This is a brainstorming diary.
I am in full agreement with Chris Bowers brilliant diary which calls for the liberal blogosphere to make massive donations to existing charities. I also feel that very shortly it will begin to become apparent that the scale of this disaster is one in which this government and these charities alone are not equipped to address.
The lowest estimate I have heard discussed via the media for a safe return to New Orleans is three months. It is also clear that upwards of one million Americans are suddenly homeless, jobless, and in a state of shock at this time. To my knowledge, this has never happened in America. It is now time we admit that this is the largest catastrophe to ever occur within the United States.
This means that our friends from the blog community are going to have some very difficult choices to make over the next several days and weeks. We as a community can be of some assistance. Our friends have just lost their homes, their valuables and records, their jobs, their communities, their churches, perhaps some loved ones and pets, their day to day functions of being. We, the liberal blogosphere, have a great deal more than money to offer our friends and loved ones who we know by so many different handles. Let’s get it done!
More on the flip.
What am I discussing?
* Food
* Clothing
* Shelter
* Employment
* Physical, Mental, Emotional, and Spiritual Support
* What am I missing?
Why us? Why not leave it all to the Red Cross, Catholic Charities, Salvation Army, and the federal government? Primarily because I am convinced that the collective I.Q. talent, skill, and passion on these blogs is greater than anywhere else in this nation. We have doctors, lawyers, educators, carpenters, social workers, preachers, chief executive officers, painters, artists, musicians, programmers, etc., etc. With the collaboration of the talent within the liberal blogosphere we have nearly turned this nation from deep red to nice shade of blue in two and a half years. Imagine what we can do for the survivors of this disaster.
I can’t accept the concept that our brothers and sisters will be left unprotected, unsheltered, unfed, and unfurled as they begin to emerge from the shock they are currently experiencing. We have tens of thousand of people in this community with the personal and professional resources that can offer long term solutions to the problems our cyber friends and families are facing. Let’s use them!
We need to begin planning now.
Crossposted at My Left Wing and DailyKos
talking about here?
Here at BMT, we have duranta and we know he’s safe, and have offered assistance.
Do you really think there are a lot of bloggers out there without places to stay?
A major American city and about five surrounding parrishes are being evacuated for at least three months.
The coast line of two other states have been pretty much decimated.
I am assuming that more than one blogger has lost his/her home.
Perhaps I am wrong.
That’s not what I asked, I am sure that we have more than one person who has lost their home, I asked if you think that there are people without a place to STAY.
Are you kidding?
right?
That’s what I’m asking about because I think that the people with nowhere to be are the ones I will be focusing on.
It’s not that I don’t feel bad about the loss of property but if they are safe and have somewhere to stay for the forseeable future (which I’m pretty sure describes a lot of people who blog regularly, but I could be wrong, that’s why I asked the question — how many people are we talking about? I thought perhaps that you had information about bloggers who were stranded).
I am more concerned with people who have absolutely nothing, no family to get to, no resources at all.
Did I misunderstand your diary?
I don’t know to be honest. I am sorry if am a bit touchy, but I have been trying to evacuate my mother-in-law while taking care of the realities in my own life.
The reality is, I am from San Francisco. An area from Sacramento to San Jose has just become unihabitable. I know there are at least 125 people in our local group from the big four liberal blogs. (I usually post at Dkos and mostly My Left Wing, although I have been registered her for a while). There are at least another seven or eight hundred bloggers from the area that lurk and haven’t joined our group. That is a low estimate. If this happened here, we would not be able to post on the blogs any longer. Not only that, we have families and friends here.
This is really what I was discussing. A method of supporting our friends and their families from the liberal blogosphere.