So, once again last night on TV, as I was going to sleep, I heard a reiteration of FEMA's declaration that should your house be swallowed up by flood waters, for 72 hours you are pretty much on your own, and can expect help only from the local cops and firefighters whose houses are, likewise, swallowed up by the flood waters. And this is policy. And policy, as we know, is a magical juju word to which we must tug a forelock and muttter "right you are, Guv."
And any number of talk show hosts and editorial pages and blogs happily line up behind this stand, anxious for any excuse to continue their important work of toadying the Bush administration. "72 hours, that's the policy, yup, yup, what can you do? Have no right to complain, after all it's the policy, the policy dontcha know."
To which I have to respond thusly: any policy which requires that American citizens and their kids and their sick old people sit on their roof without food or water or help for three days needs to be wadded up into a ball, lubricated liberally, and shoved straight up the ass of whichever incompetent , can't-do, bureaucrat wrote it.
Go get it. It's yummy.
6 comments:
I think that he's a bit unpolite!
LOL "Unpolite"?
Well.. not that he needs me to defend him, but I will say this:
Strong political opinions and social niceities don't mix. If they do, you're talking to a politician.
(By the way, if you're hoping for decorum here, you may be disappointed. Don't say you haven't been warned.)
72 hours before FEMA can get there is "Policy"
He should be impolite. The whole point of FEMA is that they are supposed to be at the ready to MANAGE EMERGENCIES. It's even in the name. Would anyone consider it acceptable the have a 72 hour response time for the Police, the Fire dept? 72 hours is simply not acceptable.
It certainly didn't take the feds 72 hours to get to LA during the riots; there were federal agents all over Rodeo Drive. Oh, but wait, that's keeping those awful poor people from getting into Cartier.
You are on damn target *tmpoo* with that simple distinction. Nobody waited 72 hours to address September 11th either. I don't know, but it seems to me that emergency by definition means imminent, pressing, urgent... TRUMPING THE USUAL ROUTINE. In an EMERGENCY, we might smash a window to get a baby out. The same act in a non-emergency is a different matter. Emergency dictates a different context by default.
They are just trying to do everything they can to justify what most of find incomprehensible. If they don't help in one of the few ways that they are crucial- what good is government? Nice that they help us understand that we should take a vitamin or eat 7-8 fucking servings of vegetables per day...But an emergency???Nah!! You're on your own!!! Who needs them then?
As has been said many times here- CB is not concerned about politeness and I am not sure they are over at Mighty Middle either. If you are, you are possibly paying too much attention to artificial constructs than to truth. What is the goal of politeness, of manners? To make people confortable, at ease. When people are the perpetuators of injustice, shortsightedness, irresponsibility- there is something to the notion of making people uncomfortable. Accountable. Perhaps profanity or bad manners are not your bag- tends not to be mine either- but people should use their strongest voice. Their most effective methods. Eliciting an emotional reaction is better than the zombie-walk of many Americans, leaders or followers. Nothing satisfies more than a quality "---- you" sometimes.
LOL Lily, I feel like I've been praised and spanked at the same time. You vixen, you! :)~
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