Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Katrina Compared to Every U.S. Flood for the Rest of My Life

First, why I hate America...
Fargo is still on the verge of massive flooding and my prayers are with those people. But today I discovered that Neal Boortz is comparing Fargo's Red River to New Orleans' Katrina. Says Boortz: "Let's keep some score. Let's see how well the residents of Fargo handle this disaster vs. the residents of New Orleans. The parasite quotient in New Orleans gives a huge lead to the denizens of the frozen north. I'm guessing that three and one-half years from now you will not see many Fargo residents living in motels as guests of the taxpayers."
What is worse is the comments below. Seems people really hate New Orleans and feel no guilt about the way the government handled this situation. And this blaming New Orleanians is the same thing that happened when Iowa flooded, with Rush Limbaugh characterizing us as whiners, rapists, and murderers, while Iowa and Illinois represented "the backbone of America."

This same comparison will happen with every flood for the rest of my life. If your city does better than New Orleans did during our flood than congratulations, but you really ought to set your standards higher. Then there is the apples to oranges comparison due to historical and social context, but that is far too complicated to impact the uncurious.

Second, why I have hope for America...
After the University of Iowa campus flooded, students at my school raised money for their campus. Students at my school also spent their Spring Break in Galveston helping to gut homes after Hurricane Ike. Plus I've met many of the thousands of Americans who have come to New Orleans these past 3 years to help us rebuild.

To the people of Fargo, I can assure that the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast are thinking about you and hoping for the best. And if you flood, we will help you in any way we can.

1 comment:

bullet said...

Didn't we do this LAST year with Iowa? Give it up, already, assholes.