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Hurricane Katrina has, for all intents and purposes, destroyed one of the most wonderful of all our American cities, New Orleans. It has been five days since Katrina hit and the Federal Government has no idea what to do about it. Our wonderfully absent President George Bush said yesterday "we had no idea this would happen" (or some such rubbish). Yet there have been published studies and news reports over the years that predicted exactly this kind of a catastrophic disaster.
One of the most ridiculous recent reports from the news media came on Monday as the storm barreled across Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama: "New Orleans dodged a bullet," the reports said, basing their stories on nothing more than wishful thinking and the fact that the storm moved slightly east just before it hit the Gulf Coast.
To add insult to injury, we now know that the levees that broke on Tuesday turned out to be the newest ones. We also know that the Army Corps of Engineers were removed from the loop by the Bush Administration and the money needed to rebuild and protect New Orleans' infrastructure was consistently cut from Federal budgets as "just too much pork." Could it be because Louisiana is a Democratic state with a Democratic Governor? When the crisis reached the Federal Government, Alabama and Mississippi, Republican strongholds, were helped first.
It's truly an outrage that this country cares nothing for its poorer citizens. And that is our Dirty Little Secret. What do you think keeps companies like Wal-Mart and the fast-food chains in business? The poor.
Believe me, if Martha Stewart or a bunch of Bush family cronies were trapped on the roof of one of their New Orleans mansions they would have been rescued immediately. The fact that New Orleans is 70% African-American and votes Democratic ought to tell you something about how this abhorrent Republican Administration cares about all its citizens. But last Friday when this storm began to pick up strength and head for New Orleans everyone in the government knew what would happen. The news media spent a lot of time telling the country what could happen if a Category 5 hurricane hit. They did this last year during the hurricane season and FEMA has known about it for a long time. So the powers that be have had lots of time to plan for the big one but no one did anything. They are already making excuses and patting themselves on the back for a job well done. They didn't do anything for four damn days! And where are the Democrats? As usual they are AWOL, as they have been ever since Bush took over five years ago.
And where are the Democrats when Republican Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert has the nerve to say "Maybe New Orleans shouldn't be rebuilt." AWOL, as usual.
The Pentagon is upset because reporters who are on the scene have more sympathy for the victims than they do for the government. It's not surprising … they are actually there, unlike the politicians and the rest of this pathetic excuse for a representative government. I heard Bush had Air Force One buzz the scene yesterday so he could get a look at the devastation. A real President would find a way to shoulder some of the burden the people he represents are experiencing by landing the fucking plane somewhere and helping with the relief effort.
This terrible tragedy has the chance of becoming a watershed moment in our country's political history. The poor are getting poorer and the rich are getting richer and this disaster shows the true extent of the gulf between the two. Finally we are able to see how the government reacts when there is no enemy to fight but nature itself and a bunch of poor black people who couldn't afford to put gas in their cars so they could leave (if they had cars), are the victims. It's hard to make political points or spin the story in a situation as horrifying as this, but the Government hacks are already trying.
Maybe if we had not sent all the Louisiana National Guard troops to fight in Iraq, things would be different. Maybe if the state and Federal Government had listened to the predictions of what would happen when a Category 5 hurricane hit New Orleans, things would be different. Maybe if the smug, self-satisfied, Administration toadies who rant and rave about the "sanctity of life" actually believed it, things would be different.
Maybes don't mean much now but it's pretty obvious a change has got to come in how this country treats its poorest citizens.
Finally our Dirty Little Secret has been revealed in front of the whole nation and it's now become the big, fat, elephant in the room.
Too bad it's too little, too late, for thousands of people caught in this horrendous, but very possibly preventable, disaster.
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About the Author
As an award-winning writer/reporter for the Taconic Press, Robert Lachman helped elect the first new mayor in Millbrook NY in 15 years, exposed illegal town judges in Dutchess County NY who had not filed their oaths of office with the County Clerk's office and, as the Millbrook reporter, was instrumental in helping the citizens of Millbrook get a new high school. He has written theater, film and DVD reviews for the Taconic Press' Weekend Magazine |
