Hurricane Fuse

I'll probably delete this,
or at least not post it.
Too many thoughts,
Too many emotions.
A lot of anger.
More sadness
Maybe I'm just not as brave as Kanye.

I'm just saying...
I could've driven my old van
down there in like 28 hours from Los Angeles.
Useless me.
With a van and no plan.
I know I could,
because I drove down there this summer.
I almost did it again this week.
I still want to now.
Just want to be sure I'm
part of the solution,
not the problem.
They are saying "donate", "do not come"
so that's what I do.

WHAT HAPPENED?

I am not troops,
I am not a helicopter,
I am not relief,
I am not food
I am not water
I am not housing for tens of thousands of people.
But I am aware,
that if I were,
I could've gotten my ass to Louisiana
in WAY less than FIVE DAYS.

Yeah,
the administration screwed up, again.
(hey, what's new?)
I have never been to elusive about how I feel
about the bush administration.
I've always said:
liars
capitalist
elitist
monsters

But if other people can't see it now?

You think this would've been a little different
during an election year?
Hell yes.
You think it would've been different if
he could run again?
Oh yeah.
You think it would have been different if his oil buddy's...

OK, here it is...
I think the Bush administration would have responded faster
to a report of a black man walking onto one of his
rich friend's manicured lawns
than he did to thousands of poor people dying and losing everything.

The local
police
nurses
doctors
rescue workers
were left alone with the responsibility
of an entire federal government
and nation
for days.

The local
civilians
were left
ALONE
with
death
destruction
sickness
loss
hunger
heat
and every awful thing
for DAYS.

And even the local TROOPS
could not act without deployment.
I can not imagine how frustrating it must have been
for military people who wanted to BUST out
and go rescue people,
help people
and could not
because the suits
WOULD NOT respond.

I am not salved by a TV clip
of bush running down and
hugging a black woman,
DAYS LATER.
How fast do you think they tried to get
that photo/vid clip out there for PR?
Hugs are nice,
I really like hugs.
But...
FIND HER CHILD/SISTER/MOTHER/BROTHER/
DIGNITY/JOB/PET/PHOTO ALBUM.
FIND HER SHELTER.
MAKE HER A FREAKING SANDWICH!

Yeah, your shirt was well pressed
and probably expensive.
It looked really good on camera.
GIVE IT TO HER,
Why don't you,
She was wearing tattered, old, wet clothes
and telling you she lost everything.
Didn't think about it?
I'm not surprised.
Didn't want to show your well toned mid section
from riding horses past a grieving Cindy Sheehan?
I'm not surprised.

I feel like most people, I assume, feel right now,
HELPLESS. (I'm also pissed)
Really, really helpless.
And that's because we are.
We can donate (www.redcross.org)
and figure out
what,
where,
and
when
we can do more
in the YEARS of recovering from this,
but the administration
WAS NOT HELPLESS.
It had the power and the glory
to do all the things we want to do.

It failed before the hurricane -
bush cut the funding for the APPROVED
plan of securing and
shoring up of those levees years ago
in case there was a hurricane such as this,
and there should have been buses provided
for the evacuation of poor people,
sick people, homeless people,
those without SUV's, etc.
BEFORE the hurricane,

And the administration has failed miserably afterwards -
They did not respond.
I believe the death toll is going to be ENORMOUS
for the time period AFTER the hurricane,
People that could've been saved.
People dying of hunger,
heat exhaustion,
lack of medical treatment,
dehydration...
We have the supplies
and the people...
(oh that's right,
not all of them,
you sent tons of the incredibly capable
and willing
to Iraq for oil money,
under false pretenses
and even now won't let them come home
because the ruse MUST be maintained).

When I heard the repeated line that
"lawmakers RETURNED FROM VACATION EARLY
to approve a 10 billion dollar relief effort
for Katrina victims"
(this was days AFTER Katrina),
I was like,
so. not. impressed.
Is that news?
That they "returned from vacation"?
The people who are suffering
and DEAD most likely have never
been able to afford a vacation EVER,
even to return from.
And certainly may never outlive the
horror of what what they have
seen,
experienced
and lost
to sun peacefully on a beach somewhere
without post traumatic stress interrupting
such a trip.

Sorry,
I am pissed.
And I am broken.

I wouldn't change my clothes for days
because they couldn't.
I didn't want to eat,
or drink
or sleep
or shower
for the same reason.

I have changed my clothes now.
And you can bet your ass I'm drinking.
Not without guilt.
And I have to wonder...
Do the truly guilty ever even think about these things?

Yes,
Our hearts and
our prayers
are with you...
All who are suffering
And I know it's not enough.

And All Love And Respect
to every cop, doctor, nurse,
military person and samaritan
that worked their asses off
to try and help people
while the bush klan was..
doing whatever the hell they do
that I will never understand
(with the taxes we pay religiously every time to fund them)

All I had was one vote.
I used it wisely.
It didn't matter.

Barack Obama?
I really like you, man.
And something in me has been
counting on you for a long time
Can YOU do something?
Please?
(Sorry, Barack,
I don't know you,
and you don't seem like a "suit",
but you have one,
I saw it.
You just seem so suited for the task.)

Barack?
Somebody?
Is there anybody out there?
Hello?

God Speed.

And Speed God to the poor in this country.
The are not worth a dime, apparently,
to the two cents worth
of the powers that be.

(A Special Agent sent this to me,
I have no idea who owns the rights, sorry)