all right, i'm takin' a break

so i start flipping channels and i see a fox correspondent yelling at sean hannity, and people yelling at sean hannity is generally a good thing, so i paused to check it out. hannity was mentioning the convoys entering new orleans, and the correspondent cut him off, yelling that the situation was desperate, that the convoys were nowhere to be seen, and that there were people still stuck in the same place for six days. why? because the government HAS LOCKED THEM IN. oh, no joke. these people aren't allowed to walk to the next town, where there are supplies. and supplies are not being brought to them. they are prisoners.

also, THE RED CROSS IS NOT BEING ALLOWED IN!! WHAT?!?! the government has decided that the red cross would simply get underfoot. WHAT?!?! where are the people whose feet they would get under? bueller? *crickets chirp*

now, this post-hurricane situation is simply inexcusable. whatever unpredictable forecasting prior to the hurricane is irrelevant at this point. shit happened, and the government is supposed to come in after shit happens that comes within their province. providing for the safety of citizens is a basic government function (even the furthest fringe libertarian would agree to that), and six days without aid ON YOUR OWN SOIL is simply well... i don't have the vocabulary except for the seven no-no words appearing in george carlin's famed radio broadcast, and those aren't even adequate.

after the first correspondent stops screaming at hannity, who is visibly uncomfortable and fidgeting in his seat, geraldo rivera, who has for some reason become a fox correspondent (this shows how much i watch fox), loses it and bursts into tears, unable to speak. he ends up holding a small distressed baby, and starts cursing. the camera cuts back to hannity, who looks even more uncomfortable.

once the smoke clears from this fiasco, the political fallout is going to be unprecedented. the feeling i have right now is similar to what i felt after 9-11, and i was witness to the terrorist attacks. i stepped out of the canal street stop after witnessing two jumbo jets smash into the twin towers while crossing one of the bridges from brooklyn into manhattan. we passengers just stared in disbelief. is this real? will i wake up from this? did i get transported back to the 1940s and i'm watching a japanese kamikaze pilot? will jerry bruckheimer jump out and yell "cut?!"

oh no, it was very real. i saw a friend of mine on the street a few minutes later, and he said "the world has changed."

and so i stared, transfixed at the spittle-filled invectives of the fox correspondents at the new orleans convention center. i looked at the images of AMERICAN CITIZENS being dragged down the street, their bodies limp from exhaustion and lips and eyes cracked and parched from dehydration, thinking... is this real? will i wake up from this? did i get transported back to the 1980s in ethiopia? is this "hotel rwanda 2"?

oh no, this is very real. and everyone in the world is watching a formerly glorious cultural center in the richest country on earth descend into conditions similar to those in the slums of medieval europe during the black death. it makes haiti look lovely in comparison. yeah, this is what is happening in the richest country on earth.

how can the world have faith in us now? we can't hide from this.

argh. it's too much. i'm going to watch a tape on the patent cooperation treaty now. the only way i am going to end up in tears by watching a barbri tape is being bored to tears, and that's fine by me.