After Katrina, Rita

Continued from an earlier post.

Please note that most of the charities on Instapundit's list of Katrina relief programs now include Rita relief.

As usual, the media's self-satisfied posturing [edit: link corrected] outpaced the media's actual position. From coaching commentators to "get angry", to failing to fact-check, to calling for a socialist revolution, the press did a good job of misinforming the public (with the aid of certain personalities) and putting lives at greater risk. British Prime Minister Tony Blair allegedly noticed this spreading in the U.K. Among the exceptions, Nicholas Lemann wrote a must-read reflection on the good and the bad of New Orleans, Paul Recer challenged the environmentalist takeover of Hurricane Katrina, and Rondi Adamson dared to debunk critics in one fell swoop.

This post from August 31 is a reminder that undue finger-pointing over the Katrina response began almost immediately. I suggest that blaming the Democrats who slammed disaster preparedness is equally undue. Individuals themselves, not some political entity, are most responsible for their lives. Why not simply blame the hurricane that was outside human control (unless we are writing about the Japanese mafia), as well as specific failures of humans--including, but not limited to, government officials--to react accordingly (unless, "It's called a disaster because it overwhelms our ability to respond"). We can debate what qualifies as a specific failure (I think of this, this, this, this, and this) and where accountability lies for that error, but it is rare for any one person, party, community, or institution to have a monopoly on mistakes. The persistent squabbling seems increasingly out of touch with reality, especially after revelations that the federal response was atypically swift (and superior to, say, another's grasp of how to cope with a heat wave), the smoother response to Hurricane Rita, and the president further establishing himself as wanting to help the poverty-stricken.

Jeff Goldstein wrote, "I just want SOMEBODY to point out FEMA’s actual failures instead of using a disputed resume blemishes and a lot of showy handwringing to suggest Brown’s failures," in response to an "understanding" of FEMA's role. My own understanding centers the reasoning behind federalism. A case can be made for centralized government. After all, it is theoretically easier to repair when in error because it is only one bureaucracy, the federal government has more resources to deal with large-scale events, and opportunism by local authorities would be a thing of the past. On the other hand, having such a bureaucracy may very well make matters worse, because centralization too often does nothing more than exacerbate confusions and divisions by attempting to force them together (think: Soviet Union), and a case can be made for having other sovereign institutions when a government falters. It also requires removing many of the checks-and-balances that are in place to keep government honest, such as the Posse Comitatus Act and our having, in Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu's words, "a democracy and a citizenship that has elected mayors, county commissioners and governors..." (My suggestion is that the U.S. should create an emergency & peacekeeping organization specifically for circumstance in America and abroad where military-style precision is required, but an actual military is not.) Another asset is that people have more of their own funds to donate to worthy charities: Americans delivered, and showed their strength. So is the problem "small government" federalism? I am unconvinced.

Update: He did not have to give, but he did anyway:

The anonymous donor turned up at a U.S. diplomatic office and presented an envelope with 1,000 euros (about $1,245) for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

It was a way of repaying a debt to the United States for being liberated by American soldiers from a concentration camp and treated more than 60 years ago, Sean McCormack, the State Department spokesman, said Wednesday in relating the incident.

Update II: Animal rescues.