Katrina +3 Days

Anyone watching the aftereffects of Katrina on any TV network knows these facts:

1. No armed forces presence is in the area coordinating the support/evacuation process.


2. No central command has been given one person to take charge of the support/evacuation process.
   

Now why do you think this is? Simple. The elected officials from the White House to the local politicians are dancing on the heads of the dead and dying to avoid blame. When given the chance to do the right thing or the wrong thing, politicians do nothing...first and foremost. They call news conferences and babel on about all the aid coming to the victims soon, but playing politics does nothing for the people in harms way. The Katrina aftermath is proving this beyond argument.

I'm not saying that there aren't heroic efforts being made by individuals out there. I'm saying no one has grabbed the reigns and taken charge so a coordinated effort to evacuate citizens, bring needed food, water, and necessary hospital supplies into the area until evacuation comes about.

What we have are meetings taking place between Bush and Greenspan, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff appearing on CBS's The Early Show, Hillary Clinton speaking at the NY Chapter of the American Red Cross. There have been many meetings already to discuss why, with all the warning that Katrina was going to strike, there was no plan put into effect for the aftermath. Such meetings may be necessary after the immediate needs of victims are taken care of. They have no place beforehand.

All this - yet still we as a nation sit with one finger in our mouth and the other up our collective arses trying to figure out if we should switch hands or not. It's ridiculous. King George will visit the area on Friday, mayhaps. That's Katrina +4. Why wasn't he there on Katrina +1? Put someone with authority in charge, for God's sake, so something can get done. It should have happened on Katrina +1 as well. This isn't the time to worry about price gouging by oil companies. That's a given considering those people have no soul. This shouldn't be done now though. First things first. Get the victims out and stop the dying and looting. Screw gasoline prices for now. Who cares about that when people are dying by the thousands?

The blame assessment has already begun. Repent America, a Philadelphia CRWXtian organization has pointed the finger at (guess who) gays and lesbians. New Orleans was ready to hold the annual "Southern Decadence" celebration next week and according to RA, God stepped in and destroyed the city first. Of course RA doesn't tell us why God also destroyed all the other cities along the Gulf Coast as well, mayhaps a bit of displaced muscle on God's part? Talk about arseholes. They couldn't wait to point the finger until the dead and dying are taken care of??

Closer to the truth might be Congress's willingness to allow the gap between the rich and poor in this country to widen at record rates. But in my opinion it's too early to be discussing even this. Right now someone MUST be put in charge so rescue efforts and support efforts can be coordinated throughout the stricken area. Military or civilian, something must be done immediately. Waiting for the president to view the area first means nothing will be accomplished until after Katrina +5 days and that will cause the deaths of many more Americans on the Gulf Coast.

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