I hear, consistently, four arguments against the critics of the current government response to the hurricane in southern Louisiana. They are
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A reply from the same coworker who sent the article:
[16:19:32] name_hidden: she had the means to get a flat boat afterwards, so she wasn't physically unable to leave...so why didn't she? You cannot legislate stupidity, if people are too damn stupid to be responsible for themselves and not realize that the warning wasn't a joke and it was something to be taken seriously, and a hurricane comes and wipes them out after they ignored the warnings, then I have NO PITY for them whatsoever. Thats what warnings are for..to prepare accordingly, and they didn't.
[16:24:03] name_hidden: the fact of the matter is that only 13% of the US population blame the Bush administration and the other 87% blame the people of N.O. for not heeding the warnings. And for her to say that she didn't have any way out of town.....she could have started walking 3 days earlier when the warnings were given.
[16:28:32] name_hidden: I see Oprah all over the TV saying how this shouldn't have happenned.....I'm sorry, I didn't know we had the technological means to stop a hurricane. She's only worth a billion dollars, yet I hear of no big money donation from her. Tell her to give out cars now to people so they can leave, better yet where was she before, why wasn't she handing out cars then for people to get out?
[16:30:39] me: So, it's Opra's fault?
[16:30:43] name_hidden: why did the mayor release all the prisoners? so they could just commit more crimes? Why didn't the mayor force the evacuations, like he is now? Why didn't the mayor have the buses pick everyone up and instead of taking them to the superdome, why not just take them to texas instead.
[16:30:52] name_hidden: No, but it aint bushs fault either
[16:31:28] me: He's just as rich, yesno? Why did't he give out cars?
[16:36:08] name_hidden: a guy is standing on the roof of his house and the waters rising...a rescue boat comes along and says "hey, wee here to rescue you" and the guy says no, the lord will save me......a few minutes later the water has risen even higher and another rescue boat comes along and says "hey, were here to rescue you", no thanks the guy says, the lord will save me, an hour later the waters risen even more, and a helicopter comes along and radios down, "were here to rescue you, take the line"...no thanks again he say, the lord will save me. Later, up in heaven he gets through the gates and he says to the lord, why did you ot save me, why when i needed you most you were not there for me. The lord says what do you want you idiot, I sent you two boats and a helicopter.
[16:36:40] name_hidden: Moral - the lord helps those who help themselves
[16:40:25] name_hidden: if a tornado warning is issued by the national weather service, and instead of going to your basement, or wherever, you go outside and stand in front of it and get blown away and wiped out, is it the weather services fault or anyone elses? or is it yours for not getting out of the way and heeding the warnings and seeking shelter
Okay, let's just forget the fact that she brought out more people alive with her than just herself, including two women with no legs. Let's deal with the idea that she chose to stay. How many times every day do you hear something can kill you? "Eat total and you won't have a heart attack and die." "Can cell phones give you tumors?" "Smoking kills hundreds of thousands of Americans each year." "A killer storm is coming through ..." Our media thrives on sensationalism. If something isn't sensational, it can be made sensational. How many times have these people heard someone yelling "wolf" ?
Okay, so, perhaps the mayor making an announcement makes it official. Why didn't she start walking? Why would a poor black woman be afraid to walk out of a city in a mass exodus where streets were packed with cars and a hurricane was coming? Why would someone with no reasonable means of self defense, or shelter, or transportation be leary of walking outside in a potential hurricane risk?
Why would the mayor release the prisoners.... I'm guessing that being locked in a cell while it filled with water would be considered cruel and unusual punishment. However, perhaps just letting the animals drown would be better for everyone. God knows that a thief will loot and a sex offender will rape and a murderer will kill. Now, I'm not sure, but I don't think this is why the national guardsmen weren't helping. I don't this think this is why, the agency designed to anticipate, respond immediately to, and provide long lasting relief efforts for emergency situations that wasn't performing the basic functions for which it was formed.
And, I'm not sure only 13% of the nation blames Bush and his administration for the terrible response in New Orleans. I've not seen any actual evidence of that. I am sure, however, that the media has been censored. Reuters has an article about how the media is not allowed to ride along with rescue boats, or take pictures of the dead in New Orleans, or (in the same vein) take pictures of coffins of American soldiers coming back from Iraq. Link: http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2005-09-07T005629Z_01_N06101601_RTRIDST_0_KATRINA-PHOTOGRAPHS.XML
As to the last point ... If you ignore a tornado warning and lose your house, that's a bad thing. If, however, the tornado takes out the entire city in which you live including the muncipal services you rely on for fresh water, heat, electricity, communications, medical services, and police protection and enforcement of laws, then it becomes a national disaster for which there needs to be a national response.
I love ConspiraciescoyotewoofSeptember 9 2005, 16:02:45 UTC
Just a comment on the media being refused to ride on the rescue boats:
We are talking little fishing boats here in most cases. These are not cargo ships where the presence or absence of a reporter and cameraman and equipment would not be noticed! Adding media riders to the boat probably would cut the effectivenss of that boat by 30% or more. Hello media! You don't need to be in those boats right now so STFU!
I don't know about taking pictures of the bodies other than I'd rather not see those pictures. I've seen plenty of dead bodies in my life to go around and don't need the media sensationalism, thank you!
Re: I love ConspiraciespooroldluuSeptember 9 2005, 16:17:30 UTC
Where'd you get conspiracy?
The media isn't being allowed to report on what's going on. They're not allowed near the FEMA camps -- even in places far removed from the actual disaster area, like Colorado. They aren't allowed to photograph the reality of the situation. And sure, putting a reporter on every boat would be a stupid move. Putting a reporter on a boat, probably not a huge sacrifice. And, I'm sure, if allowed, Channel 5 (or whatever) would get a boat down there to allow their media to follow a rescue boat.
I'm not saying the boat thing is a grand idea. There are many practical reasons to avoid having civillians in a disaster zone, but there are also many precedents that encourage it. We have reporters, in harm's way, following marins in Iraq. We've had reporters in trenches of every major war of the past century. We've had reporters at ground zero on 9/11. Why not now? Why aren't we getting better coverage of this?
And no, there's no conspiracy here, just censoring, plain and simple and I am left only to assume that the negative publicity would hurt the current administration's rating in the opinion polls and that might not bode well for re-election for any current congressmen, or definitely for a republican president in 2008, which would affect the current cabinet, too.
But, it could be, too, that we just don't like to see gross things on TV with dead bodies and pictures of natural disasters.
I'll just flip channels to watch Twister, then The Passion of the Christ, then Schindler's List, followed by a rousing ER, 24, and So you think you can dance?
[16:19:32] name_hidden: she had the means to get a flat boat afterwards, so she wasn't physically unable to leave...so why didn't she? You cannot legislate stupidity, if people are too damn stupid to be responsible for themselves and not realize that the warning wasn't a joke and it was something to be taken seriously, and a hurricane comes and wipes them out after they ignored the warnings, then I have NO PITY for them whatsoever. Thats what warnings are for..to prepare accordingly, and they didn't.
[16:24:03] name_hidden: the fact of the matter is that only 13% of the US population blame the Bush administration and the other 87% blame the people of N.O. for not heeding the warnings. And for her to say that she didn't have any way out of town.....she could have started walking 3 days earlier when the warnings were given.
[16:28:32] name_hidden: I see Oprah all over the TV saying how this shouldn't have happenned.....I'm sorry, I didn't know we had the technological means to stop a hurricane. She's only worth a billion dollars, yet I hear of no big money donation from her. Tell her to give out cars now to people so they can leave, better yet where was she before, why wasn't she handing out cars then for people to get out?
[16:30:39] me: So, it's Opra's fault?
[16:30:43] name_hidden: why did the mayor release all the prisoners? so they could just commit more crimes? Why didn't the mayor force the evacuations, like he is now? Why didn't the mayor have the buses pick everyone up and instead of taking them to the superdome, why not just take them to texas instead.
[16:30:52] name_hidden: No, but it aint bushs fault either
[16:31:28] me: He's just as rich, yesno? Why did't he give out cars?
[16:36:08] name_hidden: a guy is standing on the roof of his house and the waters rising...a rescue boat comes along and says "hey, wee here to rescue you" and the guy says no, the lord will save me......a few minutes later the water has risen even higher and another rescue boat comes along and says "hey, were here to rescue you", no thanks the guy says, the lord will save me, an hour later the waters risen even more, and a helicopter comes along and radios down, "were here to rescue you, take the line"...no thanks again he say, the lord will save me. Later, up in heaven he gets through the gates and he says to the lord, why did you ot save me, why when i needed you most you were not there for me. The lord says what do you want you idiot, I sent you two boats and a helicopter.
[16:36:40] name_hidden: Moral - the lord helps those who help themselves
[16:40:25] name_hidden: if a tornado warning is issued by the national weather service, and instead of going to your basement, or wherever, you go outside and stand in front of it and get blown away and wiped out, is it the weather services fault or anyone elses? or is it yours for not getting out of the way and heeding the warnings and seeking shelter
Reply
Okay, so, perhaps the mayor making an announcement makes it official. Why didn't she start walking? Why would a poor black woman be afraid to walk out of a city in a mass exodus where streets were packed with cars and a hurricane was coming? Why would someone with no reasonable means of self defense, or shelter, or transportation be leary of walking outside in a potential hurricane risk?
Why would the mayor release the prisoners.... I'm guessing that being locked in a cell while it filled with water would be considered cruel and unusual punishment. However, perhaps just letting the animals drown would be better for everyone. God knows that a thief will loot and a sex offender will rape and a murderer will kill. Now, I'm not sure, but I don't think this is why the national guardsmen weren't helping. I don't this think this is why, the agency designed to anticipate, respond immediately to, and provide long lasting relief efforts for emergency situations that wasn't performing the basic functions for which it was formed.
And, I'm not sure only 13% of the nation blames Bush and his administration for the terrible response in New Orleans. I've not seen any actual evidence of that. I am sure, however, that the media has been censored. Reuters has an article about how the media is not allowed to ride along with rescue boats, or take pictures of the dead in New Orleans, or (in the same vein) take pictures of coffins of American soldiers coming back from Iraq. Link: http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2005-09-07T005629Z_01_N06101601_RTRIDST_0_KATRINA-PHOTOGRAPHS.XML
As to the last point ... If you ignore a tornado warning and lose your house, that's a bad thing. If, however, the tornado takes out the entire city in which you live including the muncipal services you rely on for fresh water, heat, electricity, communications, medical services, and police protection and enforcement of laws, then it becomes a national disaster for which there needs to be a national response.
Reply
We are talking little fishing boats here in most cases. These are not cargo ships where the presence or absence of a reporter and cameraman and equipment would not be noticed! Adding media riders to the boat probably would cut the effectivenss of that boat by 30% or more. Hello media! You don't need to be in those boats right now so STFU!
I don't know about taking pictures of the bodies other than I'd rather not see those pictures. I've seen plenty of dead bodies in my life to go around and don't need the media sensationalism, thank you!
Reply
The media isn't being allowed to report on what's going on. They're not allowed near the FEMA camps -- even in places far removed from the actual disaster area, like Colorado. They aren't allowed to photograph the reality of the situation. And sure, putting a reporter on every boat would be a stupid move. Putting a reporter on a boat, probably not a huge sacrifice. And, I'm sure, if allowed, Channel 5 (or whatever) would get a boat down there to allow their media to follow a rescue boat.
I'm not saying the boat thing is a grand idea. There are many practical reasons to avoid having civillians in a disaster zone, but there are also many precedents that encourage it. We have reporters, in harm's way, following marins in Iraq. We've had reporters in trenches of every major war of the past century. We've had reporters at ground zero on 9/11. Why not now? Why aren't we getting better coverage of this?
And no, there's no conspiracy here, just censoring, plain and simple and I am left only to assume that the negative publicity would hurt the current administration's rating in the opinion polls and that might not bode well for re-election for any current congressmen, or definitely for a republican president in 2008, which would affect the current cabinet, too.
But, it could be, too, that we just don't like to see gross things on TV with dead bodies and pictures of natural disasters.
I'll just flip channels to watch Twister, then The Passion of the Christ, then Schindler's List, followed by a rousing ER, 24, and So you think you can dance?
Reply
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