Grand Theft Auto - NOLA!!!
Posted on 09/03/2005 6:54:45 AM PDT by RKV
The disaster of New Orleans, unspooling minute by minute on our TV screens, has been wrenching - in one particular way even more gut-twisting than Sept. 11.
You could watch the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks and feel horrified at the sheer violence and destruction of it; angry at the murderous evil of Mohammed Atta and the other hijackers; heartbroken at the awful suffering and loss. But there wasn't any cause to feel embarrassed and ashamed.
Those are the emotions evoked by sights of the massive lawlessness in New Orleans in the days after the storm and the inability of anyone to stop it. Katrina unleashed a catastrophe of nearly unimaginable proportions, confronting government at all levels with enormous challenges. That the reaction to the hurricane initially seemed uneven and slow is understandable, but even allowing for the hellish circumstances, the breakdown in civil order has been stunning.
Without order, which government exists to protect, nothing else is possible. Not even rescue operations, as New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin has learned. On Wednesday night, as the city descended into an urban dystopia straight out of the 1981 film ''Escape From New York,'' he had to command nearly all the city's 1,500 police officers to focus on re-establishing law and order instead of saving endangered people.
Everyone understands desperate people getting food or water by any means possible. Plundering tennis shoes and TVs, as a small thuggish minority has done, is another matter. And the problem is that there is no such thing as a little chaos. Once a climate of disorder is set, it has a logic of its own. First, it was stealing tennis shoes, then it was taking potshots at a helicopter arriving to evacuate people from the Superdome. Goons stole a bus from a nursing home and threatened its residents. Rescue workers report that rocks and bottles have been thrown at them and shots fired their way.
Unfortunately, the urban revival that had swept much of the country mostly left New Orleans behind. The atmosphere of lawfulness that stood New York City in good stead after 9/11 and during the 2003 blackout - although those were much less far-reaching disasters was never established. The city never had a Rudy Giuliani. Even as murder rates continued to decline in other cities in recent years, the murder rate in New Orleans crept up. The police were plagued by allegations of corruption and brutality, and, according to The Associated Press, only had ''3.14 officers per 1,000 residents - less than half the rate in Washington, D.C.''
Law enforcement, of course, is primarily a state and local responsibility, but in the age of the 24-hour news cycle, people look to the federal government and the president to solve any problem on their TV screens. Already the question is being asked if the feds could have jumped in sooner (the National Guard is now arriving in force). If President Bush pays a political price for the images of lawlessness that have played out in New Orleans, it will be the second time looting has hurt his cause.
The other, of course, was in Baghdad in 2003. It is a matter of consensus now that the rip-the-place-apart looting in the initial days after the fall of Saddam Hussein set the occupation off on the wrong foot. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld explained the looting away at the time as the natural exuberance of a newly liberated people. One wonders: Has anyone in the administration read their Hobbes? Or does he not make the ''compassionate conservative'' reading list?
New Orleans has provided a corrosive lesson about government. At all levels, government is overbearing and nagging, paying for people's prescription drugs and telling us whether we can smoke in restaurants or not. But when it comes to its most elemental task of maintaining order and protecting property, it might not be up to the task when it is needed most.
Keep that in mind and buy a gun, just in case.
I understand what you're saying, and I agree with you. However, there's another issue involved here: This is the result of the Welfare State, biting NO in the butt.
The gangsters have largely been raised by other gangsters,
So, yes, the gangsters themselves are to blame, but their lawlessness is on the tail end of a State mandated cycle. Even so, they, the gangsters, should be held totally responsible for their actions, regardless of this welfare cycle. Clear?
...
Oh yeah, I've been aware of this for the last fifteen years. It's been a hoot griping about it on deaf ears (NOT). I've even been ostricized by some of my own (deluded liberal) family members. I don't care what they think any more. They're on their own. A person has to decide wether they are going to sink or swim. I prefer to swim. Even while the crap floats to the top I can still swim around it.
Gangsters only survive with a willing "local" legal system within a welfare state like NO.
Please go post this comment on Huffington's Blog!
Political appointees at every level from top to bottom in corrupt La.
"I, and I daresay many others, would like for you to sit down and shut the hell up. You're a fool, Mr. Robinson. A race pimp."
The beginning of the end for these race pimps and whores was indicated to me when that black, famale, Clinton era appointee (her name escapes me)went to speak at a largely white high school. She basically went into the time tested "you're all racists" rant---AND THE KIDS STARTED HOOTONG HER DOWN AND WALKING OUT!
For years I have been wondering WHEN enough will finally be ENOUGH.
"I wonder ... how does this mayor and governor sleep at night ... KNOWING their winking at lawlessness permitted people who needed help to not get it and die."
This is not without precedent. David Dinkins let fellow blacks engaged in a vicious a pogrom rampage for three days in NYC without lifting a finger to help the Jews (many of whom probably voted for him). I'll bet he hasn't lost a wink of sleep. Anyone capable of allowing such a thing in the first place would not be likley to suffer fom even a twinge of moral doubt afterwards.
Actually, it was a photoshop for a contest. I didn't upload it because I feared they would ban me because they have a "no gore" policy over at fark.com.
It was deleted when I had to format. You'll just have to visualize it ( which is often better ).
Crash on the levee, mama,
Water's gonna overflow,
Swamp's gonna rise,
No boat's gonna row.
Now, you can train on down
To Williams Point,
You can bust your feet,
You can rock this joint.
But oh mama, ain't you gonna miss your best friend now?
You're gonna have to find yourself
Another best friend, somehow.
Now, don't you try an' move me,
You're just gonna lose.
There's a crash on the levee
And, mama, you've been refused.
Well, it's sugar for sugar
And salt for salt,
If you go down in the flood,
It's gonna be your own fault.
Oh mama, ain't you gonna miss your best friend now?
You're gonna have to find yourself
Another best friend, somehow.
Well, that high tide's risin',
Mama, don't you let me down.
Pack up your suitcase,
Mama, don't you make a sound.
Now, it's king for king,
Queen for queen,
It's gonna be the meanest flood
That anybody's seen.
Oh mama, ain't you gonna miss your best friend now?
Yes, you're gonna have to find yourself
Another best friend, somehow.
Even a drug-addled hippie like Bob Dylan recognized this diaster waiting to happen as far back as 1967!
Grand Theft Auto - NOLA!!!
"Now there is a visual image to tie the dependency state to, to tie gangsta rap to, to tie apologist-pimps like Jesse Jackson to. These aren't victims of society, they're victimizers of society. They're only victims of their own lack of ambition, decency, and morals."
Totally agree. I believe we are now paying the price for LBJ's "Great Society," in which it became fashionable to sit back and let government do everything for you. An entire generation of Americans, not just African-Americans, had the drive and initiative sucked out of them. More than one generation will be required to reinstall the drive and initiative.
I know this is heartless, cruel, etc, at a time like this, but since this HAS sort of become the "cannibal" thread, thought I would post one of my favorite cannibal jokes:
Several cannibals were recently hired by a big corporation.
"You are all part of our team now," said the HR rep during the welcoming briefing. "You get all the usual benefits and you can go to the cafeteria for something to eat, but please don't eat any of the other employees."
The cannibals promised.
Four weeks later their boss remarked, "You're all working very hard and I'm satisfied with you. However, one of our secretaries has disappeared. Do any of you know what happened to her?"
The cannibals all shook their heads no.
After the boss had left, the leader of the cannibals said to the others, "Which one of you idiots ate the secretary?" A hand raised hesitantly, to which the leader of the cannibals continued, "You fool! For four weeks
we've been eating Managers and no one noticed anything, then you had to go and eat the secretary!"
You are right. The imagination is often better. I also draw cartoons, but would not have considered the gore issue. I guess I better keep that in mind, huh. Thanks for the mental image though. It's still funny!!
Great post U.V. It's about time these things were said openly. Of course the MSM will bury this and anything like it. I've been tuning into CNN occasionally this a.m. and the anti-Bush propaganda campaign is in full force.
Get an AR-15 w/1000 rounds of ammo or a 12 gauge 870 remington with 250 rounds of buckshot. Either will get you through a tight situation.
"This is not without precedent. David Dinkins let fellow blacks engaged in a vicious a pogrom rampage for three days in NYC without lifting a finger to help the Jews (many of whom probably voted for him). I'll bet he hasn't lost a wink of sleep. Anyone capable of allowing such a thing in the first place would not be likley to suffer fom even a twinge of moral doubt afterwards."
You're right!
I forgot about that.
Please do not smear all Americans with your "WE" reference. Only SOME are doing the looting, murdering, raping, et. THEY have failed US.
Mindless liberals shove the blame on someone else. That's the way it ALWAYS is with them. Deny, deny and pass blame on someone else.
"There is plenty of depravity to go around, coast to coast and border to border...including your area too. "
Nope. NOT where we live. We live in a conservative area. We pay more to not live in it.
I'm sorry to hear you have depravity where you live.
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