Does anyone remember this headline from last summer:
France heat wave death toll set at 14,802
PARIS (AP) � The death toll in France from August's blistering heat wave has reached nearly 15,000, according to a government-commissioned report released Thursday, surpassing a prior tally by more than 3,000.
I suppose that was George W. Bush�s fault as well.
I do not think the man is a god. But I also don�t believe he is all that is wrong with our country nor the root of all our problems. Our country has been in existence for over 200 years. The problems that exist today, were set in motion long ago. I�m not saying it�s right, fair or just. But it�s the truth.
I believe everyone has a right to their opinions. I have friends with very different opinions than me. And we manage to nurture incredible friendships. Variety is the spice of life. So feel free to hate George W. Bush. Feel free to hate the entire republican party. I am genuinely okay with that. I just want people to have some original thoughts behind their opinions and not just spout stuff they are hearing on the news.
I don�t tend to get very political. It�s not in my blood. My passions are generally reserved for other matters. Maybe it�s because I spend so much of my energy trying to stay sane, trying to put on the mask of sanity when I face the world each day. I�m an unusual political being anyways. I am a Republican who is pro-choice and completely 100% for gay marriage. I believe in the death penalty. Taxes and war all have their place in this world. But I don�t pretend that I�m right just because those ideas are mine. And maybe I only believe those things that make me more comfortable, those things that help me sleep at night.
Sometimes, events transpire that COULD be predicted, it�s just that no one wanted to believe that they would actually happen. Teenagers are especially victim to this sort of thinking. Most (though not all, thanks to idiotic abstinence education) teenagers understand that unprotected sex can result in pregnancy. And those that engage in unprotected sex generally think, �this won�t happen to me.� We all like to bury our head in the sand.
I got upset the other day because a friend of mine said two things that didn�t seem to involve much thought. 1. If we weren�t fighting a war in Iraq, this wouldn�t have happened. Yes, the war has stretched our resources, but it didn�t cause the hurricane, or the levees breaking, or the bureaucratic red tape set in place by the constitution. And, the truth is, we actually AREN�T fighting a war in Iraq any longer. We are providing stabilization to a government in its infancy. Whether or not you agree with the war personally, if you think about it, most would agree that it would be a mistake to abandon the country at this point. My heart goes out to the families of all the soldiers involved in this stabilization/post-war occupation. For those of you who have been reading for a while, you will recall that for many months of our relationship, Brian was in Afghanistan. I know it�s not easy, I got to experience the other side of the coin. But I honestly do believe that the world is a better place with a democratic Iraq, and that�s what they�re trying to work towards there. Statement without thought #2 made by my friend: It�s all about the white man trying to put down the black man. I am not going to say that race had NO involvement, but I believe it was more about class and poverty than race. But of course I don�t deny that race has a great deal to do with poverty. That part of the statement bothered me less than what followed. I mentioned that aid has always been something that takes time, regardless of the race of the people involved. She followed that with the following statement: �Yes but when Hurricane Andrew hit, Bush was quick to send the National Guard to Florida. That�s because that�s his brother�s state.� Okay, Bush was not president when Hurricane Andrew hit. Also, the government in place in Florida was a lot faster than the governor of Louisiana to request the national guard.
And I hope that no one takes this rant as anything other than me getting some thoughts out of my head. I�ve been cycling these thoughts for a week now. It�s the OCD in me. I get a thought and I just can�t get rid of it. Writing it out helps. I have great compassion for the displaced thousands. I made a donation, I am, as we speak, going through my closet to find clothes I can donate. If I lived within any sort of day driving distance to Louisiana, I would have driven down there last weekend. It breaks my heart, along with the rest of the nation, to see such suffering. I do believe this was a travesty. A horror of epic proportions. And the blame is spread among many shoulders. Yes, the federal government carries a great share of that burden, but so does the state of Louisiana. And so does the city of New Orleans. And the thousands of years of civilization that has perpetuated class systems. Poverty has always been around. Someone has always had more beads than another person. It�s not something the Republicans created. And I don�t think that simply having consistent democratic leadership would eliminate it. I don�t say the Republican party doesn�t contribute to it with some of their policy, I say that they are not the sole cause.
So when someone says �Bush massacred thousands of people in Louisiana�, I stop and question. I put some rational logic in my head and wonder, can this be true? I think about the situations that contributed to this disaster, the unique circumstances of a city of half a million people that is under water, the procedures and policies in place that delayed assistance, the poverty that created a situation where people have no resources to leave on their own. I can appreciate all of these factors. I can understand the multi-layered responsibility that results from this.
The constitution was specific regarding the federal government�s ability to interfere in state�s rights. When it comes to specific issues, we cling to this and say, hey, get your paws out of our state, you ain�t got no rights to interfere. But then when we WANT the federal government to be involved, suddenly, we are mad that they are not moving quick enough. FEMA is actually not legally allowed to act until called in by the governor.
I recall when the LA riots happened, it took over 2 days for the national guard troops to arrive and then another day to semi-restore order. It takes time to undo the ravages of a crisis.
I wonder, were I in charge of the country of America, the state of Louisiana, or the city of New Orleans, exactly how I would have handled the situation. How do I get food, water and resources to people who are stranded when most of my food, money and resources are suddenly underwater?
I don�t think that in the history of the United States, aside from the wars that used to occur on our soil, we have had to deal with a tragedy of this magnitude. Definitely September 11th was huge. But it was more of a contained area. It involved less people overall. Some things are just to hard to imagine, much less plan for how we would handle them if we imagined they might actually happen.
And on the subject of war, this is another area where you can�t win. During the early years of WWII, while millions were being slaughtered, the US kept their distance. �That�s their problem, they�ll solve it on their own.� We didn�t join the war until our country was personally attacked. And we still bear the criticism that we didn�t jump in soon enough. We didn�t do enough. People died because we were minding our own business. And now, people criticize us because we don�t mind our own business. Again, this is not a justification for any particular war, I am just saying that it�s a fine line and no one walks a fine line perfectly all the time. Having spoken with many soldiers who were there personally, they can attest to the fact that the majority of the people of Iraq welcome the US presence. But that doesn�t sell as many newspapers.
I have probably pissed a lot of people off with this rant. And that�s okay. You have the right to disagree with me. You have the right to believe that I am wrong. You have the right to believe that Bush is a murderer. And you have equal right to voice that opinion, because it is a right guaranteed in the constitution. I have compassion for the people whose lives have been devastated. I also put my compassion into action, as do so many Americans of all political persuasions and financial means. I am not special or unique in that. Neither are my thoughts special or unique, they are just mine and I speak them here because this is my place to do that.
I believe that when we focus on who to blame, we accomplish nothing. If we can think back to life pre-Katrina, and I was sitting here with a host of disasters in my personal life, and was spending my time placing blame on all those around me, I know my friends would step in and say, �Janet, this isn�t doing you any good. Figure out what went wrong and fix it so it doesn�t happen again�. Learn your lesson and move on. Now this is easy to say to one person wrestling with their life, but it does sound harsh when confronted with the reality of thousands of people whose lives will never be the same. The devastation is overwhelming and frightening and makes us all sick.
Yes, money should have been spent on the levees to repair them. Yes, poverty is horrible and more federal assistance should be spent to assist those who live within its confines. Yes, every American should have access to healthcare. Yes, September 11th was a horrible tragedy and the country should take all steps available to ensure that it never happens again. Yes, roads need to be built. Yes, more money needs to be spent on education. What I�m saying is, there are a lot of places where money needs to go. But all of us have to live within budgets and make choices about where we spend our money. Sometimes we pick the wrong thing and end up with a surprise � the car gets a flat tire, the children get sick, the water heater breaks � some things in life, though anticipated (we all know that tires go flat, children get sick and water heaters break) are not always expected.
The circumstances that led to this tragedy have been in place for many years. This kind of thing does not happen overnight. It is difficult and near impossible to evacuate so many people from a city that is flooded, where anarchy has taken over, where the roads are underwater, freeways leading to the city have collapsed, and help from people who are not also victims is several hours or days away. There are so many factors to think about when confronting a rescue operation of this magnitude. There is no excuse for the outcome. It should not have happened. But it did. And it�s not the fault of one man entirely. Just as tragedies happen in other countries, they happen in America too. We are not immune. Neither was France, and neither was Thailand and other countries affected by the Tsunami. There is no immunity from disaster.
I think I�m done. I think I�ve gotten all my thoughts out. Well, except for this one � I love me some Oprah. She has accomplished so much and does a lot for so many people. I appreciate her compassion. But when you own several mansions with multiple bedrooms and yet can actually only occupy one house at a time, and then tell a woman who has lost everything she had, which probably wasn�t much to begin with, in a condescending tone that �You�re gonna be fine� I don�t think much of your compassion. Everyone in the spotlight says stupid things at one time or another, and that was your stupid thing.
Okay, now I�m done. For those of you that love me even when you don�t agree with me, thank you, I love you too! For those of you that hate me now and can�t bear to ever read another word I�ve written, may the force be with you (I can�t say god bless you as I don�t know your religious beliefs). I wish you a prosperous life surrounded by people who love you. But open-minded means that you recognize that there are other points of view out there. I hope that we can all be open-minded at a time like this. I believe that differing opinions is one of our national strengths.
