Fucktarded scribblings and bibblings
This morning (truthfully yesterday morning), I heard a radio interview with the reverend of some San Francisco church speaking about the issues in NO.
I have to paraphrase, here, because I am not savvy enough, nor do I have the time, to dig into the actual interview.
But basically this reverend stated that aid was slow coming to NO, and that the people, if not justified, were at least forgiven for being angry, wary and homicidal.
You see, since most of the poor of NO are black, and these are the people that were left behind, it is acceptable for them to shoot at rescue helicoptors. Furthermore, it is White America's fault for both the disaster, and the inability to process aid more quickly.
To which I say bullshit.
Are things completely fucked up? Are there atrocities happening that I wish I'd never heard about? Is this the worst natural disaster to strike America in the last 100 years?
Yes on all counts.
Sadly, this reminds me of the South Park episode where the parents are sent away for one single week, and the children become completely ferral. The entire town is destroyed, they no longer remember the "before time". And only one single week has passed.
Don't get me wrong. If you were between me and formula for my infant, I would kill you. No offense, and I wouldn't relish the experience. But if it were within my power, and I thought that you were in my way, you would cease to be.
But to acknowlege the thugs that roam the NO streets is beyond me. In one single week, the south has become Anywhere, war-torn Africa or the Middle East. Small bands of mercanaries have become mini-warlords. Word has arrived that while the US has been unable to provide aid, the "undesirables" have provided stolen food, water and trasportation. Which is noble, exciting and uplifting until you consider that these are anarchistic oppertunists.
Do you think that control will be happily turned over, once the crisis is past?
I don't wish to point the finger at anyone. In fact, this is largely a precursor to my 9/11 post. In these situations, I am able to believe that Machiavellian methods are worthy of the greater good. But it needs to end just as soon as the greater powers come to play. That is specifically what they have been chosen to do.
posted by KOM @ 12:41:00 AM
15 Comments
15 Comments:
This is a real life version of "The Lord of the Flies" - only involving grown adults instead of children.
I still don't get why it happened tho - there were warnings this was going to be huge days before, whereas with the Tsunami, it happened with no warning. Yet it baffles me to see that a 3rd world country could come to its own rescue within hours, and the US has taken 5 days before it even provides water???
My faith in human society died a long time ago, and this hasn't improved it.
Well I don't agree with anything that the thugs have done down there. They cry for help and shoot at the people helping them and then bitch cause help is not coming? They have shot policemen in the head, they have shot national gaurd people, they shot at a helicopter trying to bring them food and water, they shot at a hospital because they were evacuating people from it. Yet they bitch that they are getting no help? Hell I would not help them either. They evacuated them to Houston and look at what they are doing to that city. They evacuated them to Alexandria, LA and they got off the bus stealing, car jacking and going nuts. But they still complain they are getting no help. Yes it has taken awhile to get them help, to get them water, to get them out. They put the military in charge and things are moving smoother, but when you have so many agencies trying to do one thing that in itself is a natural disaster. Too much red tape, too many rules. The military does what needs to be done. I hope when the people down there shoot at them, it doesn't turn into some small war. But I do believe they shoot at the military, they are going to shoot back.
What? No blaming Bush? I'm destabilized! It's not about race nor Bush incompetence. Like usual, it's all about looking in the mirror. FEMA and the local government need to be scrutinzed first. All this reactionary anti-Bush rhetoric is bullshit and for the partisan jokester. They think they are being critical but they are really being self-serving. They ar enot out to find the truth in as much as to fit the truth to their narrow ethos. Once again, like on 9/11, BUREAUCRATIC WALLS seem to have played a role. Ironically, liberals are falling all over themselves with misguided notions that feed their appetites when the truth is more likely closer to the reasons largely of their own doing. BIG GOVERNMENT and JUSTIFICATION FOR THE ILL-ACTIONS OF THE POOR. When all else fails, blame, as loud as you could, Bush. It don't matter just do it. Everyone else is. Look at that buffoon Kanye West (whoever he is) and that fraud Michael Moore (whatever he is). My concern is how all this gets out of hand and perceived by America's enemies.
Well, I pretty much disagree with all of you, but I don't feel like discussing it. I'm way too angry. I will say this...
1) There is no way that a disaster this big could be handled only by the local government. Since 9/11, the Prez and the federal government has been granted unprecedented powers to take over in such national crisis (FEMA is a part of the department of homeland security, ya'll). If this is the best the government can do, then God help us when unpredictible events hit us in multiple cities.
2) Class is an issue here. It's why the state and federal government never had any plan to get the most vulnerable people out. The storm doesn't discriminate. But, the evacuation does.
3) FYI: The prisoners were released because the jails were flooded. So, before you start attacking the people of NO as animals, you should consider who was seated right next to them.
4) I'm pretty sure that the 99% of the survivors are not thugs. They are people who need help. It's sad that some of you seem to stereotype all of the NO victims by what a few people do. But, then again, that is a typical American way of thinking.
Oh, and by the way, I think Kanye West rocks! Exercise that freedom of speech Mr. West. It's your right to do so.
Kaci: Whoever said the storm was racist, probably meant the reaction after the storm (and before it, actually). If that's not what they meant, then that person is just an idiot. There's no way a storm can be racist.
I don't blame the military at all for this fiasco. I blame the leadership. The military can only act when their commander in chief tells them to do so. And therein lies the problem.
I personally blame the state of Louisiana and the federal government for this. The city of NO asked for money from the federal government to beef up the levies (for those who don't know, such a public safety project is usually funded by the fed's; it would be impossible for a city (no matter how large it is) to fund a project like that on it's own). But, our government said no because it had to send money over to some place else. Hmmm, I wonder where?
Furthermore, to ease the city's concern, FEMA told the city that if they could cover the first 48 hours after a bad storm hits, they would be there to take over the situation.
Right.
Oh, and for all those who don't know, FEMA has had a list of top worst crises that could hit the US for some time now. Guess what's in the top 3?
NO hit by a powerful category THREE hurricane or worse.
Yet, no one felt the need to have a better plan than to put people in the superdome and not bring any supplies, communication equipment, or other resources for several days later.
Idiots.
All of them.
Hey, I am not cute. My comments are to be taken seriously, dammit!
PS: Pay no attention to the cartoon version of Reese the Law Girl. She is not cute. But, a powerful advocate for the disenfranchised! ;)
Just wanted to add my two cents to this one :) I wrote this post after drinking too much, and then I got a cold and hadn't thought about it for days.
I mention drinking because the post has very little linear progression; it comes across as random smatterings.
Basically, I am angry (ashamed?) about how quickly humanity has regressed in this instance.
There is an excellent post that Yawn linked to recently. It makes the case far, far better than I can. Go read it, all.
{Sigh} And I hate making disclaimers, but I will. I do not personally agree with everything in the post linked above, but I think the commentary specifically on the hurricane is spot-on.
Hey!!! What happened to your last post???
Hmm, that's an interesting article. I wish I could leave a comment, because whoever wrote it has some of his facts wrong. Most notably, that there is no evidence that the state/federal government did not give an order to kill people. That is 100% untrue. In fact, a shoot to kill order for ALL looters was given (including those who were stealing food-- Bush said there was a zero tolerance policy). I saw with my own eyes several women who had groceries who were being arrested at gun point by the national guard.
Also, I think the author confuses what most people actually think happened. From what I have heard, no Black "leaders" have said that the government wanted to kill Black people. But, that they didn't care if Black people lived or died.
Is that true? No one will ever know unless you can get the Prez or the governor to say it from their own mouth. But, it certainly raises suspicions when the majority of victims are Black and those in power, who are white, simply turn their head and hang out on vacation at their ranch.
Personally, I think class is at least as big of an issue here as race. Perhaps, even bigger.
Yawn - What?
Reese - First and foremost, I beleive that anyone who says that they know the "facts" about the situation are trying to sell me something. No one knows shit, right now. So I'm taking it all with a grain of salt.
Second, it's interesting how you stated that we will never know if the government cares whether or not blacks live or die, unless "you can get the prez or governor to say it from their own mouth." It sounds like you've already decided what you believe: They either admit that they don't care, or they're lying.
Third, I'm not sure how you are defining victim (dead? refugee?) But wouldn't it make sense that in a city that was 70%+ black, that they would be in the majority? I mean, that's just simple math.
Finally, any disagreement that we have may come down to a fundamental difference in belief about the nature of government. On your recent post, you state "No one was getting them out of town!" People are ultimately responsible for themselves. Government is there to aid you, not to deflect culpability. Don't have a car? Walk. Sound harsh? It is. So was the storm. People get fucked all the time. Especially people who can't walk, and are in disaster areas. And that, my friends, is why it's called a disaster.
All right, that's all that I have to say on this subject today. It's sad that it has become such a devisive issue. White, black, yellow and green - the storm was terrible, but the aftermath appears to be worse.
Division is good. 50-50 is optimal. Then you just have to sway 1 percent or the other to get ahead in things like stockholding, politics, manipulating the 49%, etc. I wonder if that's where "divide and conquer" comes from. But I bet "divide and conquer" refers to 33-33-33 instead of such neat numbers as 50-50.
It's interesting how you can say something, but yet people simply read more into what you said. Or, ignore it.
1) When I said we will never truly know if the government's response was racist without hearing it from their own mouths, I meant just that. Literally. Thus, my statement did not mean that I think the government is lying. I'm suspcious of their reaction, but no one can tell, at this point, why they reacted the way that they did. No one here is God. Or a telepath. I can't believe you would find a way to disagree with that.
2) It is a fact that there was a shoot-to-kill order. I know that there are many rumors out there, but I don't base my opinions on rumors. I heard about the shoot to kill order from Prez. Bush and the Louisiana governor themselves.
3) Did you read anything I said? I said the majority of the victims were Black. I'm confused why you think I'm surprised or confused about that fact.
4) I do believe I said the the bigger issue was more about class than race. I don't know if you caught that statement or not, but I did say it. And, I believe it. The middle-class Black people got out of town. And, they were Black, so what's the difference then? Money.
The poor are discriminated against too.
5) Yes, I do believe we have a fundamental difference of opinion about the government. I believe that the government is for the people, by the people. We pay tax dollars and elect representatives not to tell us what to do everyday of our lives. But, primarily, to provide for us the big things that we couldn't do on our own.
Yes, I suppose someone could have walked instead of expect their government to evacuate them, but that really doesn't make much sense. No money, no place to go. So, you end up in the street when the hurricane hits. Okay, sounds like a plan.
I really don't feel like there is any point to a Department of Homeland Security/FEMA or State of Emergency Response plan, if we're all going to take the stance that it's not the government's duty to protect its citizens the best way that it can. But, if that's where we are in this country, if that's what people want- a state of anarchy, then so be it. Let me know. So I can get the hell out of Dodge.
The one thing I do agree with you about, is that this will probably be the last I have to say about this travesty and national embarassment. At least on your blog anyways. I won't take up anymore of your space.
Does Occam's Razor apply here?
No - that would take conspiracy theories right out.
I just read yesterday about a meteorologist who believes the Japanese mafia was invovlved in creating the storm.
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