Government's Reaction Too Slow

At first I was saddened to see all that was happening in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi. I was sad to hear of all of those who lost their lives and who lost their homes and everything they owned. I was rather jaded to this, as hurricanes cause death and destruction every year. Some years worse than others. This doesn't mean I didn't feel bad for all those affected.

I have not spent endless hours watching the news and flipping channels to see primarily the same stories told with a different talking head, or a bit differently. However, tonight I watched for a while and the more I watch the more depressed and pissed off I got. Watching the squalor our own citizens are living in was more that I could take. Listening time after time to people saying help was on the way. That the National Guard had been activated and soldiers would soon be helping with the looters and the other assholes with guns who are shooting those who are helping.

Excuse me, but how long does it take to activate some National Guard units? It's not like they are out of the country and those poor people have to wait til they get here. They are already here! Why are they taking so fucking long to take over a renegade group of criminals who have guns and are making matters much worse? This to me is more than just about what it happening down in the gulf coast, but what lack of planning our government has in place, in case somebody has a smart bomb or some other form of terrorism planned. To see our country so dysfunctional, is extremely frightening to me. I know there are many of you who already knew how screwed up our government is, and I did too, to some degree, but not like this. Not on our own soil.

To listen to the talking heads asking who's fault it is that this disaster was not dealt with more swiftly and effectively are very good questions. We will all get the answers at some point. No finger pointing right now. Get to the gulf coast and help those people. I still blame our government as a whole, not one individual or even a few. This has always been a possibility and for them not to have a plan of action was asinine. New Orleans is below sea level. We all know that. Why did we allow the city to be built there in the first place and why was it allowed to grow bigger every year? Why didn't the government devise a plan in case a levy or two broke?

To watch all the now refugees in the Superdome for days and days, in deplorable conditions of a third world nation. To see beloved elderly people die and piled up on the side, if they were noticed at all. To all who did not or could not evacuate to have to live under these conditions, waiting to get the fuck out of the filthy water, the stench of sewage, bodies starting to rot in the hot humid water. Being unable to shower or even eat. Not knowing where other family members or friends were. To see mother's who were separated from their kids. To take critical personnel away from looking for survivors, to deal with looters. To drown in their own homes....This is despicable, and our government should have taken immediate action.

We all knew by Sunday how catastrophic this hurricane was. We saw the pictures. We saw New Orleans fill up with water so fast and still nothing. No National Guard units there. The Red Cross could get there. They can get to any disaster and our own government is sitting on their hands thinking maybe they should send some help. Perhaps not that simple. But that doesn't matter. What matters is all the thousands of people that need our help in their own country. They did not get it. They still have not gotten it.

In Houston, they had a plan in place to use the Astrodome in the event of a similar occurrence in Galveston. Thank God they did! At least some people have been moved to the Astrodome and are finally being treated as they should be. Not just because of their injuries, but because they should expect to be treated with dignity as an American in their own country. They should expect to be safe and taken care of. What is happening in New Orleans shows me that we are such a target for terrorism. We are so behind in rallying the troops. And if you have a gun, you can take over a whole fucking city and loot til your hearts content. Police officers have walked off their jobs. Those left are now protecting their police station instead of protecting and serving their communities. They need help. Where the hell is it? How much longer are people supposed to wait with no food, water, help.....

I am so ashamed of my government right now. This is not a Republican against Democrat problem at the moment. We have the senate and the house and they should have come up with ways to get all of our citizens to safety and the President should have had his people more organized to help out. Did we learn nothing from 9/11? We are vulnerable to a fault. It scares me to death to think of what could happen. It embarrasses me, that other countries can see that we are not as powerful as we say we are. We cannot even help our own people for God's sake!

It seems to me that maybe our government should take a Red Cross course on how to deal with disasters! Thank God for the Red Cross, but even they can only do so much. With all the chaos going on we have heartless gangs who are taking advantage of this situation. They are raping women and using weapons to take over a city? And they are getting away with it so far! WTF? This whole thing is just wrong. I am thankful for all the cities that are taking in all those who lost everything. Putting the kids in school as if things are normal and will again be one day....Well, they will never be the same. As with 9/11, our world has changed, yet again.