Reasonably Optimistic
Reasonably Optimistic
The Washington Post
Lending a hand doesn’t require being armed
12 minutes Posted Aug 29, 2025 at 4:43 pm.
0:00
12:12
Download MP3
Show notes
Theodore “Ted” Johnson knows exactly where he was when Hurricane Katrina hit 20 years ago. An active member of the military at the time, he had been laser-focused on the wars abroad. In this essay, he talks about what happened when the National Guard deployed to New Orleans and the lessons we don’t seem to have learned as armed soldiers stand in other American city today.