Maidan

Harrowing scenes of third world desperation, as the youngest and fittest secured what little food and drinking water was available.  Reports of armed gangs scouring the streets, pictures of unburied dead and the lingering threat of water borne disease. As if a war ravaged part of Africa had somehow been lifted and transported to part of the United States.

Nothing could have offered a greater illustration of the gulf between rich and poor, black and white, as they pleaded for help from the leader of the wealthiest country in the world. A leader, once more found wanting in a moment of crisis.

Yet this disaster, unlike 9/11 or the Asian Tsunami, was anticipated and the effects predicted. Those that might have been deployed to help, were stretched thin by a war of foreign occupation, protecting the interests of the elite. 

All of our thoughts must be with New Orleans tonight as the legacy of disregard for the unempowered presents a very real home truth.