This Salon.com article hopefully will help start a dialogue that is something we are in desparate need of.
There are lots of problems out there, to be sure, but the way the United States treats it’s poor is shameful. The reports in the news and the statements from pundits are reactionary and disgusting.
You certainly can’t excuse people shooting guns at the people who are involved in rescue and releif efforts, to be sure, but that’s not all that this disaster is about. It’s about terrible preparation and response too. It’s about the expectation that any offer of help is going to be met with tearful gratitude (Extreme Makeover Home Edition) rather than “fuck you, where were you last week, dick?”
People in need will always be there, hungry, cold, whenever we are moved (or forced) to offer compassion and assistance. We’ll always know where to find them because they have nowhere else to go. If you beat someone at the same time you starve them, don’t be surprised if they bite your hand. And when they bite your hand and that leads you to the conclusion that they aren’t worth feeding, then “fuck you, where were you last week, dick?”
Some supporting video from Crooks & Liars
- Paula Zahn tears into the head of FEMA
- Then Ted Koppel takes his turn
- Anderson Cooper (CNN) has it up to here with Senator Landreiu’s polital crap and lays into her for thanking her fellow politicians when he’s seen rats eating a woman’s body.
- Mayor Lagin is pissed.