Katrina

The devastation from Hurricane Katrina, and especially its aftermath in New Orleans, is going to change our country forever - hopefully for the better. However, it also has the potential to rip us apart. Our country stepped up to amazing challenges forced upon us in WWII. This will be the challenge of this generation. When hundreds of thousands of our citizens are ripped from their home and communities and placed in makeshift shelters across the country, we're all going to be dealing with rebuilding their lives. Jobs were scarce before this. Where are all of these transplant communities going to find new livelihoods for their newest occupants? New Orleans may be habitable by next year, but it will take years to turn it back into an active city with jobs and lives for these people. Many of them are going to stay in their new communities or move near other family and friends elsewhere. Congress has already alotted tens of billions of dollars for the immediate relief efforts, but warns that much more will be needed. As a nation, we are going to have to realign our priorities and turn inward to address the issues of infrastructure, jobs, class, race, and international commitments of our troops that this crisis brought right to the forefront. We should not have days of lawlessness and starvation in a major American city, especially as a result of a crisis that we could see coming. These people need help now, but we also need to use this chance to rebuild our country into a better place. I don't know if I will be needed, but I have heeded the Department of Health and Human Services call for physician volunteers to the region for ongoing medical care of these evacuees. If needed, I'll be gone for 2 weeks, so please send some extra love to Becky and the kids. For now I have to wait and see if they need me, but I'll keep updating here of course.