Stop telling and start showing

In the space of a couple of weeks the White House went from cool calm and collected about terrorism to panic and blame. That all could have been avoided had it not been for this administration’s obsession and desperate attempt to wipe out and erase everything the previous one has put in place post 9/11. That attitude could have cost many innocent people their lives had the Christmas Day Bombing attempt not been foiled. The president took his time reacting and responding to the attempt. Now that he has realised the gravity of what might have happened, he is daily briefing the American public with his findings, most of which were too obvious to miss in the first place. All that could have been avoided if the administration was not so focused on being different and their own personal fame.

Focus should be on the public, their safety and welfare should always come first – and adopting what works should never become a contest of who implemented what. Good preventative measures should bypass partisan and ideological believes – lessons form past experiences should be learned and become foundations to build on – because constantly reinventing the wheel does not only cost time and money it can also cost lives.

Over on this side of the Atlantic, the government forgot to learn from an even more recent lesson. Last February the whole country was besieged by a snow storm and came to a total stand still for a couple of days – motorways, business, schools and most vital services were all badly affected by that storm. This commotion was then compounded with the lack of snow ploughing equipments, low stores of salt and grit because after years of snowless winters Britain simply forget how to deal with the snow. The government then admitted their short-sightedness and put out lots of great words all promising change, better management and improvement to supplies for the future.

Almost a year later and even a worst storm hits the country- but managing the situation was almost identical to the previous year. As a result next week exams’ (A’ levels and GCSEs) might get cancelled, lots of businesses had to close shop and lose income – many old, disabled and venerable people are housebound and stranded with only the overstretched emergency services for support and contact with the outside world.

The disturbing thing is that weeks before forecasters warned about the coming bad weather yet again the country is running out of salt and grit and Gas supplies are low because the government AGAIN did not learn from last year’s event and did not prepare!

On either sides of the pond both administrations need to stop telling us what they will do and start showing us by doing it.