Former President Bush had an interview with Matt Lauer on the photograph which had him looking down at New Orleans from Air Force One (read the interview and see the photo here). This blog is not about whether or not this was a mistake, but rather how overly-sensitive people are. The former president was looking out of his window while on his plane, who cares? I fail to see how this is even an issue. Why this is even still a story today blows my mind. It only shows how insecure and paranoid some people can be. There are some relevant stories in the world (then and now), yet people care that president Bush was looking out of a window on Air Force One? Give me a break.
There is no central message in this blog post, other than people need to harden the f%@! up. New Orleans is not the center of the universe. Yes, the disaster was sad—but the president didn't intentionally be neglectful—I'm sure he had a lot on his plate at the moment, and Katrina didn't help matters (two wars, economic problems etc.). If where you live is such a shi!-hole, then move. Why anyone would want to live in an area prone to flooding and hurricanes is beyond me, but certainty such people should not whine when it happens, and they should be prepared for such things, KNOWING IT WILL HAPPEN. The city of New Orleans should have taken better precautions, they can blame the feds all they want, but they are the ones that are ultimately responsible for the disaster. For example, over in California majority (if not all) the buildings in the cities are built to withstand earthquakes. Here are two sayings that sum up what I am trying to say...
-An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
-Those that don't learn from the past are destined to repeat it.
If the people in New Orleans were not prepared for a massive hurricane than that is their fault, not the rest of the country. New Orleans should have had already set up plans for handling such a scenario. As I said, New Orleans is not the center of the universe, yet they want to be treated like they are. The world did not stop spinning when Hurricane Katrina blew through. People still had/have their own problems and obligations etc. Not only that, but to mobilize such a relief effort takes time, it can't happen overnight. New Orleans is filled with incompetent people, and the hurricane season didn't take that into consideration (and neither did the Fed. government).
I think it is sad that New Orleans had to experience this, but it is better to learn the hard-way than to not learn at all—time will tell whether or not they have learned from their mistakes.
You may want to educate yourself a bit more on what caused the vast majority of death and destruction in New Orleans. It wasn't Katrina, a category 3 storm when it hit landfall east of New Orleans on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. It was a failed Army Corps of Engineers' levee system which has been ruled by a Fed. Judge and independent studies as being negligently built and maintained.
ReplyDeleteMaybe if you had lost a friend or family member amongst the approximately 1400 dead or lost your home you might wonder why it is still important. Many still haven't learned the lessons of Katrina and the lack of response, and the levee failures, so don't be surprised when history repeats itself in your back yard, especially when about half of the U.S. population lives in counties protected by levees, many of which are more highly vulnerable than New Orleans' were.
Paul Harris
Author, "Diary From the Dome, Reflections on Fear and Privilege During Katrina"
Uh, the cause was the hurricane. The levee system sucked, New Orleans wasn't prepared, but it was the hurricane that caused the flooding and death. The levee system didn't bring the water and winds :)
ReplyDeleteLet's say you were to get shot in the chest with a gun, and you died. What is the cause of your death? The gun, or the lack of a bulletproof vest?
People that throw the whole 'you need to educate yourself' bullshit tend to not be the sharpest tools in the shed.
/pat
Oh, and my back yard is northern New York bud. No hurricanes in my neck of the woods....
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