politics
Aprapo of my last comment: I've been listening to more music radio, reading more books. The political stuff out there at the moment is really leaving me cold. It seems...even dumber, and less relevant, than usual.
The primary news today is Katrina. I'm a man of very limited means at the moment, but we're buying stuff to send down there; Christ knows those folks are worse off than I am. I'm trying to do my little part because, as Ace used to say when begging money from readers, it's not the size of the donation, it's the size of the pool. If every person in America sent a few things, it adds up to an awful lot.
But the arguments around it are...frankly, disgusting. I've said before, I don't know what the hell people expect, but every level of government is throwing everything they have at it, from the President on down. Even that, however, cannot create a miracle. Moses is not going to step out of a FEMA office and part the seas around New Orleans. George Bush cannot make Manna fall from the skies. What he can do, and has done, is send money and people. And give stupid speeches on teevee that accomplish nothing except appeasing the true believers and pissing off the opposition.
Aside from that...it's all garbage. America, or Republicans, aren't doing enough...because we
hate black people? Are you serious? That has to be one of the dumbest fuckin' statements I've ever heard. And it is, unfortunatly, everywhere. I refuse to spend an hour of my life writing up a post to refute that argument; I have better things to do with my time. Arguing theological dogma with my fucking cockatiel would be more productive.
Then, there's the flipside; that accuses blacks of more looting and stuff in the city. Dug. New Orleans is something like 60% black, hence, there are more blacks looting. Excluding any other economic factor, just the simple fact that there are more black people there period says to me that most of the folks looting will be black. That isn't racism, it's arithmatic.
See this? I'm getting sucked into all these dumb-assed arguments I promised myself I wouldn't. The point is, there was a disaster, and, for the most part, everyone involved is doing everything they can to rectify it, if for no other reason than to avoid giving the other side ammunition. That's a plus, I suppose: Much as I hate arguing about the stupidity of arguments here, the very fact that the arguments are so fucking stupid proves that there hasn't been any too-serious lapses. There's been fuckups, to be sure, but, as any emergency personnel can tell you, that's to be expected when something like this happens. The fact that neither side has found a serious, important bone to pick is promising.
I can't believe that Rehnquist isn't getting more coverage. Maybe it's a good thing; bless his soul, the media is actually letting someone die in relative peace.
