AMERICA'S SHAME
Bewildered armies of hungry people begging for food and water, dead bodies washed up on the streets and, with every passing hour, the rising threat of widespread civil unrest.
This is not Liberia, Somalia or Banda Aceh.
This is New Orleans in September 2005.
Even New Orleans' emergency chief, Terry Ebbert, has branded the response to Hurricane Katrina's aftermath as a national disgrace.
Once the shock and concern over the wretched stranded souls eases, the anger will turn towards the White House and President Bush's diffident response to the emergency.
The anti-war lobby will attack him for sending troops to prop up Iraq, while leaving the Homeland relief effort exposed and under-resourced.
The civil rights lobby will attack him for failing to bring aid to New Orleans' poor, dispossessed African Americans.
The environmental lobby will blame him for failing to accept the threat of natural catastrophe posed by global warming.
President Bush needs to take control of the emergency immediately, before New Orleans explodes into violence.
Bewildered armies of hungry people begging for food and water, dead bodies washed up on the streets and, with every passing hour, the rising threat of widespread civil unrest.This is not Liberia, Somalia or Banda Aceh.
This is New Orleans in September 2005.
Even New Orleans' emergency chief, Terry Ebbert, has branded the response to Hurricane Katrina's aftermath as a national disgrace.
Once the shock and concern over the wretched stranded souls eases, the anger will turn towards the White House and President Bush's diffident response to the emergency.
The anti-war lobby will attack him for sending troops to prop up Iraq, while leaving the Homeland relief effort exposed and under-resourced.
The civil rights lobby will attack him for failing to bring aid to New Orleans' poor, dispossessed African Americans.
The environmental lobby will blame him for failing to accept the threat of natural catastrophe posed by global warming.
President Bush needs to take control of the emergency immediately, before New Orleans explodes into violence.
posted by Stuart at 22:37
6 Comments:
Umm, Stuart? It already has.
A Letter From One Who Escaped NOLA Last Night:
I am alive, arguably tougher than any of you all...
I got out today, Sept. 1st, from the worst of all possible worlds. If any of you that don't know me personally saw the tattooed freak on CNN days ago, that was me.
Yes, I rode out the storm, that was the easy part. The hard part was living through the hell that New Orleans became after the fact. MAKE NO MISTAKE, WHAT THE NEWS IS TELLING YOU IS NOT EVEN CLOSE TO THE RAMPANT ANARCHY AND CHAOS THAT IS AND WAS NEW ORLEANS.
Some reasons why:
Roving packs of weapon wielding marauders killing and looting everything in sight.
No power, making the French Quarter wonderful for the first night, a TOTAL NIGHTMARE the next.
Destruction on a level only rivaled by Iraq, SERIOUSLY.
Corpses floating in most parts of the city.
The heat, good lord, the heat...
Police essentially forming gangs of their own, sleepless and out of control.
#
Ripple Effect: Eyewitness, Baton Rouge :
Hostages are being taken in some locations here in Baton Rouge. Law no longer exists in New Orleans.
The news media is only getting half the story. I have seen a lot over the past few days, and I can tell you what is really going on. There is chaos at most shelters because we do not have the supplies we need.
People are willing to kill over a blanket and a warm meal. Our detachment has turned into a command center run by cadets. Think of [Field Training] times one thousand in terms of intensity. Civilian volunteers are coming to us because they are tired of the Red Cross people in the field not knowing what to do.
It had already exploded into violence. Stories of rape happening at the Superdome. Armed criminals walking the streets, robbing people and menacing tourists that were unable to get out of the city.
The director of FEMA actually noted that some people chose to stay and this is what happens when you don't listen to authorities. The interviewer was dumbfounded and asked if he felt we should not help them. He then backpedaled and said of course we should help them.
This guy is a Bush crony, without any disaster relief experience.
The next story is about Condi Rice. Apparantly she was shoe shopping yesterday and spent thousands of dollars on shoes. Another patron spotted her and screaming asked her what she was doing there when people were dying of thirst and starving in the Gulf Coast. Condi did not appreciate this and had the woman removed from the premises by security. Condi was also spotted going to a play in New York on Wednesday night. Needless to say, after this got out yesterday, today she is in charge, accepting offers of foreign aid.......aid that had been offered since Monday.
I am outraged by this administration. If I did not live in a Democratic state like California, I would leave this country. I am so ashamed for my country.
I too am ashamed but also outraged for my country. The pictures of those poor suffering people in New Orleans is heartbreaking. And it did not have to come to this. Where was Bush when the hurricane hit New Orleans and the Gulf coast. He was in Crawford Texas vacationing for 5 weeks. Did he rush back to the White House and show leadership in a time of crisis? NO. He went to Arizona and then San Diego California to make speeches. And the "Homeland Security" department has proven to be a joke. What if this had been a major terrorist attack?
I am so angry. Too little and too late.
I hope God has a plan to bring good out of this horror. It is difficult to see any silver lining now.
This is another amazing example of those who have little idea what the problems are always demand instant fixes.
Dont you think this will change America more than 9/11. It has shown the USA as incompetent. It has shown President Bush as uncaring and his government as incapable
"Instant Fix"
Ha-- Tell that to all those who died in the flood while the US government fiddled.
Anger- "You ain't seen nothin yet." Wait until the bodies are recovered from the flood waters. Estimates are in the thousands.
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