Romenesko<\/a> linked to it so more than Waterburians can read it and ponder.<\/p>\n I’d summarize or further comment on this piece, but you’re obviously online and thus can find analysis. In fact, the problem for me here is I have lots to say and little reason to post it; my thoughts cannot be unique or particularly persuasive; I am too far removed. Katrina is everyone’s topic, and few are shy about this one. (Obviously, my bit is worth posting, to me.)<\/p>\n
Without going out of my way to find people hurting: A new co-worker has family in southern Mississippi and finally we learn they’re managing. A coworker in Little Rock, whom I know only electronically, has a number of relatives missing in the New Orleans area. I played recorders Thursday with a refugee from Slidell, La., and she doesn’t know if her house is still there. She borrowed the flutes; she did not pack hers.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, one debate that the Waterbury paper glances off of is, is it too early to criticize the government on Katrina? It’s not different from criticizing George II’s war in Iraq (Gulf War II) without criticizing our troops there. It is possible to discuss because observers of the debate can distinguish between the two foci. Only the fearmongers or the TV gasbags (Trillin’s term) claim people could be confused, that opposing Iraq intervention must always mean the naysayers simultaneously mean that our GIs are at fault.<\/p>\n
(I do not know why people older than me mocked soldiers on their return from Vietnam (I was a child at the time). It wasn’t their fault then, either. Both the American left and right still have a lot to answer for.)<\/p>\n
We have to make distinctions, now, and use them. Along the Gulf of Mexico, we can cry with the victims, with those who got out leaving their valuables, and with those too poor to flee and even those too proud\/daring\/silly\/jaded\/recklessly immature to go. I have had a hard time reconciling the last group all week — good riddance to home when you darn well know that official warnings are so uncommon that authorities do not cry wolf and meteorology has been reliable for decades. Now I feel for them, too. So what’s holding up the federal government? Incompetence? Other priorities?<\/p>\n
You can keep your generators. That buys you what, maybe a week at home?<\/p>\n
I told my wife a couple nights ago that we pack upon the first Emergency Broadcast System warning on any threat that we directly hear, never act on some local yokel’s rumor, crate the cats in the back seat, never mind about what won’t fit in the car. And go. -30-<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Copyright 2005 Ben S. Pollock Friday, September 2, 2005: Gulf War III. This one is American, too, but it’s being fought on a different Gulf. Thoughts about Hurricane Katrina. In my morning paper today is a color insert ad, Heartland Honda of Springdale: four glossy pages on gas-powered portable generators. Now I know the biz, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-spin"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":107,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2005\/10\/havent-they-been-through-enough\/","url_meta":{"origin":112,"position":0},"title":"Haven’t they been through enough?","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"October 2, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Copyright 2005 Ben S. Pollock Monday, Oct. 2, 2005: Refugee, evacuee, ban, persecute. Who could object -- well, I couldn't -- when Oprah Winfrey in the second week after Hurricane Katrina pronounced from New Orleans that people who made it through the devastation \"survivors\"? It's uplifting, optimistic, triumphant and, well,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News, Spin"","block_context":{"text":"News, Spin","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/news-spin\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5200,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2015\/08\/revisiting-postal-katrina-mae-west\/","url_meta":{"origin":112,"position":1},"title":"Revisiting ‘Postal,’ Katrina, Mae West","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"August 29, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Shy of a Load Let's not go postal, it's not a trend, according to the Poynter Institute on Aug. 26-27 in \"Before Today, 8 Journalists Have Been Murdered While on Assignment, at Work or for Their Work in the U.S. Since 1992.\" Writer Kristen Hare states: \"The on-air shooting deaths\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Shy of a Load"","block_context":{"text":"Shy of a Load","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/items\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"0512 brick logo","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Solebrick-logo-2-300x300.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":433,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2008\/06\/the-storm\/","url_meta":{"origin":112,"position":2},"title":"The Storm","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"June 20, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"NEW ORLEANS -- All morning, we visitors have been referring to Hurricane Katrina, occasionally to the other big one, Hurricane Rita, in the course of the all-day speeches and panel discussions. Instead of two days of workshops, this year's National Society of Newspaper Columnists conference loaded up the teachin' today\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Storm, New Orleans"","block_context":{"text":"The Storm, New Orleans","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/nsnc\/new-orleans-2008\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":115,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2005\/04\/news-recycle\/","url_meta":{"origin":112,"position":3},"title":"News (Re)cycle","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"April 1, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Copyright 2005 Ben S. Pollock Friday, April 1, 2005. The paradox of broadcast journalism. It's known for immediacy and visuals, especially compared to print. CNN and similar channels have brought 24\/7 continuousness to the medium as well. This emphasizes its demand for the NOW, as opposed to print's process: Gather\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News, Spin"","block_context":{"text":"News, Spin","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/news-spin\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":398,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2008\/01\/unkle-katrina\/","url_meta":{"origin":112,"position":4},"title":"Unkle Katrina","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"January 24, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Copyright 2008 Ben S. Pollock DATELINE MIRTHOLOGY -- In the Mall of the Ozarks where the Toasts of the Town shop, where the vivacious news anchors and the handsome sports anchors check out the best duds to wear on the air, the meteorologists also lurk. They grab the nice clothes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Body, Home, Street"","block_context":{"text":"Body, Home, Street","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/body-home-street\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":437,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2008\/06\/big-money\/","url_meta":{"origin":112,"position":5},"title":"Big Money","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"June 23, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"NEW ORLEANS -- The second speaker for the columnists conference was Jarvis DeBerry of the Times-Picayune. 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