As far as ongoing blogging related to the Katrina mess goes, no one is doing a better job of rounding up facts than WizBang. One of their bloggers, Paul, is a resident of the greater New Orleans area, so he has a personal stake in what happens next. Among the things that WizBang is covering ...
Hurricane Katrina Response - A Photographic Timeline (courtesy of FreeRepublic member WolfStar)
A discussion of the (now more strongly substantiated) story about Louisiana state officials refusing to allow the Red Cross to deliver food and water to the Superdome, fearing that it would attract survivors to the shelter.
More discussion (with news story links) of the steps the President took before Katrina hit , including declaring Louisiana a disaster area and personally urging Gov. Blanco to order a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans.
And here's more:
Donald Sensing posted a good recap of the NOAA weather forecasts of August 26 - August 29. He uses this information as the basis of an extended post which explores whether or not an evacuation of New Orleans could have reasonably been accomplished, based on what we knew during that time period.
A Free Republic reader posted an extensive analysis of the published disaster preparedness plans for the state of Louisiana, Orleans Parish, and the City of New Orleans. He wonders why the plans were not followed.
New Orleans was not a spotless city before Katrina arrived. The police department struggled with gangs, drugs, and the prevalent perception in minority communities that law enforcement unfairly targeted blacks.
A New York Times article from Friday Sept. 9 details the dithering and bickering between the White House and the Louisiana Governor's Office. It's a must-read. (added 9-10-05)
Despite the political leanings of my blogging, I am tremendously saddened to see Democrats almost literally jump with joy at the chance to use the Katrina disaster to trash the Bush administration and further engage in race baiting. Accusing the Bush administration of somehow fostering a conspiracy specifically geared to kill as many blacks as possible in New Orleans is the epitome of evil. Does anyone wonder why we still have so much racial tension in this country? One needn't look any further than today's reprehensible Democrat and "civil rights" leaders in order to learn why.
I have been blogging and reading countless blog entries on both the Left and Right sides of the blogosphere, and I can say without reservation that the two communities could not have been more distinct in their responses to the storm. The Left immediately started Bush-bashing when the first news reports of storm damage to the Superdome and widespread flooding around New Orleans came rolling in. It was only after the Right threw their weight into a massive, multi-million dollar fundraising effort involving hundreds of blogs and dozens of charities that the Left took some time off from Bush-bashing and began to promote fundraising and relief efforts.
Right now, the leadership of the Democratic party and their acolytes on the Internet seem much more concerned with damaging the President than with taking a long, hard look at the facts presented in my links above. They also seem much more concerned with exploiting storm victims than with helping them.
Democrats have already proposed "hearings" in order to determine what went wrong. This effort is doomed from the start - both the Mayor and the Police Superintendent of New Orleans are black and the governor of Louisiana is a Democrat. The Democrat leadership is already neck-deep in their "It's all Bush's fault" and "Republican racists killed poor blacks" memes and they simply will not engage in any effort that might prove that their storyline is wrong. Think the Democrats will demand a tearful apology from Mayor Nagin or Gov. Blanco? Think again.
Then add the fact that when representatives of government agencies like the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA testify, their main goal will be to save their own skins. Bureaucracies, no matter how benevolent they may be, always evolve into political behemoths whose primary function is their own survival. What are the real chances that anyone would throw away a lifetime of government service just to expose inefficiency or incompetence? Whistle blowers and trouble makers are the kiss of death to big government, and anyone who doesn't keep his mouth shut will become "toxic" for the rest of his working life.
I suppose that all of this proves that politics and big government are never the answers for the deeply rooted problems of mankind. Our secular leadership will never be responsible enough to truly prepare for the worst that can happen, or to respond in an appropriate fashion when either acts of nature or man cause death and destruction.
I'm reminded of the words of Jesus Christ in Matthew 24:
(38) "For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; (39) and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man." (43) "But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into." (NIV)
Can there be any question, now, why Jesus Christ ministered to individuals, and preached to his Disciples about loving their enemies and feeding the hungry, instead of becoming a political activist and trying to reshape the Roman Empire into the Kingdom of God?
Despite all of the terrible circumstances surrounding Hurricane Katrina, I have marveled at the ways that God's grace has manifested itself through countless churches, charities, and individuals, all of whom have provided assistance and comfort to the storm's victims, and all at a person-to-person level. No "blame game." No evaluation of who "really" deserves help. These actions are what truly embodies the Kingdom of God here on earth, and they are the doorway through which God's grace and salvation will move into the lives of countless individuals.
And no government, no matter how benevolent, can ever accomplish that.
Other Christians blogging:
Stones Cry Out: "No Excuse for Racial Hatred," "A Dozen Thoughts on the Katrina Crisis Thus Far"
Double Toothpicks: "The Failure of Local Government," "A Federal Solution or No Solution"
The Anchoress: "Echoes of Madam DeFarge"
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