Cord Byrd: “chapter 3, verses 1 through 8, of the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Holy Bible begins: To everything there is a season and…”

“chapter 3, verses 1 through 8, of the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Holy Bible begins: To everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven. Let's read that again: To everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven. It is time for a national debate, and its purpose is our country's future. Sometimes it takes a catastrophe to put events into perspective, to shake us and to sharpen our clarity of vision. The wrath of Katrina, tragic and devastating for thousands, must certainly has caused many thinking Americans to consider anew the proper priorities for our country. Who among us has not wondered if the efforts to rescue and evacuate Gulf Coast residents suffered because too many National Guardsmen have been detailed and detained in Iraq? What thinking American has not pondered why we had such a painfully slow response to a behemoth storm which we knew for days would likely turn New Orleans into a caldron of despair? Is there anyone in our great country--anyone--who did not feel the painful outrage of the citizens of New Orleans and Louisiana and Mississippi, as they waited for days without food, without water, without knowledge about loved ones? Who among us did not shrink in dread from the specter of our fellow citizens' bodies floating in the murky flood waters or stacked in hospital stairwells for want of anyone anywhere else to house them? Could this be happening in a major American city? Can you believe it?…”