Quick Response On the Minneapolis Bridge Collapse
By Chuck Hyde, Editor of StandBesideHer.com
Anybody who thinks that members of our government do not move fast after a disaster have to look no further than the bridge collapse in Minneapolis. This was a horrific failure of our infrastructure at the height of rush hour on a bridge linking Minneapolis and St Paul. At the time of this writing five people have lost their lives and several are still missing. Our sympathies go out to the families of these victims. Looking at the images of the scene and seeing the school bus full of children sitting upright and safe, it is easy to imagine that the tragedy could have been much worse.
By all appearances, the government at all levels did a good job responding to this tragedy. Special honor has to go to the rescue workers and emergency response teams that gave of themselves. As an Emergency Room RN, I know from first hand experience the physical and emotional toll that something like this takes on these people from the police, paramedics, and rescue workers to the hospital personnel that care for the injured and dying. Finally, the brave divers who risk their lives in the currents surrounding the bridge structures and debris in the water are especially deserving of our thanks. These men and women are all due our utmost respect. In the politically poisonous world we live in today, the focus on the news is quickly shifted to the blame game between politicians and different levels of government. One of the casualties of this focus on the tabloid worthy stories of our political leaders is that the service the rescue workers provide us is quickly forgotten by the media.
It is this politically poisonous atmosphere that brings me back to my original point of members of the government moving fast. There were people still in the water, people still injured and dying and the Democrats in Congress had already dispatched their “it’s all George Bush’s fault” response team. While it is impressive to have a team standing ready at all times of day or night to be ready to respond to a tragedy like this on a minutes notice, it is also absolutely repulsive. Let it never be said again that our government is slow to respond to a disaster. I have said before that the Democrats have reached a new low and I will almost certainly say it again but it is getting to where they have to work harder and harder to sink to new depths.
I don’t want to argue the merits of their argument, money diverted to Iraq, Bush letting the infrastructure deteriorate, etc. There are way too many arguments against these items. Democrats controlled Congress for fifty years and did nothing about our infrastructure, wasteful spending in the current congressional budget bills they promised to eliminate, etc. These arguments, while true, are irrelevant at a time like this. They could easily go back and forth and cast aspersions until they were exhausted. But they should at least get out of the way for now and let the brave rescue workers of Minnesota tend to the victims first. That’s what’s on my mind.
About The Author: Chuck Hyde is editor of StandBesideHer.com. He is also a husband and father of two teenage boys and a younger daughter. His family lives in the northern Midwestern rural United States, where they enjoy camping, fishing, and other outdoor activities together. Chuck is a Registered Nurse in an inner city emergency room and has had a lifelong addiction to politics.
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