Katrina is a racist!
As I watch news about what is happening to the South Eastern states due to Hurricane Katrina, I get this spine tingling feeling. The shock and awe of what has happened can be overwhelming. My heart and prayers go out to those people who have lost everything. But at times I find myself flipping the channel to something else not because of the tragedy but the issues that the media, and other political personnel are focusing on. The focus, for now should be on searching, rescuing, caring, and sheltering for the victims of Katrina. Instead I see issues of blame, racism, and critiscm. Those issues need to be set aside and dealt with later. I hear about critiscm about Bush and him taking such a long time to come out from his vacation, and him not doing anything. And those critiscms are meritted because he is our leader. We, as a people, want to see quick action. But our leader is not the sole decision maker. There are Congress, lawmakers, departments (i.e. Fema) and others that make up policies and procedures. If and when the blame game comes, people need to look at not only at the federal level but also the state and local levels. I think all those divisions need to do some improvements of sorts. But that needs to be evaluated when things have come to a calm. Then issues or racism is a stretch. New Orleans is 65% or so black. I flip on the tv last night and I see on Fox News, Jesse Jackson and he is debating the issue of racism. Four words: Oh my freakin gosh! Just because the state is predominately black, then racism has to be an issue? Yeah Katrina is something that the government created and was deliberately sent to rid the minority. Please! Then the use of the word "Refugee" is deemed as a racist remark?!?! What the heck? Refugee is someone fleeing or escaping from danger, someone seeking refuge. How is the word "refugee" a racist remark? The connotation could be demeaning by the way it has been used in the middle east but hardly a racist remark. This disaster has definitely exploited this great country's shortfalls. It should set an example that no country, no matter how strong and well developed it is, should feel invulnerable to what mother nature can dish out.
posted by a mindless zombie at 7:42 AM
6 Comments:
I'll keep it short since I'm on dialup. in 1996, FEMA sent a notice that New Orleans and New York were in the top 3 areas of concern for national security. President Clinton secured federal funding to those areas. In 2002, FEMA sent a similar report which included New Orleans (since NY was already attacked). Pres. Bush moved funding from New Orleans to Iraq. The nation had nearly a week to prepare for New Orleans. Nobody did anything... not Bush, not the Governor, not the mayor. All are idiots in my book.
And Jesse Jackson is on crack (for going on Fox)
Just because funds were moved doesn't mean that New Orleans still should not have been prepared. There was a break down somewhere (perhaps at the Federal, State & Local). Understandable that people are to be found responsible but perhaps the blame can come later while the people still need to be rescued.
Actually I think J. Jackson was on CNN (with Lou Dobbs)
What the memo precisely dictated is that the levee that protects New Orleans from the Ocean would not withstand a major hurricane. Federal funds were needed to rebuild it.
With a hurricane going through Florida and predicted to hit Louisiana, it is inconceiveable that the United States was not prepared. No food drops, no rescue teams in place. We are more than ready to do this in other countries on a moments notice, but it takes days, if not a week to get it done here.
Actually the levee could withstand a level 3 hurricane but could not withstand a hurricane 4+ (which is what Katrina was). They said that in order to have a levee that could withstand something of Katrina's magnitude it would take 20-25 years to build.
As far as the aide that America did during the tsunamis, you make it sound like we dropped food and did rescues just like that. We sent troops and aide but that took sometime. Whereas for katrina, americans expected immediate relief (which is what should have happened and didn't). I don't think a lot of people expect Katrina to have the impact that it did. People were warned (as to if they had enough time is another question). I think people were expecting it to be like any other yearly hurricane.
The mayor was applying sandbags to the levee before the hurricane... the Governor declared a State of Emergency to Bush beforeand and requested assistance (which Bush accepted)... Bush waited 2 days after the hurricane struck to do anything.
Do you honestly think that sandbags would have helped the levee not breach? Anyways as far as blaming, is Bush to blamed? To a certain level he is probably to be blamed. He could be considered slow to repond which of course never bolds well to the American Public. But I don't think that him or any other president has approached a hurricane or disaster any different from others. Sure the Govenor issued a state of emergency 2 days before the storm. Bush accepted (as you have stated). That means that whoever was to handle the specifics fouled up. Wouldn't that fall on to FEMA?
"FEMA ’s mission within the new
department (Homeland Security) is to lead the effort to prepare the nation for all potential disasters and to manage the federal
response and recovery efforts following any national
incident — whether natural or man--made." (source: FEMA)
Bush didn't wait two days to do something. FEMA and whatever other departments waited two days to do something. Bush had to step in and apply pressure because he had already expected something to be done. Hence he stated that it was "unacceptable."
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