Whither Katrina

Sadly, and predictably, Katrina-related coverage has largely been cycled out of the media. It's not sexy anymore. Not hott. Sure, our cultural addiction to emotionalism over discourse may lead to human interest stories about Katrina's victims during the holiday season, but serious discussion is SO OVAH. Especially discussion concerning some ugly realities about our society--the unlikelihood of effective state or federal protection of U.S. citizens in the wake of large scale disasters--of either natural or human agency. Already the limits of relying on individual charitable donations over federal aid is blazingly apparent a mere 3 months later, despite the sincere and generous efforts of citizens country-wide. This largest of natural disasters in living memory is the first major reality test, to my recollection, of the theory that private citizens can shoulder the financial burden on a large scale of "taking care of each other," rather than relying on federal aid. One thing that is happening is that donations to other charitable causes have dropped precipitously. More ominous is that the media turned, briefly, to a dissection of its coverage and biases, which while interesting also seems to have had a chilling effect on examining the event itself. While the media engaged in a bit of navel gazing, a crucial opportunity for the U.S. to take a serious look at domestic emergency procedures and what could be improved (ahem) has also been massaged out of the news cycle. Back to Paris!