Two years ago today Hurricane Katrina eviscerated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, creating the worst natural disaster in American history and adding yet another page to our President’s massive, mind-boggling book of shame. Things are quite a bit better on the Coast, but conditions in New Orleans continue to be a tragedy and an outrage. Thousands of people have worked diligently to repair the damage, but the government – city, state and federal – has been useless as tits on a bull in these efforts. Indeed, disinterest and negligence have been surpassed only by greed, fraud and the imperatives of the almighty free market. Many of those who called New Orleans home have been unable to return and many of those who have come back face enormous difficulties. The city that gave birth to jazz, blues and Zydeco is being gentrified faster than you can say “You want granite countertops with that?” and essential goods and services are being lavished on the nouveau gumbo but withheld from poorer city veterans. President Bush visited the area today and announced that he saw hope in New Orleans. Right. Brought to you by the man who thinks The Surge is working. God Bless New Orleans. She needs all the help she can get.
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