There Was A Time...

There was a time when a national disaster would unify people and they would actually work the problem and get things done. Maybe that is a romantic and idealistic view of history. Perhaps not.

Maybe people really did come together in times of national crisis to fix the problem. Even in the darkest hours, like immediately after Pearl Harbor or 9/11, major hurricanes up and down our coastlines, Texas City disaster, 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the Great Fire in Chicago, and countless other disasters throughout our history, people came together to overcome monunmental odds and not only give the victims a fighting chance, but helped with the rebuilding.

Perhaps the Internet and 24/7 media coverage has made discourse more shrill in an attempt to be heard, but for whatever reason, this has got to stop.

NOW.

For those on the Left, who are busy playing the Blame Bush game, here's a few clues. We've heard that for five years now. It's tired. It doesn't play with anyone outside your base, which not coincidentally continues to shrink, and more to the point, is not helpful to anyone affected by this disaster.

How is bashing the President helping? Do you think that your complaints are going to get the enormous rescue effort to go faster?

I didn't think so.

So, with all that time on your hands that you can save by not bashing Bush, how about picking up the phone and helping one of the many charities that are doing something. I know there are some on the Left who are doing the right thing, but make your voices heard and get those who aren't to help. There are supposedly a lot of you out there. Make yourself heard and help. I applaud your efforts to help those who were harmed by this disaster.

For those on the Right, who are slamming back at the Left, or blaming earlier administrations (and yes, I did point out that every President and state administrator in Louisana over the last 40 years has not addressed the levee issue seriously and critically - so I should shoulder some blame too), I applaud your efforts to collect and donate money for the victims. But resorting to the same kind of political bickering that the Left has engaged with doesn't make things any better either. Mistakes were made, but now is not the time to engage in recriminations.

History will do that for us. Now is the time to help. People must do what is right - and to act charitably and with good will towards our fellow Americans who are in harms' way in Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi.

Now, as for the media, I reserve a special place in hell for your biased and misguided coverage. I understand the desire of many of your brethren to spin this in the worst possible way against the current Adminstration, and that you think that this is going to set back the Administration's efforts overseas, etc., but think about this for a moment.

You're using the suffering of fellow Americans to score political points.

Your reporting of scenes of violence in and around New Orleans can be done factually and without embellishment that includes opinion. Try informing the public that every road into New Orleans save one is heavily damaged so that convoys of National Guardsmen have to basically clear every single mile of road ahead just to get near New Orleans or any other heavily damaged area along the coast. They have to deal with the thousands who took refuge along the roadside and distribute food and water along the way. We now know that they've reached New Orleans. And that's the just the start. But, with your continued harping on the negatives, no one knows what has already been accomplished.

That's a shame, because hundreds of thousands were evacuated and took heed of the warnings to evacuate in time. Many hundreds of thousands of people are volunteering to assist in the huge humanitarian efforts, but your cameras would much rather focus on the looting in New Orleans.

If that isn't an indictment of your biases, nothing is.

Now, if you think I'm being too harsh on the Left or not harsh enough on the right (or vice versa), prove me wrong.

UPDATE:
Discarded Lies found something quite interesting in the CNN news cache. They found, in the article dated August 28, 2005 (less than 24 hours before the storm hit): Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said that President Bush had called and urged the state to order the evacuation. The President was well aware of the situation while at his ranch in Crawford, Texas and called Louisiana to urge them to order the evacuation. Meanwhile, Mayor Nagrin didn't use all the available equipment at his disposal, including those hundreds of school buses that we see submerged, knowing that this monster storm was heading their way complete with the dire predictions of the National Hurricane Center.

But, apparently it is much easier to bash Bush. Go ahead if it makes you feel better, but the facts show that he was on top of the situation, even if the rest of the government wasn't reacting as fast or as well as they should.