Lewis Lapham and Chorus of Actors: What Happened After Katrina

Lewis Lapham reports: Cheney and Bush outlined the "order of priority" of power restoration to New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. Rats and dogs overrun the city.

News hadn't reached the director of Homeland Security; he waited 36 hours to declare the city a disaster. He denied that people were starving in the convention center, wet and ignored.

God finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans. "I think we have a clean sheet to start again."

The Act of God trope is explored, also the appeal of the DIY-get-away-from-hurricane-ethos: Homeland Security (and other holds of prudent conservatives) didn't want to help people who didn't want to help themselves, who aren't "mature..."

The president compared the scene to a disaster movie. "Devastating. It's got to be doubly devastating... on the ground."

Big boats in trees. (I've also seen cars through second-story windows in the Lower Ninth Wards.)

Lapham points out that a slightly more adventurous president might have hit the ground then, not waited for the army to come in.

Government worker are excused from affirmative action. Minimum wage is abolished by the government to speed up the clean up.

FEMA Director tells Wolf Blitzter things are going "relatively well."

Barbara Bush notes that since many victims were poor and thus couldn't have been so upset by losing their houses...

Laura Bush encourages children to stay in school. (There are no schools.)

The education system is a point of major public debate. Public to private (charter). 123 public schools, down to 4. All union teachers fired.

"Disaster capitalism:" Glass half-full: How can we take this ruined city and make a buck?

(I'd love for my family in B.R. to respond to these posts; my uncle works in land conservation, my cousin in construction law. They have stories to tell.)

Judith Browne-Dianis takes the stage...