The Hurricane Blues
....really got me down. What makes this so bad i think is how we all knew this was possible, yet have done nothing to stop it.
We never recognized an old levee system designed for a Category 3 hurricane was not enough and that we have to pay and plan if we think we can cover a swampland in concrete. We never recognized that telling people to leave but offering nothing to help those who are not as able to was no good. We never recognized that global warming is serious business until it affects us.
But all that awful stuff is drowned out by my outrage over the coverage of the death and looting. Compared to the somber tone the 9/11 broadcasts took after the magnitude of the destruction occured, these amatuers don't see themselves in the poor, mostly dark people suffering, therefore they don't feel it.
And in truly disgusting language, the looting is slowly becoming THE story on Fox and conservative circles. More disturbing was the report that the Mayor of NO told cops to stop searching for survivors and protect insured goods instead.
Though many reports and images show people taking food, ice, water and things they may need - and sharing it - when no stores are open, the O'Reiley's of the world see a bunch of "thugs" and I even heard the Governor of LA last night talking about times like these showing whether people are inherently "good or evil." I had to TIVO that.... and I swear I lost my lid when I heard about the diversion of cops, which is being applauded by (apparently pussy inhumane) psuedo-journalists.
Our country apparently tells its most vulnerable citizens that if they don't have the money, ability or sense to go - they are expendable. A country where people "live on 8 dollars a month" (Cuba) can find a way to get people out of harms way. The problem is the poor do not have the luxury of tghe rich; they do not have enough vehicles, money or insurance to make it on their own. The rich do not have such worries, and their insurance will replace everything they lost.
I don't want to go into global warming, but the warmer waters of the Gulf are not harmless any more. And the irony of Miss. Governor Haley Barbour's uncovered letters to Bush arguing against continuing Clinton's (modest) global warming initiatives because the economy was more important than the envionment is too tragic to really try to capitalize on. But we and the world need action from the US NOW.
We never recognized an old levee system designed for a Category 3 hurricane was not enough and that we have to pay and plan if we think we can cover a swampland in concrete. We never recognized that telling people to leave but offering nothing to help those who are not as able to was no good. We never recognized that global warming is serious business until it affects us.
But all that awful stuff is drowned out by my outrage over the coverage of the death and looting. Compared to the somber tone the 9/11 broadcasts took after the magnitude of the destruction occured, these amatuers don't see themselves in the poor, mostly dark people suffering, therefore they don't feel it.
And in truly disgusting language, the looting is slowly becoming THE story on Fox and conservative circles. More disturbing was the report that the Mayor of NO told cops to stop searching for survivors and protect insured goods instead.
Though many reports and images show people taking food, ice, water and things they may need - and sharing it - when no stores are open, the O'Reiley's of the world see a bunch of "thugs" and I even heard the Governor of LA last night talking about times like these showing whether people are inherently "good or evil." I had to TIVO that.... and I swear I lost my lid when I heard about the diversion of cops, which is being applauded by (apparently pussy inhumane) psuedo-journalists.
Our country apparently tells its most vulnerable citizens that if they don't have the money, ability or sense to go - they are expendable. A country where people "live on 8 dollars a month" (Cuba) can find a way to get people out of harms way. The problem is the poor do not have the luxury of tghe rich; they do not have enough vehicles, money or insurance to make it on their own. The rich do not have such worries, and their insurance will replace everything they lost.
I don't want to go into global warming, but the warmer waters of the Gulf are not harmless any more. And the irony of Miss. Governor Haley Barbour's uncovered letters to Bush arguing against continuing Clinton's (modest) global warming initiatives because the economy was more important than the envionment is too tragic to really try to capitalize on. But we and the world need action from the US NOW.
posted by leftside at
11:52 PM
9 Comments:
Matthew you have once again hit the nail on its head. America is terrible. We're a racist country that doesn't care that ''dark people'' are suffering. Fox News - the top rated news channel on cable - is disgustingly biased and poisoning normal citizens. Our country only cares about the rich and actually wants to get rid of the poor. Fidel is the light and Cuba is the answer. Hurry ... move while there's still time!!
=)
- Your politically playful cousin.
p.s. Did you hear about that cop who was in the process of saving some of the hurricane victims and was shot in the head by a looter? Maybe our terrible country should have reported on the looter's socio-economic status instead of the violent act that took the innocent life of someone sworn to protect us.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
"Many people didn't have the financial means to get out," said Alan LeBreton, 41, an apartment superintendent who lived on Biloxi, Mississippi's seaside road, now in ruins. "That's a crime and people are angry about it."
The Biloxi Sun Herald newspaper said in an editorial emergency supplies "simply are not getting here fast enough" and asked "why hasn't every able-bodied member of the armed forces in South Mississippi been pressed into service?"
... because they are in Iraq.
Gimmie a break Mark. Did you hear anyone talking about how the NYC firefighters who looted jeans from the WTC before it fell were "evil" and "thugs" who should be "shot on sight"... or the "justifiably angry" Iraqis? But no government official will admit that the poor people of the Delta also are justifiable angry. In fact there are over 35,000 blog postings right now advocating shooting the looters on sight. Bet 100% of them are conservatives. Do you agree?
The fact is Cuba has a plan to evacuate its people from harms way. Here we have NOTHING for the sick, the disabled, the vulnerable. Here motels, gas stations and convenience stores double their prices. They are charging 6 bucks a gallon in Georgia. These business owners are not evil, they are being good capitalists. But the reign of the free market is evil because it's every man for themself and has no place for humanitarianism. And we wonder why poor people think its ok to take for themselves also.
Of course there is no justification for shooting cops or at rescue helicopters, but the constant broadcast of it fulfills the political purpose you obviously picked up on. And we don't know what actually happened... looters are being shot at as well. People need help and are getting desperate. Far more rescue work is needed.
You're right. Not enough was done to get the poor out of the city. I agree. Join me in being enraged that the New Orleans mayor (a democrat) didn't do this.
p.s. Its quite sad how you managed to somehow insert the Iraq war into your response. <... because they are in Iraq.> Wow. You sound more and more like your father every day. A Democrat mayor did nothing to provide mass transit for his poorer citizens. Thats the issue - not us over here fighting. You should call up Major Hill USMC, who has lost everything in this hurricane among the countless others. His unit was in the south - I work with him over here and trust me, he would love to hear your point of view.
The free market is evil. Haha. Any yet you continue ... yes, CONTINUE to make your living off it. Youre a hypocrite when all you do is denounce the system by which you make a living. I doubt youll be proving any points to anyone as long as youre only complaining about the system that provides you and your family all its wealth.
Yes, this is the why dont you move argument youve heard time and again - becase its a very relavent argument. People who hate Cuba do all they can to leave the totalitarian police state - there are people who truly believe in something because they are willing to do something abot it. You however, dear cousin, are nothing but a complainer with no true action.
But Ill continue to fight for your right to be just that. THAT, is the kind of action I am willing to take for my beliefs.
I hear they have great scuba diving in Cuba ... just a thought!! Hahahaha.
Sorry, but Iraq and the War on Terror do play a part in all of this. After 9/11 Bush decided to put FEMA inside of Homeland Security, stripping it of its cabinet-level access. Then it was completely retooled to focus on terror and had its funding cut... because of the war. Look it is a fact (that you won't hear on FOX), that the Bush Adminstration completely defunded the Gulf Coast resoration projects Clinton started. A more natural watershed would have prevented the worst kind of flooding we saw. And Bush also defunded the NO levee projects that Congress approved. THIS IS BECAUSE OF THE WAR Mark, and the rich tax cut. There is simply not enough money and Bush saw fit to cut these programs that look ridiculous now. And the fact that there simply are not enough National Guard in the region to protect the area is directly due to the war. They had to fly in Guard from California, who just arrived yesterday...
And for the record, I work for a government entity. I have never worked in the private sector and hope to never have to. My girlfriend is supported by taxpayer funds too. But you are right, I will shut up about the reasons this country is turning into crap because that reason makes me a hypocrite. That argument is a nice way to silence or dismiss serious criticisms of the logic of capitalism, which says
Do n ot interfere in the private market, even in times of national emergencies. The market is sacred. Therefore we can not order planes and busses to haul peoples ass out of there. Plane companies even left thousands of tourists stranded because they could not make any money flying into NO in the day 1/2 prior to the storm.
The Mayor of NO is the only elected official I have seen express the deep anger that everyone is feeling here. He did not commandeer public transportation in NO because it is illegal under our laws. Only the Federal government can authorize that. Instead Bush asks the school districts in the area if they could come. Some did on the 5th day. But why not ORDER ALL buses on Day 1 - Greyhounds, etc?? Because it is not the capitalistic way of doing things. The Mayor said as much yesterday...
You're right. This country is terrible! Quick, get out before Bush takes us under! Run! Maybe you can borrow a a makeshift vessel from a group of your Cuban friends risking their lives to come here. Just hitch a ride with the Coast Guard - they're picking up these ''happy Cubans'' quite frequently and I don't think they'd mind you taking their boat!!
Haha. All complaints, no results.
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