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"A comprehensive, collaborative elections resource."
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An Editorial: It's time for a nation to return the favor
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| Contributor | Brandonius Maximus |
| Last Edited | Brandonius Maximus Nov 22, 2005 02:42am |
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| Category | Editorial |
| Media | Newspaper - New Orleans Times-Picayune |
| News Date | Tuesday, November 22, 2005 08:40:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | The federal government wrapped levees around greater New Orleans so that the rest of the country could share in our bounty.
Americans wanted the oil and gas that flow freely off our shores. They longed for the oysters and shrimp and flaky Gulf fish that live in abundance in our waters. They wanted to ship corn and soybeans and beets down the Mississippi and through our ports. They wanted coffee and steel to flow north through the mouth of the river and into the heartland.
They wanted more than that, though. They wanted to share in our spirit. They wanted to sample the joyous beauty of our jazz and our food. And we were happy to oblige them.
So the federal government built levees and convinced us that we were safe.
We weren't.
The levees, we were told, could stand up to a Category 3 hurricane.
They couldn't.
By the time Katrina surged into New Orleans, it had weakened to Category 3. Yet our levee system wasn't as strong as the Army Corps of Engineers said it was. Barely anchored in mushy soil, the floodwalls gave way
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