It’s probably true that it’s difficult to plan accordingly for a disaster of these proportions. It’s the response to the disaster that has become extremely troubling. It’s difficult to look past the distinctions of class and race amongst the suffering people of the Gulf coast. Most of the people who sit waiting for aid are poor African Americans who were unable to leave the area before the hurricane struck. And attention has now turned not to the thousands of individual tragedies unfolding along the Gulf coast but to the “lawlessness” that has followed. Yesterday evening’s installment of “Live and Direct with Rita Cosby” featured a loop of footage depicting looting at a Louisiana Wal-Mart while Cosby and her guests (legal officials from Louisiana) ranted about the way these individuals were behaving. It was almost as if Ms. Cosby and her guests expected folks to simply lay down and die in an orderly fashion instead of taking food out from the mouths of hungry CEOs. Seriously, what should we expect?
Evacuations have obviously been a priority up to now, although news reports indicate there are sporadic delays due to “safety concerns.” Interestingly enough, earlier this evening I saw a spot on MSNBC featuring a report by Tony Zumbado who is on the ground in New Orleans. Zumbado did not address the reports of gunfire, snipers and roving gangs that other outlets have seized upon. His focus was the growing despair that he observed all day long today amongst the throng of desperate humanity. When asked about safety and claims that aid and law enforcement had to leave because of unsafe conditions, Zumbado simply stated, "It's not unsafe to be here...”
What about dropping food and medical supplies in places where evacuation is still difficult? And how about those earthen levees? Are troops still filling the sandbags or have the orders finally come down to start stacking them somewhere? Folks, I typically resist the urge to look for scapegoats, but it’s awfully difficult to ignore so many missed opportunities, particularly when the human toll has been so tremendous.
The Huffington Post, a “megablog” that is generally bland and awful, is actually featuring some insightful analysis of disaster relief efforts. Among the most notable writers is Harry Shearer of Simpsons and Spinal Tap fame, who has written some short but decent material on the matter (including a post on the Zumbado interview mentioned above).
Finally, consider this: President Bush, who is preparing to tour hurricane-damaged areas, leads an administration that has actively opposed “attempts to shore up the coastline where Hurricane Katrina made landfall.” (source) Further, under Bush’s watch, funding for the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project (SELA) eroded significantly from 2003 to 2005 (source). It seems as if Mr. Bush thought the money would be of better use if it was used to blow up things and kill people halfway around the world.
So what’s Dubya going to tell his suffering constituents when he visits the Gulf coast? Empty rhetoric doesn’t feed the hungry or cure the sick. Just ask the people of Iraq.
