September 03, 2005
do I stay or do I go now...
David's church and home are gone. He is one of far to many to count. I am glad he is safe. I have been praying and fretting for him.
Sunni is so mad she could spit. And, to be honest, I have to say that I feel a mite bit sorry for W. He's in a bind now...there is no good way to get through a crisis like this. "It's hard work," as they say, and the work will only get more difficult. Sunni is not the only one who is peeved.
Megan is trying to decide on a response. This is a good post...and worthy of reflection.
So, here I sit, unemployed...trained in trauma work...a nigh unto board certified chaplain. What the heck am I doing here? Should I go south or help some friends adopt a family? We have a spare bedroom. We could take a family of three.
Trish and I are not sure what to do.
Ideas? Call me.
Posted by tripp at September 3, 2005 09:03 AMWell, W. provides a convenient ass to kick, as per usual.
But I got some questions from the tantrum-throwing foul-mouthed mayor o' Nawlins:
Say, buddy, what about those 205 buses of the New Orleans school district that now sit flooded? At about 40 bodies per, that's be somewhere in the neighborhood of 8000 people evacuated. Why didn't you provide transportation for those poor you yourself knew didn't have transportation when you proclaimed your mandatory evacuation?
Why did you wait till after Katrina had made landfall before you realized you'd have to evacuate those in the hospitals?
According to this news report, from the 28th of August, President Bush pleaded with Gov. Blanco to order a mandatory evacuation.
And according to the Chicago Tribune, seems funding levels had little to do with the collapse of the levees.
Yep. I've lived in Baton Rouge. If W. bears some blame, he doesn't bear the most of it. Chalk it up to corrupt do-nothing Louisiana politicians, like nervous-breakdown Blanco and throw-a-hissy-on-the-air Nagin.
W will be the whipping boy with this one for some time to come. Honestly, as I said, I feel sorry for him. I have planned and had to implement evacuations of up to 5000 people...and in optimum conditions. I knew where everyone was. I knew where the bad weather shelter was. It was close. It was safe. One could walk there.
And still things went wrong.
Multiply that number by 200. Enlarge the area by 300 times. Make the weather worse, and have no real plan to evacuate a city...why?...BECAUSE NO ONE CAN PLAN FOR THIS.
I don't blame W.
I think it says a lot about NO that only poor
(black?) folk stuck around or had few options or whatever happened.
But NO's problems are not W's. No more than they are mine. Well, except he has a certain responsibility based on his office. Like I said, I feel sorry for the guy. He will not come out of this looking good. No one could.
1,000,000 homeless. That guarantees a dip in the approval rating...and there is nothing he can do about it.
Posted by: Tripp at September 3, 2005 10:49 PM"not my problem"
Yeah, um, notice I am trying to figure out if I can get down there somehow. It is my problem by virtue of my faith and my training...I have a responsibility as well. We all do.
W is our poster boy.
Posted by: Tripp at September 3, 2005 10:51 PMHere is an interesting blurb from an editorial I read.
Starting in the 1960's, the federal government took over the business of insuring against floods. It offered subsidized insurance to people in flood-prone areas, encouraging seaside homes that never would have been built otherwise. Even at bargain rates, most people went without flood insurance - only about a third of the homes in New Orleans carried it.
People don't bother to protect themselves because they figure - correctly - that if disaster strikes they'll be reimbursed anyway by FEMA. It gives out money so freely that it has grown into one of the great vote-buying tools of the modern presidency. Bill Clinton set a record for declaring disasters, and then President Bush set the single-state spending record in Florida before last year's election.The useful point brought to the fore by this editorial is this: Who was expected to organize the evacuation? I wonder, and this is honest wondering, is it the responsibility of the Federal government to do so? FEMA suggests as much. Heck, the mayor of N.O. certainly expected it. And, as you said, so to did Louisianna's governor. The states are not responsible for this kind of thing anymore.
"Federal Disaster Response Teams"...New Orleans never had its own disaster plan.
Posted by: Tripp at September 4, 2005 06:38 AMwell, i must disagree w/ some of the interpretations regarding the funding and planning.
as yall have surveyed the news reports, here's another one. from alternet.org, they suggest that "Washington knew exactly what needed to be done to protect the citizens of New Orleans from disasters like Katrina. Yet federal funding for Louisiana flood control projects was diverted to pay for the war in Iraq." www.alternet.org has an interesting take on the flooding and why things happened and to what degree they happened. i'm conscious about not placing blame on a natural disaster, but i must say that there should be accountability and when one is signing the bills for beaurcratic offices, etc., we must consider the consequences and results of such signage!
and, i must disagree and say that we are all responsible for this stuff just as much as we are responsible for our attitudes concerning war...
Posted by: baptistnomad at September 5, 2005 05:45 AMI really am impressed by your site. Very original & interesting content. Fantastic blog: http://www.cosmicbuddha.com/blog/archives/001169.html , Small brain blog
Posted by: Nicolas Trumen at September 9, 2005 10:01 AMHey Tripp,
I was gogin through my bookmarks and found you rblog. I am devastated by what is going on down in LA. And though I do not think it is all W.'s fault (and honestly my opinion of him has never been high) but I do believe there was a major break-down in communcation and he did not appear to do anything to improve the communication break-down.
The LA times has a great article about where the response was broken:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-plan11sep11,0,5859497,full.story?coll=la-home-headlines
I have been trying to find an organization that I can volunteer for for a couple of months at the beginning of the year.
Tia
Posted by: Tia at September 12, 2005 03:19 PM