Tom Got It

A disaster survivor of last year's Florida hurricane destruction, Tom tells it like it is--and gives some good advice on insurance adjusters and insurance companies. Mostly, he tells a tale of leadership posturing and paints a picture of the absurdity of cocks strutting in front of cameras, like kings of a deserted barnyard.

Which brings us back to the sanguinity of our Mr. and Master Bushes: You will send in the troops, and make large gestures, as you did here on Florida's Gulf Coast last year. And then you will fail to do anything about the white collar thugs whose good hands will dick around with homeowners who have lost everything in Gulfport, Miss. and environs. New Orleans is good at funerals anyway.

You never think in terms of what you actually can do to help the community of people you pretend to lead. That would involve statesmanship. Instead, like the agencies you are charged with managing, you go on about your business (strutting) while the unobtrusive matter of learning from the past, and anticipating the future, continues to make no news.