Agenda Whores and the Blame Game
Conversation has been dominated recently by two intertwined topics: the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and gas prices. It didn't take long for the
Agenda Whores to take over. Liberals are blaming President Bush for the hurricane (or, more precisely, the level of destruction the hurricane caused,
although I'm sure there are a few that actually blame him for the weather condition itself) because funding that had been earmarked for New Orleans
flood prevention efforts was diverted to homeland security and the war in Iraq. The Pro-Life people have claimed that the hurricane was punishment
from God for abortion. Apparently Louisiana has a fairly large number of abortion clinics, and the reactionary folks thought that the radar image of the
storm looked like a sonogram of an unborn baby. Then Bush gets blamed for gas prices because of his actions in the middle east and his ties with oil
companies. On the other hand, those on the right blame the environmentalists and the EPA for making the standards too strict on oil refineries, which
makes it more difficult to meet the demand for gasoline.
I hate shit like this. We do need to figure out what could have been done differently in New Orleans to prevent it from happening again. We also need
to figure out what we can do going forward to lower gas prices. These are valid quests for truth. My problem is that people are more interested in
pushing their own agenda and assigning blame for problems than they are in solving the problem at hand. Let's worry about rescuing the people in New
Orleans and stabilizing that region of the country before we worry about fault. That way maybe we can make rational decisions based on all the facts
instead of jumping to conclusions based on rumors and innuendo.
It is a problem of human nature, though. I deal with this same issue at work on a regular basis. My job, oftentimes, is to fix problems after they crop up
at my company. In our analogy, I'm like FEMA. The first job in these situation is to gather all the relevant facts as quickly as possible so that a strategy
can be formed in a timely manner. In doing this, many times the first priority of the people involved is that I understand who was at fault. But I don't
give a shit who is at fault. That information doesn't usually help me very much. In fact, most times my investigation is slowed down because I have to
sort all of the information given to me while remembering that the person giving the information is colored by The Blame Game.
To me, there is a time and a place for The Blame Game. It must be played to a certain extent or else we will repeat the same errors over and over.
Because everyone realized this, though, everyone is in a constant state of training for The Blame Game. Resolving the problem that has been caused
ends up like preseason football where everyone is more worried about getting in shape and avoiding injury than they are about winning the game.
Resolving the problem isn't what anyone cares about, it's winning The Blame Game.
In the end, whether the problems are Bush's fault or Pro-Choice's fault DOES NOT MATTER right now. Let's not let The Blame Game take focus
away from resolving the problems our country faces in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
And For No Apparent Reason
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