Usually when the news gets too depressing and overwhelming I turn to “the Daily Show with Jon Stewart” to cheer me up. That’s what I did when the images from Hurricane Katrina became too much.
But sometimes, the events unfolding around us are too depressing to turn into a joke, and after watching “the Daily Show” episodes a few weeks ago, I just felt more lost and depressed. As usual, Stewart’s jabs at the president and other people in power were on target; the difference is, this time their gross incompetence led to thousands of deaths.
We should have been more prepared. It is hurricane season and New Orleans lies nine feet under sea level. The people of New Orleans have known for years that a hurricane more powerful than a Category 3 would overpower the city’s levees. Time Magazine reported that despite this knowledge funds were cut and no action was taken to counteract this.
The parts of New Orleans most damaged after the levees broke were in the poorest communities, inhabited mostly by minorities. It was known ahead of time most people in this area do not have cars or a means to leave the city in case of an evacuation. So when the city was evacuated, they were forced to stay, given no other option.
The elderly and sickly were abandoned in hospitals and nursing homes for days, forgotten and left to suffer. Recent headlines in The New York Times have reported some workers at these facilities have been charged with man-slaughter.
Also, there was a gross lack of organization and leadership in the relief effort. Michael D. Brown, ex-director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, aired his frustrations about the lack of organization in a New York Times article on Sept. 15. Brown’s boss is the secretary of homeland security Michael Chertoff. The article explain that on Aug. 29, Brown called Chertoff and explained how the Louisiana governor’s office was proving incapable of handling a coherent state effort.
On Aug. 30, Brown asked the White House to take over the response effort. Brown admitted in the Times article he was probably a day tardy in making this request. That was the Tuesday after the hurricane hit. Bush arrived on Friday.
Finally, President Bush, not wanting to cut his vacation short, arrived a full four days after the hurricane hit. When speaking with reporters he seemed cool and annoyed and flashed that well-known smirk while speaking.
He praised Brown’s handling of the relief effort, even though as he spoke, some people still had not received any help from the government. CNN showed him promising to rebuild Trent Lott’s house, while many poor families rummaged for food. Our own president did not seem to understand that American citizens lay helplessly dying on our own shores.
President Bush is a man who cannot show any compassion or empathy for people suffering in states near where he grew up. What can he possibly think about our soldiers fighting half a world away?
If he cannot understand the full extent of the damage in his own country, it’s hard to believe he can understand or sympathize with our soldiers in another country. He is so detached from reality it hardly seems believable.
Or does he just not care? Was Kanye West correct when he said “George Bush doesn’t care about black people?”
During Bush’s address to the nation two weeks ago, one of my friends said, “I just want to drive down to New Orleans and smack that smirk off his face.” Maybe we could ask Kanye to give it a try.
— Susan Torres is a sophomore journalism major.
