President Bush was blamed for Katrina only a)Presidents, save possibly future President Obama the Messiah, cannot stop hurricanes, and b)this sort of thing is a local job with the feds expected to come in much later.
It is now 2008 and along comes Hurricane Gustav. THIS hurricane was not as deadly as Katrina but only because the levees didn't break and the local elected officials did their damn job, including the newly elected Republican Governor voted in when Louisiana realized what a bunch of losers headed their state.
Here is my missive to Kaitlyn under the series I call "Katrina for Kaitlyn" because I vowed to document all info on Katrina that Kaitlyn knows the truth about how it all came down.
Gustav allows me to finish my moral of the Katrina story and I smile that Kaitlyn will someday read all about it on Grandmother's Blog as opposed to, say, her lying public school textbooks.
A bittersweet musing from Guest Writer Michelle documents dentists, fear, pain and all that teeth require to function properly.
Pic of the Day
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Since Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in 2005 I've been keeping a separate series of the effects of the hurricane, the politics of it, the ongoing attempts to bring flooded New Orleans back to normalcy.
I documented it all from the day of the hurricane on through today. My posts are directed straight at Kaitlyn although at the time of the hurricane Kaitlyn was but a year old. It is my hope that someday Kaitlyn read the links and commentary provided to her by Grandmother that the teachers of her era do not deceive via the carefully edited school books the liberals might write about the disgrace of a city and state so corrupt that it couldn't even save its own citizens.
Below a link to a list of the many posts on Katrina gathered and compiled for Kaitlyn since September of 2005 through to the present time.
ALL KATRINA POSTS HERE
Hurricane Gustav Provides the Moral to Katrina
Dear Kaitlyn,
It is 9/9/2008 as I type this and per my vow to NOT allow the liberals in our surround to write THEIR own version of history, this humble citizen and grandmother now documents, fully three years AFTER the disaster known as Hurricane Katrina, the moral of that sorry story. Sometimes it takes a while for us to learn our lessons, Kaitlyn, and this goes for America as well as ourselves.
First, let us quickly summarize the sad story of Hurricane Katrina.
She blew into the Gulf of Mexico on Labor Day Weekend in 2005 and after wandering around a bit, she grew to a cat 5 storm. The whole country was atwitter. That is the whole country EXCEPT the local DEMOCRATIC politicos down New Orleans way. Below a montage I compiled back in 2005 and note that the then Louisiana Governor, the fine and resolute Kathleen Blanco, advised her citizens to PRAY!
Yeah, that's the ticket, Kaitlyn.
Which is not to say I don't think a prayer can help, mind you, but praying while looking down the barrel of a Cat 5 hurricane is not nearly enough precaution and even Jesus would agree with this, Kaitlyn Mae.
In one of my many "Katrina for Kaitlyn" posts, Kaitlyn Mae, I did post about Louisiana's NEW Governor, the...read my lips...REPUBLICAN...Bobby Jindal.
For it does not matter whether it's a woman, a man, black, white or even an Indian-American like Jindal, Kaitlyn. It matters that those we elect to lead...actually LEAD. Giving press conferences and advising prayer, Kaitlyn...nope, that's NOT leadership.
It turned out that while Katrina overturned plenty of cars, blew off a plethora of domestic roofs and uprooted plenty of trees, as hurricanes are wont to do, it was the rupture of the infamous New Orleans’ levees which destroyed the great American city of New Orleans, Kaitlyn, and don't let anybody or any text book tell you different.
It would also turn out, Kaitlyn, that plenty of money had been coming in
from the federal government to inspect and shore up those levees, Kaitlyn, and it's anybody guess just what they did with those funds.
Also, New Orleans is a city that is essentially a bowl sitting below sea level. Most of America did not know this Kaitlyn but with that knowledge many of us out here in la-la land, you know us folks who carry this country on our backs whilst raising the citizens and soldiers of tomorrow, began to ponder if building a city that requires ineffective levees around it along with huge pumps to drain the bowl after a storm...well is this such a good idea?
It's been three years since Hurricane Katrina and despite the best efforts and intentions of many die-hard Orleans residents, the city is still basically a ghost town.
Flash forward three years to the weekend before Labor Day of 2008. A handsome hurricane formed on the Atlantic Ocean and its name was Gustav.
It was the weekend before the Republican convention and nerves were frayed, Kaitlyn. John McCain was the nominee for the GOP and Sarah Palin, then Governor of Alaska and a surprise to many Republicans across the fruited plains, was McCain’s VP nominee.
The Republicans were nervous about kicking off a rollicking convention whilst citizens of New Orleans once again were suffering and dying due to a vicious storm. The Republicans chose to keep convention activities to a minimum that Monday night when Gustav hit.
That weekend prior to Gustav’s impact in the Gulf, aimed directly at New Orleans much like Katrina as the forecasters predicted, the leaders in Louisiana behaved quite differently than those in charge during Katrina.
The obvious is Louisiana’s Governor Jindal was a REPUBLICAN, which even the welfare-cultured persons in New Orleans knew was required to cut through the Democrat culture of corruption in that state.
Jindal did not hold press conferences like his predecessor Kathleen Blanco, much less offer the wise advice that we all should pray, perhaps a chorus of Kimbya would stop the mighty storm.
Ray Nagin, elected again, improbably, by citizens of New Orleans even though he left school buses to be swamped with river water during Katrina, was quite the different fellow during the run up to Gustav’s landing.
“If you don’t vacate this city you better have an axe,” Nagin told the citizens of New Orleans, citizens that just three years prior he’d opened a local stadium for them with no advice to get out of town. “Because you’re going to have to chop your way out from your roof tops if those levees don’t hold. You will NOT be rescued.”
Funny how firmer and more forceful the tone becomes when there’s leadership from the top. I don’t know what happened to Kathleen Blanco but she’s obscure and shamed from the disaster that hit her state during Katrina, a big zero, a nothing bloop in the history books. Her children must be so proud of her.
Oh they blamed it all on George Dubya Bush, Kaitlyn. Never mind that funds provided by the Feds were evidently not used to shore up those levees as earmarked, even though the freaking pathetic Governor of the state actually suggested prayer as an answer to the vicious weather coming at Louisiana known as Hurricane Katrina, even though New Orleans’ Mayor Ray Nagin left his citizens to drown in the local football stadium and school buses that could have been used for evacuation were left to be covered with flood waters, useless and silent while citizens climbed to roof tops to be rescued.
The Federal government was a bit slow on the uptake Kaitlyn but dear Lord any fool who sits around waiting for the federal government to rush in and rescue them is just that…a damn fool.
Saving one’s self, hey, it’s first the responsibility of the individual and yes, I know Kaitlyn, it’s a concept liberals really do not like. Your life and happiness should be placed upon a central and powerful government headed by, you guessed it, liberals like themselves who pray in the face of hurricanes.
Louisiana Bobby Jindal was out every day in the run up to Gustav. He had the facts at his disposal. He stayed in his state during the storm even though he missed the opportunity of a lifetime as a scheduled speaker for the Republican convention. He led, Kaitlyn. He told his citizens to evacuate, he got them out of town. He had every contingency from hospital patients to jailed criminals accounted for and had a plan to get them to a safe place.
I was impressed all to hell by Bobby Jindal and hoped at the bottom of my mean heart that the lovely Kathleen Blanco, who didn’t have the courage to request help from the Louisiana National Guard, Kaitlyn!…I hope Blanco sat and watched and I hope she was ashamed.
Kaitlyn, saving yourself, it’s on you honey. Don’t wait for the federal government to come rescue you, sweetheart. I’d softly suggest you shouldn’t even wait for the state but given a choice understand that government bureaucrats are not known far and wide for being innovative and quick to assess and solve a crisis.
Keep that in mind and always remember, Democrats have gone over to the dark side a long time ago.
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Diazepam
For years I've been saying Diazepam is my friend. It began way back in 2001, with Drivel: Planning Parturition, when I received and learned how to use a Franklin planner. One of the highlights of that glorious time of discovery was the Franklin goal page. I made some goal plans, used the pages, marveled at the success, and then made the big leap.
I set a goal to fix my teeth. I said, "I will get my teeth fixed by the end of the year." And I broke the goal down into easy steps, mapped it out on a goal page, and added the first step to my planner.
The day came to go and I was terrified. It was Wednesday, the eighth of August, and I drove myself to the local dentist. Everyone at worked had raved about him; how great the service was, how good a dentist he was, how wonderful his staff was. So I chose him, and set up a first exam.
I hadn't been to a dentist in at least twenty years. Just the thought of going made me nauseous, and I couldn't even force myself to drive to one. This time, however, was only an exam. I could do this. It was a step toward my goal, and they weren't going to do anything but look, after all, and maybe take some x-rays. Nervous, but determined, I went. My teeth wouldn't get any better and the two in front were becoming very fragile.
Every person I met was kind and thoughtful. The receptionist reassured me that they know how to take care of people who don't like dentists. "Give us a year," she said, "and you'll love us." The assistant tucked me into the dental chair with grace and concern. "Are you okay?" she asked as she laid the lead apron over me. I clutched the chair's arms and nodded. They weren't going to *do* anything except take pictures. I could do this.
Pictures of my crumbling teeth were taken, and the dentist arrived. A hulking brute of a man, he was huge! He leaned over me, tapping on the teeth with some instrument. I felt trapped; the room was blotted out by his bulk and I knew I couldn't escape if I needed to. Feeling the panic start, I tried to calm it down. They're only going to look. I'm okay. I don't have to accept any treatment plan they offer. Breathe. My knuckles were white and the dents I left in the chair arm are probably still there today.
However, my breathing calmed a bit. This was an exam only. I could do this.
CRACK!
The ogre probing within my defenseless mouth had snapped off a tooth. No other explanation for that noise was possible, and I tried to flee. The ogre was in my way and wouldn't let me go. When I finally realized I wasn't in any pain, there was no blood, and my tongue could find each and every tooth just like before, I began to hear what they were telling me. The ogre - dentist - had snapped off a bit of tartar.
"Don't do that." I told him, and burst into tears.
I managed to get through the rest of the exam, but the tears wouldn't stop and when the staff finally let me leave (they didn't want to let me go with tears streaming down my face) I stayed in the parking lot for about half an hour, sobbing on the steering wheel of my truck. It took more than three hours for the adrenaline to subside.
People are right, though. It's a very good dentist's office. Not only did they give me a good price quote for the work on my teeth, they managed to talk me into making appointments to have the work done. And they did it by offering me two things: the ogre wouldn't be the one working on me (a smaller dentist gives me the illusion of being able to bolt for freedom), and they'd give me Diazepam.
What is Diazepam? It's a Valium-wanna-be. Something to calm me down. Happy pills. And they work. I made it to all my appointments (with help from friends who drove me), and successfully completed my goal of fixing those darn teeth by the end of that year.
I continue to use this dental office. For a couple of years, I had Diazepam for cleanings, too. Without it, I couldn't sit in the chair. With it, they could do the work I needed and I wouldn't care. Eventually, I did cleanings without it.
And while I still can't manage to do any "real" dental work without it, this week I had another small triumph. I had one of those original crowns from 2001 replaced, and this week was the final placement. I had the old crown taken off under the influence of my old friend, and while I also had it for removal of the temporary, I did the final step without Novocain. Diazepam kept me calm and happy while the (smaller) dentist tugged off the temporary crown, glued and placed the final one, and did whatever else dentists do when putting in a crown.
For me, it's a big step. I'm not quite ready to give up the Diazepam yet, but I'm working that way. I know I have to, someday. Diazepam is my friend, but it also gets me in trouble. Joyce took me out the evening of my dental work. I was still a bit floaty, amenable to just about anything.
And today, my toenails are blue. Pretty blue, but blue. Someone else's toes are looking back at me, and the big toes even have a design on them. Oh, yes, I agreed to do this when I wasn't drugged . . . but I have to wonder, if I'd had just a bit more, would I have come home with florescent green nail polish?
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Michelle
winebird@winebird.com
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