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I've been thinking a lot lately on New Orleans.
Though I'm just up the road, I haven't been back since Katrina, mostly because I'm scared. I don't want to ruin my memories of it. I don't want to taint what was.
I've also been considering the illustration given, that the Crescent City's days are numbered. Thanks to its location and the vagaries of human encroachment, the city seems destined to slip beneath the waves of the Gulf. We've blazed that trail ourselves.
But no matter what arises to supplant it, a likely port town on the continental shelf upriver, it will never be what New Orleans once was. A storied and unique place, like the near-mythical cities of Western Civilization. Athens. Rome. Paris. Venice. New Orleans.
Sadly, one thing revealed in the wake of the storm has been the differing reactions revealing social chasms. Along the central Gulf Coast, you get two general responses, reactions that ashamedly fall mostly along racial and socio-economic lines.
Many are quick to blame the people of New Orleans. “Why didn’t they leave? It’s their own fault for being in the way.” That one is the funniest as I’ve heard it coming from others along the Gulf Coast, those in Mississippi, Alabama and Florida who have expensive houses perched where the sea meets the land. I guess if you can afford a big enough house to put in harm’s way, it suddenly assuages you of responsibility.
“Everything that went on there is a product of the welfare state. Why are these people looking for a handout?” What happened in New Orleans could happen anywhere there is sufficient population density, urban areas that allow people to get by without personal transportation.
“Look at the good, hard-working people of Mississippi. They’re not complaining, they’re just rolling up their sleeves and getting to work.” Sure, they’re getting to work on projects aided by federal money hastened along by a governor politically connected to the upper echelon of the Republican Party.
Are there still square miles of ruined neighborhoods in Mississippi? Sure are. Are there people in the Magnolia State left to flounder by insurance companies? Yep. We don’t hear about it as much as those in Louisiana because, well frankly, to the rest of the world, the Mississippi Gulf Coast isn’t as valued as New Orleans. It may not seem fair to some, but that’s just the essence of it. What the Crescent City has passed on to the world have been magnanimous gifts hard to measure and unequaled by many places in our nation.
Yes, those in the Magnolia State suffered. Yes, they deserve our sympathy and help. But no more or less than anyone else affected by the storm.
Toward those who opted to return to these neighborhoods as endangered as those in the Crescent City’s Ninth Ward, one scarcely hears derision for them. You hear the lofty language and admiration reserved for plucky pioneers, but no cries of condemnation orbiting future calamity.
However, as I wholeheartedly know now, the Gulf Coast without New Orleans is without its most redeeming feature. Just endless heat and humidity without the inexhaustible love for adventuresome cuisine, art and entertainment that made the Crescent City the cultural center it was.
This recollection of course stirs musings on transgressions. Not just personal or pleasurable but also administrative.
I feel the single greatest sin of the Bush Presidency has been the Katrina fiasco. FEMA had every warning in the world as to what would unfold in those days surrounding Katrina’s visit.
The Times-Picayune laid out a scenario in 2002 that described in detail exactly what transpired three years later.
In 2004, a hurricane simulation exercise was run by LSU, local and state officials that once again spelled out the eventual scenario.
Days before the levees breached, meteorologists and other specialists briefed the White House via live link and told what was to come.
Still, Bush and crew wanted to act as if they were caught with their pants down. They still maintain this position.
This leaves two choices, neither of which is palatable.
First, the Bush Administration was indeed caught by surprise. It would certainly explain the incredible discrepancy between the efficient and swift response orchestrated by federal forces in the wake of the four hurricanes that strafed Florida in 2004 and the absence of action in Katrina's wake.
If that's the case, then Bush and pals don't deserve to be in any position of authority because they're the biggest bunch of dolts who ever held office. There's little excuse for that kind of obliviousness other than sheer idiocy.
However, if that scenario isn’t true then the other choice is far worse. Because other than stupidity, the only other reason is lack of concern.
But why wouldn't they care? Well, given what we've seen in the Bush era, most particularly in the last two years, indicators would be that they saw the incident only in political terms. New Orleans is a Democratic stronghold in an overwhelmingly Republican region.
So which is it? They were warned. Did they not comprehend it or just ignore it? You can’t have it both ways. Take your pick.
If it's the first, they should be ridden from office in tar and feathers.
If it's the second, they should get the Il Duce treatment, public spectacle of shame, ridicule and far, far worse.
Had Katrina occurred in 2004, would Bush have lost re-election? From what I’ve seen since, it’s no guarantee. It would have been a big question mark.
And that in itself is a travesty that reflects poorly on our nation’s soul and future.
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