Connick Update: I Eat My Words

I have to admit, I was quite moved by Harry Connick Jr.'s firsthand Katrina report on the Today show this morning. Standing outside a safe harbor in Baton Rouge, Connick recounted his tour through his hometown yesterday, and the horrific conditions that he saw at the Convention Center, where people had no food or water. During his live interview with Katie Couric, a hoarse and shellshocked Connick made two extremely salient points:

1. That if it was so easy for him to get to the refugee sites -- he said he and the news crew he was with went past soldiers and ambulances on the traffic-free road in -- then why can't trucks with food and water get through, and

2. That the situation is not as lawless as the news media would have you believe. "These are good people who are desperate" is what he said about the situation at the Superdome and Convention Center. He was told he was putting himself in danger by going down to the refugee (it's funny to call US Citizens in a US city refugees, but that's what they are, aren't they?) sites, but he saw nothing but sick and dehydrated people that needed help.

I wish him luck tonight on NBC's concert. Maybe, as Matt Lauer suggested, he doesn't need to sing; all he needs to do is come out on stage and tell the audience about what he saw in a place of which he was once "proud" but now just calls "pathetic".