All that aid money given to Hurricane Katrina victims? The money that went for cosmetic surgery, a divorce, champagne, sports tickets, a sex change and dozens of other ridiculous items? Don't blame hurricane victims for spending it that way. It wasn't their fault.
A source no less reliable than the Los Angeles Times tell us that, so it must be true.
"But obsessing about the spending habits of refugees comes perilously close to blaming the victim," wrote a Times editorialist in the newspaper's Sunday edition.
You see, the Times says it was FEMA's fault the money was spent so frivolously.
"It's easy, and necessary, to criticize FEMA's across-the-board incompetence in responding to the largest displacement of Americans since the Civil War," the editorialist declares.
No one is giving the government relief agency a gold star for its response to the disastrous hurricane that struck New Orleans and neighboring states. FEMA, however, isn't the only one to blame for mismanagement. Take a look at New Orleans' mayor and Louisiana's governor. There's plenty of blame to go around.
The storm wasn't the finest moment for the Red Cross, either. It's hard to imagine how it could have bungled things as badly - and squandered resources as egregiously - as reports show it did. Just about the only people who came out of the rescue effort unscathed by scandal were church-based organizations and individual volunteers who labored so valiantly.
If you recall, FEMA gave hurricane victims $2,000 debit cards to help them pay for immediate necessities: food, clothing, gasoline - the things they needed to live. Maybe that wasn't the best way to handle the problem, but no one in this country has ever had to provide for so many people so quickly. FEMA was overwhelmed. That's not an excuse. It's the reason and it doesn't negate the sad results of the government's rescue efforts.
But to say the recipients of those cards - the people who made the choices and spent the money - were not responsible for their behavior is nothing short of asinine.
It seems to be a part of the nothing-is-ever-my-fault mentality that has taken hold in this country. We're back at the point where personal responsibility is not required and the-devil-made-me-do-it reasoning is perfectly acceptable. Except we can't blame the devil either. That smacks too much of religion, so we'll just have to blame our lousy childhoods or our fifth-grade teacher who gave us an unsatisfactory grade or - and everybody can relate to this - the GOVERNMENT!
The next time we have a national disaster it will be difficult to fault Americans who are slower to give, slower to help than they did during the Katrina debacle. Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, shame on you.
Lee Raynor is editor of KinstonPress.com. She welcomes your comments at 361-7530, or at
leeraynor@kinstonpress.com.
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