Blame it on Katrina

Don’t really have the energy to go to blogs today, it’s soup outside, I’m hot and cold at the same time; have room air conditioners, and the humidity is beginning to seep in. It’s mold farm time again which means my brain is on auto pilot, my head hurts, and my sinuses are filled.

Never get bugs. I always thought that only one water bug came out at a time, but the other night, I saw two humongous water bugs in my large bathroom; so big I thought that they were baby mice for a hot second. Totally freaked. Then of course I thought about all the bugs in New Orleans; never been like this before.

I’m an empathatic person but not one who feels a region’s pains. Hadn’t planned on changing at this advanced age.

But I went to several blogs this morning and picked up on what seems to be a disturbing trend; people having fights with their friends because the friends insist that everybody who wanted to leave New Orleans could have.

That’s like saying when a terrorist attack happens in New York I will be responsible for my own death because we were told the day before it was a big possiblity.

I don’t have a car; my friends and family with cars might not be able to get to me, or me to them because the streets, and subways will be filled with people. If there is some way that we can be evacuated by helicopter, and the helicopter could only come to the roof of my building, I’m doomed because the people who own the penthouse are total snobs. If I say hello to them on the elevator, they won’t say anything back as they only speak to the board of directors who used our assessment money to renovate their penthouse.

I and the other owners in my building are paying so that they can live well, and they won’t even acknowledge our existance. We aren’t poor. Most of us are well dressed and have good hair cuts, are manicured to death, etc. That’s a lot more than I can say for the wife in the penthouse who has pig eyes, wears too much make up, wouldn’t know subtlety in clothes if it hit her in the face, thinks that too much jewelery and a designer handbag shows how classy she is. I could go on because I’m in a real bitchy mood, but you got the point…

None of this makes me more worthy than anybody else, but ever since they moved into the building I have been feeling as if I’m supposed to bow to them or use the service elevator so that their ride doesn’t have to be encumbered with merely mortal people.

Yes they anger me; as they anger most people who live in the building. I’m beginning to feel that the schism in this country is about more than political differences, but the have everythings who want to make sure that they always have more than everybody else. And many people who don’t have much, but want, somehow think it’s a good thing to emulate worthless materialistic pigs.

It comes from the top; in this building literally. I’m not going to pretend that I found the president’s speech tolerable. Invoking the words of Harry Truman was sickening. Harry Truman was a populist who cared. Both my parents agreed on that, and they agreed on nothing politically.

When are people going to begin to understand that most of the people who were in New Orleans were stuck there? Why is this a hard thing for people to admit? Are they scared that it could happen to them, and don’t want to admit it?

Do they just feel so goddammned superior?

And if something happens to New York, yes me again and my city, are you going to say “they should have moved?” “They could have gotten out; they could have run to the river, thrown themselves onto a boat…” “They could have done something.”

When I talked a week or so ago about New York not having an evacuation plan, people thought that I was irrational and hysterical. I wasn’t. I just don’t have a death wish. I said what many people don’t want to hear.

It was impossible to get around many parts of New York except by feet or subway this week because the president was in time. So for all of you who say “get a car,” that wouldn’t work. He was on The East Side, but somehow the traffic diversions affected even the Upper West Side. If something happened the subways would most possibly be useless. If they could be used, could you imagine how people would be pushing other people out of their way so that they could be saved?

I’m scared. Like so many people in this country I believed that I had my life planned. Now I not only don’t have faith in the foundation; I am quickly losing my faith in everything. There are too many cracks in the infrastructure and the total structure.

If taxes aren’t raised how are we going to pay for everything? We didn’t like paying taxes on our mom’s estate which wouldn’t have been taxable this year or even last year, but we paid a lot, in the name of patriotism. That’s right we thought it was a patriotic act because it was soon after 9/11.
How are we supposed to pay for national Medicaid without raising taxes?

Apparently many Conservatives consider flag waving, dying in Iraq, dishing on people who don’t blindly support the president or believe in exactly the same things that they do to be patriotic, but god forbid they should actually pay more taxes or estate taxes. That’s not patriotic. Why? Because they say so. Go ahead make me sicker.

And for all of you who say that Cindy Sheehan is disparaging Casey’s good name, would you have even have heard of him, if she wasn’t protesting? No. Cindy Sheehan is making sure that the world knows she had a son named Casey who was a good, honorable man, and he died needlessly for his country. I admire that. impeach bush

I really want to talk about the new TV season and how the dialogue on The Gilmore Girls was too witty, even for me. There’s so much else that I want to talk about, but my mind seems to be stuck in, I truly believed that this was the best country on earth, but the Liberty Bell sort of symbolizes everything, mode

Our country is cracked and in desperate need of fixing. Don’t play the blame game with me. If you believe that the people in New Orleans could have gotten out; if you believe that taxes shouldn’t be raised; if you believe that we belong in Iraq while our country is in serious need of fixing; if you believe that everybody who wants to make it in America can; if you believe that we should overlook Karl Rove’s treasonous actions; if you believe that we should all think like you, then the blame is on you.

This is supposed to the land of the free and the home of the brave. It’s supposed to be the country where everybody can state their opinion and other people will listen seriously.

I have never used the expression “worthless materialistic pigs” before; especially since I’m materialistic. But I would rather live in a building where I don’t feel like I’m supposed to bow to the people in the penthouse. as I want to live in a country where the people who couldn’t leave New Orleans aren’t blamed for being poor. I want to live in a country where everybody counts.

If you believe in God, I believe that God will judge you on how you treated the most insignificant person you ever met; if you don’t believe in God then you have a moral obligation to treat everybody as you want to be treated. Everybody has that obligation but many people seem to think God only cares about their golf score or if they live in a McMansion with every built-in possible.

Newsflash: our country has fundamentally changed in the past three weeks. Things that used to seem important don’t seem so important anymore.

A National Day of Prayer and rememberance just doesn’t cut it. We need a national year of talk and change. We need a president who doesn’t crib from Harry Truman but unifies the country into taking real action, and that costs money.

If you don’t like what I had to say, and have a reasoned comment to leave, then leave it. If you’re going to be sarcastic or make fun of me, the comments will be put into a post so that other people can laugh at you.

And I really hate people who go from “liberal” blog to blog just to leave truly stupid comments. Does it make you feel better about yourself? Do you get a thrill out of it? The same kind of thrill you felt in Middle School, in the days before caller ID, when you would make phony phone calls? Well you ain’t matured since then, so I guess you’re entitled to act your mental/emotional age. But if you leave that comment on my blog, it will be either highlighted in a post or deleted if it doesn’t make my cut. And I only know the rules for that; works for Karl Rove; should work for me.