We'll be listening!
I have always felt melancholy in the fall, when the rich summer promise seems to fade into the golds of dying leaves, eventually slowing into quiet dormant winter.
Maybe my natural sense of sadness in the fall has colored it , but for me the days between August 29 and September 11 have become a strange time. Two weeks to the day is not the only thing that links two of this country's most unnatural disasters-- 9-11 and Hurricane Katrina.
But what about them is similar, like book-ends holding up a row of similar stories?
Is it that both seemed to come from nowhere, ravage our sensibilities, and then never really end? To this day neither location has been rebuilt even though both are practically open graves desperately needing cover. Do we "need" to avoid them?
And what of the uneasiness-- from not really confronting the cause and effects of the events? In both we blame "the other". With 9-11, we say we were wronged by religious zealots who hated our culture (but we knew anger against foreign policy was brewing, we knew we were making enemies, many believed an attack was just a matter of time...). With Hurricane Katrina, we blame everything; the weather, people too poor or stubborn to leave, government agencies that failed to act (but we knew the levees were weak, we knew the mega-storms would come, some knew the disaster plans were insufficient).
For me it all adds up to an uneasiness at the root of which is just one emotion: fear.
From 9-11 and the build-up to the invasion of Iraq, through the rising tide of pre-emptive Iran "strike" rhetoric, the Bush administration has used fear as a political sledgehammer! In addition to 9-11 and Katrina evoking "natural" fear-- of unknown and unmanageable forces-- the admin. adds calculated fear to influence politics!!
Why aren't the streets filled with angry Americans demanding an end to the fear-beat of Iraq, the malaise of Katrina, the nuclear fear-talk of Iran?
Have we become immune-- desensitized-- to fear tactics now?
Or have we become so saturated that we are just desensitized to some well-worn issues or cultures--like Muslims and "illegal" migrant workers?
Do we like who we have become?
Do we even know, who we have become?
Join me this Sunday in discussing fear and how our long-term exposure to fear has changed us, on Action Point, Noon to 2PM (PDT) on Phoenix AZ, 1480 KPHX.
DemocraticWarrior is not a registered Political Action Committee, nor is it a registered Non-Profit Organization. Donations to DemocraticWarrior are not tax-deductible for federal income tax purposes.
We'll be listening!
I shall quench my thirst with the blood of my enemies!
DemocraticWarrior is not a registered Political Action Committee, nor is it a registered Non-Profit Organization. Donations to DemocraticWarrior are not tax-deductible for federal income tax purposes.
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]Originally Posted by Anita Garcia
That is the correct link, truly a wonderful and important cause. New Orleans is a unique city and uniquely American city which MUST be restored to it's previous cultural and diversity greatness. It must not be "whitewashed". The entire population of New Orleans deserves to be treated fairly.
Build a man a fire and he'll be warm for a night.
Set a man on fire and he'll be warm the rest of his life.
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