[Siobhan]

Peggy makes sense of the madness:

As for the tragic piggism that is taking place on the streets of New Orleans, it is not unbelievable but it is unforgivable, and I hope the looters are shot. A hurricane cannot rob a great city of its spirit, but a vicious citizenry can. A bad time with Mother Nature can leave you digging out for a long time, but a bad turn in human behavior frays and tears all the ties that truly bind human being--trust, confidence, mutual regard, belief in the essential goodness of one's fellow citizens.

There seems to be some confusion in terms of terminology on TV. 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.

[Siobhan]

ping

[freeangel]

Save for later

[konaice]

Louisiana's Gov. Kathleen Blanco was shakier, but she can recover. She wore her heart on her face, not always helpful in a leader in crisis. In her early news conferences she looked concussed. Her presentation seemed scattered.

This is apparent on every TV appearance she makes. She is not cut out for this job. Her state needs a leader, and she's not nearly up to the job.

[fml]

I wonder if the cruel and stupid young people who are doing the looting know the power they have to damage their country. I wonder, if they knew, if they'd stop it.

They are not all young, cruel and stupid yes. Would they stop if thy knew - I doubt it, they don't care.

[expatguy]

Overseas the papers are all focused on the anarchy and looting rather than the tragedy. It is a shame.

An American Expat in Southeast Asia

[DB]

Well I think the Governor is significantly responsible for the looting to the degree that we've seen it.

She should have called for Marshal law immediately. She should have sent in the National Guard the morning after the storm with shoot to kill orders and announced as much via low flying helicopters with loud speakers.

Then this mess would have been contained from the get-go.

She was weak kneed when it counted and this is the result.

[tkathy]

Rudy is a great leader.

The entire democrat leadership in LA is horrible. They need to elect some strong Republican leaders.

[beyond the sea]

As for the tragic piggism that is taking place on the streets of New Orleans, it is not unbelievable but it is unforgivable, and I hope the looters are shot. A hurricane cannot rob a great city of its spirit, but a vicious citizenry can. A bad time with Mother Nature can leave you digging out for a long time, but a bad turn in human behavior frays and tears all the ties that truly bind human being--trust, confidence, mutual regard, belief in the essential goodness of one's fellow citizens.

****

Say it again, Peggy.

[Siobhan]

ping

[gitmo]

The night of this hurricane, I was pondering what I would do if I were caught in New Orleans in this storm. I decided my #1 priority would be to get my family out of the town as fast as possible.

My preference would be to have our backpacks, plenty of rope, water, a little food, waterproof matches, maybe an axe and a tent, and some firearms. Pack before the storm hit. Life vests wouldn't be a bad idea.

I would have put my family on a forced march (forced wade?) to get outside that city within a day. The dangers from flooding, disease, violence, snakes, and dehydration become worse every day. I rejected the idea of going to that football stadium, because the government wouldn't be able to support the numbers of people there.

[beyond the sea]

If this part of the story grows--if cities on the gulf come to seem like some combination of Dodge and the Barbarian invasion--it's going to be bad for our country.

It's much worse than Dodge, Peggy. Dodge City was paradise compared to this sin pad.

[beyond the sea]

If New Orleans damages that sense, it's going to be painful to face. It's going to be damaging to the national spirit. More damaging even than a hurricane, even than the worst in decades.

It already has damaged that sense.

Welcome to the age of 'entitlement' and The Welfare mentality. It is right on a big stage right now!

[don-o]

I will take excepetion of the kudos to the media; specifically the ones who said that a bullet had been dodged just as the storm was making landfall. Now, I got my reports second hand, via the Live Thread mostly; where there was concern that the levees might break.

So maybe there were voices of caution. But what I heard was almost giddiness.

[LS]

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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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

[Salvation]

Glad to see this comment in her column:

Mississippi's Gov. Haley Barbour came closest to the Giuliani model. We are friendly acquaintances; I knew him years ago when he was a political operative in Washington. I'm frankly surprised he's turned into a leader, but he has. From the beginning of the hurricane drama Mr. Barbour came close to Mr. Giuliani's specificity. In news conferences he laid out with breadth and precision the facts of the Mississippi coastal devastation. He had to keep telling the press and the public that there would be more dead than they understood, a delicate thing to have to do. He did it with candor and transparency but no defeat. He had command of what facts were known. His face was shocked and sad, but he never looked beaten; he referred on "Larry King Live" to the rebuilding of the coast as if it were a foregone conclusion but one that will take massive work. He seemed straight, unillusioned, human. Watch Mr. Barbour. If he continues like this, he's going to become a significant national figure.

[Tolik]

Nailed It!

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