The Great Game

If you have a sense that America is in decline, well you may be right.

The American Society of Civil Engineers last year graded the nation "D" for its overall infrastructure conditions, estimating that it would take $1.6 trillion over five years to fix the problem.

The results include leaking pipelines, failed air traffic control systems in major metropolitan areas, and - in an eye-opener - a power failure that paralyzed the NSA. American citizens are at risk for bridge failures and other life-threatening disasters.

The Society’s director adds:

"I thought [Hurricane] Katrina was a hell of a wake-up call, but people are missing the alarm."

Another analyst observes:

"If a terrorist group were able to knock the NSA offline, or disrupt one of the nation’s busiest airports, or shut down the most important oil pipeline in the nation, the impact would be perceived as devastating. And yet we’ve essentially let these things happen — or almost happen — to ourselves."

One function of government is to ensure that its citizens have a safe and functional physical environment. The problem is that we have a political movement in power that doesn’t believe in government. They would rather "drown it in a bathbub" - or in the Ninth Ward

# posted by Jacob @ 8/27/2006 12:05:00 p.m.