Where The Buck Stops

“To pass the buck” is an American colloquialism signifying to evade accountability by passing it on to someone else. President Harry S. Truman had a card on his desk bearing the words, “The Buck Stops Here.” The motto meant that blame for just about everything stopped at his desk. He would not, or could not, blame someone else for failure by a federal government agency.
President George Bush evidently adheres to the same motto. He accepts blame for real and alleged failure by the federal government to respond adequately to Hurricane Katrina. “I accept responsibility,” he said. The buck sits on his desk.
That may be good politics, but it is nonetheless silly. It is not the President’s job to micro-manage government handling of disasters such as befell New Orleans and neighboring communities. It is not within the scope of his office to answer for the respective performances of the designated first-responders to local disasters.
Thinkers who argue about federalism and states’ rights generally agree that – given the Constitution as it stands – police and fire departments are local agencies that answer to local communities, not to the federal government. Accordingly, the Louisiana National Guard takes its orders from the governor of Louisiana, not from anyone in Washington. Only under grievous circumstances would the President try to usurp the rights and powers of state and urban agencies.
That, of course, is precisely what President Bush should have done. We now know that New Orleans’ mayor was incompetent and Louisiana’s governor no better. While they dithered, the President should have sent the Louisiana National Guard into New Orleans. Of course, if he had done so, he’d have been savagely criticized for what his critics now say he should have done but did not do. They would drop every buck on his desk.
Presidents are expected to take the blame for national disasters in which they played a part. John F. Kennedy authorized the Bay of Pigs debacle in Cuba. Because it was a federal action, he was held responsible for it. The buck was on his desk.
Israel’s King David understood accountability. For his arrogance (which was shared by the people), God sent a plague that killed 70,000 people. David was horrified. “I am the one who has sinned and done wrong,” he confessed. “These are but sheep. What have they done? Let your hand fall upon me and my family.”[1] David knew that the buck was on his desk. The plague was his fault.
Hurricane Katrina was nobody’s fault. The flooding in New Orleans was nobody’s fault except, perhaps, politicians who – in spite of repeated warnings that a Category 4 or 5 hurricane would hit someday – failed to allocate funds for bigger and better levees. On whose desk did that buck stop? And who failed to evacuate the city in time? Not the President. It is sweet of him to accept responsibility, but unless it is politically astute, it is quite silly. The buck for the mess in New Orleans does not stop on President Bush’s desk.
Don Cole.