From Crisis, Opportunity

Oh, when the saints go marching in,
Oh, when the saints go marching in
Lord how I want to be in that number
When the saints go marching in
-- When the Saints Go Marching In

The Chinese word for crisis is composed of two characters -- one represents danger, the other opportunity. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina there’s danger for President Bush (here, here and here). At the same time, there’s an opportunity for Democrats to reconnect with African American voters. Indeed, the Washington Post reported:

One Democrat whose boss was in contact with the administration as problems mounted in Louisiana said it seemed clear that the White House had no on-the-ground network within the African American community that could have alerted the president to the deepening crisis in a more timely way.

Bush’s unconscionably slow response (and here) laid bare the hollowness of his “compassionate conservatism.”  His lack of empathy comes naturally since the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.  During her visit to the Houston Astrodome, former first lady Barbara Bush remarked to National Public Radio's "Marketplace:"

And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this -- this (she chuckles slightly) is working very well for them.

Many, including Kanye West, have noted that race and class (here and here) are the inescapable subtext to the hurricane’s aftermath. During the NBC telethon, West said (links added):

I hate the way they portray us in the media. You see a black family, it says, "They're looting." You see a white family, it says, "They're looking [or “finding”] for food.

West added:

And, you know, it's been five days because most of the people are black ... So anybody out there that wants to do anything that we can help -- with the way America is set up to help the poor, the black people, the less well-off, as slow as possible. I mean, the Red Cross is doing everything they can … George Bush doesn't care about black people!

West should have included Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice who was shopping at Ferragamo on Fifth Avenue while black folks were drowning in New Orleans. A fellow customer screamed: “How dare you shop for shoes while thousands are dying and homeless!”

These "Masters of Disasters" are the real shame of America (and here). As Aaron Broussard, the president of Jefferson Parish, asked: “They abandoned us. I mean, this is America. Where is my country?”