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Friday, May 28, 2010

New Orleans vs Martha's Vineyard: think about it

Seriously, let's think about this.

Everyone is comparing this President to the previous one and asking, again and again, "Is this Obama's Katrina?"

Let's make a better comparison.

It could have been made a few years ago, when Hurricane Katrina crashed into the Gulf and New Orleans but now that the BP oil well has been spewing its crude into the waters for a month, on top of the damage never repaired from said hurricane, let's ask some questions and compare what realistic differences there might have been, had either event happened to Martha's Vineyard instead of Louisiana and the Gulf.

Does anyone think, for a moment, that the Federal Government in general, and the White House in particular, would have sat by for 4 entire days, doing nothing if a category 5 hurricane like Katrina were barreling down on Martha's Vineyard, as the George W. Bush administration did?

Sure, they don't allow oil wells off the Vineyard because, hey, we definitely don't want to run the risk of having oil ruin all those rich, white people's estates but if they did allow them, how long do you think it would be until everything possible would be done and tried, to make sure this area weren't ecologically and environmentally ruined?

It's difficult to believe the response wouldn't be radically different, especially in the case of Hurricane Katrina but, really, in both cases.

And I'll tell you what initiated this whole thought process.

A fellow Facebook friend wrote the following on his page today:

"F*ck you, BP. F*ck you, Obama, and your passive BP five-week jack off. F*ck you, Landrieu. F*ck you, Jindal (especially you, you f*cking asshole prick). F*ck you, Army Corps of Engineering. F*ck you all for not having strict regulations to protect us from this sh*t since Valdez at the very least. F*ck you ALL.

Second entry:

"Quit killing my home. Quit killing the most important and unique culture in America. Quit killing my home, and the people who make a living there (and in other Gulf states). Quit killing my soul, you assholes."

"Quoting my favorite TV show right now, F*CK YOU, YOU F*CKING F*CKS!."

And his final entry:

"Sorry, I don't do political, but I am heart-broken and so frustratingly angry right now."

I reprint this not to be cute or crude or funny, by any means, but instead to show the anguish and pain and anger these people feel down there right now.

And who could blame them?

First Geo. W. Bush and the debacle that was Hurricane Katrina.

Now this.

Wouldn't you feel as though they were "doing this to you"? I know I would.

Horrible, neglected debacle, one after the next.

It's not right, by a long shot.

We owe these people a lot better than this.

And to all the Republicans and Libertarians out there who think we either need smaller government or virtually no government at all, when it comes to regulations and corporate oversight, I say nonsense, first, and this further proves you horribly, tragically wrong.

We need to make this the last tragic event we ignore or overlook because it's a less-affluent area of this country.

But especially New Orleans and the Gulf.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Your comparison is very apt; Louisiana and other Gulf states, but Louisiana specifically after the man-made disaster that was Katrina, are poor state no one seems to care about, even now.

Thanks for the blog; perfect analogy.