Posted on 10/02/2005 4:14:47 AM PDT by Deacon_m
Things I have noticed while watching media coverage of the recent hurricanes. 1. Texas: Productive industrious state run by Republicans.
Louisiana: Government dependent welfare state run by Democrats.
2. Texas: Residents take responsibility to protect and evacuate themselves.
Louisiana: Residents wait for government to protect and evacuate them.
3. Texas: Local and state officials take responsibility for protecting their citizens and property.
Louisiana: Local and state officials blame federal government for not protecting their citizens and property.
4. Texas: Command and control remains in place to preserve order.
Louisiana: Command and control collapses allowing lawlessness.
5. Texas: Law enforcement officers remain on duty to protect city.
Louisiana: Law enforcement officers desert their posts to protect themselves.
6. Texas: Local police watch for looting.
Louisiana: Local police participate in looting.
7. Texas: Law and order remains in control, 8 looters tried it, 8 looters arrested.
Louisiana: Anarchy and lawlessness breaks out, looters take over city, no arrests, criminals with guns have to be shot by federal troops.
8. Texas: Considerable damage caused by hurricane.
Louisiana: Considerable damage caused by looters.
9. Texas: Flood barriers hold preventing cities from flooding.
Louisiana: Flood barriers fail due to lack of maintenance allowing city to flood.
10. Texas: Orderly evacuation away from threatened areas, few remain.
Louisiana: 25,000 fail to evacuate, are relocated to another flooded area.
11. Texas: Citizens evacuate with personal 3 day supply of food and water.
Louisiana: Citizens fail to evacuate with 3 day supply of food and water, do without it for the next 4 days.
12. Texas: FEMA brings in tons of food and water for evacuees. State officials provide accessible distribution points.
Louisiana: FEMA brings in tons of food and water for evacuees. State officials prevent citizens from reaching distribution points and vice versa.
13. Louisiana: Media focuses on poor blacks in need of assistance, blames Bush.
Texas: Media can't find poor blacks in need of assistance, looking for something else to blame on Bush.
14. Texas: Coastal cities suffer some infrastructure damage, Mayors tell residents to stay away until ready for repopulation, no interference from federal officials.
Louisiana: New Orleans is destroyed, Mayor asks residents to return home as another hurricane approaches, has to be overruled by federal officials.
15. Louisiana: Over 400 killed by storm, flooding and crime.
Texas: 24 killed in bus accident on highway during evacuation, no storm related deaths.
16. Texas: Jailed prisoners are relocated to other detention facilities outside the storm area.
Louisiana: Jailed prisoners are set free to prey on city shops, residents, and homes.
17. Texas: Local and state officials work with FEMA and Red Cross in recovery operations.
Louisiana: Local and state officials obstruct FEMA and Red Cross from aiding in recovery operations.
18. Texas: Local and state officials demonstrate leadership in managing disaster areas.
Louisiana: Local and state officials fail to demonstrate leadership, require federal government to manage disaster areas.
19. Texas: Fuel deliveries can't keep up with demand, some run out of gas on highway, need help from fuel tankers before storm arrives.
Louisiana: Motorists wait till storm hits and electrical power fails. Cars run out of gas at gas stations that cant pump gas. Gas in underground tanks mixes with flood waters.
20. Texas: Mayors move citizens out of danger.
Louisiana: Mayor moves himself and family to Dallas.
21. Texas: Mayors continue public service announcements and updates on television with Governor's backing and support.
Louisiana: Mayor cusses, governor cries, senator threatens president with violence on television, none of them have a clue what went wrong or whos responsible.
22. Louisiana: Democratic Senator says FEMA was slow in responding to 911 calls from Louisiana citizens.
Texas: Republican Senator says "when you call 911, the phone doesn't ring in Washington, it rings here at the local responders".
What if state and local elected officials were forced to depend on themselves and their own resources instead of calling for help from the federal government? Texas cities would be back up and running in a few days. Louisiana cities would still be under water next month. Republicans call for action, Democrats call for help. What party will you be voting for in the next election?
"Mississippi had massive hurricane damage and a Republican administration, how did they do with evacuation and after storm response".
Since I am in Gulfport, I can tell you that the response has been MAGNIFICENT!!!
LLS
All Deacon posted was a lot of non sequiturs. And as for Texas, they should be thankful they didn't encounter a hurricane like LA did. I have friends there, and what they tell me of clogged highways caused by the panic in trying to get out isn't something to be proud of. We're all real lucky nature didn't test the two places equally.
Why? It's all fraudulent. I don't see a reason to give anybody a vote for Katrina.
Morning A,
You are correct, and those people had the intestinal fortitude to make it happen. I truly believe Deacon was referring to the idiot(s) who sat on their asses waiting to be "Spoon Fed Evaced."
There were some very positive stories concerning some of the Algiers area residents. One where the local residents took up arms, and warded off the anarchists.
There were those who were prepared, and not waiting on the government to step in and wipe their asses.
In closing there are many good people in La. who work hard and are great Americans. There are also those who think welfare is a professional career from the womb to the tomb.
These individuals come in all races and think life owes them something. Maybe somewhere in life they forgot the old cliche' "I do not know you, so I therefore do not owe you."
Please excuse the double negative(s) they were necessary to illustrate the concept(cliche')
Saying What Needs To Be Said,
NSNR-CSAOTL
The real story is that the failure of socialism was displayed for all to see and yet there are still people dumb enough to think it was Bush's fault. More pathetic are the people who SHOULD know better but lack the moral courage to recognize truth and instead just parrot the "reasonable" swill about "there is enough blame to go around," ETC.
Another part of the "real story" that no one wants to expose. . .80% of the families in the flooded areas ARE WITHOUT FATHERS. Why is that? What are the effects of that?
Kanye West says Bush doesn't care about black people. Have you watched a Kanye West video? Is Kanye, perhaps, profiting off the lifestyle that is destroying the lives of millions of African-American people, especially young people? The real story is what SOCIALISM has wraught, not racism, not Bush, not the bogeyman. . .S-O-C-I-A-L-I-S-M!!!
Hey SJ,
He(Deacon) posted the truth, which you are to blind to see. I am a survivor of Ivan and we took the full brunt.
We are an unicorporated area who, 1. alerted our posse to ward off looters, rapists and murders. 2. We pulled ourselves up by our own bootstraps.
The bottom line, we all work for a living declining the government sugar tit. We took care of our own without all the whining, and negative photo ops of the government entitlement malcontents Expose'.
Plan your action and then work your plan,
We Dare Defend Our Rights,
NSNR-CSAOTL
Bush has been criticized, essentially, for not arrogating authority for the evacuation of New Orleans to himself.But what if Katrina had done what Rita did, and caused fewer casualties than the evacuation did? Had that been the case, the criticism of Bush would have been just as loud over the few who died in the Texas-style evacuation as in fact it has been over the thousand who died in Katrina.
???
Already posted about a week ago:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1491692/posts
My impression, after wading through the rumor and innuendo promulgated in the Media, is that the majority of damage and loss of life is due to the failure of the levees - A failure that was predicted, avoidable save for the inaction of local/state leadership and complete mismanagement of the resources available for evacuation and shelter.
So, while it is true that LA was hit by a stronger storm, the ensuing damage and loss of life was significantly amplified by the complete failures of (Primarily) State and Local leadership.
Who made you the boss?
"Nobody came out of Katrina looking too pretty, and your trawling for votes off of it while damage crews are still scooping bodies out of the mud sure doesn't break the mold."
LOL - there has been a HUGE national discussion on Katrina, with plenty of people in the media and congress pointing fingers, even while crews are still "scooping bodies out of the mud." Everyone else can discuss it, but Deacon_m has to shut up 'cause you say so.
And BTW - I think the military looked fantastic coming out of this.
Texas's big hurricane disaster was also caused by a broken levee, in Galveston in 1900. I don't disagree with the mismanagement aspect, just that trying to pick a winner out of it is a lost cause. The Federal government knew of the danger New Orleans was in but did nothing either, and the redirection of funds from FEMA prior to the disaster really looks bad now. This disaster could have been prevented, or at least mitigated, by timely action, but no one (Democrat or Republican) ever bothered to step up to the plate.
Oh get off it. There's been a lot of cheap talk made lately, with Deacon's the latest example. If you want to rattle your can for votes out of Katrina go ahead, I can't force anyone to grow some sense, but don't act shocked and cry that you're being bossed around when someone points out how daft it is.
Don't know about the other factors, but according to economagic.com TX per capita disposable personal income is only 3% higher than LA.
No, YOU get off it! I enjoyed the post.
"If you want to rattle your can for votes out of Katrina go ahead"
I'm not running for anything.
"don't act shocked and cry that you're being bossed around when someone points out how daft it is."
I'm not acting, I'm not shocked, I'm not crying, and I'm not going to let the likes of YOU boss me around. And I didn't think the points in the article were daft. Run along now, and be about your business of getting off.
SE Texas and SW Louisiana both got pasted by Rita. Katrina mainly hit Mississippi and some of SE Louisiana. The residents of SE Louisiana around New Orleans coped pretty well. NO was a disaster of truly Howard Deanian proportions.
Lesson Learned: What the hell did you expect when the hurricane hit the FREAK SHOW!!!
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