I watched New Orleans' mayor Nagin's statement live early this morning. How can someone threaten his people just a DAY after the anniversary of New Orleans' largest natural disaster? "You need to be scared," he said. "If you are stubborn enough, if you are not taking this as seriously as we need you to take it, if you decide to stay, you are on your own. There will be no services available for you, no emergency services. Anyone who decides to stay, I'll say it like I've said before Katrina; make sure you have an ax, because you will be carving your way or busting your way out of your attic to get on your roof."
There are CHILDREN who suffered Katrina's effects, trying to rebuild their lives. I do not see the sense or sensitivity of this message. And Nagin's full speech? I listened to it in the wee hours of the morning. It was heated and frightening. I cannot find the entire video of it on any internet search. I cannot find lengthy quotes of the most destructive words. It has somehow been erased from the public eye...replaced by more softer words in his speeches since.
People are getting on buses not knowing where they're being sent. A reporter asked an evacuation worker why the people haven't been told where they were going. The response? (paraphrased) "Oh, they all know that they're going to the airport. They are just unsure of their destinations once they fly out." Excuse me? These people are being loaded into buses and trains to hubs where they are being sent "out." How are they to tell relatives where they are going? How are they to know they will get food, clothing, and shelter? How will they know they will be returned after the storm? (with Katrina, several people were "evacuated" by airplane, and when they wished to return to New Orleans, they were told they had to pay for their relocation themselves)
The mayor of New Orleans (and several other spokespeople for the "evacuation" cause) have declared this to be the best run evacuation ever. That may be true, but make a REAL CAREFUL comparison. Every evacuation in the past has been a disaster. So of COURSE this looks smoother on the outside. The powers that be said they have made contingency plans for pets...though the first to be evacuated have had to leave several animals. Some people refuse to go. Why? They're scared. They may be separated from loved ones, from their children. They might not want to leave a pet. They might not want to leave a house that has been in the family for generations. They might not want their business looted while they're away. They may be promised certain services they never receive. They might have a relative stuck in a hospital they don't want to leave. They may not want to relive the trauma of Katrina...because all this happened during that disaster. People may leave this time who DIDN'T leave during Katrina for the same reasons. It is all an abysmal mess.
Who is taking care? Who is loving these people as colleagues, neighbors, and family? The mayor, the congressmen, the president is the father or the mother of this country and his/her children. Is Nagin or Bush acting as father? Did Bush act as such during Katrina? All the morality that his political party and the monetarily endowed from corporate America tout as the only way to "save" the country is rhetoric lost in the way the country's poor, disabled, and suffering are being treated...in the way civilians in U.S. militarized countries are being treated. What kind of parent lets their children suffer? What kind of parent teaches their children violence and murder is the only answer...the only justice? What kind of parent abandons their children when they are sick? What kind of parent makes an appearance in their child's life to give a big speech to gain a bit of notoriety, talking about taking care and providing, only to ignore their child's cries moments later through a simple distraction---which usually leads to building more bombs and deploying more troops, resulting in an inept role model of a system in crisis.
What kind of parent doesn't allow their children to make decisions for themselves, then blames the children when things go wrong? What kind of parent on one hand asks their children to grow and become wise and learn from their mistakes, and on the other hand repeats mistakes of their forefathers (in this case, literally) and shelters them from the truth? What kind of parent fights for the death of their children? This is the United States? There is more hate, more murder, more division than can be fathomed. And the parent sits back while all his unwanted children destroy themselves.
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