update for the week of katrina...
its been pretty bad last week, u can actually feel the mood of a country go from blue to red in three days and noone seems to be out there who can make it go back to blue ( in a totally unrelated incident the threat level was raised to a yellow)
ppl ask questions like ' how can such a thing happen in the US?' , ' a third world situation in the first world?'
heads will roll...that usually does accompany these happenings.
But IMHO ( in my humble opinion as in net lingo), its all about the tight corner this nation is turning.
1. The gap between the have and have nots is rising, sadly, the govt looks at the good situation of the haves and feels that it does a good job. We need to remember that in the US, the republicans think that the age of big government is over and the role they have to play is to do the small things. Play a monitor, a watchman, a big brother. They abhor any attempt to actually get down and do the basics for the ppl. So its common acceptance that a Democratic government would never have a situation like this to happen.
2. It is about politics. It is about votes. Nothing wrong in accepting this fact as long as you do what you need to do to get the votes. The thousands who struggled for survival in Nu'Awlans, were almost like the don't cares for this government. That is one good reason why noone stepped in earlier.
3. They say race played a huge role. Some of the white reporters feel bashful to report this. Huh?..Why? If that is what it is, then say it out loud. but we all do know race is something, ppl like to push under the rug in this country. the african american community is equally at fault. They just dont care a damn about their own ppl.
4. Its sad that the city no longer exists. In my visit to the place, it had its own feel, own vibrant economy unlike the fat cities of houston or even dallas. It looked more like south bombay, the narrow by lanes, the chic feeling and the romanticism of a city lost in itself. I guess thats why the rest of the country didnt wake up to its call till at least 72 hours later.
5. The NY Times has come out with scathing reports against the administration, more like a vocal opposition in parliament. Every op-ed reserved some harsh words against an administration removed from reality, but I wonder, what makes it think that the administration would actually care about the NY Times when it cannot care about an entire city?
6. Bush isnt bad, seriously he isnt. Its just that he isnt a leader, he doesnt know how to react to such situations, and how to be proactive rather than reactive. He was held in high esteem for his foreign policy decisions ( which obv were equally removed from reality) because he surrounded himself with people who were smart. I guess he didnt have any smart people around him for domestic relief efforts.
7. They keep ranting that they never knew such a situation would arise. Never knew my foot. Probably the general who said that never knew, but there were quite a large number of people who did. Beaurocracy is a strange thing. The reason it is lauded is because it moves slow and so any knee-jerk decisions by a lunatic wont happen without a bunch of lunatics approving it. But the same slowness is also a reason nothing happened in this case. What this also proves is that every country is the same without a leader.
8. I dont know why a big issue is made out of the fact that the US was reduced like a third world country. Because it was not. Third world countries handle disasters differently. Noone really depends on the government till it is imperative that they have to. People have the scars from many events like these not to make it personal. Reports of looting, rapes and arson were reported in NO. In the aftermath of the tsunami that struck South Asia last year, these were not issues that people faced. Even in the recent Bombay floods, people helped people when everything around them failed.
9. Texas is doing a great job in housing all the evacuees and refugees ( if you want to call them that) But is there a plan after that?
It wasnt Katrina that people have anything against, its a government thats vacationing.
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Sania is doing India great again, making it to the fourth round of the US Open. Next game against Sharapova. Lets hope for the best!
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5 Comments:
I though the city of New Orleans had a democratic mayor? Were was Mayor Ray Nagin? Did he take off to Baton Rouge till it was safe? Should Louisiana's Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco called in the national guard BEFORE the hurricane hit? She had 6,000 guards to use.
If you want to blame President Bush for not watching every one of the hundreds of American cities in the path of this hurricane, you have that right.
I think you will find out who is to blame for this lack of planning in the coming days…AR…
hey, nice post here. its true, people in india dont depend (totally) on the govt for help; thats what i realized again now, over there, we (who dint have cars) were relying on metro to take us places..but here even though the public transport system is good, we prefer to make our own arrangements (as a backup plan maybe)...
Thank you for the comment. I have thought about you reply. I still believe it would be impossible for any American President to "watch over" every city in this country. As mayor, you must see what your city will need and ask for it. The 6,000 National Guard troops in Louisiana where stationed too far away to help. They should have been place much closer. This is the governor's job.
I do not want, ( and I'm sure you do not want) an American president coming into your town and telling you and your elected mayor.. "You are not handling things right, get out of the way, I'm taking charge now…" That is communism!! If you feel that way, why even have elected officials. Just one omnipotent leader in charge of everything…..AR…
I would also like to say that I am not trying to prove that Bush is blameless here. I think Bush put too much trust into FEMA. He figured they would handle it. They didn't. Someone should be fired.
Too many people are giving the mayor and the governor a pass on this one. You will see in the coming weeks how many things were not handled correctly by state and local Emergency response procedures. Questions like.. "Mister Mayor, your local school district has access to a hundred school busses.. Why didn't you use them for evacuation of the sick and elderly BEFORE the hurricane arrived?"
"Mrs. Governor, when did you call up the 6,000 Louisiana national guards. You do realize that the National Guard is not sitting at a base waiting? They have jobs and families. It takes time to call them up. Mrs. Governor, you did activate them before the hurricane arrived didn't you?…"
Too many people were asleep at the wheel here…..AR…
Thank you for the comment! Your question on FEMA and my take on it. I do not know enough about Mr. Brown to defend him or condemn him. He will have to answer some tough questions in the days ahead. President Bush will probably have to answer why he chose Brown for the job.
However, locally, the mayor and the governor could have done much more to save the people of New Orleans. I have seen too many people want to blame only FEMA and President Bush. I think the only way we will find out what went wrong is to have a full investigation. From bottom to top.
As far as why I am a republican? I am afraid I would take up your whole comment section if I answered that here. I have an editorial coming up called: "Who the hell are you?" In that post I explain why I think the way I do. It should be coming up shortly. Thank you for reading my post.
Do you think more could have been done on a local level in New Orleans?
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