Katrina's Lessons Are as Important as 9/11's

Last Friday was the 8th anniversary of 9/11. The previous week was the 4th anniversary of Katrina. While the media covered a lot of the 9/11 memorials, concerts and memories, it seemed as if the legacy of Katrina got very little attention. Both events have had a great impact on our country, but it seems as if politicians and pundits only learned something from 9/11.

I'd like to think that the lessons of 9/11 would be: Be extremely cautious about domestic terrorists, don't train militant religious fanatics to fight your enemies, because they might come back to bite us and treat all threats against our country seriously.

While people in the media talk about the lessons of 9/11 very often, it is rare to hear pundits and politicians talk about the lessons of Hurricane Katrina. While 9/11 left 2,998 people dead or missing, Hurricane Katrina left 2,536 people dead or missing and displaced over one million people.

But 9/11 changed several ways the government operates in terms of foreign and domestic polices, while Katrina changed very little. After 9/11, we invaded two countries, started the patriot act and changed airline travel as we know it.

Katrina has caused no significant changes in US policy. What the world saw after Katrina, was a natural disaster inflamed by poverty, segregation and racism. While the government may not have been able to stop the hurricane, the U.S. could have definitely prevented the racism and poverty that made Hurricane Katrina way worse than it should have been.

Hurricane Katrina was an embarrassment to the United States. Despite its great wealth, the U.S. could not take care of its own. After Katrina, George Bush's approval rating was 45%, half of the 90% it reached after September 11th.

Hubert Humphrey once said, "A nation is judged by how it treats its most vulnerable citizens. Congress should not ignore the plight of our nation's poorest and sickest beneficiaries any longer."

The judgment on George Bush from his reaction to Katrina both domestically and internationally is part of his legacy forever. Still, it seems as if the lessons of Katrina have been lost on the Republican party.

The Republicans obviously have not learned anything from Hurricane Katrina, as they continue to disregard poor, disenfranchised people, which is reflected in their opposition to health care.

Diseases, like hurricanes, affect everybody. Yet, as in Katrina, the rich seem to be protected against them, while the poor and minority populations are vulnerable and often left with no help to protect themselves against them.

If the next Katrina comes as a virus (like Swine Flu), once again the rest of the world will see how America treats its poorest and sickest beneficiaries. That is why we need health care for every citizen. If America has learned anything from the lessons of Katrina, it is that America must protect all of its citizens, regardless of economic or racial backgrounds.

Katrina was a reminder of the poor people who are rarely on TV and not seen or heard. These people are Americans, not third world refugees. They are entitled to the life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness given to us in the Declaration of Independence. Just like the government is responsible for trying to help its citizens from disaster, it should be responsible for taking care of its citizens from diseases and health risks.

Protecting our citizens and keeping our country safe is no just about bombing countries that we think our threats. Not all threats come from Islamic extremists. Hunger, poverty, crime, natural disasters and diseases also threaten the safety of our country and citizens. If we can spend billions of dollars to invade other countries to keep our country safer, we should sacrifice to make the country safer for all of our citizens from natural disasters and diseases.

It is time to heed the lessons of Katrina. We are one country and all of our citizens are important, rich and poor, black and white. When a government gives an every man for himself attitude towards disease and natural disasters, it reflects badly on our country. It is the duty of our country to protect its citizens not only against terrorist attacks, but also against natural disasters and diseases as well. That's why we need to make sure every one of our citizens has the right to health care.

Comments

[backhandpath]

2 things are missing regarding Hurricane Katrina from your treatments of Lessons Learned.
The Federal Flood of New Orleans and the US Army Corps of Engineers.
Katrina and the Flood of New Orleans are 2 completely different Disasters, the former a Natural and the latter a Man Made Disaster.

We must assume that New Orleans is the area to which you refer for all these poor and disenfranchised Americans. They certainly didn't live on the coast until after Katrina made them that way. Yes Katrina was a huge event, but nearly 1700 of those casualties you cited were in New Orleans after the Corps' flood walls failed and flooded the city.
This is fact. Please follow the facts.
What exposed all this emotion you are hunting was Man Made Disaster and had very little to do with Katrina. New Orleans was laid low by Man Made Disaster just as the Twin Towers.
That is the Salient Point.
Indeed Gen Russell Honore remarked that he could not have done a better job of assaulting and rendering inoperable such a large city as the US Army Corps of Engineers did to New Orleans.

[HoppinHill]

In New Orleans, the flooding was NOT a natural disaster. Please do not use Katrina shorthand. Saying Katrina flooded New Orleans is like saying traffic wrecked the Minneapolis bridge.

[JakeMontero]

Thanks for this. Be careful not to minimize 9/11 by selectively picking a few lessons that fit your beliefs - there are many lessons. But clearly we need to remember what happened in New Orleans and make sure it never happens again.

[Flavor]

Mr. Casey, i think your right in fact I know most just don't want to remember katrina or it's victims. It was horrible and thank you, for reminding me and others not to forget because we could have a katrina. I know people who were there when that happened and they said you just really could not explain it all around there was nothing left. Bodies floating in massive water, homes gone. Yes, we do have to remember because history has been known to repeat itself. Thanks.