The three year anniversary of Katrina passes and the threats of Gustav loom, I’m reminded of the immense horror, frustration, and powerlessness I felt as I watched my fellow Mississippians, my friends, my family, suffer through displacement, hunger, disease, and destruction. More frustrating and infuriating still was the failure of the Federal Government’s response.
As ‘Brownie’ and the other Bush cronies worried about how they looked on television, as Bush was having birthday cake with John McCain, people I know and love were suffering. The shame of powerlessness that came from being in Texas while Mississippi was enduring this travesty was overwhelming.
John McCain shares the blame in this. While I can’t fault his initial inaction as he is not the Senator of Mississippi, I do fault the fact that he twice voted against investigations into FEMA’s failed response to Katrina. I do fault the fact that he four times voted against investigating the waste, fraud, and abuse that became rampant with the rebuilding efforts. I do fault the fact that he voted against extending unemployment benefits for the victims of Katrina. I do fault the fact that he voted against allowing limited access to Medicaid for Katrina victims and against temporary federal funding of Medicaid in Mississippi. Barack Obama voted for every single one of these measures.
In all of this, I’m not suggesting that John McCain doesn’t care; simply that he doesn’t get it. John McCain simply does not understand the needs of everyday Mississippians.
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