Black Man From Chicago To Offer Federal Government Help To Self-Reliant Deep South—Why Don’t We Put Them To Work Rebuilding New Orleans?

President Obama has addressed the nation about the BP/Transocean oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

Here is the video of the speech.

President Obama, a black man from Chicago, is going to use the powers of the federal government to assist Gulf Coast areas in the Deep South impacted by the spill.

(Above–A young Barack Hussein Obama with family.)

It is important that these folks in these coastal communities be allowed to maintain their way of life.

Did you think their way of life involved a minimum of government involvement in their lives?

Well..Kind of.  If you live in a city and suffer from the effects of generations of poverty that is not your fault, then you need to pull yourself up.

But if you are a Gulf Coast resident impacted by the BP/Transocean oil spill—That is different.

Why?

I don’t know.

In addition to self-reliance, another aspect of the Gulf Coast way of life is overfishing and ecologically destructive fishing methods.

President Obama left that out last night.

People in the impacted counties know how they feel about the role of the federal government.

They want the federal government to do as little as possible. People need to work to get what they have in life.

This is why Jefferson Parish, where Grand Isle, Louisiana is located, voted 62% for McCain in 2008. Grand Isle is very concerned about what the oil will do to local industries.

In Pensacola, Florida, where the oil spill is also a big deal, the two Pensacola-area counties were strong in 2008 for Sarah Palin to serve as Vice President—Escambia County was 59% for McCain and Santa Rosa County was 73% for McCain.

Louisiana parish’s that border the Gulf of Mexico were firm for the Republican ticket in 2008.

Should folks in this part of the nation be helped despite a clearly stated preference that our federal government  should remain as uninvolved as can be in the lives of citizens?

Yes. These folks should be helped because they are people and all people matter. People matter even if they don’t respect the ocean resources that sustain a way of life they say they value, and they matter even if they would let you suffer when unexpected hardship comes your way.

At the same time, folks need to hear the truth and they need to be reminded of the standards they hold others to when they are the ones asking for help.

Maybe we could put economically displaced Gulf Coast residents back to work by having them rebuild New Orleans and helping New Orleans be able to withstand the next hurricane. We could do this as part of  a federal jobs program.

That would be honorable self-reliant work.