Gilgamesh, Nero and The City of New Orleans

                     

from KYW1060 Newsradio:

The mayor of New Orleans is seething over what he sees as the federal government's slow response to his city's disaster. Ray Nagin went on WWL Radio Thursday night to say the feds "don't have a clue what's going on." He added, "Excuse my French, everybody in America -- but I am pissed."

The mayor says he needs troops and hundreds of buses to get refugees out. Nagin accused state and federal officials of "playing games" and "spinning for the cameras." He says he keeps hearing that help is coming, but "there's no beef."

Congress is rushing through an aid package of more than $10 billion (see below) and the Pentagon is promising 1,400 National Guardsmen.

I feel really bad for the Louisiana National Guardsmen who are in Iraq right now watching their beloved state drown. After all, they joined the National Guard to protect their state, not go fight in a country 6,000 miles away that never attacked the United States. This really feels like the Twilight Zone right now.

hurricane katrina politics

Comments

[Neil Shakespeare]

Did you see Laura's advice to the victims on TV?

"GET A JOB!" Seriously, I'm not kidding! She said: "It'll give them something to do during the day, and they can earn some money that they can then use to live on."

Excuse me?!!! Honey, are you THERE?!

[Cdn Looking South]

Thanks for the Twilight Zone reference. It helps a bit with the sheer madness to at least have a fictional touchstone for the experience. People in Toronto do not get the magnitude or significance of this event and it feels like my wife and I are on the other side of a (maple leaf) curtain--stupefied by shock and grief.

[HelenWheels]

I'm glad someone in politics came out and said it like it is. I love Nagin's interview. Did you hear/read the whole thing? Pretty powerful and really sad.

Yeah, twilight zone pretty much describes it best.

[karena]

Right on Brother Agit Prop. Keep posting.