Sandy Versus Katrina

New Krugman:

For the response to Sandy, like the success of the auto bailout, is a demonstration that Mr. Obama’s philosophy of government — which holds that the government can and should provide crucial aid in times of crisis — works. And conversely, the contrast between Sandy and Katrina demonstrates that leaders who hold government in contempt cannot provide that aid when it is needed.  

And

The point is that after Katrina the government seemed to have no idea what it was doing; this time it did. And that’s no accident: the federal government’s ability to respond effectively to disaster always collapses when antigovernment Republicans hold the White House, and always recovers when Democrats take it back. 

And I just had to include this:

The best line on this, I have to admit, comes from Stephen Colbert: “Who better to respond to what’s going on inside its own borders than the state whose infrastructure has just been swept out to sea?”

More here.

I started saying this as a result of Katrina: when your most central ideological concept is that "government is the problem," you automatically disqualify yourself from holding office.  I mean, of course, you can still run for office.  But such a notion signals that, if you win, you are not there to do the job for which the office calls.  You're there to do something else.  You're there to dismantle government, destroy it, render it ineffective.  You're certainly not there to make government better.

For all my problems with the Democrats, this is something about them I like: their ideology allows them to make good faith efforts to do their jobs.  I mean, you'd think that "they try really hard" is tantamount to a consolation prize or a participation ribbon for field day in elementary school.  You know, awards for losers.  And, of course, that's absolutely the case.  But that's the situation into which the Republicans have forced us: in twenty first century America, simply attempting to play the game becomes downright patriotic compared to doing everything you can to obliterate the field of play.

Keep that in mind when you vote on Tuesday.

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