After the Storm: The good, the bad, the let's-shoot-them-now

WSJ.com OPINION JOURNAL ^ | Thursday, September 1, 2005 12:01 a.m. EDT | Peggy Noonan

[LizardQueen]

New Orleans needs a Rudy. They're sorely lacking a local leader

I agree. I keep thinking WWRD - "What Would Rudy Do"?

And in the absence of a Rudy the gov and mayor need to step down and let the military take over. N.O. needs to become a military dictatorship until it gets straightened out. If it's citizens want to act like people in a banana republic let them become one for a time.

LQ

[KitJ]

"Cops should allow anyone to take food, water, and a couple of items of clothes. It is all destroyed anyway and the food will rot. TVs, computers, jewelry, anything else, ka-boom."

Boy, there's a 'shoot the right looter' video game in there somewhere....


Kit
Louisiana (the dry part)

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Yes. They way we handle this will say a lot to Americans and to our watching enemies.

[Elkiejg]

Where is Je$$e Jackson, Rev. Al, Julian Bond -- and the rest of the race baiting leaders? Why aren't they down there telling their "folks" to cool it, why aren't they down there helping their "people".

Oh, I forgot, they're too busy sticking their mugs in front of the TV cameras bashing President Bush and America.

Agree 100% with the poster who said what we're seeing is the result of our Welfare state - thank you Democrats.

[seemoAR]

Some of the Police were too busy. I saw a film clip about looters on the news. Two uniformed female police women were also shopping at a store. I believe it was a Super Wal Mart.

[stevie_d_64]

Thats a good plan...No doubt about it...

But I bet you a dollar, you would have had the same stuff, packed up, loaded up in your vehicle(s), and been on your way out before it hit...

BTW, we do think alike...

One thing, do you got family living outside of a perceived "damage swath" of a hurricane like this???

That would be a good fallback position...

If not, you may want to imagine where you might go to be safe, then think an hour to two hours (by vehicle) beyond that point...

Just some ideas...

[Cincinatus' Wife]

It's appalling but it's all they know to do.

[WorkingClassFilth]

"Political leadership in times of crisis is a delicate thing. You have to be frank about the fix you're in without being demoralizing."

Unfortunately, the crisis existed well before Katrina hit. If the PC mayor or NO had declared the true state of affairs and made the threat clear, many more might be alive today. Instead, she waited until the last moment to hedge her political bets. A real leader would put their own career on the line to ensure the greatest possible safety in the face of what we all (that is, anyone following the hurricane) knew was imminent destruction.

[beyond the sea]

By the way.......... why are so many of those people down there so FAT? ------ Because carbs are the cheapest food source to be found, and fried foods are the norm.

I knew that...... and I just wanted someone to say it.

Three to four boxes of macaroni and (fake) cheese for $1.00 at the store is quite a deal!!!

Gotta admit. I love macaroni and cheese .......... with gorganzola and sharp cheddar cheese and heavy butter (and hot, hot peppers).

[Eaker]

Grab the important stuff and have it prepacked.

1) Videos of your kids growing up.
2) Have your guns cleaned and in heavy-duty plastic bags with cleaning kits and plenty of panther-piss except for your carry weapons. (You should have already stocked ammo)
3) Canned goods and MRE's (Army/Navy stores). Ice ain't gonna happen so be ready to do without. People did for hundreds of thousands of years.
4) I have a 30 gallon plastic barrel for water, you should too.
5) Keep all vehicles full of fuel.
6) Batteries, batteries, batteries.
7) Police up all camping gear and have it prepacked.
8) Pre-arranged rally point with a backup rally point.
9) The squemish should prethink if they will shoot goblins or give up their families lives to them. I can skip step 9.

There are more but I need to get back to work.

It would be great if others added to or massaged my brief list.

[inquest]

People with no food and water who are walking into supermarkets and taking food and water off the shelves are not criminal, they are sane. They are not looters, they are people who are attempting to survive; they are taking the basics of survival off shelves in stores where there isn't even anyone at the cash register.

Glad someone else is making that point. There have been many people on other threads who've been insisting on making no distinction between those taking bare survival items and those taking jewelry.

[Quilla]

Unfortunately, the crisis existed well before Katrina hit.

Ten years ago my son had surgery at the Children's Hospital in New Orleans. We were released with prescriptions to be filled and planned to stop at a KB Drugs down the street. The nursing staff warned me to be extremely careful as three people (one was an infant) had been robbed and murdered nearby in the last 24 hours.

The level of crime and the element that commit these violent acts have been rampant there for years. New Orleans' city leaders have always know this and should have realized and planned for this contingency.

[LS]

While we're at it, I teach at the U. of Dayton: All the nation's universities should agree to accept a few students from Tulane, UNO, Loyola, and all the other NO/Gulf Coast schools that will be shut down for a semester. We could get them in and get them one full semester's credit. Put them up with dorms, and temporarily allow all credits to transfer on a straight up basis.

[Redleg Duke]

The correct term is "Martial Law".

[NYer]

Rudy Giuliani set the modern standard on 9/11, and in a way that is not remarked upon.

Bears repeating!

The President should put Giuliani in charge of this rescue operation.

[DB]

Sorry.

I spell badly, but you know that...

[Redleg Duke]

Yeah, and I pick fly$hit out of pepper too much myself! :-)

[humblegunner]

Social security cards, birth certificates, car titles and other important documents
need to be waterproofed (double ziplocked) and packed along as well.

[sitetest]

Dear Siobhan,

Thanks for the ping.

Those who loot in the aftermath of a catastrophic disaster harm society on the order of mass serial murderers.

One of the most basic obligations of civil government is to establish and maintain good order. The government isn't doing that. I'm disappointed that the federal government hasn't inserted troops with orders to shoot looters on sight. It would only take the extermination of a few of these individuals to get most of the rest in line.


sitetest

[libstripper]

If anybody tried this kind of crap in Dodge, the marshal and/or armed citizens would have shot him dead in an instant.