Anybody forget this?

In his state of the union address Tuesday, Mr. Bush did. I don’t want to place blame specifically with the president because I do think Katrina has faded from most of our consciousness. I fortunately have reminders everywhere. On my left hand ring finger, sits a ring a first wore on the street of the French Quarter seven months after the storm. But I know my life is not nearly as affected as so many others. There are kids who are still on waiting lists for school. For most in New Orleans proper the FEMA trailer or downtown hotel is the place of residence. I’m not going to pretend that I’ve devoted my life to helping the people of that city. But I expect my government to take care of its citizens. Bush did not write his speech Tuesday, I know that. Therefore the omission is even further proof that the administration as a whole has neglected the victims of the storm. It be easy to push this aside as a idiotic snub by a man most of us have come to accept as an imbecile, but it goes deeper than that it speaks to the fact that our government has nothing new to report on the recovery effort because very little has occurred, which in and of it self is sad.

On a more positive side Bush did not mention a ban on same sex marriage, preach against stem cell research, nor did he press for tougher abortion laws. He avoided this topic because for the first time in his presidency he delivered his annual address to a majority Democratic Congress. And that friend is sweeter than the powder sugar still tossed on beignets all over New Orleans.