Vultures

[frustrated_lefty]

*waves hands*

Hi! I'm one of those pesky Katrina survivors! My three children and I were trapped in New Orleans for a week before getting out. At various points, I barely escaped being raped, murdered, or simply dying.

In the three years since Katrina, I have watched threads be posted and plummet down the page. Threads have addressed the formaldehyde in the Katrina trailers, the violent crime in New Orleans, the elevated divorce rate among survivors, the continual, ongoing failures of FEMA and our federal government. Invariably, those threads drop like a rock into the muddy waters of a dying memory.

The threat of Gustav has resulted in many threads staying on the first page, as vultures quietly hope it disrupts the RNC. Suddenly, now, many of you have a renewed interest in hurricanes.

Like many Katrina survivors, I simply stopped talking, because nobody wanted to hear more. It was Katrina fatigue.

I just want to remind you, YOU could have been contacting our federal government, YOU could have insisted on better care for those who lost everything, YOU could have demanded temporary housing NOT laden with carcinogens, YOU could have demanded the Army Corps of Engineers repair and rebuild the New Orleans levee system BEFORE another storm hit.

You didn't do that, though. And, now, three years later, you emerge like vultures to peck away at a new loss, a new pain. The sudden interest is demeaning to those who survived. It's an insult to the notion that "we're all in this together." The casual, ADD transfer of attention is rude and heartless.

This may be rude, but I wanted you folks to hear how your latest rantings sound to a Katrina survivor.

[bigtree]

1. I've tried to highlight the past failures

. . . to help keep voters from electing the same insensitive, criminal bunch into the White House. I'm sorry for your struggles and for the others', but I think this is THE time to address these and put as much onus on the past offenders as we can; who, by the way, are still in charge of mitigating the impending disaster.

[tannybogus]

2. You have to be under immense stress.

I wish I could do something now. However, don't assume that people have been doing nothing. I taught Earth Science for 15 years, and I always taught my students how
endangered NO was. At least I tried to give them a clue. I have written letters and sent emails. I went through Hugo. I have been watching and pointing out FEMA lapses for years.
A lot of people did demand a lot of things. Has this government listened to one effing thing that people have tried to get them to do??? A lot of people work for or support groups that have tried to step in and fill the void.
The RNC/Gustav links are reprehensible.
People are human. We would be talking about any major event that occurred. You are in the trees and we may be too far away from the forest.
As I said, I wish I could do more. You can blow all this off as just words. I lived through Hugo so I have a small clue.
If calling me a vulture makes everything better, then go for it. I've been called much worse. However, you damned a lot of people.

[a kennedy]

3. I'm sorry, and please forgive me for not doing more.

[salin]

4. I don't think you are being rude, at all.

I think it is more than a fair expression of frustration and holding up of a mirror to the community to see the reflection.

Peace and be safe.

[frustrated_lefty]

5. Down she goes

Surprised?

[salin]

13. surprised, no

saddened yes.

[varelse]

6. Not rude, just the truth

Sadly buried under dozens of threads re the Palin "fake pregnancy isssue" :puke:

[corkhead]

7. I have found a lot of what I have seen about Gustav on DU lately reprehensible.

especially posts gleefully anticipating it disrupting the republicon convention. In spite of your feelings, I think many of us are doing what we can, but it isn't much as long as this criminal cabal hangs on to power. I don't bother contacting my local US rep, he is a useless "Club for Growth" puppet who doesn't give two shits what I think. I'll just end up on his enemy's list.

A lot of us are doing what we can to help by working to run this Republicon kleptocracy out of town in November.

Be Safe.

[cliffordu]

8. Thanks for posting this.

[lonestarnot]

9. I'm sorry this is your second go around with these damn conditions.

Believe you me, I wrote letters insisting on better care, but we have no federal government in case all you've been through you missed that fact. We made demands on the Army Corp of Engineers, but hey again, we are not in charge. So many of us you are pointing fingers at for rejoicing in the CONvention blow as a sidenote to the disaster that is about to overtake NO once again is OK so long as you are doing it out of anger in your first stage of grief. We love you anyway! :hug: :grouphug:

[1monster]

10. I'm not cheering the timing, frustrated-lefty. I live in an area where we sweat

out hurricane season every year.

I think that most people here and elsewhere are horrified at prospect of New Orleans taking another hit, just as I am. I know that many, many people tried very hard for a very long time to get the Bush Administration to get on the stick and take care of New Orleans.

I can understand your frustration and bitterness about the criminal (and probably planned) neglect of New Orleans, but please remember that the Bush Cabal has not given up a course of action it has decided on since January 20, 2001, no matter what the people of the United States and the world want. The Bush Administration did not create Katrina, but they took every advantage of it that was possible.

They (the Bush Administration led FEMA) turned away a civilian flotilla of boats that could have, would have rescued thousands of people who were trapped by rising waters. They diverted critally needed supplies to places far away from New Orleans. They turned away thousand of volunteers, many of them medical personnel, who could have, would have helped save lives. The list of malicious and criminal neglections goes on and on.

Here, let me note that the same bus company that was supposed to send busses to New Orleans before Katrina struck and didn't, also did not send busses this time again. After Katrina struck and it became known that the bus company didn't show up in New Orleans, FEMA didn't so much as slap the company's wrist. It enlarged their contract and gave them much more money.

And that the preventions needed to keep another such disater from happening have been underfunded and slow in progressing with accusations that the preventions are deliberately not sufficient.

It is not being a vulture to note the irony of the timing of Gustav. The fact that Dobson asked all of his followers to pray for bad weather during Obama's acceptance speech highlighted that irony.

It is very insenstive of somd of those who note the irony of the timing not to understand that gloating about that irony is very painful to those who have been so injured by natural forces and then so much more abused by the government that is supposed to do its best to protect you.

If you are still in New Orleans, please get out NOW.

I'm praying that Gustav weakens and heads somewhere else.

[bertman]

11. frustrated_lefty, thanks for posting this. I know this is hitting a nerve for you, and you're right

to be incensed about the things you mention. I fall into the category of "could have been doing more". My wife is from N.O. and many of her family still live in N.O. or along the Gulf coast, so the plight of the Gulf Coast Americans is still on our minds.

Yet, we have only done what we could--or thought we could-- due to the fact that we have our lives to live and our futures to worry about. We could not FOCUS EXCLUSIVELY on the Katrina rebuild effort any more than we could focus only on trying to elect Democrats to the Presidency, Senate and House and state and local governments. Many of us are still sending money and aid to the area, as well as volunteering to help rebuild, so please don't be so hard on us.

To me, the worst part of all of this is how it got shoved under the rug. No national discussion of HOW or even WHETHER to try to rebuild New Orleans to its past status. I'm definitely in the REBUILD-TO-SOME-DEGREE camp, but given the environmental impact the city's footprint has made I am of the opinion that we need to seriously rethink WHAT TO REBUILD AND HOW TO REBUILD IT.

This will be a massive, national undertaking that deserves a lot of open, honest discussion. Tax dollars will be used and hopefully a national mandate will be given to use our human and material resources to get the job done right.

Now it looks like Mother Nature is going to show us once again how arrogant and unthinking we are to have forgotten the NATURAL CONSEQUENCES OF BUILDING AN URBAN METROPOLIS IN THE DELTA. Let's hope the loss of life and devastation will not be too great.

I am hoping that you and yours will be safe.

[frustrated_lefty]

12. The hottest selling item in New Orleans

is rifles and ammunition.

You did a heckuva job, Brownie.