New Orleans Blues but Where's George????? 8/31/05

Feeding the herd


The clouds are growing over Central Texas, blowing over from the Louisiana hurricane area in an ominous manner. We sit on the porch on high ground watching Mother feed the herd. One doe has just birthed twins that have arrived on their own legs for the first time today. We celebrate.

After feeding time, we watch the news and our hearts break. Things have gotten bad in Louisiana and Mississippi. Really bad. We are aghast at the blaming of those who did not get out, as U.S. citizens seem to be totally disconnected from the fact that there are fellow citizens who have no cars, no jobs, and it is, after all, the end of the month. Those who depend on public assistance cannot leave their life line.

Our family is personally aware of these issues, as our own brother in law is on dialysis as a result of childhood diabetes. Not only must he stay near ANY dialysis center, but he must remain in the immediate area of the center approved by his insurance company; otherwise, the exorbitant cost would be crippling, IF it were available. Impossible to leave. Impossible.

And who among us has witnessed the vulnerability of elders who are reluctant to leave their environment under any circumstances? Elders in wheel chairs don't hop into their cars, fill their tanks at $3.00 a gallon and race on over the border to vacation at the Best Western. Heated pool, free breakfast, and high speed internet. Don't forget your swimsuit.

And then there is the prescription issue. Most folks at risk purchase their prescription medication at the beginning of the month. That renewal is allowed the end of the month -- not before. How exactly does someone on heart medication just blow out of town at the end of the month without their meds???? Where has our reasoning gone? Where has our compassion gone?
What on earth are we THINKING?

Well, here is a run down of what the leadership of this country was thinking this week. As I predicted, George W. would not ride out the Crawford vigil and would find an excuse to leave prior to the official end of his vacation. BINGO! The New Orleans tragedy provided that opportunity, except that instead of heading toward New Orleans, Bush flew to San Diego for a fundraiser where he spoke about our need to remain in Iraq -- now, in order to secure the oil, now that, convenient to his reasoning, New Orleans' oil source is at risk. He returned to Washington, D. C. to cut a mammoth cake dressed in the red, white and blue stars and stripes of the American flag -- symbol of EVERY citizen's right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Not to mention basic safety, sustenance, and right not to perish from disease borne floating bodies in flooded streets.
Let them eat cake, George!

Dick Cheney was still trouting in Wyoming and will find absolutely no reason to surface until Friday, when called back to Poll Central on Pennsylvania Ave. --no doubt by Karl Rove, who will once again step in to take control of the Keystone Cops spin on Friday. So who really runs the place? Follow the Rover. Cheney is dipping his hook into the jawls of the helpless fish who dare enter his stream.

Condalezza Rice? In a rare absence from the side of her "boss," she continues her vacation on 5th Avenue, purchasing $ 2,000 of Ferragamo shoes, only to be interrupted by a pesky woman who demanded to know how she could possibly enjoy such an extravagant shopping spree while the poor in New Orleans suffer? Condy had the woman forceably removed by police security before resuming her shopping on a busy day that included tennis and the theatre. Apparently, the poll alarm had not reached New York from Washington D.C. on Wednesday. But has Karl found her yet? Come home, Condy, Come home. We need your beautiful Black face to take its place beside us, pretend that there is love and regard for "the real people" of this country -- of all colors. Please, Condy, come home.

Andy Card, Chief of Staff, on vacation in Maine, but who would notice? And, most unfortunately, the Director of Communications -- posto importanto -- is inconveniently getting married in Greece this weekend, accompanied by more of the White House staff.

Fast forward to Friday, and we find that Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the House, is absent from the vote to allocate funds for relief for the Katrina victims. He "had to be" in Indiana for a fundraiser for a colleague, an obligation that had been on his schedule for "a long, long time." Later in the day, he attended an antique car show, and,already under fire for his statement that "It looks like a lot of that place [New Orleans] could be bulldozed," announced that he sold an antique car and, bless him, will donate the funds to the relief effort. What a guy!

Even Laura is hiring a new chef who can cook Tex-Mex,saying in response to the breadth of victims in New Orleans who are poor and impoverished, "That's just the way things are." Meanwhile, she is finishing up her summer reading list that we are all following with baited breath, and she keeps in touch with the Bush twins, who,though eligible, as yet have not signed up for the "noble cause" in Iraq.
God no doubt has other plans for them.

So, George, WHERE did EVERYBODY GOOOOO? Evacuees, ALL!
Able, moneyed, safe, mobile and clueless.

Please, in all seriousness, GIVE US A BREAK. Please stop offering us God's Blessings. They are not yours to give, and, George, really, we have had enough.

EC