Thoughts on the Minneapolis Bridge Tragedy

First of all, our prayers go out to the families of those who died, and those who were hurt. Some are already exploiting the tragedy for partisan reasons, just as they did Hurricane Katrina, and the victims are somehow lost in the scuffle. Here's is something I wrote a while back concerning the military, but it also may apply here:

The Western nations are the most prosperous and generous countries
on earth. We take care of our own with abundant health care for the sick, Social
Security for the elderly, welfare for the poor and free education for the young.
This is a relatively new thing in our history. Once the federal budget was
wholly dominated by defense, but since the social upheavals of the 1930's
through the 1960's, there are now many fingers in the pie.It is a very noble
thing to care for the less fortunate. We are taught this early in life from the
Bible, and from the writings of Charles Dickens and others who graphically point
out the woes of the poor, sick, and the elderly. Once, the care for the needy
was in the hands of private citizens and charities that saw it as a noble
endeavor. Now the government sees it as big business, and there is little left
to spread around in an emergency.

In other words, Washington obsesses so much over trifles, or things which should be left to state government, or churches, or families, that when the big problems need dealing with, they seem helpless. Thus our infrastructure is in tatters, and there's no hope in sight. The President is doing the right thing by defending this country, which is in the Constitution. What isn't there is for Congress to fork out earmarks for whatever pet project just to make themselves popular back home and get reelected. Its Congress which is failing here, not the President.