Lolis Eric Elie has a moving editorial in the Washington Post today:
If, say, Cuba or Venezuela had seized 24 square miles of American territory, the call to arms would have been immediate and decisive. But because coastal erosion is an enemy neither foreign nor domestic, we seem willing to surrender to it. We’ve retreated behind the excuse that New Orleans can’t be saved. We’ve abandoned our can-do pride. In the Netherlands, the Dutch have managed to craft a flood-control system that protects the huge percentage of that nation’s land that lies below sea level. These days Americans lack the money, the ingenuity, the patriotism, the humanity of the Dutch.
When I read Lolis Eric Elie’s “Unmasking Our Pain in New Orleans” I was moved to tears. You see, I’m living it and only someone living it (the volunteers included) can possibly understand the magnitude of this long drawn out nightmare. The writer has captured the situation with words that draw vivid pictures from the Mardi Gras celebration to the Corps of Engineers debacle here and 122 other levees throughout the other 23 areas of compromise. Thank you Lolis Eric Elie for an article perfectly written.