Over 28 months after Katrina hit and and her levees failed, much has been going on in New Orleans that the mainstream media isn't telling you about. And on those rare occasions like the recent City Hall housing protests when New Orleans has made national news, the media haven't been getting the story right.
I hope you haven't forgotten and abandoned New Orleans, as have many other Americans including the MSM and politicians. Under Nataline Sarkysian And Louisiana webranding pointed out that
I can't recall a single front page story on here about New Orleans. Not a single one in the last several months.
And he's right about that...and that, as he said in effect elsewhere in the comments, that Kossacks would be stunned to learn what's going on there....
while all that's happening in New Orleans needs to be paid attention to by anyone who considers him/herself progressive. And, as I said in a previous diary, Real Progressives Support New Orleans. While several Daily Kos diarists have been posting on New Orleans and other Katrina-related issues, we've often seen our diaries scroll off the page with 15 or fewer comments. It's rare for any of these diaries to hit the "Rec'" list. This happens even if we "pimp" our diaries. So we're barely making a dent in the news blackout.
Which is unfortunate wwhen New Orleans needs all the support and attention to what's happening there that she can get. And here's something truly sad: According to chigh in a couple of comments under I'm Too Sad.... the news of the homelessness, the taserings, and the pepper spray conventions are starting to cancel, and tourism--conventions, Mardi Gras and JazzFest will be hurt big time by news of what happened.
Tourism--the visitors and the money they bring--are vital to New Orleans' very survival because they're her lifeblood. And they produce employment for people who otherwise might not find work. So New Orleans must scrounge for convention business, which has been hard to get.
I'd like to be optimistic about New Orleans and her prospects, but there are too many people who want to keep her from coming back in order to keep Louisiana Red. Which she became when New Orleans was evacuated. In Louisiana's Relationship From Hell, I detailed how while the flooding's effects cut across racial, class, and political lines, BushCo, like everyone else outside of New Orleans, saw what the MSM showed--mostly poor people of color. So they saw the opportunity to impose a Final Solution in Louisiana--to ethnically cleanse her and commit cultural genocide by keeping New Orleans free of poor people of color who might vote Democratic.
And this is corroborated by the following, from justiceforneworleans.org:
Republican interests are clearly not served by the return of all African-Americans to New Orleans. Louisiana was described before Katrina as a "pink state" – one that went Democratic some times and Republican others. The tipping point for Louisiana Democrats was the deeply Democratic African American city of New Orleans. Immediately after the hurricanes struck, one political analyst said "the Democratic margin of victory in Louisiana is sleeping in the Astrodome in Houston." Tiny turnout by African-American voters in New Orleans in recent elections has led white Republican interests to calculate immediate new political gains. Demolition of thousands of low-income African American occupied apartments only helps that political and racial dynamic.
As also detailed in Louisiana's Relationship From Hell, Gov. Kathleen Blanco made BushCo look bad during Katrina--and Louisiana has been punished by BushCo ever since. And Mississippi has been getting a disproportionate amount of the rebuilding aid even though Louisiana suffered far greater damage including the destruction of 80% of New Orleans. And, worse than this, has been the fact that Mississippi's extra aid has not gone to those who need it,, who are still stuck in FEMA trailers, but into the pockets of El Supremo (Haley Barbour) and Co. There's more about that in Divide And Conquer: Bush's Gulf Strategy.
And BushCo has also ensured that a compliant MSM, exemplified by NBC's Brian Williams, owned and operated by GE, stay silent for the most part on New Orleans. BushCo, The Media, Big Lies, And New Orleans contains the sordid details. BushCo's most egregious instances of abuse against Louisiana are often going unreported except for local media such as the Times-Picayune. And this is why stories on New Orleans need to be front-paged by Daily Kos.
Fast forward to today. As noted, New Orleans' convention business and tourism are being threatened by the recent news of the growing homelessness problem and the tasering and pepper spray used against anti-demolitions demonstrators. And the City Council voted unanimously in favor of the demolitions. Per the following remarks by under I'm Too Sad, by FishOutofWater
The Gulf states are under Republican occupation
The continued destruction of New Orleans is part of a larger picture in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida panhandle of Republican occupation...
The judiciary in the Gulf states has been systematically attacked by Karl Rove. Republican operatives have been installed as judges and USA's...
The violence in New Orleans is part of an ongoing act to drive out the poor. The "agitators" served as a convenient excuse for more demonization of the poor.
and chigh,
Why was Donald Powell (katrina czar) in town the week of the demolitions twisting arms?
there was obviously much more to this vote than met the eye--and of course the MSM won't investigate this any further so it's up to us bloggers.
This is how BushCo has been taking advantage of the opportunities presented by Katrina to target Louisiana and keep New Orleans from recovering at all costs. The "Shock Doctrine" as described in Naomi Klein's book of that title--disaster capitalism--is being put to the test in Louisiana. Drive the poor people out, many of whom were people of color, who gave New Orleans her one-of-a-kind culture, and replace them with economically better-off folks who will make of New Orleans something like DisneyWorld. We need to stop this before the real New Orleans dies.
And here's another example of BushCo's meddling in order to keep New Orleans--and by extension Louisiana--from an opportunity to benefit from a prestigious event. This is when the nominally bi-partisan Presidential Debate Commission rejected New Orleans as a debate venue. (Co-Chair Paul G. Kirk, Jr., may have formerly been head of the Democratic National Committee, and there are other Democrats on the panel, but we know whose arms have been twisted!) See New Orleans Was Robbed, My Demand For A New Orleans Debate and Action For A New Orleans Debate for more about this. And here's a pass-on on the topic:
CALL FOR A FIFTH DEBATE IN NEW ORLEANS!
The presidential debate site selection commission's rejection of New Orleans must not be allowed to stand in light of how Katrina and its lingering after-effects are continuing to affect this country. We need a New Orleans debate so that this will be discussed. Her rejection as a debate site is morally indefensible, un-American, and a politically-motivated sham. And to compound this, commission members have been telling various lies about New Orleans to CYA. Here is contact info for the group members:
Co-Chair Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr. (President, CEO of American Gaming Association) [Ha!] [Ed. Fahrenkopf was head of the RNC in the 80's]
202-552-2675
Co-Chair Paul G. Kirk Jr. (Retired Partner of some law firm) [Ed. - Kirk was the head of the DNC in the 80's]
617-338-2987 pkirk@sandw.com
Howard G. Buffet (Howard G. Buffet Foundation)
217-420-5140
Sen. John C. Danforth (Former Senator, that is)
314-259-2980 jcdanforth@bryancave.com
Antonia Hernandez (California Community Foundation)
213-413-4130 ahernandez@ccf-la.org
Caroline Kennedy (Famous Daughter)
212-989-3993
Mike McCurry (Former Clinton guy)
202-783-2596
Newton N. Minow
847-835-3118 nminow@sidley.com
Dorothy Ridlings (Huh?)
502-891-8835
Sen. Alan K. Simpson (Former Senator, that is)
307-587-1091
asimpson@burgsimpson.com
H. Patrick Swygert (President of Howard University)
202-806-2500
hswygert@howard.edu
Now, what we need to do is, whether we call or e-mail these commission members, let them know they need to accede to the following demands to make things right for New Orleans and Louisiana:
WHAT THE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE SITE SELECTION COMMISSION NEEDS TO DO FOR NEW ORLEANS AND LOUISIANA
1.) Publicly apologize to the people and city of New Orleans and the state and people of Louisiana. Add that rejecting New Orleans as one of the four original debate sites was in error.
2.) Tell the truth about New Orleans--that she has beautifully hosted all sorts of events after Katrina and would be the perfect site for a presidential debate.
And the following is the most important because it is the only satisfactory way this issue will be resolved. It is non-negotiable--nothing less will be acceptable:
3.) Plan, schedule, and announce a FIFTH presidential debate to be held in New Orleans.
COPY THIS, PASTE IT, AND PASS IT ON!
And this is one thing, kos, that you probably could put your considerable influence in the blogosphere behind. Some of those board members might be impressed to hear from kos, whether it be a phone call or e-mail, than from any anonymous blogger.
And if this doesn't work, a New Orleans debate under independent auspices might. For example, one sponsored by Daily Kos. Perhaps there's a way you could set up a Daily Kos-sponsored New Orleans presidential debate. That would work. Because it doesn't matter if such a debate is an "official" one, or a separate debate--we need that presidential debate in New Orleans.
Perhaps you're wondering why it's so important for a presidential debate to be held in New Orleans. There are four reasons:
1.) New Orleans' slow recovery, and that of the rest of the area impacted by Katrina, is very rarely discussed in the MSM, and when they do cover something, they usually get the story wrong, as has been noted. A New Orleans debate would force them to stop averting their viewers' eyes from New Orleans and instead report on her slow recovery and the reasons for its slowness.
2.) And this ties in with what I said about the MSM: New Orleans and Katrina have almost never come up in the debates that have been held so far. In a debate in New Orleans, they would need to be discussed. And here's a paradox: A New Orleans debatr would be more beneficial to Mississippi Katrina survivors than would be the first scheduled "official" debate, which is slated for Oxford, Mississippi on Sept. 26. Reason being, Oxford is far enough from the disaster zone for Katrina to be out of sight and out of mind, so it's doubtful Katrina will even be asked about there. However, in a New Orleans debate, the issues faced by Mississippi storm survivors would be addressed--like the fact that many still live in FEMA trailers.
3.) Katrina was supposed to have started a national conversation not only on the disaster itsbut also the allied issues of poverty, race relations, the environment, climate change, etc. But one of the very few things BushCo is good at is changing the subject. Which it very successfully did. So New Orleans and Katrina news faded from the newscasts and NBC and CNN closed their New Orleans bureaus. And that's why you're rarely hearing news out of New Orleans.
4.) The prestige of hosting a presidential debate would be a public relations coup for New Orleans and Louisiana. Companies and organizations would see such a debate's success and decide to hold their conventions and other events in New Orleans. And this would stick it to BushCo and their supporters--who don't want a New Orleans debate. Because BushCo doesn't want Louisiana to benefit from the self-esteem and morale boost that would come from New Orleans' hosting a debate.
These reasons, kos, are why we need to fight for a New Orleans debate, whether it be sponsored by the commission or an independently organized debate.
And here's more that needs to be done for New Orleans where you might be able to wield some influence. First of all, as noted in Real Progressives Support New Orleans, she came extremely close to being the site of the Netroots Nation 2008 convention, but was rejected at the last minute. There has been discussion of holding Netroots Nation 2009 in New Orleans, but so far, nothing definite. Perhaps you could put a good word in for New Orleans to make this definite. Because she badly needs the convention business.
And even more important: Bear with me because I'm not sure if you're up to 2009 or 2010 on this, but could you take a serious look at New Orleans as a venue for the next Yearly Kos that needs to be planned?
I understand that in the past, New Orleans has been rejected as a venue because Louisiana is a right-to-work state. But New Orleans' situation is desperate and precarious. BushCo is actively killing the city--so this is far too important a matter to quibble over Louisiana's being a right-to-work state. For if Louisiana is punished because she is, this action will help seal for New Orleans and Louisiana a horrendous fate that had been pre-ordained by BushCo as soon as the levees failed. And it would also show that whoever at Daily Kos has made this decision is really no less abusive than BushCo when it comes to treatment of Louisiana.
So, could you please stand up to the Bush Administration and do all in your power to have the next Yearly Kos that needs to be planned held in New Orleans?
I hope, kos, that you will remember New Orleans and run frequent front-page stories on her and her people's situation. And that you will seriously consider the suggestions I made because New Orleans needs all the support, attention, and help she can get. As progressives we would not be living up to our ideals were we to forget and abandon New Orleans the way much of the rest of Americs has and to allow this beautiful, historic city to perish.
Sincerely,
Louisiana 1976