E Pluribus Unum

I moved to Louisiana from Michigan in June of 2004. Since then, I've experienced two hurricanes, an earthquake, a tornado and the re-election of George W. Bush. Hard to say which was the worst.

[pause]

No it's not.

Seriously, living in Baton Rouge is like living in the center of the universe as far as Democratic politics go. I'm reminded of this upon reading a post from Chris Komm at Facing South, a terrific blog about progressive Southern politcs. Chris points to a new Marist Poll:

66% of registered voters nationwide are bothered a great deal or a good amount by the administration's response to Hurricane Katrina. Although Democrats are most critical, 64% of independents and 42% of Republicans are bothered by how the administration handled the disaster.

Chris wants to know: What are Democrats doing about it? Well, apparently nothing...yet.

But here's the interesting thing: the issue goes hand-in-glove with the issue of terrorism. So this becomes a real opportunity for Democrats to seize the initiative in an area where they are thought to be weak.

Follow me on this...

The House Report on Katrina Response recently reported that, after four years of preparation, the US is still not prepared to respond in the aftermath of the kind of cataclysmic destruction wrought by that hurricane:

"If this is what happens when we have advance warning, we shudder to imagine the consequences when we do not. Four and a half years after 9/11, America is still not ready for prime time," the report concluded.

And that was a committee that was made up of 11 Republicans and no Democrats -- the Dems walked because they wanted an independent commission, not one that was not a political rubber stamp.

[Scarily, Frances Fragos Townsend, the assistant to the President for Homeland Security, was quoted as saying that "President George W. Bush was fully engaged in preparations to Katrina."]

What does this have to do with terrorism? Plenty --

I know for a fact that FEMA is tasked with emergency response, whether or not the emergency is a man-made disaster or a natural disaster. And believe me when I tell you: I've been to New Orleans and seen the destruction. And if you were ignorant of the cause, there would be no way to tell if it were caused by a hurricane -- or a suitcase nuke. The fact is, the levees broke, the town flooded and over a thousand people were killed. And, four years after 9/11, we were not prepared to deal with it.

Now the polls show that Americans are worried, very worried, about that. And they, we, should be. But what can one person do?

More on that in a moment, but first, let's talk about port security.

As you know, Bush has given final approval for the government of the United Arab Emirates to take over security for the port of New Orleans (along with five other major ports). Here's are some relevant facts about the government of the United Arab Emirates:

1. The UAE was one of three countries in the world to recognize the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.
   
2. The UAE has been a key transfer point for illegal shipments of nuclear components to Iran, North Korea and Lybia.
   
3. According to the FBI, money was transferred to the 9/11 hijackers through the UAE banking system.
   
4. After 9/11, the Treasury Department reported that the UAE was not cooperating in efforts to track down Osama Bin Laden's bank accounts.

The Administration's response?

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff made the rounds on the talk shows Sunday, asserting that the administration made certain the company agreed to certain conditions to ensure national security. He said details of those agreements were secret.

Secret. Imagine that.

During a stop Monday in Birmingham, Ala., Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said the administration had a "very extensive process" for reviewing such transactions that "takes into account matters of national security, takes into account concerns about port security."

Luckily, there is still time to block the deal before it takes effect March 2. Several Senators are offering legislation to require that any foreign company given this contract NOT be controlled by a foreign government.

So let's review:

• Four years after 9/11, we're still unprepared for the aftermath of another disaster emergency.
  
• If anything, we've gotten MORE complacent about homeland security.

In the meantime, here's what you can do:

1. Contact your Congressmen. I've included the links to the "lookup pages" for both the Senate and the House.

   Find your Congressman
   Find your Senator (upper right corner of page)

   Visit those pages and get the name, phone/fax numbers, and/or email addresses for your Congressman and Senators.

2. Tell them you want them to do whatever is necessary to block the UAE port security deal. Tell them that it is a bad idea to allow a foreign government to have control of our seaports.

   And/or...

3. Tell them that you want all the funds released that have been allocated for Gulf Coast rebuilding. It's time to rebuild New Orleans and the surrounding region. If we had been hit by terrorists we would insist on nothing less.

4. Forward this post to your friends and urge them to do the same.

Bottom line: If we keep doing what we've always done, we'll keep on getting what we've always gotten.

But if we do something more, we'll get the changes that are necessary.

Thanks for reading this far. Please help us get it done now.