Katrina, Again

Because I happened to be mostly housebound for the worst parts of the Hurricane Katrina disaster, I followed the story and the stories surrounding the story very closely. The evolution of events that took place was fascinating, as the media went into New Orleans expecting, I think, to cover a RELIEF effort, but instead found that they had, in fact, beat that relief effort to the scene. And they didn’t just beat them by a matter of hours — the media was in that city for DAYS before FEMA and the Louisiana National Guard launched a significant relief effort that saw people actually getting evacuated. That unique situation led to circumstances where many reporters and on-air personalities found it hard — and some found it impossible — to maintain their objectivity, instead resorting to, quite literally, yelling, screaming, and — in one special case — waving a baby around.

Cleaning my hard drive today, I stumbled across a couple of clips of news professionals giving in to the strong emotions evoked by the diaster. I also came across a few clips — including a rather infamous one — where other people affected by the disaster spoke candidly. Instead of just deleting them, I’ve decided to archive them here. I think they’re valuable as a resource; one that could potentially help people understand the nature of this disaster and its significance to modern American — and, indeed, World — History.

Looking back now, with the evacuations completed and rebuilding beginning, it’s hard not to see some of these clips as ridiculous. And some of them are. But bear in mind just how little was known about the true nature of the disaster at the time. Most of these news people were working blind, thrust into chaotic circumstances. Nobody really knew how many people were dead, trapped or dying in New Orleans. Nobody knew why they weren’t rescued for four days. As Anderson Cooper says in the first clip, anger was the most natural reaction. And all of these people are very very angry.

• Anderson Cooper talks to Louisiana Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu — Cooper, on the ground in New Orleans, refuses to accept Landrieu’s repeated attempts to thank the politicians in Washington. He asks if they are truly deserving of credit. When Landrieu refuses to stop thanking people, Cooper, voice shaking, describes how he had just witnessed a body being eaten by rats. Enormously heavy stuff from the guy who hosted The Mole. Unfortunately, Landrieu never really gets it.
• FOX News’ Shep Smith and Geraldo Rivera freak out on Sean Hannity — I’m generally not a fan of FOX and its on-air personalities, which makes this all the more surreal. Hannity, one of the more hardcore Republican shills, tries to paint the situation as improving, but Shepard Smith, on the ground, paints an utterly bleak picture of the situation. Then, Hannity throws it to Rivera, in the convention centre, who quite literally FREAKS OUT. He eventually picks up a baby from a mother and starts ranting in a near incomprehensible fashion, capped off by a “WHAT THE HELL?” flourish. One of the most surreal things you’ll ever see.
• Aaron Broussard, President of Jefferson Parish, LA, interviewed on Meet the Press — Broussard starts the interview angry, accusing the government of abandoning the people in Louisiana. Quickly, though, his focus shifts, as he starts to tell stories from the disaster. The last one, in particular, is heart-wrenching.
• Keith Olbermann editorializes — MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann, normally one who refrains from editorializing, goes on a devastating rant, running down the federal government’s response to the Hurricane. I’ve never really paid much attention to Olbermann — or MSNBC — before, but he really is a tremendously powerful speaker. The rant in this clip is as wonderfully eloquent as it is devastating. My favourite part: “[The government] has just proved it cannot save its citizens from a biological weapon called…. standing water.” Fascinating to see a news man go on such a vicious rant.
• Kanye West and his thoughts on George Bush — You know this one. You’ve probably seen this one. But, still, if you haven’t, watch it. It’s more funny now than it was then. I think Myers’ and Tucker’s reaction make the clip.

I realize there’s not a lot to say about video clips like these, but I hope some people do take a second to watch them. It’s sad, I think, that some people choose to let major events like this pass them by, choosing instead to live on in a sort of blissful ignorance. I understand that this sort of thing is depressing, but some familiarity is important. This and the London Bombings and the Tsunami in Asia and, yes, 9/11, are to us what the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Kennedy Assassination, the Million Man March and Man Landing on the Moon were to generations before us. Our kids will appreciate it if we have more to say about the Hurricane that destroyed New Orleans than “I remember it happening, but I didn’t pay a lot of attention to it.”

At the very least, if you watch some of these videos, you’ll be able to say “Geraldo waved a baby around and cried while Kanye West made Mike Myers hideously uncomfortable.”

Do it for your kids.

Matt