Again with the priorities
Speaking in support of his anti-flag burning amendment, Orrin Hatch said from the Senate floor yesterday:
I was asked this afternoon by a large body of media: Is this the most important thing the Senate could be doing at this time? I can tell you: You're darned right it is.
This really shouldn't have to be said, but I think the 200,000 or so still displaced residents of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, where more than 400,000 homes were damaged or destroyed by Katrina, might be the most important thing Congress could be working on at this time. It's been almost a year. America is on the verge of losing one of its great cities, if not lost already.
This Gulf Coast Reconstruction Watch report, prepared six months after Katrina, should be required reading for every member of the House and Senate. Nearly a year and billions of dollars later, and despite President Bush's empty promises, little or nothing has been done. Worse, little or nothing has been done to prepare for the next wave of hurricanes. This report should also be required reading.
Voters around the South, and especially the Gulf Coast, are likely far more interested in what Congress is doing about Katrina recovery than they are about trifling with the Constitution to "protect" a symbol -- a symbol which is supposed to represent a nation founded to "insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare," not to mention the First Amendment right to freedom of expression.
Here are the Senators from around the South who think the symbol is more important than the people it represents:
Alabama: Sessions (R), Shelby (R)
Arkansas: Lincoln (D)
Florida: Martinez (R), Nelson (D)
Georgia: Chambliss (R), Isakson (R)
Kentucky: Bunning (R)
Louisiana: Landrieu (D), Vitter (R)
Mississippi: Cochran (R), Lott (R)
North Carolina: Burr (R), Dole (R)
South Carolina: DeMint (R), Graham (R)
Tennessee: Alexander (R), Frist (R)
Texas: Cornyn (R), Hutchison (R)
Virginia: Allen (R), Warner (R)
West Virginia: Rockefeller (D)