On the First Day of Christmas...

On the First Day of Christmas
The Bluenecks gave to me
A rebuilt New Orleans

Over three months after Katrina nearly wiped out the most exotic city in America, New Orleans is still a disaster. The city is broke. Most of the schools have been taken over by the state. The power grid is destroyed. Hundreds of thousands of citizens are scattered to the winds.

Will Mardi Gras go dark? Should we stop the party out of respect for the dead? There's a New Orleans tradition for burying the dead, and we should follow it. Let's have the World's biggest jazz funeral. Let's build a monument in the St. Louis Cemetery. Let's play a long, slow dirge. Let's sing "Pecious Lord." And then, for the love of this great city, let's start the second line.

Because the city that defines parties cannot stop the Carnival. If we don't have Mardi Gras, then George Bush and FEMA wins. So game on, New Orleans. Game on, America. Bring your beads, your cameras, and your tourist dollars. Let Wynton Marsallis lead the band. Let them break into "Didn't He Ramble," Let's wave the umbrellas. Let's put on the Carnival masks. Let's weep and shout and dance.

But let's not let those responsible off the hook. Because clearly the Federal, government has failed the people of New Orleans. Twenty years of federal budget-cutting has left FEMA and other agencies woefully underfunded, understaffed, and run by political cronies with no experience. We need a national effort to train a new wave of real civil servants who will return the Federal government to its job of doing for its citizens what they cannot do by themselves.

And by the way, if the city and the Krewes can't make Mardi Gras happen, George Bush should fund it with one of his famous tax cuts. He said he wanted to lead a big effort to rebuild. Let's see him put his money where his mouth is.

What can Bluenecks do to help?
Gray Line Tours has started a disaster tour through New Orleans. Take it! It's only $35, and $10 is being donated to recovery. America needs to see first hand they way the government has failed these people. If you can't go to NOLA, donate through the Red Cross or the Salvation Army.