My fellow Americans:
I want to start by doing something I've never done before. I want to apologize.
A natural disaster is a natural test for any government, and when Katrina struck us, your government failed that test. We flunked. We got an F.
We failed you, the American people, because we didn't respond to the devastation of Katrina promptly, like we should have. Americans in New Orleans were left stranded for days without food and water in attics, on rooftops, in the Superdome and at the Convention Center.
Was there a racist component to this? I'm not a racist, but maybe our country still is. You and I know that if New Orleans had been a white city, FEMA and Homeland Security would've had rescue teams there on day one. So I want to apologize especially to all African-Americans for our failure.
Now, for the first time, we've seen the suffering of thousands of poor people, who did not have the means to evacuate themselves. We thought all we had to do was tell people to pack up their belongings in their cars and drive away. But many people don't have cars. Many don't have the money for a bus. Many have to choose between busfare and paying for food so their children have something to eat that day.
Like many Americans, I've lived a life of privilege. I admit that like most privileged Americans, I don't understand poverty. Maybe it's time us privileged Americans should concern themselves with the problems of the poor. Maybe it's time for politicians like me to do something about poverty relief instead of tax relief for the rich.
We didn't abandon the poor last week. We abandoned them long ago. Let me give you a few statistics.
Most Americans think between one and five million Americans live in poverty. The actual number is 37 million. One in eight Americans is poor. And we're supposed to be the wealthiest nation on earth. One in five children is poor during the first three years of life, the time when brain development is the most crucial. Child poverty in America is two to three times higher than child poverty in other industrialized nations. Each day in America, 2,000 babies are born into poverty.
When people are poor, it's families that suffer. It's children that suffer.
How do we solve the problem of the poor? Well, we can start with the rich, by asking them to pay their fair share of taxes. For many years now, my party and I have attacked the very idea of taxes as a burden on Americans. We've believed that government should be reduced, that government programs be cut, because the people themselves know better how to spend their money than government does.
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Article comments
1 - Lee Richards
Brilliant, Adam. The greatest presidents we've had would agree and DO SOMETHING;I think Jesus would, too.
2 - Stone
WOW. Man, this is the BEST article about the Katrina disaster so far.
3 - Dave Nalle
>>Was there a racist component to this? I'm not a racist, but maybe our country still is. You and I know that if New Orleans had been a white city, FEMA and Homeland Security would've had rescue teams there on day one. So I want to apologize especially to all African-Americans for our failure.<<
So it would be okay for Bush to lie, so long as the lie serves your distorted worldview?
Dave
4 - JELIEL
Sweet stuff. But it'll never happen. Junior can't admit to anything.
5 - adam
Jeez Dave, what's distorted about my worldview? My post is a plea to do something about the problem of the poor in America. You got anything against that? What's your worldview about poverty in the richest nation on earth?
6 - Kurt
Beautifully written! Great leaders are accountable - remember "The Buck Stops Here"? For the current administration, the Buck always stops somewhere else, and the bucks wind up in fewer & fatter pockets.
7 - John Bambenek
Will Mayor Nagin apologize?
8 - adam
Why should Mayor Nagin apologize, Bambenek? For doing a better job than Bush?
John, your posts aren't bad, but your comments can be moronic.
9 - adam
BTW, Lee, Stone, Jeliel, and Kurt -- thank you for your kind words. I worked hard and did a lot of research to write something worthy of Blogcritics. Your enthusiasm for the piece is much appreciated.
10 - chris
Is the local government resposible at all for the evacuation of it's people during a natural disaster? Are they excempt from these duties? If not, I think fair critisism is warranted. I'm sure that racism has played a roll in what eventually happend to New Orleans but, would it not also be a form of racism to leave out critisism of a component of a system because of race?
11 - Dave Nalle
>>Jeez Dave, what's distorted about my worldview? My post is a plea to do something about the problem of the poor in America. You got anything against that? What's your worldview about poverty in the richest nation on earth?<<
No, your post is an ill-informed attack on the president based on unproven supposition and bigotry. If you want to help the poor, get the jobs and get them out of ghettos where the democrats keep them in poverty and subservience.
>>Why should Mayor Nagin apologize, Bambenek? For doing a better job than Bush?<<
No, for being the official who was responsible for the evacuation and screwed the pooch, causing all the other fuckups that followed, most of which stem from the presence of so many unevacuated people in the city.
Dave
12 - Nick
Dave, darling, pookie-bear.. could we see some facts as well as the assertions? Maybe even facts relevant to your assertions? If it is not too much bother...
13 - giz
well written
14 - KM
Who wrote this article? I dont see an authors name? Please email me and let me know. Thxs.
15 - KM
Ok, so if it was Adam Ash who wrote this article... which it appears it is... he states he is a leader- a leader of what or who? "As I hold these leaders accountable, I hold myself accountable, too. Last week I failed you as a leader. It was pretty obvious to all of us Americans. But it's become obvious to me in a deeper sense. In my own heart, I failed myself as a Christian, for not acting promptly when my fellow Americans were in trouble." Sorry, I dont recognize the name Adam Ash as a leader of anything>>> anyone know? Respond Adam?
16 - Nancy
KM, you somehow managed to miss the title, which explains the entire premise of this very brilliantly written article. That's OK - I've taken a couple of Satire items for fact. We all have those days.
As of this point, BushBoy HAS apologized - sorta, kinda, minimally. As usual, it was a pretty sorry apology, quite in line with his normal pretty sorry performance at whatever he does - except for rewarding his wealthy buds, at which he is very, very expert. Adam is right: this is the kind of speech Smirk doesn't have the cojones to make.
17 - RM
This has got to be one of the most ridiculous posts I've ever seen. Posted for America to do something about the poverty problem in America, come on give me break. Fact: New Orleans is one of the poorest major cities in the US. Fact: New orleans has been under DEmocratic control for 150+ years. Fact: The democratic leaders of New Orleans have done nothing to help the poor in their own city. Now I'm not against helping the poor, but do it with your dollars and your taxes if that is what you choose to do. Don't take money from my family who I have worked hard for, to provide for, and made correct choices in my life to help someone that has chosen to live in poverty. Don't give them a fish everyday for food, give them a fishing pole and teach them to fish. And 90% of the time they still will not take the iniative to catch their own fish.