From the Bahrain Gulf Daily News

Gulf people are the ones who care...
 

I have been in Bahrain for two weeks and I am quite happy to report that as a New Orleanian, I feel vindicated.

I travel around the world, and people ask where I am from. I do not say, "America", I say "New Orleans". After the complete and utter abandonment of the city and people of New Orleans by the American government, I do not feel like an "American" anymore.

Being in the Arabian Gulf has made me realise that most people here understand the feeling. They know that the hurricane didn't destroy New Orleans, the government's failure did. They know that half a trillion dollars has poured into the US government's debacle in Iraq, yet thousands perished on the US Gulf coast, some simply because they had no drinking water. They know the US government simply does not care about New Orleans or her people, and has, for the first time, abandoned an American city.

The people of the Gulf do care about New Orleans. Saudi Arabia had contributed $250 million (BD93m) for relief, and Qatar $100m (BD37.5m). A friend of mine is proud to say that his child's schoolroom has a plaque on the front that states, "This classroom was donated by the people of Saudi Arabia". The people of the Gulf of Mexico are extremely thankful to the people of the Arabian Gulf.

I am enjoying my time in the Gulf, and a large part of that has to do with the Arabic hospitality, and the fact that the people here know that New Orleans is still not OK. In New Orleans, some of us have borrowed a Gaelic phrase, "Sinn Fein", meaning "We Ourselves" or "Ourselves Alone".

This is because we realise the US government is not going to help New Orleans, as they do not care and we must help ourselves. However, when I talk to the people here, and when I see the generosity they have exhibited, I realise that we are not alone. For that, I thank you all.

---

Update:

Here's what I actually submitted.  Note the editing by the newspaper.  It's fine that they changed "Persian Gulf" to "Arabian Gulf".  It's fine that they changed the Americanized spelling of realize to the British spelling.  It's not fine that they removed the part about the levee failure.

Thank you from a New Orleanian.

Greetings,

I have been in the Kingdom of Bahrain for two weeks now, and I am quite happy to report that as a New Orleanian, I feel vindicated. 

I travel around the world, and people ask where I am from.  I do not say “America”, I say “New Orleans”.  After the complete and utter abandonment of the city and people of New Orleans by the American government, I do not really feel like an “American” any more. 

Being in the Persian Gulf has let me know that most people here understand that.  They know that the hurricane didn’t destroy New Orleans, the criminal failure of the levees did.  They know that half a trillion dollars has poured in to the US government’s debacle in Iraq, yet thousands perished on the US Gulf coast, some simply because they had no drinking water.  They know that the US government simply does not care about New Orleans or her people, and has, for the first time, abandoned an American city.

The people of the Persian Gulf do care about New Orleans.  Saudi Arabia has contributed almost $250M for relief, and Qatar over $100M.  A friend of mine is proud to say that his child’s school room has a plaque on the front that states “This classroom was donated by the people of Saudi Arabia”.  The people of the Gulf of Mexico are extremely thankful for the people of the Gulf of Persia.

I am enjoying my time in the Persian Gulf, and a large part of that has to do with the Arabic hospitality, and the fact that the people here know that New Orleans is still not OK.  In New Orleans, some of us have borrowed a Gaelic phrase: “Sinn Fein”, meaning “We Ourselves” or “Ourselves Alone”. 

This is because we realize that the US government is not going to help New Orleans, because they simply do not care; we must help ourselves.  However, when I talk to the people here, and when I see the generosity they have exhibited, I realize that we are not alone.  For that, I thank you all.

Prof. Ashley Morris, Ph.D.

Comments

[doctorj]

Send my thanks to them also.

[oyster]

Excellent news.

But I thought you were coming home today.

[Nancy Nall]

Good job. That'll get you on a watch list somewhere. Enjoy the strip search before your next flight, professor.

[ashley]

...like I'm not already on one. When the wife gives a subscription to "Granma: Cuba's English language weekly", you're on the list.

Did I mention she was in the Young Pioneers as a youth?

[Carmen]

I'm betting all the NOLA bloggers are on lists. When your computer starts scrolling up and down without your moving the mouse or hitting the keys, then start to worry.

[D-BB Phd]

Those people in the Middle East are so smart.

I would love for us to adopt their laws.

[ashley]

Yeah, but that's because you're already left handed...

[Mr. Clio]

This is

FREAKIN AWESOME.

No American newspaper would publish this.

You make me miss the Arabian Gulf, bra.

Dat's my roots.

[D-BB Phd]

Packing my bags and I'm outters. They still don't cut off hands for stealing, do they?

[Justin Deco]

The American people are a wonderful lot. It's the American polity which stinks.

[Marco]

Bravo, Professor. You're a ambassador of goodwill. They get it.

[D-BB Phd]

Holy camal shit! Ashley, please do not post on your blog while you are in Bahrain.

If you do, be careful what you say.

For more info go to:

http://www.freekareem.org/

He is a blogger and got 4 fucking years in jail just for posting stuff the Bahranian Government didn't like.

Please be careful my brother.

[Bushwick Bill]

Oh, aren't you left-wing professors precious? Whooping for a proletarian revolution while enjoying six-figured sinecures.

Granma. Young Pioneers. Pfah. Your wife belonged to an organization that was morally equivalent to the Hitler Youth. Perhaps she had to join to get along. Still, it's not something about which to brag.

As for no longer considering yourself an American, because Bush's FEMA failed you? Be honest, Professor Morris, your regard for America and Americans must have been rather shallow for Bush's incompetence to destroy it.

Many of us hate Bush.

Many of us think what's happened in New Orleans is a damn shame. (Though we reserve a large measure of scorn for you New Orleanians and Louisianans who knew or should have know that this was coming. I'm a Hoosier and I knew this was coming for you. Five or six years a go, I read a John McPhee piece about the dangers of the levee system, a piece McPhee wrote 20 or 30 years a go! And still, you people didn't have your shit together.)

Now, FEMA's response has been disastrous. But what has Bush touched that hasn't been disastrous?

Still, I love America. And as offended as I am by the incompetence and destruction wrought on the world by the Bush administration, I'm offended by phonies like you who pretend to have lost regard for our country because of an incompetent administration.

[KamaAina]

"You people"? Are you serious? Yikes.

Did the McPhee piece happen to mention that the levees are a Federal, NOT state or local, responsibility? I'm thinking it probably did...

If you'd hang around for a while, rather than just doing a drive-by post about "six-figure sinecures" and the like, you'd know that the Perfesser's disaffection with "the country to our north" stems from the country having lost regard for New Orleans, not the other way around.

[D-BB Phd]

KamaAina, I ain't stupid. I Googled "sinecures".

I think that made me mad.

[ashley]

Hey, Bill. Sorry I missed your earlier comment.

My wife was at the time living in Communist Czechoslovakia. Membership in the Young Pioneers was basically mandatory. I'm sure that if *you* would have been there, you would have refused to join, and you would have started a right wing revolution. Oh wait, you're too much of a pussy to even give a real email address -- how can you be expected to take responsibility for anything.

Thank God for WHOIS -- enjoy your job at North American Van Lines. I'm sure they're happy you're spending your work time blasting a New Orleanian with an opinion.

The "piece of shit" levee system is the responsibility of the "piece of shit" federal government. Fuckmooks like you in Ft. Wayne should know all about that, as you just successfully lobbied for $5.3M in flood protection, as you've been hit by two "hundred year floods" so far this decade.

You're stupid for living there.

I self identify as a New Orleanian first and foremost. For better or worse, we *are* still part of America, and my taxes have to go to keep fuckmooks like you, who don't want NOLA rebuilt, safe from flooding.

[KamaAina]

Fort Wayne? Isn't that where those mooks had Mardi Gras in *June*?!

Why, I do believe it is...

http://ashleymorris.typepad.com/ashley_morris_the_blog/2007/06/where_not_to_ev.html

Figures.