Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 8, 2005)
DeFazio Storms Against Bush America’s Bad Example C A ongressman Peter DeFazio of Springfield calls the Bush administration’s response to Hurricane Katrina “disastrously inadequate.” “There are probably people that died because of the inadequate federal response,” DeFazio said. He said that it was “astounding” that TV trucks were able to drive into the city for days while the federal government claimed it could not reach storm victims. DeFazio blamed the failure on Bush’s reorganiza- tion of FEMA (the Federal Emergence Management Agency) into the Department of Homeland Security bureaucracy. DeFazio said the Homeland Security consolidation was a hurried and poorly con- structed political plan “scribbled on the back of a napkin by Carl Rove,” the presi- dent’s pollster, to respond to criticism that the government had failed to prevent the 9/11 attacks. FEMA and other disaster programs like emergency communication have gone beg- ging for money for years, DeFazio said. “The Bush administration can’t be bothered; it’s tax cuts, tax cuts, Iraq.” DeFazio said the head of FEMA “should be fired” and said his hiring in the first place was “ridiculous” political patronage. Bush has praised FEMA director Michael Brown for doing a “heck of a job” after the hurricane. Brown, a Republican activist, was reportedly forced out of his previous job overseeing horse shows. Congress should investigate what went wrong and “heads should roll,” DeFazio said. But, “I expect the Republican majority will drag its heels” in investigating the Bush administration. “There’s a lot of obfuscation and outright lying here,” said DeFazio of statements by FEMA denying that there was a refugee crisis at the New Orleans convention cen- ter. DeFazio said state and local officials also share some of the blame for their part in failing to provide buses to evacuate the poor and elderly before the hurricane hit. DeFazio faulted Bush’s initial response of flying over the disaster in a 747 at 30,000 to 40,000 feet, “he failed to grasp the magnitude of the disaster.” While the president was talking about how “Poor Trent Lott [a Republican senator from Mississippi] had lost one of his houses,” DeFazio said, “people were drowning in their attics.” DeFazio said race and class were “certainly a factor” in the failure to help the largely poor and black storm victims. “You got to ask that question, why the seeming indifference for days?” DeFazio said. “It was pathetic.” DeFazio questioned whether taxpayers should fund the rebuilding of casinos along the Gulf Coast, an area repeatedly ravaged by hurricanes. He said rebuilding New Orleans completely was a “more complicated question” and that parts of the city could “just be too vulnerable” to future storms to rebuild. With the nation facing the “incredibly expensive” and long-term costs of helping the impoverished victims of Katrina and rebuilding, DeFazio said Republicans should reconsider their push for cutting taxes for wealthy inheritance heirs and investors. But he said tax breaks remain Republicans highest priority. “This is insanity, these people are looting the country to benefit just a few people.” — Alan Pittman merica’s slow, uneven and inadequate response to the Hurricane Katrina catastrophe has demonstrated our national hypocrisy with the whole world watching, says Eugene black activist Charles Dalton. “We have once again seen the time-hon- ored American tradition of democratically supported policies having racial over- tones,” said Dalton this week. “The whole world watched our per- formance,” he said. “They will never trust us to do the right thing when we tell them we know what to do to make the world bet- ter. They have watched us air our collective dirty laundry.” Dalton, a program manager at EWEB, said watch- ing the unfurling drama in New Orleans and elsewhere in the Gulf has been emotionally difficult for him, and has brought to the surface years of resentments against “our domestic system of white privilege.” He figures if a similar disaster were to happen in predominantly white Des Moines, Iowa, both the preparations and the response would be have been much better. “The feds knew in advance that the levies (in New Orleans) could not withstand a level 4 or 5 hurricane. They knew there were at least 100,000 people with no transportation and no money for necessities if they left. The disaster planners also knew that about 90 percent of those stuck in the city would be black.” “No matter how the aftermath of Katrina plays out, the damage is done,” he said. “Bush has destroyed any chance of convincing black folks that they can trust Republicans for at least a generation. The rest of the world will not trust us when we tell them we know what we are doing unilaterally.” Dalton said he’s also disappointed with the lack of response from conservative Christian churches. “I have not heard of any of those mega-churches offering to take in the displaced from New Orleans,” he said, “I did not hear them advising their flocks to carry less stuff in their SUVs so they could offer rides to those they passed seeking rides on their way out of the area. To the contrary, a few conservative Christians have chosen to blame the victims for being liberal sinners.” — Ted Taylor The Music Lives On Rumors have been rampant about Fats Domino, Alex Chilton and other musicians missing in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. But those two musicians are alive and well, according to a running list of surviving musicians and bands now posted at the non-profit radio station WWOZ in New Orleans. The website is www.wwoz.org The long list of survivors also includes names familiar to Eugene audiences, such as Tab Benoit, Gatemouth Brown, Galactic, the Neville Brothers, Juanita Brooks, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Doc Otis, Hot Club of New Orleans, Funky Meters, The Radiators, Mother Tongue, Scott Saltzman, Rebirth Brass Band and the Marsalis family. How To Help Victims The best way to help people in the most need is to donate money rather than goods, says local pediatrician Todd Huffman, MD. He recommends the following charities: • U ni t e d W a y O f Ho us t o n: Katrina Refugee Relief Fund: www.houstonhurricaneaid.org • Sa l va ti o n Ar m y o f H o us t o n: www.salvationarmyhouston.org • A me r ic a n R e d C r o s s : www.redcross.org • T e a m R e s c ue O ne : www.teamrescueone.org • A me r i Ca re s : www.americares.org • N or th we s t M e di c al Te a m s: www.nwmedicalteams.org • A me r ic a’ s S ec o nd Ha rv e st : www.secondharvest.org • S al v a ti o n A r m y: www.salvationarmy.org • St . V i nc e nt d e P a u l So ci e t y of Ho us t on : www.svdphous- ton.org • M er c y Co r p s: www.mercycorps.org • NA AC P : www.naacp.org/disaster/contribute.php • N at i o na l C o un ci l o f C h ur c he s: www.ncccusa.org • Co n vo y o f H o p e : www.convoyofhope.org • Ha b it a t Fo r Hu m a ni t y : www.habitat.org www.habitat.org • Ba t o n Ro u ge A r e a F ou nd a ti o n: www.braf.org www.braf.org • G o od wi ll I nd u st ri e s o f H o us t o n: www.goodwillhouston.org And if you’d like to open up your home to Katrina victims, contact: www.HurricaneHousing.org chiropractic healing center Heal. Be Well. Open Your Heart. G ENTLE & T RADITIONAL C HIROPRACTIC M ASSAGE T HERAPY • C RANIO S ACRAL T HERAPY A CUPUNCTURE • P HYSICAL T HERAPY H OT S TONE T HERAPY 342-4520 • 492 E. 13 TH A VE ., S UITE 200 • E UGENE • I N THE B IJOU B UILDING Authentic Carribean Cuisine featuring Rum drinks in the Equator Lounge Live Music Nightly • DJ Kal-El Every Saturday Night Tantalizing Specials from 8pm-midnight 1280 Willamette St. • Suite 206 • Eugene, OR • 484-BLUE • bluelunaclub.com SEPTEMBER 8, 2005 13
