Taking the Scenic Route

At least it is looking like more people are getting rescue and food.  Sadly, more is coming out about how help was refused here in the United States too, from rescue professionals.  They were told that they couldn’t just volunteer, they had to be contracted.  A lot of bureaucracy is getting in the way.  Once the military was finally allowed in, they had the communication and training to actually start accomplishing things. 

I hope Bush is taken to task for his utter inadequacy in this crisis.  Bush’s father was campaigning during Andrew, and stopped campaigning to dispatch 22,000 troops and 7,000 national guard within a few hours of the hurricane.  Clinton was overseas in negotiations with the leader of China (imagine that, a president actually doing something instead of on vacation), and actually declared Floyd a natural disaster so that military and aid could immediately implemented.  Then he left early to aid in the clean-up.

What does Bush do?  He stays on vacation.  They had several days warning that it could happen, and yet he did nothing to help with the evacuations, he just kept puttering around his fake ranch and playing baseball games.

I think the thing I find the most disgusting is the suggestion that those people who where trapped got what they deserved.  Of course, there were a few idiots who had the means, but wanted to wait it out.  However, the vast majority did not have the means, or where not physically able to. Why did they not line up all those buses through the middle of the poorest sections of the city and pick up people.  Why didn’t they take them to the rescue areas before the tragedy.  I would wager there would not be nearly the number of bodies floating in the streets today if somebody in power would have recognized that many people did not have the means to just pick up and leave, no matter how much they wanted to.

Maybe I should stop getting pregnant.  About this point in my pregnancy is when 9-11 happened too.  At least that time I wasn’t ashamed of my governments response, I was a bit freaked out by the nationalism (not the same thing as patriotism) that swept over the country, but the ongoing suffering due to a lack of response just did not happen on this level.