The bigger 'national security' crisis that nobody is talking about

[Stinky The Clown]

Who will be tarred and feathered when that earthen dam down at the south end of the county fails and the McMansions built on the former flood plain below it are washed away?

How loud will yacht owners scream when they find their fiberglas whales landlocked because the formerly navigable channel to the marina is silted closed?

Will the outcry be sufficiently deafening when a school bus plunges down to a railroad track when the overpass it was crossing catastrophically fails and collapses?

What about tainted municipal water supplies? Hazardous waste warehoused, with no disposal site available. Crumbling roadways.

Look around your own neighborhood. Any crumbling curbs? Are the road patches put down four years ago patched and re-patched themselves? The crooked stop sign that's been there for years? What about that crack in the side of the elementary school? Do you ever smell sewer gas when you drive by that 50+ year old wastewater treatment plant?

Our national infrastructure is failing and failing fast. The American Society of Civil Engineers - the guys that worry about such things, gave our infrastructure a grade of D in 2005. The federal budget for repairs, this year, was once again cut.

Click here for more: "Congested highways, overflowing sewers and corroding bridges are constant reminders of the looming crisis that jeopardizes our nation's prosperity and our quality of life. With new grades for the first time since 2001, our nation's infrastructure has shown little to no improvement since receiving a collective D+ in 2001, with some areas sliding toward failing grades. The American Society of Civil Engineers' 2005 Report Card for America's Infrastructure assessed the same 12 infrastructure categories as in 2001, and added three new categories. Access the complete Report Card with details on each infrastructure category and state infrastructure information."

Tis isn't sexy. This isn't new news. And this isn't a six year old problem. But over the last six years, we've seen less resources than ever put to the solutions. This isn't glamorous and it doesn't involve bunker busters or F117s or Jesus.

But as we examine the aftermath of New Orleans, and witness the near-hopelessly overwhelming magnitude of the result of one sever storm, just multiply that a thousandfold, maybe ten thousand fold, to even get a hint at the looming crisis we face.

Rest assured that with each passing day, the situation gets worse. The concrete continues to spall. The structural steel continues to corrode. The macadam road surface continues to crumble. All on an inexorable path to catastrophic failure.

[eccles12]

1. Not sexy, but a hell of a great issue for Dems to organize around and run

on. But they are too busy following Rove's lead.

[MindPilot]

2. but there's schools in Iraq that need paintin'

Imagine if we took those billions being spent to blow shit up and used it on a huge nationwide program to upgrade our infrastructure. Imagine having a leader who could pull the country together to build something.

Will this country ever have that again or are we forever destined to choose between the simply ineffectual or the downright stupid?

[donsu]

3. agree - and the weather will hasten degradation

nt

[yodermon]

4. Once the infrastructure fails,

It will be "proof positive" that everything, everything, needs to be privatized, since clearly the gov't can't handle such things. See?

[Jokerman]

5. Bingo!

This is no accident. It's all part of the plan.

[Straight Shooter]

6. Well, for certain a Republican government can't handle such things. n/t

[bos1]

7. The USA has been left behind as a 2nd to 3rd world country

by the people who vacation on massive ranches or the French riviera.