Trying to come to grips with the unimaginable

It's an unimaginable tragedy. Things like just are just not supposed to happen.

I can't help but wonder, even at an awful time like this, about "conservatives" who so routinely and easily say cut taxes and reduce government. This points out a very important reason why government exists and why some services just cannot be cut or deferred.

For years, many local and state governments have "deferred" maintenance on lots of public infrastructure, including bridges. This one instance may not have been caused by deliberately putting off the work or looking the other way, but we can absolutely be assured of more failures and more tragic loss of life if we do not invest our tax dollars in the public infrastructure upon which we all depend.

The other thing I found pretty appalling was Chertoff spouting off within an hour that there was no sign of terrorism being the cause. Uh, Mike - if we don't know the cause, and we sure as hell didn't know it within the first hour, how could our brilliant homeland secretary have the faintest idea what he was talking about?

Dennis, you forget Mike Chertoff has his Omnicient Gut.

We've never had a bridge collapse in the little town where I live. We've just been living for about 3 years with the bridge being blocked off on the sides with Jersey Barriers so it's one lane. I've always through the weight of the barriers would equal or exceed that of several cars but I'm not an engineer. The Commonwealth has finally started to fix the part of main road where the guard rails had rotted away and some enterprising soul had strung clothes line between those left standing to keep cars from falling into the river and power-house falls below. Life in Massachusetts west of I-128 is full of examples like that. No money for roads unless it's Boston.

Imagine what infrastructure repairs and health care we could have if only the money those slimey bastards are spending on George Bush's Holy Crusade were funneled correctly.

I would like to know how one minute last night for the longest time it was listed as 6 confirmed dead, then around midnight Fox reported 9, and now this morning I wake up to only 4 dead. Do they not know how to count, I mean you cant be saying 6 dead all evening and then opps its 4. Did two of them just get up and walk around the coronors office? I dont mean to sound inconsiderate because I wish the number was 0. But I mean this goes to show that the news will just blurt out whatever they want without making sure it is FACT. So what does that tell us about how much of the news we should actually trust for our facts? FOX news has a whole spin of their own that is nothing based on facts if they had a death toll of 9.
NEXT TIME GET THE FACTS STRAIGHT!!!! you are playing with peoples lives and families emotions.

As Dennis said, many bridges in the U.S. Highway network are known to be hazardous, and have been ignored for many years past when they were red-flagged. Plus, this bridge had issues from day one, with a very long chord-to-span ratio, and very little redundancy in it's support members. Add to that the Minn DOT's love for caustic salt and de-icer (of which a bridge recevies many times that of an ordinary stretch of road), and you've got a recipe for disaster.

And to think of all the billions pissed away every day fighting the now full-blown civil war in Iraq, where you can bet any bridge that we bombed in Gulf Wars I & II has been replaced with a shining new example built to the latest engineering standard. This sucks

They are cancelling the Twins game and the ground breaking ceremony for their new stadium, that was going to be held today. Isn’t that considerate of them. The stadium is probably funded by taxes the state collected. What’s wrong with this picture? Taxes used to build billionaire sports team owners new stadiums, so that they can spend some of their hard earned millions on the likes of Michael Vick, Pac-man, Jones, or many of the other prima-donna sports figures. It’s about time these owners build their own places of work like every other business in this country. They might have to lower some of these 100 million dollar contracts down to a measly 10 million, but tough. Use some of that recovered tax money to inspect and upgrade our bridges and roads.

Rose - I've had the same question about the number of fatalities being reported. CNN confirmed nine dead, as I recall. Seems to me that "confirmed" means an actual body being counted. How did those bodies disappear? I realize they are all working in stressful conditions, but some facts shouldn't be that hard to come by. I feel very disappointed with the level of credibility of the mayor, who earlier confirmed 7 deaths, and others doing the reporting. There should be no excuse for having such basic facts screwed up. And I was amazed Dan Abrams on MSNBC kept referring to it as "a 4 lane bridge" when the video very clearly showed it to be 2 4-lane spans. Wasn't he watching his own coverage?

This country is literally coming apart at the seams. We can't trust our transportation systems, our food supply, even our kids' toys. When I think of the money we have wasted blowing Iraq back into the Stone Age...all that money and we can't even supply THEM with drinking water and electricity.

Here's a thought. How about we elect some people who will actually pay attention to the needs of the US? Maybe grow our food in our own country for a change? Eat some fish from the Gulf instead of China? Build some factories and build our own damn toys???

We have sold our American souls to coporate interests. I wish I knew of a candidate that would make our country a strong one again, but without thinking we need to boss around the rest of the world.

Bob, where would Ron Paul stand on these problems with infrastructure?

I found this clip to be very helpful in a time like this:

http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/747_video_from_the_collapsed_bridge/

Thanks for the good thoughts, but how are those of us who are non-believers, or the non-believers among the families of the victims, helped by appealing to a supernatural, mythological being? Those who died or who were injured were there by random chance, the accident of timing. Others were more fortunate, having driven over the span a few minutes or even seconds earlier. Not one person was spared or "blessed" or saved by an angel. Chance, fate, randomness, life, roll of the dice. Sorry, but that is reality.

I won't speak for Dr. Paul, but if we took the billions we spend policing the world along with the billions we waste waging the war on drugs we could probably fix a lot of bridges and still lower taxes.

There's little benefit to be had from funneling highway funds through Washington. Unless you consider things like Carter's mandatory 55MPH speed limit beneficial.

Well, we won't stop policing the world and we sure as heck ain't gonna stop fighting the "war on drugs". We'll (deficit) spend a few billion more for inspections, fix a few of the 79,000 deficient bridges, and everybody will forget all about this awful tragedy. Paying the bill, or even proposing to pay the bill, for what we expect - indeed, now demand - of government is no way for any candidate to stay in office.

Related note - Cornyn says he is opposed to SCHIP expansion because we would have to raise taxes. Since when?

Twenty-six years ago, a study by Pat Choate and Susan Walter, America in ruins : beyond the public works pork barrel (Washington, D.C. : Council of State Planning Agencies, 1981), made the headlines and generated considerable public discussion. A House committee even had hearings on what soon was called "America's crumbling infrastructure."

What was done about it? Nada, rien, zilch. Oh wait: President Raygun's response was a huge tax cut, and an increase in . . . military spending.

Dennis, we could discuss the financial motivations behind the repeal of "The War on Alcohol" but I don't want to hijack this thread. Suffice it to say that we fought that battle, and wage our current war against human nature, as a matter of choice. As addicts often say, "we can quit anytime we want."

Religion is another matter. It's been around since the dawn of self awareness, and we invented it partially to help people through difficult times and to help us live with unanswerable questions.

I'm not sure if this is helpful to atheists, but as an agnostic I find this passage appropriate:

For all who see God, may God go with you.
For all who embrace life, may life return your affection.
For all who seek a right path, may a way be found.
...and the courage to take it, step by step.

• Robert Marry Doss

Thanks, Bob. I've heard the passage that you cite and do find it comforting. I hope others do as well.