Has a ‘Katrina Moment’ Arrived?

[babsbunny]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/22/opinion/22rich.html?_r=1&ref=opinion

By Frank Rich

Published: March 21, 2009

A CHARMING visit with Jay Leno won’t fix it. A 90 percent tax on bankers’ bonuses won’t fix it. Firing Timothy Geithner won’t fix it. Unless and until Barack Obama addresses the full depth of Americans’ anger with his full arsenal of policy smarts and political gifts, his presidency and, worse, our economy will be paralyzed. It would be foolish to dismiss as hyperbole the stark warning delivered by Paulette Altmaier of Cupertino, Calif., in a letter to the editor published by The Times last week: “President Obama may not realize it yet, but his Katrina moment has arrived.”

[tekisui]

1. Not even close.

Katrina was a failure of immediate leadership to save lives. The financial crises has been a long time coming, with no immediate options available to end it, nor are there bodies floating in an American city. That is really a horrible comparison.

Besides President Obama is doing more than having a "CHARMING visit with Jay Leno" and a 90 percent tax on bankers’ bonuses".

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

3. Yeah. I like Frank Rich, but this comparison is over the top.

The foundations of the financial crisis have been in place for years, and it began in earnest before Obama was even elected, and many many Americans died in Katrina. It's really too much.

[sendero]

10. I don't think he's suggesting..

... that Obama is the cause of the problem. Only that his response is just plain wrong.

[Buzz Clik]

4. No kidding. I don't get the comparison at all.

I guess Rich is looking for some attention.

[KittyWampus]

11. actually, you are quite wrong. The leevees hadn't been upgraded properly and FEMA had been allowed

to rot from the top, down.

Furthermore, YOU may not be in crisis mode with no place to live but there are growing numbers of Americans who are in that desperate position.

And frankly, it seems to me that Obama and his team have been almost completely tone-deaf when it comes to AIG and what it is going to take to clean up this financial mess.

The conniving Neo-Liberals are the ones who intentionally designed this current economic mess and Obama put them in charge and seem to be perfectly happy with their current course which includes keeping things going in the same fucked up direction.

Obama's rhetorical displays of "outrage" simply don't cut it. His faith in an economic system and theory that is disastrous, his unwillingness to hold criminals in the financial arena accountable, to uncover the cooked books etc all show someone who is blinded to reality.

Sorry, but Obama lost me last week when it comes to the Economy. I sincerely don't think he's going to do what it takes to really change things for the better except some cosmetic changes that can be undone 10-20 years from now when the next batch of Republicans take office.

[Auggie]

2. This is not a "Katrina moment"

This is the result of years of failure by a Republican controlled Congress and Presidency - not a natural disaster.

What bullshit.

[gratuitous]

5. No

This has been another edition of short answers to dumb questions.

Disappointing. Frank Rich is usually smarter than this.

[Bandit]

6. Once the Red Cross came out and definitively said there was torture

And the Obama Administration chose to ignore their report and not do what he is obligated by Treaty and the US Constitution to do he lost me. His Katrina moment has come and passed and he is proving to be no better than Bush* when it comes to abiding by the Constitution. The Red Cross is designated by the Geneva Accords as being the deciding voice as to whether torture occurred or not. We as signatories are obligated by LAW to act and Obama has chosen not to. I am sorry but this is far more important to me than some bankers begging for tax payer money and dishing it out to their9r friends. That behavior is to be expected from them. Obama choosing to not follow the Constitution is not forgivable.

[AllentownJake]

7. No

You can argue whether or not Geithner is implementing the right policy, however you can't argue whether or not you think he's qualified for one thing.

The second thing is the President is responding to the crisis. Again you can argue whether the policy is correct, you can't argue over whether he is responding.

[certainot]

8. did rich hear this from limbaugh, or hannity? the GOP is sabotaging obama

and the recovery and by extension the country because it doesn't continue their idiotic failed trickle down ideology of making billionaires richer and waiting for their generosity to trickle down. what a joke.

[BlooInBloo]

9. You tell me, fucker...

Does it look like this?

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/3/22/711561/-Katrina-momentHow-dare-you.