I got this E-mail from a friend today, it DOES have an admittedly partisan slant, but I think that the points "Techniguy" makes are, at the very least, worth of examination and discussion.
The Truth May Hurt Some People But It's Still The Truth.
Perhaps a little biased, but there are a lot of truths in here. Brings
to mind the truth of the old adage about teaching a man to fish.
2 States, 22 Observations
~Techniguy - 09-24-2005
Things I have noticed while watching media coverage of the recent
hurricanes:
1. Texas: Productive industrious state run by Republicans.
Louisiana: Government dependent welfare state run by Democrats.
>>
2. Texas: Residents take responsibility to protect and evacuate themselves.
Louisiana: Residents wait for government to protect and evacuate them.
(welfare state apologists will blame this lack of self reliance on the residents being poor, but how much money does it take to walk? D)
>>
3. Texas: Local and state officials take responsibility for protecting
their citizens and property.
Louisiana: Local and state officials blame federal government for
not protecting their citizens and property.
>>
4. Texas: Command and control remains in place to preserve order.
Louisiana: Command and control collapses allowing lawlessness.
>>
5. Texas: Law enforcement officers remain on duty to protect city.
Louisiana: Law enforcement officers desert their posts to protect
themselves.
>>
6. Texas: Local police watch for looting.
Louisiana: Local police participate in looting. (As an ex-Leo, I sincerely hope these officers are identified and spend the maximum jail time for their participation in criminal actions. D)
>>
7. Texas: Law and order remains in control, 8 looters tried it, 8 looters
arrested. (DON'T mess with Texas! :) D)
Louisiana: Anarchy and lawlessness breaks out, looters take over
city,no arrests, criminals with guns have to be shot by federal troops.
>>
8. Texas: Considerable damage caused by hurricane.
Louisiana: Considerable damage caused by looters. (this point I somewhat differ with Techniguy on..but the fact is that, aside from the flooding, the hurricane damage in Texas WAS worse than in LA. D)
>>
9. Texas: Flood barriers hold preventing cities from flooding.
Louisiana: Flood barriers fail due to lack of maintenance allowing
city to flood. (Democrats blame the Feds for this too, despite the fact that LA has received somewhere in the neighborhood of $3B in federal funds to repair, maintain, and upgrade the dikes, double that what the next highest state recipiant of Federal ACE funds received; LA officials decided it was more important to spend a good deal of that money on pork projects that kept their names in the public eye, come re-election time. D)
>>
10. Texas: Orderly evacuation away from threatened areas, few remain.
Louisiana: 25,000 fail to evacuate, are relocated to another flooded
area.
>>
11. Texas: Citizens evacuate with personal 3 day supply of food and water.
Louisiana: Citizens fail to evacuate with 3 day supply of food and water,
do without it for the next 4 days.
>>
12. Texas: FEMA brings in tons of food and water for evacuees. State
officials provide accessible distribution points.
Louisiana: FEMA brings in tons of food and water for evacuees.
State officials prevent citizens from reaching distribution points and vice
versa. (*not to mention that several officials were discovered hoarding some of those supplies in their own homes! D)
>>
13. Louisiana: Media focuses on poor blacks in need of assistance, blames
Bush.
Texas: Media can't find poor blacks in need of assistance, looking for
something else to blame on Bush. (not that there AREN'T poor blacks in Texas...they just know that they have to rely on themselves, not the government. D)
>>
14. Texas: Coastal cities suffer some major infrastructure damage, Mayors tell
residents to stay away until ready for repopulation, no interference from
federal officials.
Louisiana: New Orleans is destroyed, Mayor asks residents to return
home as another hurricane approaches, has to be overruled by federal
officials.
>>
15. Louisiana: Over 400 killed by storm, flooding and crime.
Texas: 24 killed in bus accident on highway during evacuation, no
storm related deaths.
>>
16. Texas: Jailed prisoners are relocated to other detention facilities
outside the storm area.
Louisiana: Jailed prisoners are set free to prey on city shops,
residents, and homes.
>>
17. Texas: Local and state officials work with FEMA and Red Cross in
recovery operations.
Louisiana: Local and state officials obstruct FEMA and Red Cross from
aiding in recovery operations. (although, to be fair; I have heard reports of FEMA interfering with private relief efforts in NO too. D)
>>
18. Texas: Local and state officials demonstrate leadership in managing
disaster areas.
Louisiana: Local and state officials fail to demonstrate leadership,
require federal government to manage disaster areas.
>>
19. Texas: Fuel deliveries can't keep up with demand, some run out of gas
on highway, need help from fuel tankers before storm arrives.
Louisiana: Motorists wait till storm hits and electrical power fails.
Cars run out of gas at gas stations that can't pump gas. Gas in
underground tanks mixes with flood waters.
>>
20. Texas: Mayors move citizens out of danger.
Louisiana: Mayor moves himself and family to Dallas.
>>
21. Texas: Mayors continue public service announcements and updates on
television with Governor's backing and support.
Louisiana: Mayor cusses, governor cries, senator threatens
president with violence on television, none of them have a clue what went wrong or who's responsible.
>>
22. Louisiana: Democratic Senator says FEMA was slow in responding to 911
calls from Louisiana citizens. (WTF?!? since WHEN did it become FEMA's responsibility to respond to 911 calls?!? That is and always HAS been a local responsibility. D)
Texas: Republican Senator says "when you call 911, the phone doesn't
ring in Washington, it rings here at the local responders."
******************************************************
What if state and local elected officials were forced to depend on
themselves and their own resources instead of calling for help from the federal
government?
Texas cities would be back up and running in a few days.
Louisiana cities would still be under water next month.
Republicans call for action,
Democrats call for help.
What party will you be voting for in the next election?
I think "techniguy" hit the nail right on the head.
Techguy makes a good point. Thanks Delfts. :)
Posted by: Alli at October 4, 2005 06:22 PM"They took everything -- all the electronics, the food, the bikes," said John Stonaker, a Wal-Mart security officer. "The only thing left are the country-and-western CDs."
Seems to me that the white republican rednecks can't be the ones responsible for looting the Walmart in New Orleans.
Thank to techniguy for the contents of the post. My dad will surely get a kick out of it.
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