Reply #14: My daughter and I were discussing this the other night..... [View All]

[ClintonTyree]

she was a student at Tulane University, graduated this past May. Students were REQUIRED to do community service after returning for Spring semester after Katrina hit. She said it was a great experience and that it gave the students a direct link to the suffering and myriad problems associated with the rebuilding of New Orleans. Many students have stayed on after graduation to help, they feel that they have a stake in the area's redevelopment and that the hands-on experience will be good for them later in life.
I've been down there 3 times (a week at a time) since Katrina hit to do whatever I could to help. There's just SOOOOO much to do that whatever you do seems like a drop in the proverbial bucket. I know that between my daughter and myself we actually did some good and helped people but it's hard to judge. There's still so much more that needs to be done.
There are still 99,000 families living in FEMA trailers in the Gulf States. I told her that Bush's promises to the area were hollow, that the money promised for rebuilding the area has gone by the wayside (Iraq). Another abject failure from "The Decider". :grr:
After Katrina hit the people of our country opened up their wallets and volunteered in record numbers. For most, giving money was as far as they were going to go as far as helping solve the problem. That's understandable since these people have lives of their own to maintain as well. It's our government that has failed us. Miserably. But there are no more photo-ops remaining in the Gulf now that the elections are over, there's no more "political capital" to be gained by revisiting the area and most people have forgotten the complete and total devastation the area suffered. It's business as usual for most of America and our government doesn't care. Meanwhile, the Gulf States are left to their own devices to deal with the problems. It's no longer a cause celebre, it's yesterday's news. All of our country's resources are being sent to Iraq to "win" an un-winable war of choice foisted upon us by the Bush Administration.