No words to describe it
I've realized by now that my blog has been dominated by information and emotions about the Katrina aftermath, at least in these early days. It wasn't really my intention, but it's as good a starting point as any. It'll be interesting if I keep doing this for a long time to go back and see the early posts again--sort of like reading through your high school yearbooks or an old diary and cringing at the things you said back then.
It seems like we find ourselves repeating the same laments and indictments over and over in these days. But when you see the same pictures, the same pain and suffering over and over, it's hard to find new words. And while I respect people's requests to not politicize this and agree the priority is to get people safe and secured, those of us who really can't do much else can't help but look for the patterns of incompetence and point fingers. It's impossible to not be angry at this.
That anger seems to cross political lines, or at least some of the ones you expect. We just watched some clips from Fox News of Shepard Smith and Geraldo Rivera getting emotional and calling the authorities to task for allowing this suffering to continue. Somewhat surprising to see the Faux News Channel allowing such criticism of their favored party, but refreshing. CBS Sunday Morning had several good stories this morning showing things we've seen before but putting the week in perspective, and allowing more of that anger to be vented.
I'm also glad to see some defiance, some of that spirit of New Orleans you hear about, coming out of people. And not just those who are safe, but also those poor people stuck in the muck saying they'll come back, this is their home. I mean, I would certainly respect those who never want to come back, but it's comforting in a way to know that people can't be broken by something like this.
Anne Rice had a good article this morning in the NY Times talking about the spirit of it. And outside New Orleans too, in Mississippi, people are already trying to find their solid ground and saying how this is their home and they know they'll come back, one way or the other.
Now admittedly, I have the luxury of being one of those middle-class, white liberals who sits in the comfort of my home with my pampered dogs and cats, reading the NY Times and New Yorker and becoming indignant about the plight of the poor people of New Orleans without ever having gone there or done anything. But I've long since set aside any reservations or concerns of hypocrisy I have about that--I see no reason why from my position of privilege, I can't still call out the wrongs that I see. What I see is a government that has failed to do what it owes its people, and possibly for reasons of race and indifference that are shameful.
There are lots of possible reasons why the response failed. Maybe people in authority didn't pay attention or didn't think it was that big a deal at first. Mike Brown from FEMA said that they underestimated the scope of the disaster--seems to me like a key component to disaster management is to ALWAYS OVERestimate. Be way more prepared than you need to be, and then you're always ahead. But anything to save a buck, right. I think there are clearly unqualified people making the calls here. I think our resources are probably overstretched--were we not fighting two overseas wars with 200,000 troops deployed elsewhere and an inability to even supply THEM, there would have been more people to respond to this. And I really do believe race plays a role, and I don't even want to describe again what I think that means.
I find myself losing steam--maybe later on I'll feel more energetic about a new rant.
Just for Anika, I'm going to start using "fuckwit" to describe people. Good word--feels good to say it.
It seems like we find ourselves repeating the same laments and indictments over and over in these days. But when you see the same pictures, the same pain and suffering over and over, it's hard to find new words. And while I respect people's requests to not politicize this and agree the priority is to get people safe and secured, those of us who really can't do much else can't help but look for the patterns of incompetence and point fingers. It's impossible to not be angry at this.
That anger seems to cross political lines, or at least some of the ones you expect. We just watched some clips from Fox News of Shepard Smith and Geraldo Rivera getting emotional and calling the authorities to task for allowing this suffering to continue. Somewhat surprising to see the Faux News Channel allowing such criticism of their favored party, but refreshing. CBS Sunday Morning had several good stories this morning showing things we've seen before but putting the week in perspective, and allowing more of that anger to be vented.
I'm also glad to see some defiance, some of that spirit of New Orleans you hear about, coming out of people. And not just those who are safe, but also those poor people stuck in the muck saying they'll come back, this is their home. I mean, I would certainly respect those who never want to come back, but it's comforting in a way to know that people can't be broken by something like this.
Anne Rice had a good article this morning in the NY Times talking about the spirit of it. And outside New Orleans too, in Mississippi, people are already trying to find their solid ground and saying how this is their home and they know they'll come back, one way or the other.
Now admittedly, I have the luxury of being one of those middle-class, white liberals who sits in the comfort of my home with my pampered dogs and cats, reading the NY Times and New Yorker and becoming indignant about the plight of the poor people of New Orleans without ever having gone there or done anything. But I've long since set aside any reservations or concerns of hypocrisy I have about that--I see no reason why from my position of privilege, I can't still call out the wrongs that I see. What I see is a government that has failed to do what it owes its people, and possibly for reasons of race and indifference that are shameful.
There are lots of possible reasons why the response failed. Maybe people in authority didn't pay attention or didn't think it was that big a deal at first. Mike Brown from FEMA said that they underestimated the scope of the disaster--seems to me like a key component to disaster management is to ALWAYS OVERestimate. Be way more prepared than you need to be, and then you're always ahead. But anything to save a buck, right. I think there are clearly unqualified people making the calls here. I think our resources are probably overstretched--were we not fighting two overseas wars with 200,000 troops deployed elsewhere and an inability to even supply THEM, there would have been more people to respond to this. And I really do believe race plays a role, and I don't even want to describe again what I think that means.
I find myself losing steam--maybe later on I'll feel more energetic about a new rant.
Just for Anika, I'm going to start using "fuckwit" to describe people. Good word--feels good to say it.
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