Today's print news contain two juxtaposed headlines: one dealing with the wake of violence and destruction left in New Orleans following the racism and incompetence that marks the legacy of the Bush administration’s "handling" of Katrina, and the other dealing with the continuing (racist AND imperial) violence and destruction ensuing in the Middle East that marks the shame of our nation as we tolerate the Bush Administration’s "handling" of the "War on Terror."
Here's how the New Orleans analysis begins (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/11/us/11orleans.html?th&emc=th):
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News Analysis
Storm Left New Orleans Ripe for Violence
By ADAM NOSSITER
NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 10 — The storm of violence that has burst over this city since New Year’s Day can be traced in part to dysfunctional law enforcement institutions, aggravated by a natural disaster that turned the physical and social landscape of New Orleans into an ideal terrain for criminals.
Eight killings have occurred in 10 days. New Orleans, the United States’ murder capital by many measures in 2006, is well on its way to keeping that distinction in 2007. Since July 2006, there have been at least 95 murders per 100,000 residents, and possibly a higher ratio depending on how the city’s depleted population is counted, said Peter Scharf, a criminologist at the University of New Orleans.
Frightened citizens now see their city as a stalking ground, roamed with impunity by teenagers with handguns — an image that may not be far off the mark, experts here say.
There are a variety of reasons for the descent toward chaos..."
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And then there is the WAR (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/11/washington/11assess.html?th&emc=th)
News Analysis
Bush’s Strategy for Iraq Risks Confrontations
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 — By stepping up the American military presence in Iraq, President Bush is not only inviting an epic clash with the Democrats who run Capitol Hill. He is ignoring the results of the November elections, rejecting the central thrust of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group and flouting the advice of some of his own generals, as well as Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq.
In so doing, Mr. Bush is taking a calculated gamble that no matter how much hue and cry his new strategy may provoke, in the end the American people will give him more time to turn around the war in Iraq and Congress will not have the political nerve to thwart him by cutting off money for the war...~
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Following last night's Presidential Address to the Nation, I responded to a friend who suggested that this was just another Bush "mess".
I said, I wish it were only a penchant for screwing up. Alas, I think this is real evil: the deceit that goes along with a hunger for power and the masking of that by lies and brutality; the sowing of confusion to avoid discovery; the pure opportunism and impunity that allows an evasion of responsibility by sacrificing human life. To me, this is the picture of the Powers at work. $450 BILLION WASTED (HOWMANY SCHOOLS AND MEDICAL FACILITIES COULDTHAT BUY?) OVER 800,000 IRAQUIES HAVE BEEN KILLED AND OVER 3000 AMERICAN SOLDIERS ARE DEAD. AND ALL OF THIS TO MAINTAIN THE PRESCOTT BUSH DYNASTIC MALIGNANCY WHOSE LEGACY IS A NATIONAL DISGRACE. I'm very ashamed of what I saw on television last night. Disgrace and despair has got me by the heels today.
As I consider how to act in a more faithful way than despairing, I think of how important it is to speak in community; to speak with the intention of taking action; to speak in some way that will actually motivate action.
To this end, I wonder if we can agree to establish a table that shares information on inter-denomination/inter-faith ANTI-WAR actions that we can participate in and report back to our brothers and sisters on this site.
Let us not be like those whom we all have read about (and perhaps known) who maintain a "discourse of silence" in times of shame - one that is constituted by arcane discussions designed to blind our eyes and shield our hearts from the real evil of our time.
If you have any suggestions on HOW to undertake to do this please respond ... [Thanks to Fr. Dear for your excellent coverage of peace initiatives; this is an adjunct effort.]