Posted on 09/09/2005 11:06:37 AM PDT by hipaatwo
Think local officials are less to blame for deaths in New Orleans than federal officials? In the most jaw-dropping story of the week, UPI has the police chief of Gretna, Louisiana, admitting that he closed off one of the major arteries out of New Orleans on Monday, before the storm hit:
"We shut down the bridge," Arthur Lawson, chief of the City of Gretna Police Department, confirmed to United Press International, adding that his jurisdiction had been "a closed and secure location" since before the storm hit.
"All our people had evacuated and we locked the city down," he said. The bridge in question -- the Crescent City Connection -- is the major artery heading west out of New Orleans across the Mississippi River.
He added that the small town, which he called "a bedroom community" for the city of New Orleans, would have been overwhelmed by the influx. "There was no food, water or shelter" in Gretna City, Lawson said. "We did not have the wherewithal to deal with these people. If we had opened the bridge, our city would have looked like New Orleans does now: looted, burned and pillaged."
“Be Prepared”, its not just a Boy Scout motto anymore.
I am now pissed at the plantation owners (aka Democrats).
If I thought your initial question had one bit of seriousness or legitimacy, I would have answered it directly, but since you have now proved what you were really trying to do, it only reinforces my decision to deflect your post.
Now I'm really going to ignore you, because there are serious discussions on this forum, and people who are more respectful than you (i.e. don't condescend to people with whom they disagree?), so post whatever nonsense you want about anything you want, but don't expect a response from me.
My post to rdb3 and mhking stands. They are strong and honorable, respectable and respected, and anyone who posts things so despicable as to make them want to leave this forum should be reviled.
I agree!!!
I agree.
I sure would hate it if mhking and rdb3 would leave this forum because of this.
If we lose good FREEPERS like this ,FR soon will turn into a site that lost it's common goal of making our country better for everyone.IMO.
The Louisiana voter roll shows the sheriff, Arthur S Lawson, born 6/1/1954, as a white male Democrat. I only mention this JUST IN CASE the MSM (which I prefer to call the Left-Bank Media or LBM) tries to confuse the issue by pretending these people are racist Republicans just like they try to do President Bush.
And there are plenty of DU trolls posting whose goal is to make all conservatives look bad by posting stereotypical biases that the vast majority of conservatives (NONE of the real ones, IMO) don't share.
As Petronski said (in slightly more colorful words)......we can't let the bad guys win.
We have to stay here and fight for what is right and good.............and mhking and rdb3 are part of the goodness of this forum.
I am in complete agreement with you.
God bless.
You are obviously upset, but I can't let that stand. Excuse me for wanting more facts before I jump to conclusions about a story. Posters rdb3 and mhking (and as a matter of fact, you too!) have been some of my favorite freepers for years and your accusation is hurtful. Please do not post to me again until you regain your sanity and sense of proportion. Thank you.
If you are hurt by anything I've said, I apologize. But your accusation that I would be angry at anyone with whom I disagree could not go unchallenged.
And if you have not seen hateful, vile comments on this forum, perhaps you should open your eyes a bit farther. It's here, and it's ugly.
Perhaps this is just the last straw for some of our finest Freepers. Perhaps they are saying enough is enough. And perhaps those of us who respect and admire them should stand up for them, and not defend those who cross over the line of decency.
I guess the issue there is "most circumstances".
Say for instance a cop saw an angry mob approaching a public building, etc. His inclination would probably be to try to stop them before something bad happened. Granted, that would be "mere suspicion", but at times judgement is required.
Now, was this one of those times? I don't know. I wasn't there. Evidently it was in this cop's mind though.
Can't blame him.....who would have wanted the thugs set loose in their town?? By the time the bridge was shut down all the folks with any sense at all had driven out or taken a bus out for $2.25.
"Every single sheriff and mayor of other cities in Louisiana knew what thugs ran the streets unimpeded in NO and they did not want that terror imported to their towns and cities."
I think that those who cross over the line of decency from thoughtful, rational, debate to race-baiting should be banned from this forum. I also believe that Jim Robinson and the moderators have done an outstanding job over the years of maintaining a very high quality of contributors and discussion on this forum. Some topics are difficult and emotionally charged and the closest of freepers can disagree. Topics on race and Terri Schiavo come to mind immediately.
Sorry about my previous posts, which were probably a bit harsh.
FReegards,
LH
As a white person, I see racism here far too frequently, and though it is not directed at me personally, I am deeply offended by it.
Things said during the Terry Schiavo horror were some of the most despicable things I've ever read, some from both sides of the argument.
I agree, however, that the mods do an amazing job of keeping up with things. I wouldn't want the job, personally.....
That'd be a "clear and present danger"- there is much case law on the subject. However stopping people because of race or absent any compelling immediate (and it pretty much has to be literally immediate) danger is unconstitutional.
I'm tired.
Day in and day out, week in and week out, I have to defend myself, my politics, my mindset, my intellectual capacity and my values to my family and friends.
I have to avoid certain topics with my family and friends. It is not easy. On the contrary, it is very difficult and painful.
Free Republic was supposed to be a sancturary for me; a place where I could come and converse intelligently with like-minded people. Not a place where I had to engage in the same kinds of battles I have to in the rest of the world.
I didn't come here to have to defend my blackness - or all the sins of black America; I didn't come to justify how and why I am libertarian or conservative; I didn't come to be brow-beaten, insulted, put upon or trounced.
And I didn't come here to have people try to paint me and all of black America with the same broad brush.
I have to show people every day that black America is not what everyone sees on television. That the Jesse Jacksons and Kanye Wests of the world don't speak for me.
But the last week here, FR has not felt comfortable; it hasn't felt like that home away from home that I have come to know. The race-baiting, the insults, the browbeating, the cussing and fussing -- it's all old. It's a pain.
So yes, I have considered departure. If people don't want me here, then why should I stay?
You would not believe how proud I am to point to you when you appear on television and tell my family, "That man posts on the same news forum that I post on. Wait'll you hear this guy!"
I for one mourn the departure of rdb3 and the distasteful crowd mentality that has brought you to this moment.
If the good are driven away, what will become of this place? I don't know.
I don't think you should leave, and I hope you don't. You are the real deal. If you stay, I will stand with you: I got your six.
But I will understand if you go.
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