Posted on 09/18/2005 7:21:01 PM PDT by Cougar66
Officials are responding to complaints that city workers helped themselves to cases of Gatorade, brand-new clothing and other donated items that were intended for victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Philip Ramon, chief of staff to Kenner Mayor Philip Capitano, said the city has removed the official who had presided over the distribution.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
chump change compared to when the politicians are going to get hold of the donations
Disasters seem to bring out the best in some people, and the worst in others. Unfortunately, this one seems to be inspiring the thieves to loot, pillage and steal everything they can get their hands on. The biggest thieves, however will be the Gulf Coast Good Ole Boys who can't wait to get their hands on the billions Bush promised. Then it'll be "one for the victims, a thousand for us. Two for the victims, two thousand for us..."
Every public employee, it seems, in LA wants to wet their beak.
And in a related story - City officials complained of a drastic reduction in the amount of kickbacks, bribes and graft they have been able to collect in Katrina's aftermath.
There comes a time that, no matter how politically incorrect or unnecessarily violent it sounds to the 'sensitive-minded' among us, there appear in the public spotlight particular individuals that so, So, SO need to be violently bludgeoned to death in public.
There is a vast difference between standing in line with your fellow citizens to receive aid and holding your own "midnight sales" and skimming the cream.
The biggest thieves, however will be the Gulf Coast Good Ole Boys who can't wait to get their hands on the billions Bush promised.
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Hopefully they learned the first time around -- if they provide the money, they had better DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY. No more free lunches for the GOBs...
Exactly.
It looks like President Bush's plan is to use Katrina as a crisis event to pry open the door on New Orlean's (and Louisiana's) age-old culture of wink-wink nod-nod corruption. Sort of like a mini-Iraq scenario.
At least, I hope he's thinking that way.
Could put a stake through the heart of one of the remaining donkey bastions of the otherwise solid (Republican) south.
Please, don't let yourself fall into generalizations about 'every' LA public employee. My sister and daughter both work for the state in NE Louisiana. My sister has not had a day off since the hurricane landed. She has worked evenings and weekends to help survivors fill out paperwork and get their benefits. My daughter works for the highway dept. She is not only doing her normal job, but she is swamped in paperwork from South Louisiana that she is helping process. I dread it because I know that soon she will be having to go down south and help with road and highway inspections when major repairs get underway.
I believe that the majority of LA state and local workers are working for the good of LA and it's citizens. Their work just goes unnoticed while the few that are taking advantage are heard from.
It is, after all, Louisiana, so this was bound to happen sooner or later.
Well, when you have officials, like the one interviewed in the article, justifying theft, it doesn't look good. Not to mention the mayor and police commissioner of New Orleans, who still won't say how many cops went AWOL after the hurricane.
That's why I said "it seems."
Oh yeah...how many looting or police car stealing cops have been arrested?
Perhaps that should read:
"Disasters seem to bring out the best in good people, and the worst in bad."
Why do you suppose they became public employees in the first place?
Your thesis might be harder to prove in the vicinity of New Orleans...
I totally agree that the elected officials are by and large corrupt in South Louisiana. The policemen that went AWOL in NO are reprehensible, too. But, their were policemen that stayed and tried to do their job, without any leadership and their hands tied behind their backs. I find it hard to fault their results. It's hard to keep control when your governor and mayor are telling you to ignore looters and don't shoot anyone.
Just seems to be a way of life down there.
Mercy, please! I'm from North Louisiana. It's a whole nother country! It's so frustrating to have to bear the shame of NO when my family and friends didn't vote these people into office. I just want people to realize that there really, really are good decent people who work hard and don't try to take advantage of the system in Louisiana. I'm just tired of that big wide brush painting us all.
Did anyone check Cindy Sheehan's bus?
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