Just in case anyone was wondering, America’s not looking too good from here.
(For visitors from the future, I’m referring to the hurricane Katrina aftermath and scandalous government inaction and official ineptitude in September 2005.)
How does one explain this? I am occasionally called upon to explain this. People think because I still have an American passport I must know something.
Usually, it’s just a rhetorical question, accompanied by a sad shake of the head. But some people really hope I’ll be able to give some explanation.
You don’t leave people on their roofs for a week, do you. That was an assumption, until now. It appears you don’t, unless they’re poor or black. If they’re poor and black, then they’re really fucked.
If I had time for a long answer, although I have no answer, only conjecture, I’d say more than a small part of the problem seems to be that people are stupid and let conservative politicians talk them into program cutbacks. Programs, like disaster preparedness programs, and infrastructure investments, anything that benefits the common good, postal system, school system: they’re in place for a purpose. They serve a purpose. You can’t gut them for decades and still expect everything to function, especially not when the system gets a good squeeze.
Francis links this article, which I suppose is a beginning, answer-wise.
Basically, though, when people ask me, I just say, sorry, I don’t know either. I’m as puzzled as you are. And ashamed.
Small government
Posted in Metamorphosism
there has been a lot of comment, as you can imagine. in one of the telethons raising funds for emergency relief, a black celebrity caused some shock by saying that ‘president bush doesn’t care about black people’.
my sister thinks it’s a form of purging of the poor.
That comment (by Kany3 W3st) was edited out of the West Coast rebroadcast, btw. Fortunately, the internet keeps everything forever.
http://movies.crooksandliars.com/Kayne-West-Bush-Black-People.mov
As for what went wrong, I don’t see how you can blame the president. He was on vacation.
Doesn’t look too good from here, either.
Here’s some local comment, if you’re interested (sorry, it’s a long URL; I can’t make it wrap or be a smaller link): http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/opinion/2005/September/opinion_September20.xml§ion=opinion&col=
good one.
I know that feeling. It’s like when being asked about the death penalty or guns. “Don’t understand,” is all one can say, and shrug.
Bush doesn’t care about black people, or white residents or tourists or foreign diplomats either. Neither does he seem to care about farmers and others whose livelihood depends on the Mississippi and the port of New Orleans. Inland parishes he cared about enough to declare a state of emergency 3 days before the hurricane hit http://www.bobharris.com/content/view/637/1/, but coastal regions had their wetland barriers sold off to shopping mall developers. Anywhere that isn’t a Halliburton project http://www.peacedividend.com/archives/2005/09/enron_wasnt_ava.php should “seek help from the Salvation Army.”
http://www.peacedividend.com/archives/2005/09/the_lords_work.php
And, according to the White House, hope it never happens again.
http://www.peacedividend.com/archives/2005/09/great_job_brown.php
The government response has been disgusting and shameful (much like the handling of the last two elections). At least the same cannot be said for the American press.