The biggest difference between the response to 9/11 and N.O. is not race.

[milkyway]

It is war.

The hurricane disaster cannot be used to beat the drums of war and put a good scare into the public that would cause them to support PNAC's agenda. If the levees broke due to a terrorist attack, Cheney and the rest would have been all over television round-the-clock. But since it did not, Dick had other priorities this past week. Also, the major broadcast companies would not be showing soap operas and game shows right now. They would be doing their part in prepping the American people for war.

Without a doubt, race is the ONLY factor in the criminal federal response to the hurricane. White people in an upper class suburb of Houston would not have been stranded on their roof for a week waving for help.

But the bush empire has no love for New York, either. Not only does it culturally represent everything they hate, but it is the capital of the old-style republicanism of the Eastern financial establishment. bush represents the Bible Belt republicanism of the energy corporations and the military.

Also, there are some misconceptions about the federal response to 9/11. The bush admin sure did talk a lot about 9/11, but they didn't do much here in NYC in the days afterward. I live in Manhattan and I was screaming for days, where the fuck is the federal government! The search for survivors at Ground Zero was almost exclusively a local operation of our public services and volunteers. Also, 9/11 was on a Tuesday, and bush did not show up until Friday afternoon. About the only thing the federal government did was send the EPA to declare that the air is fine, you can all get back to work now before you cause a recession.

[Land Shark]

1. interesting point on war

RWers want to maintain the inconsistent position that the govt approaches infallibility militarily and there should be no criticism, while the rest of the govt should be subject to incessant criticism.

Careful our crying out doesn't just get us military control of Louisiana (exactly what Louisiana's governor rejected when proposed by Bush) because (as things are presently framed) FEMA of course can't handle anything.

As with everything specifically including my high school football team which our local paper loved (years ago) journalism gets only half the story, and then gets that half mostly wrong. There's probably dozens of Pulitzers for real journalists out there in the swampy remains of lake new orleans, but they will probably be unclaimed.