I do know it's not all about me.
Honestly, I do. I *know* that the Katrina crisis is more important than what's going on in my little corner of the world, particularly the corner that holds my uterus.
Part of my problem is that I've always been timid -- no, make that scared shitless -- to enter into political or social commentary for fear that it will be shown that I have NO CLUE what I'm talking about. I am not as politically-versed as many of my friends in the blogisphere, and tend to run from any sort of debate for fear of being smashed by my competition. (Case in point: when I said to a Republican colleague of mine that "Kerry had only lost by a small percentage" and she LOUDLY told me exactly how many votes more W had received. I backed down as quickly as I could.)
But I do know that this is an awful situation, and I wish there were more that I could do.
I am seeing some injustices, though.
Close to home: my employer matched employee donations to the tsunami relief effort, but have not yet extended the same offer for Katrina donations. A colleage of mine sent an e-mail to our CIO, asking about whether there were plans to do so. She's not heard back from him.
Even worse: I just read that FEMA under secretary Michael Brown said that "those New Orleans residents who chose not to heed warnings to evacuate... bear some responsibility for their fates." Is he not aware that those who stayed behind did so in most cases not by choice, but because of a lack of resources to leave?? The fact that he does not acknowledge this, or worse, is not aware of it, is incredible to me.
I hope that the government somehow makes up for the lack of response thus far, and learns a lesson in preparedness. It's a shame that they had to learn it through such loss and suffering.
Part of my problem is that I've always been timid -- no, make that scared shitless -- to enter into political or social commentary for fear that it will be shown that I have NO CLUE what I'm talking about. I am not as politically-versed as many of my friends in the blogisphere, and tend to run from any sort of debate for fear of being smashed by my competition. (Case in point: when I said to a Republican colleague of mine that "Kerry had only lost by a small percentage" and she LOUDLY told me exactly how many votes more W had received. I backed down as quickly as I could.)
But I do know that this is an awful situation, and I wish there were more that I could do.
I am seeing some injustices, though.
Close to home: my employer matched employee donations to the tsunami relief effort, but have not yet extended the same offer for Katrina donations. A colleage of mine sent an e-mail to our CIO, asking about whether there were plans to do so. She's not heard back from him.
Even worse: I just read that FEMA under secretary Michael Brown said that "those New Orleans residents who chose not to heed warnings to evacuate... bear some responsibility for their fates." Is he not aware that those who stayed behind did so in most cases not by choice, but because of a lack of resources to leave?? The fact that he does not acknowledge this, or worse, is not aware of it, is incredible to me.
I hope that the government somehow makes up for the lack of response thus far, and learns a lesson in preparedness. It's a shame that they had to learn it through such loss and suffering.
posted by Lisa P. at 9:04 AM
1 Comments:
Never back down from a political debate or conversation. Our system of government only works if every voice contributes. It's when we back out of the conversation that idiots like Mr. Brown run the show without restraint. It must feel nice to be able to tell people what they SHOULD do when you've got a dry home, food & drink, electricity, all your loved ones around you, and gas in your SUV. Let's drop Mr. Brown in the middle of the path of an incoming hurricane with none of his creature comforts and see how he handles it. Moron.
Post a Comment
<< Home