LifeSkills Shout Out

I took some time off to do a bit of traveling. I had not been to see my mom or sisters in more years than I care to count. So this weekend, some family issues prompted me to pack up and make the 12 hour trek from Orlando to Adairville, KY (look it up, I promise, it IS there on the map... somewhere).

Now don't get me wrong, I do keep in contact. It is just that I don't TRAVEL much. After 20 years of the Navy, moving to a new station every 2-4 years, you get to appreciate staying put- even if  it means not going to cool and exotic places (like the Persian Gulf) with the family.

So off to good old Adairville I went, blissfully unaware of the raging ice storm that had battered that part of the country. What was this you say? Ice storms? Power lines down? Did our main stream media not care about the fact that after a week of hardship, some 500,000 homes were still without power?

Did they not know that power went out due to ice storms on Monday and as of Friday FEMA still had not been mobilized?

Did they not know that states such as Mississippi, Tennessee and Georgia were sending crews up to help repair the damage done by the storms?

Did they not know that the governor had mobilized all National Guardsman?

Did they not know that those in charge of the shelters were asking people to go south or to friends and family who did have power because they were overburdened with refugees? Or that the local Walmart was pillaged of most of their survival goods like water because of the severity of the problem?

My sister was one of the affected- albeit only briefly on a Wednesday. As an employee of LifeSkills, Inc it is her job to provide outpatient behavioral health services to folks up in Logan County. According to their mission statement, the behavioral health members provide mental and substance abuse counseling for area residents.

I am left here wondering if perhaps LifeSkills should offer their services to the White House. It is obvious that they are smoking crack and are in need of help by this fine organization. After all, not a peep has come from the administration. The governor of Kentucky has had to plead with Obama to release federal emergency aid to his great state. (Oh, and Obama has a history of cocaine use, so just maybe...)

Why has no one asked the questions: Where is FEMA? Where is the federal disaster relief? Where is the Red Cross?

Is it because these folks are a Red State? Is it because there are not a lot of reports about minority families being left out in the cold and ignored by their government? Is it because making amends with the Arab world and making us look better by closing Gitmo weighs more on the narrow mind of Obama than, say, saving the lives of the very people he swore to protect?

If LifeSkills is not going to offer their services to the White House, perhaps they can come help me. 'Stuff' like this is driving me crazy.

The revolution is at hand. Will you be a leader or a follower?