More Aftermath

I'm sure the following information will be broadcast far and wide (NOT). It is indeed some of the aftermath of the tradgedy we called Hurricane Katrina.
The raping, the pillaging, babies dying, we knew it because the broadcast media told us... some even reported some cannabilism... Wow! Not something we would expect in the good ole U.S.A. was it?

So I'm at dinner the other night with my entire family - dinner was excellent... good Nebraska beef - daughter somehow got the conversation onto the poor handling of the Katrina situation. I guess if you've read any of my thoughts on the subject, I have 'praised' the resposne... she talked about the raping and the dying... I said, not even ONE person died of starvation... hungry? Yup... hey, I'm huingry as I type this, but I'm sure not in danger of dying... arrgh. Anyway, my parting shot to daughter was... the truth will come out in the end... 'her' parting shot was' YOU BET!!!! Somehow I was saddened that my daughter had bought into the pap spread by themedia.

Regardless, I offer the following link - you don't have to read too far to realize just what an enemy our media is... further after Rita was not such a disaster as anticipated, the media says, well Bush really learned his lesson... the response was mucho betta!!! What a sham. Here is unvarnished truth people. There was no comparison between Katrina and Rita.... 'and' if another Katrina comes along, there will be mass confusion precisely like there was with her predecessor. It was 'The Big One' for crying in the sink. Anyway, I offer up this link. Good read.

http://www.nola.com/newslogs/tporleans/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_tporleans/archives/2005_09_26.html

Promise Broken

OK - I had promised no more on Katrina - but one more issue is driving me nutso.

I keep hearing - four years after 9/11 and our response basically S U C K S... umm does 'anyone' other than myself see the difference between a disaster cooncentrated in a single area (9/11), and a disaster spread out over the entire Gulf Coast (Katrina). Just a simple observation from a member of the lower middle class.

The whole world now believes our government's response was bad... the whole world is wrong.

Katrina Finale

While I do realize the people will be coping with the aftermath of Katrina for years, I am going to make my final comments on the situation as I see it.

The press in general, and most TV networks all believe the repsonse was a failure. What intrigues me is the descriptives they use to describe Katrina... words like apocalyptic, greatest disaster in history etc., and then in the next breath expect the response to be immediate.

First of all, this event should not be political - it is a given that it is... accordingly, no point in belaboring that point. I just want whomever may read this to consider the magnitude of what the government did, and how quickly they did it... the sad part to me is this... in the final analysis - those normal day to day folks who had jobs, just normal slobs like myself living their daily lives... they heeded the warnings, they got off their butts and evacuated - 'those' folks are now running up large credit card bills just trying to stay afloat. "THEY" will be the ones hurt in the end.

For the rest? They should be on their knees thanking the good Lord above they live in The United States of America. This government's response will be deemed historic after all the bluster from the politicians has finally blown out. Having said that, once the magnitude of the response is finally realized, the next part will begin... I don't have this, I don't have that, the government is not doing enough. Sometimes I do get depressed about the whole situation - yelling at the TV has not worked so far - I wonder if turning it off will.

Aftermath

So today, I made a valiant attempt to watch the morning neews shows; I knew I shouldn't, but could not resist. Tim Russert who I normally enjoy watching was a bombastic obnoxious asshole! The tone of voice while interviewing the homeland security secretary just made me want to strike the TV.

Here's the deal - you can not make these things go perfect... there were, there will be mistakes made. It is like a war. One can NOT dictate what will happen in a war. Regardless, were the media to just as a pointed but polite question, they might just get a whole heck of allot farter in determining the real issues at hand.

And finally, tonight I watched the opening of 60 Minutes - Scott Pelley was interviewing the mayor of New Orleans - do you think perhaps ole Scott might just (politely of course) ask the mayor why all those school busses were not staged to remove peopel during the evacuation? Nope... those buses were in a sea of water and the mayor was free to blame the federal government, specificially the presiden of these United States for some of 'his' failures. Nobody seems to be questioning him. That's OK.

Today, I don't care if I am the only one in America - I believe the governments response was magnificent; I flew my flag today and silently saluted in honor of the responders.

The Aftermath

Short and sweet - I am not sure I can remember a time when I have been more proud of America. The massive display of our military (funny how they get turned to in times of crisis), post the disaster has been nothing short of magnificent!

Response

I guess I will stand alone and say I believe the mobilization in response to Katrina has been a magnificent display of what this country can do. People, if they want to direct their venom somewhere should perhaps find out the different protocols between states governments and the federal governments role.

The comments have been made that we are able to assist 3rd world countries quicker than we did New Orleans... #1 the very same crabbing went on during the Tsunami in regards to our timeliness of response. #2 - during a 'world' crisis as opposed to a 'state' issue the feds do NOT have to wait for a summons for help from the state.

Two final thoughts - 1) I watched a lady complaining about one of the MREs (Meals Ready To Eat) she was given... said it wasn't 'FIT' to eat. : ) I wondered out loud... wonder what she thinks the men and women in Iraq are eating. Ahh well. 2) This hurricane covered 90,000 square miles larger than the state of Idaho - I stand by my statement - the response of the government has, considering the enormity, has been magnificent.

The Tradgedy

Fri Sep-02-2005 04:38

Some passing thoughts on the tradgedy in the southern United States.

It literally amazes me how the relief efforts are being criticized, ridiculed, in a manner that makes one think 'nothing' is being done. Anyone with any logistics experience can see the massive task and how much has already and will continue to be poured into the area.

Why wasn't the National Guard there sooner they ask... immediately is what they mean, and just think about that for a minute. They could in fact dropped thousands of guard troops 'almost' immediately, but had that happened, those guard toops would have become part of the problem. The logistics of dropping people in requires supplies for THEM or they become part of the same problem they are going to assist in resolving.

Bush was on vacation and did not respond immediately they say. For crap sake... he declared it a disaster area before the hurricane even hit!!! Absolutely, positively before the levee broke!

Upon his early return to Washington, The President made a low pass over the disaster - why is he wasting fuel for a photo op they said? Others saying, why hasn't he let the people know he 'cares' - he hasn't been here. Makes me want to vomit!

I can only say this... there are heroic things happening there... this country has shown its strength in the quck response to this disaster. Has it been perfect? NO. Has it ever happened before? NO, not to this extent. Will it happen again? Maybe, who's to say; all "I" know is, and this has nothing to do with President Bush, President Clinton, or President whoever! The relief efforts have been, will be, and will continue to be to the best of this countries ability.