hurricane lament

I heard our dear leader yesterday saying that "this may turn out to be the worst natural disaster in the history of our country". Only later in the day did I realize that he was not talking about his presidency and was referring to Hurricane Katrina. Of course the truth of his presidency that it was created by people, but is being inflicted on the environment as well as people.

The more I think about his statement the more it makes me long for us to get an actual leadership in this country. Bush might be the poster child of shitty leadership, but its not as though we have great opposition leaders lining up to challenge for the presidency in 2008. Why are none of our political leaders talking about the fact that the disaster in New Orleans is more man-made than natural that has been predicted by scientists for years? [see attached link] http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0410/feature5/ Why is global warming such a footnote in our political debates [heavens above Bush manages to get away with his "aw shucks, it's an open scientific question" approach]?

As tragic as it is to see New Orleans in ruins and anarchy, I cringe when I hear the pols promising that aid will be provided for rebuilding. It seems so obvious that we need to ask whether it makes any sense at all to have a major population center located at or below sea, lake and river level in the midst of an ecological disaster zone.

Nic