The Eye of The Hurricane Sees All

After a few months of procrastination, here’s yet another installment in this crazy running commentary of American society and politics that I lovingly refer to as The Zen Existentialist Free Ranger Medicine Show. A lot has happened since my last couple of posts. The thing I feel compelled to focus on at this particular moment is the latest string of catastrophic events that have occurred in the Gulf of Mexico as a result of Hurricane’s Katrina and Rita. After observing these events by way of our illustrious media, and receiving numerous pieces of information from various friends and acquaintances that aided in my research toward these issues, I’ve come to a conclusion. The handling of the situation in New Orleans and the surrounding areas certainly serves as a glowing example of what I’ve been saying all along. Quite frankly, our current administration is, well, fucked up. To say the least. Just observing the New Orleans situation and how the damage done to it by the hurricanes has been handled by the federal government provides me with the opportunity to transcend from decorum and shout one big, loud “I told ya so!!” to our cancerous conservative contingent.

Let’s see if I can provide at least one or two pertinent examples.

I know we’ve all seen countless accounts regarding the mishandling of emergency measure toward New Orleans on the part of FEMA and the federal government. And we’ve all heard the various commentaries and editorials regarding the suspicion of racist agendas in allowing thousands of minorities and poor people to essentially be left to their own devices. I invite you, the humble reader, to take a gander at the following gem:

http://www.gretnasucks.com/

The above link is to an article detailing the outright racist policies carried out by one Chief Arthur S. Lawson, Jr. This person is Police Chief of a little town called Gretna in Louisiana. And he decided that it would be a good idea to deny aid to certain hurricane victims. Namely those of African American descent or anyone who might be accompanying such a person. What is this . . . fucking post-abolitionist, post-Civil War America? Jeez! Chief Lawson, I think if anyone were to receive comedian Dane Cook’s patented “superfinger”, it would have to be you.

And then there are the outright classic comments that the First Grandma, Barbara Bush (or as I like to refer to her as, “George Washington Jr.”) decided to spew to National Public Radio interviewer regarding the transplanting of victims of Hurricane Katrina to the Astrodome in Texas this pas August, “What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them.” And that’s just a small helping of the garbage that came out of her mouth during that interview. Apparently, the presidential mom’s remarks were so ignorant and inflammatory, they even initiated outcry from conservatives. Take a gander at this article from John Kass of the Chicago Tribune:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-0509070253sep07,1,6154573.column?coll=chi-navrailnews-nav

Now you KNOW things are screwed up when conservatives are making THOSE types of comments about each other! WOW! Maybe there’s hope yet. . . .

Anyway, let’s open our hearts to those affected by Katrina and do whatever we can to support these folks and help them transition into a situation of normalcy and safety. Donate time, money, resources, your voice, your knowledge, whatever you can. Thanks!