Thursday, September 08, 2005
It's a Damn Shame
It’s nearly two weeks since Katrina struck New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Coast and I’m just getting around to commenting on it. That would put me on par with the rest of the Bush administration. The major difference being my delay hasn’t cost thousands of lives. Like many of you I’ve been pretty depressed by all of it. I’m from Mississippi and my parents still live in Meridian. Meridian was hit by the storm and my parents lost power for over three days. Communication was spotty at best. Fortunately my parents are okay and our house wasn’t damaged. I wish I could say that about the rest of Mississippi. Seeing Biloxi, Gulfport and other Mississippi cities destroyed breaks my heart.
What I feel about New Orleans is pure rage. I never thought I’d live long enough to see citizens of these United States treated like yesterday’s trash. The images I saw from New Orleans have destroyed what little confidence I had in our government. I know America treats poor blacks as third class citizens, but I didn’t realize poor blacks had been downgraded to untouchables in America’s caste system. As incompetent as Bush has been proven to be (Iraq anyone), even he and his cronies, Chertoff and Brown would have been able to get it together sooner if they were really motivated. No way would it have taken them this long to respond if it had been Miami that had been hit; (wouldn’t want to lose all those conservative Cuban voters, now would we?)
The response of the American people and the offers of help from the international community have been heartening. It shows most of the people in this country and the world community care. It’s too bad America’s leaders don’t. I should assure Bush and his cronies of one thing, there won’t be any forgive and forget on this one. We aren’t going to forgive you for your callousness and incompetence and we won’t forget that you helped turn the most powerful country in the world into an impotent third world country. I’m sure Bush will reward Chertoff and Brown the Presidential Medal of Freedom for their service during this crisis. I imagine that Bush will be shocked when he isn’t awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his “heroic” leadership.
In the short term we can contribute money to organizations and volunteer to help the hurricanes victims. In the long term we have to hold our public officials accountable for what happened to New Orleans. FEMA has to be returned to the efficient agency it was under the Clinton administration. That means that Michael Brown should return to his offices to find his personal belongings in a box sitting on the sidewalk; the same for Michael Chertoff. We have to make sure that when the city is rebuild that it is done right, and that no expense is spared to make sure that the levees can hold back Lake Pontchartrain. The poor citizens of New Orleans who were abandoned must be given access to every service that can improve their lives, even if they choose not to move back to the city. All victims of Katrina must be given all the assistance they need to get back on their feet. The rest of us have to decide what type of country we want this to be and elect officials who will carry out our core beliefs. If American decides that it wants to continue the philosophies and policies of this administration in the future, then God help us all.
What I feel about New Orleans is pure rage. I never thought I’d live long enough to see citizens of these United States treated like yesterday’s trash. The images I saw from New Orleans have destroyed what little confidence I had in our government. I know America treats poor blacks as third class citizens, but I didn’t realize poor blacks had been downgraded to untouchables in America’s caste system. As incompetent as Bush has been proven to be (Iraq anyone), even he and his cronies, Chertoff and Brown would have been able to get it together sooner if they were really motivated. No way would it have taken them this long to respond if it had been Miami that had been hit; (wouldn’t want to lose all those conservative Cuban voters, now would we?)
The response of the American people and the offers of help from the international community have been heartening. It shows most of the people in this country and the world community care. It’s too bad America’s leaders don’t. I should assure Bush and his cronies of one thing, there won’t be any forgive and forget on this one. We aren’t going to forgive you for your callousness and incompetence and we won’t forget that you helped turn the most powerful country in the world into an impotent third world country. I’m sure Bush will reward Chertoff and Brown the Presidential Medal of Freedom for their service during this crisis. I imagine that Bush will be shocked when he isn’t awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his “heroic” leadership.
In the short term we can contribute money to organizations and volunteer to help the hurricanes victims. In the long term we have to hold our public officials accountable for what happened to New Orleans. FEMA has to be returned to the efficient agency it was under the Clinton administration. That means that Michael Brown should return to his offices to find his personal belongings in a box sitting on the sidewalk; the same for Michael Chertoff. We have to make sure that when the city is rebuild that it is done right, and that no expense is spared to make sure that the levees can hold back Lake Pontchartrain. The poor citizens of New Orleans who were abandoned must be given access to every service that can improve their lives, even if they choose not to move back to the city. All victims of Katrina must be given all the assistance they need to get back on their feet. The rest of us have to decide what type of country we want this to be and elect officials who will carry out our core beliefs. If American decides that it wants to continue the philosophies and policies of this administration in the future, then God help us all.
