Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Neck Deep: Drowning Accountability

By Robert, Sam and Nat Parry
August 29, 2007

On Aug. 27, 2005, as a powerful hurricane named Katrina surged through the Gulf of Mexico and took aim at New Orleans, most Americans still had confidence in their government’s ability to respond to crises and natural disasters with efficiency and speed.

The country prided itself on its ability to rescue people in danger, to dispatch resources, to rebuild after the worst was over.

Read on.
Posted by at

2 comments:

SirScud said...

At the end of this 'excerpt' from your book ya'll ask, rhetorically I assume, "But the overriding question remained: Did this American awakening arrive too late?". To this I must ask, not rhetorically; To what "American awakening" are you referring? Amongst the "haves" I see nothing but routine complacency and indifference, and the "have nots" are too busy surviving, as usual, to make time for any social or political considerations of someone else's problems. The so-called professional journalists and media "news-people" are busy practicing "information management", in order to curry favor with the very people they are supposed to be "reporting" on, namely, those in the government and private business whose actions effect the lives of everyone.
For instance, there can be no dispute that the greatest damage caused by the flooding, and by far the most permanent and dangerous, is that caused by the enormous quantity of toxic chemical waste released into the flood waters by the local petrochemical industry; virtually any public health official and scientific expert in the region will attest to this fact. How is it that this "fact" is never discussed, even when the topic dejour of conversation amongst public professionals is the national health? Could this be the same paradox that is in play when government officials and their sycophant pundits feign a serious and comprehensive discussion of the war in Iraq, or Congressional oversight of anything, but manage to leave out the "facts" concerning the most destructive, and illegal actions, according to the United Nations,
surrounding the permanent and deadly effects of using banned depleted uranium weapons.

Wed Aug 29, 01:44:00 PM 2007
Unknown said...

As I watched the administration's "response" to Katrina, I realized that the social contract in the US is completely broken. That's when I decided to emmigrate. I now live in Europe and my little village recently experienced flooding via a freak storm. I was very impressed with how quickly things were put back together. It's not perfect, but everyone is back in their home and we can use the bridges which were washed out. Let's hear it for democratic socialism!

Fri Aug 31, 10:22:00 AM 2007

Post a Comment