I apologize if I seem greedy, having written a column just the other day about President Bush’s inaction in the face of hurricane Katrina. The situation, however, is dire. No, it’s beyond dire; it is verging on apocalyptic.

I’m sitting here wondering what I can do. I have donated money. The gesture seems meaningless.

I applaud SMU for reaching out to Tulane students. And President Turner’s office has announced that food and supplies are being collected in Perkins Administration. Please give what you can.

The truth – sad and painful – is nothing is getting into the city. New Orleans has descended into anarchy.

For some reason – only God knows – relief efforts are not reaching the city. Peter Slevin of the Washington Post is on the ground in the city and reports that “there are no signs of organization.” I can only wonder how so many reporters can be on the ground, but our government has not been able to put anyone in the city.

On the News Hour on PBS, I sat helpless and watched reports showing dozens of people – those who were not being held hostage by flood waters – march out of New Orleans on foot. Some have been walking since Wednesday. They have no food. No water. No money.

More importantly, there are no outposts anywhere along the highway heading out of New Orleans where they can rest or seek shelter. Where is the Red Cross?

Back in New Orleans, dead bodies line the streets. People have died in the Superdome and the Convention Center. An elderly woman who died in her wheelchair was simply covered by a blanket.

Women and children are being raped openly. The Superdome has no air and no water. The toilets have backed up — feces and urine are ankle-deep in restrooms.

Outside, thousands of people are trapped on elevated highways. One woman watched her husband die, only to be faced with the unthinkable disgrace of being asked to drag his body away so her fellow captives didn’t have to smell the stench of his decaying corpse.

National Guard units and police have arrived at bases that FEMA designated as relief centers, only to find that supplies have not been delivered.

To say that New Orleans is on the brink of civil war would not be an understatement. It has, for all intents and purposes, become a war zone.

In the meantime, Bush continues to play King of the Hill or Old King Cole or whatever he does to pass his time – inside his bubble. I am not exaggerating when I say that any other president would have been on the ground in New Orleans days ago. Instead, he opted to view the disaster area from the comfort of Air Force One – or at least as much as anyone can view from the window of a 767.

He has refused offers of help from Canada. Why? Mr. President. Perhaps his pathology – what a George Washington University psychiatrist diagnosed as paranoid megalomania – is so great that he refuses to allow anyone to do what he himself cannot do.

In the meantime, Secretary of State Condaleeza Rice continues her vacation in New York. Her itinerary: last night, the Tony Award-wining musical “Spamalot;” this morning, tennis with Monica Selles; this afternoon, a shopping spree that netted a pair of $6,000 Prada shoes.

The connection? The disconnection. The disconnection of this administration and its inability to coordinate rescue and relief is nothing short of criminal. Its immorality and inhumanity are manifest.

In the days, weeks, months to come, this administration will offer a myriad of excuses dressed up as explanations. In fact, the spin has begun. “We didn’t have enough notice,” carped the governor of Mississippi.

Apparently, in the Bush world of Orwellian doublespeak, no one knew the levees were vulnerable. Not true, Mr. Bush. Everyone knew that New Orleans was especially vulnerable to flooding.

But what did Bush do? He cut the budget of the New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers by a record $71.2 million to help pay for his war.

According to the New Orleans City Business, “[A] study to determine ways to protect the region from a Category 5 hurricane [were] shelved” because of the cuts.

Finally – and most tragically – some Bush apologists have even begun to blame the victims for failing to evacuate. At least we know Karl Rove is hard at work – even if his boss isn’t.

Am I mad? Yes! This should not happen in the United States.

George Henson is a lecturer of Spanish. He may be contacted at [email protected].