This evening, in my mind as I was busy doing other things I had been working on a post for Radio Saigon, but now that I have a few moments to write before I go to bed the outrage underlying the points I wanted to make has fled, leaving only an exhaustion at the slow-motion horror now inundating New Orleans.

I wrote earlier about how I hoped the predictions of watery disaster from levees being overtopped by storm surge waters would prove to be false. That hope was fulfilled, but we all forgot about how weakened levees can be breached in the aftermath of a major storm.

Then I read some comments at another weblog that attempted to put a political spin on the disaster, blaming Democratic policies for all manner of things.

The anti-Democrats are not alone, however, for I have seen similar anti-Republican screeds in other circumstances where the more appropriate reaction is horror and offering of help and prayers, not seeking political points in what some treat as a “grand game”, discussing strategies for victory instead of determining what policies are truly the best for the nation.

I am reminded of something said by a gentleman from the Indian subcontinent on a television show discussing relations between cultures in that troubled region.

He asked with great vehemence, “Is there no limit?”

My reply to his question: No, there is no limit, nor is there an end.

Technorati Tags: commentary, politics

The danger to New Orleans is not over yet.

From CNN.com:

Tuesday, August 30, 2005 Posted: 0751 GMT (1551 HKT)

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) — As the death toll from Hurricane Katrina reaches at least 56, a levee holding back the waters of Lake Pontchartrain has reportedly sustained a breach two blocks long in the Lakefront area of New Orleans.

The breach has triggered rapidly rising floodwaters in the city’s downtown and prompted at least one hospital to evacuate patients by air.

Also being reported are rescuers tearing open holes in roofs to pull people out of the attics they took refuge in when the waters rose too high.

MSNBC.com has a very good map and graphic that illustrates exactly how New Orleans is situated between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain.

An aside - one of the few instances of humor in this disaster arises when listening to the anchors on the international news stations try to pronounce “Pontchartrain” and butcher it completely. One ended up trying twice to pronounce it before saying, “A nearby lake.”

I fear that things in New Orleans will get much worse before any recovery efforts can begin.

The devil is an optimist if he thinks he can make people meaner.
   -Karl Kraus

Never hit a man with glasses; hit him with your fist.
   -Anonymous

On my other weblog, Radio Saigon, I made an argument I plan to expand upon, an argument that may surprise some who have read me consistently over the past three years:

Sometimes, you must forget history.

Those on the left-wing, frothing at what they perceive to be the perfidy of the Bush administration in the lead up to the war in Iraq make statements that on the face of them are unhelpful at best and in general counterproductive to resolving the situation as it stands now.

That is what is important, the situation as it stands now, and how we can move forward from here to the prolonged success of our nation. Finger-pointing and blame-assigning are merely tactics for short-term partisan advantage.

To put it in blunt terms:

Yes, we can learn from how we got to this place, but at the moment that is far less important than answering the question of how do we move forward from the now that we are confronted with.

The Bull Moose does provide some context:

During the Kosovo conflict, many Republicans allowed their blind hatred for a Democratic President to cloud their judgment about national security. As much as we oppose the policies of this President and Administration, we must not allow our country to suffer a catastrophic defeat that will have implications for years to come.

Those on the left-wing should not allow their anti-Bush, anti-war, anti-Republican fervor to overheat their minds to the point where they advocate policies that are destructive to our national security and ultimately, our future.

Yet, neither should those on the right-wing let their pro-Bush, pro-war, anti-Democrat fervor to overheat their minds to the point where they advocate policies that are destructive to our national security and ultimately, our future.

I continually exhort “THINK” for a reason.

So…

THINK…

Technorati Tags: commentary, left-wing, left-wing politics, politics, right-wing, right-wing politics