9/5/05 The Delta

I am sitting in a pleasant park overlooking the Juniata River in Lewistown, PA. Over breakfast I read the local newspaper’s letters to the editor and the call-in opinion line. The views held by people in small town America is depressing. Christianity has been twisted into a breeding ground for hate and prejudice. Two different people claimed that the flood in the delta was the beginning of Armageddon. For the last hundred years if anyone stubs their toe Christians can be heard yelling Armageddon. I can’t understand why Christians are so eager for the world to be destroyed. If they love God so much why don’t they love the life he is credited with giving them, or the world he is suppose to have created? And even as gas prices reach four dollars a gallon, Bush is above criticism. ‘Bush is a born-again Christian so we know he can be trusted.’ What a bunch of suckers? Unfortunately their gullibility is dragging down the entire country with them.

Government and corporations have become so much more corrupt within my lifetime. What drives me crazy is that they don’t make any secret about what they are doing because they are so confident that the public is completely brainwashed and has no interest in understanding the world they live in.

But the more I look, the more I learn, the more I understand the manner in which those in power operate, the more frustrated I feel. It is so easy to walk right up and pull back the curtain to reveal the horrible truth that lies behind the surface. The helplessness I feel, to see the corruption, but to lack the ability to do anything about it, is absolutely maddening. All made worse by the public that swallows the party line without question.

The events in the Delta this past week are an eerie reminder of other ugly truths that most Americans fear speaking about. First is how quickly the tragedy separated the rich from the poor. One only has to look at the people who were stranded in the floodwaters to see that they are all poor blacks, the elderly and the sick or disabled people.

The more frightening reality that the crisis makes apparent is that our government is mismanaging our national security. To those who were concerned about the issue, the events that unfolded were predicted and accepted as destine to happen in a matter of time. Unfortunately president Bush cut millions of dollars of federal funding that would have strengthened the levee to avoid the catastrophe. Now because he skimped on national security, instead of spending million to avoid the tragedy, we have to spend billions to fix it. It is simply bad financial management.

The real danger for the future is that it is clear the administration is incapable of forward thinking when it comes to national security. Whether it is a terrorist attack such as on 9/11, or a natural disaster as in New Orleans, no matter how precise the warnings are, the president cannot see the threat until it is too late.

When one looks at the energy situation we find ourselves in, another greater threat appears to be looming in the future. A threat that could bring America to its knees. With our oil reserves largely in the hands of the Saudis, we find ourselves dependent on a very dubious ally. And once again the administration has no plan to pre-empt the crisis and protect the country it was elected to serve.