Fed Up

I hesitated to write anything having to do with the tragedy that took place and is taking place along the Gulf Coast this week. I was reluctant to add my voice to the thousands of other more informed and more learned than I, because what could I possible add to what has already been said. I lasted 4 days.

I’m a news junkie (difficult because I don’t have cable these days and I have to rely on what I read, hear on the radio and see on the networks) so I have been enthralled in the words and pictures that have come out of New Orleans, Biloxi and many other southern cities. Tales of death and want mixed in with stories of heroism and brotherly love. But what I would like to discuss today has very little to do with those on the ground in this region. I am, for lack of a better term, fed UP, with the talking heads looking to assess blame on anyone who suits their purpose for what has happened.

Up first on the long and growing lists of culprits, of course, President Bush. He obviously, as leader of the free world has control over tropical waters and the rising and falling of the barometric pressure. Oh and he hates anything environmental so all of his is obviously his fault. If he would have just signed the Kyoto Protocol (which would serve to hamper the US economy more than it would reduce those dreadful green house emissions) then Katrina would have been stopped in her tracks.

Next is Army Corps of Engineers, they knew (how I don’t know, but they did I tell you!) that New Orleans was going to get flooded by this particular hurricane and they knew about it long ago. So they purposefully didn’t reinforce the levies in the area because they wanted to city to flood.

The local governments are to blame because they have poor and sick people in their areas. Never mind that they got 80% of their people out in as near to an orderly fashion as you can when that many people are fleeing. Nope, they are to blame for the inability of resources to get into the ravaged areas.

I’m too annoyed really to list any more “guilty parties” at this point, and of course I am being highly sarcastic in my characterization of these things. But maybe not as much as you might imagine – these sentiments can be found in many of the editorials and articles being written about this hurricane.

I have to say that the sheer arrogance of people to take what is an awesome, unexplainable event of nature and try to boil it down to human blame is breathtaking. Can any of us stop the wind from blowing by sheer force of will? No, we can’t. I’m not going to get into a long environmental debate here. But I will say this. I believe that we should be good stewards of the world that God gave us. I do not, however, believe that being a good steward means that we have to stay in the 18th century. I firmly believe that the God I believe in has created an earth that can withstand whatever as mere mortals we dish out at it.

The true point of this entry today is to say – STOP THE MADNESS! This is not what we do as Americans – at least not now. This is the time for help and prayer. For children around the country to have lemonade stands and save their quarters, nickels and dimes to give to the Red Cross. Now is the time that elected officials at all levels pull together their resources both mentally and financially and find ways to help the people in need. There is plenty of time to play the blame game. And there are several things that, in hindsight, could probably have been done better. But now is a time to pull together. We’ve done it before, and we need to do it again.

Anticipation

Anticipate – To look forward to, especially with pleasure; expect.

We are coming upon my favorite time of the year. I love the fall. I love the crispness of the air and the start of the football season. I love sweaters and apple cider. And most of all I love the start of a new congressional season. I’m a dork, I have accepted that and have moved on.

My first real political memory is from the summer of 1987, I was eleven years old and visiting my grandparents in Illinois for a few weeks before school started again in California (where my family was living at the time). I always loved these visits because when I was with my grandparents I was an only child and treated like the princess I thought I was! I got to sleep as late as I wanted and go for ice cream at the Dairy Queen with my Pa Pa every day. But during the day, it got kind of boring. I didn’t have any people “my age” around and my grandparents still worked full time back then. So I had a lot of time on my hands. Unfortunately, or fortunately as it turns out, they didn’t have cable, so there was no Disney Channel or Nickelodeon for me. One day, quite by accident, I stumbled upon PBS, they were showing live coverage of the Iran Contra Hearings being held in Washington. And for reasons I still don’t understand, I was hooked. I spent hours watching the coverage as witness after witness took to the microphone and said their piece. At the time I had no idea what the issues were or which side I should be on, (other than the fact that I had always loved Ronald Reagan because he had answered a letter I sent him about a school project) but I knew that the entire process was fascinating and something that I wanted to learn more about.

Many years have past since my first brush with the political world, and I have had the great opportunity of being in the midst of that world that fascinated me so as a child. It was great! And now I await with great anticipation, the beginning of yet another political cycle. Congress gets back from their summer break next week and I have to be honest I can’t wait! Why, you may ask - because they will take on an action that doesn’t come around very often; one that has the potential of changing the political and legal landscape of the country. I speak, of course, of the confirmation hearings for the next justice on the Supreme Court.

I have watched many confirmation hearings, both in person and on television and regardless of the position that is under consideration, each and every one of them has been interesting. Maybe it’s seeing our constitution in action or the fact that I’m a fairly nosey person and enjoy hearing things about people I don’t really know. Whatever it is, I’m sure this confirmation hearing will be no different. It is another opportunity to see the American political system do what is supposed to do.

At least that is the hope. Unfortunately, I also anticipate a rocky road for the current nominee. Not because of his qualifications or points of view, but because of who nominated him. It’s a common thing in politics to “shoot the messenger”, and I expect no different when Judge Roberts comes before the US Senate. However, I don’t find this to be a bad thing necessarily; it was just such a partisan display that caught the attention of an 11 year old and caused me to have the passion I have for my beliefs today. Maybe this hearing will do the same for some other unsuspecting child. One can only hope.