Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2005 To: Eric  Francis <francis@planetwaves.net> From: Russ Subject: Down in Houston, huge changes Eric, If the Bushes have a hometown, Houston’s it. The parents are here, Halliburton, Ken Lay, all of it. And Houston has been flooded with an estimated 200,000, possibly a quarter million, evacuees. That in a metro area of about 3.5 million. Everyone in the area is collecting food and clothing, finding housing, helping the sick and injured. It’s staggering, incomprehensible, heartbreaking. Bill Clinton was here today with Bush Sr. and in an interview after a tour of the Astrodome refugee center said that plainly the federal government had failed and when things were more under control those failings should be investigated. The sense of shock and anger is at least equal to that of 9/11. But on top of it all is absolute outrage that this has been allowed to happen, and that the politicians showed up late, lying, and even joking, while Americans died horribly on television, while we all watched. All while the politicians denying it was even happening. People in Houston certainly know it just as easily could have been us on television, the hurricane only had to have been nudged over slightly to hit here. And every American whose home could be hit by disaster, which is of course all of them, knows it could be them and their families dying on TV someday. There is an enormous uprising of emotions -- resolve, compassion, righteous anger -- equal to any historic turning point I’ve ever experienced, and that goes back more than 50 years. Things have changed irrevocably. -- Russ Dear Russ, Thank you for that report from Houston -- please keep us posted. I've been calling Katrina the "anti 9/11." And it's good to see so many Americans opening up their hearts and homes -- and their eyes.     e