Blanco Piddles While New Orleans Burns
When the last waters are finally pumped out of the New Orleans area, the people of southeast Louisiana, and for that matter the world, will make an awful discovery, that a great deal of the damage in the city was caused not by the winds and waters of Mother Nature but by the hands of a berserk mob.
The death toll inflicted by Hurricane Katrina itself will be staggering as the number 10,000 no longer seems like to great of an exaggeration, with a good number of these fatalities caused by malnutrition, dehydration, and disease. Yet how many of these poor souls who perished would have survived had rescue operations not been hindered by armed maniacs firing on these saviors just because they could?
When Katrina's first squalls approached, the city of New Orleans and the surrounding parishes were in a fairly orderly state. Unfortunately, the destructive void left by the storm's departure was quickly filled by mob violence that could have been contained or greatly limited.
The reports of mass looting, wanton rapes, and murders are a disgrace to the community. In contrast to her neighbor to the east, Governor Kathleen Blanco seemed more interested in showing compassion than strength during a time when order needed to be maintained.
These intended havens of mercy quickly devolved into the lowest rings of Dante's Inferno as thousands of civilians were terrorized by their fellow evacuees. Within the temporary shelters of the Superdome and the Morial Convention Center, grisly crimes were committed against the most defenseless: the children and the elderly.
A story was published about the discovery of two children who were raped to death at the convention center. Other stories were circulated concerning racial strife within the Superdome that could be compared to present Zimbabwe.
A British newspaper reported the harrowing story of English tourists and expatriates caught in the storm and sent to the domed stadium were targeted for robbery by a black mob. Several were sexually harassed and threatened. As conditions worsened, the military had to remove the internationals for their own safety. I won't bother holding my breath for Revs. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson to condemn these hate crimes.
The thin sinews of civilization in New Orleans were stripped while the leader of Louisiana indecisively piddled between sending in the Louisiana militia to quell a situation that was clearly going over the brink and trying to not offend her core constituents who might object to looters being fired upon.
Matters became so chaotic that "insurgents" began shooting at engineers repairing the breaks in 17th Street Canal levees that was the source of a portion of New Orleans's flooding problem. In a rare victory, the looters suffered casualties when the National Guard opened fire. Why would people attack the very men and women risking their lives to save the city and the very looters that (who is reserved for people, looters are soulless jackals) inhabit it?
I am certain charges will be proffered against the "murdering" National Guard soldiers shortly.
Blanco's later insincere demand that President Bush remove Louisiana soldiers from Iraq and send them home, a politically crass move that she knows (or does she really know anything at all) is impractical. New Orleans needed army rifles from anywhere on the streets Monday evening and not Louisiana guns on Friday. But then again, Governor Blanco has displayed throughout this entire catastrophe seems a greater concern for politics than people. I am sure the governor made some hacks at the DNC very proud with her anti-Bush tirades while displaying all the virtues of an inept parish Police Juror.
Because Governor Blanco refused to talk tough when it was still possible to scare off thugs itching to loot, the city burst at its seams; after the destruction began, Governor Blanco failed to back up her new posture with action, chaos reigned, buildings were destroyed and people died. Now after the fact, things have calmed down with the dispatch of troops not necessarily from Louisiana.
As we enter the 7th day since Katrina reached Louisiana, the smoldering ruins of New Orleans are a testament to Governor Blanco's incompetence and unwillingness to be firm with those who would use Katrina as a free pass to steal and kill at will, yet she appears angrier with the Bush Administration than the looters.
Legend has it when Rome burned, Emperor Nero, a musician and artist, played his lyre and sang. I wonder if Governor Blanco, known to be proud of her Cajun lineage, was playing a box accordion, a traditional Cajun-music instrument, at a time when New Orleans needed a Giuliani and got stuck with the anti-Rudy.
The death toll inflicted by Hurricane Katrina itself will be staggering as the number 10,000 no longer seems like to great of an exaggeration, with a good number of these fatalities caused by malnutrition, dehydration, and disease. Yet how many of these poor souls who perished would have survived had rescue operations not been hindered by armed maniacs firing on these saviors just because they could?
When Katrina's first squalls approached, the city of New Orleans and the surrounding parishes were in a fairly orderly state. Unfortunately, the destructive void left by the storm's departure was quickly filled by mob violence that could have been contained or greatly limited.
The reports of mass looting, wanton rapes, and murders are a disgrace to the community. In contrast to her neighbor to the east, Governor Kathleen Blanco seemed more interested in showing compassion than strength during a time when order needed to be maintained.
These intended havens of mercy quickly devolved into the lowest rings of Dante's Inferno as thousands of civilians were terrorized by their fellow evacuees. Within the temporary shelters of the Superdome and the Morial Convention Center, grisly crimes were committed against the most defenseless: the children and the elderly.
A story was published about the discovery of two children who were raped to death at the convention center. Other stories were circulated concerning racial strife within the Superdome that could be compared to present Zimbabwe.
A British newspaper reported the harrowing story of English tourists and expatriates caught in the storm and sent to the domed stadium were targeted for robbery by a black mob. Several were sexually harassed and threatened. As conditions worsened, the military had to remove the internationals for their own safety. I won't bother holding my breath for Revs. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson to condemn these hate crimes.
The thin sinews of civilization in New Orleans were stripped while the leader of Louisiana indecisively piddled between sending in the Louisiana militia to quell a situation that was clearly going over the brink and trying to not offend her core constituents who might object to looters being fired upon.
Matters became so chaotic that "insurgents" began shooting at engineers repairing the breaks in 17th Street Canal levees that was the source of a portion of New Orleans's flooding problem. In a rare victory, the looters suffered casualties when the National Guard opened fire. Why would people attack the very men and women risking their lives to save the city and the very looters that (who is reserved for people, looters are soulless jackals) inhabit it?
I am certain charges will be proffered against the "murdering" National Guard soldiers shortly.
Blanco's later insincere demand that President Bush remove Louisiana soldiers from Iraq and send them home, a politically crass move that she knows (or does she really know anything at all) is impractical. New Orleans needed army rifles from anywhere on the streets Monday evening and not Louisiana guns on Friday. But then again, Governor Blanco has displayed throughout this entire catastrophe seems a greater concern for politics than people. I am sure the governor made some hacks at the DNC very proud with her anti-Bush tirades while displaying all the virtues of an inept parish Police Juror.
Because Governor Blanco refused to talk tough when it was still possible to scare off thugs itching to loot, the city burst at its seams; after the destruction began, Governor Blanco failed to back up her new posture with action, chaos reigned, buildings were destroyed and people died. Now after the fact, things have calmed down with the dispatch of troops not necessarily from Louisiana.
As we enter the 7th day since Katrina reached Louisiana, the smoldering ruins of New Orleans are a testament to Governor Blanco's incompetence and unwillingness to be firm with those who would use Katrina as a free pass to steal and kill at will, yet she appears angrier with the Bush Administration than the looters.
Legend has it when Rome burned, Emperor Nero, a musician and artist, played his lyre and sang. I wonder if Governor Blanco, known to be proud of her Cajun lineage, was playing a box accordion, a traditional Cajun-music instrument, at a time when New Orleans needed a Giuliani and got stuck with the anti-Rudy.
posted by BourbonConservative at 1:20 PM
2 Comments:
All points well taken, but I still would lay odds on Blanco being re-elected. 2007 is a long way off and it's plenty of time for the government largesse to be re-established.
All the while, she'll lay any blame she needs to on Bush and FEMA.
she does have a mighty warchest but so did New Orleans Mayor Robert Maestri in 1946. A cause is more powerful than a bank account and as she won largely because of the naivete of her opponent and his race (I have done correlations that more or less prove it beyond a reason of doubt), she might be in trouble yet. Either way, she will not walk in now.
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