September 04, 2005

Does it always have to be political?

Following perhaps the greatest natural disaster in our nations’ history, we have witnessed some of the best and some of the worst in America. For the majority of us, there is only so much we can do on the sidelines, not that it is an insignificant role. It is not feasible for all of us to personally go down to the Gulf coast, but we can all help in one way or another. That is where we see some of the real strengths of America: our willingness to be generous and help those in need.

And yet there always those (a small minority) who are more concerned with some kind of personal gain. They are perfectly willing to take advantage of the situation in any way, shape or form; whether that be looting, raping, or playing politics. The scope and breadth of this disaster is almost incomprehensible, from the damage to the mind-boggling logistics of the relief and reconstruction effort. And yet, we’ve got politicians, news reporters and bloggers who are apparently omniscient. Granted, those who are down there definitely know more than those of us who aren’t. But, in my humble opinion, only those who are truly arrogant or looking for some kind of personally gain are running around drawing conclusions and claiming they know everything there is to know about this disaster.

So much time and effort is being used by these folks trying to pin the blame on anyone in their political crosshairs. We won’t have all the facts about what has happened and what is happening now for perhaps months. Not only that, but there’ll be plenty of time to deal out the punishment (if any is due) later. How about we focus some of that time and effort into helping those in need? How about we focus on rebuilding before the fallout of this disaster harms anymore citizens?

If you haven’t already given, I urge you to donate to the Red Cross at www.redcross.org or help in anyway that you think you can. Keep all of those in need and in harms way in your thoughts and prayers.