Here is my latest opinion article for the Vermont Cynic, be warned if you have a conscience this may offend.
Frank Sacchetti
President Bush has received a lot of heat in the past two weeks due to his nonchalant reaction to what is by far the worst natural disaster in American history. Kanye West went so far as to say that “Bush doesn't care about black people.” Before everyone goes pointing their self-righteous fingers at poor George, I think we all need to take a serious look at who the real enemy here is.
Throughout history humanity has been plagued by a constant adversary - wind. It slams door's behind you, knocks stuff over and, every now and then, it'll sneak right up on you and destroy a modern metropolis. What's more, since most of those stuck in New Orleans are Afro-American, one has no choice but to conclude that wind is additionally a racist. Bush didn't really do anything, its what he didn't do that did him in. But if he did do what he didn't but should have done, what would everybody have to get pissed about? Who could we direct our anger, our fear, and our collective-yet-ineffectual outrage at? The wind? The mere suggestion of getting mad at the wind is ridiculous. Then again, complaining about the wind will get you about as far as complaining about Bush, so on second thought, go right ahead. Start an anti-wind club at UVM, petition in the streets for wind reform, send an article into local papers about your own personal wind experience. Complaining is a great way to meet people, plus it makes you feel all full inside like if what you think matters, somehow you matter too.
True, Bush's apathy in the face of such massive suffering is striking. But, then again, can you really blame him? There are people all over the world who don't care about what happened in New Orleans's, are we to expose them all as the inhuman, self-centered people they are? Of course not. People are allowed to be selfish - I mean, its not the most endearing personality trait - but its no crime either. Who can honestly claim to feel personally connected to the events in New Orleans? One can't help feeling estranged from the images of suffering on television, beamed to our homes from half a world away. “Disaster relief? Who has time to relieve a disaster? I'm not getting off this couch to relieve myself, never-mind a disaster. And where'd my bag of cheeto's go? I bet the wind stole it!”
I guess what this helpless romantic is trying to say is: poop happens. And very often, that poop is bad poop. So when the poop hits the fan, you better sink or swim. Especially if your in New Orleans. Did you hear that place got flooded? And where are my cheeto's? In summation, I'm saving my sympathy for when I need it.
