Here's the message we need to run with, in the wake of George W. Bush and his contempt for the people of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama:

We have no President.

The USA is a Failed State.



When 9/11 happened, George W. Bush was sitting with school children reading an inane rhyming story from Open Court Reading, "My Pet Goat."

Remember this bon mot: "We're going to do everything we can to git the terr'ists. Now watch this drive."

George W. Bush is AWOL. Again.

Contrast that to what a real leader does in a crisis. When a big hurricane hit during the Clinton administration, he immediately dropped whatever he was doing and came back to lead. Exempli gratia: his actions when Hurricane Floyd hit North Carolina back in 1999. President Bill Clinton would always be there quickly in case of crisis. People mocked his "I feel your pain" touchy-feeliness, but the fact is that his presence at the scene of crisis let us know he cared.

Dubya doesn't care, it's fucking obvious. Let me refresh your memory:

Monday, Hurricane Katrina hits...



Tuesday, the full extent of the damage in NOLA is known...



Here is the criteria that the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace has been using to determine whether or not a country is a Failed State:

Uneven development is high in almost all the states in the index, suggesting that inequality within states—and not merely poverty—increases instability. Criminalization or delegitimization of the state, which occurs when state institutions are regarded as corrupt, illegal, or ineffective, also figured prominently. Facing this condition, people often shift their allegiances to other leaders—opposition parties, warlords, ethnic nationalists, clergy, or rebel forces. Demographic factors, especially population pressures stemming from refugees, internally displaced populations, and environmental degradation, are also found in most at-risk countries, as are consistent human rights violations. Identifying the signs of state failure is easier than crafting solutions, but pinpointing where state collapse is likely is a necessary first step.

We have no President.

The USA is a Failed State.


Here's more information on the concept of the Failed State.

• Foreign Policy: The Failed States Index


• Wikipedia: Failed state


• International Committee of the Red Cross: The "failed state" and International Law

Updated 8:43pm. Crossposted at DailyKOS and My Left Wing.