The Dumbplumber has, so far, remained silent on the whole Katrina mess, but that is about to end. Katrina is a very complex situation, not made any less so by the 24/7 news grinders, vote hungry politicians and ass saving bureaucrats. My silence on the subject has been cloaked by the whining, caterwauling, and finger pointing by everyone from Ted Kennedy to the Mayor of New Orleans, looking for a sacrificial Republican, on which to place the blame.
So after a considerable period of information gathering and reflection, I had a ‘gray matter’ moment in which I recalled a Federal Judge once telling me that, “you are the master of your own ship, you are, where you are, because of you”. Which pretty much sums up the folks remaining in New Orleans.
Let’s review. For the past 40 to 50 years, due to rising river sediment and sinking land mass, New Orleans has been lower than sea level. This is NOT a closely held secret or matter of national security. It is a well publicized fact. A fact not lost on the first million people to exit the city, prior to Katrina’s hit.
Personally, the concept of living under sea level, protected only by a levy constructed by the U.S. Government, is beyond belief. Remaining there in the face of a category 5 hurricane, with levies designed to withstand only a category 3 hurricane, is comparable to playing Russian Roulette with 5 bullets. But I digress.
Katrina had to be one of the slowest train wrecks in history. Five days prior to landfall, Katrina was predicted to hit the gulf coast and 2 days before, it was predicted to hit Louisiana, Cat 5. What part of, “get out of the city NOW” did these people not understand?
Of course we hear of the poor, the infirm, the young and helpless, not to mention the old and witless. But of the 500,000 remaining during the storm, 400,000 decided to cut their losses and bail out when the levy broke, after the storm. That left 100,000 of the most vulnerable, the least intelligent and the most likely to blame the Government, when the feces hit the oscillating mechanism.
It is amazing to witness the excuses of those, not leaving during the first two Katrina warnings. “I didn’t have a car”, “ I have diabetes”, “there was no one to help me” and my personal favorite, “I had to wait for my (welfare)check” are all phrases used by tens of thousands, who have the energy to loot liquor stores, complain about the temperature of their MREs, be lifted off their rooftops by 4 million dollar helicopters, walk to banks to cash their checks and the hundreds of other things they did prior to Katrina. But lack the will, motivation or mental capacity to realize that they needed to get their sorry asses out of Dodge or die. But now, it is somehow the governments fault.
Please forgive me, but except for the very elderly, the infirm, the disabled, and the lost and forgotten, I shed nary a tear for the tens of thousands, stranded, thirsty, hungry, angry, entitlement sucking losers and slackers remaining in harms way. They had several opportunities to heed the warnings and take personal responsibility, and they blew it. Now apparently it’s Bush’s fault. It’s the Governor’s fault. It’s the Mayor’s fault.
No, my homeless friend, it’s your fault. Now admit it and get on with your miserable, ignorant, money sucking, loser life. Take your helicopter, hummer or school bus rides, to wherever you are going, get a job and start a new life, like the victims of other catastrophes . On the other hand, you can just keep your hand out, whining about your losses on Cable News and take whatever the Government gives you.
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