August 31, 2005

There is/was a house...

I was thinking of writing a post exploring the root causes of the New Orleans tragedy, but I finally decided it would be seen as exploiting the misery of thousands of people for the sake of expressing my political opinions. At the same time, I feel a great urge to make some sort of a comment. Many years ago, I visited New Orleans. I walked in the dreamlike atmosphere of the French Quarter. I listened to the incomparable New Orleans jazz at the incredible Preservation Hall, where you walked into what looked like an ordinary house, and found yourself face to face with living jazz history. I feel deeply saddened by the loss that New Orleans has suffered, and hope for its recovery to its former glory.

7 comments:

Tiffany said...

I lived in New Orleans for a few years- and the strange thing
is that this hurricane was always going to happen. They planned for it (albeit poorly). It was talked about the same way that Californians talk about "the big one." Every hurricane that has come close to New Orleans has been feared because THIS is what could happen...and did. Every summer, the slightest temperature deviation from that of the norm arose the speculation...and every year someone was wondering if it was the year of the hurricane that would destroy New Orleans. That year is now. So, you see, this thing- Katrina- was as part of New Orleans as her jazz, as her Creole cooking, as her slow southern ways. But because it is just one part of her, it will not cripple her for long...

The probligo said...

Tiffy is right.

Andrew was going to destroy N.O. but took a left instead of a right or something like that.

As she said (and has been said on our news this morning, L.O. has been playing "hurricane roulette" perhaps for the past thirty or forty years.

GWB in a soundbite said that it was never expected the levees would go...

I have total sympathy and support for the people who left when they could. I have total sympathy and support for the people who lost their lives because they were unable to leave.

I have no sympathy whatever for those who could leave and refused.

The twin photos - "takers" and "looters" - paint the real picture. Forget the labels and look through the images.

How does one tell the difference?

The probligo said...

http://dsadevil.blogspot.com/2005/09/left-behind.html#comments

This has some VERY pertinent comment. Recommended.

Al S. E. said...

Probligo, the difference between "looters" and "takers" is very simple. Police forces were created to protect the "takers" against the "looters." The sacred rights of property played an interesting part today when the NO police were ordered to abandon search and rescue in favour of protection of property.

Meanwhile, Dubya is doing all he can to deflect any blame from himself and the GOP by stressing the word "natural" in "natural disaster."

Mohammad - محمد said...

Another reprehensible episode for those who still think this goddamn government of the US of A is on the side of God. Take a listen of this interview with the mayor of N.O.
Pat Robertson doesn't need to go all the way to Venezuela to find the devil. The devil incarnate lives and breathes in the White House and turns his back towards his "own people:" the great citizenry of the US of A. Hopefully this is the last nail in the coffin of this presidency.
Can we imagine the world without Paris and Venice?
http://mfile2.akamai.com/8753/wma/www.cbc.ca/netstorage/wwl_raynagin050902.wma

Tiffany said...

Just a comment of those people in New Orleans who could have left but didn't-

I suspect that many of those people refused to leave because they have been leaving so frequently and coming back home after only a tiny little storm...and they just did not believe that this hurricane would cause the kind of destruction it did. It's kind of the boy who cried wolf scenerio. The media makes every tiny storm a monster. When the monster was coming, many didn't believe.

Having said that, I would have left and I am currently with my best friend from New Orleans who did evacuate. I think this is a lesson to us all to error on the side of safety.

porchwise said...

Dubya did get a call from God. I took notes on my Godlink and reported on it today. His/her next call will probably be to Brown and then one to Chertof then he'll/she'll be tired of chewing butt for awhile.