Posted on 09/02/2005 5:23:21 AM PDT by OESY
...Of all the bad news from New Orleans, the most disturbing has been the reports of spreading disorder, with looting, marauding gangs and even sniper fire at helicopters and rescue workers. Americans sometimes expect their government to do far too much....
One reason for the New Orleans breakdown is the size of the calamity, whose growing severity caught nearly everyone by surprise. Louisiana National Guard troops that were deployed initially for rescue and relief efforts weren't available for the more basic duties of public security. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is also geared to providing relief, not order, and only yesterday did the federal government begin to focus on the potential anarchy. Among our political leaders, only Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour seemed to appreciate the genuine risk of disorder, with his early warnings that looters would not be given the benefit of the doubt.
By the way, the allegation that enough National Guard troops aren't available because many are deployed in Iraq doesn't hold up under scrutiny. The Louisiana Guard has something like 3,500 men and women deployed in Iraq, but that leaves another 8,000 or so troops available for post-Katrina duty, and neighboring states undamaged by the hurricane have still others who could be called upon. All told, the Pentagon now estimates that 30,000 National Guard troops will be deployed along the Gulf coast, and another 3,000 regular Army soldiers to pursue the armed gangs on the loose. Our advice is: Do whatever it takes.
One frequent reaction...: New Orleans is typical of Third World countries, something that was thought could never happen in America. This happens to overlook a fair chunk of U.S. history... including riots and violence. But it is also a sign of complacency born of prosperity and the resilience of our legal and civic institutions....
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
Good point. I totally agree.
That was exactly my point. NOLA has a culture of crime and decadence. Hurricane Katrina gave these cockroaches a "blank check" excuse.
There's a well kept secret!
Of course there was no media there to glamorize the lawlessness, right?
Frankly, he said that some of the people in NO were little more than animals and that some bad things were sure to happen as those animals preyed on the weak and each other.
"what is new is the lack of civil control that allows that element to run amok"
This is not new either. Come to Oakland, Calfornia. Home of street gangs and political corruption.
Precisely right. We lived in the inner-city in Atlanta for 25 years, and I know that chaos very like what we're seeing now was always a possibility. The weak and vulnerable lived in fear--behind bolted doors whenever possible--and the fear was directed not just at strangers but at their own relatives and neighbors. What was missing were what the rest of us understand as "families"--married daddies and mommies who could raise children responsibly and instill self-control in them. Without that family structure, other sorts of community organizations and civic structures were either missing or existing only as empty shells.
i'm sure the terrorist are all smiling.Think NO is bad? Wait untill you see what happens when the Moslems blow out an entire US city .Probably within the year I predict. TOTAL ANARCHY will be the response. The Urban garbage we live with will turn this into a jungle , just like nO
These people are so impoverished in spirit that they do not know how to act or what to do without someone from the government there to tell them. They are like children in a school with no teachers and no principal.
Sounds to me, in this (unfortunately rare) case, they are finally starting to try to do something for themselves. Maybe they are learning from this?
Exactly. And yet there are those here at FR who continue to deny that a culture that glorifies criminality and vice has anything to do with what is going on in N.O.
here's a reason for the "calamity." Take that segment of the population that won't or can't evacuate, that basically needs to be told what to do, and stick them all together in a big concrete bowl for a week. add water.
The ACLU and others can yell all they want, but after what everyone has seen on TV for the past few days, they won't find very many sympathetic ears.
You hit it right on the head my man ..But no one will have the balls to say it in public ..No one of these wussy politicians have the guts to say it .Just ONCE just ONCE I'd like to see a public figure on national TV tel it like it is , the way you just did ..Sometimes I swear to God I think this country desreves to collapse. In 10 years most people wont recognize the US anymore .GAURENTEED
You're wrong man ..The nation is filled with whining liberals . The TV is a total hate Bush propaganda machine . first blk that gets shot by military will be front page news and be a hero.Sharpton and Jesse will be all over the TV and Chuck assh*le Shumer will be Bush bashing.The country has gone INSANE ..
Hey, how are you doing? Do you have any family on the MS Coast? If so, are they okay?
Channel 7 news in NYC just had a reporter on the ground saying that all he is hearing is cries from the people wondering why Bush sent the National Guard to Iraq . That's why NO is in the shape it's in . I cant take it anymore..People here in NYC are hit with this onthe MSM EVERY day all day long.How many stupid people are there around here? WILL SOMEONE PLEASE GET THE BALLS TO GET ON TV AND ASK WHY THE DEM MAYOR WAITED 2 DAYS TO EVACUATER NO //He was TOLD on FRIDAY to do it but he had to meet with his lawyers first .I cant take it anymore Im serious ..DOES ANY POLITICIAN EVER HAVE THE BALLS TO SAY THE TRUTH >??????????
Don't let yourself be discouraged by the trash talk in the media.
The buck stops at the mayor of each affected city, the president of each affected parish, and the governors of the affected states. Gov. Blanco seemed stunned that the federal government was immediately on the scene. Why did she have that opinion? It was because she, like millions of Americans, believes that we don't truly have a "federal" government, but a "national" government. She mistakenly believes that her state is but a subdivision within that national government and that she's somewhere on that org chart.
She's wrong. Her state is her responsibility. That she was not prepared for a disaster like this is her fault. I know this sounds callous, but in fact there is no responsibility on the part of the federal government to help the states deal with such disasters. Go look at the Constitution yourself and you'll see for yourself. There is nothing in there that authorizes Congress to appropriate funds for disaster relief and nothing about the Executive Branch dealing with disaster relief.
There is an account of Congress voting to provide relief to a veteran's widow when her house burned down. This occurred sometime in the 1830's and the account details how U.S. Rep. Davy Crockett - yes, that Davy Crockett - convinced Congress it was wrong to appropriate those funds as it was not their money to give. Click here.
Yes, there is a precedent. And that is the problem. Originally, the states were like sovereign nations of their own. The Constitution created a union of those states with a limited federal government to keep the states trading together and to protect them from foreign invasion, etc. Over the years, the states became more and more dependent upon the federal government and the original model was forgotten. State militias were relegated to the National Guard which was basically turned over to the federal government with very little state control.
In the aftermath of the hurricane we're seeing two things. Among the people in NO we're seeing the results of decades of leftist brainwashing that convinces a large number of people that they are "entitled" to something as well as widespread acceptance of the ghetto thug culture. With the people responsible for governing these people we're seeing the results of decades of leftist dependence upon the federal government to fix every little problem.
I'm not going to blame Bush. I'm not going to blame FEMA. I blame the people of NO, their mayor, their parish presidents, and their governor for being unprepared. This is not the federal government's fault, this is their fault. The people have forgotten that they are the government. And now they've got the government that they deserve and it has proven to be deadly.
I'm not saying the Federal Government should not respond to this specific crisis. There really is no other choice at this point. The state utterly failed to live up to its responsibility and somebody has to do something. I'm just lamenting the fact that our federal model is so unrecognizable from what it was intended to be and that because that has happened we're seeing its deadly results.
Let me give you the exact opposite scenario - an example of how things SHOULD happen after a disaster.
In June of 1976 the Grand Teton Dam collapsed sending 80 billion gallons of water into the community of Rexburg, Idaho. Two thirds of the city was destroyed. Was there any rioting? No. Looting? No. In fact, when the Red Cross and the Federal Government did respond to this major disaster, they found that they were barely needed. The city had organized themselves to respond to the disaster. The predominately Mormon community came out and helped each other, to recover what they could, to provide relief for those left homeless, and to keep order. In fact, those who responded to the disaster actually got schooled by the community and the LDS Church in how to deal with a major disaster.
Compare what happened 3 decades ago in Idaho to what is happening in New Orleans right now and it is that much more sickening. I've been pondering lately how thin our civilized society is and how it may break down easily under stress. I had no idea until this hurricane tore through New Orleans and the surrounding area just how thin a veneer our civilization is in some areas of the country. Areas of the country that were dark blue on the map of the last presidential election.
"Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other." - John Adams
Well I see you dont live in the north east . The VAST majority of people here believe the MSM $100..I heard it's Bush's fault about 10 times already around here just doing my chores today / Th e bulk of America STILL uses TV as their main source of information.
Excellent post ..You MUST send that post to the news media via email .I'm serious buddy.
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