Katrina: The Aftermath
Hurricane Katrina was simultaneously worse, and better than I expected it would be. I honestly expected 20,000 dead. That only a couple of thousand (estimated) are dead is amazing, considering the extent of the damage and the flooding. I also didn’t expect so many people to act like complete animals.
A 7 year-old girl was raped in the Superdome. People are shooting at police helicopters and National Guardsmen. People are looting rampantly. Some policemen were caught on camera joining in the looting. Not food… electronics. The police have now stopped trying to rescue people and are focusing on restoring civil order. Really, it’s rather simple. Shoot looters in the head. You’d be surprised how little people want to steal a new LCD television if they think it might get themselves killed. These people are the reason that the cops can’t be off helping people. They are very likely costing lives.
Maria Anglin says that the looting is partially our fault! See, poor people loot disproportionally, and it’s our fault for not magically making them “unpoor.”
Jeff Jarvis asks an (admittedly) “indelicate” question: should New Orleans be rebuilt? I really don’t want to be thinking about that quite yet, but yeah, it’s something that will have to be addressed down the line.
The blame Bush crowd is out in full force. Some are implicit, such as Xeni Jardin juxtaposing a picture of Bush at a VJ Commemoration Day event with a photo of people being rescued in Mississippi. Some are a little more obvious, as in the German Environmental Minister who said that the storm itself is Bush’s fault.
The usual suspects are blaming atheism and homosexuals. Somehow when I think of the benevolent creator of the universe, I don’t think of someone sitting up in heaven and saying “damn those heathens and those queers! I’m so angry, I think I go drown me some darkies.” And no… these people do not represent any sort of mainstream opinion.
Michele has been posting a lot about the hurricane. Here is a post about “good news.” We sure could use some.
Michael Hampton notes the FEMA is directing people to donate to “Operation Blessing,” which is run by Pat “let’s assassinate Hugo Chavez” Robertson. But please don’t. It’s hard to go wrong with the American Red Cross.
