President Obama made a brief stop in New Orleans to check the progress of Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts yesterday before heading to the West Coast for a DNC fundraiser in San Fransisco. He spoke in town hall format at a charter school near one of the worst hit regions. While many Louisiana residents were happy to see the President, they were less than happy with the length of his visit. As the President took the podium, he read off his randomly prepared list of names of people to thank and when he mentioned the name of the Louisiana Governor Bobby Jendal, the crowd erupted with boos. The President called the governor a “Good Guy” and told the crowd that he was “working hard” for Louisiana.
While the President was criticized for the short visit, he was for the most part, welcomed with open arms. Apparently the “folks” of New Orleans threw out their calendars and day planners when this president took office, because it has now been 10 months and this is his first visit there. I guess they have forgotten how passionately Obama reached out to them on the campaign trail in pointing out the inadequacies of the Bush administration, but has yet to make a stop in a state he had so much compassion for. In the President’s defesense, a White House spokesman did point out that the President has sent “advisors” to the region on more than 30 occasions. Not sure that such a concerted effort would have been looked upon so favorably if the former President had taken that course of action, but this is a new era I suppose.
Lost in this visit, and even in the few critics that were upset about the length of the President’s visit, is the fact that the President has still done absolutely nothing to reach out to those effected by Katrina in the State of Mississippi. It may not have had riots, rapes, stabbings, and general looting, but it was the location of equal damage and destruction at the hands of the storm. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, they were the truly forgotten victims of Katrina. When Kanye West was playing the race card, he and his ignorant race-baiting supporters overlooked the fact that there were people left with nothing in both Louisiana and Alabama as well. Perhaps if Louisiana wasn’t the most corrupt state in the union, perhaps second only to the President’s home state of Illinois, it would have been in a better position to effectively handle the recovery efforts for itself, but I digress.
It is not clear when the President will return to the region, but I have no doubt that touring Mississippi will not be on the agenda. Afterall, he never made a trip there as a Senator, never as a candidate, and never as President of all the United STATES, so why would he change that trend now?
Why did it take so long to make it to New Orleans? Perhaps there were more pressing issues on the President’s agenda. Somewhat ironic since he was so critical of the Bush administration for their neglect of the storm-torn region.
Very well stated. I am from Mississippi originally and have friends and loved ones still there who have yet to completely recover from the storm. They saw FEMA come and go and the attention was primarily on New Orleans.
Mississippi is a no win state for Obama and he thinks it still represents the Old South. I wouldnt expect to see him there at any point in his presidency
Do you have to be racist to join the republican party or is that just a side effect? Please let me know so I can decide