From the Editor's Desk

Dear Reader,

The consequences of the recent hurricanes that devastated regions along the Gulf of Mexico are still in the news and on the minds of Americans. Was it the worst natural disaster in U.S. history, the worst response to it, or both? The fact remains that the tragedy in New Orleans brought the majority of middle- and upper-class Americans face to face with the lives of the poor in their own country.

“This is not a crisis that is going to be over in a week or a month,” said Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, archbishop of Washington, after touring the devastated areas (see our interview in this issue).

Amid the many discussions about needed changes, I was heartened one day to see Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee on public television. More than 60,000 people had sought refuge in his state after hurricane Katrina and some 4,000 more after Rita.
“The people of Arkansas have accepted these folks as neighbors and friends,” he said. “I have asked them to practice the Golden Rule: Treat them like you’d want to be treated.”

The governor has earned praise for helping first and worrying about funding second. “Arkansas is a place where the Golden
Rule is considered more than a suggestion,” read the Wall Street Journal (9/22/05).

Thanksgiving this year undoubtedly takes on a special meaning in light of these disasters, both for those spared by the storms and those who lost everything but the essentials. May all of this inspire us to work so that humanity will be even more one family.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours,

  ~ Clare Zanzucchi