The Truth About Katrina
October 13th 2006 00:51
Consider all you've heard about the woeful negligence of federal authorities to respond (in a reasonable manner and amount of time) to the plight of those devastated by the worst natural disaster in U.S. History. Now, before you rush to judgment about "W", or Jesse Jackson's comments, or the noble efforts of L.S.U. and N.O. Saints football celeb's, or Gov. Kathleen Blanco, or Mayor Ray Nagin, consider this: If one has never lived in the "Crescent City" (a/k/a The Venetian Paradise on the Gulf), then one is not in a position to offer an intelligent opinion regarding the circumstances surrounding this tragedy. I lived in New Orleans five years (circa: 1990-1995), and currently; I have a daughter enrolled at Tulane University. Without a doubt, New Orleans is one of the most fascinating and frustrating cities in the U.S.! Where else can you find a party 24/7 and enough booze to make your kidneys float down the mighty Mississippi? Further, where else will you find worthless thugs who fire assault rifles at e-vac vehicles in the sky struggling to save hurricane victims!? Ah, but it wouldn't be New Orleans without all this weird stuff going on constantly. Again, if you haven't lived there, it is hard to understand. This "soup-bowl" city (25 feet below sea level) has been positioned for a disaster of this magnitude for years, but we all lived in denial thinking it would never happen. I lived in two homes during my time in N.O. and both received 8 and 9 feet of water, respectively. Why? Because the levee system broke. Why? Because like almost everything else in New Orleans, "lack, loss, or theft of funds" compromised the project a long time ago. Louisiana in general and New Orleans in particular have a long, long, long history of dirty politics, fraudulent practices, and genuine skullduggery!! From Huey Long to Edwin Edwards, New Orleans is a shrine to "stealing people blind," and the miserable failure of President Lyndon Johnson's so-called "Great Society". To my knowledge, no other city in America practiced the abject stupidity of planned developments of drug-infested, crime-ridden housing projects right next door to affluent communities. The idea (forcing folks to "get along") was good in principle, but the TRUTH of the matter is: you can't force people to love each other, or get along together . . . it must happen on a volunteer basis. The former is Communism, and the latter is Christianity. At any rate, I (we) can blame the Politian’s and bureaucrats all day long, but the Bottom Line is this: the "Response Failure" wasn't Bush's fault, or Blanco's Fault, or Nagin's fault, or anyone else's fault (individually); it was the fault of the Christian Community to care for this ancient "lost cause" of a city a long time ago. I am a Christian, and I take full responsibility for not caring for the poor, not caring for the children, not fighting the fraud, and other general crimes of apathy. We Christians have a long history of "talk, but no action." I no longer live in New Orleans, but I weep for the tragic circumstances faced by the thousands of good citizens who live there. As a Christian, the fault is mine, and so must the remedy be. That is the truth, plain and simple, and though painful to admit, it's time to repent.
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