[Rhodes22-list] Blame the Republicans, Deomcrats, you and I

[Jim White]

I make it a rule not to usually chime in on this sort of thing, but I've just heard so much of this kind of thing in the past few days that I felt obligated too. So forgive my indulgence. 
 
Here in Texas we have hosted over 250,000 folks from NOLA.....At the risk of starting a fiery hailstorm: How many has NY taken in? 
 
Texas can and will accommodate as many of the victims of this tragedy as possible. It's in our nature. We'll do the best we can. And it is sort of scary....we have a tenuous economic balance as it is, and crowding multitudes of people into common areas invites all sorts of trouble (black, white or otherwise...it's the human ANIMAL), but we're willing to take the chance and risk it, try and provide some solutions, some hope and comfort because they're AMERICANS who are hurting, and we're good neighbors. You'd do it for us right?
 
I assume Herb (another Texan) is currently assisting with the rescue and recovery effort, as are many from here. That too is in our nature. Please list for me politicians or partisans on both sides of the coin (I know BIll Frist is one), who are overe there rolling up their sleeves and helping out. Where is Ted Kennedy, Barney Frank or Hillary Clinton? Where is Newt Gingrich, John Cornyn or Kay Bailey Hutchinson (the latter two, Republicans from Texas)? When you start counting on politicains and administrations to "help out", you might as well pee into the wind. 
 
Our tiny City of Port Isabel (population 2500) has a number of displaced families, with five kids (as of last Friday) already enrolled in the local high school, (which has a graduating class of under 100), I'm sure we'll probably see more. They're welcome here.
 
The devistation from that hurricane was unprecidented, and certainly there were failures at all levels and with all political persuasions, that's to be expected. We all gave them license to behave badly in Washington, our State Capitols and local governing bodies, did you research your candidates (every one of them) record each time you voted, or did you just vote for your party? Maybe it's time for a total housecleaning, both sides of the isle? Maybe this thing is showing us how much of a failure both sides are, and like Brad says, maybe we ought to be Boy Scout prepared....
 
This isn't about racial inequality or any such crap and you know it. Politicizing this situation exacerbates the agony, heartbreak and frustration we all feel. It's not about an administration....it's about a country, and dammit we need to work together to try and solve this mess.
jw 
 


And now this news from Barbara Bush:

"What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in 
Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality and so many of the 
people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this 
is working very well for them."

Bill Effros





Jim White
Le Menagerie
www.lemenagerie.blogspot.com
		
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