A week later
Well, the Montgomery Advertiser has shown no interest in this, so I’ll post it again, without restrictions. We really did have a power failure the night of the State of the Union address; I'm not sure we would have listened to it very closely if we could have done so.
January 24, 2007
Due to last night’s power failure along Fairview Avenue, we were unable to watch the President’s State of the Union address. As a native of South Louisiana, I was especially looking forward to hearing him update the nation on his efforts to rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. Although the historic areas of New Orleans are ready to welcome visitors, much of the rest of the city remains devastated and deserted. Crime is on the rise, the educational and health care systems are a shambles, businesses struggle from day to day. Many who wish to return home find their dreams frustrated by bureaucratic holdups and a still-sluggish government response to this catastrophic failure of the levees built by the Corps of Engineers. What did the President say to give us hope for the future?
Recent reports have indicated that the Federal response to the disaster was shaped by political concerns: more help for the Republican governments of Mississippi and Alabama, less for the Democratic government of Louisiana. Even with such partisanship, the Gulf Coast faces a long and difficult rebuilding. Volunteers continue to arrive from across the country to help with the many needs of those who are healing their wounded lives. What reassurances did the President give that his new spirit of bipartisanship would infuse the rebuilding efforts with new energy and a continuing dedication of resources?
When the President stood in Jackson Square on September 15, 2005 and promised “we will do what it takes, we will stay as long as it takes, to help citizens rebuild their communities and their lives,” many took hope from his words. Others feared that his spin was as temporary and artificial as the lights that made a politically expedient backdrop of the old French Quarter. What sign did the President give last night that he had not forgotten this promise? How did he use the rhetorical power of his office to hold before the nation lives still broken by the storm and the flood, to assure us that the “powerful American determination to clear the ruins and build better than before” would continue? What new initiatives did he propose to harness “the creative skill and generosity of a united country”?
We could not hear the President’s speech last night. Please tell me: what did he say about Katrina?
Randy Woodland
Montgomery, AL
January 24, 2007
Due to last night’s power failure along Fairview Avenue, we were unable to watch the President’s State of the Union address. As a native of South Louisiana, I was especially looking forward to hearing him update the nation on his efforts to rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. Although the historic areas of New Orleans are ready to welcome visitors, much of the rest of the city remains devastated and deserted. Crime is on the rise, the educational and health care systems are a shambles, businesses struggle from day to day. Many who wish to return home find their dreams frustrated by bureaucratic holdups and a still-sluggish government response to this catastrophic failure of the levees built by the Corps of Engineers. What did the President say to give us hope for the future?
Recent reports have indicated that the Federal response to the disaster was shaped by political concerns: more help for the Republican governments of Mississippi and Alabama, less for the Democratic government of Louisiana. Even with such partisanship, the Gulf Coast faces a long and difficult rebuilding. Volunteers continue to arrive from across the country to help with the many needs of those who are healing their wounded lives. What reassurances did the President give that his new spirit of bipartisanship would infuse the rebuilding efforts with new energy and a continuing dedication of resources?
When the President stood in Jackson Square on September 15, 2005 and promised “we will do what it takes, we will stay as long as it takes, to help citizens rebuild their communities and their lives,” many took hope from his words. Others feared that his spin was as temporary and artificial as the lights that made a politically expedient backdrop of the old French Quarter. What sign did the President give last night that he had not forgotten this promise? How did he use the rhetorical power of his office to hold before the nation lives still broken by the storm and the flood, to assure us that the “powerful American determination to clear the ruins and build better than before” would continue? What new initiatives did he propose to harness “the creative skill and generosity of a united country”?
We could not hear the President’s speech last night. Please tell me: what did he say about Katrina?
Randy Woodland
Montgomery, AL