We Shut Down the Bridge

Washington Times & UPI via NRO ^ | Sep. 9, 2005 | Shaun Waterman

[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."

[beckysueb]

I am still going to try -and the reason why is because I feel an obligation to help a fellow American- because if it weren't for the selfless acts of other people (mostly veterans and soldiers) none of us would be here- none of us would have anything at all- and those veterans and soliders come in all colors and don't ask to just protect one race or one group-heck they would save a criminal. Still I will admit there are certain people I just can't bring myself to care about- and those are criminals and looters.

I know. Thats how I feel. Its so sad that the weakest had to die and basically pay for the sins of the thugs and such. I wanted to offer to take in some people. We have a 3 bedroom 2 bath house with just me and my husband rattling around here and had plenty of room plus we have a big camper sitting in the yard but the Red Cross and our governer advised against people offering their homes without these people being checked out by the authorities first. Its sad but I think this is some kind of phenomon that has never happened before. And I truly believe it is the fact that NO has been run exclusively by liberals for like the last 80 years. That should be a wake up call to America just how dangerous liberal policies are when left unchecked.

[beckysueb]

This hurricane showed so much more than just flooding and destruction......

Yes, it surely did. It showed what a failure liberal polocies are but its not going to do a bit of good with the president rolling over and the media covering for the libs who created this mess.

[beckysueb]

Katrine flushed the toilet that was New Orleans and it overflowed

That is an excellent analysis. Great rant, by the way.

[beckysueb]

Not people, law enforcement.

Good point but I think it was a little bit of both. Maybe if they had better law enforcment and politicians in NO the people wouldn't have been so bad.

[Diva Betsy Ross]

How you doin Luis? Nice video tape there... I just picked up on that.criminals is criminals, huh?

[Diva Betsy Ross]

I had offered to open my home as well, but was talked out of it by a person at the shelter here as well. So a group of us are paying the bills for two families to stay at a hotel for two weeks.

That is my experience from handing out welfare checks for a bit- Welfare is the demise of the inner city and the black family unit. But I have resigned myself to understanding that some people want to keep it that way so they always have someone to look down their nose at.

[beckysueb]

Also, the bridge was closed to white people as well as black, but everyone involved knew that the VAST majority of those who had stayed behind in NOLA were black.

Do you also know that 75% of the NO population was black? Wouldn't that stand to reason, then? I saw lots of white people left behind, too. This race baiting is getting old. And how are you going to get a large group of people to walk out of lockstep. Do people even know what lockstep is? Who was in charge to give them those orders. These people were panicking. They just wanted out of NO. Of course they would get across that bridge as fast as they could. Stampeding was probably a bad choice of words. My humble apologies if I offended anyone. Man I've got to stay off these Katrina threads

[Petronski]

Lockstep is what a large crowd of people do NOT do. Lockstep requires military precision. Bedraggled evacuees are not going to march "left-right-left." That's preposterous.

[cyborg]

Just walk away. This thread is getting ridiculous and just serving to divide even more. I'm sure the liberals are eating this all up right now. Good night.

[TAdams8591]

After carefully reading through this thread, I agree with your post in its entirety. Well stated.

[Tempest]

You know, for some reason I always thought that you were Asian?

[jonrick46]

"they saw "other families, individuals and groups make the same trip up the incline in an attempt to cross the bridge, only to be turned away. Some chased away with gunfire, others simply told no, others to be verbally berated and humiliated."

What kind of demonic ghouls from the Dawn of The Dead would do this? Answer: DemonRATS.

[Mr. Mojo]

If people don't want me here, then why should I stay?

Who exactly do you mean by "people?" You mean some people. (An insignificant fraction, I might add). Big deal. There are bound to to be nutty people that feel uncomfortable around others not exactly like them in every crowd.

Free Republic was supposed to be a sancturary for me; a place where I could come and converse intelligently with like-minded people.

You should know by now that Freepers' viewpoints are extraordinarily varied. Any place where Bushbots converse with Bush-bashers and liberartians converse with social conservatives and small-gov't types converse with "compassionate conservative" types and neocons converse with paleocons - and that just scratches the surface - one is bound to run into some problems. And yeah, there's also bound to be a few racists, anti-Semites, anti-Christians, etc.

If you want a "sanctuary of like-minded people" a forum with over a quarter million members isn't the place to be. You gotta be prepared to do battle.

Tired? Take a rest. ....and hope to see you back soon.

[Flux Capacitor]

----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.----

----Nor should they have been expected to. I guess its easy to judge the sherriff of this town when a person doesn't have to deal with it themselves.----

What really amazes me is, after the ensuing anarchy and terror that showed the rest of America what we already knew about the real New Orleans, people can still so easily and glibly condemn this police chief for making a tough call.

-Dan

[beckysueb]

Just walk away. This thread is getting ridiculous and just serving to divide even more. I'm sure the liberals are eating this all up right now. Good night.

You're right. I wish FR wasn't so darn addicting. Good night.

[cyborg]

Oh it is friend. Isn't it terrible! LOL

[Luis Gonzalez]

"You thought?"

That's a first.

[Diva Betsy Ross]

The drama has been a bit over the top, and I am sure the people who started it all are still cut and pasting it all over the net for their enjoyment. It is sad really.

[beckysueb]

The drama has been a bit over the top, and I am sure the people who started it all are still cut and pasting it all over the net for their enjoyment. It is sad really.

Do you think someone is deliberately trying to get the folks at FR to fight? If so it was really a dirty trick. It hurt mhking and he doesn't deserve this. He is a really good person.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Good morning. I'm late to this thread and am playing catch up. My apologies.

I respect and admire the two of you, for your experience and voices of reason. I have learned a great deal and I wish to express my gratitude.

I am hoping you will not leave FR. But, I will understand if you do. Should you decide to remain I hope you and your supporters, like-minded individuals, and staunch conservatives can dig through the surface of hate and ignorance. Your voices are strong enough to rise above the mess that is occuring now.

God bless you both.

PYW