Dartblog

Meet Katy Reisch. Ms. Reisch’s photograph was taken by a man called David Zalubowski, who works for the Associated Press. Mr. Zalubowski was roaming the strange nation called Denver International Airport on Saturday, taking photographs of the diseased and the dispossessed as they wasted away awaiting their flights, a ravaging snowstorm having grounded all planes. Sealed in the airport, the victims lapped up what remained of Au Bon Pain’s freshly squeezed orange juice and downed with haste the remainder of their soft, buttery croissants. Soon there would be only Sbarro. It is hell.

There’s Katy. Mark her, know her. She has nothing to eat and nothing to drink, except for the restaurants and soda machines around. Her only option for escape: to take a bus or call a friend or something—impossible. So she’s just sitting alongside her luggage, trying to stave off looters, with ten thousand other weary would-be travelers. Like Hurricane Katrina in the summer of 2005, the blizzard in Denver is forcing some tough questions to be asked of the federal government, the body charged by the United States Constitution with gently nudging all natural born citizens through their shakable lives. The denizens of Denver, selected by the federal government to live in Colorado, and to be there during the winter, and to then attempt to fly out of there on Christmas eve, they are now crying out for help, and wondering why George Bush and FEMA have not done more. Wondering if it isn’t all because of their city.

The United States has an ugly history of Denverism. Timeshare agents are routinely mocked on situation comedies and cartoon shows, a practice their anti-defamation league has vowed to fight in light of the tragic blizzard which even now enrobes the city in white. Now, Denver citizens who wanted to fly to New York City on December 24 are waking up to that history, and demanding a change. They want, among other things, FEMA to fix the unacceptable frequency of Coloradan blizzards. They want an apology from George Bush for their plight. And they want free Visa cash cards.

UPDATE: Another blizzard is on the way, threatening to stunt New Year’s travel and strand yet more throngs at the airport. I have a call in to the Army Corps of Engineers, asking why they have not solved the blizzard problem.