(
also posted at myleftwing)
This is not merely political, this is cultural. This is not about the Republicans or the Democrats being more responsible... really, though by all means dig that up...
This is a phenomenally clear message, America is about helping Americans. Not just to survive a disaster, not JUST emergency management, but day to day. The more done to help people day to day, the more they'll help navigate the emergency themselves.
America IS about the pursuit of happiness, and yes, the Republic (the public things) is a part of that. People are not on their own, least of all the wealthy, least of all any American. We are in this together, and that is the only way.
Government is not about governing, it's misnamed, the frame is wrong, the democracy does not govern, it supports, it provides needed common infrastructure, public infrastructure, a republic.
Don't ask yourself "but will that be the result?" Don't think "I've heard nasty things said to the contrary..."... it's not up to the assholes to decide what Katrina means.
You know what it means. They'll just have to learn if they don't know. The notion that we are not relying on each other is an illusion, America is about supporting America, in survival, in the pursuit of happiness... more than mere survival.
America is about ALL Americans prospering... that's our theory, that's what we are working on. We don't accept, we won't accept, that to have a functioning society requires a whipping dog... it does not require leaving people to their supposedly own devices, to languish in a stunned city full of death. Nor to leave them prone to levy breaches, nor to leave them to neighborhoods run by gangs... prior to disaster.
That is what Katrina shows. We have big jobs besides war. We have big work to do. We have to learn to prepare, protect, and restore.
Forget Democrats-- you progressives, you have to ensure that New Orleans changes everything, don't be shy.