Now is the Time to Shut Up

OpinionEditorials ^ | 9/2/05 | Robin Mullins Boyd

[Chickenhawk Warmonger]

Now is the Time to Shut Up Robin Mullins Boyd

The complete and utter devastation of the Gulf Coast from Hurricane Katrina breaks my heart. Every picture of the damage, every picture of the victims rips at my soul. My heart tells me that the flattened cities are just scenes from a movie, while my brain tells me that the Gulf Coast will never be the same.

In spite of the mass of suffering humanity, some have decided to use this fierce attack from Mother Nature as another excuse to blame President Bush, the Republicans or even the United States. I woke this morning to hear Miles O’Brien braying like a jackass while attempting to goad Gov. Barbour into blaming the Federal Government (AKA the Bush Administration) for “dropping the ball.” I listened to callers on AM talk radio proclaim that Hurricane Katrina was God’s wrath on the United States because George W. Bush is President. Other callers decided that the evil Republicans were deliberately not helping the African Americans in New Orleans so the plan for a “New World Order” could proceed. People running off with televisions and boxes of Nike shoes were called “victims” while snipers shot at hospital personnel trying to evacuate patients. And who could forget Robert Kennedy Jr’s truckload of manure, disguised as an op-ed on the Huffington Post, thrown at President Bush and Governor Barbour.

That spark of the anti-war movement, Cindy Sheehan, took time away from her I Hate Bush bus tour to blame the President for the Hurricane. Meanwhile the 3-bus tour continues while we regular folks wait in line to pay over $3.00 per gallon for gas. The New York Times was more concerned with a critique of President Bush’s speech and the old canard about “global warming” than the looters preventing the rescue of survivors. Sidney Blumenthal lamented the Bush budget cuts for New Orleans flood control to pay for the illegal, immoral and unjust war in Iraq. Blumenthal conveniently forgot what the Clinton administration did to funding for flood control in New Orleans.

Over at the “underground”, the grassroots of the Left took up where the media stopped. Here is a few of the best of the worst…

“We are all victims of this disaster called the Bush Administration. And the best way to help ALL the victims of this disaster is to end it.”

“Did Bush order the failure to fill the levee breach? The City of New Orleans has essentially been destroyed because of a massive failure to attack the levee breach in time. There was a plan in place - but for an as yet unexplained reason - the effort to fill the breach never began, as if someone ordered it not to occur.”

“This has GOT to be our opportunity. Bush *#@% royally on this one. We have to do or say absolutely anything to use this disaster to get rid of the useless chimp.”

“There is no doubt that Bush could have prevented this. We have to make sure that this is the end of this slimy administration.”

“Well, the Bushgang never liked New Orleans anyway.”

“With all the looting happening in New Orleans, and bad as that is, especially with the gun-toting thugs shooting at rescuers and relief workers, STILL I can’t imagine anything as bad as the Corporate looting that has been going on in this country ever since GWB took office.”

“The people who BENEFIT from Republicans in power flew out of New Orleans to their Vacation Resort Homes in Aspen two days before the storm. They are over insured and will be at the front of the line of the government payouts. The top 1% will make money off of their losses on the Gulf Coast.”

“Imagine if this happened in some lily white red state city – the reaction would be much different. I’m guessing the repukes are letting people just die there.”

“They call it thinning the herd.”

“Those Louisiana and Deep Southern mega churches are just storming into action. I see all those big volunteer teams of white Christians fanning out and helping their fellow man, reaching across race lines, volunteering their time, money, and efforts, lowering prices to help the poorest refugees make it through in their time of need. Oh wait; I’m not actually seeing any of that.”

“Fundies probably have no interest in helping New Orleans anyway. Bush is probably celebrating.”

“I have to wonder if the failure to patch the levees was somehow intentional. We know New Orleans is a hugely Democratic area.”

“I guess Homeland Security funds can only be spent chasing down people wearing turbans.”

“Know your America: White people salvage, black people loot.”

There is plenty of time for the left wing fringe to fire up their black helicopters and make their tin foil hats. There is more than enough time left in the Bush Administration for the media to beat up on the President. You have three more years to blame President Bush for everything from hurricanes to panty lines. People are waiting on their roofs for rescue workers. Resources are being diverted to control looting. Rescuers are risking their own life to save the hurricane victims. Families are searching for some tiny piece of their life before the hurricane.

Now is the time for the hate filled Bush bashing party of blame to shut up. Channel some of that energy into helping your fellow Americans. You will have plenty of time to spew your venom after the rescue and recovery efforts are completed.

[OpusatFR]

You don't understand our Constitution for one thing. It is up to the Governor of Louisiana to call them in. She has to give the order to quell the looters by killing them, or shooting at them. She has to give the orders to coordinate the relief effort.

States are under the Federal system but the Federal system does not overrride the Governor.

Two: There were efforts immediately. Because President Bush declared the three states disaster areas BEFORE the hurricane struck, the FEMA people were on site with supplies. Rescue efforts were underweigh immediately after they could get in there and are ongoing.

Just because the newsmedia is stuck in one area and reporting ONLY WHAT THEY SEE because they can't get out because of the flooding, doesn't mean everyone is sitting around with their thumbs stuck up their....

Three: The explosions are probably fuel facilities and not rioters.

Four: DON'T YOU EVER CALL ONE OF OUR MILITARY COWARDS AGAIN.

[highlander_UW]

“This has GOT to be our opportunity. Bush *#@% royally on this one. We have to do or say absolutely anything to use this disaster to get rid of the useless chimp.”

Ah, a true peek into the black heart of a true democrat. Say or do anything to achieve thier political power grab against the election results. No concern for the displaced and dead here, just a craving opportunist looking to make hay out of someone else's suffering.

“With all the looting happening in New Orleans, and bad as that is, especially with the gun-toting thugs shooting at rescuers and relief workers, STILL I can’t imagine anything as bad as the Corporate looting that has been going on in this country ever since GWB took office.”

True liberal compassion...to heck with the hundreds of thousands affected by the hurricane. They can not see beyond their myopic talking points and fingers greedy for power.

[cooper72]

They never called them cowards. Read my post properly.

They did point out though that they refused to go to dangerous areas. That this would never happen with the British army and that if soldiers refuse to go to dangerous places what are they there for? Is any of this factually wrong?

For any army that is unacceptable.

[OpusatFR]

You implied it. I read pretty well.

[RoseofTexas]

I'm afraid the MSMwhores have gotten out of control! The loonies are out of the Asylum! There is no way of taming them for now. So we have to bite the bullet and PRAY to God the rest of the American folk will side with our President and give the presstitutes a HUGE backlash! That's all we have left...prayers that God almighty will turn this direr situation into something good and productive. :(

[OpusatFR]

You also neglected to address the points I clarified.

[mikegi]

As an outsider all I can say is that the rest of the world is astonished that five days after the disaster struck places like the Superdome are without US officials and troops.

This is because the USA is *supposed* to have competent state and local governments. The Federal government has limited powers over them. Obviously, the local government has totally failed in this case. Compare to NYC after 9/11.

[Shery]

My earnest prayer, after praying fervently for the dead, missing, stranded, and dislodged, is for the majority of the country to wake up to the hatred, the acid vitriol being spewed by the radical left. If honest people stood back for even a moment, they'd have to agree that the democrats have become unglued and spend more time and effort trying to make Bush look bad than trying to make policy that helps. I agree that it's time they SHUT UP!!!

[conservativeharleyguy]

Sorry, but you're wrong.

There were National Guard troops at the Superdome within 24 hours. They are there now, and they are the reason that there have not been hundreds of killings and rapes there instead of the dozen or so that occurred before their arrival.

As in "insider", I'm astonished that the "rest of the world" would be so naive as to take the word of the American media at face value.

[cooper72]

Four: DON'T YOU EVER CALL ONE OF OUR MILITARY COWARDS AGAIN.

I never did. Maybe you should read my post again.

I'll tell you this for nothing though. If the British Army refused to go into help their own people because it was dangerous, they would be locked up or shot.

[cooper72]

Sorry, but you're wrong. There were National Guard troops at the Superdome within 24 hours

Yes, and then they left.

[socialismisinsidious]

Our Constitution says that federal forces can't just storm a State...

oh forget it...you will believe what ever line of crap that you are fed. Do you really believe that American troops are cowards? Do you not know history?...it certainly has made a big difference in your life--you aren't speaking German right now are you?

Political correctness and the American left welfare system has done more to impede this process than anything else---there is no cowardliness on the part of our brave troops and Americans will pitch in and take care of their own just as we stepped up to the plate for the people of Indonesia.

[Dick Bachert]

As the mess is cleaned up and the bodies buried, we need to think very hard about this:

---

I wrote his after Andrew, whose path was eerily similar to that of Katrina. That should tell ANY sane person that THIS WILL HAPPEN AGAIN AND PROBABLY IN LESS THAN 12 YEARS GIVEN THE MORE AGGRESSIVE HURRICANES IN THIS CYCLE.

Simply change some of the names.

If they rebuild NOLA on the present site – and DON’T get folks OFF THOSE BEACHES ALONG THE ENTIRE HURRICANE-PRONE U.S. COAST -- keep this for the NEXT catastrophe. Insanity is defined as doing the same things over and over while expecting a different result. Whom God would destroy, He first makes insane. Has this nation lost its mind? Look to NOLA – BUILT 8 FEET BELOW THE SURROUNDING WATERWAYS – for the answer for that.

WHAT GEORGE SHOULD HAVE SAID
by Dick Bachert

On the evening of September 1st, 1992, President George Bush went on national TV to announce that the already empty federal coffers would pour forth uncounted billions of dollars to totally rebuild the Florida and Louisiana communities destroyed by Hurricane Andrew. A vast majority of Americans seem to agree with this action, providing yet more evidence (as if more were needed) that we have come very, very far from the philosophy of self-reliance articulated by one Colonel Davey Crockett. (See "Not Yours to Give" available from FEE at www.fee.org)

Instead of attempting to purchase his reelection with plundered resources, this is what George Bush should have said.

"My fellow Americans,

As you all know, a devastating hurricane has struck the southern tip of Florida and Louisiana. Our hearts and prayers go out to all who have lost so much.

"There is now a great cry for the federal government to "do something".

"And we shall.

"I have dispatched otherwise idle military resources -- men and women involved in our national defense who will profit from what will amount to a real-life field exercise -- to the area to render whatever aid the local authorities deem appropriate to restore basic communications and public safety infrastructure. But, beyond that, we can do little else. Before you brand me a heartless monster, allow me to explain:

"The area involved has been regularly struck by many such storms since long before we have inhabited this continent. There is reason to believe that this pattern will continue. All who have vacationed or visited there will agree that it is a beautiful area and by driving a short distance, residents there can avail themselves of the ocean waters and sandy beaches of that coastal setting. I, too, understand the attraction. That's why I spend as much time as possible
in Kennebunkport. That's the upside of living in such an area.

"The downside is that the area is regularly struck by these terrible storms. Which is why responsible and intelligent residents of the area insure their property against the inevitable resultant damage.

"That the largest private insurers have determined that certain of these areas are so likely to be struck by storms such as Andrew as to make them "actuarially unsound" risks is a matter for the insurers and the property owners. Government will only, through the lawfully established court system, do its best to see to it that any contracts between these private parties are honored.

"If a prospective property owner is unable to secure private insurance against these calamitous eventualities, he or she had better reevaluate his or her position. If a prospective owner cannot bear the financial loss which would flow from the destruction of an uninsured home in one of these high risk areas, he or she is well advised to purchase in an area where such insurance is available. It is not, nor can it ever be, the government's place to levy a compulsory tax on citizens who do not live in these high risk beach areas to subsidize the folly of those who choose to do so! It would be criminal to force citizens who themselves already pay hundreds of dollars each year to protect their homes from
normal hazards such as fire and the occasional tornado to also pay for the beach front lifestyle of others! To increase their taxes so that some of their less responsible fellows may enjoy the benefits of living in these normally
beautiful -- but statistically periodically dangerous -- surroundings is unconscionable.

"As much as our hearts go out to those who have lost so much, I must remind them that just as it has happened in the past, it will happen again. If you chose to remain there, you do so at your peril. This is an election year and the temptation is great for me to obligate the already strapped taxpayers of the entire nation to pay for the rebuilding of these damaged areas.

"Though it may cost me another term as President, I must, because of the dangerous precedent it would set, resist it. To do otherwise would be the grossest unfairness to, say, a citizen in Kansas whose roof might be blown off during a tornado. Would that citizen not have the right to ask the federal government to do the same for him? Multiply that by the numbers of isolated, individual-but equally calamitous disasters each year and you will come to see that the treasury of even the richest nation on earth (which, thanks to decades of such nonsense, we no longer are) would soon collapse under the load.

"On a technical level, I would also remind you that expert analysis of the destruction of these homes quickly disclosed that it was government and the building codes -- rather the false security of their enforcement -- which led to the loss of nearly 85,000 dwellings. You who now look to government to solve your problem ought to consider that it was the failure of the government mandated building code enforcement that reduced your home to a pile of rubble. Your reliance upon government enforcement of these codes and their assiduous observance has proven to be an error.

"In that connection, I would point out that engineers who surveyed the damage discovered a number of structures which survived. It was found that these buildings had been built under an older, ostensibly less stringent code and/or were constructed using a number of proven, but more costly, techniques designed to improve survival.

"If you do plan to rebuild in one of these uninsurable sections, please, in order to minimize the destruction the next time another killer storm comes ashore, employ these construction techniques.

"Let me now turn to what we must now do to help those in such desperate need at this moment.

"I submit that we should continue and intensify what we've been doing thus far: The volunteer activities many of you have undertaken as individuals, small businesses and large corporations are doing exactly what I envisioned when I
launched my "Thousand Points of Light" campaign. What we need now are millions of such points. And, if the response continues to swell as in the past few days, we'll get there.

"Let me also remind you that the first folks into the area with meaningful relief were not government people. As we have seen, these huge bureaucracies possess equally huge levels of static inertia. They lack the flexibility and
sensitivity to function efficiently. People helping people is the highest embodiment of the faith our forefathers brought to these shores over 300 years ago.

"America was -- and, I fervently believe, still is – a nation of people who understand this basic concept. It is time we remembered that government's role is to only do for citizens those few constitutionally limited things we cannot
individually do for ourselves. I'd remind you what George Washington said about government: "Government is not reason. It is not eloquence. It is force! And like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master."

"It is also time for us all to remember that we must take individual responsibility for ourselves. We must remember, for example, that we cannot construct our homes in places where the forces of nature periodically rage against us without adequate preparation for those periodic rampages.

"To be more specific, if we must build in those areas, we must take personal responsibility for the soundness of construction and/or insure against the certain eventuality that these natural assaults will occur. The days when
individuals can look to a government to force the rest of us to underwrite the folly of the few are gone! I urge those of you now digging out from the destruction in Florida and Louisiana to remember that as you consider your future. I pledge that if you grant me another term in office, I shall devote my next 4 years to bringing government back under the United States Constitution in order to ensure that it does only those few things we cannot do for ourselves and does them as efficiently and effectively as possible.

"Let me again urge us to continue the enormous volunteer efforts we have already begun until this tragedy is behind us.

"Thank you and good night!"

[CodeToad]

Bush would just kill me with laughter if he would say, "Listen, you nitwits, we have spent billions on your submersed little corner of the world. You have a mayor, Parish commissioners, and a lame-assed governor, but somehow it is all Washington’s fault?? You lazy sonsofbitches have done NOTHING for yourselves over the past 35 years since the last disaster, but somehow it is MY fault??! I’m coming down there this morning to take over, since that is what you seem to want. You state and local elected officials have had your chance, now it’s mine turn!”

[small voice in the wilderness]

GAWD, they're just reprehensible. These are the same dumbsh*ts who would stand and applaud clinton's efforts to release the nation's *dignity* reserves, while calling on congress to approve a 10 billion dollar emergency *happy* fund. And the idiot MSM would laude his efforts and his understanding of the situation. I do not think there is enough time left on this planet to make them get it.

[pointsal]

Right sentiment....ping

[OpusatFR]

And to reiterate:

Governor Blanco did not give the order to "use all force necessary" until THIS morning.

You expect soldiers to go into an area without the right to shoot at the looters and thugs?

Until Governor Blanco gave the order they were not in an offensive or defensive position.

Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, commander of the military effort in the Gulf coast area … said the Guard troops were under command of the governors of the four states and that “rules of engagement” on how to crack down on looters and other lawbreakers would be set by the states, not the Pentagon. ...

The Governor has to order the troops in. She has to order the Troops to use deadly force.

SHE HAD NOT DONE IT UNTIL THIS MORNING..

[cooper72]

This is because the USA is *supposed* to have competent state and local governments. The Federal government has limited powers over them. Obviously, the local government has totally failed in this case. Compare to NYC after 9/11.

Yes, and this is the point. It is not a case of "your country is bigger than my country" scholl bully stuff.

American Citizens are needlessly dying because the rescue effort is atrocious.

For the most powerful country in the world to be able to send doctors and medicine to Indonesia within a few days of the tsunami but not to the Superdome in New Orleans in five is astonishing.

Someone is to blame for that, and to face up to that may be painful to Americans, but it will save lives.

Burying your head in the sand will not.

[mhking]

We have to do or say absolutely anything to use this disaster to get rid of the useless chimp.

Did anyone doubt that this would be the DUmmies' response?

Just damn.

If you want on the list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

[tiki]

Reading this it just dawned on me why the Dimocrats are using this as a bludgeon on Bush, they think that 9/11 gave him his popularity and they are not going to let him rise to this occasion without constant criticism.

After 9/11 the country pulled together, there were no parties, there was no division, we were a country, wounded and bleeding and we worked together to protect it. The Dimocrats should be shot, this is proof that they care not one whit what happens to our country, only their cushy jobs. Have you heard one Dimocrat commiserate with the victims except when they can tut-tut about Bush's lack of whatever? I am disgusted, completely and thoroughly.