Hurricane Katerina and the Failure of America?

I'm hopping mad. It seems that every news show I watch has people on who are saying that they are ashamed of America and that the American government failed, abandoned and even "murdered" its fellow citizens. I fully expect to start hearing how President Bush personally called up God to send hurricane Katerina down upon the unsuspecting people of New Orleans. Given me a break! I donated to the victims' relief but now I'm starting to think that I want my money back! Wouldn't my giving just be an admission of mine, the President's and America's guilt in this matter?

Here are the facts as I see them: First, the people of the city of New Orleans and other places in the path of the hurricane were given the warning to evacuate in advance. Those who did not have the means to evacuate are the responsibility of the local government. Where was their preparation and planning ahead of time? Second, the people of New Orleans and other places in the path of the hurricane lived below sea level, next to the ocean, with nothing but a levee between them and disaster. The city of New Orleans even has water pumps for the occasional flooding. Everyone expected a disaster eventually but they did not move away. Third, how odd it is to hear that America has somehow failed the poor. How odd it is to hear Jesse Jackson complaining about me ignoring peoples' plight and not giving enough. The problem is, our giving and helping is never enough. How much is enough? What about my own family and responsibilities? Forth, and most heinous, Democrats seem to be using this disaster as an opportunity to take shots a the President once again, perhaps to stop a possible rise in the polls a la 9/11. People are suffering and dying and they are steps away from their cozy congressional offices trying to score political points. That's simply inexcusable. Those who think the federal government is somehow to blame for anything to do with the suffering caused by this disaster are not thinking straight. The federal government cannot be responsible for every emergency plan for every town in America. Will the President be blamed for the next earthquake in California? What about some town whose water supply get tainted? What about a heat wave and power outage in the midwest?

So what are we to do? I think that we need to give to the relief effort in money, time and resources despite the fact that many will bite the hand that feeds them. We need to help people even to our own detriment. Our suffering through insults and monetary struggles will pale in comparison to that of the victims of the disaster in New Orleans and surrounding areas. We cannot make this political like many despicable people have already, we cannot stoop to their level when so many lost so much and are suffering so much.

-ed
e-mail: wwcw@wwcw.org

I want to learn more about how I can have a relationship with the creator of the universe.

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