Tina Katriina

Nearly one million people are without power in our Nation’s midsection going on the sixth day. At least forty-two people have died as a direct result of devastating ice storms that have left the center of the country (mostly rural Ohio, Kentucky, Texas, Missouri, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Indiana, and Virginia) gripped in continuous sub-freezing temperatures. No heat, little water, and in many cases sparse communications are the plight of over 500,000 homes -- a huge swath of U.S. citizenry have been forced from their houses. This devastation is not as large as was experienced with Hurricane Katrina (with over one thousand deaths directly and indirectly attributed to the hurricane) … but this one is spread over a much large area and has about the same number of people having been dislocated as was the case in New Orleans … but, hopefully, for a much shorter time.

Local officials are upset at the poor response from the states and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. What has President Obama been doing? He did declare a federal emergency for Missouri – five days after the fact. But he hasn’t even flown over the region in Air Force One to inspect the plight of this mostly white area of the country. Instead, he is throwing a Super Bowl party in the White House where the steaks served cost $100 per pound. Many have been speculating as to whether President Obama indeed has much empathy for the citizenry of these mostly “red” states.

[I do realize that this, although accurate, is grossly biased reporting, but I am just trying to mimic how the drive-by media excoriated Bush after Hurricane Katrina.}