You know what’s crazy? I’ll tell you what’s crazy.™
The images being broadcast non stop from the East Coast.
It’s liquid Armageddon. It’s hurricane Katrina without the creole.
It’s fire and tears and soggy looks of fear.
I’m stunned as I inhale ghastly footage of a fire fighter carrying an infirmed woman to a boat. She is alive, but she looks like a stunned zombie. She is wet and probably hasn’t moved from her home in years. Now she is being thrown in a flat bottom boat in a rain storm.
The imagery cuts to a dozen power boats on the cement near the docks. They look like children’s toys sprinkled about the boardwalk.
The scene cuts to a New York City subway that is closed, filled with water dark sea water. It looks like the end of the world.
Businesses are shut down and Electricity in lower Manhattan is out, the reporter says.
As of Tuesday night, there are 18 deaths in NYC alone.
Each loss of life is sad, but none more so than the death of NYPD off duty police officer Artur Kasprzak. The 28 year was reportedly trying to save others. He was in a house, rushing people to the upper levels. He reportedly went down to the basement and he didn’t make it back.
The reporter called him a hero. He is a hero.
So are all the countless men and women going door to door making sure people are safe and sound and have food and a warm place to stay.
The imagery is shocking.
The Brooklyn battery tunnel remains flooded. Its as if the river inhaled it.
Footage in New York City subways is nothing short of mind boggling. The mayor calls the catastrophe the worst in the 108 year history of the subway system.
I watch video of trees falling over in slow motion. There is one incredible shot of the front lawn giving way as a tree topples and the root system is pulled to the surface of the lawn, tearing up a ten foot chunk of Earth. It is sheer power, ultimate helplessness. We are so small.
Astounding.
In Long Island, there is no power. Some estimates say it could be 10 days to get electricity back. Darkness on the edge of town, Springsteen would say.
10 days!
Bill O’reilly lead his program by saying it is like 1850. He said this because there was no electricity in 1850. When it got dark, it got dark. when the sun goes down on Lower Manhattan is also gets dark. The city that never sleeps looks sleepy.
O’reilly says We are controlled by machines, and the machines have failed. The infrastructure is antiquated and incapable of handling this stress.
Interesting analogy.
He is talking about our dependence on technology and sophistication and power to run our lives.
Our great grandfathers would have lit a candle and dealt with the darkness. It is all they know.
Modern Americans are tough, but we are also soft. We need our power and our computers and our flat screens.
“the worst storm we’ve ever seen” some leaders will say on CNN and FOX.
And of course there’s the spin. How will this tragedy affect the presidential race?
Will Obama seem more presidential? Will Romney be able to compensate in the remaining days?
On the Hannity report, they start screaming about how and who politicized this tragedy.
Hannity says; “Romney was ridiculed by NBC for giving his bus to rescue workers”
The New York Times says “it proves big government is necessary.”
“Al Gore is blaming global warming for the catastrophe.”
According to Hannity, Bill Clinton said electing Romney is worst than Hurricane Sandy. I’m not sure he said this, but Hannity is fueled by this fire.
The election is next Tuesday.
The ferocious campaign rhetoric will ultimately die down.
The subways will reopen and the tunnels will dry.
This tragedy will ultimately prove that the resolve of Americans is phenomenal. We are not Democrats or Republicans when homes are burning and streets flooding. We are Americans and we will endure.
And that is crazy.™