It’s a few days old now, but in the event you haven’t read it, please do.
An excerpt:
“
If the rest of the nation has decided it is too expensive to give the people of New Orleans a chance at renewal, we have to tell them so. We must tell them we spent our rainy-day fund on a costly stalemate in Iraq, that we gave it away in tax cuts for wealthy families and shareholders. We must tell them America is too broke and too weak to rebuild one of its great cities.
Our nation would then look like a feeble giant indeed. But whether we admit it or not, this is our choice to make. We decide whether New Orleans lives or dies.
“
Fluorescences | 15-Dec-05 at 11:43 am | Permalink
If the Bush administration either can’t or won’t capture the man responsible for masterminding the largest act of terrorism ever committed on American soil, what makes us think that they’ll expend the energy needed to restore New Orleans, a city with much less political clout than either New York or Washington? They announced a plan to rebuild the levees today, but you still don’t hear about plans to restore the Ninth Ward. Don’t hold your breath.
Anonymous | 18-Dec-05 at 3:05 pm | Permalink
It’s interesting to me that no one focuses on this quote from the same editorial: “So far, local and state officials have been derelict at producing anything that comes close to a coherent plan. That is unacceptable.” Stop blaming the feds. There’s plenty of blame to go around.
Anonymous | 18-Dec-05 at 3:09 pm | Permalink
And another thing. We New Yorkers led the reconstruction of our own damaged city. Albeit with federal money, but we had our own plan. So did Californians when their cities were damaged by major earthquakes.
Now I’ll be belittled for commenting anonymously. Whatever.
Holly | 18-Dec-05 at 3:42 pm | Permalink
The situation in New Orleans can not be compared to any other disaster in U.S. history. It is, without compare, the biggest disaster we as a nation have ever faced and the challenges and strategies for moving forward are uncharted in all areas.
More than 4,000 people are still missing almost 4 months after the event — these are people just missing, not including the 1,100 or so that perished as a result of the aftermath of the storm. Thousands remain homeless. The scope of that is difficult to comprehend and seemingly easy to forget.
In addition, it is important to remember the city flooded when it’s levee system failed. The levees built, to incorrect and faulty standards, by the federal government. The majority of deaths occurred not because of wind and rain, but in the aftermath of the storm — failures of infrastructure that without question extend from the lowest to highest levels of government.
The point of the article is to point out that without a decision on what is to be done with the levees — which are managed by a federally directed agency — no one can do much. Who is going to rebuild a home or business that cannot be insured?
Further, without the first-hand experience of seeing New Orleans and understanding the scope of the issue, it is very, very difficult (indeed, near impossible) to truly comprehend the extent of the situation. It is not acceptable to dismiss the realities, responsibilities, and complexities of the situation (in other words, shutting it out as a problem for Louisiana).
Like the rest of the country, New York and California benefit from the oil products, sea food, and commercial trade that pours through the ports of New Orleans. It is a cultural gem of our nation: unique in architecture, music, culture, food, and heritage. Fixing that city is a responsibility that is shared by the entire country. This is a situation that should unite us, not divide us in prejudices and judgment.
Fluorescences | 20-Dec-05 at 8:51 am | Permalink
I echo Holly’s remarks, and add, as a current resident of California — since I have something in common with you as a New Yorker, you’ll also no doubt be aware that local corruption is not limited to New Orleans. That didn’t stop my state and others from contributing to your city’s reconstruction with our federal taxes. I also invite you to tell us specifically which parts of the local reconstruction plan in New Orleans are derelict, since you’re so well versed on the subject.
And if you feel that New Yorkers bore the brunt of local reconstruction, then your U.S. Senators will kindly stop lobbying the Congress for reconstruction funds. You’re telling me that Schumer and Clinton weren’t front and center on C-SPAN lobbying Congress for every penny they could get? Bullshit. This is why Westerners hate Easterners. You have no clue what you’re talking about when it comes to our way of life, but are in no hurry to stop saying it.