ONE YEAR AGO...

The Federal Government let us down in the worst way. Hundreds died; thousands suffered needlessly. I have to admit that going over material for this post has been emotionally difficult. I didn't really think I was over it all, but going back and reading what I wrote at the time, going back and watching news video from while it was all going on, well, yeah, I've cried a few times today. I still can't believe what a fiasco it all was.

From This Modern World:

Katrina : A Timeline

On Fox News :

SHEPARD SMITH: You’re live on FOX News Channel, what are you doing?

MAN IN NEW ORLEANS: Walking my dogs.

SMITH: Why are you still here? I’m just curious.

MAN: None of your fucking business.

And

“We pee on the floor. We are like animals,” said Taffany Smith, 25, as she cradled her 3-week-old son, Terry. In her right hand she carried a half-full bottle of formula provided by rescuers. Baby supplies are running low; one mother said she was given two diapers and told to scrape them off when they got dirty and use them again.

At least two people, including a child, have been raped. At least three people have died, including one man who jumped 50 feet to his death, saying he had nothing left to live for.

And

From Newsweek :

The reality, say several aides who did not wish to be quoted because it might displease the president, did not really sink in until Thursday night. Some White House staffers were watching the evening news and thought the president needed to see the horrific reports coming out of New Orleans. Counselor Bartlett made up a DVD of the newscasts so Bush could see them in their entirety as he flew down to the Gulf Coast the next morning on Air Force One.

How this could be—how the president of the United States could have even less “situational awareness,” as they say in the military, than the average American about the worst natural disaster in a century—is one of the more perplexing and troubling chapters in a story that, despite moments of heroism and acts of great generosity, ranks as a national disgrace.

Click here for much, much more, including video.

As amusing as it is that an NO resident told a Fox reporter to go to hell, I've got to give old Shep Smith credit for showing more compassion than I've ever seen from a Fox employee: on a Hannity and Colmes report from the Big Easy during the reign of chaos, Smith essentially told Hannity to go to hell, too, and Geraldo, bless his sleazy little heart, broke down in tears. You can see video of the immortal exchange in TMW's Katrina timeline linked above. Actually, it's pretty damned disturbing. Even Hannity was having trouble defending Bush in the face of what was going on.

So that's what was going on in New Orleans. What was going on with me? I became obsessed with the disaster. I had forgotten, but from the day before the storm hit, I essentially posted on nothing but Katrina, and then Rita, for an entire month.

Here's a bit I wrote after Becky and I returned from our needless evacuation to Tyler:

IT'S LIKE SOMETHING FROM THE BIBLE

I have to admit being freaked out by all this. I cannot explain how much I love New Orleans and what that place means to me--to some small extent, it's why I came to LSU. I will tell you one thing about our time on the road. In Tyler, the motel we found was full of evacuees from the Crescent City. I spoke with an older woman who told me that she had lost everything and that she was pretty sure that a couple of family members had drowned. What can you say to that? My simple statement, "that's terrible; I'm so sorry," seemed trite, especially because I then broke off the conversation because Becky and I had to check out to leave for our home in Baton Rouge. This is terrible, but it really is beyond my ability to truly articulate. It's horrible.

It was horrible, and I am still filled with horror, like it was a terrible nightmare from which there is never any waking.

If you're interested, here is a link to my first August '05 post on Katrina--just scroll up to get a sense of the story from my point of view. Here is a link to my first September post--again, scroll up for the full story in blog form. Just scanning through it earlier today was almost too much for me to bear.

Some pics:











One can argue about who is to blame for the slowness of the reconstruction--indeed, for that event it appears there's plenty of blame to go around at all levels and for both political parties. However, blame for the reign of chaos in New Orleans immediately after the hurricane hit rests squarely on the shoulders of President Bush: Nagin and Blanco managed to evacuate 80% of the city, far better than any other city ever does under similar circumstances; they did their job. Since the Department of Homeland Security was created in the wake of 9/11, however, it has been the stated responsibility of the Federal Government to deal with the rest of such crises, shelter, rescue, food, water, medical care, security. And they fucking blew it. Big time.

Why is Bush still in office? He should be rotting in jail.

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