ORIGINAL COMPOSE DATE: 05 September 05
Did I just hear that right? Did Tucker Carlson, the bow-tied media strong-arm of the Bush administration, just say that the Bush administration was culpable and should bear the blame of this tragedy for not responding fast enough? Did I hear that right?
This is amazing. The right wing media is slamming the Bush administration on so many counts.
What I do not understand is why people are throwing the race card around. We all understand that race is associated with poverty, that is a given, but to say that these people are being ignored because of their race is ludicrous as best. The reason the majority of the people on our television screens are black is not that their black skin causes people to ignore them: they are the majority because in New Orleans, a majority black city, the black population dominates the poverty-stricken neighborhoods.
This is not about race: it is about class. The city of New Orleans is culpable from the very beginning. How can you put out a mandatory evacuation and not help people get out? When officials ordered a mandatory evacuation, officials should have mobilized buses and helped the poor people get out. The military should have sent in C-130 cargo planes to take people out..
You cannot give a mandatory evacuation and then not help people that cannot get out on their own.The city of Biloxi equally suffered from the class separation. The Point is where the poverty-stricken citizens of Biloxi live. Most of them could not get out of the city. Most of them died. Rescuers on the ground say that there will likely be 1,000 deaths in Biloxi and most of them from The Point.
The government not only failed the citizens of these states after Katrina left, they failed before Katrina ever arrived.
Even today the Mayor of New Orleans helped people from a classy hotel evacuate and get head of the line privileges at the Sewer Dome, I mean Super Dome. Why is that? He allowed the rich foreigners and out-of-towners to go ahead of his own poor people.
This is not about race. This is about class. This is about an incompetent administration.
Why is everyone so quiet about this? Am I the only one that is pissed off about what is going on along the Gulf Coast? Why are so many Americans dumbfounded over the national tragedy level of this catastrophe?
The father of my daughter’s friend had a conference call today with his clients, suppliers, and main office. They were talking about the fact that their plastics factories rely on petroleum and they are having a hard time getting it. They are talking about canceling orders and increasing prices to compensate for having to truck gas in all the way from California. They talked about stopping sales and just taking care of existing orders, which means he would be out of a job. Their main technician is stuck in Jackson, Mississippi with no gas to get home.
I rely on Mobile to get my parts to do my job. My work is still recovering, but they told me today that even if they could send parts, UPS is limited in the Mobile area because some of their employees are suffering loses, and they are also having a difficult time getting gas for their trucks. Do people not realize the national ramifications of the fact that UPS, FedEx, and even the Post Office are having problems delivering items to people? What will happen when the trucking industry shuts down because the truckers are not getting compensated enough money to purchase gas for the long hauls?
The Texaco one block from my house has raised the price of gas over fifty cents today. It rose slowly over the day. In just 2 1/2 hours alone, it went from $3.10 to $3.38! We went to Wal-Mart to get groceries and when we came back, it had gone up just twenty-eight cents. Then when my wife went back to work an hour later it was up to $3.48! This morning several Huntsville gas stations ran out of gas.
My cousin is complaining that she cannot get to the Auburn game and that the universities are asking people to cancel their reservations so they can house refugees. If I were in Mobile, I would reach out and slap her. The universities should cancel the game to ensure that refugees could use all the rooms available. Are we that stupid? Are we that ignorant of the ramifications? People are actually going to waste gas to see a stupid football game.
Cancel the NFL season and house these people in every dome stadium across the United States until resources can integrate refugees into their adoptive cities. Melt down the ice in Ice hockey rinks and use them as shelters.
I just do not get it. I am angry. I am upset. I am saddened. I am grieving.
