is at the point if you want the truth then take the opposite of what the Democrats and liberals are saying. And do not care what your comeback is because that is a 100% true.
14 - Scott
"Please tell me how it wasn't handled well"
Please tell me in what way you think it was.
15 - Victor Plenty
I'm neither a Democrat nor a liberal, Anthony. Only your damaged thought processes cause you to assume anyone who disagrees with your crap must be a liberal and a Democrat.
16 - Eric Berlin
See, the thing is liberal can't loose credibility because they haven't had any credibility since the Florida incident in the 2000 election.
What incident is that?
Recent reports have shown that if the Supreme Court had allowed a full recount, Gore would have won.
17 - Anthony Grande
Victor, you might not be a DemocRat but you are most definately a liberal, I have seen your comments.
Scott, I asked you first.
Eric B., those reports are FALSE. After all that bullshit was over liberal reporters went and counted the votes the way the liberals requested to change them and Bush was still ahead by 6 votes.
But if you go back in history, Democrats are the ones who have cheated in elections. Some examples: Tammany Hall was very Notorious for corrupting several New York elections from the mid 1800's to the early 1900's, Mayor Daley of Chicago and his mob cronies fixed Illinois elections left and right, 2 Louisiana governors have beened jailed for corruption, 4 N.O. mayors have been jailed for Corruption, JFK through his father's bootlegging connections had the Chicago Syndicate (LCN) fix Illinois for JFK, JFK promised mob members who got him elected that his brother Bobby would not be Attorney General, but he lied so he and his brother got shot, Native Americas in North Dakota would vote over twenty times to elect what's his face, and to this day in Illinois dead Indians vote for DemocRats.
Here is a list of my sources: The Last Mafioso, by Ovid Demaris; The Autobiography of Joe Bonanno; The Autobiography of Bill Bonanno; Double Cross by Sam and Chuck Giancana and Mafia Princess by Antoinette Giancana; Lansky by Hank Messick and some more but too much to mention.
18 - Scott
This should tell you all you need to know A.G..
19 - Athony Grande
Just like I said in Comment 6: The pre Hurricane disaster was handled terrible.
Your site complements my statement.
Now tell me, How was the Post Disaster not handled well.
20 - Victor Plenty
Actually I'm not a liberal, Anthony. You only think I am because I've disagreed with your extremist right-wing views on a few issues, and you imagine yourself to be the opposite of a liberal. There are plenty of issues where I disagree with the extremist left-wingers too.
Of course, that's probably too much subtlety for you to grasp.
That doesn't make me a "moderate," though. I don't choose my views just to be equidistant from both extremes.
21 - Anthony Grande
You support Michael Jackson to roam free, you support gay marriage, and you support gay parents raising kids.
Those three things are enough for me to make the conclusion that you are not a Conservative, but either Liberal or Moderate.
Please give me your definition of an "Extremist Right Winger".
22 - Victor Plenty
I support the rule of law, Anthony, and oppose extrajudicial executions. If we lynch Michael Jackson without obtaining a conviction in a court of law, we will be no better than Stalin's regime in Russia or Robespierre's in France.
Right wing extremists don't care whether we are any better than Stalin's Russia or Robespierre's France, so long as their own irrational prejudices are the ones in control of the government.
Conservative, liberal, and moderate are not the only types of political stance that exist. I'm none of those three.
23 - Scott
If you take time to actually read the article A.G., it lays it out in detail.
24 - G. Oren
I am a conservative and a Republican, and I believe that P.Blackwell is entirely correct. We have no plan to evacuate a major city nor a credible plan to rescue and respond.
Had this been a dirty bomb attack or an explosives attack on the levees we would have had less warning and an even more insufficient response.
There is plenty of blame to go around here, but the DHS must bear a great deal of that responsibility. We need planning and execution proper to the threat of natural and man-made disasters.
Someone should ask the folks in California how they plan to handle the "big one".
This is only a political issue in that it refelcts the competence of administrations - local, state and federal. That the Bush FEMA response was initially inadequate cannot be doubted. That the mayor might have done more to evacuate carless citizens and the infirm also cannot be doubted. As a side note, how many folks could 500 buses have hauled to Baton Rouge in a twelve hour period? I'm guessing 3,000 to 12,000 - still an inadequate response.
Don't try and tar critics with a liberal label because they point out the truth.
25 - Pete Blackwell
Oy vey! When are people going to realize that the safety of the American population is not a partisan issue? Thanks to G. Oren for getting the point.
Anthony, remember when you conservatives got all up in arms about how some (idiotic) liberals and leftists seemed to actually think that Ashcroft was more of a threat to this country than bin Laden? Political ideology over logic, pure and simple.
Now, there's no difference between that and your insane position that President Bush should be protected from criticism even if it means nothing will be learned from the Katrina debacle and nothing will get better. ِAren't you the ones who are supposed to love America? Don't you understand that, with the position you're taking, you're actually saying you don't give a shit about it? That the president is more important than the country?