World stunned as US struggles with Katrina

Amen again.

We'll be fighting in the streets
With our children at our feet
And the morals that they worship will be gone
And the men who spurred us on
Sit in judgement of all wrong
They decide and the shotgun sings the song

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again

The change, it had to come
We knew it all along
We were liberated from the fold, that's all
And the world looks just the same
And history ain't changed
'Cause the banners, they are flown in the next war

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
No, no!

I'll move myself and my family aside
If we happen to be left half alive
I'll get all my papers and smile at the sky
Though I know that the hypnotized never lie

Do ya

There's nothing in the streets
Looks any different to me
And the slogans are replaced, by-the-bye
And the parting on the left
Are now parting on the right
And the beards have all grown longer overnight

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
Don't get fooled again
No, no!

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss

In my own simple-minded terms, what the US of A needs is a mission statement. We seem to have a mission of forwarding the military/industrail/corporate empire (republican/conservative agenda) vs the mission of life/liberty/pursuit of happiness (health-education-welfare). perhaps this disaster can bring about the clarification of what our society wants our mission to be and then stops all the foolishness of pretense. What is america's priority? Do we know?

Our mission statement is the same as it was when this country was founded./ We want it. Give it to us, or die mutha fucka.

If you peel away all the red white and blue bunting and get to the heart of it, can you really say different?

We are a nation of people who still wish to aspire to all the ideals we espouse,( until it comes to crosshairs with our own self interest) but our leadership is quite a different story. Men of power care abour consolidating riches and power by any means necessary. The only difference from one country to another is the methodology.

Phoenix,

I am with you all the way about let's do something and stop complaining. But, there will always be those that still want to complain about who did what.

And bringing in the race card is NEVER an acceptable tactic! As soon as Hurricane Katrina moved enough from New Orleans so it was safe enough for anyone to get near New Orleans, help WAS on its way. I know this for a fact because my hometown sent help!

BBB, and where in the world do you get the idea it's "give it to us or else?"

Momma Angel, do you think there is any valid reason for complaints here?

the race card may or may not be accurate here..

but my opinion is it is. I dont have anything to back that up.. but I am pretty convinced that if this hit .. hmmm.. lets say California?
There would not have been a drag in the presidents steps to get things done.

I also believe that there would have been more in place to help evacuate people BEFORE the storm hit.
But- in all fairness, NO has had numerous evacuate now orders that ment nothing.

but who knows.
that is just my twisted opinion. ;-)

Sozobe,

Valid complaints? Yes. There have been valid complaints. The problem is, that's all you hear about. Ok, we know mistakes have been made. We are all pretty sure of what those mistakes were. So, let's table the complaining until after the victims of Katrina have been taken care of. Then it will be time to sit down and figure out exactly what went wrong and how to fix it.

Shewolfnm,

You have to remember that most of New Orleans was black. There were lots of reasons for the "lack of response". It wasn't all because, as some believe, "the President hates blacks." In that article it said about how it was the President's fault the generators in the hospital didn't work? Hey, what the heck is the hospital administration for? It is NOT all the President's fault. There are so many that have culpability in this. And, to be very honest, if the majority of the nation believed as some seem to, why was Bush re-elected? Doesn't that put the culpability back on the people for electing the wrong man? I wouldn't want to be President! You can never please everyone. You are constantly criticized for every single thing you do. Once you make a mistake, the good that you have done seems to be forgotten. I will always remember 9/11 and how the President asked us all to stay at work because if we all left work then Osama Bin Laden would have accomplished what he set out to do. He would have destroyed us within. That was a hard thing for all of us to do, but IT WAS the right thing. Now, because mistakes have been made about Katrina, everything the President ever did right has been thrown out the window.

Why table the complaining?

I do agree that there is a variety of strident, repetitive complaint that annoys me. But there is also a variety of fact-finding, curious, commisserative complaint that I think is appropriate and even necessary.

And again, I don't think it's zero-sum; the good news and the bad news can coexist. I think a lot of people are uneasy with the idea of the bad news being swept under the rug and not being dealt with.

Sozobe,

I think the complaining has been way overdone! I am tired of it. I want to hear about the things that are being done. The complaining does nothing but breed contempt and discontent. What the country needs is hope and that comes from the stories of WHAT IS being done by the citizens of the United States in an effort to help their fellow man.

All the effort spent complaining can surely be put to better use?

Yep, it seems the libertarian leaners here are united on this one. I too was thinking of the midterm elections and the possibility of some real improvements in homelands security with major pushes from both sides of the aisle. I have every intention of doing what I can to keep it in the fires at our next election cycle.

Again the cynic in me speaks up (or the realist). By that time the story will have gone to the back pages of the papers. No longer hot, no more front page. And you know this administration (perhaps any administration) will only get itself to properly investigate something, if at all, when the public and media eye are hot at its heels. So when it comes to figuring out what went wrong and what needs to be done better, you need to strike the iron while its hot, while the public eye is demanding it.

And I'm with Soz in that I dont see why it should be either/or. Sure, posting here about what problems there are doesnt save any lives. Posting here about how you shouldnt post about what problems there are doesnt either. Out in the real world, both things need to be done, now.

Does the country need hope or does it need to be confronted with reality? Hopeful stories can put your mind at rest, create that fuzzy feeling, make you feel everything's ok or will soon be, just like that ... Every time something really bad happens, the President (or whoever) appears on screen and speaks soothing words, words of strident hope, inspirational words about how you are the good and the beautiful and you will win and overcome ... I can imagine people feel comforted and stroked by that, but does it help in making folks (and politicians) face the tough tasks that need to be tackled?

I'm tired of bad news too, I want to hear about nice stuff and not just about disasters and wars. But the news is there for people to be shaken awake, not for them to be soothed into a false calm...

Course, the bad news, news of the things that went wrong, right now and in the years before, needs to be accompanied by comments on what could be done better, what can be changed and improved on henceforth, otherwise I agree it can just numb you down.

What effort?

As nimh indicates, all the effort complaining about the complaints can surely be put to better use?

I think we need news stories when there's new news to report and juist shut up otherwise. I am very aware of what's going on down south and don't need to see the tv recycling the same pictures, speeches etc. ad nauseum. I think it desensitizes and depersonalizes everything.

I digress a bit. Excuse.

I'm tired of it too! We KNOW what was done wrong. Now, let's just DO SOMETHING! We can go about correcting the preventative things later. Our focus needs to be on HELPING NOW. And part of helping is providing hope for the country. That, is everyone's responsibility, to bolster their neighbor, not to bring them down with negativity.

We have to hold the govt.'s feet to the fire now, to avoid a reapeat next time there's a disaster.

Again, and I'll reword it so that maybe you can get my point, it's the "hope" that has gotten us to this point.

It's the ignoring the poor while feeding the corporations.

It's the shift from caring about one another to every man for himself mentality.

It's the not in my backyard of the wealthy, which the poor cannot afford to combat for their own communities.

It's the smaller government is good mantra, leave it to faith based charities.

It's the very principles for which the current government stands, for which the neocons and right wing elements have been striving for thirty years, that have lead us to this point where in the case of a national disaster, poor people are left to die, government reaction is slow and no one wants to hear the truth, because it messes with their "hope."

As far as 9/11 and Bush asking us all to continue working... Don't you see the irony in that coming from a man that had just finished a month long vacation?

It's exactly that disconnect between the have's and the have not's, the wrongness of the direction of this administration, that is becoming more focused due to this natural disaster, and I for one, do not want it swept under the carpet or to be dimmed.

Death toll might be 10,000...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050905/ap_on_re_us/hurricane_katrina_24

<deep sigh>

Soz, I just opened yahoo too...and fell out of my seat.