Disaster Baiting, or, Why Katrina Evacuees Love LA

My heart goes out to everyone in California who can't go home right now. At best I can offer a New Orleanean's short how-not-to along the lines of former George Bush adviser Peter Wehner calling this disaster response an attempt at "the "anti-Katrina."

Help is on the way.

At some point you're going to get a $265 check from the Red Cross, and a plastic bag filled with washcloths, razors, shaving cream and other grooming supplies, gender appropriate. If you had a roommate and lost your house, only one of you will qualify for FEMA aid, so you may want to work that out now unless that's changed along with the pet evacuation law.

The Salvation Army is the rock star of charities and will have warehouses of donated items you can replace your ruined clothes with, because you will never get the smell out of whatever survived. If you end up homeless for months, start a charity to help other survivors. It helps pass the time and it's nice to be nice.

Strangers will be kind.

Tennessee Williams called it. When you're halfway across the country buying a new blow drier, umbrella, the basics, and the clerk sees your California driver's license she will probably give you those supplies for free. Then you will think of what else you meant to pick out but didn't. There's no polite way to go back for it. Unless you're Don Johnson, chances are you didn't leave with a trunk full of gold bars, so enjoy the free round of drinks while it's still offered.

When staying with friends who have no television to watch your disaster on, enjoy the tranquility. Also at the next house without basic cable. You may turn into a bit of an ingrate because it takes a lifetime to arrange things the way you like them. Don't feel bad about this - you're a human being, not a houseplant. Larry David did a great service to evacuee awareness when he showed the fictional family he took in wanting their bread fully toasted and soft toilet paper. Now he's newly single Larry with the only evacuee cast I can think of.

Your leaders will act out.

"Everyone's getting their yoga classes. No one is complaining," Arnold Schwarzenegger said yesterday.

When an ABC reporter pointed out the Orange County Fire Chief's comment that "It is an absolute fact: Had we had more air resources, we would have been able to control this fire," the governor grabbed her hand and yanked it back and forth like he was trying to send her back into the future.

Then his wife described the president as "solicitous," which has slightly negative connotations so maybe her Kennedy is coming out.

You'll eventually be blamed for your disaster.

Glenn Beck has been on the air gloating over the fire headed to elite neighborhoods, not realizing it would burn down a Marine Base and possibly Mel Gibson's home. You don't want to know the charts we had to watch at my dad's house with Pat Robertson showing the evil in New Orleans and the wind forces that took it out.

Cable news is also showing split screens comparing Gulf Coast evacuees to the current ones in a bizarre case of disaster survivor baiting. Like we're going to get into a big fight over who had a harder time being homeless. Twenty years ago my newsroom was told to switch to a model of writing that was geared to a second grade level. It seems to have sunk to kindergarten. Anchors are practically mimes.

And the disaster comparison is a red herring. One sociopath has posted the comment that it's really not that hard to drown compared to burning. (Speaking of comments, mine haven't cleared for the last week so I'm responding to your comments, you just can't see it).

When disaster baiting happens to good people.

Since I was without television at the time, I don 't know whether Gulf Coast evacuees after the levees failed were shown in split screen comparisons with Tsunami victims and rated like a game show with comments like, "Unlike recent disasters, these refugees speak English."

Whatever the case, I hope the country evolves and that two years from now you don't wake up to a split screen where you are compared to new disaster survivors who had the foresight to have already packed and sold their houses before getting makeovers.

While their leaders say, ""The people are happy. They haaff everything here."

And Glenn Beck shows your devastated home with a laugh track.

Comments

[Beatitudes]

Yes, the victims will be blamed. The people of New Orleans are still being blamed for holding on to their lives there. I grew up in the bayou country before moving to New Orleans, you know the one that has been fouled by the gas and oil companies (I know, I should have hitch-hiked out of there when I was three) and to this day the people who still live there, many who are dead and gone like my grandparents, are blamed for signing those contracts that allowed the oil conpainies to drill on their heritage- the land- for one-millionth the actual revenue. Merci and merde.
Lyn LeJeune- The Beatitudes Network and The Blue Book Campaign Rebuilding the Public Libraries of New Orleans at www.beatitudesinneworleans.blogspot.com.

[jfh]

As a former New Orleanian (1978 to 1993) who had to read posts from Californians and others across the country who made ridiculous statements after Katrina such as ...

"People who live below sea level don't deserve help with their recovery..."

I will refrain from writing ...

"People who build houses in known wildfire areas don't ... etc"

But I will make an observation "Karma has a way of returning to bite you on the butt."

Seriously, I hope the Southern California residents get better assistance from the Bush regime than the citizens of New Orleans did ... but I'm not counting on it.

[Indiana]

They will--President Bush doesn't want to leave potential GOP contributors in the lurch and he's also looking ahead to getting whoever wins the GOP nod in 2008. Mindful of California's huge block of electoral votes.

[CatfishJohn]

...and yesterday the Fox Lie Machine was intimating a suspected terrorism link culled from a pheoenix newspaper article from 2003 discussing terrorist intentions to start conflagrations in Utah, 600 miles away....at what point does the relentless fearmongering of murdoch and ailes that has served bushco. so well beocme nothing more than comic absurdity????..perhaps in fox's willful hysteria yesterday, we have reached that moment in time.... if americans weren't such utterly gullible cowards post 9-11 ....but probably not...

[TyroneHed]

Let's see if we can understand the reason for the different response by the Bush Administration:
New Orleans: full of poor black people.
Bush Admin Response: let them drown.
California: full of rich white people.
Bush Admin Response: do everything possible to help them.
Funny how it works that way--the rich get help and the poor get squat. I'm sure some of those rich are Republicans who have railed against government welfare...

[2warvet]

That is the funniest thing I have read in a long time!

The Katrina fiasco was more about the F'ed up state and local government. Isn't it funny how the other states (Mississippi and Alabama) who were equally destroyed by the hurricane managed without crying that Bush wasn't doing enough. In California you have a pro-active state and local government that isn't looking for the feds to come bail them out and you want to say that it is because it is about poor black vs rich white?

This is the welfare state mentality at it's finest!

[azureblue]

Jeez, why does this crap keep coming up?

Here's the truth and I'll back it up:

Bush is responsible for the flooding of new Orleans. His government failed New Orleans. Bush broke it, Bush fixes it. It is that simple.
Now for the Bush apologists, here is the proof. Read it slowly so it will sink in, what a monster Bush is.

In February 2002, Bush unveiled his budget with a $390 million cut to the Army Corps (ACOE). The cuts were devastating. The administration provided only $5 million for maintaining and upgrading critical hurricane protection levees in New Orleans" a fifth of what government experts and Republican elected officials told the administration was needed. Likewise, the administration had been informed that SELA needed $80 million to keep its work moving at full speed, but the White House only proposed providing a quarter of that. The cuts stopped work in progress on the industrial canal and lakefront levees, and, that is where the levee broke.

[Indiana]

As Chris Rose (Times Picayune columnist) would say, "Yeah, you right.)

Thanks for bringing that up. We can't emphasize enough that BUSH IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FLOODING OF NEW ORLEANS. Because of how entrenched the cover story that Louisiana and New Orleans have been responsible for maintaining the levees is.

In fact, in light of that (also because those rich Republicans in California whose homes burned will be getting hefty fire insurance checks and thus be able to rebuild without federal aid) the people of New Orleans are more deserving of aid.

[bamabarrron]

welfare mentality hey 2warvet? what are you one of the 29% who still support bush no matter what? the real truth is the feds booted the response to Katrina cause the adminstration had eviscerated FEMA by stacking it full of political hacks with no experience. conservatives of your ilk, of course, will continue to blame the victims to protect your heroes and your flawed view of the role of government.

finally, since when is CA a republican or a conservative state? other then arnold the state remains solidly democratic ... oops, i guess your reasoning forgot this fact.

[thefringecenter]

Nice try but your rubber band snapped. Alabama and Mississippi have Republican governors. They had no need to complain about not receiving socialist bailout dollars from Bush because all that was promised was delivered. Loiusiana had a Democrat as governor and The Uniter Not A Divider 'n Chief saw an opportunity to slow bleed the Democrat out of office by withholding help. This plan worked very well as the Democrat lost her seat to a Republican curry eater. I am not going to mention that Ahhnold is also a Republican. Now finish your Kool-aid.

[Indiana]

Well said--except for the "curry-eater" reference.

And here's a sad irony. It won't make a difference whether Louisiana has a Democratic governor or a Republican governor, and here's why: Per an article in the Times-Picayune online, Jindal will not be able to get the aid Louisiana needs out of the Bush Administration because Bush wants to practice "fiscal responsibility."

But this is actually a cover story because when it comes to "fiscal responsibility" Bush won't practice it regarding anything he really wants, like the War in Iraq. So even though Louisiana has gone through "regime change," the Bush Administration has a sinister agenda regarding her, and that means Jindal will be as unlucky at getting help as has been Blanco.

[Helomech59]

When an ABC reporter pointed out the Orange County Fire Chief's comment that "It is an absolute fact: Had we had more air resources, we would have been able to control this fire,"

Well Perhaps if the Marines Corps used some of their CH-53 or CH-46 helicopters that are already stationed right THERE in Southern CA to do water drops, the fires could have been contained much quicker.

Fires in the grass and Chapparral are an almost yearly event in Southern CA. Camp Pendleton had fires almost every year when I was stationed there in the 1980's.

And I realize this year was very much worse, and with the winds pushing the fire, too much to handle.

Still my point is, there WERE aircraft available
if the regs and policies could have been cut through to get them in the air and help.

[2warvet]

Nice try, but did you look at the weather reports during the time frame that was being referenced?

High winds kept all aircraft grounded.

[NCDog]

Helomech, it isn't the helicopters its the "bambie buckets" used to carry the water. More are being brought in from other states. Most bases only have 2 or 3 on hand.

[NCDog]

And FYI, military helos can't fly in a fire fighting role in Calif without a State Dept of Forest rep onboard to "supervize". Big limiting factor there.

[clevelandchick]

Great post. My God I cannot believe someone would actually compare burning to drowning. What a sick individual.

But it is not a stretch at all to say that NOLA was largely ignored because of who lived there not what was going to happen to them. The differences between the disasters is immeasurable. Between the ability of the inhabitants to escape, the resources available and I'm sorry but the quickness of response.

It's no secret that Orange County the biggest Republican stronghold in Cali is burning and therefore every effort is being made to help. The same cannot be said for NOLA.

Regardless both California and New Orleans have suffered greatly from their National Guard troops and equipment being commandeered to Iraq never to return or even receive compensation to replace the loss.

And it just proves that Americans no matter what their political or economical stripe can be assured that the Bush Administration has made sure their suffering will largely go ignored. No way is he bringing their guard or their equipment back to protect them in the future. He's too busy thinking about bombing Iran.

[Indiana]

Excellent point--"Orange County the biggest Republican stronghold in Cali is burning."

Save the rich Republicans! (Snark!)

[azureblue]

As compared to Katrina, note that Bush hurried down to FL when Andrew hit to pass out water bottles. And who was the Fl gov. at the time?
Bush is sick.

[Indiana]

Florida was Prince Jeb's fiefdom, which also had a good-sized block of electoral votes, which the Dork in Chief needed in order to be re-elected...

[RumiSouth]

I'm holding onto the thread of hope that Bush will find a way to screw this up badly enough that Ahnold turns on him.

Thread, I say.

[LARRYB28]

wow what a telling comment.all of you lefties would love to have people suffer in order to see some political gain.we all know that the only way you will regain power is for things to get worse and it is sick that you are rooting for falure and suffering

[azureblue]

Well, you voted to put this failure of a Bush into office. You are the one who should be ashamed for abetting the destruction of this country & the Constitution. And the Bill of Rights. And supporting Bush's lies when he invaded Iraq.
You should hang your head in shame for what you have done to this country.

[luziannagirl]

Well said KD-B.

I don't think any Katrina evacuees would wish a disaster on anyone else. Some of my previous comments on subject probably fall in the "snarky" and insensitive category. I apologize to those they may have offended, especially anyone going through a bad and scary time because of the fires.

As I hope displaced Californians don't find out, it's difficult and frustrating to stand politely and silently by while official policy gets based on inaccurate, dismissive, prejudicial, stereotypical, and omissive (a word?)portrayals by both underinformed policymakers and mainstream media.

Maybe the media and the federal government will give California a fairer shake. For their sakes, I hope so.

[Indiana]

They will give California a fairer shake. Under Bush they'll want to see a Republican voted into the White House in '08, and which state has the largest amount of electoral votes? Definitely not Louisiana.

[JudyGee]

At least they don't have to get on buses and go live in Houston. Or do they?

[philistine]

Excellent post. We have enough common taters. We need more real news, delivered without condescension or rancor, using words of more than one syllable.

[arkansawtravler]

Your tater comment immediately brought o'riley, malkin, beck, kristol and others to mind. They share as much blame as bush for the mess we are in 'cause they cheerlead the idiocy he promotes.