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What a mess. This is what happens when you combine racism, poor planning, and republican cheese paring with the fury of nature.
Racism: Evacuation "methods" favored those who had money, and gave no option to those who were poorest, without cars or cash. These people are predominantly black, and by many southern politicos not even considered in planning. The order was given to get out. No method was provided. If you had the cash, you got out.
Poor Planning: not planning stores of food and supplies on higher ground. Not making sure that police had backup communications. Not planning for quick response on levee breaches.
Republican cheese paring: Not allocating adequate funds for FEMA. Folding FEMA into Homeland Security (the american stasi), which is obsessed with terrorism, and doesn't consider natural disasters part of its mission. Not allocating adequate funds for maintenance and upgrade of levees and dykes around the city. "Trimming" welfare rolls so that the poor got poorer.
The fury of nature: A Category 5 hurricane. These are a risk on both the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It's only just now September, and we're already up to "K". There will be more.
I hope the next one that has to hit somewhere hits Washington, DC, with fucking Congress in session. After all, DC is on "land" essentially reclaimed from a swamp.
Maybe then those assholes will understand that you don't neglect infrastructure to go play soldier overseas. Taxes should go to infrastructure maintenance and improvement first, not as an afterthought expense to "blame" on the opposition party as "pork".
The day's STFU award goes toSen Representative Hastert of Illinois, saying that New Orleans "shouldn't be rebuilt", that people who live in hurricane, flood or earthquake area deserve what they get, and shouldn't live there. Subsidiary STFU awards go to those who agree. I've never lived anywhere where one for or another of natural disaster didn't loom in the wings. Tornados, floods, blizzards, fires, hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanoes, et al. are part and parcel of life on this planet.
Racism: Evacuation "methods" favored those who had money, and gave no option to those who were poorest, without cars or cash. These people are predominantly black, and by many southern politicos not even considered in planning. The order was given to get out. No method was provided. If you had the cash, you got out.
Poor Planning: not planning stores of food and supplies on higher ground. Not making sure that police had backup communications. Not planning for quick response on levee breaches.
Republican cheese paring: Not allocating adequate funds for FEMA. Folding FEMA into Homeland Security (the american stasi), which is obsessed with terrorism, and doesn't consider natural disasters part of its mission. Not allocating adequate funds for maintenance and upgrade of levees and dykes around the city. "Trimming" welfare rolls so that the poor got poorer.
The fury of nature: A Category 5 hurricane. These are a risk on both the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It's only just now September, and we're already up to "K". There will be more.
I hope the next one that has to hit somewhere hits Washington, DC, with fucking Congress in session. After all, DC is on "land" essentially reclaimed from a swamp.
Maybe then those assholes will understand that you don't neglect infrastructure to go play soldier overseas. Taxes should go to infrastructure maintenance and improvement first, not as an afterthought expense to "blame" on the opposition party as "pork".
The day's STFU award goes to
