DU Talking Point: "9/11 is no longer relevant"

[derby378]

Oooooh, the FReepers are gonna howl about this, and some of my fellow DUers may be scratching their heads, but let me explain something basic here:

On September 11, 2001, hijacked commercial aircraft flew into the World Trade Center at NYC and the Pentagon at Washington, DC. Another hijacked aircraft went down in a field in Pennsylvania in what appears to be an aborted attempt to smash the plane into Capitol Hill.

The loss was catastrophic. Around 3,000 dead, at least tens of billions of dollars in property damage, and a deep psychological wound for all Americans.

But New York City not only survives, it thrives. Same with DC.

On the other hand, on August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina, an NOAA Category 5 hurricane, slammed into Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. The toll in life and property cannot be finalized for some time, but here's what we know so far:

80% of New Orleans, including downtown and the French Quarter, is now underwater.

Sections of Interstate 10 east of New Orleans have been destroyed.

Two levees along Lake Pontchartrain have been breached, adding to the flooding.

Toxic contamination from chemical plants and oil refineries has rendered all municipal water undrinkable.

At least 110 dead in Mississippi, with coastal casinos destroyed or damaged, depriving the area of $2.7 billion in annual revenue and throwing 14,000 people on the street without jobs.

Worst of all, there is an outside chance that New Orleans may never be rebuilt, thus forcibly displacing millions of people all across America.

We've got seriously big problems now. And if we're not going to hunt for Osama bin Laden, the least we can do is concentrate our efforts to helping our fellow Americans, who need our help so desperately.

And we can start by siphoning money away from the continued occupation of Iraq.

Questions?

[Morning Dew]

1. Katrina changed everything.

n/t

[derby378]

2. There you go!

Abso-friggin-lutely. You hit it on the head.

[JHB]

3. Have to disagree, derb

9/11 is still relevant, and it will always be relevant.

Frankly the problem is * not treating it as relevant, just as a tool for "capital".

[derby378]

9. To an extent, I agree

Pearl Harbor is still relevant to the American psyche. It's a part of our history, as is 9/11.

But in terms of our national priorities, New Orleans and Mississippi now warrant our full attention. Even at the expense of our continued presence in Iraq.

In short, if Bush isn't going to use our Armed Forces properly, I should like to borrow them for a while...

[Walt Starr]

4. Everything changed after Hurricane Katrina n/t

[sabra]

5. does that mean *'s poll numbers are going to go up to 90% approval?

[aquart]

8. Should be interesting.

He never asked about survivors when 9/11 was happening, either.

[Fire Walk With Me]

23. Very, very good point.

[derby378]

10. Not in Louisiana, they won't...

I think * is toast in the Big No-Longer-Easy.

[Walt Starr]

11. Nope, but they might go down to 10%

:evilgrin:

[SteppingRazor]

6. Republicans are living in a "pre-8/29 mentality" n/t

[aquart]

7. 9/11 was a pinprick next to this.

And I live in the Village. I breathed the dust of the dead. But I have my home. I never went hungry a day. I always had water to drink. So did my fellow New Yorkers.

We had toxic dust to clean up. It was a hell of a job and no one applauds sanitation for the work they did. But it was nothing to this. Nothing.

[derby378]

12. I'm sorry - I feel for you

It was horrific, but your city pulled through.

And I hope New Orleans pulls though, too. But it's gonna take a lot of work.

[derby378]

13. Kick!

[sniffa]

14. Love it

[DURHAM D]

15. I doubt if we will know the number of lives lost and true $$$ cost

during Bush's tenure. They will try to keep it secret as it goes to issues of incompetence and bad choices. And most of all, they won't let it top 9/11, 9/11, 9/11, 9/11.

[aquart]

22. It already does.

9/11 didn't have all that direct effect on how we live. They had to ramrod legislation related to it in secret, during the first shock, because we were in shock...but shock was all it was. The families who lost people, were still in their homes.

A reporter on NBC said he's knows war zones and this is no war zone. War zones have pockets of devastation. This is ALL devastation.

THIS was bad management. This was refusal to heed valid warnings. This was sheer negligence.

[KittyWampus]

16. Katrina Cause 12' Surge. The BROKEN LEVEES Caused Catastrophic

flooding.

If $ had been spent of levees or NG had been there to assist within hours, thing would have been different.

[dejaboutique]

17. Great Post!!

I was thinking the same thing. I certainly hope this squelches the 9/11 obsession! This will surely show the country that we have more problems than boogy man Terrarisssts. Too bad that we will have to lose so many people in NO to wake up the country. 9/11 is now history.

[SlipperySlope]

18. Would make a good LTTE - N/T

[derby378]

19. Somehow, I don't think our RW paper would publish it...

But that's a darn good idea.

[noamnety]

20. In response to 911

We fought (the wrong) them over there, and as a result had no money to protect ourselves over here.

[renate]

21. since you mention 9/11

Hearing about what happened not because of the storm but because the levees broke, I was thinking that NO surely must have long been determined to be a prime target for terrorism, with its ports, its being below sea level, and its oil refineries and chemical plants, all utterly dependent on the structural integrity of the levees.

If the levees had been destroyed deliberately, this would all have happened with no warning and the death toll would be in the several hundreds of thousands. And of course the effect of destroying the ports on the nation's oil supply would make NO an incredibly tempting target to our enemies. So shouldn't NO have been at the absolute top of the Department of Homeland Security's list of cities to protect and to have a disaster plan lined up for?

So I have two questions:
Why is the federal government's reaction so clumsy? Of course it's a difficult situation logisticallly, but there should have been drills or something... this is a worst-case scenario but a totally predictable one (not unlike "bin Laden determined to attack U.S.").
And why did Bush cut disaster preparedness funding to a city that was essentially a terrorist's ideal target? (Call me paranoid, but was it because it voted blue?)

[TheModernTerrorist]

24. It's not that they won't rebuild it

Throughout the history of man, we've always built and rebuilt in the worst places. WE constantly rebuild cities on fault lines, in shadows of volcanoes, etc. THIS time, it's not that we WON'T rebuild, but that we probably won't be able to AFFORD to rebuild...

[Beam Me Up]

25. I'm sure the friends and family of all those who were lost on 9/11 will be

delighted to here that their loss has become "irrelevant".

:sarcasm: