well, maybe not such a long while...
from an AP article published a few hours ago:
Four days after Hurricane Katrina roared in with a devastating blow that inflicted potentially thousands of deaths, the frustration, fear and anger mounted, despite the promise of 1,400 National Guardsmen a day to stop the looting, plans for a $10 billion recovery bill in Congress and a government relief effort President Bush called the biggest in U.S. history.
New Orleans' top emergency management official called that effort a "national disgrace" and questioned when reinforcements would actually reach the increasingly lawless city.
About 15,000 to 20,000 people who had taken shelter at New Orleans convention center grew increasingly hostile after waiting for buses for days amid the filth and the dead. Police Chief Eddie Compass said there was such a crush around a squad of 88 officers that they retreated when they went in to check out reports of assaults.
"We have individuals who are getting raped, we have individuals who are getting beaten," Compass said. "Tourists are walking in that direction and they are getting preyed upon."
Tourist Debbie Durso of Washington, Mich., said she asked a police officer for assistance and his response was, "'Go to hell - it's every man for himself.'"
it's unbelievable that, for whatever reason, we've been completely unable to help the people who are trapped in this hellscape. it's sickening that FEMA director michael brown, who insists he didn't know these people needed any help until today, is not alone in insinuating that they somehow brought their current situation on themselves. it's unforgivable that homophobes are taking advantage of a monumental tragedy to push their own ignorant agenda.
but what's truly killing me is that these people who are down there in it with nothing but each other to stay afloat on are attacking and raping one another. how can you turn to the person next to you, whose circumstances are every bit as dire as yours, and punch him in the face before you reach for his wallet? is this really human nature? is this as good as it gets? i understand that we panic in a crisis and do things we wouldn't ordinarily do, i get that when your life is in danger morality is probably the last thing on your mind. but it's been days, and instead of actually helping anyone or trying to maintain even a warped likeness of order, the POLICE AND RESCUE CREWS are throwing up their hands and demanding that the last rational citizens in the fray give in to the lord-of-the-flies nightmare they've been doing all they could to fend off. and we've got, who, george w. bush, michael chertoff and scott mcclellan huddled in a corner with the fucking conch, taking turns listening to the ocean.
where do you even begin? i'd be there if i thought i could do anything at all, but i can't imagine what that thing might be. neither can my government, apparently, so for the first and hopefully last time ever the administration and i are sitting on our useless thumbs together.
i can't think of a thing to say.
Four days after Hurricane Katrina roared in with a devastating blow that inflicted potentially thousands of deaths, the frustration, fear and anger mounted, despite the promise of 1,400 National Guardsmen a day to stop the looting, plans for a $10 billion recovery bill in Congress and a government relief effort President Bush called the biggest in U.S. history.
New Orleans' top emergency management official called that effort a "national disgrace" and questioned when reinforcements would actually reach the increasingly lawless city.
About 15,000 to 20,000 people who had taken shelter at New Orleans convention center grew increasingly hostile after waiting for buses for days amid the filth and the dead. Police Chief Eddie Compass said there was such a crush around a squad of 88 officers that they retreated when they went in to check out reports of assaults.
"We have individuals who are getting raped, we have individuals who are getting beaten," Compass said. "Tourists are walking in that direction and they are getting preyed upon."
Tourist Debbie Durso of Washington, Mich., said she asked a police officer for assistance and his response was, "'Go to hell - it's every man for himself.'"
it's unbelievable that, for whatever reason, we've been completely unable to help the people who are trapped in this hellscape. it's sickening that FEMA director michael brown, who insists he didn't know these people needed any help until today, is not alone in insinuating that they somehow brought their current situation on themselves. it's unforgivable that homophobes are taking advantage of a monumental tragedy to push their own ignorant agenda.
but what's truly killing me is that these people who are down there in it with nothing but each other to stay afloat on are attacking and raping one another. how can you turn to the person next to you, whose circumstances are every bit as dire as yours, and punch him in the face before you reach for his wallet? is this really human nature? is this as good as it gets? i understand that we panic in a crisis and do things we wouldn't ordinarily do, i get that when your life is in danger morality is probably the last thing on your mind. but it's been days, and instead of actually helping anyone or trying to maintain even a warped likeness of order, the POLICE AND RESCUE CREWS are throwing up their hands and demanding that the last rational citizens in the fray give in to the lord-of-the-flies nightmare they've been doing all they could to fend off. and we've got, who, george w. bush, michael chertoff and scott mcclellan huddled in a corner with the fucking conch, taking turns listening to the ocean.
where do you even begin? i'd be there if i thought i could do anything at all, but i can't imagine what that thing might be. neither can my government, apparently, so for the first and hopefully last time ever the administration and i are sitting on our useless thumbs together.
i can't think of a thing to say.
posted by juniper pearl @ 9:34 PM
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