âAnd so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway,â she said, âso this is working very well for them.â - Barbara Bush
In the immortal words of Yogi Berra âItâs dĂ©jĂ vu all over again.â
This does feel like Katrina all over again doesnât it?
Happy Katrina Anniversary!
While there isnât as many deaths as Katrina, there is still opportunity for it to happen. Not being able to go back home anytime soon will hit home for some over the next few days. The shit has not yet hit the fan.
âCalling such events acts of God has long been a way to evade moral responsibility for death and destruction.â Ted Steinberg, âActs of God: The Unnatural History of Natural Disaster in Americaâ
Can we all stop pretending this isnât just another example of gross negligence in failing to prepare for hazards we all know that we will eventually have to face?
To this day, remembering that quote makes me want to either scream or punch Barbara Bush in the face (and Iâm generally kind to the elderly.) This is going to get worse, too. Humans under tremendous stress with no sleep, little food and nothing to be hopeful about will lash out - itâs inevitable. I heard a doctor reminding listeners that folks without their medications behave atypically, and there will be alcoholics and addicts going through withdrawal. My heart aches and, like most people here at TPM, we will donate and try to help. Whereâs Erik Prince with his billions? Maybe Tagg Romney or Eric Trump could spare a few million to send food and water?
I was just considering the lack of pharmacy and continuing care for some of the victims.
The shit is already at work. Countdown to choleraâŠ
Exactly. I heard General Honore (from Katrina) interviewed yesterday and he said that, unlike most major cities, Houston doesnât require gas stations and pharmacies to have generators for emergencies. (âTexans donât need no stinking regulations.â) Without power, they canât pump gas to rescue and clean-up vehicles and, without an alternative source of power, pharmacies have to remain closed.
I hate, I truly hate to say this, but more and more I think the real way weâre exceptional these days is in being a first-world nation with an increasingly dysfunctional political system (because of the damn GOP) that simply canât assess needs and risks and plan for them in a rational way like other nations do.
Actually, not so much. I recall people pulling together to help one another during Katrina. The people receiving shelter here sound like spoiled brats: âShe got more food than I did!â What?
And donât forget the ever popular:
âBut why should we hear about body bags and deaths, and how many, what day itâs gonna happen, and how many this or that or what do you suppose? Or, I mean, itâs not relevant. So, why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that, and watch him (her husband, former president George H. W. Bush) suffer?â
Itâs not entirely her fault, though. I mean, how would you like to go through life with your face plastered on every box of Quaker Oats?
Other reporting showed signage having to remind Texans, âNo firearms allowed in the shelterâ
Why plan for needs and risks of anything when tax cuts are the solution for everything?
Tax cuts and the all powerful free market that solves all problems.
FrustrationâŠjust wait 6mos. or a yearâŠthat will become rage.
Plan??? For stuff that might NOT happen??? What a waste of $$$ that could be in my own pocket now!
Sure. The market can meet the needs of people thrashing helplessly in flood waters far better than any creaky government bureaucracy.