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Through the looking glass darkly
by anna at 07:49 PM on September 08, 2005
So often I feel as if I'm Alice in Wonderland fallen down a hole into some wondrous yet nightmarish land that reminds me of bad acid trips. Such was my first exposure to the nightly news in days. I've grown tired of hearing about the hurricane, evacuees' misery, floating corpses etc. I just made a huge contribution to relief efforts, as everyone in their right mind should, and tuned out.
You stranded by Katrina? Well then just pull out the laptop you've thoughtfully brought along on your little unplanned vacation and log on here. Navigate your way through seven different screens to get to the application for relief page. Your navigation through the deluged, looter-riddled streets of New Orleans will seem easy by comparison.
Then you will need to list your address and phone number so that a FEMA official might meet with you at your imaginary location and assess the damage: "Well, let's see. There is absolutely nothing left of the entire neighborhood. I think your hovel is a total loss. Do you know your PIN? If not we can have a new one mailed to you within 6 business days."
People who might make use of this site, by definition, don't have A) internet access B) cell phones C) addresses D) phone numbers E) time to deal with with the stupid fucking government and its feeble attempts to help. Far better to loot a gun store and take matters into your own hands.
comments (9)
It so screwed up that if you call FEMA you get a package sent to your home address. I heard of one Police officer in New Orleans that called up FEMA and was told they couldn't help him, he had to log onto the website. But he couldn't get to his computer under the 20 feet of water. I think that the Bush Administration was taking too much money for Terrorist threats that they forgot that natural disaters were capable of comong too. It's just too sick to comprehend. I don't think that there isn't some class warefare going on, how many poor people do you think vote Republican? But that's just my liberal side talking.
by Long Time Lurker at September 8, 2005 8:34 PM
Wow, that's fucked up. I only just start to try to put myself in the shoes of those who lived in the areas that were hard hit, and I usually get to the no water, no electricity, water everywhere, things floating in water... and then stop because that's already gotten so far beyond my frame of comprehension. And then to think that they have to deal with such bureaucracy to get relief beyond daily needs (that the Red Cross and similar orgs. are trying to help out with).
However, I don't know that things would be all that different if they had happened when someone else was president, for example Clinton or Kerry. Then again, I could be malinformed. Enlighten me, if so. I mean, reaction time by the vacationing Head in Chief could have been different, but is this disaster something that would have taken any administration and their agencies by surprise?
by leaffin at September 8, 2005 9:00 PM
I think the difference is that this administartion is spending so much time amd money looking for terrorists around every corner that they have lost site of the fact that natural disasters are going to happen. But it's also a matter of the government bureaucracy is so screwed up that no one can make a decision without having to go to a committee. So no one will make the tough decisions in fear of being wrong. But look at it this way, Bush is the leader of this country and he can give executive orders that make it easier to get past the bureaucracy and get things done.
By the way, MSNBC had a list of disasters that the government was planning for and Hurricanes and floods were numbers 9 and 10.
by Long Time Lurker at September 8, 2005 9:17 PM
It isn't fair to say that their isn't federal money for Katrina relief because of the war in Iraq. Sure, U.S. military spending may equal that of the next 15 nations combined and be roughly 40% of the world total, but if you look at U.S. military spending as a function of GNP, it is relative when compared to other nations and the world as a whole. That is to say there is plenty of money to go around. No, the problem isn't one of money, but of bureauracrcy and inefficiency.
Also, to say that the government was slow to act because the victims were poor is ridiculous. The government is slow to act because the government is slow to act. Some people are comparing this to 9/11, which is an unfair comparison for so many reasons, but if you'd like to make the comparison remember it took a month to invade Afghanistan, something the Bush govt had been supposedly planning to do anyway. That it took them two days to get to N.O. is sad, and shouldn't have happened, but entirely expected and has nothing to do with the victims race or social status.
This isn't nec. directed at anything LTL, just a general rant. Sorry.
by mg at September 8, 2005 10:42 PM
yes, mg, you are correct.
government workers are usually uneducated trash...
and the politicians are educated trash...
...so it's just a slow process...
by lockheed at September 8, 2005 11:58 PM
All of you hit the nail on the head. But it is also a shame that the victims (and I use that word sparingly) are so damn inarticulate about their plight. There is such a gaping divide between the inne cities' poor and we of even the middle, working class that we can barely communicate anymore.
Then again, when they're telling people who'ver never been online in their lives let alone now to log onto a website, it is indeed Alice in wonderland.
by anna at September 9, 2005 7:39 AM
BTW, the FEMA link ws supposed to work. But it seems funnier that it doesn't so I didn't fix it.
by anna at September 9, 2005 7:48 AM
Alls I'm sayin is that if I was tha Nigga in charge and I knew a cat 4 0r 5 hurricane was acomin at me I would be tellen every mutha that I could to send help. But that's just me. It did seem like a good photo op to have Bush flying over in his Batplane surveying the damage. He's the leader he should have dropped everything and come to direct the rescue and help.
But I think that everyone who sees the footage coming out of the gulf coast is just so overwhelmed that the only emotions we can feel are angrer and sadness.
God help us all if this is the response we can expect from our government in a crisis.
by Long Time Lurker at September 9, 2005 10:28 PM
I think he should have A) Landed Air Force 1 and let the evacuees have the run of it. B) Given them the run of his Crawford Texas ranch just a few hundred miles away. They could get to work clearing brush and such.
by anna at September 10, 2005 11:33 AM