© copyright 2007 Betsy L. Angert
Please view the scene in Huge Storm Slams Midwest
Pardon the commercial prologue. Please observe Tornado Tears Up New Orleans March 1, 2007
Today ravaging tempests are wreaking havoc in the Southeast. Tornadoes Kill at Least 14 in 2 States. Eighteen months after another deadly storm, Hurricane Katrina, President Bush travels to New Orleans reassuring the public that he all is well. The Midwest is reeling; devastating snowstorms hit the heartland. The ground is giving way in California. A San Francisco landslide displaced sleepy residents. A wide swath of the North Beach hillside came thundering down on buildings below. Unusual tornadoes are swirling in the skies above Southern Florida. Hail and freezing rains are falling in many regions. America is not alone. Severe weather is everywhere!
Humans waited too long to heed the gentle warnings of Mother Nature. She has been speaking to us for years. Now she is screaming; "Help me! Help yourselves!" Our sweet Mother is no longer politely asking us to care for her. She is demanding we do so. This gracious, gentle, and loving spirit hoped we would treat her with reverence. We did not. She gave and we took. Mother Nature can bequeath no more. She is depleted and desperate.
We have a lesson to learn, as does the Bush Administration. When we do not attend to the needs of nature, or do so belatedly and half-heartedly we pay the price. People worldwide are realizing the cost of defiance. Citizens had ignored the harm they did to this planet for decades. Only late in the last century were people beginning to clean their globe. The Bush Administration took office in 2001 and reversed the trend. The President, the Vice, and their Energy Commission denied that humans had a substantial effect on the environment. They declared global warming a myth. Industry was once again allowed to reap it’s bounty more recklessly. Now we sow and see what was always evident. Nature can only take so much abuse before it reacts. Witness the winter storms everywhere on Earth.
Weeks ago our President relented, perhaps, humans are responsible for climate change. His proclamation was feeble. George W. Bush states there is a problem. Pretends to have a plan and then, does nothing. The President turns his projects over to private industry, passes his work onto government agencies, and then declares he is done. He has done all he can, and life is good. Perchance life is good for Mister Bush; however, common citizens are struggling to survive.
Facts continue to elude this "environmental" President and "compassionate conservative." We witness this again today, March 1, 2007. Weather continues to rape the land; red tape rankles the residents. Nothing has changed. Yet, our President says, it has.
"Times are changing for the better. People's lives are improving. And there is hope."
~ George W. Bush [March 1, 2007]
There is so much pretense and more posturing. Today President George W. Bush is traveling to New Orleans. He is looking over the wasteland, explaining how he contributed to the cleanup. He sent Billions of dollars. He decrees the people need to do their part; they need to bring the area back to life.
In an interview on National Public Radio, when asked why he neglected to mention Hurricane Katrina and the Gulf Coast region in his State of the Union speech, President Bush stated . . .
Well, I gave a speech that I thought was necessary to give. On the other hand, I had been talking a lot about Katrina and about the fact that I worked with the Congress to get about $110 billion sent down to both Mississippi and Louisiana to help them on their reconstruction efforts. Obviously, there is more work to be done. But to take the housing issue, for example, we have sent money down to the Louisiana folks, Louisiana Recovery Authority, to fund their plan. And the money is there and the money is available. And now it's up to the folks down there to get this plan implemented so people can start rebuilding their houses.Robust; perhaps for a few. The President only observes what he wishes to, hopeful circumstances.If there's bureaucratic slowdowns in Washington, we've got a man named Don Powell who is working to address them. But no, our response to the Katrina recovery has been very robust.
Bush Tours Katrina-Ravaged AreasThe taxpayers do see what the President again purposely avoids. Mister Bush is not traveling to areas still untouched eighteen long and miserable months later. George W. continues to ignore what he chooses not to know. He paints a Presidential picture; it pretty. Yet . . .
President Reassures Victims And Taxpayers Of Commitment To Rebuild
Long Beach, Mississippi, March, 1, 2007AP) President Bush on Thursday returned to the battered Gulf Coast, declaring "there is hope" for the Hurricane Katrina-ravaged region where his administration was widely accused of botching the initial recovery efforts.
Mr. Bush toured five homes in a neighborhood still recovering from the devastating hurricane 18 months earlier and is scheduled to meet with Mississippi officials before continuing on to New Orleans, a city whose population dropped by about 50 percent in the wake of Katrina and which is reeling from a surge in crime and a lack of social services. Large numbers of New Orleans residents are so frustrated they are thinking of leaving for good.
"I want the taxpayers of the United States to see firsthand what their money has done to help revitalize a series of communities that were literally wiped out," Bush said.
The Katrina Index, a monthly report by the Brookings Institution research group, says many indicators suggest the recovery effort is moving slowly. The report for February [2007] says demand for essential services continues to overwhelm supply, with overfilled emergency rooms and waiting lists of students for public schools.Mister Bush, if there is hope to be found it will not flourish as long as your Administration disregards reality. Anticipation and eagerness are not gifts from a government that tells the citizens all is well when they know it is not. I beg and plead. Please venture out. Travel to the areas still in ruin. Then listen to us. Let us know that you feel our pain. We cannot continue to pretend all is well. The weather outside tells us it is not. As you visit homes rebuilt, more are being buried under the weight of snow, winds, and water.The report said 56 percent of public schools remain closed in New Orleans. It called on decision-makers at all levels to remove excessive bureaucracy that hinders repairs to housing and infrastructure.
Democratic leaders of the U.S. Congress are pushing for legislation to help get federal aid money to residents faster. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority leader Steny Hoyer said in a statement that Hurricane Katrina was a natural disaster compounded by a man-made disaster.
The stormy weather and the strident Mister Bush . . .
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