Seeing is an Eye Opener

I guess I should have written something about taking a break over the holidays...anyway, it was a nice rest. It was even a bit of a 'working' vacation in the sense that on Friday some friends visiting for the holidays and I went down to NOLA, and, after stopping by the Quarter, took a driving tour to see some of the destruction for ourselves.

If anyone is offended by our "gawking," please consider: we weren't out for a thrill. Our aim was, as I said above, to see for ourselves the effects of the flood. And seeing for ourselves was definitely an eye opener.

It's almost enough to make me reconsider my otherwise negative views about "damage and destruction" tours, because, as so many have already said, media doesn't really give you an idea of the extent of the devastation. And by no means did we see all of it--hell, for the most part, we stuck to just a few major thoroughfares. But, believe me, we saw plenty enough. It was a very sobering ride.

Which makes it all the more maddening--and makes me all the more furious--that the criminal Bush administration, and their media syncophants/co-conspirators--have worked in tandem to bury the story, and, by extension, the city, and indeed, the entire Gulf Coast. They've turned their attention to other shiny things, while IN THEIR OWN COUNTRY a city literally looks like it suffered from a massive aerial bombardment. And, when they DO manage to provide coverage, the media parrots the Bush administration talking points--or, and I don't know if this is worse or not--focuses on the Quarter/CBD/Warehouse Districts, i.e., areas that are more or less intact (I noted the latter a week or so ago).

Well, I'm only a small readership blogger, so it's not like my voice will be heard by either the gubmit or the press, but goddamnit, if EITHER was doing their job, New Orleans would be a focus of both EVERY GODDAMNED DAY. The fact that the government is stalling/sitting on their collective lard ass with a collective finger firmly planted in a collective sphincter--and that the media is not only NOT pestering them every day, but apparently ALSO sitting on their collective lard ass with a collective finger firmly planted in a collective sphincter--demonstrates a criminal complicity that's truly unbelievable.

Read this from Schroeder, for instance (I'll give Knight-Ritter reporters a bit of credit, both with this story AND with their Iraq coverage). And then think about the Bush administration non-response (Brownie's heckuva job), followed by their insistance on blaming Ray Nagin and Kathleen Blanco for...well, for what? The levees were/are a FEDERAL project.

And the next fucking time I hear some nitwit neocon (yes, I realize nitwit neocon is redundant, but it sounds nice)--anyway, the next time I hear any one of them say something like "but Bill Clinton didn't fix the levees," well, while they're contemplating the embossed impression of my shoe on their ass, I'll let 'em know two things: one, when someone assumes office, they assume ALL the responsibilites, and two, if they'd PREFER having the Clenis come back to take charge, well, by all means let's bring him back. Because while I was never a big fan of the guy, at least he got things done.