I still don't know much Greek, especially from a standpoint of spoken language (I can read some Greek semi-well). So it is really great when I watch the news and the first story I hear "blah blah blah blah blah, George Bush (said in a heavy Greek accent), blah blah blah blah blah. This is how the news has been here every day lately.
The Europeans do a good job of not saying anything directly about how bad a job Bush is doing, but they do point out every thing that has been happening, and leave their audience to make their own opinions. The commentary from the New Orleans locals certainly doesn't help the European view of the Bush administration. Not that the European view needed any convincing.
4 comments:
I still remember when I was there last year for my Papou's funeral how horrible it was to be an American. I was so isolated on the island that when I got to Athens and opened the International Tribune to see the Abu Garib stuff I quickly hid my passport.
They news never pressed their case, but they always let you know all the facts...
Well, the Bush administration is responsible for the lack of response to the situation. It all trickles down from the top. The sad thing is, a lot of third world countries do a better job of saving flood victims than America did with New Orleans. Those people should have been evacuated by Wednesday, at the very latest. Bush should have been on the FEMA chief's ass more right at the very beginning. It makes me wonder how well equipped America is to withstand another terrorist attack.
Niko, at least more Europeans are sympathetic to the plight of Americans now. They see how bad things have become, and they know most of the American people aren't responsible.
According to the news here, New Orleans was declared a federal disaster area on the very first day, which means FEMA and the federal government were responsible.
All the money for sustaining and strengthening the levees had been diverted to expenses for Iraq.
Some people (not the ones partying, obviously) were too poor, infirm, without transportation or a place to go. Some were too scared to leave their homes. Sure, some decided to stay just to stay, but many felt they had no other choice but to head to the Superdome or stay put. If you have no family or friends elsewhere, no transportation, no money, what do you do?
Like I said before, the shit trickles down, from the top all the way down to the people of New Orleans. It dirties up a lot of folks on the way down, too.
This situation was nothing but a huge clusterfuck. I am sure a lot of cities in America are not prepared for disasters. But I do think there is some truth to the fact that America is so overbudget with war spending that it affected this situation, and may very well affect others.
And here is a site that lists the timeline of events, with the Governor of LA and other gulf states asking for national help as of August 26th.
http://www.thinkprogress.org/katrina-timeline
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