Juan Cole: Bourbon Street Unscathed
Christian Terrorists Proved Wrong
Bourbon Street in New Orleans is relatively unscathed. [T]hat New Orleans did not take the full fury of the storm, and so many lives were spared, is one small consolation.
[Let’s] consider what this means in light of the twisted logic of notorious Christian terrorists Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell (I once saw Falwell advocate assassinating Muammar Qadhafi). …
In the terms of their logic, and given today’s news about Bourbon Street being saved from destruction, only three conclusions are possible. SEE BELOW:
God does not exist.
Or:
2. God does not use natural or man-made catastrophes to punish people for moral failings.
Or:
3. God does not actually object to people having a good time occasionally.
Robertson and Fallwell on 9/11:
…
Read all of Juan Cole’s commentary.
Thanks for posting Juan Cole’s crystal-clear (as always) formulation of the issue!! I had been in theological turmoil.
Yeah! He’s so sharp in the midst of, I sense, most of us feeling rather dumbstruck by this disaster.
I’m supposed to be preparing some major projects for tomorrow but the news from the hurricane area is paralyzing. frightening and sad. – people trapped, water rising, enormous structures damaged, the people in the superdome who thought they’d come to safety and now are trapped by rising water …
Yup. I posted a very good quote from Helen Thomas in her new column today but no one responded so I took it down … people’s heads are not into Iraq just for the moment.
I fully expected it and was upset that more wasn’t being done to alert and get people the hell out of there. I am just pissed today, so pissed that I want to say that I don’t think God made Katrina. God was on vacation, I think he was scheduled to play golf. I think Allah made Katrina. The fact that he left Bourbon Street alone is to be expected. Those people have been so busy being drunken and sinning and screwing all the different sexes and species that they have been leaving innocent Muslims alone. It’s all the other assholes!
Um, I don’t want to be a doomsayer, but unless some miraculous thing happens, I think Juan Cole spoke too soon. Bourbon street is on higher ground than some areas, but the water is rising steadily and the levee has not been plugged. I do hope Bourbon Street escapes, but I fear it’s too soon to celebrate.
True. It’s not over yet.
I want to point out, also, that the richer people live in high ground areas while the poorer people live in low ground areas. So, this disaster will take a disproportionate bite out of the poor.
Maybe it’s crass to point out class at a time like this.. where only life counts.. but it just reminds me of past disasters.. like the Titanic..etc
Should I not point that out? It seems like it’s wrong and necessary at the same time.
It’ll be the Army Corps of Engineers’ fault — trying to redirect the Mississippi River out of the Atchafalaya Rive and into the Old River.
See here
and this cached file
here.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but the Vieux Carre section of NO, which includes Bourbon St., is actually above sea level.
Only if Lake Poncatrain completely empties itself into the “bowl” of the Crescent City and all its water is trapped within the saucer rim of levees, could the water exceed sea level in height and put Bourbon St. under water.
.
The battle of New Orleans
Long before Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans was in a precarious state — caught in an ongoing war with the mighty Mississippi River.
Nice article with reference to book ::
Mississippi Delta
1812 New Orleans
~~~
Yeah, Cole may have a little egg on his face by week’s end for writing that. It’s too soon to tell if NO’s den of inequity will be spared. On the other hand, a lot of churches got leveled too. Katrina was an equal opportunity hurricane it seems.