Are they going to let New Orleans die?

[the_spectator]

I'm worried.

If they're going to help this city recover, we all know it's going to take a lot of work, money and time: the levees NEED to be plugged and repaired. That doesn't seem to be happening successfully yet. The pumps will need to be repaired and restarted, or even replaced, to "empty the bowl." Of course almost every home and business will need to be drained, cleaned and restored. They will have to reconnect the city to the outside world; rebuild I-10, the long causeways across Lake Ponchatrain, etc...

For this long and difficult job ahead of us, I'd expect to see some RESOLVE from the government. It's easy, in the earliest days, after all -- it starts with morale-boosting talk, Churchillian noises. But I don't hear that from the man who happens to be our President right now.

On Nightline right now, Ted Koppel even asked his correspondent standing in a foot of water near the River-end of Canal Street the Big Question -- will this city survive/pull through. And the correspondent solemly and sadly declined to speculate on the eventual answer to that question.

Are they just going to continue to rescue as many people as they can, move them out of the New Orleans area, and never let them back? And WHY for God's sake! Any President should understand that this is a moment for LEADERSHIP, for a committment to VICTORY. Bush knew to "act" the part after 9/11; after Katrina, for some reason, he can't.

But then the powers that be in New York never rebuilt the Towers. It will be so much worse if they let New Orleans cease to exist. Look, hurricanes are terrible natrual disasters. They always destroy property, destroy homes, and yes, kill people. But as New Orleans sinks under the ocean, not with a bang under a storm surge, but with a whimper, calmly, under sunny skies, something else is being destroyed: a part of this nation's history and this nation's soul. The city at the end of our continent's great River. The city a young Lincoln visited on a river-raft all the way from Illinois, where he saw first-hand for the first time what slavery and the South then meant. The city that gave a trumpet to a young Louis Armstrong to play in a reform-school band, the city that soon made it possible for him to follow King Oliver to Chicago, and then enrapture the world. The only city in the United States over which flew the flag of Bourbon France, Bourbon Spain, and then the Napoleonic Empire before coming into the Union as the jewel in the crown of the Louisiana Purchase.

Are they really going to let it go?!?!? :cry:
Maybe this President is ready to write it off. Will this country let him? :cry:

[LeighAnn]

1. I feel for you, the_spectator

I feel like I've been punched in the stomach. I used to work Mardi Gras at the Tricou House at 711 bourbon Street.

I want to cry like a baby

[the_spectator]

4. Sorry to you and everyone else who ever lived there -

My sister, husband and little daughter live there - they evacuated early, as usual (they are not natives!) Will they be able to return to their home? I'm really wondering if they are going to let that unique place die.

I shared on the reminiscinces thread that on my visits there, I spent a lot of time in a congenial, low-key place, the Pirate's Alley Cafe, just beside the Cathedral, on a couple of visits. First time it was still owned by the young man (Adam was it?) who later opened up the Dervish on Decatur street, which seemed to be one of the centers of what seemed to be a really flourishing TRUE "bohemia."

I'm relatively a little old and a little un-hip, so I saw this basically at a distance, but these young people were so intelligent, thoughtful and romantic in a way that they would fall into the greatest, longest, life-the-universe-and-everything discussions with a stranger like myself. The Vieux Carre is so special, not just for it's outward charm, but because it was so out-of-time in that it still WAS a REAL bohemia -- these kids didn't need trust funds to move into a new life there -- just the courage of youth, a part-time job, and LOW RENT somehwere nearby - which still existed in that city.

I'm still wondering about my question though, are they really going to let it all go? Is that where this is heading? This country that used to always believe it could do anything, and often did? I just don't know.

[LeighAnn]

10. Not going to let it go

If it were up to the Administration they would, I'm sure you've seen the threads about the budget cuts that led to this tragedy.

But the good people of America will come together and clean up the mess, put it back right as best possible and go on from there. You watch, Quarter Rats and everyone else in that town are stout; they'll turn it into a party, somehow, with the help of our nation's good people.

:(

[Wapsie B]

2. I'd hate to speculate.

"Bush knew to "act" the part after 9/11; after Katrina, for some reason, he can't."

He needed 9/11 or some other tragedy to be reselected. Katrina buys him nothing. It sucks $$$ from the war on terra.

[redsoxliberal]

3. great post... but I don't know if it's worth rebuilding the city

for nostalgia... this could happen again... and right now, there is really nothing left.

[moof]

7. Not could, WILL happen but not again the first big one has yet to hit.

with sea level rising and the gulf warming the coast line is going to
become uninhabitable within miles of the current shoreline.
Might as well buy people out now and make a new set back at least 40 foot above current sea level for any new construction.

[northzax]

16. yes, it is worth rebuilding

maybe not financially, but for pychological reasons. We all, by nature of being Americans, have an unspoken pact with eachother that we will help you rebuild after a tragedy or disaster. We cannot let that slide, but we should start looking at 50-100 year plans for the city, as well as ways to rebuild the natural barriers in the Delta.

[jobycom]

5. WHo is they? New Orleaneans will rebuild, with or without Bush

Two points: One, New Orleans is one of those cities with its own mindset. That won't go away. People will want it rebuilt. Second, New Orleans isn't just a tourist town with quirky nostalgia. It's not a ski town or a Mardi Gras town. It's a major port and a major oil town, near significant oil deposits.

It will be rebuilt. The mayor was on Aaron Brown tonight saying the feds had promised an all-out effort to restore the town as quickly as possible. Bush and Rumsfield can make a lot of hay out of this disaster. New Orleans is a national treasure, and when the death tolls are released, people are going to take note, if they haven't already (I can't tell how the story is playing nationally, since it's all I can think of, for several days now). Bush can use New Orleans to divert attention from his failure in Iraq, and to cover for anything he does in Iran. A robust rebuilding plan will also stimulate the economy, and Bush needs that.

It looks very bad right now, because the city is still in shock, and the waters are still flooding in. But it's been barely a day since this began. Give it a few more days, let the water stabilize. Once they fix the levee, in a week or two, they can begin pumping the water out, and things will look more promising at once, as the city re-emerges. Then it's clean-up and rebuild, and everything will start to look brighter, and progress will be seen, and everyone will be amazed at how quickly it all begins to recover. That's when we'll feel the optimism. Right now the shock and horror is still there. Never decided the future in this mood. Look forward, to the time when it all starts to improve.

One more thing--that darned mayor needs some PR lessons. He starts and ends every interview with an Eeyore face, never offering hope even when he can. He seems to have a great ability to understand the whole picture and lay it out, and he seems a bit of a wonk, and that is good for the actual work that needs to be done. But he needs to learn to pump up his listeners. Not offer them false hope, but just a sense that things are being done. I just heard him go one about how bad things were, how long people would be stuck in the Superdome, how he had no idea how to get them out. In the middle of all this he talked about the federal committment to rebuilding, and some of the progress that they are working on. But he buried the optimism behind his shock and depression. Finally he closed by saying something like "We will eventually rebuild, although it may take many months." Imagine the difference on his listeners if he had just turned that phrase around: "It may take many months, but we will rebuild."

A little better PR would do wonders for people in bad need of some hope. (Other than that, I like the guy--he seems to shoot straight and seems to be working his butt off.)

[the_spectator]

6. Wonderful post -

Seems reasonable, and hopeful. I guess I really needed to hear someone say it, and you said it so well.

[WCGreen]

8. Me too....

I think it has to do with what the people of New Orleans want...

[jobycom]

9. I've been so depressed all day, and I've decided to see it from a better

angle.

Plus, I finally heard from my family in Mississippi, so my depression on the whole thing was abated, somewhat. I think the mayor is depressed right now. He may need a boost of optimism more than anyone.

[nini]

11. probably - it's a city of sin after all

damned drinking, partying and boobs everywhere.

WHY would they want to rebuild that? :sarcasm:

[GOPBasher]

12. The problem as I see it..

It seems to me -- and trust me, I don't know shit here, just speculating -- that the problem is not so much rebuilding it. It would take an incredible amount of time and money, but we can do that. But who's to say it won't happen again very soon? NO is six feet below sea level, I think (correct me if I'm wrong), and with climate change due to global warming, hurricanes are getting worse every year. So it seems to me, it can all happen again in next year of the following.

People who know more about NO, hurricanes, climate change, please tell me if I'm wrong.

I hope I am wrong. This shit is so fuckin' sad. :cry:

[Rising Phoenix]

13. great post

it really moved me, I for one, do not want to see it die, it's a place I"ve always wanted to go, I wanted to get married there...I hope they rebuild

[SOteric]

14. I genuinely don't believe they will, no.

They're evacuating the city and they need to let it dry out. The levees are breached. It will be a feat of engineering, but the Army Corp of Engineers is already in place working on ways to patch the levees. It's the fear of disease spread by the decomposing dead in the water that lead to the complete evacuation. With the levees patched they'll be able to remedy that potential problem much more easily.

I would never put my faith in the current Administration to handle such an emergency. I'm sure they're already looking at ways to blame Hurricane Katrina on Clinton's Penis.

The City of New Orleans has many friends and a population that loves her. She may be look a little different in the future, but folks aren't going to let her die.

[Debi]

15. Hey, Bush cut his non-vacation short by two days to help

Okay, not what you wanted to hear, I don't think it's about Bush, but more about the people of New Orleans (and their insurance companies) and big business (if they want to get involved).