How can this happen in my America? Help explain this to me.

[icymist]

Last night I heard the Republican line about the slow response to relief in New Orleans. On the tee-vee was Bill O'Liely saying the blame was to be placed upon the Mayor of the affected city and the Governor of the State of Louisiana, both Democrats! That's right folks...FEMA couldn't respond properly because the locals in charge didn't plan for it properly. The very next show was Greta Van Susteren's where she interviewed the Governor of Texas with much 'hoorah!' for he, a Republican, planned for such a disaster and is handling Louisiana's refugees much better than Louisiana is! There is no mention of how a substantial percentage of Louisiana's National Guard was sent off to fight an unnecessary war in Iraq nor how FEMA seems to be geared toward asking for donations to 'charities' like the group called 'Operation Blessing', whose leader is Pat Robertson, a televangelist that openly calls for discrimination and assignations all in the name of God! O'Reliely and Van Susteren never mention how Homeland Security had the Red Cross prevented from entering New Orleans while people were starving and dehydrating to death. http://www.redcross.org/faq/0,1096,0_682_4524,00.html The National Guard ordered the Red Cross to stay out of the city until The POTUS could have a good photo-op!http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph... Only then was aid finally allowed to these dying people. And there he was, our King George, hugging two young women while woo-wooing everyone trying to show what a good job he's doing. They're trying to sugar coat this folks... even the freepers are looking for some way to sugar coat this!http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph... The whole world is watching, including our enemies, and right now we're the laughing stock of the world!

What have we learned from the past few days following hurricane Katrina? We now know that FEMA has had so much of its' funds and authority taken away from it to render it useless in any big disaster. Homeland Security will hamper relief efforts until this misadmistration can be seen (at least in their minds) in a good light. Our government, under Bush, will sit on it's hands and watch poor, impoverished, and other 'undesirable' people die. The National Guard will arrive on the scene with threats of using violence to the disaster survivors before offering basic survival necessities.

This does not happen in real America. Real America does not have a government that responds to a great disaster by sending troops in for crowd control first, disaster relief second!

[Webster Green]

1. Dude, where's my country?

:shrug:

[Lindacooks]

2. It's not your American anymore.

The Repukes stole it, and then they trashed it.

[serryjw]

3. Action VS Inaction has consequences

I can give money but I can't help rescue people. I can't rebuild a city. I have said many times; this is like buying a home and saying I will NOT invest a dime in it. We have a country and it needs help. Trust me, this will not be the last disaster. The funds to rebuild out bridges, tunnels, hwys and grids has been seriously cut under Bushit. Wait until a 100 year old bridge collapse at rush hour with a 1000 cars on it.
When is America going to awaken?

[icymist]

4. Not only that. I see that we all have to depend upon ourselves!

As tax-paying Americans, we cannot depend that our government will help us in an emergency. White rich people will always be evacuated first. Everyone living in urban America needs to have enough food, water, and medical supplies for at least six weeks in my opinion. For those who can, a good pair of army boots, a backpack, and walking stick is needed in case you must walk out of a disaster zone!

I'm still trying to not believe that we have come to this. Believe it or not, I'm sending hand-crank radios and lights to both of my parents for the family. I no longer have faith in this America!

edit for spelling/grammar

[serryjw]

5. I'm a big city gal

what is a 'hand cranked' radio?

[icymist]

6. This! This is what I'll be sending to my family!

http://www.ccrane.com/radios/wind-up-emergency-radios/freeplay-plus-radio.aspx

I love the c. crane catalogs! They have so many things that are good for survival in disasters.