I just sent the following letter to President Bush. Do I expect a reply? Well, I once wrote the Queen of England when I was living in a tent in the Wadi Fidan Jordan, and I got a response from her, so I do have a bit of hope. Besides, I only have a hand held tree saw, and I know that the president owns at least one chain saw.
Dear President Bush,
By way of introduction, my name is Dr. Michael Homan, I’m the father of two lovely children, married for 14 years to a wonderful woman, and I’m an assistant professor of Theology at Xavier University of Louisiana in the great city of New Orleans. I’m also a registered Democrat, but I wanted to say that I thought your speech last night in Jackson Square was quite powerful, and I was so relieved to hear that you were committed to rebuilding my city. However, I’m terrified about the future. I fear that our enrollment at Xavier will be reduced so drastically that I’ll lose my job. My wife, who teaches in the New Orleans public school system, lost her job the day of the hurricane. We’re currently living with family in Omaha Nebraska. But I will be returning to New Orleans soon, and will arrive at my house at 215 South Alexander Street on Friday, September 23rd. I plan on cleaning up my neighborhood for a few weeks, adopting a dog, and volunteering in the city. I wanted to invite you to join me. People have at times ridiculed you for clearing brush at your ranch in Crawfordsville. But I invite you to spend the day with me clearing brush in my neighborhood, Mid-City, New Orleans. We could certainly use your help. Please feel free to contact me at mmhoman@yahoo.com or to just drop by.
Thanks,
Michael Homan
I just received the following automated email from the white house:
ReplyDeleteOn behalf of President Bush, thank you for your
correspondence. We
appreciate hearing your views and welcome your
suggestions. Due to
the large volume of e-mail received, the White House
is unable to
respond to every message, and therefore this response
is an autoreply.
If you are seeking information about obtaining
assistance in the
aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, please visit the FEMA
website at
www.fema.gov or call 800-621-3362. For general
information about
government assistance programs, please visit
www.govbenefits.gov.
If you are seeking information about how to volunteer
and support
relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina, please visit the
USA Freedom
Corps website at www.usafreedomcorps.gov.
For additional information on Hurricane Katrina relief
efforts, you
may also wish to visit the White House website at
www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/hurricane.
Thank you again for taking the time to write.
Dear Mike,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the email. Laura read it to me. The city was really bright when I was there and it looked good. Later they told me that the lights came from power generated by a Navy ship. New Orleans really wasn't that bright.
Unfortunately, I've used up all my vacation time at Crawford, but I really am glad you're there.
W
Light came up because my brother who was an Entergy mechanic at the time used the hydraulic knowledge he got while in the Naval Reserves to power up one of Entergy's substations at the foot of Elysian Fields.
ReplyDelete