From the Publisher / Arnold G. York
Hurricane Katrina is so enormous, the human tragedy so overwhelming, our response so miniscule and the impact so profound, it’s difficult to know where to begin.
First and foremost, what Katrina did was destroy a number of illusions. It crushed the illusion that somehow with our technology, the radarscopes and weather plotters, we have achieved control over nature and that our knowledge would protect us from the vagaries of the universe, the winds and the weather. Anyone who has ever been to sea and gone through a hurricane or typhoon knows the sheer terror of forces so overwhelming all you can do is to ride them out and try to survive. They also know the sheer human folly of believing these forces might be controllable.
It also exploded the myth of Homeland Security and the entire idea that somehow there was a domestic disaster preparedness plan, on which we’ve spent billions, ready to spring into action on the go signal from the White House, flying in troops and airdropping supplies to the needy to at least minimize the damage and the tragedy. With the experience of 9/11 behind us, we were supposed to have a carefully crafted response system that was designed to handle an atomic, biological or chemical event of biblical proportions. Clearly we don’t.
It exploded the myth that there actually is a White House, the nerve center of the American Empire, monitoring events around the globe, moving troops and supplies, meeting threats and handling crises, protecting America from it’s enemies, foreign and domestic. Some, particularly those in the White House, might think it understandable that the magnitude of this event was unpredictable, our intelligence overwhelmed by the task of predicting the vagaries of nature. There are others who would argue that since one could follow the progress of the storm on Channels 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, HBO, CNN, ESPN and the Home and Garden Television channel (doing a piece on water gardens) it would not be unreasonable to expect the White House to be informed and to have some remote idea what to do-considering there was a five- or six-day warning of the incoming storm and where it would hit. Perhaps some in our federal government might even have considered canceling a long weekend so someone would have been around when it hit.
Nevertheless, one mustn’t get too cynical about these things. Monday morning quarterbacking is always easy, and things always look infinitely clearer on Monday than they did before the big game. I was reassured this past Monday morning, while tromping along on the treadmill at the gym, to see President George W. Bush striding off to the presidential helicopter in Baton Rouge, a mere seven days after the storm struck, looking stern and presidential, his jaw set, his visage steely. He was accompanied by his no-name director of Homeland Security and a large, very martial looking lieutenant general wearing fatigues and a jaunty beret, looking like he was ready to take on the Viet Cong at any moment. The Karl Rove message was very clear. We are here and in charge, and events are now under control. (And don’t bother trying to ask the president any questions because we’ve got his mouth taped shut so we won’t have any repeat Elmer Fudd comparisons, like after his last reassuring TV appearance.)
The months to come are going to be very difficult for the citizens of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. And also for the rest of us, especially in states like Texas, which are taking the brunt of the refugees.
Refugees-that’s what the victims of Katrina are now. Their homes are gone. Their businesses are gone. Their jobs are gone and everything they ever owned is floating around in fetid water somewhere.
They’re all going to need our help. They are fellow Americans and they need our support, our money and anything else we can do to help them through a very difficult time for them and this nation.