New Orleans is one of my favorite cities, and I am shocked to see the scope of the disaster which is rapidly descending on it.
A monstrous Hurricane Katrina barreled toward New Orleans on Sunday with 160-mph wind and a threat of a 28-foot storm surge, forcing a mandatory evacuation of the below-sea-level city and prayers for those who remained to face a doomsday scenario.
“Have God on your side, definitely have God on your side,” Nancy Noble said as she sat with her puppy and three friends in six lanes of one- way traffic on gridlocked Interstate 10. “It’s very frightening.”
Katrina intensified into a Category 5 giant over the warm water of the Gulf of Mexico, reaching top winds of 175 mph before weakening slightly on a path to hit New Orleans around sunrise Monday. That would make it the city’s first direct hit in 40 years and the most powerful storm ever to slam the city.
The article describes “perfect conditions” for creating a monster.
It doesn’t seem as if enough is being done, and I agree with Glenn Reynolds that this might be a result of overhyping previous hurricanes.
Glenn has collected some of the best links, so go there for information.
I was going to relax and enjoy HBO’s new “Rome” series, but this is very disturbing. Can’t do much more than hope and pray.
(I notice that even James Wolcott has retracted his previous post.)
MORE: Glenn Reynolds points out that Wolcott’s supposedly pulled pro-Hurricane post is still there.
Normally, I’d be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt (because sometimes a deleted post remains on the server until the blog’s “rebuild” goes through). Except there’s a troubling addition — in the form of this introduction:
(THIS HAS PROVEN TO BE MY MOST POPULAR POST AMONG RIGHTWING BLOGGERS. I HAVE COME TO CONSIDER IT MY GIFT TO THEM–OR YOU, IF YOU HAPPEN TO BE ONE OF ‘THEM.’ WHENEVER A NEW STORM BREWS, I FEEL CONFIDENT YOU WILL RETURN HERE TO QUOTE IT YET AGAIN.
AND FOR THOSE OF YOU DISCOVERING IT FOR THE FIRST TIME, HOLD ON TO YOUR PHONY INDIGNATION AND LET IT WARM YOU THROUGH THE DARK DAYS AHEAD.
KISSES AND TWINKLING THOUGHTS FROM ME,
JW)
Considering the characterization of the post as a “gift” (along with the kisses and the twinkling thoughts) I’m worried that Wolcott might consider himself duty-bound by that time honored principle of etiquette that it is rude to take back a gift.
(Could it be that he’s doing this for the attention?)
Comments
9 responses to “Disaster in New Orleans”
I’m glad James Wolcott has done that. I think better of him for that. I’ve said a lot of things in the past that I’d like to retract also. To paraphrase an old saying, we’re all fools, just on different subjects.
He remains an ass.
Well, John, since you feel that way, then I probably shouldn’t invite him to join us for drinks!
🙂
Ass he remains, and so do I. All I can do now is pray that something and somebody somehow survives this.
Did my comment get deleted or something?
The last comment I saw from you was about the very funny vhemt site. I’ve never deleted any of your comments, and if one disappeared I want to know the details so I can fix it.
You know, a person with actual decency or even common humanity might be a little embarrassed at saying such a horrific thing.
Not so, as he has done the opposidte of retracting the statement, which quite easily establishes Steven Malcom’s comment above as utter poppycock.
Actually, Steven made his statement before I updated the post — before Wolcott’s non-retraction was discovered.
Thanks for the correction. I guess I was a little late to the party 🙂