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Katrina: Mistakes We're Making
Wednesday - September 07, 2005
"To err
is human" someone with a firm grasp on the obvious once
said. Ben Franklin or someone or other said
somethingto
the effect of, "stupidity is to do the same thing over and over
and expect a different result." It is probably a mistake for me
to loosely throw around mangled, improperly attributed quotes;
but hey, I'm human and this is the blogosphere. But it pales in
comparison to the mistakes I see happening in our country today
in the midst of tragedies here and abroad.
The blame
game and Jesse Jackson
The New Orleans tragedy
will be the worst thing that has ever happened in this country.
It is still unfolding; as the water level drops, the body count
rises. Why did this happen? Why weren't we prepared? Is the
administration to blame? Is racism to blame? Is poverty to
blame? Is FEMAto blame? Are the Democrats to blame? Anyone with any
sense should recognize that it is too soon to be wasting media
airtime on these issues. Conservatives (incorrectly) claim that
criticizing the president during the war on terrorism
undermines the U.S. in that war. How about undermining our
efforts to save people in New Orleans? Press conferences in the
midst of everything are wasting valuable airtime.
Jesse Jackson , himself, hogged more airtime Monday than anyone
else. Every minute his mug was on TV was one less minute spent
trying to cover the situation or reunite families. So, what did
Jackson have to contribute? That race has played a major role
in relief efforts and that we shouldn't be calling these
people refugees; that doing so is racist. Let's just say that it
was. Let's say it was as bad as the n-word. Nobody should
f---ing care at this point in time. Jackson would be much more
useful helping distributing water to blacks as well as whites
and hispanics than fighting for the "civil" rights of people
who could really care less at this point. We're not labeling
these people "refugees" for life. Later they'll be known as
"victims", then as "survivors". "Refugees" fits the desperation
of the situation right now. As Jackson said, it evokes the
people of impoverished nations. And that is why it fits. This
tragedy is of such a massive scale, it is making the struggle
and exodus like that of a third world nation, here, in the
United States of America. The thought of American refugees two
weeks ago was unimaginable. That is why "refugee" works.
"Displaced Americans" does not evoke the pain and suffering -
the devastating nature of the situation. Shame on Jackson for
injecting himself into this tragic situation.
Rush
Limbaugh needs to shut up
The day before Katrina
hit, Rush was criticizing "his" liberal media. At first he said
thatThe New York Times wasn't running the storm on
their front page . Why? His hypothesis was that it had to do
with the fact that the storm was taking place in the deep south
- republican country. He rambled on for several minutes about
his "perceived bias". He then went to break and returned,
informed. He rambled out a two-sentence correction that is
buried in the transcript - the Times did run the
story.
At one point, Limbaugh
derided the media for playing up the storm - always doom and
gloom. He hasn't addressed those comments yet. Thousands of
people dead, a city flattened so badly that it may never exist
again, the worst disaster this nation has ever seen. That damn
bias media - they'll do anything to gain a viewer. I wonder how
many Limbaugh listeners stayed in their homes as a direct
result, critical of the doom and gloom media. Rush will
probably mourn the loss of those listeners rather that mourn
for the victims who, for one reason or another, were unable to
leave. Now he blames democrats, liberals, anyone other that
Bush or republicans. It's too damn early to blame anyone, no
matter where you stand politically.
Mourning
the mass dead
Lost in all the New
Orleans news is
the 1000+ dead in Iraq as a result of a stampede of Shia walking to a
religious ceremony. Thousands we crossing a bridge over the
Tigris when a bomb or bomb threat sparked a panic that crushed
people to death. Those who weren't crushed to death either
drowned in the river or somehow managed to escape. The story
hasn't even been a blip on the radar with all the New Orleans
news going on. It needs to be, if not from a humanity
standpoint, than from a political one. It was an act of terror
and it needs/needed to be addressed by the leaders of the west.
The bridge to their survival, just as ours, became
uncross-able. There are parallels to be made between the two
and it is essential that, during our own great struggle, we
show the world that we care about suffering everywhere in the
world, not just in our homeland.
Lee Iacocca
and Snoop Dogg
And, on a lighter note,
what on Earth is Chryslerthinking run TV spots featuring former Chairman (who
guided Chrysler in the 80's) Lee Iacocca . It's been years since he ran Chrysler and he
wouldn't, then or now, be a recognizable figure to most
Americans. The new ads don't even carry a name graphic. To
most, he probably just seems like a nice old man. To make the
spots at least somewhat relevant, Chrysler has cast
Jason Alexander (of Seinfeld) and hip-hopper Snoop Dogg . The third spot features Iococca's granddaughter,
thereby rendering the ad useless to just about anyone who sees
it.
Posted at 10:45 PM < Just Another Brick in the Blog
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