Fox News Sucks

I was watching extended coverage of the flood in New Orleans on Saturday, when I happened to stop at the Fox News channel.  Some bitch anchor asked her asshole on the ground if he thought a lot of people stayed behind in New Orleans just to loot. 

On a related note...
I hear that the wingnuts on the Right side of the blogosphere were outraged by the government's poor response and were calling for Clinton's impeachment, again, when they suddenly realized that Bush & Co. ARE the government.  Oops.  Better go back to blaming the victims.

Update on Family
My cousin, Cindy and her husband, lost their house, their cars, everything, and almost their lives.  They were riding out the storm at their home on the Mississippi coast across the street from Gulfport when they were hit by the wind and storm surge and had to make their way to another house close by as their house came apart.  After the storm, she and her husband and their two kids walked to her brother's house in the same town but beyond the reach of the storm surge.  Won't those two kids have a tale to tell?  Word today from her brother says that her employer, one of the cellular phone companies, moved in a bunch of manufactured housing (read:  double-wide trailers) and set up a compound for its employees that included a field kitchen.  That makes Cindy one of the lucky survivors on about a million levels.

Roger, her brother who lives in the same town and where she found refuge, lost a few shingles.  He says everyone is working very hard to get the place up and running.  Gasoline is in short supply and was getting expensive until the state stepped in and froze the prices.

I don't have a lot of cousins in New Orleans.  My Louisiana family is from the western part of the state, next to the Texas border.  The cousins who are in New Orleans are the misfits.  Like me.

No word from several friends in New Orleans.  I'm not too worried about them. The ones who live in the French Quarter or the Marigny weren't threatened by flood since both areas remained pretty dry according to most reports.  My friends in the Garden District, likewise.  I do imagine that one particular person is one of the ones sitting on his porch with a shotgun saying "hell no, he won't go," but I'm just speculating.  I got friends in a couple of other critical neighborhoods, but one I'm sure fled, and the other probably did.

Another Reason to Hate Texas
As if we needed more, but ...  I was watching a live-feed of some of the evacuees who were being resettled to Lubbock, Texas.  The plane had landed and the reception committee was on the tarmac by the plane.  All of the possessions of the evacuees were lined up on the tarmac and the fucking asshole Texans had drug-sniffing dogs checking the bags of the evacuees before they were allowed to deplane.  Did anyone else see that?  Were you offended by that bit of harrassing shit as I was?  Lord, save me.

I need to go self-medicate.  I'm still incredibly angry.  I know it's not doing me or anyone else a bit of good, but WTF!  One of the reasons I have a blog is to be able to bitch freely.  Well, praise the Lord, I had a few things to get off my chest today.

To the millions of people all around the world who have given so generously to help the people of New Orleans, God bless you.  It does lift the spirit just a bit to know that people are responding like they are.  There's been some serious human misery taking place this past week.  Me?  I'm too cynical to give to the Red Cross, and even though they're not exactly pro-Gay, my charity of choice is the Salvation Army.  They spend less on their management and, in my opinion at least, personalize the help they give to people caught in disaster.  If you want a second opinion, ask anyone who survived Hurricane Audrey in June of 1957.  That's the one that killed over 500 people in Cameron, Louisiana.

The saddest part of this story is that it's going to be a story for the next several years.  Those poor souls who have been displaced are not going to have any place to go, ever.  Slums are not rebuilt.  Habitat for Humanity has pledged to respond vigorously. They're the only ones in whom I have any confidence will help the poor to return to New Orleans.  I've pledged them a small amount to be automatically paid every month indefinitely.  My goal is to give at least a dollar for everytime I either got drunk or got laid.  I owe New Orleans a lot.

Peace to all of you.  If I find my center in the next several days I'll come back and tell you about my holiday.  I have to get on the phone now and find out what's what.

Comments

[Bowietrek]

I am so glad your cousin and her family are safe. My former boss at the NASA library I worked for in New York moved to New Orleans about twelve years ago. I have not been able to contact him, or find out anything about him. I am very worried about him. I pray he turns up safe somewhere soon.

You take care of yourself, please. Don't get too irate. New Orleans brings back so many horrible memories of September 11 for me, it's like a double whammy. Makes it so very hard to watch on tv, but I do anyway.

Though I was not left homeless ofter 9/11, I still have nightmares and my lingering health problems from the debris I breathed in for so long. I think I really walk a mile in the shoes of the people of New Orleans.

[Christel]

When I read your blog it brings home the REAL PEOPLE... makes the entire devasting event a reality to me all these thousands of miles away.

So glad your family is safe.

Also like the Salvation Army.

[Kathy]

A double amen to the Salvation Army, I also prefer them as a place to give money.

A consequence of being at St. Jude is that we've met loads of Louisiana families. I know half a dozen families whose homes will be a total loss.

The most immediate concern is that their local doctors are in New Orleans and they are having difficulty getting their treatments.

The cute little boy in this photo lost his home in Metairie.