Katrina Yet Again

All irritation and anger aside, you are a bunch of articulate and well-informed folks. Thank you for the links and responses to my posts about Katrina.

I think we are all so angry at being helpless that we may have lashed out at each other a bit harshly. I understand this. But let's try to stop it, ok?

I agree and disagree with so many of you. I got back from camping yesterday, so I haven't completely updated myself on all the latest. But here are a few points you guys raised that I wanted to respond to:

1. Blaming Bush. Of course it's easy for me to point fingers at Bush (and I have two hands with which to do it). It's well known that I think the man is an idiot and too obsessed with his own agenda to actually care about the people he's governing. But several of you mentioned that Bush is not the first President to NOT fund the levee improvements that were needed in New Orleans. Point taken. Would have been nice if he'd risen to the occasion, though, wouldn't it? And I do hold Bush responsible for having about half the Louisiana National Guard in Iraq, as well as having much of the National Guard's equipment there instead of here. I mean, it is the National Guard, right?

2. Excusing the Looters and Rapists. Please know that I  DO believe it is wrong that people are looting and taking things they don't need to survive. The point I was trying to make was that I can understand those people looking around at what they've lost and thinking, "Well, now's my chance." It's still wrong, I just understand the motivation. I feel that these communities had been abandoned LONG before Katrina hit. And I never excused rape. I never said that I understood the motivation for the violent behavior--I just said that rapists can easily hide in poor communities because law enforcement ignores those communities. I also think it incredibly foolish that people fired upon the rescuers, or stole generators, but I still have empathy for those that did it.

3. Liberal White Guilt and Racism. I'm not foolish enough to claim to not be a racist. I'm a white American, after all, and I have no idea what it's like to be black in this country. I don't, as a rule, make assumptions about people based on race, to the best of my ability (I am, however, a person that struggles with classism). I also did not claim to be speaking for anyone--I just was sharing my own experiences with poverty and how these experiences have shaped my opinions.

4. Not Getting People Out. Ok, you guys brought up great points about why the rescue efforts went so slowly. But I cannot excuse the government (local, state, and federal) for not getting food and water to those stranded. We have helicopters, and they should have been dropping food and water to those folks constantly. It's simply unacceptable that children and elderly people died from dehydration.

Thank you so much for all the links you've posted to places that can help, and for your offers to help my sister. You are all so kind!

Comments

[MamaPajama]

One Louisiana politician--I didn't catch her name--brought up the point that Katrina hit on an unfortunate date, August 29th. It's unfortunate because social security recipients and other recipients of government funds all receive checks on the first of the month. Many of the poor who were left in New Orleans were likely close or at the end of their funds for the month. What will make things more difficult is that these people no longer have a place to receive mail.

My heart aches for these families as they struggle through the mire that is our government regulations. As Lyndon Johnson said, "The ten most dreaded words in English are 'We're from the government and we're here to help you.'"

[labialady]

Great response Cecily, I can tell you that from what we are seeing on the news in Australia, it looks like George Bush fucked up big time.

[Croupier]

amen dot com slash testify, Cec.

[Anne]

I can not for the life of me remember where I read/heard this - whoever it was talking about the real culprit being bureaucracy all the red tape that really gets in the way of things and they are/were so right. I think there is lots of blame to go around at all levels but I would like to think that agencies like FEMA or Homeland Security, who are suppose to be the go to guys in a situation like this, would have a better handle on cutting back on the red tape and be better prepared to respond proactively in an emergency situation as opposed to just reacting. And as far as I’m concerned it is COMPEATLY UNACCETABLE (sorry for shouting but I’m still upset about this) for FEMA to be “unaware” of the situation at the Dome or the Convention Center, it’s their business to know what was going on. I find it a very sad state of affairs that everyone in the world who was watching the news new about the situation in the Dome but FEMA didn’t. Now it’s true that maybe they hadn’t been informed by Sate or Federal powers that be but even that lack/breakdown of communication (if it exists) highlights a huge problem that needs to be addressed.

[Elise]

Ooh, great post. I agree with all your points. I - along with the rest of the nation - am still in shock about the suffering that continues to go on down there. Unbelievable. But also amazed by all the acts of goodwill. At least it restores a bit of my faith in humanity.

[Kay]

I missed the post or comment about your sister. Is she in Louisiana? I'm in Baton Rouge and if I can bring her anything, I will. Or she can use my phone to call you. Let me know. kay.frey@gmail.com

Also have to add that you are one of the most level-headed people I've ever "read". You are willing to keep an open mind - even though you have plenty of good reasons to be "closed-minded" about Bush and some conservative principles that strike at the heart of your situation. I'm a conservative by nature, but I am more and more socially liberal (gay marriage, abortion rights, etc) as I get older. God bless!

[Kay]

Never mind. My reading comprehension improved in the last 5 minutes. I see your sis is fine and is taking people in.

I still stand by the good things I said about you, though! ;)

[Beth]

Cecily, I agree 100%! Great post. Also, thanks for the Humane Soceity Link a few posts back. I have passed it on to all of my fellow animal loving friends.

[Angela]

All I can say is, it is the kids and animals that hurt me the most. How many pets were put in their crates to "protect" them and make them easier for rescuers to get to later that DROWNED because they were trapped? How many animals in the zoo are still alive? I've already heard about the fish at the Aquarium of America (though I hear some are still alive - like the white alligator).

Why do I focus on the animals and children? Because we are the ones responsible for them, and we failed - as parents, as caretakers, we failed them. I wanted to help so bad I was calling everywhere. Then it slowly got through to me that nobody would let me help. What good is a fat subfertile woman with no useful skills (at least in this situation) anyway?

Yes, I feel for the adults trapped in that horrible situation too (now not so trapped and being FORCED out), but the babies...that's what hurts the most...

Sorry, for usurping the comments. I can't speak to whose fault it was, I think that entirely too many people/parts of government/etc share the blame.

[Rachel]

Curious what you mean by classism?

[Heatherg]

How was your camping trip?

[Peach]

Hey Cecily... Miss Alli over at www.thisisnotover.com has a very interesting and I think, key, post about Bush and his response on this whole mess... when I read it, I realized it centered on everything that I wasn't sure how to express over this whole mess.

It's a great read, I think.

[evie]

I've had to evacuate before because of a forest fire that threatened my home. We had 15 minutes notice to get out. In that 15 minutes I had to load up two of my own horses and one of my neighbors, my dogs, cats and my three-year-old twins. This was the middle of the night, in the dark. It was so fast and so stressful that I didn't have time to think of what would be logical to take. I grabbed family photos, but didn't think to bring water buckets for my animals or toothbrushes for my kids. It was only out of the kindness of neighbors that I had a way to feed and water my horses once I got them to shelter. I guess my point is, after reading some comments on the last post, is that when you are in such a mind-boggling stressful state you don't necessarily think to bring the things that you might really need. Your only thought is to get out NOW.

[Libby]

Thank you for the link Peach. Miss Alli (who I just realized is the same Miss Alli from Television Without Pity - small world)totally nails it. She put into words EXACTLY what I've been thinking, what "gets me" about the whole situation. It is indeed a great read.