I didn’t know cholera affected speech

Obviously, I’m in Mexico, so as I’ve noted elsewhere on this blog, I don’t exactly get the creme de la creme of American television. As such, I didn’t get to see last night’s telethon hosted by NBC’s Matt Lauer for the American Red Cross to raise money for Katrina victms. Lots of celebrities appeared, such as jazz greats and NO natives Harry Connick, Jr. and Wynton Marsalis, among many other musicians and actors.

One of those “musicians” was rapper Kanye West, on last week’s Time Magazine cover dubbed, “The smartest man in rap.” Apparently, the threshold for what passes as intelligent is about the freezing point of water, because West had such bad diarrhea of the mouth, saying that “they’re giving [the Army] permission to shoot us,” and “George Bush hates Black people,” all with Mike Meyers delivering an Emmy-winning performance holding it together (punctuated by moments of incredulity). This is ridiculously stupid on so many levels. Isn’t Condy Rice Black? As much as I abhor most of Bush’s politics, I don’t think for one second he’s racist. Dim-witted, yes. A bigot, no. The issue is responsibility and leadership, and while race and class are very much factors in this crisis, it’s more a crime of apathy than racism or “genocide,” as the more wacky, fringe groups claim. And speaking of conspiracy wacky, in his lyrics and interviews, Kayne says the government intentionally spread AIDS and implicates Ronald Reagan in bringing down the Black Panthers, specifically by the government’s creation of crack and subversive planting in Black ghettos. Right. Is that a chip in your neck?

As crazy as all of this is, what’s sad are those conservatives who have a stick so far up their ass, they called their local affiliates and self-righteously announced that they’d be donating to the Salvation Army or another agency, blaming both NBC and the Red Cross for allowing this to happen. Well, at least they gave, I suppose, but to me, allowing this to affect one’s decision to give to Red Cross is more reactionary and short-sighted than West himself.

What about the little guy?

My husband addressed many of my thoughts perfectly so there is no need for me to regurgitate what he has so eloquently penned below. I do however have some thoughts that I must get out or else I feel like my head will explode.

I was born and raised in one of the poorest counties in the United States. A county that is close to the Rio Grande River and the Gulf Coast. We grew up with the threat of hurricanes and knew the drill well. First you tape the windows, fill up the cars with gas, buy the water and groceries then get ready for it. What, evacuate you say? Not an option.

My father was a hard working man who worked well over 40 hours to make sure we had food on the table and clothes on our back. My parents never received public assistance even though we were a large family of 11, and both he and my mother made sure we were good citizens.

We would not have been able to leave because you need money to leave, you need a reliable car to travel and then you need to spend quite a bit of money to buy the tape, the plywood, the nails to secure the only possessions you have. Then after all that, you need money for hotel rooms and food for several days if not weeks.

Had the big one hit, and we were left stranded, should we be judged because we did not evacuate even though we knew better? Should we just accept that we would have no food or water for days and days until FEMA came around to check on the small towns after they got dealing with the big ones? Do citizens who live in small cities matter less than the ones in the big cities? How bad are these areas that that according to the Mayor of New Orleans, those people are being brought into NO for aid? Let me tell you something, it is a totally different animal to be poor in a small rural community than being poor in a large city.

Large cities get all the attention in these natural disasters. I understand why that is–the loss of life is higher, the damage more costly and the recuperation more extensive. I get that. But I must admit that I got a chill down my spine when I heard that almost 1000 miles spread throughout different states had been devastated by Katrina.

Reporters are now talking about the other parishes and the level of destruction found in those areas. I remind myself that parishes are counties with many square miles, not neighborhoods with many square blocks. Counties full of citizens, many of whom had less than the people in New Orleans before this disaster. These people go to New Orleans to find the jobs that are non-existent in their rural town. It is mind boggling when you think about it.

In Houston I worked with many, many Louisianans. I wonder how their families are. These people’s brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers were residents of Louisiana–many from small towns. I grew to adore these people because I recognized the close relationship they had with Texas, especially Houston. They were so much like us and yet so wonderfully different from their accents to their celebrations. They were so full of life, vibrant and always lending a kind word to me and never rude nor abrasive.

How much lost life will be discovered in the next few weeks when the news from these small towns starts to get reported? Yes, the mayor of New Orleans was correct when he said thousands will die, and he was only talking about New Orleans.

Look at the map of the devastation in the gulf coast and imagine tons of small towns with populations between 5 to 25 thousand people that peppers the affected area from Louisiana to Mississippi.

Right now, the people in the bigger areas feel abandoned by the government. They feel forgotten, discarded. Imagine being from small town and knowing that your area is so low on the priority list that not even the reporters are paying you any attention.

Is their hunger not the same, is their thirst not the same, and is their devastation not the same? It took the President 5 days to get to the major areas, 5 days for the National Guard to start arriving to New Orleans. How long is it going to be before the rural areas get help?

Who is looking out for them?

Furious and ashamed (long)

This is long, so click the “more” link to read all of it (I just didn’t want it taking up all the front-page real estate). So many times in the last day and a half I’ve wanted to post my anger and frustration, but 1) I don’t have lots of time, and 2) I was holding out to see if things were going to get better, if the President and federal officials were going to keep to their word and provide the help in an immediate way. Instead, what I see (other than the footage of death and destruction) are talking heads of FEMA, and the director of the bloated federal hydra, Homeland [In]Security. This is the gem that the FEMA director had to give in this ongoing crisis when asked about the death toll:

Unfortunately, that’s going to be attributable a lot to people who did not heed the advance warnings…I don’t make judgments about why people chose not to leave but, you know, there was a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans. Now, I don’t want to second guess why they did that.

How insensitive and/or detached is this?! From the very person who is leading the rescue efforts?! This is the voice of our federal government; this is the ineptitude that is Homeland Security showing time and time again the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing and blaming the people who don’t need to be blamed. Most of the people who didn’t evacuate couldn’t leave if they wanted to, being too poor or too sick to make a short-term evacuation. Terry Ebbert, New Orleans’ homeland security chief, told WWL-TV that he thinks FEMA’s response to the disaster has been an “embarrassment.” And that’s their own employee!

Almost no one in the media has mentioned race in this crisis. Almost universally, the faces of those in New Orleans left stranded are Black and poor. You can’t convince me in a million years that if there were dead, bloated bodies of Caucasian women floating in fecal-contaminated water behind a TV journalist that aid wouldn’t get there lighting fast. Don’t believe me? Congress came back on a Sunday night during a holiday within 24 hours to pass legislation for the sole purpose of re-instating Terry Schiavo’s feeding tube. Congress can move within 24-48 hours for one comatose woman’s feeding tube–a pitiable White woman–but needs a presidential order to come back four days after the devastation is made real for thousands dead, millions without power, and many thousands more to die in the coming days and weeks from secondary health issues.

New Orleans is 67% Black and as a state has 30% unemployment. These people shouldn’t be judged for having stayed; they had nowhere to go (the Superdome required everyone to have 3 days of food and water before they could let you in — a lot of good that did) and the city provided no coordinated transportation for those who couldn’t leave. Is it the city’s fault? Of course not, but it certainly isn’t theirs, either.

Time and time again, the #1 people are asking for is “What’s going on? When is someone going to help us?” You don’t need 10,000 armed troops to communicate. You can do flyovers with a little crop duster and a sign attached to the tailfin which reads, “US Govt Aid is on the way–please be patient and stay strong!” Hire 3-4 of those to fly over areas where known clusters of people are waiting on rooftops. You can fly over areas of town, blasting information from a bullhorn rather than just survey the damage from in sterile, detached fashion. The Berlin Airlift was done during WWII. We have the technology to guide bombs with surgical precision to its target with microwave or laser, and you’re telling me that food and water can’t be simply dropped by parachute? That hospitals with existing helipads can’t get direct drop-offs of food and supplies?

There are gangs shooting at doctors and raping women in the streets in broad daylight. The conditions of lawlessness are the direct result of inaction by administration officials. Yes, at least one prison’s inmates escaped. But quite frankly, the conditions are so bad and you are dealing with a population that was already on the brink, it was a powder keg ready to explode. Of course, arch conservatives will blame the people without looking at these factors, such as Bush when he said there would be “zero tolerance” for those breaking any laws. Rape, attempted murder, of course. But this quote was on day three before gang violence erupted in response to simple looting from abandoned stores.

On the subject of looting, of course it’s wrong, and there are people of a ‘bad element’ who are doing it just because, the smiles of crimes unpunished on a few faces. However, these are the minority. Let me tell you, if I were stuck in a house with floating fecal matter, no potable water, no shoes, no change of clothes, etc. and I see an abandoned Wal-Mart across the street, its inventory just going under and under, you bet your ass I’ll be in there grabbing all I can get. In fact, I’d probably head down to Lawn and Garden first to get a wheelbarrow, since I’m the planning type. Seriously, I would. This is about survival.

The shame and embarrassment I feel is overwhelming.

Proud and Pissed

First of all, my heart goes out to all the victims of all kinds from all areas affected by Hurricane Katrina. I urge all of my readers–what few you are *cricket* *cricket*–to donate to the American Red Cross or the charity/relief agency of your choice to help.

I am proud to be a Texan and Houstonian, as all of the stranded Superdome refugees are being transported via hundreds of buses (FEMA is going to figure out how to clear the path, I suppose) to the Astrodome in Houston. Ever since Reliant Stadium opened, dwarfing the Astrodome, we have been wondering what to do about the 8th Wonder of the World that housed greats like Nolan Ryan and Earl Campbell. Political infighting has led nowhere, but that’s a good thing now, since the ‘Dome can be put to so much better use in this time of need than any of the other proposed ideas (including complete demolition).

As a fellow Texan, I’m also pissed at President Bush for being so “absent” during this crisis. His homage to the damage: cutting his vacation short by a few days, but not before spending a couple more days in Crawford, Texas first. The administration says that Crawford is as capable as the White House in terms of communication, but not only do I not believe it (you can’t just send a runner up the Hill to drag a senator to the West Wing), but what kind of message does that send to the country? It’s disgusting, as is the delayed deployment of military/national guard troops to provide security to this area. This was quoted today from CNN:

The president decided he should be in the nation’s capital given the magnitude of destruction and death caused by Katrina, one of the most severe storms to ever hit the United States.

You think? I know you’re slow, W, but you could have arrived at this decision, um…Monday evening or Tuesday morning. Not once has he scheduled a news conference, but perhaps he’s waiting until he goes back to DC. I want to see soldiers–our men and women of the US Armed Services–protecting our own citizens for a change. Yes, naval vessels are rightly being deployed from Norfolk, the Army Corps of Engineers is working on the levee situation, so I know that military assistance is not being ignored, but the vast majority of search, rescue and security has been left up to first responders who were overwhelmed from the beginning. This is “Homeland Security” at its worst, becoming an even larger bureaucratic behemoth slowing down Job#1: protecting our own here at home.