And I'll drink a health to my Creole girl and the lakes of Pontchartrain

[sovay]

This reminds me why I do not watch the news. (I do not own a television.) The levee has broken; Lake Pontchartrain is draining into New Orleans; someone just committed suicide in the Superdome; and it should no longer surprise me that any time Bush opens his mouth, I cannot wait for the next election, but what he says about this disaster is exactly as reassuring and useful as soggy Kleenex. You had to come back early from vacation? At least you have a home to come back to. See how blandly you can discuss devastation when your ranch has been scraped off the earth by a hurricane, mister. I cannot imagine what it is like to live in New Orleans or anywhere else along the Gulf Coast right now. And there's nothing pretty to say.

Comments

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

There are some National Guard in N.O., but I don't have a feeling for how many more there would have been if it weren't for the war.

[madwriter.livejournal.com]

The number I heard was that 2000 of them are deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, but I didn't see a source for the number.

[lesser-celery.livejournal.com]

About one-fourth of National Guard members from Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida are deployed in or around Iraq and Afghanistan. That's pretty uniform across the four states. In actual numbers, there are 31,000 National Guard troops available in the four affected states, whereas there would have been about 41,000. Just estimating by state population, I think that means Louisiana has stateside about 7,300 of their usual 9,500. A fair number of the people available for duty at home have been deployed in Iraq recently, and the added stress of having to keep things under control in Louisiana is going to make life unpleasant. I appreciate the National Guard, especially at times like this, and I wish them and their families well.

[madwriter.livejournal.com]

A lady I know, whose husband is in the Guard in Iraq right now, pointed out that the numbers for totals we see are inflated, after a fashion. She said they include those who aren't on active duty, as well as those who are on medical leave or can't go on active duty for one reason or another but are still on the rolls.