Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Is the Katrina 'chad' moment approaching?: The WaPo is reporting that fundamental problems with levee designs and construction could be the ultimate cause of the New Orleans flood disaster. ... Armchair Gen. Savin Hill and Hub Blog were speculating on this way back when. Here's an excerpt from what the general wrote on Sept. 3:
"* Engineering mystery: Why did the 79th street canal levee break? It's not as simple as anyone thinks - it broke AFTER Katrina had long passed over the city. Why? The chain of events leading to that key break need to be understood. Don't assume there was no human error involved. There's almost always something surprising once we learn the real facts on an engineering disaster."
To which I had responded: "Hmmm. What will be the ideological 'chad' argument of Katrina? It's got to be A.) something no one knows about B.) something people will have passionate opinions about when it surfaces. C.) it's got to be really mundane. ... My bet is it will have something do with levee materials or pumping station lubricants."
And it's now looking like the material in question just might be concrete. If in fact concrete is the 'chad' of Katrina, imagine the ideological know-it-all reactions:
Righty: It's the 3-XZ Grit Concrete favored during the Clinton era! ... Lefty: That's a lie! Everyone knows that 3-XZ Grit Concrete is an alleged non-absorbing material tested by NOAA in 1972 -- at the time Nixon was bombing Haiphong Harbor and draining resources away from domestic spending! ...
Update -- Quickie Blame Game Trench Warfare Update: Not much has changed in recent days, as is usual in boring trench warfare slugfests. But there has been a somewhat intriguing development. Notice how conservatives are now lobbing reverse #4 rounds (i.e. praising local officials in Mississippi, constrasting it with Louisiana officials' hapless response). What can liberals counter with? Reverse-reverse #4s (i.e. Mississippi didn't do all that well -- therefore it's still Bush's fault)? More #5s? I don't think so. The Katrina Gap is slowly being pinched closed by conservatives.
FYI: Following is an abbreviated argumentative points list for those still keeping track of the Katrina ideological blame game: 1.) Act of God. 2.) Blame pols for pre-storm levee work etc. 3.) Post-storm fair-game criticism. 4.) Blame locals 5.) Blame Bush.
"* Engineering mystery: Why did the 79th street canal levee break? It's not as simple as anyone thinks - it broke AFTER Katrina had long passed over the city. Why? The chain of events leading to that key break need to be understood. Don't assume there was no human error involved. There's almost always something surprising once we learn the real facts on an engineering disaster."
To which I had responded: "Hmmm. What will be the ideological 'chad' argument of Katrina? It's got to be A.) something no one knows about B.) something people will have passionate opinions about when it surfaces. C.) it's got to be really mundane. ... My bet is it will have something do with levee materials or pumping station lubricants."
And it's now looking like the material in question just might be concrete. If in fact concrete is the 'chad' of Katrina, imagine the ideological know-it-all reactions:
Righty: It's the 3-XZ Grit Concrete favored during the Clinton era! ... Lefty: That's a lie! Everyone knows that 3-XZ Grit Concrete is an alleged non-absorbing material tested by NOAA in 1972 -- at the time Nixon was bombing Haiphong Harbor and draining resources away from domestic spending! ...
Update -- Quickie Blame Game Trench Warfare Update: Not much has changed in recent days, as is usual in boring trench warfare slugfests. But there has been a somewhat intriguing development. Notice how conservatives are now lobbing reverse #4 rounds (i.e. praising local officials in Mississippi, constrasting it with Louisiana officials' hapless response). What can liberals counter with? Reverse-reverse #4s (i.e. Mississippi didn't do all that well -- therefore it's still Bush's fault)? More #5s? I don't think so. The Katrina Gap is slowly being pinched closed by conservatives.
FYI: Following is an abbreviated argumentative points list for those still keeping track of the Katrina ideological blame game: 1.) Act of God. 2.) Blame pols for pre-storm levee work etc. 3.) Post-storm fair-game criticism. 4.) Blame locals 5.) Blame Bush.
