Do You Know What It Means To Forget New Orleans?

Sen. Feingold on how little progress has been made in rebuilding New Orleans-

...What I saw in New Orleans, New Orleans East, the 9th Ward, St. Bernard Parish, and Lakeview, was that in many ways, despite people's tremendous efforts, there has been less progress in those areas than there was in Banda Aceh a year after the tsunami. It is something I will never forget. Imagine driving through your hometown only to find, to this day, deserted streets, destroyed homes, and virtually no sign of reconstruction. While the shells of some homes still stand, they are completely unlivable inside, due to weeks of toxic liquid filth soaking into the structures of every room. Next to some of these homes are concrete slabs where a house used to be, while others have trailers parked in the front yard where a family is living because the house's roof has completely collapsed. There was a house that had the back of it completely ripped off, the front was totally dilapidated and someone had put a sign on the house saying that the insurance company had only paid a little over $10,000 to fix the structure. You could see an orange line around the outside of some houses which showed where the water was standing for some time outside the house. Who knows how high the water got inside the house. This went on for blocks and blocks and blocks of several different areas I toured.

While much work has already been done, and people in the region are working very hard, it is easy to be overwhelmed by the enormity of the challenges that remain. That made me all the more impressed with the commitment shown by the clean-up crews, constructions workers, emergency personnel, and by all those who have moved back...

...I strongly support the aid we have given to those in Banda Aceh and others who were the victims of the tsunami in 2004, and no one disputes that we have responsibility to help them rebuild. But we also have a special duty to the people of the Gulf Coast who still need us. Almost a year after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, after more than 1,500 people were killed and countless lives were disrupted, our fellow Americans do still need us, and we still need to stand by them as they rebuild their lives.

I think this sums it up from everything I've heard... the people of New Orleans/Louisiana are doing a great job of starting to pick up the pieces, but the federal government has all but abandoned them. The media too (except for when Anderson Cooper pretends to care in between Angelina Jolie interviews) long ago got bored of what was the biggest news story of last year- next to Iraq, of course. No one expected the job to be done by now, but a lot of lofty promises were thrown their way and they're still waiting on the delivery. But hey, I'm sure the residents of the Gulf Coast at large appreciate their congressmen and senators debating gay marriage and flag-burning.

Harry Shearer has been doing some great blogging on this subject.

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