Looking out my Backdoor: Katrina and the Crisis of New Orleans

I'm having a difficult time wrapping my mind around the scope of this disaster. We are looking at a mass displacement of hundreds of thousands of people for an extended period of time. Worse, most of these people are without means and poor, so they are truly adrift on a stormy sea for the foreseeable future. They will not be able to stay at motels, or eat at restaurants, or get jobs. They will be hundreds of miles away from their homes, resourceless and vulnerable. For months. What do we do? What can we do?

In the days ahead, we may see something truly uplifting, or truly terrible. Americans may open their arms and their homes, and rise to the challenge in what will be remembered as one of our finest hours. Or, we could all shrug and let the Government deal with it, which would be remembered quite differently.

We are at a turning point in our history. Which way will we go? Will citizens act for their countrymen, or will we punt and let Government act for its supplicants.

Either way, America, in the next couple of months, will be redefined.