The Policy Blender

That's fair - I'm something of a cynic, and see the tour as an opportunity to make George look good, which in an area where 10,000 people are believed to have died through everyone's lack of response, I find revolting. I'm sure something is being done to make sure the survivors are being helped as soon as possible, but at the moment all I can see is Bush hugging people in the hope of another half-point in the ratings. I spent a week in New Orleans, and was treated with incredible kindness by almost everyone I met. As I was staying in a poor, largely black neighbourhood, I can only assume that many of those warm, kind people are dead now, or dying.

In the end, if nothing is done, it's not just the Mayor, the President, the Governors of neighbouring states or any one person or group who failed to act. If nothing is done, then everyone has done nothing.

Over the weekend the aid started to arrive, I understand, and I'm sure Bush and Nagin had a hand in that.

By the way - Ben, if you're reading this, there's another storm headed your way. I hope it's not like the last one, and that it leaves you safe and well.

I haven't been paying much attnetion to this Sheehan lady. She's the one who is protesting outside his ranch, right? If so, surely he's not meeting her precisely because it will reflect badly on him. If she's out there another couple of weeks and she doesn't go home, everyone will just assume she's a lunatic. If he meets her, he gives her credibility. Though I'm sure there are other examples of where President Bush doesn't give a damn about what people think.

I can only go on the similar situation we have with a man who has been outside Parliament for four years, on the same issue I believe. If Tony Blair met him, all of a sudden the papers would be fascinated in what he had to say. Now, to most of the media, he's a harmless nutcase.

The other thing is, being a foreigner, I can't see a situation in which Nagin's incompetence will affect my life. Bush, on the other hand, probably has nearly as much effect on my life as Blair in our increasingly global community, and his incompetence, should he be deemed incompetent in the long run, may well affect me at some stage. Not wanting to be selfish, of course...

On a not-politics level, I hope your colleagues got out unharmed. I feel fortunate that natural disasters on that scale seem to avoid Western Europe, generally speaking.

On the subject of hunting popularity, I always thought that politics in a democracy means doing what makes you popular with the electorate, until I started paying attention. If we voted for Presidents and Prime Ministers every week or every month, they'd have to do things the electorate liked all the time. Seeing as it's once every four or five years, they can pretty much do as they please for at least a couple of years in the middle, then tidy themselves up for the next election..

I think this is what I like about Tuvalu, to pick a slightly unusual example. There's only 10,000 people living there, so they all know the Prime Minister, or have at least seen him on the street. I reckon self governing cities might cut through the administrative problems Chris mentioned as a possible delay to the rescue operation. They wouldn't have to be completely independent (after all, Canada and the UN offered help after Katrina, I'm sure neighbouring states and cities would have offered help under a small-scale government system) but there'd never be any doubt as to who was responsible for what. And local elections would suddenly be worthwhile. You might even have met the guy you're voting for.

I don't know what to say about your colleagues, nor the people I remember from my trip to N.O.. Nothing I write here will bring back their lives as they were. But you're right, pointing fingers isn't going to help until the survivors are back on their feet. But when they are, I'm sure lessons will be learned by whoever is found to be at fault.

safe and well