So "Stop Playing the Blame Game" is now apparently an official Republican talking point. After all, we wouldn't want anyone to become distracted from the tasks at hand by a game of Pass The Buck, would we? How ironic that this comes from the party that manufactured at least two major scandals during the Clinton administration, aimed directly at the President, both of which distracted him from major initiatives underway at the time.
Here's my even bigger problem with this. The Blame Game seems to be the only thing lighting a fire under the asses of the people who need to get their butts in gear. Remember that the storm had already started to batter the Gulf Coast and New Orleans well before the first grumblings about lack of resources, structure and order started up. Only when certain lazy assheads started to have the attention of the nation focused on their incompetence did resources start flowing.
Where personal responsibility fails, fear may succeed. (Fear of losing one's job, fear of becoming an object of national ridicule, etc.) That's why I don't think it's distracting for people to be looking around for the folks who screwed up here. In fact, it's helpful, even as we struggle to pump the water out of New Orleans and start to undertake the gruesome and trying tasks ahead.
So if you had to craft a progressive talking point to counter "Stop playing the blame game," it might be along the lines of "Well, the blame game seems to be the only thing motivating people to get things done."
