Death, Incompetence and Closure

Let's go to the dictionary, shall we?

Our first stop, our old friend, death. We see that death is defined as the act of dying or the termination of life. From there, flip through to "incompetent" and you find that this refers to someone "devoid of those qualities requisite for effective conduct or action."

We begin with death, and this story from Reuters. It seems that FEMA can't get a bus or a boat or a helicopter out when it should, but it can get out press releases. In this case, "press release" has a dual meaning, as it is a release not just for the press but directed TO the press.

The Reuters story stated that FEMA, "heavily criticized for its slow response to the devastation caused by the hurricane, rejected requests from journalists to accompany rescue boats as they went out to search for storm victims. An agency spokeswoman said space was needed on the rescue boats and that the recovery of the victims is being treated with dignity and the utmost respect. We have requested that no photographs of the deceased be made by the media, the spokeswoman said in an e-mailed response to a Reuters inquiry."

The federal government has requested that the media not cover perhaps the most significant aspect of this story. Death, remember from above, is the act of dying or the termination of life. In this instance, I think the former definition is more applicable. The termination of life sounds official, almost clinical. What happened in New Orleans was the act of dying, an act that was hideous, painful and all too frequent. Desperate people trapped in their homes as they were swallowed by the raging waters, parents who lost a gut-wrenching battle to hold on to their children and elderly men and women who simply could walk no more played out that final act.

The administration does not want us to hear their stories, though, they do not want us to see the images of the final chapter of this storm and their own foolishness and failings and the consequences for so many. It as if these lives actually were not ravaged and destroyed if they keep the horrific pictures from us (pssst...sound familiar?)

In our daily lives, when we mourn the deaths of those around us, we often view their remains. It is often said that this experience helps confirm the reality and finality of death and allows the sorrows of one to become the sorrows of all. We need to truly know on a very personal level what has happened, not in some distant country, but here in our midst. We need to get our head around it, to grasp its scope, and we need to allow the sorrows of one to become the sorrows of all.

But if we do that, if we understand the tragedy and grieve as a community, we cannot escape that other definition, the definition of incompetence. Remember that one, the one that reads "devoid of those qualities requisite for effective conduct or action?" These images would demand explanation and any explanation necessarily circles back to incompetence.

So to avoid that, the administration draws the curtain, and pretends the final act never occurred. No explanations are necessary, no closure provided and no dealing with those messy definitions. Turn your head, look away and disregard both death and incompetence. But I can't, I just can't....