(This is my op/ed column "Falling From the Edge of Reason" as it appeared on our website today... sorry for posting the whole thing mods, our site is in and out today, sprint is having issues because of the hurricane.)
Exposing the Maggots Under the Log.
9-2-05
By Lisa Knappe
Radio News America
http://www.radionewsamerica.comHurricane Katrina, the worst natural disaster in the history of the United States has done one thing for certain- it rolled the log away to expose the rotting compost and maggots that live underneath the capitalist, rich, prospering, freedom-for-all fake image that most American's posture to believe in.
We have seen desperate incompetence within our Federal Government for days, we have witnessed untold tragedy leveled on the poor and the infirm and we have witnessed outright racism the likes of which haven't come to light of day in decades.
Did the flag waving, yellow magnets stuck on SUVs, the war on terror, the obliteration of Iraq make any difference for the good of our brothers and sister's in our own country this week? No they did not. If anything, it exacerbated the open wound of poverty that exists in this "richest" nation on earth.
It is despicable that some in our country are now blaming the victims of Hurricane Katrina for not getting out of the way in time. The impoverished of New Orleans and the rest of the destroyed Gulf Coast had no choice but to stay and hope for the best because in this land of opportunity hope was about all they had left in this situation. No car, no public transportation, no money and in many cases too ill to even make the journey to begin with. So now many in this country have resorted to blaming the victims. This is no different than blaming the teenager who was raped for wearing that short skirt and showing her lily white panties.
The rotting compost and maggots exposed by this tragedy are not only the desperate situation of poverty in this country, it also the leadership or lack there of, in this country.
You see, there was no "enemy" here for the false prophet/cowboy to ride into the Oval Office and proclaim "Bring it On", there was no country to invade, no shock and awe with obligatory television moment. There was only human suffering, over an over and over again. There were no reporters to tell him what a great job he was doing, there was only human suffering over and over and over again. There was no one to bail him out this time, only the human suffering he bears accountablity for.
George W. Bush has blood on his hands, the blood of the victims who died on the street waiting for help that was promised and arrived far too late. I've grown weary of hearing from so-called "compassionate" conservatives that "those people were just milling about waiting for the government to bail them out again". No, actually they were removed from their homes by order of the Government - both local, state and federal, to await the assistance that was promised to them. When the Government is responsible for removing you from your home, promises to send you help, then waits for five unbelievable days that is not asking for a hand out.
Why does FEMA exist if not to protect our people in the face of emergency?
I'm also incredibly weary of listening to people saying that "most of those people were criminals and running through the city with guns", yes there were isolated incidents of this, but when faced with no food, no water and no hope for five days Maslow's hierarchy of Needs takes over. Shelter, Food, Water come first and morals and values come much later. Are these same "compassionate" conservatives aware that one of the members of the Spanish Parliment was in that hellish Convention Center? That tourists were trapped in the rafters of their hotels and were removed and sent to the death knell of the Superdome and the Convention Center? No they probably do not because they are to busy looking at the brown people and telling them they got what they deserved.
I don't believe in god, but this phrase says what I want to say. There, by the grace of god go I. Yes, that's right, this isn't New Orleans, this is Mainstreet USA, Anytown USA. A hurricane, a flood, a blizzard, a tornado - those people sleeping in their own feces and drinking brackish water filled with deadly toxins could be you or I and our children in any town in this country at any moment in the future.
The "compassionate conservatives" have once again, missed the point. This country was not prepared for nor made much of an effort to get prepared for a disaster of any magnitude much less this one. I just want to know if they feel safe now? Uncle Osama is surely watching this and laughing. So how safe do you REALLY feel? Do you think Osama and Al Queda will call up the National Hurricane Center and give a 72 hour warning of a 15 megaton bomb aimed at a city? I don't.
The time has come to call for accountability and that starts with George W. Bush getting the hell out of the way - step aside - resign or be impeached, this is not a game, these are not toy soldiers on a plastic playing field, they are American lives that he bears responsibility for destroying. We need to use what's left of our Democracy to take back the leadership of this country and move us forward to a state of preparedness for anything. The battle for America has reached my own backyard and my own hometown now.
Today and from this day forward, I fight.
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