Tragic

[GreenThumb]

http://www.collegehumor.com/movies/1606803/

This is by far the most tragic and disheartening thing I have seen in a long long time.

She can't even pronounce the name of the hurricane-How are we to expect them to understand the plight of the common man?

[Craig B]

"Mrs. Bush, would you mind taking time out of your busy schedule attending various tea parties and galas to come say something to the folks suffering from hurricane Katrina?"

"I suppose I can, it's the least I could do to ease the suffering from Corina"

"Um, actually it's 'Katrina' ..."

"Whatever ... can you hand me my gucci bag?"

[GreenThumb]

I loved how they planted the random black people in the background--trying to visually portray her as a champion of their rights.

Eff that and eff the PR people who use visual indicators like that.

[Patrick Shannon]

It's kind of sickening how so many people are playing the race card on both sides. In a natural disaster, there is no sole individual to align against (unless you count mother nature), quite unlike 9/11. Because of this, so many are trying to play the tired old race card with this hurricane. On the flip side (as GreenThumb pointed out), the White House's response is typical media influence by planting individuals in the background to chill the critcs out. It sucks on both fronts.

I do agree that not enough action was taken FOLLOWING Katrina breaking up (those people were at the dome WAY too long), but I feel that's because of different faults. Also what a lot of people have a hard time understanding is that no one is going to send in rescue workers/etc WHILE the hurricane is going on.

[jimking]

It's kind of sickening how so many people are playing the race card on both sides. In a natural disaster, there is no sole individual to align against (unless you count mother nature), quite unlike 9/11. Because of this, so many are trying to play the tired old race card with this hurricane. On the flip side (as GreenThumb pointed out), the White House's response is typical media influence by planting individuals in the background to chill the critcs out. It sucks on both fronts.

I do agree that not enough action was taken FOLLOWING Katrina breaking up (those people were at the dome WAY too long), but I feel that's because of different faults. Also what a lot of people have a hard time understanding is that no one is going to send in rescue workers/etc WHILE the hurricane is going on.
That's a major problem. There were several hundred school buses around, however about 80% of the population split town. My hunch is not to many people would have volunteered to drive the buses. What a mess.

[EC]

It's kind of sickening how so many people are playing the race card on both sides. In a natural disaster, there is no sole individual to align against (unless you count mother nature), quite unlike 9/11. Because of this, so many are trying to play the tired old race card with this hurricane. On the flip side (as GreenThumb pointed out), the White House's response is typical media influence by planting individuals in the background to chill the critcs out. It sucks on both fronts.

I do agree that not enough action was taken FOLLOWING Katrina breaking up (those people were at the dome WAY too long), but I feel that's because of different faults. Also what a lot of people have a hard time understanding is that no one is going to send in rescue workers/etc WHILE the hurricane is going on.

I disagree. I think that people understand that emergency service responders are not going to risk their own lives to save others DURING the hurricane. Who is bitching about that?

No, this is about WHY those people, many of whom were not in the position to leave town for whatever reason (lack of transportation, money, health, whatever), were left to fend for themselves and in some cases their lives ... in a dangerous, unsecured, unprotected, unhealthy, filthy, disgusting, inhumane shelter situation for the better part of A WEEK!!!!!!!

People died. Dude, they died, and in the most unthinkable, morally reprehensible manner. And it didn't need to go down like that. It just didn't.

And there is indeed "somebody to blame." That's right, I'm playing THE BLAME GAME. It wasn't an external threat that cost American lives, it was an INTERNAL problem. Which is SICKENING.

The masterful spin doctors jumped all over the rhetoric, declaring "the blame game" as "counter productive". YEAH RIGHT. A democracy is about debate, they haven't quite stripped us of that yet. But pay attention -- they're good these people -- next thing you know if we want to assign blame we'll be called Un-American and somebody will make a magnetic ribbon bumper sticker telling me which side I'm on.

Why do I want to assign blame? Because it's not JUST about a natural disaster, a freak of nature. It's about me paying my taxes for services that were not rendered OR rendered incredibly incompetently. I have a grievance, and it's my right to complain.

Much of the reason for the tragedies that occurred DOES have to do with class whether you like to hear that or not, the people that were left behind were not rich white people with Lexus SUVs and a summer home in the hamptons. Measures were not taken to help in an expedient manner. Not because this person or that is a racist or hates black people -- but because there was a LACK OF THOUGHT, PREPARATION AND RESPONSE to tend to those that COULD NOT leave without assistance. This all goes to class. And really, you can't have discussion about class in America without having a discussion about race; it's just the way it is. I agree, though -- I hate it when politicians use the race card as a rule.

With callous disregard for these people, and stupid, insensitive statements made by the Bush family about "those underprivildeged people, aren't they so much better off now" I have concluded, once again, that the Bush family is evil.

Ok that was a good rant, I'm done now.

[Patrick Shannon]

I never said there wasn't any wrongdoings at all...it's quite evident that response from Washington was indeed slow, combined with many faults that New Orleans had in defense against something like this (though being below sea level kind of stacks the odds the other way, there). But simply stating that "Dubya hates black people" is meaningless political/race card banter and does nothing constuctive whatsoever. (And what about the rest of the people in New Orleans, does Dubya hate whites, hispanics, asians, etc too?) But it does make for great media and social talk, all to be forgotten when that all burns out some time later. And what lies underneath is the real issues. For example, can all concerns simply be confined to one city?

It's easy to escape being called upon playing the race card by concluding that response would be quicker if it were a rich neighborhood under water (I've heard this from several people). Let's say the hurricane hit another major city, I believe wholeheartedly that response would have been just as abysmal. It's sad, but so many places are so unequipped and unprepared for disaster and dealing with it all following the incident, even in a post 9/11 world. And then there's Washington of course, which I don't believe at all that they any agenda against one race (at least not in America), but that the administration is just lazy towards the general public all around. That, and not thinking things through for the aftermath of a situation seems to becoming a common issue (9/11, Iraq, Katrina, etc).

Several people have brought up good points such as American response to the foreign tsunami vs. New Orleans and the question of how we can invade/control another country in days from a tyrant but we can't get an American city under control from looters. Now those are accusations that address good points and hold some weight behind them. Well, unless we start to see Dubya dancing around the remains of New Orleans in a white robe.

[GreenThumb]

I dont think it was a race issue--I think it was a money issue.

Nobody cares about the poor was the overriding message. I don't know how much more blatantly the government could say that.

Any government leader should realize that they are a civil SERVANT. Honest to God, I would not eat or sleep at night knowing that so many of the people that I am responsible for are in distress.

[EC]

No kidding. I lost sleep when a business card design came back from the printer with a minor typo. Can you imagine?

[GreenThumb]

Food for thought (no pun intended), though

http://rap.about.com/od/raphiphopnews/ss/katrinaracism.htm

http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/09/01/191113.php

EDIT: I realize now that these news stories were done by 2 different news sources so its like comparing apples to oranges.

Well at least, we debunked that. So no racism here for sure. Just different levels of sensationalism in reporting.