Government is not to blame

Re “Beware Section 702c,” Opinion, June 25

Pierce O’Donnell’s shallow complaint about the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers uses misplaced logic. The corps is not responsible for people building their homes in flood zones. Nor is the corps responsible for continued losses in subsequent floods after those people rebuild. The fact that the corps may be held responsible for Katrina damage is ludicrous. It is a tragedy when a home is lost, but as has been said many times before, doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different outcome is senseless. We shouldn’t allow people -- or insure them -- to rebuild in flood plains or on the shore, and we shouldn’t encourage rebuilding in the 9th Ward either. When do we begin to accept responsibility for ourselves and not blame the government for every personal misfortune?

Rod W. Brown

Playa del Rey