the difference is. . .
I SWORE I wasn't going to stay political. But....
The difference is the level of anger.
I was born and raised bleeding heart liberal and one of the major tendencies (or problems) we bleeding hearts have is that we tend to want to see all sides of an argument. If you don't see all sides, you're not being fair. If you don't discuss an issue calmly, you're being emotional and important issues deserve calm consideration. Intellectual explorations, not emotional ones are the only reasonable kind.
Now? I'm too angry. People I respect say "cool down. Now is not the time to assign blame. Let's put wait and then concentrate on rebuilding in a better way. "
And though I'm still too polite to say it, what I really want to answer is a short two word expletive.
Now is not the time to assign blame? Now when we see it happening in front of us, we're not supposed to scream? Fine. I can do it later. We'll wait to scream after the bodies are buried. Just don't expect me to back off. I'm not going to let anyone around me shove their heads up their unbleached butt any more (Got to love that imagery. Or maybe not.)
The difference is the level of anger.
I was born and raised bleeding heart liberal and one of the major tendencies (or problems) we bleeding hearts have is that we tend to want to see all sides of an argument. If you don't see all sides, you're not being fair. If you don't discuss an issue calmly, you're being emotional and important issues deserve calm consideration. Intellectual explorations, not emotional ones are the only reasonable kind.
Now? I'm too angry. People I respect say "cool down. Now is not the time to assign blame. Let's put wait and then concentrate on rebuilding in a better way. "
And though I'm still too polite to say it, what I really want to answer is a short two word expletive.
Now is not the time to assign blame? Now when we see it happening in front of us, we're not supposed to scream? Fine. I can do it later. We'll wait to scream after the bodies are buried. Just don't expect me to back off. I'm not going to let anyone around me shove their heads up their unbleached butt any more (Got to love that imagery. Or maybe not.)
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ReplyDeleteI didn't see anything political in your comment, if that makes you feel any better. I'm a conservative, and I was not offended by anything you had to say at all.
ReplyDeleteA lot of people dropped the ball on this, the first being the mayor of NO, then the governor, then the federal gov't. If NO was at such a high risk for devastating damage from a hurricane, why didn't the state of Louisiana have some contingency plans for this type of disaster?? Where was the stockpiling of MREs and other supplies in case this happened? Why wasn't the Louisiana Nat'l Guard prepared to respond?
The federal gov't can only get supplies and people there so fast. The main line of support and supplies should have come from the state. Waiting for the Navy to sail its ships from Norfolk or for troops to return from Iraq is not the solution .
I am angry, too. I am shocked, too. It has nothing to do with political affiliation. You have every right to be angry at our elected officials for not doing their jobs.
actually from what I understood from here, the dept of homeland security was supposed to be the organizing body. And it's lack of organization that sounds like it was the main culprit. The point is that no single politician or official could have taken charge of a disaster of this magnitude--except the president. (And to be fair even he would have to have leaned hard on other politicians to get the job done before hand at any rate. Everyone's willing to jump in afterward. Crying women and babies in distress are so good for photo ops..)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/interapp/editorial/editorial_0646.xml
Here is the DHS's mission statement in case you don't want to go to the site.
1. Increase overall preparedness, particularly for catastrophic events
2. Create better transportation security systems to move people and cargo more securely and efficiently
3. Strengthen border security and interior enforcement and reform immigration processes;
4. Enhance information sharing with our partners
5. Improve DHS financial management, human resource development, procurement and information technology
6. Realign the DHS organization to maximize mission performance
I've ranted a little on my blog, too. I think the notion that we shouldn't criticize the handling of Katrina falls right in there with the idea that criticizing the war is tantamount to not supporting our troops. It's this whole concept that being a patriotic American requires us to support this administration no matter what.
ReplyDeleteI think Germans were given the same message once.
I think that some say to be calm only when it serves them. They were not calm at the Iran hostage situation--or any crisis when there was a Democrat in offie to blame.
ReplyDeleteUnrelated, I don't think I can get away with the racial messages combined with a liberal political slant on my blog at all, as a black woman. People get extremely irate. I think it's the Jesse Jackson effect. People hate him even when his message is true and his words sensible--it doesn't matter what he says, they get mad 'cause he's black and speaking on racial matters, period. I've had several lash out on me on their blogs. A black addressing racial issues seem to be much worse in a PR sense than a straight political message.
(got carried away with my musing, sorry )
Calm down? CALM DOWN? Screw that. This is something worthy of getting worked up about. The more I read, the more I get mad. My poor husband has just had to listen to me froth at the mouth for the last half hour or so--about exactly as long as I've been blog-hopping, coincidentally enough.
ReplyDelete