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The Bush Administration’s “culture of life” talk seems kind of hollow right now. On HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, television actor Bradley Whitford said he had received $250,000 worth of federal tax cuts since 9/11. Discussing the tragedy in New Orleans, he said:

They’ve revealed themselves as inept in preparation, at a time when our country needs protection most. And with the pictures we’re seeing, they’ve revealed themselves as — I think we see that the Republican agenda leaves a lot of people behind. You mentioned that these people are a bunch of Jesus freaks. Where is the Christianity?

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If it’s not Christianity, what do these people believe in? Their religion, their religion, is supply-side economics. That is the religion. And if you think about it — with George Bush, before 9/11: tax cuts. After 9/11, is it national security, terrorism? No. Tax cuts — for me. And I guarantee you, the estate tax is coming up. Will any sacrifice be made for the infrastructure? Will any sacrifice be made for our soldiers over there? No! More tax cuts. That is his Jesus.

New York Times columnist Paul Krugman says the victims in New Orleans were killed by contempt:

[T]he federal government’s lethal ineptitude wasn’t just a consequence of Mr. Bush’s personal inadequacy; it was a consequence of ideological hostility to the very idea of using government to serve the public good. For 25 years the right has been denigrating the public sector, telling us that government is always the problem, not the solution. Why should we be surprised that when we needed a government solution, it wasn’t forthcoming?

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Which brings us to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. In my last column, I asked whether the Bush administration had destroyed FEMA’s effectiveness. Now we know the answer.

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[T]he undermining of FEMA began as soon as President Bush took office. Instead of choosing a professional with expertise in responses to disaster to head the agency, Mr. Bush appointed Joseph Allbaugh, a close political confidant. Mr. Allbaugh quickly began trying to scale back some of FEMA’s preparedness programs.

You might have expected the administration to reconsider its hostility to emergency preparedness after 9/11…

But the downgrading of FEMA continued, with the appointment of Michael Brown as Mr. Allbaugh’s successor.

Mr. Brown had no obvious qualifications, other than having been Mr. Allbaugh’s college roommate. But Mr. Brown was made deputy director of FEMA; The Boston Herald reports that he was forced out of his previous job, overseeing horse shows. And when Mr. Allbaugh left, Mr. Brown became the agency’s director. The raw cronyism of that appointment showed the contempt the administration felt for the agency; one can only imagine the effects on staff morale.

That contempt, as I’ve said, reflects a general hostility to the role of government as a force for good. And Americans living along the Gulf Coast have now reaped the consequences of that hostility.

The administration has always tried to treat 9/11 purely as a lesson about good versus evil. But disasters must be coped with, even if they aren’t caused by evildoers. Now we have another deadly lesson in why we need an effective government, and why dedicated public servants deserve our respect. Will we listen?