BUSH BRINGS MUCH NEEDED HUGS, FROWNY FACES TO NEW ORLEANS
BELEAGUERED CITY’S DEPLETED SUPPLY OF PLATITUDES ALSO REPLENISHED
President reassures horrified nation: “Trent Lott’s home will be rebuilt.”
Regular readers of this website know that I am no fan of the Bush Administration, but the situation in New Orleans beggars belief. I’m so outraged I can barely think straight. Bad enough that the White House (again!) ignored repeated warnings of impending disaster and (again!) diverted necessary resources to its wealthy patrons and ideological hobby horses, but the federal response to the catastrophe is like a goddamned cabaret show.
Conservatives often justify the slashing social programs to fund corporate tax cuts by saying, “A rising tide raises all boats.” Well, the tide rose folks, and this is the result.
Not sure but my guess is that Miss New Orleans is probably as outraged as you, me and others combined. I watched the hurricane come in then missed much of the news afterwards. But last night I had a chance to catchup. I read Jack Shafer’s article at slate.com about anchors losing it on politicians. Good on them I say. No way would I have kept my composure.
Favorite Bushism so far: “Nobody could have predicted the levees wouldn’t hold”
Best poor planning example: invite thousands to wait out storm in Superbowl, then forget to supply water and food.
We now have two Gulf tragedies, the first one due to Bush’s incompetent actions, the second due to his incompetent inaction.
Those politicians can just burn in Hell.
I’ve been fuming for days now, and it’s been getting worse and worse as time goes by. I told my friend the other night that the second the photo ops of politicians ‘helping’ people and corporations jumping in front of each other to be seen as the most ‘caring’ started, I wasn’t going to watch tv news any more. I don’t know when I’ll start watching again, but it’s gonna be a while, from what I see so far.
I keep asking people, where’s the outrage about this? This is fucking disgusting.
Even the newscasters are ripshit. This article at Slate.com.. “The Rebellion of the Talking Heads.”
About damn time.
It is 2005. We knew the hurricane would do major damage for days. Babies died inside the designated shelter because of heat/no food/no water. People should be thrown in prison for this.
The one take-away lesson from this disaster is that we cannot count on the Federal Government in time of crisis. This being the case, I urge you to join me today in a campaign of preparedness. Write your state, county, and city officials, urging them to review their disaster plans, and modify them to reflect the fact that FEMA is ineffectual. Ask that they seriously examine plans for evacuation, shelters, stockpiles, and rebuilding. Urge your Governor to recall National Guard troops to defend the state, the fundamental duty they signed up to do. Furthermore, persuade your Governor to make alliances with neighboring states and/or nations to provide reciprocal disaster aid. Do not forget to see to your personal preparedness with things like canned food, bottled water, flashlights, battery powered radios, and of course batteries. Plastic sheeting and duct tape are optional, but they can’t hurt and might be useful. Your state may have additional information about likely threats in your region.
No, the one take-away lesson from this disaster is that we cannot count on this Federal Government in time of crisis… that is, unless it’s an election year and a swing state. When disaster struck Florida in 2004, things went much better — and Bush’s poll numbers went up. When a professional with actual expertise is in charge of FEMA, instead of a friend of a friend, things went much better.
Don’t write your state, county and city officials about disaster plans… write your friends, family and neighbors and tell them to stop voting for these people!
Matt (and any other blogger who ends up reading this comment) —
I’ve been trying to organize an online relief effort of sorts by bloggers… It’s just a graphic to post on your blog and link it to any charity that you think yoru readers should donate to in the face of this tragedy.
http://www.boltsmag.com/archives/2005/09/03/blogger-relief/
It’s just something small the blog community can do – trying to get readership to donate…
Oh, and just to chime in my two cents on everything —
I’m so sick of Washington DC Politicians coming off like the aristocratic class. I mean, there is blame at the local and state level (and it’s the Superdome, not the Superbowl :p ) but really when Bush and the officials in Washington have been called upon to do something — they seem indifferent to do it. “You know we could give a shit but that would effect our vacation time!”
Everyone is going to hear the race card brought out over and over again over this… It’s not a White-versus-black thing though… It’s a Rich-versus-poor thing. The haves – especially those in washington, no matter which party – want little to do with the have nots and cannot even grasp what it must be like to be a have-not…
That’s why people have been suffering and dying. That’s why, despite all the images on TV, there is a good contingent in Washington that are still aloof to what is going on and what has goen wrong…
You know, the realization that this could happen to New Orleans didn’t suddenly arise during the Bush years. NO has been down in that bowl since it was founded. Yep, the government’s response has been abysmal. But why didn’t those people leave? 80% of the residents did leave. Don’t tell me that those who stayed behind had no way out. They had two feet, maybe a bicycle or two and there are plenty of cars in all the film I’ve seen. Of course, there were surely sick and elderly people who undoubtedly needed help. We failed them and heads should have already rolled. Bush needs to get over his famous aversion to kicking his own people in the ass and start kicking. In the end, if you wait for the government to do something for you, you will wait a long time. We seem to forget that all up and down the Gulf Coast, government officials in the days before the storm literally begged people to leave. Yet they stayed.
As to the race card, the city was 66% black. Of course most of the people still there are black. They were the majority in the first place. If Salt Lake City gets nailed by a blizzard this year, most of the victims there will be white. Should we expect rioting and looting there? And yes, I know that Mormons keep a six month supply of food, etc on hand. They are prepared for what might happen, yet the people of New Orleans weren’t prepared for what was really inevitable. That’s not the Bush administration’s fault.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/02/katrina.dewatering/
“The Corps is studying enhancements that would deal with Category 4 and 5 hurricanes, which had been considered only a remote possibility, he said.”
“About 80 percent of New Orleans was flooded after its levee system, which was designed for a Category 3 hurricane, failed. Katrina was a Category 4 storm when it struck early Monday morning.”
That’s right, the leevees had never been designed for Cat 4 or 5, only up to a 3. I wish I had the news story link, but quote was that the leevees had a 99.5% chance of lasting 300 to 500 years.
“The budget for the Corps has not suffered because of the war in Iraq, Strock said. “The reason I say that is, if you look at the funding levels of the Corps from prewar days of 2001 and 2002, it has been a fairly steady level. We are spending a lot of money, and the Corps of Engineers is involved in the reconstruction of Iraq and Afghanistan. But we’re able to balance that with our human resources. And it is not directly affecting our budget.””
So in other words: B.S. The Bush Administration did not cause the flooding nor the deaths in New Orleans by invading Iraq.
No, the Bush administration didn’t cause the flooding, but to delay the help for as long as they did and to pretend that this was a great big shock – that IS their fault. There’s a lot of fault to go to the local and state too, don’t get me wrong.
And yes, Davey, people really don’t have cars. 20% of the city doesn’t have cars. There were some people who chose to stay. Those that chose to stay, for the most part didn’t go to the Stupordome – the people who didn’t have a way out did BECAUSE THE MAYOR TOLD THEM TO!
I’m getting pissy about the whole thing. Still none of this excuses the violence.
Digger, that’s charming.
However, it’s also totally wrong. First, assume that statement is 100% correct, and the Corps of Engineers budget has been untouched. Now, put on that independent thinking hat I know you have, and read that statement a little closer:
Unchanged funding.
Increased demands (Iraq and Afghanistan).
The math there states, simply, that there’s going to be less funding left for domestic projects.
I’m not saying that that caused the flooding – in fact, there was really nothing to be done in a short period of time to really prevent it. However, by all that you hold holy, stop repeating bull you hear and start critically analyzing things! You have a brain for a reason! Stop letting politicians (on all sides) just screw with you.
Now, on the other hand, that statement about funding isn’t even true. Bush has been steadily cutting USACE funding since 2001. Every. Year. In particular, in this last fiscal year, the Corps of Engineers petitioned for funding for two major projects in New Orleans – one to update the levee, and one to improve drainage. I don’t remember right now, but I think the funding was cut to like 25% and 50% respectively? Cited reason: money needed for Iraq. As a result, neither task was finished.
It kind of seems to me that preparing for a cat.5 hurricane is like building a skyscraper that could withstand a 10.5 earthquake. Not only is it going to be incredibly expensive, but the chances of such an event happenning are too low to even start worrying about it.
If the cause is inevitable, then the effects are inevitable, too.
Matthew,
I must confess I don’t remember ever having heard that expression before, so I suspect “conservatives” don’t use it allthat often (not that I’m a conservative, mind you). Seems like you were digging for the pun.
On other hand, I share your outrage, and simply point out that by any reasonable expectation this failure of response would have manifested in just about any administration of the last 85 years. All administrations have gambled on New Orleans and failed to provide for its protection. I can’t understand how anyone could expect that putting more money into an organization that has utterly failed to deliver could possibly meet with success.
“Rarely has it been so clear how much we, the ordinary people of this country, are better than our rulers. I hope that lesson is not lost on anyone, of any political persuasion. We are better than them and there is no good reason anymore — if ever there was — to keep on putting up with their lies.” -Nick Weininger
The phrase is a pretty common one. It’s even used in political science papers and economics papers. That said, politicians don’t use it that often, and it’s used by both conservatives and liberals. I think it originates (politically) with JFK, but I’m not sure on that one.
It IS used by economists to describe the administration’s economic policy, though.
To Davey, from MSNBC:
Nearly 30 percent of people in New Orleans live below the poverty line, and only a handful of large American cities have lower household incomes than the Big Easy.
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9163091/
Most of the people who evacuated before the storm either a) put up in hotels and motels, or b) went to stay with relatives. Think about it. If you’re living below the poverty line, where are you going to scare up the cash to rent hotel rooms for you and your family for even one night? As for the other alternative, statistics show that folks born in New Orleans tend to stay there, so the “staying with the in-laws” was not an option for many as “the in-laws” probably also still lived in the city. How are you even going to get far enough away? A lot of people who are that poor can’t afford the luxury of owning a car (gas, insurance, taxes, upkeep), and I believe the term for taking one that’s not yours is “grand theft auto”. Sure, they have bicycles and their feet. Any idea how long it would take you to walk far enough inland to have been safe? Baton Rouge is over 50 miles away, they could have made it there if they’d started walking on Friday. Assuming, of course, that everybody making the trek was healthy enough to have withstood walking for three days in what can sarcastically be described as “warm” conditions (humidity in Kentucky in August saps one’s will to live, imagine what it’s like in Louisiana and Mississippi), and didn’t have any inconvenieces like children or elderly relatives to look out for on the trip. Then again, once they would have gotten someplace safe they would still have been faced with the “how are we going to eat” question.
As for the “who cut the Corps budget”, there’s enough blame to go around. Every President since Jimmy Carter has shorted the Corps, so it’s not like it a recent phenomenon. The key is to reign in the pork. Think about it: New Orleans levies versus the $1 million dollar bus stop in Alaska. That one should have been a no brainer.
That said, it is pretty bad that we could get help to Indonesia in a couple of days, but there are still cities in Mississippi that have yet to see a FEMA representative. I do suspect that response would have been better if a Bush relative in need of a boost in the polls would have been governor, or if there would have been a lot of rich retirees involved instead of a bunch of lower class poor people.
C. I agree with you that there were people in NO incapable of moving themselves out of harm’s way and said as much in my original post. But if you can lug a flat screen TV through 3 feet of water, then you can walk to one of those levees and stand on top of it.
The “how are we going to eat” problem you pose is moot. That problem faced everyone, whether they chose to go or stay.
On one of the Sunday morning shows today, I watched a rescue worker stand in a boat and scream at a woman to get in the boat with him. She refused. He kept telling her that the water wouldn’t drain away anytime soon. In the background, you could see her van parked, with water almost all the way to the roof. What was she thinking?
By the way, New Orleans is overrun with termites. All that chewed up wood is now getting soaked and will begin to rot soon. Buildings are going to start collapsing. It’s gonna get worse before it gets better.
In the end, folks, when there is no government to rely on, you have to rely on yourself.
Enough blaming the victims, enough bickering over levees and how they broke. There are thousands of people who won’t go home again for months and many have already died not by being swept away in a flood but by neglect from the very people who could help them. No amount of tinned food in my cupboard or flashlights will help me when my house is under eight feet of sludge and I’m displaced and lacking adequate water and sanitation… what is your disaster plan for when your entire region suffers?
In other parts of the world, when a catastrophe like this hits, countries everywhere offer help within days. In the rest of the world now, they’re waiting for the most able, wealthy, powerful nation to step up and look after itself. No, governments don’t make disasters happen (the global warming angle notwithstanding), but they are responsible for the safety and basic living security of its citizens.
HEAR, HEAR.
Interesting that I used the same exact title for my New Orleans post yesterday (God, I love that song, and so many like it, which you used to be able to hear while sitting on the floor at Preservation Hall…*sigh*)
Anyway, thank you for succintly expressing mine and my husband’s rage at every image of Dubya “comforting” a hurricane victim, and at the comments about Trent Lott’s house…how could anyone be so…not crass, not tacky, but just plain…CLUELESS to think that any of those people (or any of US) care about Trent Lott’s house?
We’re in Arkansas, and we’re doing everything we can for our neighbor to the south. It never seems enough, but to see gratitude from people who have lost everything and still maintain lovely manners, is just….heart-rending. Bush could take a lesson.
I was wondering how long it would take for Bush to get blamed for this.
God in heaven.
There is a name for the neurosis of people who are so buried by their hatred of Bush that they can no longer think straight: it is called Bush Derangement Syndrome.
Matthew, you have exhibited all the symptoms of BDS over the last 3-4 years, but I tried to give you the benefit of the doubt. You have a great sense of humor, a love of games, and lots of other characteristics that make you seem worthwhile.
Sadly, after the NO flood, those with BDS are now revealing themselves to be the unretrievable hate-filled morons that they always were. I’m really sad that you are among them.
It was Bush that ordered the evacuation of NO, after the mayor waffled.
It was the mayor who let the busses rot, despite the fact that the Evacuation Plan called for him to use them.
And frankly, it is horrifying that people would use a tragedy like this to embody their hatred of a political figure who trashed them. Twice.
Matthew Baldwin: you are pathetic fucking garbage.
If the Federal government had stepped in quickly with aid to NOLA and the gulf coast, Bush would have been accused of usurping the authority of the state governments. Of course our aid to Indonesia and Thailand arrived more quickly….he didn’t have to wait to be invited by partisan Democratic State government officials.
It is ridiculous to expect the Federal government to oversee the minute details of local level disaster preparedness. That has to come from State and local government.
Man from Guam: Care to provide a link (from someplace other than Newsmax and Fox) to back up those claims about the evacuation, etc.?
‘Cause they sure look and smell like you just pulled them right outta your ass.
Nagin called for the evac. Nagin also called for aid in the form of National Guard/food drops/etc. NoLa and parts of Mississippi are STILL waiting for help. Are you calling longtime Republican lobbyist Haley Barbour (the MS governor) a partisan Democrat too?
Bush will send every single bit of aid he can get to NO as SOON as they declare it a State of Emergency there, which the Governor/Mayor has yet to do, which BOGGLES MY MIND.
A State of Emergency has not been declared as of yet (last I heard) in New Orleans and thus, Bush cannot send his people down there to take over this incredibly sad relief effort that is happening right now. The government in Louisiana does not want to call Bush in on this because they don’t want the Republicans coming down and fixing their problems, because then they’d have to fess up to their inability to fix their own damn levees and evacuation procedures and let the Federal aid take care of things.
No, now we get to sit here and wait for the democrats running the show down there to finally get so sick to their stomachs of the disaster that is taking place down there that they drop their pride and political standing to just CALL FOR HELP when its needed, no matter WHO is in office.
For the record, The Army Corps of Engineers asked for a grant of money to help fix the levee system down in NO back in 1998, when President Clinton was in office, but we didn’t hear about his reply and there is nobody coming out and calling him the worst president ever to be in office, like I’ve heard about Bush. Clinton denied them the grant to fix the levees, maybe he needed the money to fund Midnight Basketball? Let people drown sometime in the future so I can keep the inner-city votes going Democrat for a while. Smooth move. Politics make me sick.
Quit trashing Bush, he’s not my favorite president, he has certainly done many things I do not agree with, but blaming the White House for EVERY DAMN THING that goes wrong in this country or in other countries is completely rediculous. Get off it people.
It’s interesting to see your nation attending this event and its aftermaths.
To the rest of the world, US is the big guy in the neighborhood, the one that is strong and menacing and takes away the candy from the kids.
I suppose, y’all know how do people treat the big guys knocked off and lying on the floor.
No offence but from here it seems that the worms has eaten out themselves from the apple. It’s strange that after the tsunami in Asia there was no news on raping and rioting but now the news is full of them. Kinda comparison, you see.
Not forgetting the people who died and suffered.
MJ, there’s a simple reason for that.
This didn’t happen on Clinton’s watch. Call it stupid, unfair, or whatever you want – but when you make a decision like that, you’re gambling. Some president DID bolster the levee system. Some didn’t. Recently, very few have. Those that chose not to improve the system, well, they gambled, and won. However, Bush did not win. His decision means thousands died, period. Imagine, instead, that he’s a CEO – maybe he made the same mistake the other CEOs made, for years before him, but guess what? If the flame hits the powder on his watch, that’s his fault.
It’s also all the more evident because recently, statistical techniques have improved, and the ability to generate accurate models of disasters with high confidence and low error has leaped dramatically, especially with regard to natural disasters. The evidence presented over the last few years has been several orders of magnitude more compelling than evidence in 1998.
In reality, though, Bush didn’t cause the floods, no matter what people say. How much of the federal blundering is his fault, I don’t really know. The photoop business at the levee breach certainly doesn’t bode well. Nor does his ability to act decisively after Chief Justice Rehnquist died, but his inability to act decisively, to even speak decisively, after a major American city is flooded. Maybe, though, it’s not his fault at all – I can’t say, there’s really not enough information right now. I’m just waiting for Tulane refugees to arrive here, so I can at least help someone out a little.
But for now, please, none of this bull about state rights. Governors CAN declare States of Emergency, but the federal government can declare a federal state of emergency with or without a state declaration. In fact, without a federal declaration, federal flood funds can’t be used. It’s very uncommon to declare a federal state of emergency without a local one, but it can technically be done (though, I don’t think it’s ever happened).
That said, Nagin declared a state of emergency on SUNDAY. The day he ordered the evacuation. No federal declaration has followed suit. Yet, a federal declaration happened 2 DAYS after the Indiana floods in 2003.
I’m now waiting for someone to claim that’s not utterly moronic.
Here, check this out: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/28/AR2005082800146.html
Everybody from Bush on down urged those people to leave. Bush declared a state of emergency before the storm even hit. Even Mayor Nagin ordered a mandatory evacuation before the storm hit. He told people to go to the emergency shelters prepared for a 3 to 5 day stay and they didn’t listen. So all you people trying to say that Bush should be reviewing the emergency plans for every city in the country can fuck off. He did what he was supposed to do; it’s a free country and you’re free to be stupid. Lots of people were and now they’re paying for it. Bush and everybody else involved are taking the necessary steps to save them from themselves.
I get really tired of people trying to blame Bush for every single thing that goes wrong in this country. It’s not Bush’s job, nor any other President’s job, to put food on your table and keep a roof over your head. The President cannot turn away a Cat 5 hurricane, but he can warn people to prepare and that is what he did. They didn’t listen and he’s going to help them anyway. He is doing what he was elected for.
Matt, you gotta quit getting political on this page. Keep it light, please?
Back off wrt Matt’s political stance. It is *his* blog and he can do whatever he likes with it. I read it because it is entertaining, smart and periodically insightful … if it turns out not to be smart in a manner with which you concur, go read some of the luminaries of literacy on the other side of the spectrum. No one is compelling you to hang out here, or likely very interested in keeping you around.
To me, funny = smart, and conservative + mean = uncreative. I give more weight to the opinions of people who I consider bright and creative, because their whole idiom is more appealing to me. Don’t be telling the guy “I enjoy what you have to say, as long as I can dictate which parts you say.”
Actually, the mayor and governor declared their respective states of emergency the day before the hurricane hit. And Bush made a similar declaration at about that time. If you’re gonna enter an argument get your damn facts straight.
The federal declaration was meant to ease the way for FEMA and other agencies to move quickly. That leaves two questions: Why didn’t FEMA move faster, and why didn’t Bush ride herd on them once it became clear they were dragging their feet.
As for you numbnuts saying we blame Bush for the hurricane, get a clue. NO ONE has even hinted at that. But he does undoubtedly carry some of the blame for the sorry state of the relief efforts. He’s the president of the richest, most powerful country on earth — no one can get things done faster than he can with one phone call. Yet all indications are that he was in no rush to move the mobilization.
hey buggy, and it is Davey’s comment and he can do whatever he likes with it.
Hey buggy, it is davey’s comment, and he can do whatever he likes with it.
I *think* no one has just come out and said this yet: DY, you are right.
You are exactly right there.
A British TV reporter was interviewing a National Guardsman on the news…
Reporter: “Why didn’t you get here sooner?”
Guardsman: “Well sir, you have to understand… this was all under water until a few days ago, we couldn’t get here.”
Reporter: “You have the backup of the US Army, and you couldn’t get here? I was here, and I didn’t even have a helicopter…”
Guardsman: “…”
I don’t want to play the blame game. People are in an awful situation and at this point it is up to all of us to assist those in need. There are people, old, and young, mothers, fathers, babies, dying, dead, homeless, scared, sick and confused. I think that we should all be compassionate and give what we can of ourselves to help.
I live in Florida and this could have been us (except for the levee). However, when they tell us to evacuate, WE GO. I know of many that stay. Now is the time to rebuild and help those in need.
We are a strong nation and this childish blaming/arguing makes us all look asinine. Please work together….aren’t we supposed to come together and assist each other in times of need?
I’m writing this comment to support Davey. He’s right. Those people who stayed in New Orleans deserved what they got. I mean come on, everyone has two feet, those who are amputee’s can leave in a wheelchair or crawl, and I know that dialasis machines are on wheels. And everyone should have thought, not only of stalking up on supplies (after all a Red Cross back pack is only $70/person–no problem!) but they should have also put them on their roof, everyone knows that. I agree that everyone should take care of themselves and stupid people deserve what they get. That’s why I’m not going to bat an eye if there is a terrorist attack in New York, London or any other major city. Everyone knows that it’s going to happen so people who don’t leave those cities are just stupid and deserve what they get. In fact, the only ones who are justified in complaining about a tragedy are the Mormons, they live in places no one would attack, they stock up on food, and they have many wives (often young teenage nubile ones) that can easily repopulate their sparse areas. Anyone else deserves whatever is comming to them. BTW I also think it is the responsibility for everyone living anywhere where crime occures to rellocate, otherwise don’t come crying to me when your stereo gets stolen or your child assulted.
I told you so!!!
You know you’re doing a bad job when third-world countries offer to help.
I heard Bush yap about Trent Lott losing his home. As if that would somehow how comfort the victims. What the fuck is he thinking?
Molly,
Thank you.
That was perfect.
I was going to post a comment about all those stupid old ladies sitting in the astrodome dying in their wheelchairs of exhaustion and dehydration. Why, oh why, didn’t they just get up and walk out? I mean really. How lazy.
For those of you in the south, moveon’s organizing some sort of hurricane housing campaign. Basically if you have a spare room or wing in your house, you have the option of offering it up to a few refugees. Offering housing for a month, week or however long you can manage it is infinitely better than just throwing money at the problem; you get to offer concrete help where they need it most at this time. (unless you can donate a month’s worth of rent to a specific family, I suppose)
link: http://www.hurricanehousing.org
Yeah, nevermind that the local and state government did nothing to prepare for this. Bush dropped the ball, but so did those who were tasked with preparing, preventing, and initially responding.
‘Molly’ sounds just like a friend of mine, who in all seriousness said to me “you mean those poor folks didn’t have 5 bucks to get on a Greyhound and hightail it out of the city instead of spending that money on crack?”
well, other than the fact that the last time you could get anywhere on greyhound for 5 bucks was probably sometime in 1975…
yet it’s true, there are a percentage who for either good or bad reasons chose to stay even though they had a way out. There was this article in the AJC about Fats Domino who was one of those inhabitants of the 9th ward who, in spite of his publicist calling him from Nashville telling him to get the fuck out, chose to stay because he didn’t think it would be “that bad”. (he survived)
However, I have a lot of trouble believing that the 100 thousand or so that remained trapped in the city did so because they just ‘didn’t feel like’ evacuating. It’s not statistically sound to use one image of a woman on the telly who refuses to be rescued on some boat (considering the conditions in the Superdome, can anyone blame her? she probably had an inkling about that) and use that to build an argument that all these people deserved or even wanted to die.
Reminds me of an argument a smoker once made to me: “I saw a 90 year old woman smoking a big fat cigar while sweeping her porch somewhere in Cuba in a documentary. See? She didn’t get no cancer and stuff! All this anti smoking crap is bullshit.”
Wow – Molly is either completely heartless or being incredibly sarcastic. I hope the latter.
So the people who went to the shelter of the Superdome got what they deserved because they didn’t have the means to escape the city? Do you really expect a poor person who lives from paycheck to paycheck and is taking care of children and/or an elderly parent or grandparent to be able to leave on their own? Before the hurricane, traffic was backed up for miles and gas was hard to come by, but then most of these people didn’t even have cars and were completely reliant on public transportation. Once out of the city, where were they supposed to stay? They can’t afford a $50+ a night motel no more than they can afford one of those $70 a person backpacks you mentioned. Tell me how exactly are people supposed to put supplies on their roof during a hurricane? The flood water came on these people so fast that they didn’t even have time to save loved ones, let alone put a box of canned food on the roof.
I sincerely hope Molly is never faced with poverty or a natural disaster. I’m guessing that she must live in the middle of nowhere and far away from reality.
For those who had no real way to get out, the Superdome was their only option. The last time it was used as a shelter they had huge problems, with not only vandalism (seats being ripped out) but violence and robberies.
I wouldn’t be suprised if that’s a reason some choose to stay at home and risk it.
p.s. ‘molly’ WAS tongue in cheek. Either that or a troll. If the latter case then not much worth paying attention to anyway.
‘molly’ was merely an attempt to put what davey and others of the blame the victim/personal responsibility camp say in proper perspective.
It is very sad, this hurricane, and I will miss my frieds that were taken by it. But why is it that when this Tragedy happened in the states the other Amercans are all running around so upset, but when similar things happen in other parts of the world, Americans care little? It seems that other countries care about eachother, America pretends to care, and really only cares for itself.
A very sad world it is.
considering how quickly american volunteers, forces, etc responded to the tsunami less than 6 months ago, yet how poorly and awkwardly they responded to the hurricane, I’d be hard pressed to make a blanket statement such as the one above without feeling a wee bit stupid.