Kat's Aftermath

T

his post was originally going to be on the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. The images on TV of people without food and water, of dead people left on wheel chairs, of young men looting out of necessity or greed. But what stands out is the slow response of the government, local and federal. Some talking heads suggest that the people are getting what they deserve, that they had a chance to leave but chose not to. This, indeed, may be true. But what of those who couldn't leave? Where was the help for those in hospitals? What of the elderly? And the poor who had no where to evacuate to? Are they supposed to be shown the same disdain?

President Bush was on the air a number of times today. He said that the response was "inadequate". I couldn't agree more. But who is responsible? Bill O'Reilly was trying to foist responsibility on the governor of Louisianna, because she lacked foresight. This is a pathetic attempt to deflect responsibility away those who are actually responsible for this debacle: The President. The National Guard is under represented in both Louisianna and Mississippi. Why? Because 40% of Mississippi's Guard and 35% of Louisianna's are not at home. They are in Iraq. So where was Bush's foresight? And now billions and billions of dollars are going to be spent to help rebuild New Orleans. This is a burden we must bear as fellow US citizens. But the burden might have been lighter had we not already spent almost $200 billion dollars on the Iraq war--I don't have to mention the cost to American lives. Again, where was the foresight? And did I mention gasoline? One of the side effects of the war is the rising cost of fuel coming out of the Middle East. With Katrina, prices that were already pushing $3 a gallon have broken that ceiling with a vengeance. The $2.79 of two weeks ago suddenly seems mighty reasonable. So where was the foresight?

Oh wait, I get it. There WAS foresight. Companies like Halliburton Co., a Texas construction and engineering outfit that services oil companies--Vice President Dick Cheney's former company--will make out like bandits. Duh! Stupid me. Cheney is no idiot...

But this is too depressing for me, so I won't dwell on it. Instead...

College Football

The TV is full of bad news and I am afraid to watch it. Thankfully, football season has begun. Oregon beat up Houston on Thursday, Arizona lost to the Utes last night. And today, TODAY! My favorite team, my alma mater kicks off its season with a game against San Diego State. As my regular readers know, I live and die with the Bruins. And this year, we might have a chance to win maybe 8 games? *sigh* There will be those who will laugh, "Only 8?" Well, we all can't be Seminoles or Sooners or Trojans. But then again, who'd want to be a condom?

Be that as it may, I will ease my anxiety over the problems of our country and its leadership by immersing myself once again into college football. Yes, I am, perhaps, a simpleton, but that's okay. Sometimes, life needs to get simple.