No one seems
to want to talk about the major catastrophe of those levees. A few
weeks have passed and we continue to talk about the flooding in New
Orleans, the chaos, sickness, disease, horror, and devastation that is
taking its toll on these survivors.
With all the high-powered
equipment in space, tracking storms, reporting how strong and fast they
move and predicting its level; I cannot believe, those in power of this
great Nation did not know to evacuate New Orleans earlier. And why
should they? “Katrina,” recorded as a level-5 hurricane wasn’t the
real threat to the New Orleans area and no one is talking about the
reason(s) those levees failed.
Some of the loss of life and
property can be blamed on hurricane Katrina, but not all of it. Most
of the devastation was reported hours after the storm had already
passed heading northward and then came the flood. What happened to
those levees? Did the levees give way because of its upkeep or lack
thereof? Did some type of large object slam into the levees causing
them to give way? Where are the reports from the private companies who
are paid to maintain these levees? Shouldn’t someone, by now, be
telling us the conditions of the levees before and after this storm?
And was there any visible damage or parts of the levees recovered?
In
the midst of this horrible circumstance in New Orleans, the mainstream
media chooses to focus on what may appear to be criminal acts, or
survivors taking advantage of an emergency situation. When opportunity
presents itself, although it may not be right, there will be some
people who will act up. Looting is looting; surviving is surviving,
these are two different things. We would never condone criminal acts,
or anyone who criminally trespasses upon women and children. There is
no reason or defense for these types of acts and those who partake or
commit such acts should be dealt with very severely – no matter who
they are.
However, right now the focus must remain on the
aftermath of this hurricane and the devastation of the New Orleans
levees. In 1927, these levees failed causing the land in Mississippi
to be submerged under water. It was reported, President Calvin
Coolidge, promised to rebuild after the flood, but ‘left to play golf
instead.’
Here 78-years later, “President,” George W. Bush,
flies over New Orleans flooded crime scene, lands his plane to take
photo-ops, then goes to play golf the next day. Is this stuff starting
to make your blood boil? Did Bush take a page out of Coolidge’s
playbook? That’s not cool. It’s a shame; and we must continue to
connect the dots and follow this oil trail. A few days after the
flood, gasoline prices continues to be on the rise and those in charge
of this government seem to be taking us back to the Stone Age.
We
must take a hard look at the slow action taken by this government in
the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. With the assistance of the
mainstream media, this government has made an attempt to change the
status of the flood survivors, labeling them as “Refugees.”
Words
and names have power, and if you were born here in the United States of
America (USA), how can your government change your status because of a
horrific event? Thousands of USA Citizens and others were forced to
seek shelter in the New Orleans Superdome stadium. This government
failed to protect these people and their property in New Orleans.
Homeland security failed big time.
There were a small amount of
refugees who were visiting New Orleans from London, England and were
forced to the stadium. They complained about the living conditions and
feared for their safety at the stadium. The Queen sent her condolences
to the New Orleans victims, and quickly sent London diplomats to aid
her subjects’ – can’t say the same for this president.
The
mainstream media, along with the president, labeled the New Orleans
survivors, as refugees. This should be an affront to the American
Peoples and must be dealt with. Bush now reads from his speeches like
he’s buying these folks liberty for $2,000, as he refers to them as
“Evacuees,” meaning, displaced persons; émigrés; fugitives, none of
which depicts these USA survivors. The flooding in New Orleans is not
new, but the stealing of one’s civil and political status is. Did the
flood wash away the Constitution? What happened to the 14th
amendment? In part, “Everyone born or naturalized in the United
States, and subject to the jurisdiction of the national Government, is
both a citizen of the United States and of the state in which he lives.”
Do
we have any elected officials who would dare stand up to this Bush
administration, that has so much blood on its hand – i.e., September
11th, 2001, the war in Iraq, New Orleans-2005? Where will the next
graves from mass destruction be? When will any politicians pull a page
out of Huey Long’s book? Long was elected governor of Louisiana in
1928 after the flood, and he apparently laid the blame where it
belonged. Where are the billionaire philanthropists? Yes, your money
is good and needed, so jump that long line and help these people.
I
will do my part. Let this article stand as a Notice to, ‘President
Bush,’ not to take the Citizens land and to cease from referring to
these hurricane victims as refugees and evacuees. Together, we must do
what we can for these Peoples and help ease their pain and to bring
them back to as normal a life as soon as possible. We must make sure,
the natives of New Orleans receive some kind of training to assist in
the rebuilding of their land and property, because it’s going to be a
long time before she gets back on her feet.