I've just came back from a night on the town and surfing the web. It's just great to see people reporting and making commentary on the effects of Katrina. lgf and the Rott on the Right, and the Daily Kos and DU on the Left have put their proverbial 2-cents on the subject.
Some of these 2-cents tend to be of the finger pointing variety. The Right accuse the mayor of New Orleans and the governor of Louisiana of gross negligence while the Left lay the blame on George Double-ya's feet.
Let's not forget the Jihadist vindictiveness of a DU poster who decided not to help a fellow 'murrican because she voted for George instead of John Franken-kerry. So much for liberal compassion.
And who could forget Kanye West's on air meltdown, accusing W of genocide? Jeez - forgot your meds, Homes?
And the Reverend Jesse Jackson, whose appearing more preachy than a normal preacher should, has also played the race card. Never mind that the person who dropped the ball when news of the oncoming hurricane's strength became clear was black! (Ooooohhhh... was that incorrect or what?)
Everyone knows that emergency readiness is a state/provincial responsibility. The federal/central government only acts as an advisor and could only step in if the situation were to become untenable. NOLA Mayor Ray Nagin and Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco should bear a considerable amount of accountability in the end - they owe it to those who voted for and live under them.
But this post is not about laying blame or starting a lynch mob to vindicate those affected by Katrina, but about putting our political/sectarian/ideological fervour on hold and get on with the job of cleaning up after the storm.
When Juan struck the Maritimes a couple of years ago, we weren't concerned with who should shoulder the blame for the tardiness of help - we were just too damn busy cleaning up and putting our lives back together again. Okay - so it wasn't a class 4 storm that smacked us, but for those who never experienced such a storm, it was one hell of an experience nonetheless.
So, all you liberals, conservatives, anarchists, libertarians, fundamentalists, et al, my message to you is clear...
SHUT UP AND CLEAN UP!
Leave the finger-pointing and the lynching after the work is complete.
Sheesh!
No comments:
Post a Comment