Life view colored by partisan politics.
It is clear that the U.S. is currently a very partisan environment. However, it is interesting that it seems that partisan views really shape how people view different events. Overwhelmingly Democrats disapprove of how the Bush administration has handled the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Likewise large numbers of Republicans think that the administration handled the disaster adequately or well.
I easily fall into the average democratic critic of the bush administrations handling of the relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina. My blue democrat brain completely fails to see the other side sees through its rose colored lenses.
Mere told me yesterday that there will only be autopsies performed on those who died in New Orleans if there is some initial evidence of foul play. She said, and I agree, that autopsies should be performed on everyone in order to determine whether they died of drowning or possibly dehydration and starvation. If they died of dehydration and starvation this indicates that they had survived the initial flood but perished because they didn't have adequate supplies and help arrived to late. This makes sense to me. Find out what happened and how it could have been done better. This would also involve determining whether any officials were negligent in their duties to come to the aid of United States Citizens.
posted by JB @ 11:45 AM
1 Comments:
1. There would have been fewer bodies if the City and State were adequately prepared.
a. I would imagine w/refigeration and a large number of coroners, the autopies could go quickly. All will have to be identified at some point..why not spend a little longer and gather more information from each body. I believe that blunt force trauma v. starvation, despite submersion, would be easy to tell. Also, a lot who died of starvation/dehydration probably were on dry ground at that point.
Sometimes the greater good requires the sacrifice of individual ideals. If viewed similiarly to 9/11, then the family's desires aren't paramount but rather knowledge and ways to prevent a repeat of the disaster are.
2. New Orleans is one of the poorest cities in the country. It is within one of the poorest states in the country. People knew this was coming for decades but no one really cared. There was never a massive evacuation plan for those w/o individual vehicles. Why did we leave prisoners and the sick in New Orleans? B/c the pple in power simply didn't care. When seeing the cluster screw up that occurred immediately after the hurricane, the local, state and federal governments failed the lowest sector of society and remains unapologetic.
Though not perfect, the superdome was a hell of a lot better than the people staying in their homes.
3. Having lived in New Orleans, yes we knew we had to bring our own food and water. The purpose of the Superdome was to keep u alive during the storm. The real failure is no one wanted to think the levee would break and people would be stranded.
For those who stayed behind, many didn't want to leave pets, old/sick loved ones or their property (one of our most beloved rights). The latter attitude comes from so many "deadly hurricanes" threats that did not come to fruitition caused the people of New Orleans to become immune. See "the boy who cried wolf".
4. I believe only the lower eight of Louisiana was affected...leaving areas such as Baton Rouge, Lafeyette, Monroe, Lake Charles etc for the National Guard to seek refuge. Florida routinely moves its equipment out of the "zone of danger" but w/in the state. I would put credence in ur argument if LA was the size of Rhode Island. It is not. Given bureaucratic problems of any military organization, it does take a while to get ready. however, why was there a FOUR day delay? Why were private helicopters from areas (oh such as across the lake) turned away? Even the West Bank had areas left relatively unharmed for helicopters to land.
5. FEMA didn't respond to Mississippi either. however, it is easier to camp out and forage w/o 12 ft of toxic water surrounding you. Also, New Orleans was cut off from outside access save one road (which the Nat'l Guard had blocked). There are numerous backroads, interstates and highways leading from the affected areas of Missippi. People still needed water and food in MS..apparently it just wasn't as compelling as the people in NOLA and thus didn't merit CNN coverage.
When the main economic center of a state has been abolished and the people in charge have probably lost friends and family, it would make sense for a more distant federal government to step in with a disaster plan. So we as Americans allow fellow Americans to die of starvation, dehydration, looting, and lack of energy b/c they are in a different state? It is a humanitarian issue and apparently quite few in the federal governments cared to make an effort to save their consituents.
As for the race issue, yes it is true. If this happened in Iowa, u wouldn't have heard of the National Guard too afraid to go in or us letting others languish and perish. Pay attention to how looting photographs are labelled. Pay attention to the highlighting of the "black crime" that occurred in New Orleans. Look at who was left at the Convention Center. After four days of no food, no water, having lost ur home and probably seeing some of ur family die, you would be angry and near rioting as well. But of course, we'd never let a white population go without any of those things for any amount of time.
Post a Comment
<< Home