Bear with me for posting a Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.-themed diary a day late. Because of the holiday, the libraries where I do my computer work were closed. And last night’s Democrats’ debate, along with other things that have been on my mind, have made me wonder how the Rev Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would feel about…..
Tag: Mississippi
Jan 15 2008
Cry For NOLA And Mississippi, Hillary
Jesse Jackson, Jr., in stumping for Barack Obama, was correct in pointing out after the New Hampshire primary that Hillary Clinton did not cry for Katrina.
Apparently, based on what’s above the fold on her issues page, Clinton doesn’t seem to think that Katrina’s impact on the Gulf Region or the loss of 80% of New Orleans due to the failure of federally-maintained levees is that big a deal today–as if the fact that the continued suffering of many in the disaster zone close to 2 1/2 years after the flood doesn’t matter. And this is morally wrong.
Jan 10 2008
Letting NOLA, Gulf Region Down
One thing all the presidential candidates, Democrat or Republican, have in common is the following: None who spoke after the New Hampshire primary brought up New Orleans or Katrina. Huffpo’s Harry Shearer had an excellent piece on this yesterday.
This is unconscionable. And, while we might expect this sort of crap from the GOP candidates, all of whom, as long as Bush is President, would (publicly, at least) be in support of his neglect of New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Region, we should not stand for it from the Democrats.
Jan 06 2008
New Look for FinishtheJobFund.org
Just a quick note,
Commonscribe pointed out FinishtheJobFund.org a while back as being a reputable place to send donations. They are directly assisting the rebuilding in Mississippi.
At the time I took the opportunity to email the program and give them some advice on their website. It looks like they took the advice to heart because their redesigned site is exactly what I had envisioned. Photos, testimonials, background information, all the things a donor wants to see in order to feel like they are a part of the effort.
So if anyone has a buck or two kicking around their wallets…consider putting it in a place that will have a real impact on people tomorrow. Thanks!
Dec 23 2007
Katrina Fatigue, my ass.
PG-13 version crossposted a la grande orange and at the Blue House.
The day after Christmas, I’m heading back to the Gulf Coast for a week
with the volunteers. If The Muse doesn’t run out on me, this will be the first in a series of short and easy reads on what it all means. Or doesn’t.
This trip came about because we had some money left over from the last one.
After three trips with no skills other than strong backs, it was becoming pretty clear that unless we could kick it up a notch, there wouldn’t be much use in returning.
Dec 04 2007
An Interview with commonscribe Before Heading for Mississippi to Help Rebuild
Recently commonscribe posted a simple plea entitled: 14,000 in FEMA trailers on the Gulf. Finish The Job. That post sparked some ideas that are worthy of discussion for the entire group, it also sparked the following interview:
(discussion follows interview)
This will be commonscribe’s third visit to help rebuild homes in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina so who better to ask about what is needed than one of our own?
NLOB: Why did you get involved?
commonscribe: It was more productive than screaming at the TV. Seriously.
Dec 03 2007
14,000 in FEMA trailers on the Gulf. Finish The Job.
a l’orange aussi.
With federal relief money still bottlenecked in the system and 14,000 residents displaced by Katrina about to go through their third winter in FEMA trailers or tents, the housing charities of Mississippi are trying to raise $300 million dollars to Finish The Job of getting these people back into permanent housing. There’s more after the jump.
Nov 13 2007
Herbert Must Reading Today
Bob Herbert provides must reading today, especially for Brad DeLong, Andrew Sullivan, Kevin Drum, Matt Yglesias, Brendan Nyhan, and of course, David Brooks.
Herbert writes:
Andrew would not survive very long. On June 21, one day after his arrival, he and fellow activists Michael Schwerner and James Chaney disappeared. Their bodies wouldn’t be found until August. All had been murdered, shot to death by whites enraged at the very idea of people trying to secure the rights of African-Americans.
The murders were among the most notorious in American history. They constituted Neshoba County’s primary claim to fame when Reagan won the Republican Party’s nomination for president in 1980. The case was still a festering sore at that time. Some of the conspirators were still being protected by the local community. And white supremacy was still the order of the day.
That was the atmosphere and that was the place that Reagan chose as the first stop in his general election campaign. The campaign debuted at the Neshoba County Fair in front of a white and, at times, raucous crowd of perhaps 10,000, chanting: “We want Reagan! We want Reagan!”
Reagan was the first presidential candidate ever to appear at the fair, and he knew exactly what he was doing when he told that crowd, “I believe in states’ rights.”
. . . Reagan may have been blessed with a Hollywood smile and an avuncular delivery, but he was elbow deep in the same old race-baiting Southern strategy of Goldwater and Nixon.
Everybody watching the 1980 campaign knew what Reagan was signaling at the fair. Whites and blacks, Democrats and Republicans — they all knew. The news media knew. The race haters and the people appalled by racial hatred knew. And Reagan knew.
And while I expect nothing better from Brooks, Nyhan and Sullivan, I do expect better from people like Drum and Yglesias. And maybe now DeLong sees some value in Herbert's work.