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September 01, 2005
Fats Domino...
Not Dead!!! [a wink to any d-mailers.]
The more I hear and read about the situation in New Orleans, the more horrified I am. Ambimb has a great post with lotsa links. People are being raped and beaten in the Convention Center. Corpses litter the flooded streets. Armed bands of thugs are roving the city, shooting at hospitals and seriously hurting the rescue effort.
What's disturbing is the hurricane hit Sunday night/Monday morning and it's now nearly Friday morning and the situation has gotten worse not better. What happened to FEMA? Why, when we knew last Friday night a devastating storm was going to hit the Gulf Coast, were there not measures in place? What about the brand new Department of Homeland Security? What about the Louisiana and Mississippi National Guards?
All the people still in Lake George? The new head of FEMA, an estate planning lawyer (sadly, his knowledge will be useful in this situation) referred to many of those people as "those who chose to stay." The evacuation was made mandatory on Sunday, Aug. 28. That's one of the worst days for people who live from paycheck to paycheck. Consider nearly 20% of New Orleans lives below the poverty rate. How many of those people, living in a major metropolitan area, have vehicles? There was no public transportation out of the city, despite the mandatory evacuation order. I heard a two-time Bush voter, a tourist, recount how he finally had to pay a taxi $200 to drive him out of the city.
And why are we turning down help? Yesterday a crack Canadian rescue team was ready to help and they were kept out of the country by the DHS. Things seem to have cleared up today and all the offers of aid are pouring in and are being accepted, even from Pat Robertson's enemies. Even those America hating commies at Move On are helping by setting up a website which serves as a nationwide clearinghouse where people who have housing to offer can reach people left homeless by the storm.
A quote: "I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees."
I don't think I need to point out the multiple news and government sources that directly rebut that ridiculous statement which brings to mind the famous "No one predicted that they would try to use an airplane as a missile, a hijacked airplane as a missile," which was also completely false.
Posted by Half-Cocked at September 1, 2005 10:50 PM
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Comments
I noticed you mentioned the police chief's rape allegations. I wonder: are rapes really happening on the scale being implied in the media? Every source points back to one police chief's comment. I have yet to run across a specific example of anybody actually seeing or being a victim of a rape. And you know the media would latch on to specific examples of they had them.
I'm not saying that rapes haven't happened, and I'm certainly not calling the police chief a liar. But in these sorts of situations it is not at all unusual for charges to be made that distort reality. I'm just saying it is possible that this is one such unsubstantiated charge.
I hope I'm right. I fear that I'm wrong.
Posted by: Mr. Wilson at September 2, 2005 09:56 AM