It Happened Before New Orleans...

Breaking the Social Contract


New Orleans wasn’t the first time…

We tend to see New Orleans as America’s first example of the government turning its back on the people; misrepresenting their needs and intentionally ignoring the facts. That should have been our first clue.

And while certainly it was reprehensible that the government could or would employ such tactics, we should be cognizant of the fact that it happened before.

After 9/11, when the first responders started coming down with a wide range of unusual symptoms, Christy Whitman as EPA representative showed up on scene to calm everyone’s fears. If you recall, she had the temerity to claim that conditions were not dangerous or deleterious for “first responders” according to the studies run by her department.

Sadly enough, we believed her…

Later on, a more detailed study by another agency discovered that the reports of the EPA had been toned down and modified before being released. This independent report suggested that there was greater danger of exposure to the toxic substances than originally reported.

Admissions by both coroners and medical experts at Mt. Sinai hospital many months later seemed to reaffirm the agency’s findings and differed in major ways with the findings of the EPA, yet both the city and the federal government said that the results of their testing and examinations conducted after the deaths of the “first responders” were inconclusive. Since that date, many additional workers have been diagnosed with disease connected to their presence at the World Trade Center on or after 9/11.

The government has been slow to admit its guilt but the fireman and other ‘first responders’ have not forgotten that the government has ignored their pleas.

If they leave their jobs or turn their back on the government’s request should we face another disaster, who will take their place knowing that we cannot trust our government
To protect us and that if we do get involved, more than likely we will be on our own…

For most of us, we were brought up to believe that if anything happened to those who helped their country, they would be taken care of. This has not happened since GWBush has taken office.

Les Aaron
The Armchair Curmudgeon