Michael Brown

[catscradle]

So I'm reading the news again, which I really shouldn't because it raises my blood pressure to dangerous levels, but there you go. The director of FEMA, Michael Brown, decided to pipe in and demostrate to us what blaming the victim is all about. No matter how many times I hear this, it never fails to floor me. "They were warned! They should have left! They must take responsibility! They must share in the blame!" What. The. Fuck? How dense do you have to be to miss the fact that New Orleans has a very high poverty rate? How dense do you have to be not to figure out that there were no cars to transport them out? It's a friggin miracle so many of them made it to the Superdome and the Convention Center.

If you're going to call for mandatory evacuation then declare marshal law BEFORE the hurricane hits. Comandeer the buses. RTA, Greyhound, and the billion and one tourist buses that pass through the city daily - take them and get the people OUT. Don't stand around later with arms crossed and bitch about lack of victim responsiblity and how disappointed you are in the obvious apathy people have in regards to their lives. You have a city lying below sea level that is SINKING yearly, it's budget to secure the levees slashed for the war effort and "homeland security" - fine. Whatever. Officials are totally freaking out a day before the storm hits knowing this is going to be a bad one. The trouble here is that no one knew how to take the leadership and make the hard choice. Take over transportation and get them out before the hurricane hits and you can maintain a little order! Now we have chaos. Well, duh. Societal breakdown tends to happen when people are left to fend for themselves in hell.

just needed to rant... =P

Comments

[catscradle.livejournal.com]

The ignorance and stupidity I'm hearing from officials is just... staggering. No matter your politics, typically in a time of crisis like this you see a little cohesian and cooperation - things getting done because you just have to do it. I mean, these people just can't do a damn thing. I'm wondering if the big difference between response to 9/11 and response to Katrina is just 5 years of total incompetence trickling down.