lessons from a hurricane survivor ... we did build this
***
AS SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN THROUGH MORE STORMS THAN I CAN REMEMBER, I CAN TELL YOU THE TRUTH ABOUT PEOPLE NEVER CHANGES
Mother Nature can be a bad mother ... but there is a method (and purpose) in her badness.
Politicians are always the same ... no matter where they are in space and time.
People run the gamut from the truly pathetic to the heroic.
In every hurricane I've there were people who rose to the occasion, in former days they were the majority, who took the bull by the horns and got business done. People helped themselves and each other.
I remember the first hurricane I was really conscious of as a teenager when the mother of a friend of mine, Mrs. P, who had just lost her husband, had her garage heavily damaged by the storm. It was barely standing and a literal death trap.
A bunch of my friends organized a work party and went over and tore down the garage for her and stacked the debris in her yard.
While more and more people run around waiting for government to do something, there are those who immediately roll up their sleeves and start the task of cleaning up and rebuilding.
They are at the front lines - along with local police, firefighters, first responders, business owners, etc.
I remember after Katrina there was a popular pizza place nearby that was spared from the storm and the owner reopened immediately after it had passed and provided free food for all the people who were there keeping us safe as well as the people who came in to help.
While the news media advance their stories of politicians and big government and their efforts in recoveries from disasters, and they have their place, the REAL stories are the thousands and thousands of INDIVIDUALS who are really getting the job done ... local people, blue collar workers, energy companies, private insurance companies, churches and charities, private citizens.
By the way - the first organized group I saw outside of the Louisiana National Guard after Katrina? The Salvation Army with hand-made sandwiches, fruit and bottled water. I'm sure the elitist pundits on MSNBC would mock their efforts today, but what a nice feeling to have a "neighbor" from states away interrupt his or her life to do a good deed.
All in the light of constant criticism from the people they are helping and threats from the politicians and bureaucrats who get in their way.
No, no one is perfect. There is no perfect path to recovery. It is complicated, messy, costly, and fraught with problems and danger.
There are good public servants but most of what big government does is dictate, distribute money and pose for publicity shots.
In fact, the best government CAN do is get out of the way and let people who know what to do do it.
And know people are going to be impatient and angry and tired of having their lives interrupted and inconvenienced greatly. I mean, power restoration alone might take weeks and standing in lines to get food and gas is no picnic. Government should let people who know what to do do what they do best.
And try to foster cooperation instead of making political hay. And create traffic jams by conducting photo-ops instead of concentrating on clearing roads and highways.
Isn't it funny how they always say things like "We're going to cut the red tape and loosen regulations" when there is a disaster like Hurricane Sandy? Even Pres. Obama is making this promise in the days before the 2012 elections.
Huh? President "Red Tape" himself? Wait until his EPA starts making the rounds - charities and private do-gooders start getting dictates spelling out what they can't do to help.
Hasn't that been the thrust of this administration and its sycophantic media in their insistence of controlling each and every aspect of our lives?
Imagine a country with less interference from big government! And yet, the media today and the president they shill for are arguing for MORE!
Talk about disasters!
Five more days. We can change that and restore the real America.
AS SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN THROUGH MORE STORMS THAN I CAN REMEMBER, I CAN TELL YOU THE TRUTH ABOUT PEOPLE NEVER CHANGES
Mother Nature can be a bad mother ... but there is a method (and purpose) in her badness.
Politicians are always the same ... no matter where they are in space and time.
People run the gamut from the truly pathetic to the heroic.
In every hurricane I've there were people who rose to the occasion, in former days they were the majority, who took the bull by the horns and got business done. People helped themselves and each other.
I remember the first hurricane I was really conscious of as a teenager when the mother of a friend of mine, Mrs. P, who had just lost her husband, had her garage heavily damaged by the storm. It was barely standing and a literal death trap.
A bunch of my friends organized a work party and went over and tore down the garage for her and stacked the debris in her yard.
While more and more people run around waiting for government to do something, there are those who immediately roll up their sleeves and start the task of cleaning up and rebuilding.
They are at the front lines - along with local police, firefighters, first responders, business owners, etc.
I remember after Katrina there was a popular pizza place nearby that was spared from the storm and the owner reopened immediately after it had passed and provided free food for all the people who were there keeping us safe as well as the people who came in to help.
While the news media advance their stories of politicians and big government and their efforts in recoveries from disasters, and they have their place, the REAL stories are the thousands and thousands of INDIVIDUALS who are really getting the job done ... local people, blue collar workers, energy companies, private insurance companies, churches and charities, private citizens.
By the way - the first organized group I saw outside of the Louisiana National Guard after Katrina? The Salvation Army with hand-made sandwiches, fruit and bottled water. I'm sure the elitist pundits on MSNBC would mock their efforts today, but what a nice feeling to have a "neighbor" from states away interrupt his or her life to do a good deed.
All in the light of constant criticism from the people they are helping and threats from the politicians and bureaucrats who get in their way.
No, no one is perfect. There is no perfect path to recovery. It is complicated, messy, costly, and fraught with problems and danger.
There are good public servants but most of what big government does is dictate, distribute money and pose for publicity shots.
In fact, the best government CAN do is get out of the way and let people who know what to do do it.
And know people are going to be impatient and angry and tired of having their lives interrupted and inconvenienced greatly. I mean, power restoration alone might take weeks and standing in lines to get food and gas is no picnic. Government should let people who know what to do do what they do best.
And try to foster cooperation instead of making political hay. And create traffic jams by conducting photo-ops instead of concentrating on clearing roads and highways.
Isn't it funny how they always say things like "We're going to cut the red tape and loosen regulations" when there is a disaster like Hurricane Sandy? Even Pres. Obama is making this promise in the days before the 2012 elections.
Huh? President "Red Tape" himself? Wait until his EPA starts making the rounds - charities and private do-gooders start getting dictates spelling out what they can't do to help.
Hasn't that been the thrust of this administration and its sycophantic media in their insistence of controlling each and every aspect of our lives?
Imagine a country with less interference from big government! And yet, the media today and the president they shill for are arguing for MORE!
Talk about disasters!
Five more days. We can change that and restore the real America.