From CIA Plame Game to Katrina Blame Game: Yes, It Is Time to Ask Questions

Dear Mr. Vice President:

Where are you now?

We are hearing again that now is not the time to hold anyone accountable.

The preemptive excuse-making logic goes like this: thousands of people are in trouble. Let's all pull together and take care of them first. Then we'll have time to figure out who's responsible.

Problem is, we've heard this logic too many times before. Indeed, it has served as a very effective way to make us stuff our questions and sit silently as catastrophe works itself out. Problem is, when you set to work on a problem so huge, it is easy to forget altogether how it started. And by the time you have made any headway, you are too exhausted and thankful to reflect on the source of the problem.

As Americans, we are hesitant to look the gift horse of success in the mouth and ask why we had to go to all this trouble in the first place.

Deferring the tough questions leaves us with a maddening chicken and egg problem that has characterized Bush's argument about Iraq for two years.

He claims that we need to be in Iraq to battle the terrorists. But there is some pretty convincing evidence that the terrorists wouldn't be there if we hadn't attacked Iraq. So, from one angle, Bush policies caused the presence of terrorists. And so, the quagmire that is the battle in Iraq is a result of poor policy.

It is very hard to argue that angle now that we are already up to our eyeballs in the flood of the insurgency in Iraq. Bush policies have brought us to this terrible crossroads where we cannot stay without losing more lives in a futile battle, and we cannot leave without abandoning the people we have thrown into war.

And so onto New Orleans: If we do not take the time now to question why we were not prepared for Katrina or why the levee projects and FEMA were made disfunctional because of Bush cutbacks to basic government services, then we likely will never have a chance to look harshly on those policies. Using its standard operating procedure, the Administration will drag its feet in answering questions and the American press and public will tire of the process -- or be distracted by some other crisis.

For instance, how interested do you suppose we are in the plight of the outed CIA agent Valerie Plame?

How long will it take for Cindy Sheehan to fade from our memories?

How concerned is the average American about the permanent tax cuts for the rich that are on the table RIGHT NOW, waiting for a vote?

These problems will fade for Bush.

I argue that we do have a right to ask questions.

The greater percentage of the poor Black people searching the stores in New Orleans for food and water are not the problem -- yet technically they are looters. Keep an eye on how Bush will try to emphasize the crime angle. He will say nothing about the lack of Federal support for first responders and other emergency services that should have been up and ready to go long before Katrina even hit.

Bush and Bush supporters tell us not to politicize this disaster. But watch how every move will be a political one. And it will not be what he says or what he does that will communicate his concerns. It will be what he does not say and does not do. The things he neglects will show us what is really important to him.

Let's chew the fat; speak out.