16 Cynical Observations in the Aftermath of the Catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina
1. Cuts by the Bush Administration and the Republican-controlled Congress in the budget for the Army Corps of Engineers resulted in the postponement of flood control projects in New Orleans repeatedly for years.
2. The oil crunch is a result of a lack of new oil refineries being built in the last several decades, and Katrina has shut down several oil refineries in the Gulf. Meanwhile, Bush campaigned on getting more oil from Saudi Arabia and Alaska, not more refineries. The energy bill gave incentives for building more nuclear power plants, not more oil refineries. Despite soaring oil prices over the last few years, Bush is only now calling for responsible conservation.
3. Most of Louisiana's National Guard is deployed in Iraq. There were more Texas National Guard troops in Louisiana than Louisiana National Guard troops.
4. The interstate evacuation effort has been spearheaded by the mayor of Houston. He has begged other cities and states to help take refugees. Meanwhile, the President of the United States flew over New Orleans a couple of days after Katrina and, in Mississippi days later, called the response to Katrina "unacceptable." The Federal government started pouring in National Guard units (who had been awaiting Federal approval since BEFORE the storm) a couple of days after that.
5. The major providers of aid in Louisiana and Mississippi have been the Red Cross and the Salvation Army.
6. The Bush Administration has slammed the Red Cross in the last year for criticizing our treatment of prisoners and civilians in Iraq and Cuba, and it's prevented the Red Cross from visiting prisoners and delivering aid.
7. The Salvation Army is a "faith-based organization," one of the groups Bush has campaigned to take over Federal relief and welfare projects. The leaders of the Salvation Army have spent the last week BEGGING THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FOR HELP.
8. I've been asked by the President, former Presidents, non-profit organizations, celebrities, and the news media to give money to help the victims of Katrina. I do, every April--they're called taxes, and I (and other progressives) have been begging to have them raised and to stop having them wasted in Iraq so that we can afford an effective government, respond to catastrophes at home, and even PREVENT them.
9. Most of the people stuck in New Orleans could easily have gotten out if they hadn't been too poor to own a car or otherwise relocate for the duration of the storm. Louisiana has been a solid Red State ever since Republicans have been solidly pro-white and pro-rich. OOPS!
10. Those trapped in New Orleans are overwhelmingly poor, black people. Man, I bet they regret not having exercised their voting rights for the last 20 years. Seriously, they could learn from other oppressed minorities like Hispanics, who have remarkably high voting rates. Like the ones in Florida, who put Bush into office in 2004. Thank goodness Hurricanes never hit in Florida.
11. Opponents to anti-gun laws say that the laws won't work because then the criminals will have guns and the law-abiding citizens won't. It's amazing how all the law-abiding citizens got out of New Orleans and the criminals stayed to hold up trucks carrying food and medicine. By the way, the first shops to get looted were gun shops (odd parallel to "Dawn of the Dead").
12. It seems now that, if the religious right had spent less time trying to get laws passed that punish people for not acting Christian, and more time actually trying teach people what it means to be Christian, God would be more pleased with the aftermath of Katrina. Granted, He sent Katrina in the first place, so what do they care what HE wants?
13. In the wake of 9-11, the people of New York City came together to help each other, with remarkably little looting or shooting or destruction. The murder rate actually plummeted. Also, there were almost no Bible-thumping, rifle-toting rednecks in New York, which has voted against everyone named Bush every chance it's gotten. Coincidence? I leave it to you to discover the answer for yourselves.
14. Tens of thousands of people in the Deep South are suffering because of Katrina. Millions of people around the world suffer every day. If only they were all geographically in the same place, we would notice and feel bad about them on a regular basis. They could even be on the news.
15. Millions of people live their entire lives with no possessions, little food, victims of crime and war, constantly in fear. But let a bunch of people in the richest nation in the world suddenly lose everything and THAT is a tragedy.
16. Pouring money into the U.S. Gulf is logical: rebuilding the area is vital to the economy and we know it can be returned to a self-sustaining community. Feeling deep compassion and focusing media attention there is rational: every American can identify with these people because they are Americans. But let's not forget that, just because our awareness of human suffering has quadrupled in the last week, the actual amount of human suffering in the world has remained about the same. After we finally "fix" the Gulf, the amount will still be the same.
2. The oil crunch is a result of a lack of new oil refineries being built in the last several decades, and Katrina has shut down several oil refineries in the Gulf. Meanwhile, Bush campaigned on getting more oil from Saudi Arabia and Alaska, not more refineries. The energy bill gave incentives for building more nuclear power plants, not more oil refineries. Despite soaring oil prices over the last few years, Bush is only now calling for responsible conservation.
3. Most of Louisiana's National Guard is deployed in Iraq. There were more Texas National Guard troops in Louisiana than Louisiana National Guard troops.
4. The interstate evacuation effort has been spearheaded by the mayor of Houston. He has begged other cities and states to help take refugees. Meanwhile, the President of the United States flew over New Orleans a couple of days after Katrina and, in Mississippi days later, called the response to Katrina "unacceptable." The Federal government started pouring in National Guard units (who had been awaiting Federal approval since BEFORE the storm) a couple of days after that.
5. The major providers of aid in Louisiana and Mississippi have been the Red Cross and the Salvation Army.
6. The Bush Administration has slammed the Red Cross in the last year for criticizing our treatment of prisoners and civilians in Iraq and Cuba, and it's prevented the Red Cross from visiting prisoners and delivering aid.
7. The Salvation Army is a "faith-based organization," one of the groups Bush has campaigned to take over Federal relief and welfare projects. The leaders of the Salvation Army have spent the last week BEGGING THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FOR HELP.
8. I've been asked by the President, former Presidents, non-profit organizations, celebrities, and the news media to give money to help the victims of Katrina. I do, every April--they're called taxes, and I (and other progressives) have been begging to have them raised and to stop having them wasted in Iraq so that we can afford an effective government, respond to catastrophes at home, and even PREVENT them.
9. Most of the people stuck in New Orleans could easily have gotten out if they hadn't been too poor to own a car or otherwise relocate for the duration of the storm. Louisiana has been a solid Red State ever since Republicans have been solidly pro-white and pro-rich. OOPS!
10. Those trapped in New Orleans are overwhelmingly poor, black people. Man, I bet they regret not having exercised their voting rights for the last 20 years. Seriously, they could learn from other oppressed minorities like Hispanics, who have remarkably high voting rates. Like the ones in Florida, who put Bush into office in 2004. Thank goodness Hurricanes never hit in Florida.
11. Opponents to anti-gun laws say that the laws won't work because then the criminals will have guns and the law-abiding citizens won't. It's amazing how all the law-abiding citizens got out of New Orleans and the criminals stayed to hold up trucks carrying food and medicine. By the way, the first shops to get looted were gun shops (odd parallel to "Dawn of the Dead").
12. It seems now that, if the religious right had spent less time trying to get laws passed that punish people for not acting Christian, and more time actually trying teach people what it means to be Christian, God would be more pleased with the aftermath of Katrina. Granted, He sent Katrina in the first place, so what do they care what HE wants?
13. In the wake of 9-11, the people of New York City came together to help each other, with remarkably little looting or shooting or destruction. The murder rate actually plummeted. Also, there were almost no Bible-thumping, rifle-toting rednecks in New York, which has voted against everyone named Bush every chance it's gotten. Coincidence? I leave it to you to discover the answer for yourselves.
14. Tens of thousands of people in the Deep South are suffering because of Katrina. Millions of people around the world suffer every day. If only they were all geographically in the same place, we would notice and feel bad about them on a regular basis. They could even be on the news.
15. Millions of people live their entire lives with no possessions, little food, victims of crime and war, constantly in fear. But let a bunch of people in the richest nation in the world suddenly lose everything and THAT is a tragedy.
16. Pouring money into the U.S. Gulf is logical: rebuilding the area is vital to the economy and we know it can be returned to a self-sustaining community. Feeling deep compassion and focusing media attention there is rational: every American can identify with these people because they are Americans. But let's not forget that, just because our awareness of human suffering has quadrupled in the last week, the actual amount of human suffering in the world has remained about the same. After we finally "fix" the Gulf, the amount will still be the same.