To the Congress of the United States:
The Category 5 Hurricane Katrina had a small break, a slight shift in direction and a new designation of Category 4, just before slamming into New Orleans.
The U.S. president continued an extended vacation break and played golf, played a guitar decorated with the Presidential seal and had a cheerful, smiling interview on national TV, before he arrived on scene to view the devastation of Louisiana’s people, five days after Katrina obliterated the Gulf Coast.
Before boarding his presidential helicopter, Marine One, with Homeland Security Department secretary Michael Chertoff to tour the region, the President made a public statement.
"A lot of people are working hard to help those who've been affected. The results are not acceptable," he said.
The American people don’t understand who the President was directing this comment at: “The results are not acceptable.” Mr. Bush is the Commander-In-Chief, the Chief Operations Officer of the U.S.A. He is responsible for emergency preparedness, for the effectiveness of federal agencies and for the results of the their efforts.
The agencies most needed in the response to the crisis in New Orleans were the Coast Guard and F.E.M.A. Both of these have been folded into, and subjugated to, the Department of Homeland Security. Despite the praise heaped on its managers by the administration, the national emergency response in New Orleans was a complete failure.
The American people don’t understand why the Department of Homeland Security is not held responsible to effectively provide homeland security. The American people don’t understand why funds to complete needed New Orleans flood control projects were diverted-- where does the buck stop?
The American people recognize the humanity of the people abandoned by their government in New Orleans. We recognize the dignity that the NOLA survivors exhibited in the most horrific, demeaning and devastating of circumstances.
The American people do not understand why these people were subjected to such inhumane treatment-- being abandoned on rooftops and overpasses with no sustenance, no medical treatment and no guidance; or herded into massive “shelters” with primitive aid offered only at the end of a gun. Several survivors made the comment, “We were treated like dogs.” The American people do not understand why these citizens were treated this way by their government.
All of the (legitimate or otherwise) excuses and all of the oversights will be given due consideration by reasonable Americans. Beyond that, after witnessing the scenes of abandonment and desperation that New Orleaners were subjected to, the American people are outraged at the mistreatment of people who were victims of the storm and then victims of non-existent HELP.
The American people are outraged and we resent the implication that we consider the mistreatment of these citizens unremarkable-- acceptable because they were already disenfranchised and on the lowest rungs of the social ladder.
The American people recognize the humanity of these survivors-- we recognize ourselves in their faces. We see our children in their babies held up to the open sky, their dying elders, dehydrating and unfed for days. The American people DO NOT UNDERSTAND.
We recognize the vulnerability of our communities to the lack of preparedness, lack of awareness (that certain citizens even exist or matter) and lack of accountability of government agencies charged, empowered and funded to protect us.
We demand accountability from our government and representation by our national representatives in the Congress of the United States.
The American People understand that what was perpetrated on the disenfranchised citizens of New Orleans is truly “unacceptable.” Now that the President is back from vacation, he is available to provide answers and solutions to this deadly debacle, or explain to Congress and The American people why the U.S. government's malign neglect was justified.
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