Levees near New Orleans did not hold during hurricane Katrine; Army Corps of Engineers cited for their insouciance.
by SamHenry
We don’t, or at least I don’t, think of the Army Corps of engineers as being associated with “insouciance.” But yesterday this delightful term was applied in reference to the Army Corps of Engineers and to their oversight of the shipping channel at New Orleans that caused the levees to fail during hurricane Katrina.
I was amazed at this usage of “insouciance.” Didn’t it better describe a ballet? I raced to the Merriam-Webster site:
The online Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines “insouciance” as
Main Entry: in·sou·ci·ance
Pronunciation: \in-ˈsü-sē-ən(t)s, aⁿ-süs-ˈyäⁿs\Function: nounEtymology: French, from in- + soucier to trouble, disturb, from Old French, from Latin sollicitare — more at solicit: lighthearted unconcern : nonchalance
— in·sou·ci·ant \in-ˈsü-sē-ənt, aⁿ-süs-yäⁿ\ adjective
— in·sou·ci·ant·ly \in-ˈsü-sē-ənt-lē\ adverb
Now it occurs that this is not just a term describing a movement in a ballet.
Yesterday, the term was applied to a less graceful example by a CNN reporter in the following story about the Army Corps of engineers:
Court: Army Corps of Engineers liable for Katrina flooding
By Ashley Hayes, CNN
November 19, 2009 12:47 a.m. EST
A judge has ruled that failure to maintain a shipping channel left New Orleans levees vulnerable.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Corps didn’t properly maintain Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, court rules
- Ruling issued in lawsuit brought by six plaintiffs affected by the 2005 hurricane
- Precedent will apply to 100,000 homes and businesses, plaintiffs’ lawyer says
The Army Corps of Engineers’ failure to properly maintain a shipping channel linking New Orleans, Louisiana, to the Gulf of Mexico led to catastrophic flooding during Hurricane Katrina, a federal court ruled Wednesday.
“It is the court’s opinion that the negligence of the Corps, in this instance by failing to maintain the MRGO properly, was not policy, but insouciance, myopia and short-sightedness,” U.S. District Court Judge Stanwood Duval Jr. wrote in his lengthy ruling, referring to the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet canal.
“For over 40 years, the Corps was aware that the Reach II levee protecting Chalmette and the Lower Ninth Ward was going to be compromised by the continued deterioration of the MRGO … The Corps had an opportunity to take a myriad of actions to alleviate this deterioration or rehabilitate this deterioration and failed to do so. Clearly, the expression ‘talk is cheap’ applies here.”
Duval’s ruling was issued in a lawsuit brought by six plaintiffs affected by the 2005 hurricane, who claimed the Corps of Engineers was liable for damages. The judge ruled against one couple, who lived in New Orleans East, but awarded the others, from the Lower 9th Ward and St. Bernard Parish, damages ranging from $100,000 to $317,000. [for remainder of the article, see CNN.com]
Well this changes everything. We can now describe the President as being insouciant about a lot of his actions. I say “his” because no matter the mouthpiece, if word comes down to us from one of the many Czars or from a member of his Cabinet, it IS the President speaking:
- Decision to have venue for the trial of the terrorists at GITMO tried in NYC. The trials could last months – even years. What about security costs and possible loss of tourism. NYC is an established al Qaeda target.
- Non-decision about the men and women fighting for us in Afghanistan. It is reported today 2 more of our servicemen have died.
- Avoidance of the key issue of immigration reform. This has let to supporters of rights for illegal aliens attacking the protesters against tea party protesters who do not believe in rights for illegals last week in Fr. Lauderdale. We must determine who among the illegal aliens will receive amnesty to qualify them for a road to citizenship and the rights inherent in that. We must handle the border issues and deportation of illegals not to receive amnesty.
- Putting health care ahead of a determination about illegals that is clouding both issues.
- Dropping the ball on economic reform that led to the criminal actions of those on Wall Street.
- Dropping the ball on cap-and-trade.
These last two clearly illustrate the fact that a list of priorities can crumble almost immediately – leaving the Majority Leader in the Senate to announce that cap-and-trade will be again taken up in 2010.
There is no such thing as the Obama Administration only Obama and his inability to make decisions other than those involving his ego (e.g. how he handled the Gates affair and rushing off to Copenhagen with Oprah and Michelle to rescue the Olympic bid). We can be thankful this Thanksgiving that there is a balance of power in our government because this Administration glaringly is not capable of balancing anything.
Enshrined here for your easy reference, the favorite Obama Administration excuses for mismanagement:
We inherited this mess from the previous administration and, perhaps, the one before that.
The data on which we based our decision had errors. We will straighten this out immediately.
“Immediately” – could you please define or clarify that term.
Someone will get back to you on that. (No followup question with time frame allowed).
We’re working on that. No, we don’t know when it will be completed. We are working on the time line as well.
I am the President! (Taken from the old Leslie Gore Hit – “It’s My Party and I’ll Cry if I Want to”)
[YouTube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsYJyVEUaC4&feature=related]
_____________________________
HotAir – Holder: I picked criminal court because … I’m really smart
Frugal Cafe – Obama’s Strategy of Lying about His Failing Economic Policies Is Backfiring
samhenry
November 21, 2009
I should have looked for a vid of that ballet.
BTW, I hope you will take time to view the vid of the ballet. The star is Korean and the company is a famous Russian one of which she is the only non-Russian. She is THE best dancer I have seen since Fonteyn – much more sinuous of line – grace beyond measure. The reviews under her vids are spectacular. Don’t miss it.