I did not do a post on Hurricane Katrina until Friday. My purpose for holding back was because I tend to be very political. Out of respect, I did not want to politicize a tragedy. Now I am forced to politicize a tragedy to defend my president. It is a sad chore. Especially in this day and age of modern society. The first to make a hurricane a political event? The left. The mayor of New Orleans, left leaning bloggers, Rapper Kanye West Claims 'Bush Doesn't Care About Black People', Angelina Jolie Says Efforts for Katrina Victims (are) Not Enough. (Well, that last statement by Angelina I can understand. Efforts are never enough for anything. Plus she is mega- foxy.)
The tragedy of New Orleans started way before Hurricane Katrina. The Mississippi River has tried to change it's course and flow directly into the city for a hundred years. Water seeks the lowest point and New Orleans is a lower point. The Mississippi River not only carries water, it carries soil and debris. This soil builds up at the rivers end. THE RIVER HAS BEEN RAISING IT'S OWN DELTA LEVEL for hundreds of years. Removing soil and building levees are a temporary fix in the grand scheme of things. The river would have gotten high enough to over-come any wall you build. The levee breach was near the lake, which leads us to problem number two: New Orleans is surrounded by water and is sinking 1/2 inch per year.
If you want to blame President Bush for this disaster, you must also blame other American Presidents who also had opportunities to fix New Orleans levee system. This is not the first time New Orleans has flooded. Each time it floods, people rebuild the city and put up better levees. I am sure we will rebuild New Orleans again. This time we will put up a 'state of the art' levee system. How long will that last?
Louisiana had 6,000 active National Guard personal who could have responded to this disaster. 1,000 state police where at the governor's disposal. "But someone in the state had to call them to action." Not after the flood. BEFORE the hurricane arrived. 42 hours before the hurricane hit New Orleans, everyone knew that Katrina was heading for the city. Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco needed to call these 7,000 guards and state police to New Orleans before the storm hit. Nobody knows a city better then the mayor. It was his job to see that the sick and elderly were taken care of. (Way before this storm arrived I might add.)
In this country of the free, you have the right to do daring things. You have the right to climb the highest mountain, jump off a cliff and parachute to the base. You have the right to build a skyscraper on a fault line, build a house on a loosely packed hillside. You can live in a city that is 6 feet below sea level, build a house in a place called "Tornado Alley."
In a free country, if you choose to live in a place that could flood, can you blame the President of the United States because he didn't stop you, or remove you, or save you, or help you fast enough?…AR…
Here are some comments by other Bloggers...
Another good post AR. We all should be Angry Republicans about this mess. Notice how many liberals are also incoherent in their comments?
comment by apoliticalnut
Stupid people do stupid things, but, if they are democrats, it's not their fault, and its up to other people to take care of them and straighten out the mess they created.
comment by oldfatguy
I don't understand the propensity toward politicizing a natural disaster. I think you raise points that are sure to be discussed for years to come in our media and by our politicians; but I'd prefer we all talk about what we do now as a country and as fellow humans about the issues at hand - as history will take care of assigning blame.
comment by libelsering
Maybe because they were too poor to have radios or TVs? Or perhaps it was because they were too poor to afford a way out of town? Or maybe it was because they had nowhere else to go?Yes, I'm sure there were idiots who stuck around and have only themselves to blame. But to lay blanket-blame on everyone caught in the city during the flooding...Hopefully you've seen the sick and the injured being transported out of the city. How were they to leave, prior to the storm?
comment by vitriolaholic
There is plenty of blame to go around but let us also do what the liberals say we should never do, blame the victims for being a large part of the problem. There are outlaws in New Orleans shooting and setting fires which is hampering relief efforts. There are people who chose to remain in New Orleans. There are people who refuse to queue for food or transportation which means extra manpower is needed which means less manpower for food distribution. A mess.
comment by apoliticalnut
Thanks to everyone who commented!! I appreciate your thoughts…AR…
