Historic Events

The term "Historic Event" gets pinned on a great many occasions nowadays; from sofa sales to television shows. "Historic Event! First male on male prime time kiss on Stargate Atlantis!!! It would have been more interesting if the characters had actually been gay. Fact is, most so-called historic events are forgotten within hours.

I have had the fortune, good or ill, to be around for several genuinely historic events: The death of JFK, the first man on the moon, the building and tearing down of the Berlin Wall, the Vietnam War, the fall of the Soviet Union, Jonestown, Shuttle Columbia, Kosovo, 911.... There are more, but you get the point.

An historic event is one by which people mark time. "I haven't had Koolaid since Jonestown...", "She's been protesting since Vietnam." People play the "where were you when..." game with historic events.

A few years from now, people will be saying, "You should have seen New Orleans before the flood of 2005". "I haven't had a decent night's sleep since the flood." "I lost everything in the flood...."

Hundreds, probably thousands are dead. Best thing is to give. I prefer the Red Cross. I'd also like a word about earmarking donations. Even though the Katrina disaster is extraordinary, the Red Cross still has to run the local bloodmobile to get blood to replace all the units it's using right now. The whole organization runs better when secretaries have enough paper to fill copy machines and staples to fill staplers.... Again, you get the point. The Red Cross deals with historic events all the time. Why make any distinctions?

Fatted calf

This evening I heard one of the best pieces of journalism I have heard in ages. NPR's Robert Siegal held Homeland Security Security Secretary Michael Chertoff's feet to the fire about people stranded in the New Orleans Convention Center. Go to the link and listen. Siegal is brilliant.

Why are people looting in New Orleans? Because they haven't any food and water -- even at designated sites. Why aren't the sites stocked? Because there aren't enough National Guard to distribute food and water. Where are the National Guard? Oh, come on, you know where they are.

The other thing I heard today was obscene. The blogger Attytood tells the story the best. the danger posed to New Orleans by even a small hurricane has been known for years. The funds meant to strengthen those levees were eaten by the COW.

The people of New Orleans are starving. The COW is getting fat.