Funny how abstract things become concrete when real hurricanes crash into real cities and affect real people. Partisan politics seem to just recede with the flood waters … for a while, at least.
Balance re-enters our field of vision and hyperbole stands silent. There is, after all, a place federal action on many fronts. Disaster response is just one of those. No, FEMA should not be dismantled, gutted, passed to states or privatized. Not any more than we would do that to the military. Some functions need to operate at a national, federal level. This is one of them.
- Corrective: There is a legitimate place for Federal level functions.
- Corrective: Not all Federal level functions are bad, in need of reform or dismantling
- Corrective: Some functions are more appropriate to the Federal level, preferable to the states, for either moral or practical administration; some things belong to the entire nation.
I have just been reading more about Abraham Lincoln, his administration and times. His was, without a doubt, the most polarized era in our nation’s history. At stake were issues that would apply to an entire nation, not just states. The Emancipation Proclamation – issued in the midst of the firestorm of our civil war – would apply to everyone, every state. How else? At the same time, against all odds, Lincoln signed a bill that authorized the construction of the transcontinental railroad, a Federal program if ever there was one.
During the administration of FDR the Social Security initiative was launched. It applied to the entire nation. During the administration of LBJ, the Voting Rights Act came into being. It applied to the entire nation.
A storm blows in on the eastern coast of the United States in the autumn of 2012. It hits New York City and New Jersey with a vengeance. And all resources of federal, state, and local government are brought bear. Non-governmental organizations and the private sector cooperate. And for a moment in time, we are working together. Not one, not just the other. But all.
Reality check
Reality check
Reality check
Reality check
Reality check
vitalwholeness 