Katrina: 1st Anniversary of Monumental Bush Administration Failure

Excerpts from a message from Senator Obama: This week marks the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, one of the greatest natural disasters to ever strike our shores. The images of Katrina are still seared in our minds one year later: mothers holding their babies above water, seniors slumped in wheelchairs, and bodies floating down American streets. We vowed then, and still vow today, that we'll never forget. One of greatest tragedies of Katrina is that our government failed us. The people who are supposed to be there for us when the chips are down failed and forgot the hundreds of thousands of people who needed them the most—and left them to fend for themselves. One year later and we're still hearing about survivors pleading with the government for trailers and food stamps. Today, many have already forgotten the tragedy—and how Americans stepped up in the face of massive government failure to take care of each other. The news cycle moved on, but those affected didn't have that luxury. From the beginning, the idea that has been at the center of the American experience is that amid a melting pot of races and backgrounds and beliefs, we still feel a responsibility toward each other. That out of many, we are one. It's what brought together white and black, rich and poor to march together and fight together for civil rights. It's what's caused soldier after soldier to risk their lives to save those people they never met. And it's what sent Americans from all over the country deep into the waters of New Orleans, willing to do whatever it takes to pull their neighbors to safety.