Lots of fingers will be pointing over the next few months about whether the W's diverted SELA funds away from the Army Corps' ability to protect the wonderful, delicate city of New Orleans to fund their adventure in Iraq. And there will be endless recriminations regarding the confusion and delay in the government response to this disaster. "Homeland Security" seems to have taken a BIG step backward since 9/11.
Already the righties are showing their true compassionate and sensitive colors: Rightie columnists condemning the French for not offering assistance (not true, though I think the actual hurricane may have formed off the coast of France....), Speaker Hastert publicly questioning the wisdom of rebuilding the city (worth raising, but not two days after the event while people are still suffering and dying), FEMA Director Michael Brown saying residents who did not heed the mandatory evacuation have themselves to blame (again, see response to last comment; plus, many simply could not or had nowhere to go), and of course the usual plethora of nonsense from W (one of my faves was in response to the looming national fuel shortage, "Don't buy gas if you don't need to"; tres inspiring!). All that's missing so far is a quote from Pat Robertson that god is punishing The Big Easy for its hedonistic culture....
But as always, regular people come through. Millions of dollars have been donated this week, millions more will come. People have been opening their homes to the displaced. And scores have sacrificed their time and comforts so that others' pain and discomfort may be lessened. Will the pols be inspired? I suppose if Terri Schiavo showed up in a New Orleans hospital, maybe........
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