Sunday, September 04, 2005

Further Rethinking of Katrina


Okay, so that thing in his hand don't look like a fiddle...


Sad some of the news I've read and heard recently.

Bad enough that some people made it a point to destroy their automobiles rather than help out some of their poor neighbors -- that is to be expected, considering the present worship of the rich and likely quiet racism that pervades a city with lots of blacks, almost all of them poor.

But now I'm reading where there was plenty of stuff ready and able to go but held back by the military. People eager to rescue others (family members, even) were told to stop.

Now I'm reading about the starving of FEMA, how everyone around New Orleans shouted for help and got nothing. Then people go around, saying they shouldn't have depended on the government to protect them.

Now I've heard that the storm New Orleans suffered through wasn't a Category 4 (or 5) hurricane (such as Biloxi and Gulfport suffered, let us remind ourselves); but could easily be considered a Category 2. This would imply criminal neglect, since the dikes were supposedly built with Category 3 hurricanes in mind.

Racism? I'm still loathe to use that term. After all, rich blacks were able to escape with the rest of the lot, while many poor whites were trapped in the rising polluted floodwaters.

Also, there would have been trouble in New Orleans without the flood waters. With every other way out cut off and everything turned off, people would still have starved and died. Chances are people would still have looted and ganged together and shot up people trying to rescue others.

And it wouldn't surprise me if Bush and Company liked hearing about the looting and shooting. After all, this has been a war on the poor they've been (successfully) waging since 1980. Here's a chance for the right-wing to look and say "See? They act like animals, so they deserve our derision." And the best thing for them is, they didn't have to cause it, just let it happen.

More tomorrow, on another subject.

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