my government in New Orleans
I'm not a happy camper.
As you may have guessed if you read any of the entries in this place when I get up on a soapbox (and I tend to do that on occasion), I'm fairly conservative. I figured if I'm doing anything, I'm giving you blue state people a glimpse into the psyche of a red state guy...why I think the way I think. I voted for Mr. Bush, and given the alternative of Mr. Kerry, probably still would. Given the alternative of say, a John McCain, I probably would not. I'm not very pleased with the job Mr. Bush and his administration is doing with respect to this, the biggest natural disaster to hit this country.
In my opinion, my federal government is letting New Orleans down, big time. I understand that this was a disaster bigger than anything anyone thought it could be. I understand that there were plans in place to deal with something like this, and those plans weren't good enough. I understand that at every turn, the worst case scenario seems to have come to fruition. I also understand that we, as a people, tend to think we can control just about anything, and that's a pretty arrogant view.
I also understand that it's been four days since this thing hit New Orleans, and not enough has been done. Note I didn't say a lot hasn't been done. A lot has been done. Enough has not been done. When babies are dying in hospitals in New Orleans, enough hasn't been done. When gangs run the streets raping, robbing, and killing, enough hasn't been done. I don't know what all needs to be done to change that, but I'm not the president. Nor am I running for the job. Nor do I have the resources at his disposal to figure it out. All I know is he and his advisors, and the government in general needs to figure it out yesterday, and get the help there now. I figure half of the people in those gangs are crack addicts in their fourth day of withdrawal, and they have guns. That's a scary thought and a nightmare the poor people in New Orleans are dealing with daily. They need a lot of help....now.
As you may have guessed if you read any of the entries in this place when I get up on a soapbox (and I tend to do that on occasion), I'm fairly conservative. I figured if I'm doing anything, I'm giving you blue state people a glimpse into the psyche of a red state guy...why I think the way I think. I voted for Mr. Bush, and given the alternative of Mr. Kerry, probably still would. Given the alternative of say, a John McCain, I probably would not. I'm not very pleased with the job Mr. Bush and his administration is doing with respect to this, the biggest natural disaster to hit this country.
In my opinion, my federal government is letting New Orleans down, big time. I understand that this was a disaster bigger than anything anyone thought it could be. I understand that there were plans in place to deal with something like this, and those plans weren't good enough. I understand that at every turn, the worst case scenario seems to have come to fruition. I also understand that we, as a people, tend to think we can control just about anything, and that's a pretty arrogant view.
I also understand that it's been four days since this thing hit New Orleans, and not enough has been done. Note I didn't say a lot hasn't been done. A lot has been done. Enough has not been done. When babies are dying in hospitals in New Orleans, enough hasn't been done. When gangs run the streets raping, robbing, and killing, enough hasn't been done. I don't know what all needs to be done to change that, but I'm not the president. Nor am I running for the job. Nor do I have the resources at his disposal to figure it out. All I know is he and his advisors, and the government in general needs to figure it out yesterday, and get the help there now. I figure half of the people in those gangs are crack addicts in their fourth day of withdrawal, and they have guns. That's a scary thought and a nightmare the poor people in New Orleans are dealing with daily. They need a lot of help....now.
John put this out here at 7:51 AM
6 Comments:
I am not American and yet i am shocked and appalled that the biggest and richest western nation has let down so many of its citizens.
Shocked - how could they be so unprepared
Appalled - people left to fend for themselves in what seems such a callous manner
John I haven't been reading much newspaper lately so I'm not sure WHY those people in New Orleans didn't just leave when they were given evacuation warning? Did the govt actually provided free public transport for people who don't have enough money to get outta there?
No, the govertnment didn't give them transportation out beforehand. They did get an evacuation warning two days prior which became mandatory the day prior to the tragedy. At the last minute, opened the New Orleans Superdome, a sports complex, as a shelter for those people who couldn't leave, but not eveyone left their homes to go there, and in the end, the Superdome lost part of it's roof. The people who did go there are now in Houston, but many others were left behind. There is so much that needs to be done.
I have heard today that a lot really is happening in New Orleans, and headway is being made, but those stories don't make news, so what we and the rest of the world gets to see is the absolute worst, because that gets the shock value.
Yea, they probably read your angry blog post and finally decided to do something about it.
:P
There are many still in the superdome... living side by side with the bodies of those who have died there ... in their seats... be those seats wheel chairs or other...
Post a Comment
<< Home