Katrina Boneless Chicken Award

It's time to issue another boneless chicken award. The winner for a second time at People Get Ready is George W. Bush, for failing to behave as a real leader should when disaster strikes for chickening out from fulfilling his responsibility when disaster struck and people needed help.

Here we are in New Orleans waiting for any sign at all that the federal government will commit to building Category 5 storm protection. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of residents remain refugees (they are now politically exiled -- no longer just "evacuees"), homeowners are afraid to rebuild, and businesses are keeping their doors closed, all because nobody wants to rebuild knowing full well that the current levee system is entirely incapable of protecting their investments.

Every day that goes by, another resident decides not to return, and another business relocates or shuts its doors forever. The time to announce a guaranteed commitment to Cat 5 protection is right now. Not another day should pass.

If President Bush is just going to leave New Orleans to rot, then he should have the guts to come out and say it so people can move on with their lives. I suggest he make the statement in the same place where he announced the lie that he "would do what it takes ... stay there until the job is done" to rebuild New Orleans -- right in front of New Orleans' oldest church, St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square. Imagine the public reaction if he actually said he was going to abandon New Orleans to the Gulf of Mexico! Instead of admitting the truth that he won't do anything, he's hiding away from the cameras and keeping quiet, hoping that the rest of America won't hear the desperate pleas of Louisiana residents for help.

Yes, the Republican-led Congress can also take some blame, but right now we need a strong executive leader to define a set of goals which include Cat 5 protection, identify the resources to finance those goals, and inspire public opinion to sacrifice in order to achieve those goals.

Given the leadership we've seen from President Bush thus far, three months after Hurricane Katrina, he could only be described as a boneless chicken.