Text 14841, 58 rader
Skriven 2005-09-03 09:05:01 av John Hull (1:123/789.0)
  Kommentar till text 14838 av Ed Hulett (1:123/789.0)
Ärende: More bad news for democra
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Ed Hulett -> John Hull wrote:
 EH> John Hull -> VERN HUMPHREY wrote:
 JH>> VERN HUMPHREY -> TIM RICHARDSON wrote:
 TR>>>> The one thing he did `not' explain was how the wide screen
 EH> televisions, ster
 TR>>>> set ups worth thousands of dollars, personal computers, and
 EH> firearms blacks
 TR>>>> are seen taking from stores, are `necessities of survival'.

 VH>>> The lesson is the mayor should have declared martial law earlier and
 VH>>> secured the stores.  Then food could have been doled out in an
 EH> orderly
 VH>>> fashion.  Far less would have been spoiled and hogged, and people too
 VH>>> weak to compete with the looters would have got their share.

 JH>> Not only declare martial law, but issue shoot to kill on sight orders
 JH>> for looters.  Not only did they allow the looting to continue, they
 EH> set
 JH>> up a situation where honest cops (some would call that an oxymoron in
 JH>> New Orleans) would rather turn in their badges and bail out of town
 EH> than
 JH>> continue as LEOs.

 EH> The cops were affraid they'd be shot in the back by the roving thugs. If
 EH> the mayor would have declared martial law and set up a curfew then ask
 EH> for NG troops to help out the over-extended police things would have
 EH> been different.

 EH> They all like to put the blame in the president's lap, but it usually
 EH> take close to a week to get the logistics set up for federal help. That
 EH> is why state and local authorities have emergency management agencies!
 EH> The local agency goes into action almost immediately, then the state,
 EH> then federal.

 EH> No one knew how bad the situtation would turn out, least of all FEMA.
 EH> They may have been at the ready, but they couldn't have sprung into
 EH> action much sooner than they did.

 EH> The local authorities (namely the mayor) should have done much more at
 EH> the beginning. To not do what needed done soon enough and then criticize
 EH> the administration for acting too slow is hypocritical.

You bet!  I'm beginning to think Denny Hastert is right that it would be a
waste of money to try to rebuild New Orleans.  Rebuild the port facilities and
let the rest of it go to hell.

Think about the mentality that builds a city in a swamp to start with, and for
nearly 300 years has watched it slowly sink into that swamp.  A city that was a
haven run by and utilized by reavers, buccaneers and pirates, rife with
corruption and licentiousness for its entire history. Sure, its got great food
and great music, but it isn't known as the Big Easy for nothing!

But, we'll do it anyway. Humans are too prideful and arrogant to let a mere
hurricane get in the way of doing what they want to do.  Common sense and logic
will get short shrift just like they usually do.

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