September 02, 2005
Aftermath and Lessons
I just heard that Hillary Clinton has called for a Katrina Commission, a group like the 9/11 Commission, to investigate, once again, why things have gone so badly.
I apologize for my absence over the weekend. I have not been at my post due to the long weekend. But the media is FINALLY doing its job, and not just swallowing the spin whole, for all of us to gag on.
Have you noticed that George W.'s affect is most peculiar? Some mental health professionals would say that his lack of understanding and sympathy, under the circumstances, is a cardinal symptom of sociopathy. He needed someone to flip his compassion switch this week, but they were all on vacation, except for Dick Cheney, who has been noticeably absent. Cheney is probably having a heart transplant. There's no one that needs one more urgentlly.
Here are some things I learned from the devastation of New Orleans.
- The federal government is morally and spiritually bankrupt.
- The real looters are not the starving, not the poor black kids who took VCRs from Walmart. No -- it is the administration who would not repair the levees because they were in quest of someone else's oil, or supporting tax cuts for Paris Hilton, and the oil companies who have taken advantage of the crisis and raised gas prices almost a dollar a gallon overnight
(I actually think it's good to have high gas prices, since it makes consumers think twice about buying SUVs. However, It would have been nice to have had a dollar tax on gas before this point, and used it to fund alternative energy research).
- Reporters, for the first time since lying became the modus operandi in government, FINALLY confronted the administration. Some of the press saw the horrifying reality and were outraged, at last, by hearing the same four canned untruths about conditions in New Orleans. They actually reported the truth, even some on FOX News. Look for heads to roll. Also look for embedded reporters to go in with teams trying to impose martial law -- that's one way to select and shut em upl
- It took about 10,000 deaths to get our president to admit that this disaster was mishandled. His lies didn't fly for the first time. I think he was shocked..
- Depending on fossil fuel as a primary energy resource is risky business.
- In a national crisis, oil companies, and their distributors are opportunistic and should not be trusted to behave in an ethical manner, and we cannot look to this administration to stop their looting.
- There are terrible class and race inequities in this country which are invisible, or unimportant to the powers that be. When an evacuation plan counts on everyone driving out of town and half the population doesn't have a car, it's clearly not a plan.
- When the poor and desperate are abandoned, many die, and some get angry and violent.
- There is a huge pot of resentment boiling among the disenfrancised members of our society, and civil unrest is not can overtake us easily
- That having a functional goverment that maintains important intrastructures, and plans ahead is crucial. Even rich people, who don't want to pay taxes would have benefited from better levees. There are things government must do that simply cannot be done by an individual, no matter how wealthy.
- That the government ihelped oil companies before people
- That faith based organizations seem to make up the the majority of the relief efforts (look at FEMA's list) They simply cannot do the job - however meglomanical their leaders might be. In addition, victims should not have to listen to a sermon when getting supplies.
- When people have nothing to lose, anarchy seems like a good idea
- That seeing reality clearly, working to prevent disaster, and being prepared in case it comes, is crucial - an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. What would have cost millions, will now cost tens of millions. Mor3e traagically lives have been lost and shattered. There is no way to determine the cost of that kind of devastation,
- Storms are getting worse -- this is just the beginning of hurricane season
- We could not even get resources into a disaster area which was circumscribed and surrounded by areas that remained functional. What if the entire nation or the world is afflicted with something like bird flu?
- The more guns that are available, the more people will use them in a crisis.
- Our coastal areas are vulnerable.
- A hurricane or a natural disaster does not discriminate -- the prosperous have a better chance of saving their lives by outrunning it, but not their worldly goods
- Attachment to your stuff can cause you to lose your life or make dangerous decisions. That goes for the hurricane victims, as well as for our administration.
Photo note: The best I could do. Here are Psyche's excellent links, which should be assigned reading for the Katrina Commission..