Has anybody noticed?
Nashville seems to be “the forgotten city.” The iconic home of country music, that uniquely American genre, has been devastated by floodwaters. Everywhere you turn, there is loss and damage and destruction.
And yet to pick up a newspaper or turn on the evening news, you wouldn’t even know it. I know there are important things happening right now and the news cycle can be short and frantic.
But the lack of attention towards Nashville is glaring.
It seems to me that there’s a powerful lesson to be learned from the way America responded to New Orleans and the Katrina flooding and the current situation in Nashville. New Orleans became a symbol of everything that’s supposedly wrong with our country: accusations about a government that didn’t care, a president who didn’t like black people (outrageous), a botched recovery effort and bloated, confused bureaucrats who couldn’t find their way out of a paper bag.
But if New Orleans became a rallying cry for folks who think the United States stinks, Nashville seems to be a story of everything that’s right with this nation.
Instead of whining about a lack of government assistance, the people of Nashville seem to be saying, well, this happened to us, now let’s pick up the pieces and go help ourselves.
Churches are housing and feeding and clothing the victims. Charities are stepping up in a huge way. Americans are giving.
Nashville will recover. She is beginning the process. And we’re not being subjected to ugly, wild assertions that Americans are turning their backs on the city because of skin color or economic status or political beliefs.
Why the media blackout over the Nashville devastation? One theory is that Nashville represents everything the elitists in the mainstream media despise: God-fearing, country music-loving, conservative fly-over country folks. Another belief I have is that journalists who are in the tank for President Obama are loathe to criticize his administration for anything.
Whatever the reasons, the media silence over Nashville is deafening. And it is positively appalling.
All day today, I’m conducting a fundraiser on my radio show for the victims of the Nashville flood. I’ve partnered with my long-time friends at Feed the Children to help move supplies and personal care items and food to Nashville, being delivered by those glorious red and white semi tractor trailers that are brimming with love and generosity.
It’s my goal to show the world that Americans know how to help Americans without expecting the government to come riding in on a white horse and save the day. We know how to take care of one another without whining and accusing and belly-aching. And this country will wrap its collective arms around this great American city and do everything it can to remind these people that they are not alone.
Please help. To make a donation to direct supplies to be delivered to Nashville, just go to www.mikeonline.com and look for the Feed the Children banner on my website. Better yet, have your credit card handy and call 1-800-328-2122. $105.00 will deliver 750 pounds of relief supplies. $52.50 will deliver 375 pounds. Or, you can specify any amount you wish, because every penny is going to help.
Let’s show Nashville that while the ivory tower elitists in the media might be ignoring them, the American people will not. Just like there’s an amazing spirit in the country right now that indicates that we’re willing to finally stand up for what we believe in, may Nashville be another turning point where we reject the blame game after a natural disaster like a flood and we do what we do best: help one another with a giving and loving and generous spirit.