Percy-L: Literary, Religious, Scientific, and Philosophical Discussion of Walker Percy

[Nikkibar AT aol.com]

I have heard two bits of info about the school bus fiasco. the First is that a number of them got drowned along with a number of military high water vehicles that were overtaken by quickly rising waters. The second is that the rumors of the sniping by gangs had spread to the ranks of the bus drivers and that they were afraid to risk their lives by going in. I cannot say if either or both are true as the information network to the northshore fifty miles north of the ciry has been blocked out almost completely because of our power losses and road blockages. I have an extensive journal that I've kept on the tense days following the storm which I will share with anyone interested (if you are prepared to drop a hat) but which I do not post en masse in defference to Henry's admonitions.

 

Regarding the question of why us Louisiana folks haven't told the Feds to go to hell by taking matters into their own hands, the matter is somewhat more complex. The redesign of a levee system to protect the New Orleans saucer is an extrememly complicated business and has been managed by the Corps rather well, all things considered. It is also monstrously expensive and would consume our entire Gross State Product for a decade. The Corps have spent years figuring out what should be done, and have always stood ready to do it. We have been begging for the money and it has been repeatedly denied by the Congress and the Executive Branch. OUR Congressmen (yea even the Republican ones like Vitter and Breaux) have been all for it, but we littlechaps do not vote in the elections which return assholes like Hastert and Frist and DeLay to office. And, contrary to the views contemporaneously expressed by the media regarding our recent civil unrest (so I understand for I wasn't able to see them myself), we tend to be a law abiding group -- prone neither to secession nor the assisination of assholes. Even attempts to take a tractor up to the top of the levee with a load of dirt would be met by swift arrest. Hell, They won't even let you ride a bike up there. So just how would you suggest that we proceed? Perhaps now Congress will get the message that if they want to have a Port of New Orleans, they had better have a levee system that bloody well works! And while they're at it, perhaps they'll get the message that it would be a good idea to sign on to the Kyoto Treaty to minimize (insofar as possible -- which may admittedly not be much) the global warming that is contributing to the sudden rash of serial hurricanes.

 

Does that respond to the questions adequately? If so, you have my permission to forward this on to your Congressperson and Senators. If not, sharpen the inquiry and I'll try to do better.

 

Nikki Barranger