Katrina has come and gone, and in her wake she left unprecedented devastation. The final body count, which promises to be in the thousands, tells just one tragic part of this horrific event. People, who survived the initial onslaught of the storm and the levee ruptures, saw the lives they knew disappear.

Relatives and loved-ones were gone. Homes were crushed. Medicine became unavailable and put the survivors’ very existence in jeopardy. Beloved pets were left to live or die and most were swallowed up by the flood waters. Children cried for water, milk and food, as parents looked on unable to help them or themselves. Normally law abiding citizens, broke into stores to steal food, water, medicine and basic survival materials as TV cameras watched and called them “looters.” Yes, there were some actual lawbreakers who were stealing televisions and electrical products and designer goods, but they were in the vast minority. Most of the so-called “looters” scavenged for the necessities of life. In some cases, the police held the doors open so people could take what they needed. And yet, the cameras focused on the “looters” and talked about the breakdown of law and order.

We have a president who swore that if we voted for him, he would make America a safer place to live. Desperate people rightfully expected their government to come to the rescue. We were promised a secure homeland prepared for any unforeseen eventuality threatening our shores. Harm would never find its ways into our country again if this president had anything to say about it.

He lied. Plain and simple, that’s the only word to use in this case; lied. A terrorist did strike our country and found our government with its pants down around its knees. This terrorist was named Katrina and she did more damage than the foreign terrorists ever hoped to do on September 11, 2001.

What’s really tragic is that the terrorist named Katrina did not commit a sneak attack on our country. No, she gave plenty of notice of her arrival. The weather forecasters spotted her in the Gulf of Mexico and warned everyone to prepare. The local authorities in Louisiana and Mississippi told their residents to evacuate ASAP. The entire country followed terrorist Katrina’s slow but inexorable arrival to our shores for almost a week. Days before she hit her target her strength increased wildly and people were told they MUST get out of town. Only our president, the brave warrior who swore to keep terrorists from our homeland, was caught by surprise.

His excuse, and the one that many others in his administration adopted, was that no one could foresee the rupturing of the levees surrounding the city of New Orleans. Claiming that the flooding could not have been prevented is the biggest lie of all. For many years prior, this exact scenario was studied, written about and brought to the attention of government officials. It was well known that the levees could not withstand anything more than a category 3 hurricane. Finally, money was allotted to evaluate, reinforce and rebuild the levees to the standards of a category 5 storm. But then, in the summer of 2003, the president cut the budget for all of this work, and transferred the funds to be used for homeland security and the war in Iraq. This is just another bold example of the president’s complete ignorance and lack of concern about the environmental factors affecting our country. How dare he claim the element of “surprise?”

The lack of immediate help is a total and utter outrage. The National Guard was called in by the governors of the affected states, but there were not enough troops to do the job. The reason is quite elementary. Close to half of the Louisiana and Mississippi National Guards are in Iraq. And remember, when the troops are sent overseas, so is all of the heavy, life-saving equipment. How many more lives would have been saved if thousands of additional guard troops were available in their home states, protecting the lives of their citizens? To paraphrase our president, “We’re saving lives in Iraq so we don’t have to save them here.”

For the first 3 days absolutely no help was available from the Federal Government. People were left to languish by the tens of thousands in the disease infested flood waters. Diabetic and dialysis patients were left to die without their insulin or treatments. Others were trapped in their attics or on the roof of their homes, dehydrating while waiting to be rescued.

One of the biggest outrages was when the director of FEMA, Michael Brown, claimed that the people suffering are those who refused to evacuate when ordered to do so. How out of touch can one person be? Most of the people who did not evacuate, could not evacuate. They had no cars, no money for public transportation and no way of leaving. Where were the busses and other methods of transport to take those too poor or weak to leave on their own, out of harms way? This is a typical case of blaming the victim.

On Tuesday, as the world watched the people of New Orleans drown, our president was attending a fund raising event, and making a VJ anniversary speech to his political base. Is this leadership? A leader would have been in the area of devastation ordering in all of the forces under his command to assist the citizens who elected and trusted him. When he finally did show up at the end of the week, he made well planned and choreographed photo ops with him kissing some survivors on their heads. Then he flew back to the White House, and organized meetings to create excuses and cast blame on the local governments. Karl Rove has his work cut out for him, and from what I can ascertain, he must be working overtime.

No, the president alone is not responsible for all the heartbreak and ruination on the Gulf Coast; but he was instrumental when he cut domestic funding to help finance his Iraq adventure. The president puts citizens in danger when he sends large portions of the National Guard into a foreign war zone, which is not the original purpose of the National Guard. Finally, the president put party’s interests ahead of his leadership responsibilities. How could the greatest country in the world let its own citizens suffer and drown while the president was off making a fundraising speech?

The administration and its defenders say “now is not the time to cast aspersions and lay blame.” Criticism, they say, is unpatriotic when you have so many fellow citizens who need help. They claim it is a distraction from the tasks at hand when in reality, it means they are forced to spend time spinning the story rather than taking responsibility for the mess and cleaning it up.

If there is no accountability while we are focused on the event, then the entire concept of identifying fault and preventing future repetitions of catastrophic policies is forgotten. Naturally, this is exactly what the president and his cronies hope will happen, and they will do their best to ensure that it does.

If this was an actual terrorist attack, what makes us believe this president would have protected us any more effectively than the poor citizens of the Gulf Coast? This was a test of his competence and leadership, not to mention his honesty. Sadly, but not surprisingly, he has proven himself to be a miserable and disgraceful failure.

As Jews, let us live by our belief in Tikkun Olum and tsedakeh. Contribute as generously as you can to the various charities and organization assisting those victims of this terrible catastrophe. They were let down by their leaders for the first several days of their suffering; let us try to minimize their continued suffering as best we can.

This event has shown us once again how we can never take our good fortune for granted. Those of us who are relatively safe, well fed and cared for should thank God for his grace and find it in our hearts to forgive trite offenses and disagreements. I am sure the people who were wading through the flood waters of New Orleans or the total devastation of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, would be thrilled to have our problems to deal with today. Let’s be grateful for those around us, and let each other know, we are all part of one great big support system.

Much love to all of you,
Michael