Regardless of how sad a situation this reflects, I regard it at least as a positive sign of some resilience of our federal structure. Criticize the state/feder

Regardless of how sad a situation this reflects, I regard it at least as a positive sign of some resilience of our federal structure. Criticize the state/federal model though you might for how it sometimes dilutes the ability to get things done in a unified way, at least in times of national or federal-level dysfunction, the people who can step in locally to provide some guidance and coordination are able to do so, and not actually be stymied or prevented from doing so by some authoritarian framework. Imagine instead if we lived in a country with more organized / powerful central control, but was both authoritative and incompetent. We would be really fucked.