Crappy Anniversary

We just marked the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina devastating New Orleans and the Mississippi coast, and the networks have taken the opportunity to:

a) point out that much still needs to be done
b) renew the call for increased preparedness
c) urge government to address the conditions that allowed so many to be left behind
d) bring on Laura Bush and allow her to offer a rosy view of the situation

You guessed it. Once again, this time on Good Morning America, the Bush family proves just how tone deaf it is. If you needed a reminder, you could check out first-mother Barbara Bush's public-radio interview from the Houston Astrodome soon after Katrina hit.

Despite what the first family thinks, a variety of polls show that most Americans (especially NON-REPUBLICANS) believe that government needs to do a lot more for Katrina victims, and that the city of New Orleans is a long way from OK.

Spike Lee's HBO documentary When the Levees Broke provides an eye-opening account of New Orleans pre- and post-Katrina, highlighting the plight of the poor and disenfranchised, mostly African-American population. Though $100 billion has been allocated by the federal government to help rebuild the Gulf Coast, most of the poorer neighborhoods have seen little or no improvement. Crime is on the rise again, houses remain washed out, residents are slow to return, or are not willing to return at all to a city that has shown little concern for their well-being.

New Orleans and the Gulf Coast are an extremely ugly sore on the face of our democracy -- providing an unwelcome reminder that just because it looks pretty doesn't mean that it has any substance.

To my mind, we can't be remotely proud of our country until the situation in the Gulf Coast is improved. Not just rebuilding homes, repairing businesses and restoring tourism; but also improving the condition of schools, the delivery of social services and the other conditions that led to New Orleans' high crime rate, vast economic disparity and disconnect with the poor.

The pictures that shocked us in August and September of last year have not really changed much since then, other than the fact that you have to go on YouTube or watch a four-hour HBO documentary in order to see them now, rather than just flipping on the network news. The government and the people who buy advertising on the networks clearly would rather we forgot about this problem and got back to cheerily spending our money on luxury goods. And hey, I like luxury as much as the next guy, but maybe we can send a donation to organizations like this one before going out and booking that expensive hotel room or buying a new pair of shoes. We spend all day hearing about victims of this or that unpredictable or uncontrollable crime or disaster. Here are some people we can help.