TX AWOL

Perhaps the State of Texas is trying to make FEMA look good by excusing itself from doing much more than shrugging at the crisis still gripping its largest city? If anyone had any doubts, the state’s official website goes out of its way to make their lack of care obvious.

That “Hurricane Relief” thing at the northwest corner of the state’s home page? A curiously sick joke. It links nowhere, gives no information on how to contribute funds or efforts to any relief, points to nothing that the state itself might be daydreaming about doing for relief, gives absolutely no clue as to what it is even doing there. Just, “Hurricane Relief,” sitting there as impotent as the state’s own hurricane response has been.

But ok, at least that “Hurricane Ike Aftermath Information” links through to something, right? Well, yes, but don’t expect it to take you much of anywhere you could not have gotten to more quickly simply by bypassing the Texas state website entirely, as fitting a metaphor for the state’s Ike response as could be drawn. Must be intentional on the part of the website managers, one could easily think.

Ah, but we can always show that we side with our governor, showing that we empathize with Hurricane Ike victims who have lost their homes, their jobs, and their lives by contributing to the governor’s mansion restoration fund. We must remember to keep our priorities straight, must we not?

[Additional Ike-related aftermath content: Hurricane Ike Aftermath]