Katrina and the Waves

As I write this I'm still waiting to hear whether or not I'll be going to New Orleans. I'm starting to doubt it, as the time for what I can do is nearly past. But I'll have to wait and see.

I haven't written about this yet for several reasons. On 9/11/2001 I spent the day glued to my TV set, a psychic masochist absorbing the painful images, and experiencing a twinge of Survivor Guilt. I learned my lesson that day, and since then I have been content to limit my time wallowing in tragedies that I cannot help with.

I wanted to give myself time to carefully consider what happened, and the response to it. But all of the parties involved are already spinning things, and rewriting the events to deflect their responsibilities. The machines are cranked up and ready to rock and roll.

I guess the first group I have to criticize is the news media. There are very few reporters left working anywhere. Mostly we have columnists writing op-ed pieces. A reporter's job is to get the facts and present them to us in as straightforward a manner as possible. Most of what I read in the newspaper is a series of 'experts' giving their opinions. Giving me a quote from two opposing viewpoints is not reporting, it's gossip. Facts are hard to come by anymore.

I've always said that a Journalism degree simply meant that they were too stupid or lazy to get an English degree, and recent events have pretty much borne that out.

I've yet to hear a satistfactory reason why it took so damned long to get help down there. Within 24 hours of a tsunami on the other side of the world help started to pour in. New Orleans should have had help immediately. There's no excuse. The mayor of New Orleans, the governor of Louisiana, FEMA, and the President are all responsible for this massive fuckup.

The Mayor should have had a better plan to get people out of the city. If they knew this was a possibility, then there should have been SOME kind of action lined up. I'm part of the disaster response team here in Missouri, and I know what plans we have for the earthquake we're overdue for, or the next flood.

The Governor should have put the state militia on alert while the hurricane was in the gulf, although I question how many of them were actually available. How many of them are in Iraq? How much of their equipment is in Iraq? I don't know the answers, but I think it needs to be explored. I know that the militia that first went to New Orleans had been in Iraq, so I think the point is relevant.

The president should have cut short his vacation. Yes, everyone needs some downtime, but when you're the POTUS it's not always going to be a 9-5 job. A leader needs to lead in a time of crisis. He was willing to drop everything to "save" a woman in a persistent vegitative state and keep her on life support, but if an entire city is wiped out he has to finish his vacation?

FEMA is the last culprit here. In 1993 the Mississippi swelled its banks and flooded areas that have never seen a flood in anyone's lifetime. One of the areas hit hardest around here was the city of Chesterfield, a predominantly white, very affluent suburb. FEMA was on the spot, co-ordinating everything from finances to food.

So what was the difference between 1993 and 2005? Anybody?

Sure, there's a difference in degree. The waters here rose slowly, and were not as filled with putrid sewage and rotting animal corpses. But the bottom line is that there was a plan, and FEMA implemented it. FEMA's mandate calls for them to work with state and local government to co-ordinate things both before and after a disaster strikes. They dropped the ball. Period.

The failure of our government is our failure.

One last thing, and I'll shut up for a while. There's been a lot of talk about race. Some would make the argument that a hurricane doesn't discriminate, but that would be disingenuous. It is the duty of a society to take care of it's weakest, and most helpless members. The poor should not be left to fend for themselves. The sad fact is that the black community has a higher percentage of poor than the white community. This was more a sin of omission than anything.

My first reaction when I heard how many people were still in New Orleans was to think "the dumbasses who stayed deserved whatever happened to them". I'm deeply ashamed that the thought went through my mind like that. I should know better because I see these people every day. Like most people, I forget about them when I go home.

Yes, I work for what I have, but I had more opportunity than they did. And yes, they had opportunities too, but not in the bounty that I enjoyed. Anyone who says that race didn't factor in to this is simply not paying attention.

We, The People have failed miserably.

~Easy

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