So New Orleans is gone, at least 80% so, and the most amazing city in America has been lost (at least temporarily). But New Orleans isn't amazing because it lay below sea level in a bowl shaped piece of land protected by terribly inadequate levees. Rather, it's amazing because of the people that lived there. And now, as refugees litter the interstates and people remain trapped in their homes, major Chicago newspapers remain more concerned about putting up flood simulations showing how Lake Pontchartain filled the city, and talking about how the rising gas prices are really going to cut into our pocketbooks.

New Orleans is a city of stark contrasts. The rich and the poor live smashed up right next to each other, and you have just about every race you can think of living in close quarters. Because of this, every class of people was affected by the flooding, not to mention the bastion of culture that was lost.

For this reason, it's tragic that the city has been flooded, yet even more tragic that the relief effort has been so disorganized and lackluster. We knew about this hurricane well before it struck and we are fortunate that it didn't hit New Orleans full on, or else the city really would be completely gone. But when disaster did strike, the National Guard was nowhere to be found and wasn't even mobilized until almost 24 hours later. The president was on vacation (no surprise there), and people actually applauded him for cutting it short because of the disaster. He's the president; I think we should expect him to do as much. Of course, his first speech to the American people was so incredibly disgusting, juvenile, and heartless that he was forced to speak a second time with Dick Cheney and Karl Rove standing next to him "operating the remote controls" as my father so eloquently put it.

But we can't go on blaming the president forever, because we knew he was an imbecile going into all this, and America got what it voted for this time around. I suppose, then, since we lack a leader, we must take it upon ourselves to contribute in some way to a relief effort. When disaster strikes humanity, and there is no one to control the situation and no one to tell people what to do, humanity goes mad, basic survival instinct kicks in and you see violence and looting. And when there is no leadership, the rescue effort begins to fall apart and the situation degrades further.

I believe that most of us student-aged people are back at college by this point, and I'm sure that many colleges are organizing some sort of relief effort on their campuses. If we just go to one of these meetings or drop a few bucks in the collection bucket, we're already doing our part and beginning to take control of a situation scantly addressed by our elected officials.