Posted on 08/31/2005 4:24:31 AM PDT by governsleastgovernsbest
The problems confronting a governor in the position of Louisiana's Kathleen Babineaux Blanco are overwhelming.
Since this space so frequently roasts Dems, fairness compels us to say that Blanco, a Democrat, comes across as about as reasonable and authentic as an elected official can be expected to be under the circumstances. Compare and contrast with Dem Sen. Mary Landrieux, who at every press conference seems to focus more on ostentatious emoting than on getting things done.
In any case, the Today show offered surprisingly extended video coverage of looting in New Orleans. Given that 100% of the looters shown were African-American, one might have thought that Today's PC instincts would have discouraged them from running the footage. But for whatever reason Today did, and when Matt Lauer interviewed Blanco, he asked her numerous pointed questions about the looting.
Blanco essentially deflected the questions, offering blandishments to the effect that "we certainly don't like looting," but also making clear that stopping it wasn't a priority.
Frankly, she might well be right: in a catastrophe like this, government must prioritize, and compared to stopping the levee breach and rescuing stranded people, stopping some guy from ripping off a pair of $150 Nikes could be trivial.
Speaking of the levees:
Louisiana and New Orleans are known as some of the most notoriously corrupt places in the USA. Over decades, the government should have had one overweening infrastructure priority: to ensure the levees worked.
They didn't, and now millions suffer and billions of dollars are lost. If the politicians had been honest and spending money on the right things, one must believe they could have created a levee system that would have worked the first time it was really called upon.
I think that's essentually what Robert Kennedy Jr said when he was blaming the storm on global warming. ;-)
Unfortunately, Mississippi and Louisiana are funded by liquor, gambling and a federalized sense of entitlement. We need to send in missionaries.
ping
hey are certainly doing a dis-service to others of their race.
** What century did you grow up in LJ? Do you go around behaving yourself so you could a credit to your race? Or when white people do something criminal is it a dis-service to their race?
I am with you. If I could not aford to drive out I would have walked.
LOL!
I just could see myself in there at all. There's no electricity, overflowing toilets, and worst of all they're serving MREs.
"It is inconceiveable that she was re-elected as a United States Senator."
That's what I thought when Patty Murray was elected.
"I mean, one time is pretty incredible, but TWICE?"
That's what I thought when she was re-elected.
That is called “Git'in paid!”
And is that Ruben Studdard in Image #7? :)
Everyone can overlook food and water...medicinals and blankets, diapers, batteries....
but not cases of beer, t.v.'s, 20 fishing poles, jewelry and the like.
There is looting to steal and stealing to survive.
And a lot of what we're witnessing and, therefore, condemning, isn't the latter.
For those wishing to make a donation to help the hurricane victims, here's a link to the Salvation Army page. You can specify that the donation be directed toward Hurrican Katrina relief.
https://secure1.salvationarmy.org/donations.nsf/donate?openform&projectid=USN-hurricane05
I heard this morning from a NO official that looting was going on during the storm. My guess is that the minute that they heard there was going to be a bad storm, planning began.
If I was a news reporter there's no way I'd go into a place like that without my gun(s).
I saw a bit of a Blanco press conference concerning the damage and she is not up to this task by a longshot. You can be moved by what's gone on, but to get misty and choked up to the point where the only thing you can say is that the situation is bad, is totally unacceptable. Louisiana is in big trouble with her at the helm. Contrast her with Haley Barbour in Mississippi who is not throwing his hands up and crying, but standing tall and moving forward.
Let this be a lesson to voters in general about the reason for making sure real leaders are placed in office, and to the Rudy bashers in particular who claim anyone could have done what he did in the wake of 9/11: Disasters may come in various guises and degrees, but they all smash full-speed into leaders. The strong ones like Giuliani and Barbour smash right back, the weak ones like Blanco are left in pieces. As the knight said, "Choose wisely."
Thousands of peoples lives are at risk. Looting is not a priority.
As I said, I don't condone looting. But I don't think I could shoot someone for stealing an armload of football jerseys, either.
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