How many conversations have you found yourselves in this past week where the other party questions why absolutely everyone didn't leave New Orleans once they had the warnings that Hurricane Katrina was the Big One? How many times have you heard, "Why didn't the residents without cars just walk to the high ground?" How many times have you seen it implicated that the residents of New Orleans have only themselves to blame for being at risk because of this tragedy?
I'm betting that you've heard these arguments many times over. Probably as much as you've heard Bush administration's handling of Katrina's aftermath accurately described as that of what a third world country would do. Of course, some people would counter that the residents of a third world country would actually use their feet to get out of the danger zone. So why didn't the residents of New Orleans start walking?
It's amazing to think that this is how far America's standards have fallen since Bush stole the presidency in 2000. Instead of questioning why Bush wasn't in the White House preparing for this natural disaster a few days before it happened, and pointing out that his administration did not provide the poor of New Orleans with any transportation to help them evacuate the cities, many of America's citizens think that they just should have walked and roughed a category 3 or 4 hurricane outdoors. If that's your option when compared to staying indoors and at least feeling like you have the protection of four walls and a roof, what would you choose to do?
Stop me if I'm wrong, but I thought this was America. I thought this was the richest country in the world with well-equipped National Guard units and a Federal Emergency Management Agency that already had contingency plans to deal with crises such as this. I thought this was the country that was able to handle what hurricanes Andrew and Floyd threw at us. I thought this was the country that was able to handle the San Francisco earthquake in 1989. I thought this was the country that was strong enough to handle anything and make it look easy. I thought that was the American standard.
I guess I thought wrong. Worse yet, nobody cares about what America's standards used to be. Instead of asking why buses weren't there a day before Katrina hit to transport soon-to-be victims to high schools and VFW halls in inland towns that were made into temporary shelters, we instead have a nation of people asking why the now victims didn't just hoof it. In the meantime, "46% of Americans approve of the way Bush has handled relief efforts."
In my young life, I've never felt Americans to be as hating and loathing of their fellow Americans as they are right now. And this isn't overt; it's very, very subtle which makes it all the more dangerous because now loathing just looks so normal. Nobody consciencely thinks that they are being hateful, they simply regard these thoughts within the realm of how everyone should be responsible for themselves. It's like Bush's dream of an "Ownership Society" on crack - Every problem you have now is your fault. Even though we're forced to pay an enormous amount of tax money into the federal coffers, we're not allowed to expect anything in return. We're left to fend for ourselves at all costs, no matter what the situation. And hey, if you don't like it, too bad. It's the new American Standard, so you better get used to it.
Historically, it's probably remarkable that a leader can push his country's standards so low with the populace so willing to accept it, and him. But when you have a president who was never elected but broke the law to get into office, and when he invades a country based on a pack of lies, and when nobody in the mainstream media or in the higher levels of our government is willing to hold him accountable, then it shouldn't come as a surprise that the icy clutches of complacentcy are finally able to grip a stranglehold on the national mood.