In the Aftermath of a Complete Governmental Failure; A few suggestions:

[CrackpotAmerica]

What we are witnessing is an institutional failure. I am reminded of what George A. Romero said to describe the theme of his apocalyptic movies, " Ignoring the problem.

This failure by our President and our federal government will indeed have much debate and scrutiny over the next few years. That said, we must recognize that in the interim, there is a direct and tangible failure taking place at this second, and therefore, we must begin to put that aside and take action for ourselves in spite of who is responsible.

The following are my suggestions for all of you:

• We must all begin today to absorb the countless refugees into our communities. Please make your offerings today. I wrote to the news media and the Red Cross and let them know that you have the space.

KNOW YOUR LIMITATIONS. If you can only handle one man or woman, please be up front about it. If your home is either a long distance from a hospital or is not hospitable to an elderly or handicapped individual, please state it up front.


• Once a month, add a family to your shopping list if you can. If you shop for food 4 times a week, make it 5 and match the equivalent in non perishable foods and bottled water. Take the groceries to the Salvation Army and be sure to designate it for the victims of the hurricane.

Do a full shop if you can afford it. If you cannot, try to chop the percentage down to fit your budget.

• Educate yourself on basic carpentry and home repair skills.
President Carter's Habitat for Humanity and other organizations will need you next year. Take this time to try to learn some basics.

• Offer your time during the rebuilding process.
There will be at least a year's notice, but once the city is cleaned out, MILLIONS of people will be needed to help reconstruct the Gulf Coast.

• Start buying American manufactured products.
Many of these people who have been abandoned by the Federal Government will be seeking whatever work they can find nationwide. Please spend the extra few dollars when you can to purchase goods produced by American labor.

I am sure I left a lot out, so please join in this discussion and add your suggestions. Maybe we can compile the results and mail them off to Congress and the Media and get a message going.

In place of their failure, we must begin to take over.

God bless all of you.

[getmeouttahere]

1. Best suggestion....buy American (and union-made) products

www.justiceclothing.com

most of the country is going to have to continue to work, so that we can each do a little bit to help others. If everyone were to do just a little bit, we can collectively do a lot.

The fundamental problem here, which is in line with BushCo's way of doing business, is that far too many Americans would rather spend $100 in a time of crisis instead of just paying the extra $30 a year in taxes that would have strengthened the govt response. But of course BushCo's plan all along has been to get the size of govt down to where they could "drown it in the bathtub." Unfortunately that is a national mentality not exclusive to repukes (although it probably isn't the mentality of the majority of DUers). This sickness has got to be cured.