I've tried to deny it. I've tried to overlook it. But the lack of response to diaries about Katrina, New Orleans or NOLA-related politics leaves me no other conclusion but that this community just doesn't give a shit about what happened two and a half years ago. Perhaps most of this community has "Katrina Fatigue", or maybe everyone is just too into the primary horse race or just doesn't see any reason to pay any attention to the ongoing issues concerning Louisiana coast residents.
How can we forget the suffering?:
And how can we ignore the tragedy that is still ongoing for so many in New Orleans and on the Gulf Coast?:
As I am writing this, 7 of the 8 Rec Listed diaries are about Obama and Clinton. Is that all we are interested in any more? Isn't there room in our hearts and minds for people who still desperately need our help and our Democratic principles?
There is simply no valid excuse for this comunity to continue to ignore the ongoing struggles of New Orleanians and other Gulf Coast residents. They are the Canary in the Coal Mine and have been on the fore-front of issues that will be affecting us all.
• Poverty
• Jobs and the Economy
• Climate Change and the Environment
• Education
• Government Ethics
• The 50 State Strategy and More and Better Democrats
• Healthcare, Mental Health and PTSD
• Emergency Management and Homeland Security
• Property Insurance
And the list goes on and on.
So many solid informative diaries on Katrina, New Orleans and Gulf Coast issues fall right down the diary list without more than a few comments from the same group of Kossacks. I see in Katrina diaries many dedicated, compassionate activists who refuse to let NOLA issues and Katrina victims fade into the recesses of the collective American mind. But where is the rest of the community? Where is the support from Kossacks on the challenging issues that Katrina victims and NOLA residents face on nearly a daily basis?
So while I'm sure this diary will be read by the usual NOLA-supporters and sympathizers, and while I'm sure this plea will fall quickly down the diary list as all of the other NOLA diaries do, I am calling on Kossacks to reexamine their commitment to political activism. I'm asking everyone to open their hearts and minds and add New Orleans and Katrina diaries to their regular reading.
Because while we are all arguing over the latest Obama-Clinton dust-up, there are hundreds of thousands of people on the Gulf Coast who are suffering and need our help. Isn't it time we brought our activism and Democratic ideals to New Orleans and showed Americans what a difference Democratic policies and grassroots activism can do?
Isn't it time we cared about New Orleans again?
Update: I'm glad to see so much interest in this diary regardless of whether people feel that I am being too harsh on this community in general or not. Because while this blogathon hasn't seemed to draw much interest today, there are several more on tap today and tomorrow that hopefully will get more attention than those that were written today.
NOLA/GULF BLOGATHON--ALL TIMES PACIFIC
Thurs., May 22
7AM chigh
9AM Mike Stagg
11AM Louisiana 1976
1PM blueintheface
3PM YatPundit
5PM Patriot Daily
Fri., May 23
7AM
9AM Mike Stagg
11AM Louisiana 1976
1PM mlharges
3PM Crashing Vor
5PM