So far, the race hustlers have not come up with a single incident of racism related to the Katrina disaster, but it certainly isn't for lack of trying.
I guess most of the morons who seized onto these two photographs from two entirely different news organizations as evidence of racial preferences aren't going to be bothered by something so simple as the truth. The truth is that the caption describing the black guy as "looting" was written the way it was because the photographer actually saw him looting a store and emerging with a full garbage bag of loot in one hand and a 12-pack of drinks or something in the other. The caption describing the white woman as "finding" the one loaf of bread in one hand and small items in the other hand used that particular word because the photographer saw the stuff floating past the woman in the water, not in a store, and she picked it up.
People who think skin color justifies stealing and mayhem need to learn to think a bit more clearly.
1:17 PM
Friday, September 02, 2005 Second Thoughts
I donated to the Red Cross yesterday. I'm now second-guessing that decision. I wish there had been an option to earmark my donation for all affected areas other than New Orleans, Louisiana. Why? Because if my money goes to that city, there's a very good chance that I'd be aiding and abetting murder.
I feel that a LOT of the refugees down there don't deserve help. Of course, I'm not talking about the weak or the sick, but this isn't a situation where just a few bad apples are spoiling the bag. I believe that many, many of the people who could have obeyed the mandatory evacuation order (from a city under sea level ahead of a Category 5 hurricane when they lived in the lowest of low-lying areas) and chose not to did so because they knew that once the wind stopped blowing they'd be able to loot, pillage, and murder to their hearts' content, unimpeded. They just didn't count on the flood, and that's why they're pissed now.
Let's put the most obvious evil of these walking feces aside for the moment. They are harming the rescue effort in more ways than anyone can imagine. For one, they are hijacking aid trucks and literally stealing food out of the mouths of babies and sick people. For another, they are preventing aid workers from doing their jobs. They are also diverting police and National Guard efforts to take people to safety. They are behaving in a way such that people might think twice about opening their wallets to relief efforts. Not everybody has hangups about the possiblity of the money they donate going to feed a person that is just squeezing in a quick meal before going on a shooting rampage, but a lot of people do. The cost of these monsters behavior can be measured in HUNDREDS OF LIVES and MILLIONS OF DOLLARS.
The actions of the murderers, rapists, arsonists, and looters ARE NOT EXCUSABLE. The excuses being bandied about are flimsy and serve only to show the complete ignorance of those making them. Shooting at rescue helicopters is not okay, no matter what your situation. Nothing that has happened to anyone justifies that. If they are angry because they aren't being rescued fast enough, that does not justify shooting at rescue helicopters and preventing other people from being rescued. Even the looters who haven't actually murdered anyone really can't say they aren't murderers. For one thing, the bands of roaming thugs keep people from being rescued, resulting in their deaths. The looters who thought stealing food from a nursing home was a good idea are murderers.
Ray Nagin is not helping matters. He all but donned a skirt and pom-pom's to cheer the looting. Anyone with a brain knows that if one kind of crime is allowed, the next step is more serious crimes being committed. He is too stupid to hold any position of authority anywhere and is perilously unqualified to be mayor of a large and unusually vulnerable city. And now his stupidity is everybody's problem but his, if you listen to him as he spews obscenities on the air.
To those who say the government should do more to help in this situation, I agree completely, that's a legitimate use of federal money. But if the government actually did take appropriate action and send in the heavy artillery to cover the rescue operations, kill the criminals, and restore order, the same people that are crying about the insufficient response would be crying even more about "overreacting."
To those who like to pretend that people are only looting for food, water, and medicine, use your head. Or, if, as I suspect, that isn't an option, use your eyes and watch those poor desperate people breaking into buildings to acquire basic needs such as gold chains, DVD players, and high-end footwear. Look at the smoldering rubble of Oakwood mall. People who are going to loot for basic needs are going to do so whether the governor and attorney general encourage them or not. So there's no need to encourage them, as Blanco has done. Failure to make any kind of attempt to stop looting and establish order is part of that encouragement. And if looting is okay, then armed looting and shooting cops isn't much of a stretch. And burning down looted buildings when they're through is a logical next step, followed by murder. I certainly don't blame the governor totally for the mayhem in NO, but she isn't helping matters. If any effort whatsoever had been made to get things under control early on instead of shrugging it off as mere looting, maybe it wouldn't have escalated to utter mayhem.
What we're seeing on TV coming out of New Orleans is a triumph of welfare. There are people in New Orleans who are 5th generation welfare recipients, people who have no friends or family who do not receive welfare. All this welfare has created a monstrous sense of entitlement and we're seeing the results now. People who have spent any time in New Orleans have sensed this for years. These thugs we're seeing aren't acting the way they are because they're hungry or tired. Hunger is no reason to smash in a window to steal jewelry. Thirst doesn't justify shooting a cop. Desperation doesn't justify looting, then burning a shopping mall to the ground.
Rebuilding is going to be daunting. And I am not referring to the engineering challenge of keeping the city dry. The oil industry is temporarily moving out of New Orleans until it's safe to go back. But you can bet that there are a whole lot of people viewing the monsters that have taken over the city and thinking long and hard about going back to do business in that city. People who had their businesses, which were intact after the storm, broken into and burned to the ground will certainly think twice before rebuilding in New Orleans. Seeing the mayor, attorney general, and governor with diarrhea of the mouth spouting stupid excuses for inexcusable behavior probably factors into their assessment of the business environment in NOLA. Not good news for the tax base. And a broad tax base is important in a city that necessarily will need more tax money due to its location and the massive effort required to keep the city dry. Asking people who have already left the city to come back, rebuild, and pay high taxes to do business among savage beasts is a bit much.
But it isn't just the businesses. Most of the people who pay taxes in New Orleans are not currently in New Orleans, but rather in a hotel room or with relatives watching what's going down on TV. If their homes are gone, are they going to want to go back to live among monsters? And even New Orleans natives who love their city and have every intention of returning are going to find temporary jobs and lodging somewhere else since they won't be able to return for months. And some of them are certain to make their temporary jobs and homes permanent. And it would be foolish to think that their decision to do so won't have been made without considering the anarchy in the city now.
Bush wants to send $10.5 billion in aid. Money will probably help. But right now longtime Louisiana state troopers are resigning rather than risk getting shot at while handing out food and assisting in evacuation. Trucks full of food, water, and supplies are being hijacked. What good will billions of dollars do if the aid never gets to the victims, but rather becomes the property of monsters? Maybe instead of bemoaning the lack of response, we should be talking about what happens when there is a response. Does the fact that police and National Guardsmen are being told to keep their weapons down in a war zone at tremendous personal risk help morale? And does the fact that it's police, rescue workers, and the innocent who are getting killed, while the murderers and hooligans are unharmed help matters. These savages are killing more people than Katrina, not just by shooting them directly, but by keeping the people who can help out of the city.
George Bush just said that the response to what's happening in New Orleans is unacceptable, and that he will work with the people in charge over there to fix things. That is by far the stupidest thing George Bush has ever said. Working with the bastards who did everything they could to make this disaster worse is not the way to fix anything.
It is horrible what has happened to so many beautiful historic buildings, and the food never to be cooked and served quite the same way again will be missed by all. New Orleans was a treasure trove of Southern elegance. I shed a tear for the many wonderful upstanding New Orleanians who have lost their homes, and have sympathy for the frail hospital patients, nursing home residents, and other decent human beings still left in the city. But those pieces of shit that are running amok in the city don't deserve to be in that city at all, and never have. They don't deserve to breathe.
12:21 PM
