Terrible Tragedy

After watching the horrible events with the hurricane for the past week, I have a few thoughts:

Why did it take so long for federal aid to arrive on the scene of the disaster? In an interview with the mayor of New Orleans, he said help did not come for 48 hours or more. “Now get off your asses and do something, and let’s fix the biggest goddamn crisis in the history of this country.” said Nagin.

The president should have cut another one of his vacations shorter to deal with the mess. Bush should have immediately assigned a cabinet level officer to take charge and help all the victims with an immediate response, using all the resources of the entire country - whatever it takes. He should have called a “Code 12.”

The storm exposed a huge flaw in the federal disaster response system put in place after the 911 attacks. After tens of billions of dollars to implement this plan, it fell tragically short of actually helping these hurricane victims in a timely manner. First the storm’s intensity wasn’t taken seriously, then offers for aid from the military and other cities were rejected by a slow and ineffective bureaucracy. Maybe they’ll learn from their mistakes and finally get it right.

I’m having trouble understanding why so many people choose to stay in their homes when a hurricane hits. I know they didn’t expect it be so devasting and most have weathered many hurricane’s in the past. Should there have been a mandatory evacuation much earlier?

I hate to think the money I donated will somehow get to the looters, rapists and criminals down there. Too many innocent people lost their lives, and these assholes are going to be fine. Hopefully the National Guard is dealing with these people with extreme force. I watched an interview with Gov. Kathleen Blanco and I saw the total disgust she had for these criminals. It was a very disturbing image for me.

Of course I’m not down there and couldn’t possibly understand what all these people are experiencing. One thing I can do is give them my very best wishes.