What's Wrong With This Picture?

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I'm not feeling particularly disgruntled today but here's a thought I've been kicking around for a couple of years now: what's up with Ground Zero?

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Construction was started on the Empire State Building on January 22, 1930. It was completed on May 1, 1931. That's 1 year and 45 days! 1930. No Windows XP, no AutoCAD, no problem. Just a set of blueprints on a drafting board and a lot of manual labor from a number of men who were happy as hell just to have a job. In 1945, a B-25 bomber pilot hit the pin on his tee shot and crashed his aircraft into it. It's still there. Nice navigating, Magellan.

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Scroll on down to exhibit B:

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This would, of course, be the Boulder Dam. It was dedicated as such by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the name was later officially changed to the Hoover Dam by President Harry S Truman.

Call it whatever you like, it's an impressive piece of engineering. More impressive is the fact that water from the Colorado River was first diverted around the dam site in 1932. The last concrete was poured in 1935. Final construction was completed in 1936, two years ahead of schedule and just in time to kick back for a few years before marching off to fight in WWII.

Exhibit C:

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This one's the Golden Gate Bridge. Ground-breaking was 1933 and it opened to traffic in 1937.

.Take a good look at Exhibit D, above.

Wow. That would be a current photo of Ground Zero, our underwhelming monument to political correctness. The spot where, 4 years ago, the World Trade Centers stood. You see where I'm going with this? This is what we accomplish when we worry about offending someone more than getting things done.

I suppose the people in charge these days are busy taking bribes from union officials, calculating exactly what percentage of future construction crews should be gay/female/minority, and, in general, letting political correctness trump reality and impede progress in a million other ways. By the time everyone gets their heads and their asses wired together and we actually break ground, the men of the 1930's would've already built the Empire State Building, the Hoover Dam AND the Golden Gate Bridge! At this rate, we ought to have a new building sometime in 2050 or so- about the same time the new Puerto Rico quarter is due out.

We had a chance to defy our enemies and reassure the rest of world by reconstructing those towers 10 stories higher, in record time. Instead, we've opted to piss that opportunity away. Just what have we proven over the past 4 years? If we can't rebuild two buildings that were a symbol of American power, then who is going to be so bold as to suggest we can rebuild the entire Gulf coast? I don't know if I want the answer to that one.

Build new buildings. Build a monument. Build an amusement park. Let the Indians put up a damn casino, I don't care. Just DO SOMETHING! The silence, thus far, has been deafening.

The 1930's- a dollar was worth more then. Apparently, so were the men who worked to earn that dollar.

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Dumbass of the Month for September, 2005: Governoress Kathleen Blanco (D) Louisiana

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It was quite a run and it came right down to the wire but I'm awarding Governoress Blanco the coveted prize of Dumbass of the Month for September, 2005. Mayor Ray Nagin was a close second, followed by Senatoress Mary Landrieu.

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None of the other nominees made the final cut, as the result of their action- or inaction- didn't result in the deaths of hundreds of people. They merely said some of the stupidest things I've ever heard in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. While their idiotic statements didn't help matters, at least they didn't kill anyone.

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My logic in choosing Ray Naygin as runner up is easy to follow. Most of his responsibility lay in preparedness. No doubt, he failed miserably but after Katrina hit the majority of the burden was left to the state and federal governments to direct a response while working in a mutual and cooperative partnership. For the most part, the post-disaster stuff is someone else's game.

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Governoress Blanco, on the other hand, had the largest share of duties- before, during, and after. She blew it pre-disaster by not ensuring New Orleans was evacuated, even after the President had urged her to do so. She dropped the ball during the disaster by not establishing communications with FEMA officials. That's putting it nicely. More accurately, she told FEMA, more or less, that this was HER rodeo and that they could go to hell. Her final mistake- in THIS 24 hour period, anyway- was the misapplication of National Guard troops; ordering them to concentrate on search and rescue rather than security.

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Once it became obvious to all who were involved this broad was in FAR over her head, federal authorities tried to wrest control of National Guard troops from the Governoress. All she had to say was, "They're trying to take away my National Guard." Thusly, the death, chaos and confusion went on for several more days while The Butcher of New Orleans walked around with a chip on her shoulder.

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It's heartwarming to see almost everyone in the country opening hearts and checkbooks and I hate to discourage all the good that is going on but before I cough up a single dime I want to see the current administration removed from office- http://impeachblanco.org/- and that's someone from Louisiana talking. Don't let them screw up the reconstruction the same way they did the recovery. These people aren't qualified to run a lemonade stand. They damn sure don't know how to best use our money to aid the citizens of this state.