To the editor:

I do not know what is more disturbing, the devastation from Katrina, looting and shooting by some in New Orleans or the behavior of those participating in the blame game.

Instead of constructively focusing our energy into compassion, helping our fellow citizens and problem solving, some are engaged in destructive and divisive behavior – the blame game. So intent on blaming President Bush for every problem surrounding Katrina, including the storm itself, they ignore reality. One has only to compare the proactive response of local and state authorities to the devastation caused by the repeated hurricanes hammering Florida in 2004 to the nonresponse of local and state authorities in Louisiana to understand the issues. To blame President Bush for global warming and thus Katrina because he has not signed on to Kyoto is to ignore the cyclic nature of our earth and the gradual warming of our planet for the last 400,000 years. During the end of the last ice age, we were eating berries and nuts. So what caused global warming then?

Some in the press justify blaming President Bush because we have no one else to blame. This is displaced aggression. Have we helped all we can or just blamed others? Have we helped assure we are prepared locally to handle disasters? If not, who do we blame?

We should follow the example of our parents and grandparents to past disasters. Roll up our sleeves and go to work helping and building back better, not blaming.

David Reynolds,

Lawrence