Republicans, Katrina and the Constitution
I finally figured it out. The Republicans are right. Katrina’s aftermath is no problem of the federal government. George W. Bush is not to blame. After all, the proof is right there in black and white (yellowed parchment, but you get the point) that they wrap themselves in so frequently:
“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
Where in the Constitution does it say that FEMA, let alone any part of the federal government is required to provide emergency assistance in the case of the disaster? Where in that oh-so-sacred document written over 200 years ago in a variation of English we no longer use or understand properly does it say that the United States government must aid the states when there is a natural disaster of proportions unseen in the last hundred years? Is there some secret amendment that decrees the federal government is in charge of disaster relief? Of course not. So why should the states be blaming the federal government for a lackadaisical response to something that is so obviously a state’s problem?
I’m sorry, but the 10th amendment clearly, nay I say unmistakably states that the power should have been exercised by the state, not the federal government. The states are at fault for not providing evacuation to its citizens, for not quashing the uproar in the streets created by the massive flooding and for not being able to control the violence that was subsequently spurred. Where was the state in the days before? Announcing a mandatory evacuation but not requisitioning the buses and trucks necessary to do it? Calling for emergency assistance? What, they couldn’t have been bothered to wield the power delegated them by default?
No, the federal government is absolutely, unequivocally and undeniably not responsibly for ANY of the problems resulting from hurricane Katrina.
That is, unless you read the god damned preamble to that oh-so-sacred document.
“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
Where in the Constitution does it say that FEMA, let alone any part of the federal government is required to provide emergency assistance in the case of the disaster? Where in that oh-so-sacred document written over 200 years ago in a variation of English we no longer use or understand properly does it say that the United States government must aid the states when there is a natural disaster of proportions unseen in the last hundred years? Is there some secret amendment that decrees the federal government is in charge of disaster relief? Of course not. So why should the states be blaming the federal government for a lackadaisical response to something that is so obviously a state’s problem?
I’m sorry, but the 10th amendment clearly, nay I say unmistakably states that the power should have been exercised by the state, not the federal government. The states are at fault for not providing evacuation to its citizens, for not quashing the uproar in the streets created by the massive flooding and for not being able to control the violence that was subsequently spurred. Where was the state in the days before? Announcing a mandatory evacuation but not requisitioning the buses and trucks necessary to do it? Calling for emergency assistance? What, they couldn’t have been bothered to wield the power delegated them by default?
No, the federal government is absolutely, unequivocally and undeniably not responsibly for ANY of the problems resulting from hurricane Katrina.
That is, unless you read the god damned preamble to that oh-so-sacred document.
We are all so very sorry...
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home