The Return of Jaws

When Katrina was in the Gulf of Mexico, they were far off, wandering around with no particular purpose in mind, ignoring and being ignored by everyone. They went about their business, doing what they do with noconsideration for what was to come.

When Katrina took a bead on New Orleans, they started to notice. There was no break in their pattern just yet, no cause for them to move together en masse, and to head in the direction of Jazz, good food, and the sound of gambling on the riverboats. No scent existed yet to draw them, so they continued to see to other pursuits as was their wont. There was food aplenty for them, and they knew it, so there was no reason for them to go to the city of Spanish Moss.

Then Katrina hit. A Fury from Hell, unleashed on a city longer than the country she was a part of, and death and devastation was visited upon a port that faced a force greater than any it had seen, either from man or from nature.

Some hinted at Sodom and Gomorrah, pointing to Mardi Gras, naked women, free-flowing booze, and gambling.

Was it a Judgement?

It didn’t matter, not to them, they just noted that it had happened, and continued to travel the paths they had set upon. After all, there was nothing to interest them, nothing to draw their notice, nothing but a natural disaster such as they had seen many times before.
But then it began.

People wondered at the actions of a mayor that said one thing, did another, and began to point fingers at everyone. The State was to blame, the Federal Government was to blame, the President was to blame.

Anyone but the Mayor, who let the busses sit in the lots while people waited for a way out from horror that just was not to come.

And they noticed, and they got nervous, and they began to circle, and their group began to wonder if a feast might be in the offing.

The Governor chimed in, pointing fingers at FEMA, and the President, screaming for the military, and for help, and blaming everyone but herself for the inaction that left bodies floating aimlessly beside the shattered remains of what used to be homes.

And they noticed, and began to make motions toward the disaster, wondering at what might be, what the flooded streets might hold for them.

The President chimed in, and promised help, and called for troops, and talked of support for FEMA, and the cries from all sides grew greater, as the politicians entered the fray.

Now began the accusations, recriminations, and protestations, and politics became the order of the day, and in Washington politicians began to throw money hither and yon, in an effort to capture votes,please the masses, and present the image of heroes riding forth to be saviors.

Hollywood, and the liberal press joined in, and their target was not the people who needed their help, but the President, and black men brought the race card to the table, the tattered Joker that once was an Ace, to once again demand more from the government that had become their nursing nanny, she of the big teat filled with dollars obtained from those whose sweat continued to lubricate the engine called America.
Now they sensed blood. They began to group and move, sensing where there were dollars and blame, there was a chance to feed, to gorge themselves as they had done so many times before.

America opened its heart and its pocketbook to the dispossessed, and the surrounding states made safe havens for the hungry, the poor, the homeless, and took them in. And the word began to spread, of the Salvation Army feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, giving to all.

And the churches opened their hearts, and remembered the admonitions of Jesus, and the dispossessed moved, to shelter, to food, to love. But they knew there was food aplenty for them, and they moved with purpose, traveling fast, silent, and deep, so that no one might know of their coming. The scent of blood was strong now, and they knew that a feeding frenzy would occur.

I sense their coming. They’ve always come before, I know they will come now. It is the nature of the beast to feed on the suffering of others. They don’t operate out of concern, out of love, out of the desire to aid their brothers and sisters, but only to gorge once again, until they are full. They will even feed on each other in the coming frenzy.

I wish, I Hope, I pray that I am wrong, but it is the nature of the creature to feed on misfortune, and I see nothing to persuade me they will not.

Who is to blame for the aftermath of Katrina? Is it those who remained to face the storm, those who, for whatever reason, chose to stay rather than to go, and thus faced the beginning of a nightmare?

Is it the Mayor, and the city government of New Orleans? They told the people to leave, but they made no serious effort to provide transportation, or a destination, and the people stayed to die at the hand, not of the storm, but of the neglect of their elected officials.

Is it the Governor of Louisiana? She had resources far greater than the Mayor, and she knew the storm was coming, but she used not one whit of her power to save the lives of the helpless, the hopeless, or the fools.

Is it the Federal Government? The response was great, but slow in coming, and showed the need for rethinking our program of response to disaster. But politics, and waiting for a cry for help, and the unwillingness to do what was required without concern for the “rules” leaves floating, bloated bodies tied to trees and telephone poles in the wasteland that once was a city.

LOOK! Moving south, toward the city, you can see glimpses of them now! Their fins cut to the surface, as they hurry, in a frenzy to be first, to get the biggest mouthful, to gorge the most! The lawyers are coming, the money-gorging predators that feed on disaster, and lawsuits will rain down near and far.

Can you see them too?

NOTE: Copyright 09/08/05 by Dave Hoffman

Use granted to all who identify author.

Beneficium accipere libertatem est vendere.