Heads Rolling to Date: Zero

The Bush Administration is incompetent. It always has been. And until last week, Americans have rationalized the mistakes and tolerated the consequences.

We tolerated mishandling of terrorism before 9/11 because afterward we needed to pull together as a country. We tolerated the mishandling of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo because we did not want to feel sympathy for our enemies. We tolerated the mishandling of the Iraq Occupation because we felt Iraq was still better off than it was before. We tolerated a moderate budget deficit because we thought the tax cuts would fatten our wallets. We tolerated a massive budget deficit because we were at war by necessity, not by choice. We tolerated the rapid approval of a number of dangerous pharmaceuticals because…well…um…because somehow it is the fault of trial lawyers.

But now, regular Americans from the Gulf Coast are dying and dead. Regular Americans were ordered to shelters that held no food, water, or medical supplies. Regular Americans were left on their rooftops for days. Regular Americans were left to sit among corpses and feces. Regular Americans were left to die. All because their government failed to plan, then failed to react.

And because their President does not read the newspaper, and did not find out about the scope of the disaster until three days after Katrina hit.

There can be no rationalizing of this failure. And there can be no tolerance of these consequences. Each overlooked error has led to greater incompetence. We must stop this awful cycle. We must hold our President to a higher standard.