News item, The News & Observer of Raleigh (Sept. 7, 2005):
John Edwards says the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina underscores the “two Americas” theme of his presidential campaign last year.
“We see the poor and working class of New Orleans who don’t own a car and couldn’t evacuate to hotels or families far from the target of Katrina,” Edwards said in e-mail messages to supporters Friday. “We see the suffering of families who lived from paycheck to paycheck and who followed the advice of officials and went to shelters at the Civic Center or the Superdome or stayed home to protect their possessions.”
Edwards added, “We have been too slow to act in the face of the misery of our brothers and sisters. This is an ugly and horrifying wake-up call to America.”
At last, John Edwards and I have found something on which we both agree. There really are two Americas. As Edwards said, Hurricane Katrina made that crystal clear:
On one side, there are Americans who assume responsibility, work together, cherish their independence, and live free or die, as they say in New Hampshire.
On the other side, there are Americans who expect others to feed and house their constituents and raise their children from cradle to grave, blame others for their mistakes, stir up dissension, and demand that the government—taxpayers— shield them from any of life’s inconveniences and injustices.
I’m not talking about the innocent victims of Katrina. Anyone beset by such a disaster needs all the help we can muster. Millions of Americans, myself included, are rushing to offer assistance, be it with our money, food, or time.
As one who experienced first-hand a similar catastrophe here in North Carolina, I know what it’s like to live amid the misery of an area engulfed by floodwaters of biblical proportions. They called it the 500-year flood. I was the editor of The Free Press in Kinston when Hurricane Floyd swamped the eastern part of the state in September 1999.
Floyd, and Hurricane Dennis just before it, dumped a total of 30 inches of rain and ravaged the homes of hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians and tens of thousands of square miles. Towns such as Kinston, Trenton, Grifton, Snow Hill, Tarboro, Princeville, Greenville, and many others disappeared under floodwaters as high as 30 feet. Rivers crested two or three times above flood stage. All their highways inundated, the towns were mere islands cut off from the rest of the world. No food, no water, no medicine, no gasoline, no supplies of any kind could come in, except by helicopter, for days, or weeks in some areas.
Millions of carcasses of pigs, poultry, and other livestock floated into towns. Caskets washed out of graveyards. Raw sewage from flooded wastewater plants and chemicals of all kinds spilled into the noxious mix. Death, devastation, and the threat of disease haunted us for months, even years, after Floyd had passed. Many affected communities still haven’t recovered.
In eastern North Carolina, local rescue workers, reinforced by an army of community volunteers, went to work immediately. Soon, the state arrived with help, including the National Guard. Like in New Orleans, federal help arrived days later. Soon after, thousands of volunteers and money from across America began to pour in. Rescue operations continued weeks later. Stranded residents were still being plucked from rooftops by helicopters. The search for bodies inside homes was suspended for weeks until all the floodwaters could recede.
But, that’s where the similarities end.
I don’t remember widespread looting, killing, and incidents of women being raped. I don’t remember police deserting their posts and robbing stores. I don’t remember local or state officials shirking their duties. I don’t remember North Carolinians, either the public or politicians, using the complicit liberal mainstream media to find federal scapegoats. I don’t remember anyone spewing hatred and charges of racism. I don’t remember anyone, with an eye on the next election, trying to take political advantage of a tragedy.
Therein probably lies the most tragic situation: that in a time of crisis the radical element that controls the Democratic Party, rather than focusing on the promotion of unity and reconstruction of a devastated area, seems to be working harder to damage the Bush administration and to create division in our nation.
Edwards should know better. His fellow North Carolinians, and good Samaritans across America, set the standard of behavior during Floyd. He, and his cohorts, would do well to review that lesson.
Richard C. Wagner is the editor of Carolina Journal, newspaper of the John Locke Foundation in Raleigh, N.C.