William Rehnquist and New Orleans

While it may be in poor judgment to speak ill of the dead, in reviewing the events that led up to the tragic events in New Orleans one has to take into consideration the activities of former Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist.

For those who haven't followed the news with a magnifying glass over the past dozen years one might wonder what Rehnquist had to do with New Orleans. Actually a lot. His actions set in motion a number of events that enabled Republicans to turn a close, but apparently lost election, into a disputed election, and eventually one that Rehnquist helped determine.

With his personal choice of President in office, Rehnquist watched as the new Commander in Chief set about on a policy of that damaged the United States, and of which New Orleans may be just one chapter.

Rehnquist's actions started in 1994 when Special Prosecutor Robert Fiske indicated that he would likely end the inquiry [Whitewater] without taking any action against Clinton, Rehnquist used his authority under the Independent Counsel Act to appoint Court of Appeals Judge David Sentelle, a close associate of the extreme right-wing senator from North Carolina, Jesse Helms, and a well-known Republican Party operative, to head the three-judge panel overseeing the independent counsel. There were 11 more senior judges in line for the appointment. Sentelle's panel terminated Fiske and replaced him with Kenneth W. Starr, another longtime operative of the Republican right.

With Starr in charge he led about a reckless charade of a prosecution that was culminated by impeachment hearings, overseen by Rehnquist. The hearings may not have removed Clinton from office but they may have had enough of an impact on the country to allow Bush & Co. to steal Florida and deny Al Gore his elected position as President.

Installing Bush into the White House led to the downgrading of FEMA, which led to the disastrous early response in New Orleans. Until Clinton/Gore, FEMA head James Lee Witt revitalized the agency so much that even Bush had to praise him in during the 2000 debates.

I have to pay the administration a compliment. James Lee Witt of FEMA has done a really good job of working with governors during times of crisis, Bush said.

However, as Slate pointed out to compound the irony, FEMA was actually a poster child of Gore's reinventing government crusade.

Perhaps unhappy with good government, Bush packed FEMA with people who ran horse shows and were advance men for the White House. As a result, the predictable disastrous events happened.

One has to wonder if Rehnquist's heart gave out last week when he pieced the above together and figured out his responsibility for it all.