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C-Span's coverage..and the HBO film have hopefully shocked a bunch of people awake, but I fear nothing will come of it.
The stunning thing about both of those presentations is that time and again, it's the "kindness of strangers" that's keeping these folks going.
We all saw the fundraising concerts, the telethons...and we heard the Chickenshit in Chief running off at the mouth about giving "whatever-it-takes"...and yet
ALL that money (Billions, to hear them talk) has apparently been squandered.
Can most of us even imagine, how hard it must be for all those people who are stranded hundreds, or thousands of miles apart from what's left of their families? These people who were "taken in" and given shelter from the storm, are now just out-of-sight-out-of-mind, and somebody-else's-'problem' as far as the government is concerned.
My husband and I are relatively healthy, well-fed and well-rested, and we are struggling mightily just to get some &^%$#!*&% grass to grow in our front yard..I cannot even imagine being 10-15 years older and trying to rip apart and restore a whole house..yet old people are put in that position...all over the hurricane coast.
Actually the older ones might be the "lucky" ones. Imagine a young family who scraped together every cent they had, to buy a house that may have needed fixing when they bought it. Perhaps they had it almost fixed up on borrowed money,only to lose it all.
Kids who have no schools to go to, parents with no jobs to go to, and not being old enough to get a pension.
The government was very cagey when they sent so many people packing. Of course in the immediate aftermath, evacuation was the best thing to keep them fed, housed and taken care of, but how many would have wanted on that bus or plane if they knew it was a one-way ticket to a place they never wanted to be?
Anyone who begs to come home is painted as "ungrateful", and cautioned that there's nowhere to live and no jobs, so they might as well enjoy being where they are.
First impressions are usually right, and the congressman who made that urban renewal remark hit the nail on the head.
It's been about getting rid of the poor black population right fromt he start.
Watch for the government to continue to neglect New Orleans because so many charitable organizations have stepped in to fill the void. This is why privatization sucks. The government gets a free pass on doing what should be a primary function. If they stall long enough, private organizations will mobilize to pick up the slack, and then the government can just say "see everything's being taken care of..we aren't even needed"..
We criticize North Korea for spending their money on weapons, while they beg money from the west for food...but is our government any less "guilty"?
They use the Janet Parshall philosophy about sending real aid to people who need it desperately, and the money they don't have to spend, they can now use for their wars.
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