"Cry me a New Year"---NOLA OP-ED

[kpete]

More From The Times-Picayune
Cry me a New Year

Whether you're looking back on 2005 or ahead to 2006, the advice is the same: Keep a tissue handy. And keep the faith.

Sunday, January 01, 2006
Chris Rose


When I look back on the year 2005, nothing comes to mind more than the opening line of Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities."

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."


Except for that "best of times" part, it describes New Orleans perfectly.

How did we get here? What happened to my tough-lovin', hard-luck, good-timin' town?

Mercy.

I have cowered in fear this year from the real and the imagined. The fear of injury, the fear of disease, the fear of death, the fear of abandonment, isolation and insanity.

I have had seared into my olfactory lockbox the smell of gasoline and dead people. And your leftovers.

I have feared the phantom notions of sharks swimming in our streets and bands of armed men coming for me in the night to steal my generator and water and then maybe rape me or cut my throat just for the hell of it.

I have wept, for hours on end, days on end.

more at:http://www.nola.com/living/t-p/index.ssf?/base/living-5/1136101137176420.xml
via:http://firedoglake.blogspot.com/

[Pirate Smile]

1. K & R

[Nordmadr]

2. How much more do we have to endure?

After reading this it continues to stir up the complex mix of emotions I deal with on a daily basis. Anger, rage, sorrow, despair, hope, hoplelessness. Perhaps I AM finally going batshit crazy. It used to be a joke.

This country is a mess. Where did we go so wrong? How do we fix it? CAN we fix it? Has it gone past the point of no return? Headlines of corruption, torture, murder, incompetence, etc. are common...yet white washed and diluted. What does it take to wake us up? What actions do we take that matter? As I sit back and write to congress, my letters to the editor, and place my signature on a petition; I feel righteous for a moment. I feel good, but then I feel inconsequential. They don't give a shit about this stuff. I don't have the power. The crooked corporations mugged us in the back alley and lifted the power right out of our wallets, then kicked us into the mud laughing at us as they strolled away. I feel small and insignificant against the tsunami of our twisted culture. I'm wavering, but for now, I'm still standing.


Olafr

[texpatriot2004]

3. I can relate. Glad you are still standing and thanks. n.t

[Al-CIAda]

5. Word.

:thumbsup:

[intheflow]

4. I actually started crying reading this.

K&R for breaking my cold heart this morning. :cry:

[earth mom]

6. Tears are in my eyes...

I haven't forgotten! :cry:

[Nordmadr]

7. Kick. N/T