I got an email today via work with the names of seventeen Deaf/HOH people that lost their lives as a result of Hurricane Katrina. I didn’t know any of them. But because I count myself as a member of the Deaf Community (a fringe member, since I’m not Deaf, but that’s another blog topic for another day), they were important to me. They were mothers and fathers, children, brothers, and sisters…and they were Deaf/HOH…
The Deaf Community is not that big of a place, really. There’s a joke that I can sneeze at home in Anderson and someone Deaf/HOH in Charleston will text me to say bless you. News travels fast…joys and sorrows are shared…and this is most definitely a sorrow that will be felt throughout the Deaf Community nation and world-wide.
On a slightly related note…I wanted to comment on something that I heard the President say recently. Now those that know me know that I am not Dubya’s biggest fan…and that on occasion I have come up with some better names for him than Dubya. Lots of attention has been focused on him in the past week, and most of it has been negative…but I think that he has finally outdone himself when it comes to proving to us again and again the true nature of his character. During a speech discussing the devastation of the gulf coast, Baby Bush had this to say:
“Out of the rubble of Trent Lott’s house – he’s lost his entire house – there’s going to be a fantastic house. And I’m looking forward to sitting on the porch.”
I’m sure that you are, Mr. President. Just make sure that the porch on the house in Mississippi doesn’t face west toward New Orleans, or you might have to actually see the faces of those that were forgotten in the wake of the hurricane’s devastation.
Nancy, Nancy. Don\’t fall into the typical liberal head-in-the-sand trap of blaming the federal government for something that, ultimately, was the product of gross incompetence and corruption on the part of local and state officials.Our federal government is not and never has been a first-response agency in times of crisis. States are expected to be able to look after themselves for a day or two until federal assistance can arrive. New Orleans couldn\’t manage that. Nagin and Blanco couldn\’t manage that.
We will have to agree to disagree on this one. Money that was supposed to be spent on fortifying the levees (because it was well known what a hurricane would do to NO before Katrina was even a big wave in the tropics) was diverted elsewhere. That\’s just one of the blunders, and I\’m fairly certain that it wasn\’t the local authorities that came up with the idea. In other countries that are far less developed, advanced, and wealthy, when a storm of that magnitude is on its way there are government relief workers in the area beforehand…where was FEMA the Sunday before Katrina made landfall?I\’m sorry, but all the baby kissing and guitar playing photo-ops that Dubya\’s been seen in recently just make me a bit ill. I can imagine that the local and state officials couldn\’t handle Katrina\’s devastation. No state could. But beyond pointing fingers and placing blame, people who did not have to die did, and in my head-in-the-sand mentality, that is unacceptable.
I agree with you that the federal government didn\’t do enough – and Bush agrees with that as well.However, we can\’t lay all, or even most, of the blame at his feet. Bill Clinton had the information about the levees in N.O. too and he, also, declined to do anything about it. So did George Sr. Ultimately, it was the city\’s responsibility to repair its levees – no federal administration was going to touch that – not even a Democratic one! :)There\’s going to be a lot more finger-pointing in days to come; I just want to make sure most of it is directed where it needs to be – at the local government that screwed up so badly and cost so many people their lives./hugDon\’t hate me because I\’m a conservative. I still love your liberal ass. 🙂
Ah, see, that I did not know, that the levees were under the city\’s jurisdiction. I thought that since they were along a major waterway (the Mississippi river) that they were under the feds\’ maintenance. Learn something new every day!I don\’t hate ya because you\’re a conservative. 🙂 Silly.
Oh my GOSH I just realized that sounds like I\’m saying that the conservative thing isn\’t the reason I hate you…bwahahahahahaha(It isn\’t, you know… /wink)
It is a very emotional time seeing all of those people hurt and homeless. I keep changing my opinion as to who is to blame – maybe no one. When bad things happen it is human nature to find someone to blame. I did it.