I've learned a few lessons from the Gulf Region Disaster in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina - the greatest natural disaster in our lifetime - so far:
1. The scope of disaster is mindboggling. I just can't completely comprehend the level of human suffering that has ocurred and that is still ocurring, with people still trapped and a million people displaced.
2. The strength of America is incomprehensible as well.
I heard Condi Rice interviewed this morning saying that the greatness of America is that we care about each other. I would quibble with that. I think people worldwide care about each other in a disaster. The greatness of America is that we've built a society that can pick ourselves up from a disaster, without waiting for the world to come in to rescue us. It's a strong society that has built the structure to rescue itself.
3. The capacity of people to fingerpoint and blame is endless.
I'm outraged by all of the politicians and media/talking heads coming out of the woodwork to blame the Bush administration for deaths.
Folks, get real.
The first response to emergency is local. The mayor and his administration. If you must fingerpoint, you have to start with the fact that they failed their citizens badly. Did Bush send thousands of people into the Superdome with not enough food, water, or security? No. The mayor's people did. Did Bush leave tens of buses parked, to be later flooded, instead of deploying them to evacuate people before the storm? No. All you have to do is look at the AP photo on the "Drudgereport" of all the school buses parked and flooded to know who the first level of failure was.
The second response is the state level. If you have to fingerpoint, you have to put Govenor Blanco on the hook. Did Bush fail to deploy the National Guard quickly enough? No. Lay that at Govenor Blanco's doorstep. Instead of crying on TV, overwhelmed, she should have led. Where were the 8000 members of the Guard who were not deployed to Iraq? For that matter, where were the State Police of Louisiana? Why did Mississippi (who took the direct hit of Katrina and suffered massive damage) and Alabama not collapse the way Blanco did?
What's clear to me is that the government levels in Louisiana, know to be thoroughly corrupt, failed to protect their citizens.
The last response is federal, who step in to rescue overwhelmed local and state resources. Were they slower to respond than they should have been? Maybe? I don't know. But a lot of people are accusing FEMA and others unfairly.
I'm tired already of the race pimps (Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson) throwing around the "racist" accusations.
And, how many fingerpointing Democrats, who were the first and second levels of failure, do I have to watch on TV blaming Washington to gain political traction? It's unseemly.
I watched the President of Jefferson Parish on "Meet the Press" this morning telling a heartbreaking story of a woman who was not rescued, and who drowned on Friday, accusing the feds of not helping enough. How does that make sense? If you were right there and couldn't save her, how do you expect the people can come in from several states away and save her? Obviously, I cut this traumatized man a lot of slack in his grief. But enough already, of the blame game.
4. The mainstream media is essentially irrelevant as newsgathering operations.
I wanted to tune in for a few hours last night. What did I find?
CNN and Fox News - excellent and moving coverage
MSNBC - some good, some bad
ABC - worthless. Showing reruns of Super Nanny while people are dying
CBS - worthless. Disgraced anchor Dan Rather interviewing some fingerpointers.
Meet the Press was disgraceful this morning, with Tim Russert in full meltdown mode calling for the Secretary of Homeland Security to resign. Did he question Mayor Nagin? Did he question Governor Blanco? No, just the feds.
5. If you're depending on government, at any level, to keep you safe in a disaster you're making a mistake.
I'm quietly reviewing my preparedness for disaster.
Checking my supplies: food, water, batteries.
Rethinking disaster plans.
Inventorying the guns I own (9mm, rifles, shotgun) and ammo. If you think that's crazy, ask some of the fleeing evacuees this week if they wished they were armed.
Now that I've had my say on lessons and fingerpointing - back to the helping.
Do something. Make a donation. Conserve energy. Take in someone.
Enough fingerpointing.
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