(no subject)

It isn't that I don't care. It's that I haven't got the words.

From start until the lingering, foot-dragging, too-long-in-coming-already finish, whatever it's going to be, (and I'm afraid to look and find out the end, aren't you?) this nightmare is too big to wrap up in a few words or one blaze of anger, even vented over a few choice targets.

My head's full of flashes, bits and pieces. Phrases snatched here and there. Pictures I'd give a lot to have never seen. And questions that I don't want answered, if they're not going to be answered the right way.

I don't want to think and I don't care about whose fault it is. Not yet. I will later, I promise you I will.

I want to know how it's going to get fixed. Who will put it right and how will they and when -- since it sure isn't "right now" -- will this start to look like something that happened on American soil instead of something out of Ananda Marga's accounts of third world relief efforts.

So until I get that? Here's some of those flashes.

Being poor is people wondering why you didn't leave. People are quoting the first line everywhere. It's the last that reached out and slapped me.

Also quoted everywhere, including Scalzi, one line from wicked_wish -- "They stayed because they could not run, and now they might die because they cannot swim."
"Might" has become "will", in too many cases. And it ain't over yet.

Throw the book at him. He got them out, but he stole a bus to do it.



I wonder if that child is still alive. Every time I see a non-TV picture of a child out there, I wonder if they're still alive and if they'll be that way when it's over.

Until it gets done, however way it gets done, y'know? I haven't got that much to say.

What I want to know is this.

Okay, fine, you think people's safety lies with local and state governments before federal. (Not true, by the way, since the Department of Homeland Security bears primary responsibility in the case of a large-scale disaster. It was one of the big reasons they pushed through that Department in the first place.) Okay, great, Red Cross is on the ground (aside from that little "ordered to stay out of the city" issue!) and they're in a better position to help, anyway, and it's hard to get around, to get into the areas that need it most.

Your President managed to make it in and stage an emergency feeding station and levee repairs for a photo opportunity, to make it look like he gave a damn. So why, while he was at it, couldn't he have had an actual feeding station set up there? Why not real repairs? Why?

At what point do people start to understand that this is a failure that goes all the way up, and that he's not allowed to stand aside and look pretty for the cameras, pretending his hands are clean? Anyone and everyone else headed into that area now is going with the intention of doing some real good, of lending a hand where they can. Why is it that the one person above all who should be rolling up his sleeves and making things happen flew in just to set up some shammery that dissolved as fast as he left?

It's worse than just a failure to act. When you start CPR as a bystander, you are required to continue until a qualified person arrives to relieve you, or until you cannot physically continue. To stop rescue breathing as soon as the witnesses walk away is to abandon a patient. It is more of a criminal act than to simply not begin helping in the first place. By going, by giving the appearance of help coming, he took on the responsibility to help even if it had not previously rested on his desk. And then he walked out on it when the cameras left. It's more than simply irresponsible, it is completely inhuman.

Worse even than that, Bush's visit delayed actual help while he posed for the cameras. During his visit, air traffic was halted, meaning deliveries of food and water, as well as search and rescue missions, were grounded. He obstructed critical aid in order to ... what, exactly? What more than staving off criticism and trying to shore up his plummeting approval rating, was he trying to accomplish with a fake feeding station? How many people died while he was faking sympathy? Did he think of that at all? Or were those lives acceptable casualties in the cause of regaining political ground?

Oww.

Thanks, kyburg.

Ptolemy says...

Here's the lyrics I've just written for the "modern version" of a "When The Levee Breaks" type of song.

Mama was trapped in the home,
Water was rising, she was by the phone,
Called up her son, "I need someone to rescue me,"
"The Lake's come now, and it's at my knees."

And the son said ...

"Mama, help's gonna get you,
Mama, help's gonna get you,
Mama, help's coming Tuesday,
The governor's called to DC."

Tuesday came, Mama was still in the home,
Water still rising, she was left all alone,
Called up her son, "Need someone at the place,"
"Floodin's not stopped, and it's up to my waist."

And the son replied ...

"Mama, help's gonna get you,
Mama, help's gonna get you,
Mama, help's coming Wednesday,
The troops are now on their way."

Wednesday came, Mama couldn't get to the door,
Water still pouring all over her floors,
Called up her son, "I'm losing my calm,"
"Devil's still flowing, and He's up to my arms."

And the son yelled ...

"Mama, help's gonna get you,
Mama, help's gonna get you,
Mama, help's coming Thursday,
The President's comin' on down."

Thursday came, Mama stood on her chair,
Water still coming, she needed some air,
Called up her son, "Get someone here quick,"
"Flood's still not stopping, it's up to my neck."

And the son sobbed ...

"Mama, help's gonna get you,
Mama, help's gonna get you,
Mama, help's coming Friday,
Just pray and they'll be there real soon."

Friday came, the flood sealed Mama's fate,
Mama drowned, went to the Pearly Gates,
... and the angels came down to greet her ...
... and they sang together as a mighty choir ...
... weeping tears into the mighty Mississippi below ...

... they sang ...

"Mama, help's come and got you,
Mama, help's come and got you,
Mama, help's come and got you,
The Lord's taken you from that wicked world."

(Repeat last chorus)

I laughed. Because it was either laugh or scream, and if I started screaming, I don't know when I'd stop.