In a recent editorial by a Baton Rouge newspaper, The Advocate blamed New Orleanians and “their dysfunctional civic culture” as the reason for the slow pace of recovery in New Orleans. Simply put, The Advocate is blaming the victims.

If a skyscraper fell to the ground full of people, you would not blame the victims who were in the building. You would point your finger at the architect, the engineer and contractor, and all three of those are the US Army Corps of Engineers when it comes to the failure of the federally built levees.

Why does not The Advocate shout with rage that our nation’s Congress has not yet recognized that but for the actions of the Corps and its dysfunctional relationship with Congress, New Orleans would have suffered little more than wet carpets and missing shingles?

And why does The Advocate not demand that steps be taken by our Congress to make sure that no more lives and livelihoods be taken away due to faulty federal levees?

Sandy Rosenthal
Founder, Levees.Org