Wednesday September 7, 2005
WILL HISTORY REPEAT ITSELF A THIRD TIME?: History is full of oddities and coincidences. Jefferson, Adams and Monroe all dying on the 4th of July is one that springs to mind, but there are many, many others.

George W. Bush's presidency is now marked by two major events with eerie similarities to that of his father's; military conflict with Iraq and the devastation created by one of the most destructive hurricanes ever to hit the United States.

Might there be a third major similarity on the horizon? George H.W. Bush nominated the second African-American ever to sit on the Supreme Court, a choice which ended in a vicious partisan battle and a 52-48 confirmation. It's possible his son will nominate the first African-American woman to sit on the Supreme Court, setting off hearings every bit as vicious and ending with a confirmation in the low 50-vote range.

AMERICA TO ANN RICE: "BITE ME": New Orleans native and vampire novelist Ann Rice penned these sanctimonious words in a column in the Sunday New York Times:

But to my country I want to say this: During this crisis you failed us. You looked down on us; you dismissed our victims; you dismissed us. You want our Jazz Fest, you want our Mardi Gras, you want our cooking and our music. Then when you saw us in real trouble, when you saw a tiny minority preying on the weak among us, you called us "Sin City," and turned your backs.

The Los Angeles Times reports this morning on the hard heart of America: Donations at $500 Million, and Climbing. Americans' giving for hurricane relief dwarfs first week's tallies for 9/11 and the tsunami:

Americans are opening their pocketbooks so fast and so wide in the wake of Hurricane Katrina that donations have already dwarfed the first week's efforts to help victims of last year's Asian tsunami and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

By Tuesday evening, U.S. charities had raised more than $500 million in cash and pledges — more than twice the $239 million donated in the 10 days after Sept. 11, and more than three times the $163 million raised in the nine days after the tsunami that hit countries along the Indian Ocean last Dec. 26.

In addition to individual donations, nearly every major city in America is welcoming evacuees from New Orleans with open arms providing shelter, food, medicine, opening space in schools and offering free tuition - doing anything and everything they can to give hurricane evacuees comfort, hope, and the semblance of a normal life. Here's a small sampling from this morning's papers:

Pittsburgh: City Ready to Take in Hurricane Katrina Evacuees
Philadelphia: Mobilizing effort: "Everybody just trying to help out."
San Diego: Evacuees settling into temporary home
Minneapolis: Warm welcome, meal fill arrivals with hope
Phoenix: Evacuees rebuilding lives at shelter
Massachusetts: School officials scramble to make room, find supplies
Illinois: State prepares to host thousands of Katrina evacuees
Texas: State expecting up to 60,000 new students

I could spend an entire day cataloging similar stories from around the country. One worth a special mention, however, is this story about the more than 300 members of the New York Fire Department who sped down to New Orleans to return the favor they received in the aftermath of 9/11. "Anything I can do to help these people, I will do," a 60-yr old NYC firefighter told a reporter from New Orleans.

All of this is a long way of saying that Ann Rice doesn't seem to know America very well. Frankly, she owes the country an apology - T. Bevan 6:45 am Link | Email | Send To A Friend

© 2000-2005 RealClearPolitics.com   All Rights Reserved