Friday, October 26, 2007

California Refugee...New Orleans Refugee..Spot the Difference.

Surely the difference in the quality of response from President George W Bush to the plight of citizens made homeless in California, as opposed to New Orleans two years ago (see photo above) is purely down to 'learning from experience'.....yeah, sure it is George. The descriptions of the aid operation in Southern California, and Bush's fervent promises of his prayers, and more practically, his directing of immediate and urgent aid, suggest that the welfare of the well heeled, mainly white residents of Malibu and San Diego, may be closer to Dubya's heart than the poor inner city, mainly black, residents of New Orleans after Hurricane Katriona. The description of the aid operation in Southern California ( see photographs below) does seem remarkably different to the chaotic shambles which occurred in New Orleans. According to 10News, and illustrated well in this photograph belowfrom the Qualcomm stadium in San Diego, for example these two guys look more like they are going to a football game, as opposed to commencing a lengthy period of homelessness and misery.
"The evacuation operation was going smoothly Tuesday afternoon, and National Guard troops sent to maintain order were described as polite and helpful.AT&T provided Internet access to the evacuees and charged their cell phones for free. Volunteers offered massage therapy, yoga, kosher food and art projects for kids."There was a call for artists last night," said Brian Patterson, who manages community programs at the San Diego Museum of Art. "And I thought, 'this is what I do, anyway,' so I came down here," he said.Evacuees also had access to information on insurance and got medical help. They were given snacks and drinks and necessities such as baby wipes, tooth brushes, toothpaste and hand sanitizers."
Wow!....Yoga and Kosher food. It took the Bush Administration five days to get a fresh bottle of water into New Orleans, but in San Diego they have Yoga classes and their taking account of religious dietary restrictions. The Associated Press also noticed the difference, "Like Hurricane Katrina evacuees two years earlier in New Orleans, thousands of people rousted by natural disaster fled to the NFL stadium here, waiting out the calamity and worrying about their homes. The similarities ended there, as an almost festive atmosphere reigned at Qualcomm Stadium.Bands belted out rock 'n' roll, lavish buffets served gourmet entrees, and massage therapists helped relieve the stress for those forced to flee their homes because of wildfires. "The people are happy. They have everything here," Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared."
Its good to see that the response in Southern California has been SO much better, and credit must be given to the emergency services and Californian Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, otherwise known as 'The Terminator', in that regard. The super-rich of the Californian hills will not be camped out in the Qualcomm Stadium in any case , and thats for certain. However the speed and urgency displayed by George Bush in this case, does rather suggest that he may have a stronger 'psychic' connection with the residents of Malibu than those of the 9th Ward in downtown New Orleans.

9 comments:

Frank Partisan said...

Two words: Race and class.

George "Loki" Williams said...

Apples and oranges. CA still has working infrastructure. Most of the exiled are rich and white (I would daresay many are Republican as well).

I wish NO harm on anyone out there, but this confirms what I have been saying since the Levees failed: If it had happened somewhere rich there would have been a real response.

Latest comments on it here:
http://humidcity.com/2007/10/24/feets-binkowski-reporting-from-southern-california/

Anonymous said...

Well what you don't want to understand is that these American states have a great deal of independence - for example there were calls for GWB to send in the troops to New Orleans - infact GWB could go to jail if he sent in troops unless invited to do so by the local authority.

The hopeless state and city authorities were the cause of the New Orleans shambles ... and you can print as many Goebbels style photos as you like.

Anon-Paranoid said...

I to saw the difference in response between California and NOLA.

They knew five days before the hurricane hit that it could flood the city and yet they ignored the call from Blanco.

Now I'm not saying that the local authorities held up there end in the process, but even then the stories that came out showed that even when people showed up to help they were turned away or kept out and not allowed to enter the city.

I made a similar comment elsewhere and was give a short tongue lashing because I didn't make myself clear.

There are many poor and middle class in California along with the rich, however the rich pour money into both the political parties.

In NOLA the area that was hit the hardest was mostly poor and black, not white and rich so I think the response to NOLA was based on race, color and wealth.

I'm glad that it turns out that Arnold is a better Republican who it appears really cares more about people than the Decider does.

And the Decider is suppose to be a Christian? I highly doubt that.

Glad your safe and doing better now that you've been allowed to return home.

God Bless.

Anonymous said...

To anonymous:

Maybe if Bush hadn't sapped every state's National Guard to occupy Iraq, New Orleans would have had its' own troops to help out. That's supposedly what the National Guard is there for, if you listen to all the recruiting commercials anyway (ever notice that they all talk about "helping my community" and "rebuilding after disaster" but never "occupying someone else's country"?)

blackstone said...

one word. Race.

http://power-2-people.blogspot.com/

Troy Camplin said...

You apparently know nothing about the deep, historical corruption in Louisiana. The difference between the two is corruption. The mayor of New Orleans was an incompetent, corrupt fool who ignored warnings to evacuate the city, apparently squandered all the money that should have been available for buses, which didn't run because of lack of said funds, and then played the victim in light of his gross incompetence. So naturally he was rewarded by being re-elected. Not coincidentally it was a Congressman from Louisiana who was caught with a few hundred thousand dollars in his freezer he had accepted as a bribe. Not that the Left in this country cares to make him resign or punish him in any way.

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