New Orleans Declared No Longer Part of the U.S.

Jan 26, 2007 by

I have been trying to come up with words to express my feelings about the Chimp In Chief and his notable non-mention of New Orleans during the State of the Union Address the other night. I cannot. It is horrific that the home of veterans like my father, who spent two years in a Viet Namese prison camp, and my grandfather, who served during WWII, is found not worthy of mention.

Of course it was government (in)actions that led us to this sorry state of affairs. We have been told for decades that the levees would protect us. The Federal levees. The ones that were built in a knowingly substandard fashion by a Federal organization, the Army Corps of Engineers. People ask why we live below sea level. The best answer I have heard was someone comparing the levees to a passenger plane. We trust that it is safe because we have been told so by people whose job is to know and certify such things. If the Corps made a plane the wings would fall off shortly after takeoff, the parachutes and oxygen masks would not work, and the surviving family would be barred from legal recourse.

Yeah, no surprise we did not get a mention. Now many have weighed in on the subject, but I think the best take on it so far is this little gem from the HUffington Post. Enjoy.

The Blog | Robert J. Elisberg: It’s Official: New Orleans Declared No Longer Part of the U.S. | The Huffington Post
Oh, sure, when he gave his State of the Union Address a mere five months later, he only devoted 85 words to the disaster. But that’s 47 more than Captain Kirk devoted to “Space, the final frontier…” And that was about exploring new worlds and new civilizations. So, 85 words for a mere hurricane is pretty darn good.

Plus, it’s 85 more words than he devoted to New Orleans on Tuesday night, in his next State of the Union Address.

Yes, that’s right. The number of words devoted to the city of New Orleans that had been wiped off the map only 17 months earlier was zippo. The same number of words as calories in Diet Coke. Seven fewer words than “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Two fewer words than what the President was telling the city to do to itself.

Now, in fairness, it’s possible that the President and his Administration gentlefolk looked around but simply weren’t able to find the words anywhere, most likely because they’re hidden in the same place as Iraq’s non-existent weapons of mass destruction, which they can’t find either. (Although he still was able to come up with 16 words for that.)

On the other hand, Mr. Bush was able to come up with 166 words for the person who sold a $200 million movie company to the Walt Disney Company. Not only is that 166 more words than he found for the entire city of New Orleans that was wiped off the map – it’s twice as many as he used the year before, only five months after he had showed up on his shining light beams to proclaim his heartfelt support for the just-devastated city. The President quoted the woman, a noble soul named Julie Aigner-Clark, who has subsequently devoted effort to child protection and said, “I believe that children have the right to live in a world that is safe.” What Mr. Bush himself wanted to add was, “So keep them out of New Orleans.”

EDIT: Another extremely important read, this one speaks to the attitude of many of our “fellow Americans,” about New Orleans. Just as thrilling as the Hour of the Chimp.

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