Posted on 09/07/2005 4:25:31 AM PDT by Chi-townChief
Evacuees. Humanitarian crisis. Terrorism. Failure of leadership. We Americans have become citizens of the world. No longer can we stand aloof, conjuring pity and donations for the wretched souls of other lands who suffer the indignity of losing everything. This new millennium has shown us we are just as vulnerable to the ills of our modern world as any impoverished African nation.
Terrorism on our shores? Never, we thought.
We were insulated on two sides by friendly neighbors and on two other sides by huge expanses of water. Terrorism was something that happened in the neighborhoods of Jerusalem or the subways of London.
But that hole in the ground in Manhattan is ongoing proof that we are no longer insulated from anything.
Evacuees in America? Never, we thought.
Those poor misfortunates were to be found in the fetid, disease-infected backwaters of some war-torn Third World nation that we could not even find on a map.
Now we know they also can be found in the Superdome, a place we thought was only for fun and games.
Humanitarian crisis in America? Never, we thought.
That was what we called it once the evacuees of those war-torn Third World nations had overrun the neighbors willing to help. By the time the evacuees had become a humanitarian crisis, people already were dying from starvation and disease that easily could have been prevented with a few antibiotics and some clean drinking water.
Now we know that people without food, water and sanitation are just as likely to die in a waterlogged city in America awaiting help that never comes as they are in a waterlogged village in Thailand.
Humanitarian aid to America? Never, we thought.
That was something we offered, not something we asked for. Show us a humanitarian crisis on the five o'clock news and watch as Congress debates how much money to send and whether the country is worthy of our help. Now Sri Lanka is sending us $25,000 to help us dig out from our own disaster.
Failure of leadership? Not here, we thought, at least not when the stakes were this high.
That was what happened in other countries, where the leaders made themselves and their friends wealthy while the poor suffered, where the government was disorganized and unable or unwilling to respond. Now we have proof that it is happening here as well.
Before Katrina, we Americans had always come through for our own. There always was money and manpower and political will to mobilize help where it was needed most.
But the Bush administration has different priorities. He has spent our money and manpower and political will in Iraq fighting a war of his choosing.
Even at home, he has acted more like one of those Third World dictators who enriches himself and his friends while impoverishing his country. President Bush's tax cuts -- which went primarily to the wealthiest Americans, including Bush and his pals -- left little for the poor people who live in the inner cities of New Orleans and the rural areas of Mississippi. They were left to wallow in abject poverty, just one natural disaster away from destitution, starvation and helplessness.
Now that the troops have rolled into New Orleans and the levy repairs have begun, we have turned to another uniquely American pursuit -- ruminating on the causes of this national embarrassment. Was the response so slow because the victims were overwhelmingly black and poor? Was it because the people and money we needed were in Iraq rather than America? How will we ensure it never happens again?
It will take years to fully answer those questions.
But we Americans already have learned some cruel lessons this millennium. Some have made us angry, others have bolstered our resolve. Learning that we are no better at taking care of our own than some impoverished Third World country may be the most humbling of all.
mailto:cindyrichards153@hotmail.com
The President of the United States had to beg the governor to declare a state of emergency.
It is not the American people outside of Louisiana who are at fault. In less than a week, millions of Americans have responded with hands-on help and cash. More than $500 million has been donated in a few days. That dollar amount dwarfs any contributions ever seen in America.
The shame of this event is the half-century of welfare that has made a huge portion of our population so dependent on others they cannot save themselves and must sink to subhuman living conditions and behavior.
Our ancestors knew how to work, survive and overcome. In the old days, you were responsible for yourself and your family. If you didn't work, you didn't eat. We had families more intact and people had a stronger sense of pride and self-worth.
The author of this America-bashing piece delights in the misery of others and fans class and racial hatred while REAL Americans are out there solving problems.
America is still the greatest country on earth. The author of this article cannot see that because she is so blinded by her own Marxist indoctrination.
I'll never understand this mindset, that takes such pleasure in the destruction of America.
What's the end to that feeling? Even if American society were destroyed in detail, there would be a morning after. What would this woman have gained then?
Pretend Bush is a democrat and imagine what the MSM would be saying about Katrina. Wall to wall good news. Anything otherwise would be conveniently blamed on republican delay or republican racism. They'd highlight Mississippi deaths, of course, because Haley Barbour is republican.
If she's so willing to be a "citizen of the world" she can cart her ass off to Africa and live there.
I've heard Somalia is a real nice place ever since Pres. Clinton 'fixed it up'. (Funny, you don't hear much about that country any more from the MSM.)
Even at home, he has acted more like one of those Third World dictators who enriches himself and his friends while impoverishing his country. President Bush's tax cuts -- which went primarily to the wealthiest Americans, including Bush and his pals -- left little for the poor people who live in the inner cities of New Orleans and the rural areas of Mississippi. They were left to wallow in abject poverty, just one natural disaster away from destitution, starvation and helplessness.
Now that the troops have rolled into New Orleans and the levy repairs have begun, we have turned to another uniquely American pursuit -- ruminating on the causes of this national embarrassment. Was the response so slow because the victims were overwhelmingly black and poor? Was it because the people and money we needed were in Iraq rather than America? How will we ensure it never happens again?
That's it PC be damned! Okay here we go, "black and poor", REALLY? Does that mean that the white who were able to flee the flood because they had cars BECAUSE THEY WORKED ALL THEIR LIVES to be able to BUY (not steal) those cars and WORKED ALL THEIR LIVES to be able to BUY a home and NOT DEPEND ON AND EXPECT GOVT ASSISTANCE ALL THEIR LIVES this means when disaster strikes the "POOR BLACK" MUST BE TREATED DIFFERENTLY and CATERED TO and GIVEN more because they PROUDLY proclaim and wear this badge of they are the POOR BLACK??? BS!!!
So the white and perhaps even people of color and other RACES who have dignity and grace and worked all their lives to NOT have to DEPEND and DEMAND and EXPECT to have everything handed to them and handed to their families by the govt should be ignored as they are in MS because they aren't black?
I don't see stories of people of EVERY race, color and creed who have lost their homes and everything they WORKED for on TV whining and catered too or their stories being told by the media, as the other 24-7 stories about the plight of the poor,black who lost everything. Than on the other hand we are being told they had NOTHING to begin with so nothing from nothing leaves nothing!
I don't see pictures 24-7 of the other races be they white or any other race color and creed who SUFFERED in the superdome and the convention center too so because they are of another race color or creed they didn't suffer as bad?? BS!
Talk about reverse racism.
I sat hear for over a week and everyone skirted the issue because as on other threads we just may be accused and flamed as being racist if we God forbid said anything about what we really thought.
Go ahead and flame me now but the truth better be said. And I am sick and tired of blaming Bush and the Iraq war! Sing another song because that one is OLD AND TIRED. GET OVER IT!!
For the MSM that are enablers of the "poor and black" song thats a OLD AND TIRED one too!! Get over it! NO ONE TOLD those po'ole black folk they COULD NOT get a job IF they wanted one.I know some black folk that are working two jobs and own homes right across the street from me and we are good friends because I have respect for him, and the Dear old black man who lives on the corner who has as nice a home as I do because after he left the military he got a job and he is supporting his family so to be told 250,000 people MUST live on cruise ships and be given the best homes and apts we can find them and that we must support them for their natural lives is BS!Get over it, none of us owe you and your family a living
Let's see how many of those very people the media loves to show pictures of actually going out and getting a job like the rest of us of any race color and creed and leave your poor black badge at the door!
What about the people who truly have lost everything they worked for all their lives. Oh and this big thing now of don't call them refugees because somehow this demeaning to blacks?
Definition of refugee: Adapted From: WordNet 2.0 Copyright 2003 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. refugee,noun. refugee
an exile who flees for safety
Category .
The so called black leaders should be ashamed they are nothing more than enablers as are the MSM.
Let the ratmedia continue to sink into the mud. There is no reason to think they will gain influence with stuff like this, but plenty of reason to be sure they will lose influence. Let'em talk.
-Terrorism on our shores? Never, we thought.
Humanitarian aid to America? Never, we thought.
Failure of leadership? Not here, we thought...-
Who's this "we" he's talking about? Only lefties with their heads in their arses could think these things would never happen. The rest of us paying attention are waiting for them to catch up.
The increasingly distorted, warped Alternate Universe inhabited by such as Ms. Richards is nonetheless cause for some alarm, even as we laugh at their detachment from reality. The detachment is growing, and may in time become pathological, with violent consequence. Many enemies are foreign, but some are domestic, and their numbers bear watching as they increasingly identify with those who truly mean us harm.
Is she intimating that they waited until the crisis passed before beginning the shrill harping? Absolutely untrue.
What is the point of this obnoxious POS article? If this woman was ever so deluded, it is her own problem. The rest of us have been living in the Real World our whole lives, and are quite comfortable with it.
I usually do a word search of "Millenium" on any think-piece before reading it. If the word "Millenium" appears after 1/1/01, I just don't bother. It is a dead givaway that the article is a bunch of sentimental drivel.
Diarrhea of the Medulla Oblongata.
I have created a point by point rebuke of your hate America first article. Chicago Sun-Times ^ | September 7, 2005 | CINDY RICHARDS
"We Americans have become citizens of the world." Seems to me we always were and have helped the world fight many oppressive governments and dictators, and when disaster struck, it was usually the USA first hitting the shores with supplies while others sat on the sidelines.
"We were insulated on two sides by friendly neighbors and on two other sides by huge expanses of water." We have friends on one side only, and that would be Canada. Mexico can hardly be called friendly regardless of who is in the White House.
"Evacuees in America? Never, we thought." Oh come on! We have had evacuations in the past but you're free to ignore them when it suits your agenda. I guess the Chicago Sun-Times will print anything.
"Failure of leadership? Not here, we thought, at least not when the stakes were this high." Only those like you, with a political agenda, would jump on the "Failure of leadership" bandwagon before the water has even receded. What were your plans for a Cat 5 Hurricane hitting a major port city, built below sea level, with citizens who not only refused to evacuate but shot at rescuers, and with a levee breaking? I guess when you only have to 2nd guess you can attempt to make yourself look smart. It didn't work by the way.
"But the Bush administration has different priorities. He has spent our money and manpower and political will in Iraq fighting a war of his choosing." Ah, now we see your real agenda. In your world, one that Josef Gobbels would be proud of, Bush is responsible for all things bad.Yup, Bush told the Mayor of New Orleans to not use the 200 busses at his disposal and just leave them there to be flooded, NOT. Yup, Bush told the governor of LA to not request a takeover of the National Guard until days after the event, NOT. Yup, Bush never pre-positioned FEMA staff 2 days before the storm, NOT. Yup, Bush somehow got the US Congress, during the Clinton administration, to vote down the Kyoto treaty so global warming is his fault, NOT. Exactly how many moons circle the planet on which you live?
"President Bush's tax cuts -- which went primarily to the wealthiest Americans, including Bush and his pals -- left little for the poor people who live in the inner cities of New Orleans and the rural areas of Mississippi." Putting aside your tried and "untrue" class baiting, how is it the responsibility of the US Taxpayer to fund an inner city? That is a state function. Please read, not interpret, the US Constitution. Why should the US Taxpayer fund a city's decision to build itself below sea level in an area know to be exposed to major hurricanes?
"Was the response so slow because the victims were overwhelmingly black and poor?" Ah, jump from class warfare to race baiting. Good job Cindy. Repeat a lie often enough and all your liberal friends will believe it. What is the proper time frame based upon the vast disaster relief knowledge amassed by Cindy Richards? You say it was slow so you must be able to do it better. Yup, the storm hit the city because it was black and it is the fault of President Bush.
"Learning that we are no better at taking care of our own than some impoverished Third World country may be the most humbling of all". I see you left you dumbest statement till last. Can you wrap your pin head confined brain around the size of this storm? Can you not see how much has been done right in the wake of such disaster? Does your blind hatred for President Bush obfuscate all the good things done by the citizens and government of this country?
Is it possible that some of the poor people you elevate above the rest of us might be responsible for, to use your term, the slow response? Could some of your special people behave like contributing citizens and not shoot at those evil rescuers? Could the people of New Orleans have help themselves by evacuating the city when instructed? Could the governor of LA buy a clue? If the TV and appliance stores had placed their inventory out on the street then your poor people would not have had to risk getting cut when they broke down the doors. Did you make Bernard Goldberg's list of the "100 people screwing up American"? If not, I am sure your name could be added for the 2nd printing.
Unbelievable corruption and waste is going to surface as a result of the investigations they demand and I have a nagging feeling that FEMA is going to be eliminated altogether and replaced with something with far less bureaucracy that will respond quicker and more efficiently.
Living in Chicago, one of the most corrupt cities in the US, you'd think she would be demanding to know what arrangements HER mayor has made to evacuate the city in the event of some natural disaster.
I hope you get a reply.
"Putting aside your tried and "untrue" class baiting, how is it the responsibility of the US Taxpayer to fund an inner city? That is a state function. Please read, not interpret, the US Constitution. Why should the US Taxpayer fund a city's decision to build itself below sea level in an area know to be exposed to major hurricanes?"
Can't say it enough. Best point in your letter. I have had it with these communists.
The only problem is that you rarely if ever get a response or reaction from any of these columnists - you're better off sending a letter to the editor.
Correct assessment. I did send a letter to the editor but as I am not a subscriber and live in NY, I doubt it will do much good.
Of all the letters I have written to the reporters and editor of the Buffalo Pravda, er News, I have only received a single response from a reporter. I have had many published but with the amount of editing they do, the thrust of my original intent is usually lost.
Thanks for the post. I'm collecting yay-Katrina articles.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.