New Orleans

I don’t think anyone expected that it would take days to mobilize FEMA and the National Guard into action in New Orleans, but that’s the way it seems to be. Everything New Orleans tells the tale in dark, scary terms. People shooting at officers, angry mobs trying to get onto late-arriving buses to whisk them away to safety, dead people lying around in the open. If we can’t get control over an area of our own country, we’re in a sorrier state than I ever thought we could be. Granted, the devastation in New Orleans is supposedly worse than anything we’ve seen in the US, but what happens if something happens to NY or LA or SF? We need to get our act together, and we need to get our National Guard back from overseas, back home where they should be.

I also find it very interesting what the president said today — “I think there ought to be zero tolerance of people breaking the law during an emergency such as this ? whether it be looting, or price gouging at the gasoline pump, or taking advantage of charitable giving or insurance fraud…” Remember what Donald Rumsfeld said when we got into Baghdad and the looting started? “Freedom’s untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things…” Amazing how this administration applies different standards wherever it sees fit to do so.

I just got an e-mail from my mom up in New England where she mentioned she was paying almost four dollars a gallon for gasoline. Hmmmm… Record profits last year for the oil companies. You think during this time of crisis they could maybe make a little less profit? Maybe just for a couple months while the infrastructure gets settled and New Orleans gets out of emergency mode? Can’t say that, can I… Oh no. That smacks of socialism. Restricting profits… Not in this country.

We’ll just smile and continue to pay, right? I have to admit, I’m going to get a chuckle seeing every soccer mom out here in Whitelandia trying to fill up their giant Tahoes, Expeditions and Hummers. Let’s see… Here’s an article from a little over a year ago about how Hummer demand is still high — Car Buyers Unfazed by Fuel Prices. Gotta love it. Let’s see… Thirty-two gallon tank in a Hummer. At four bucks a gallon, that’s $128 to fill up the gas tank. At thirteen miles a gallon in metro areas, let’s be generous and make it fifteen overall, a tank of gas will take them about 400-500 miles. That’s over a quarter dollar per mile. My Saab costs about fifteen cents per mile, and my mom’s Honda is about thirteen cents per mile. I wonder what the resale values of Hummers are right now? There certainly are enough of them out here. I wonder if I’m going to see them on sale anytime soon?

I can’t help but think of the days when I was making $15K a year and every single time I filled up the tank at $1.30 a gallon was agonizing. I don’t know how people earning minimum wage today will be able to cope with this, as they’re the ones who will be impacted the most by these prices. The only upside to all this is that it’s sure to provide a nice boost to the companies and people who are investing research dollars into alternative energy sources. That’s good for us, good for the planet, and good for our national security. Perhaps this is the best thing that could’ve happened? The more the oil companies continue to overplay their hand, the better off we’ll eventually be. Unfortunately, the suffering of many will continue for some time before that happens.