Why New Orleans Still Isn't Safe
2007 Aug. 4
Letters to the Editor
Time
letters@time.com
Re: Why New Orleans Still Isn't Safe
Michael Grunwald is right when he calls Hurricane Katrina "a man-made disaster". But he's got the wrong man. It isn't the fault of the Army Corps of Engineers but rather that of the residents of New Orleans themselves, who consciously choose to live below sea level, knowing all the while that Mother Nature wants that area to be a lake -- and won't stop until it is.
We gape in amazement at the stupidity of anyone who would build a summer home on the slopes of Mount Saint Helens or a nuclear power plant atop the San Andreas Fault, but somehow we're supposed to excuse the equally stupid intransigence of those who stubbornly return to buildings where they have to look UP to see the ships sail by?
You can almost understand why they do it, tho. The rest of us, like enablers supporting alcoholic spouses, continue to make excuses for their denial of reality while shelling out big bux to support them in the addictive lifestyle to which they've become accustomed.
Grunwald got another thing right, too. The free-spending bozos in Congress are the biggest enablers of them all.
For my money (and it IS my money!) the smart ones were the diasporans who left and plan never to return.
= = = = = =
Richard S. Russell, a Bright (http://the-brights.net)
2642 Kendall Av. #2, Madison WI 53705-3736
608+233-5640 * RichardSRussell@uwalumni.com
= = = = = =
Homeopathic logic: the belief that minuscule or even undetectable amounts of reason can solve a problem.
Letters to the Editor
Time
letters@time.com
Re: Why New Orleans Still Isn't Safe
Michael Grunwald is right when he calls Hurricane Katrina "a man-made disaster". But he's got the wrong man. It isn't the fault of the Army Corps of Engineers but rather that of the residents of New Orleans themselves, who consciously choose to live below sea level, knowing all the while that Mother Nature wants that area to be a lake -- and won't stop until it is.
We gape in amazement at the stupidity of anyone who would build a summer home on the slopes of Mount Saint Helens or a nuclear power plant atop the San Andreas Fault, but somehow we're supposed to excuse the equally stupid intransigence of those who stubbornly return to buildings where they have to look UP to see the ships sail by?
You can almost understand why they do it, tho. The rest of us, like enablers supporting alcoholic spouses, continue to make excuses for their denial of reality while shelling out big bux to support them in the addictive lifestyle to which they've become accustomed.
Grunwald got another thing right, too. The free-spending bozos in Congress are the biggest enablers of them all.
For my money (and it IS my money!) the smart ones were the diasporans who left and plan never to return.
= = = = = =
Richard S. Russell, a Bright (http://the-brights.net)
2642 Kendall Av. #2, Madison WI 53705-3736
608+233-5640 * RichardSRussell@uwalumni.com
= = = = = =
Homeopathic logic: the belief that minuscule or even undetectable amounts of reason can solve a problem.
posted by Richard S. Russell | 5:42 PM
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