New Orleans 5 0
I think I’ve OD’d on the news for a while. I have been listening to WHYY and fully two-thirds of the programs today and yesterday were about the storm and the floods in Mississippi and Louisiana. For a while, my mind just stopped processing the information, though finally it appears that the tide, so to speak, is turning.
Bill Shein had several strong posts on his blog, including this one:
White House declared a disaster area
In another forum, I delivered this opinion in a discussion about whether the national response to the Katrina situation was malevolent. (I’m FWB in the posting list).
Rather, I think that there are persons in this country (indeed, in any
country) for whom the poor and the disenfranchised and the minorities
simply do not exist. They don’t see them at all. So they become
definitely not a factor in any policy decision.
And I hold to it. To a certain class of persons in this country, some folks just don’t exist–they aren’t on the radar.
Bill Shein also latched onto a very revealing quotation from Barbara Bush, discussed under the heading, Another Revealing Comment from the Former First Lady.
Here’s the president’s mother Barbara Bush, commenting on what she saw while visiting refugees evacuated to the Houston Astrodome: “And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this (she chuckled slightly) — this is working very well for them.”
Reinforcing my opinion that the poor are not on their radar.
Amy Alkon, who is definitely not a Michael Moore fan, had this to say about Michael Moore’s open letter to George Bush.
The Guy’s Got A Point…Or Ten
I’m not a Democrat, and I don’t like Michael Moore (for the same reason I don’t like Ann Coulter — because I don’t like liars), but he’s right on with this letter.
Daniel Rubin had another powerful post on Blinq under the heading, Things We Read Today.
Bush calls for probe of Katrina fiasco (just not right now, which makes sense to me; there are lives to save). But my gut reaction is this:
Pot, kettle, black.
The most distressing thing I have heard is the stories of families separated by the rescuers. It’s like, come on, guys, get a clue.
If you want to listen to things first hand, as they happen, go to WWL-AM radio. (It’s Windows Media Player streaming audio.) Thanks to Steve Griffin for the link.
I remember listening to this station when I was a kid–“WWL-AM, your clear channel station from New Orleans.” In those days, “clear channel” meant that there were no other stations on that frequency, so, thanks to the skip, you could hear the station all over the country at night. They would send out greetings to and from truckers in every corner of the lower 48.
