Shut Up And Listen 234

I don't necessarily disagree with what Kayne West said at the Hurricane Katrina benefit last week, but, come on, everyone knows that wasn't the time or the place. The thing about benefits is that they're about, you know, benefiting the people of tragedies, not yourself by making an ass of yourself. He became the equivalent of the drunken uncle who stands up at Christmas and tells it like how it is. He may be correct, but everyone in the room feels very uncomfortable about it and no one thinks it should happen.

The funny thing is, I both disagree and agree with West's statements. I certainly think that racism has played a part in how the whole post-Katrina clean-up has gone, particularly in the media. I mean, it's not too hard to spot the problem when white people are referred to as trying to survive or "finding" food at the local grocery store, while black people are looters and "steal" food from the local grocery store. I don't think racism played a part in the government response, though.

The thing about this government is, well, they're idiots. Come on, did anyone actually expect them to do a good job? We're talking about a president who spent, what, seven minutes doing nothing after hearing about the terrorist attacks? The guy who spends more time on vacation than . . . well, anyone. Everyone pretty much recognises that his administration fucks up everything they touch and then act surprised when they fuck this up--or worse, blame their incompetence on racism? It's rather convenient, isn't it?

That said, I also must admit I have a hard time believing that the fact that a large amount of the people being affected were poor black people didn't play a part in it. But, in that way, I think the poor part plays as much, if not, more of a factor. Since when do you expect Republicans to care about poor people?

Or there's the fact that this disaster has benefited Bush's best buddies in the oil industry. Yes, it's cynical, but come on . . . Ever notice how when something good happens to the oil industry as far as production and availability goes, it takes weeks or months for us to see the benefit at the pumps, but anytime something even in the slightest goes wrong, it hits us all right away? Especially with record profits, that's pretty damn fucked up.

Continuing on corruption and incompetence, it's not exactly a secret that New Orleans has been screwed in the past out of money to fortify their levees, or that FEMA has been picked dry by the Department of Homeland Security. Throw in a Bush crony as the idiot boy in charge of FEMA and you've got a recipe for disaster. It's not about race, it's about greed, apathy and stupidity.

You almost can't blame them all for thinking that people wouldn't care this time . . . I mean, they haven't so far. Which is why they're all saying that no one should be playing the "blame game." But, as Jon Stewart pointed out this week, generally when people don't want to play the blame game, it's because, well, they're to blame. I'm not exactly pointing out anything new here. I've yet to see many of the conservatives I know backing Bush and company up this time. It's easy to fuck up halfway across the world and not have people care that much, but when it's happening in America . . . well, that's not so easy to wriggle out of.

And all of this should be pointed out with people screaming it from the rooftops if necessary. But, let's not lose sight of the real priority: helping the victims out. There will be plenty of time to nail balls to wall, but a benefit concert isn't the time or the place. It's called tact.