In a nutshell

Since we haven't had a post on Hurricane Katrina, I thought I'd sum it up:

The disaster is being called a casualty of the war in Iraq, and also "George's Blue Dress". The body of water which was once New Orleans is now being called "Lake George". Martial Law has been declared in the area, yet there aren't enough troops to enforce the law. Snipers are firing from rooftops keeping people indoors for hours while they go unchallenged. Why?:

1) Bush said yesterday that no one could have foreseen that the levees would break. This is in direct contradiction to a FEMA report in 2001 naming the New Orleans levee system as one of the top three potential disaster areas. The money for reinforcement was diverted to the war in Iraq.

2) Bush, Cheney AND Condi were all on vacation AFTER the storm occured. Bush waited three days until he decided to 'cancel' his vacation. He flew over New Orleans at 35,000 ft to see the devistation, and is just this morning receiving a 'briefing' of what is going on. Why does he need a briefing, and why did THAT take so long. People reading news are most likely more well informed than the the Commander in Chief. One of Bush's stops before the disaster was a cake eating photo op with John McCain. The cake said "Let them eat cake". For godsake, all you had to do was listen to NPR to know that by Tuesday, that cake would be in bad taste, REGARDLESS of who it is for
Condi - She was out catching a show of "Spamalot", seen purchasing a $1000 pair of shoes (when another shopper approached her and scolded her for being so callous about the disaster, Condi had security physically remove her from the building). She also spent some time catching a tennis match, and also hitting a few to Monica Seles. Condi finally cut her vacation short on Thursday morning, four days after the disaster began. Quite possibly the most disgusting reaction to a national disaster since Bush finished reading "My Pet Goat" while the World Trade Center fell.
Cheney - So where the hell is Cheney? The Washington Post reports that he is on vacation at his home outside Jackson, Wyoming. "He'll be back any day now".


3) FEMA, an organization which has been gutted by the Bush administration is advocatingdonations to Pat Robertson's "Operation Blessing". Bush praises the FEMA director this morning: "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job.". 'Brownie' (Michael Brown) also told Katie Couric this morning "people are getting the help they need.". This was also after making a comment that they are "...to help those who are stranded, who chose not to evacuate, who chose not to leave the city..." Apparently, Brownie isn't aware that there is a fairly large number of people in America who do not own cars, could not afford them, nor can they afford to just pick up and leave. These people live hand-to-mouth and demonstrably could not evacuate the area IF THEIR LIVES DEPENDED ON IT.

4) Trent Lott's house was destroyed (well, one of them anyway), and Fats Domino is missing.

5) The US is stalling on help because "The United States Government is not yet requesting international assistance at this time."

6) Thousands of Louisiana's poorest are being bussed out to the Astrodome in Texas. These people, who couldn't afford to leave, will most likely not be able to afford to come back. That, coupled with the fact that many businesses have been destroyed, reinforces the possibility that a significantly large part of the LA population will never return. Dennis Hastart, in an interview with the Chicago Daily Herald editorial board said that "It doesn't make sense to rebuild".

7) Reps are already backtracking on the "Consumer Protection Act of 2005" (which made it harder for people to declare bankruptcy.) Rep. John Conyers, Jr., Rep. Mel Watt, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee announced today that when Congress returns next Tuesday, they will introduce legislation to protect the thousands of families and small businesses financially devastated by Hurricane Katrina from being penalized by anti-debtor provisions contained in the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, scheduled to take effect on October 17, 2005. Reps. Conyers, Nadler, and Jackson Lee released the following joint statement:

"We are concerned that just as survivors of Hurricane Katrina are beginning to rebuild their lives, the new bankruptcy law will result in a further and unintended financial whammy. Unfortunately, the new law is likely to have the consequence of preventing devestated families from being able to obtain relief from massive and unexpected new financial obligations they are incurring and by forcing them to repay their debt with income they no longer have, but which is counted by the law.

Ooops. I guess they didn't see that coming. My final thought on this whole disaster is that it couldn't have happened to a redder group of States. You go in to a disaster with the government you voted for, not the government that would actually help you out.

Not to sound too flippant about the whole thing, but this disaster has shown us that the war on terror/war on Iraq has made us extremely vulnerable in many areas. The Bush Team had always repeated the mantra "Americans want to feel safe", so they gutted everything they could to take us into a war where the money was funneled into defense spending, no-bid contracts, etc. Meanwhile at home we are left vulnerable to rising energy costs, inability to protect ourselves from natural disaster, and a distinct sense that we are worse off today than we were 5 years ago. They are running out of fuel in the south, they have no food, shelter or medical supplies, and the death toll will most likely outstrip the World Trade Center and the casualties in Iraq combined. This disaster is going to take us into a new recession, and Bush's unbridled spending will make sure that it lasts generations.