Too Little, Too Late . . .

"The world saw this tidal wave of disaster" hit the Gulf Coast, President Bush said at the Red Cross Disaster Center this past week. "Now they're going to see a tidal wave of compassion." With these words, the leader of the wealthiest, most powerful nation in human history disingenuously attempted to deflect the well deserved outrage directed at him for calmly flying over New Orleans in Air Force One after the catastrophe, then spending days "fiddling while Rome burned."

We understand that in a catastrophe of this magnitude it could take several days to deploy enough troops and other resources needed to cope properly. It is beyond comprehension why airdrops of food, water, and medicine could not be swiftly airdropped into New Orleans as they were into Afghanistan. Where was the President? Where was the "plan?" Where were the troops to maintain order? Is anyone really fooled anymore by presidential "photo ops?" The failure of President Bush and the remainder of the federal government to respond to one of the most anticipated disasters in history is beyond partisan politics and simply unacceptable.

There are four elements to the tort (a civil wrong) of Negligence. There must be a duty, a breach of that duty, injury and, causation (the injury must be a direct result of the breach of duty). By any measure, President Bush's lack of action has met all four elements. As a physician, if I failed to treat a patient for a known medical problem in time to prevent their death I would be guilty of, and sued for malpractice. As an attorney, if I failed to act in time to prevent my client from losing their case because a statute of limitations ran out, I would be equally liable. How then, do we deal with the level of incompetence and negligence demonstrated this past week by President Bush and the remainder of the federal government? They cannot be sued or prosecuted in the courts by the people they've injured because they're protected against this by our Constitution. Neither, however, can such reckless and wanton disregard for human life remain unpunished. These actions, or lack thereof, not only meet the very definition of negligence, but "gross" or even "criminal negligence." What, then, can be done?

There is a remedy for the "high crimes and misdemeanors" perpetrated upon so many American citizens this past week. If Congress truly "represents" their constituents, they must investigate the President's actions and consider further "proceedings" if warranted. We cannot hold him responsible for Hurricane Katrina, nor the destruction left in its wake. We should not hold him responsible for the failure of local and state governments to make adequate provisions to evacuate those whose poverty left them with no way to leave once warned. But we should hold him and others in the administration responsible for claiming a "culture of life" to protect a few cells, while leaving "real" people to die of preventable dehydration, starvation and disease.