Okay, so maybe that's a bit excessive...
But if you saw his coverage of what is becoming the Katrina catastrophe, you understand what I mean.

Without an ounce of venom, he exposed that the emperor and FEMA have no clothes.

I am so grateful for, so touched and inspired by all of the incredible work being done by thousands upon thousands of people...It is only the beginning of what will be months and months of care, and years and years of planning and rebuilding...

And yet...

I have no doubt that given the ferocity of Katrina there were going to be fatalities...but I also have no doubt about this either: many, many of these deaths were preventable...and it wouldn't have taken extraordinary measures to prevent them...

The city didn't do everything it should have done...
The state didn't do everthing it should have done...
The federal goverment has a long, long list of should haves to answer for...

and so ultimately, we all bear responsibility...

but what I don't yet hear anyone saying...and perhaps it just isn't time to talk about this yet...how will we change who we are and how we see one another as a nation?

I was driving to lectionary group this morning and a thought began to float around in my head....somewhere along the road to today, government for the people became government for the voter...Somewhere along the way it became okay not to be a government for or with those who don't have political power. At some level this is very obvious, politicians pander to their supporters....but it goes much further than that, to the heart of our democracy...when elected officials take an oath of office....they agree to act for, to represent....ALL of the people.

The next question is who will (will I, will we) hold officials responsible if they don't represent everyone's interests...will anyone care enough to say, "Yeah, you are meeting my needs, but because you aren't meeting the needs of others, you are out."