Posted on 07/06/2008 6:02:34 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
Is it really true that the people of Iowa and Wisconsin are morally superior to the residents of New Orleans?
That certainly seems to be the attitude of some Wisconsin State Journal readers who send me e-mails on a daily basis crowing about how victims of the floods of Cedar Rapids aren't whining or asking for hand-outs, unlike the victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.
The messages take the same perspective: When floodwaters drowned downtown Cedar Rapids, people got to work filling sandbags and helping one another. When the residents of New Orleans were drowned in the floodwaters unleashed by Katrina and a failing levee, all they did was to go on television and bash President Bush.
We can all admire the spirit of the people of Cedar Rapids, just as we admire the spirit of residents in Jefferson, Fort Atkinson, Pardeeville and the other Wisconsin communities that faced flooding earlier this month. They worked hard. They faced catastrophe with aplomb. They helped one another. They are good people.
But to compare their plight with that faced by the residents of New Orleans in 2005 is bizarre and does a disservice both to the people of New Orleans and to the residents of those communities closer to home.
The floodwaters of New Orleans covered 80 percent of one of America's major cities. More than 1 million area residents left for higher ground before the hurricane struck. Those who remained tended to be poor, elderly and confused.
In Cedar Rapids, the flood may have ruined 4,000 homes and the floods caused more than 20,000 residents to evacuate the area. That's about equal to the number of New Orleans residents who fled to the sports dome, only to find themselves trapped in a concrete island, surrounded by flood waters and lacking food and sanitation. Not only was New Orleans flooded, but most of southern Louisiana was under water, as was a good part of nearby Mississippi. It was a huge catastrophe.
I could go on, but you get the picture. The magnitudes of the disasters in New Orleans and in Cedar Rapids were in no way equivalent. To equate them is to minimize the trauma of the hurricane.
There is one other difference, too. By every account I've read, the response of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in Wisconsin and in Iowa has been superb. In New Orleans, we may recall, FEMA did a "heck of a job." This time, our local residents are asking for government assistance and, unlike their neighbors in New Orleans, they are getting it promptly.
In the end, our best bet is to stop trying to feel superior to those who suffered in Louisiana and, instead, be respectful for what our neighbors in Wisconsin and Iowa are going through and the grace with which they are doing so. There's enough grief to go around. We don't need to find artificial ways of feeling superior to others who have suffered.
actually this is a good comparison between a welfare state (NO) and a non-welfare state as well as people who can’t take care of themselves (welfare state) versus those who can (non-welfare state)...
It's just an observation.
“Is it really true that the people of Iowa and Wisconsin are morally superior to the residents of New Orleans?”
To be blunt about the racial divide in this country: Yes.
This line made me laugh. Liberalism is entirely about feeling morally superior to those toothless fundies.
Ah, but many Mississippi residents got hammered just as hard as NOLA residents. ...and they behaved quite differently. No surprise the author conveniently omits that point.
Dey's po'!
I love the euphemism "confused" that the story used.
I knew a guy once who said there was something about salt air...
“I could go on, but you get the picture. The magnitudes of the disasters in New Orleans and in Cedar Rapids were in no way equivalent. To equate them is to minimize the trauma of the hurricane.”
Ahh but Cedar Rapids wasn’t the only place flooded. Hundreds of towns were flooded.
The comparison is quite good and demonstrates how the liberal mentality gets people killed.
Yes. Next question.
Do the people of Iowa and Wisconsin have better mayors and governors than NO and LA?
Yes. They actually have neurons still firing.
Bill Wineke is a moron. When you know FIVE DAYS AHEAD OF TIME that a catagory 5 hurricane has drawn a bead on your @$$ and you just stand there and wait for it to hit, well, the Wisconsin “flood victims” might not be “better” than those in N’awlins but they sure are a hell of a lot SMARTER.
To answer this question: You damned right they are! No looting, no mayors running off to the high ground and neighbors actually helping eachother to save what they could!
New Orleans could learn a lesson or two from our midwestern neighbors, but the fact is they are too damned lazy and stupid to get the message.
The Oshkosh flood victims were all over the news bashing Bush and the government.
I miss seeing Looter Guy. He needs to be on nearly EVERY post around here, don’t you think?
His reaction to a crisis (Steal what you can from others!) and way of life (I got mine, thanks to Taxpayers who actually WORK for a living!) clearly capture the Libtard Mindset. :)
Where are all the telethons for “fly over country”?
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