Oh Brother, Where are Thou?
Resources are finite even for the greatest empires. Even more so when their arms are stretched so wide around the world that they can barely hold them together. And then, the unimaginable happens. God sends a little reminder of who is running the show, and down on earth we witness the best and worse in people. Scenes of determined and exhausted emergency workers contrast with those of unknown rebels firing shots from the darkness at those who are helping save lives.
People are dying on the streets. Ironically the ones who have been "rescued" find themselves without food, water or even shelter. Chaos, pandemonium, desperate cries for help, as many continue to die before our eyes.
And one can only help but wonder: Is this still America, the most powerful country on earth? Where is its mighty army, a force not to be reckoned with, feared and respected all over the world? Is it, perhaps, fighting wars thousands of miles away, with their best women, men, and high-tech equipment deployed in a desert, rebuilding another country from the ground up, no longer looking for WMD's that were not there to begin with?
Is that the same America that, having received the unprecedented benefit of repeated calls over the years from officials at every level, about the potential for a disaster of this magnitude in the very city where it ultimately happened, almost a three-day warning, and nearly a week after disaster stroke, is still unable to provide even food or water to over 20.000 of its citizens, stranded together in a stadium?
Where are our “Rapid” Deployment Forces? They are used efficiently in time of war, and our military takes pride on being able to function in “any” terrain, under “any” conditions. How about Biloxi, Miss. for a hostile terrain? What about 20.000 or more Americans terrorized by vandals as your “harsh environment”? We can put our soldiers anywhere on earth in a matter of hours, yet we can’t save drowning children and starving elderly in our backyard, as all the eyes on the nation watch helplessly? Wake up, America!
Have you been to your local grocery store lately? Have you stopped by your favorite home repair shop? Have you tried to get a bus ticket to anywhere but New Orleans? Have you seen empty grocery shelves? Are they out of stock of your favorite tools at the neighborhood warehouse? Is there a shortage of bus seats due to high demand?
Why then, aren’t those groceries, tools, and buses, and –for that matter- those soldiers, already in Louisiana?
People are dying on the streets. Ironically the ones who have been "rescued" find themselves without food, water or even shelter. Chaos, pandemonium, desperate cries for help, as many continue to die before our eyes.
And one can only help but wonder: Is this still America, the most powerful country on earth? Where is its mighty army, a force not to be reckoned with, feared and respected all over the world? Is it, perhaps, fighting wars thousands of miles away, with their best women, men, and high-tech equipment deployed in a desert, rebuilding another country from the ground up, no longer looking for WMD's that were not there to begin with?
Is that the same America that, having received the unprecedented benefit of repeated calls over the years from officials at every level, about the potential for a disaster of this magnitude in the very city where it ultimately happened, almost a three-day warning, and nearly a week after disaster stroke, is still unable to provide even food or water to over 20.000 of its citizens, stranded together in a stadium?
Where are our “Rapid” Deployment Forces? They are used efficiently in time of war, and our military takes pride on being able to function in “any” terrain, under “any” conditions. How about Biloxi, Miss. for a hostile terrain? What about 20.000 or more Americans terrorized by vandals as your “harsh environment”? We can put our soldiers anywhere on earth in a matter of hours, yet we can’t save drowning children and starving elderly in our backyard, as all the eyes on the nation watch helplessly? Wake up, America!
Have you been to your local grocery store lately? Have you stopped by your favorite home repair shop? Have you tried to get a bus ticket to anywhere but New Orleans? Have you seen empty grocery shelves? Are they out of stock of your favorite tools at the neighborhood warehouse? Is there a shortage of bus seats due to high demand?
Why then, aren’t those groceries, tools, and buses, and –for that matter- those soldiers, already in Louisiana?
posted by Juan Pablo at 1:35 AM
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