say about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina that wouldn’t be a cliche?
The amazing thing to me is how it is affecting people not directly involved in it. I see all around me the walking dead, just like zombies in old Boris Carloff movies. The suffering of other humans is taking it’s toll, yet they cannot just turn off the news and not watch or listen. Not only the suffering but the depravity of those that have chosen to turn this tragedy into their personal gain. How anyone could break windows and take consumer goods other than basic survival items is well beyond the pall. Rapes and beatings on a whim. If anyone ever thought that rape was about sexual gratification, what could possibly be gratifying about forcing a woman (or boy) to pleasure you while you are lying in the middle of human waste?
They say that tragedies such as this brings out the best and worst in people. And I’m certain that is true. The problem is that the heroes won’t be mentioned until well after the chaos has subsided and all that we see are those that aren’t the heroes. In the meantime, what we see are images of thugs, thieves, plunderers, looters; lawlessness.
On top of these images, we see people that are not grateful for the work that is being done to help them. And there is much work being done. Thousands of people are doing their absolute best to bring relief to those in need. Yet we focus on the screams and cries of those that do not think it is adequate. MRE’s are good enough for our military, yet when we drop thousands of them to the affected personnel, we hear that they are not what they should have. We, as Americans, have created an entire class of people that think they are entitled to anything they want, without having to put forth effort to obtain it. Then, we wonder why people are selfish, have hard hearts and do not care about their neighbors.
There is hope. In the midst of great personal crisis, Paul said:
Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstance I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.
We need to learn contentment. It is not something that can be had overnight. It is a process, a part of maturing in the love and grace of Jesus Christ. We need to remind ourselves that their is hope.
I couldn’t have said it better, my dear brother! We really have created a montrously selfish nation and it’s so sad. We are supposed to be the “richest country in the world”, yet we’re nothing without the Heavenly Father who is waiting to once again bless us. Instead, people act worse than junk-yard dogs in their greedy selfishness to possess and control. People should have evacuated when they were first notified, yet they chose to hang onto worldly possessions…and ended up with nothing. I pray we wake up before the next national disaster.
The frustrating thing to me is to see the media “pundits” pounding on the president and the government that they have not responded quickly enough. And not one of them could have possibly made anything happen sooner had they been the person in charge. The magnitude of the tragedy had certainly caused consternation by those in charge of trying to decide where, what and when to send supplies and to evacuate those in need. And then to hear the New Orleans mayor this afternoon cursing and demanding that something be done immediately, after having spent much of the day with the president and the FEMA director was appalling. Certainly I can’t relate to the absolute misery the people in the Superdome must be experiencing, but I must say much of it is caused because they have lived lives of dependency on the federal government, and those who have been responsible to “earn” a living were for the most part able to leave the city before this all happened. Instant gratification has unfortunately become our expectation, and consquently, when it’s not provided, there is an outcry from those not receiving it. And the major networks, who don’t like Bush anyway, LOVE to be able to point at the deficiencies and demand a response.
Enough of my “diatribe”…
Danile
The world has now learned the “secret” of New Orleans…80% of St Bernard parish has been on public welfare ALL of their lives…sad sad sad!
Try going out to the dome to help out…you are sweeping up the mess because these people are absolute pigs and they won’t even lift up their feet for you…and you hear complaining because they are only having sandwiches AGAIN….
The government doesn’t owe any of us anything if we are not willing to help ourselves….
Cant wait to hear the beating Bush and his Administration will take when they start hauling in the bodies of those who refused to leave…
Even Fats Domino had to be airlifted because of his refusal to leave his worldly possessions.
God Bless America!
I’ll try this again.
I am so glad that I live in the generous, big hearted state of Texas. I, too, cannot believe some of the things that these people have been saying about “not fast enough, not good enough,” etc. Instead of belly-aching about another sandwich, they should be thankful for something in their belly. And while I know that the Dome is not the Hilton, they should be thankful for a dry place to sleep and a roof over their head. Instead of being a body floating in some nasty water, they should thank God that they got out alive. Since they were on welfare anyway, this is a good chance to turn their life around and maybe get a job??!!
We had a gentleman and his family from New Orleans come to church Sunday and told how he had left everything behind shortly before the storm hit. He was grateful for what little he brought with him and thanked God for his family’s safety. He was a Bible teacher at whatever church he went to in LA. He did say a big thank you to the “loving people in this great state and this area.”
I’ll get off my soap box now.
On Friday night, August 26, 2005 before the Hurricane hit, Max Mayfield of the National Hurricane Center took the unprecedented action of calling Mayor Nagin of New Orleans and Louisiana Governor Blanco personally to plead with them to begin MANDATORY evacuation of New Orleans and they said they’d take it under consideration. This was after the NOAA buoy 240 miles south had recorded 68′ waves before it was destroyed.
President Bush spent Friday afternoon and evening in meetings with his advisors and administrators drafting all of the paperwork required for a state to request federal assistance (and not be in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act or having to enact the Insurgency Act).
Just before midnight Friday evening the President called Governor Blanco and pleaded with her to sign the request papers so the federal government and the military could legally begin mobilization and call up. He was told that they didn’t think it necessary for the federal government to be involved yet.
After the President’s final call to the governor she held meetings with her staff to discuss the political ramifications of bringing federal forces. It was decided that if they allowed federal assistance it would make it look as if they had failed so it was agreed upon that the feds would not be invited in.
Saturday, August 27, before the Hurricane hit, the President again called Blanco and Nagin requesting they please sign the papers requesting federal assistance, that they declare the state an emergency area, and begin mandatory evacuation.
After a personal plea from the President, Mayor Nagin agreed to order an evacuation, but it would not be a full mandatory evacuation, and the governor still refused to sign the papers requesting and authorizing federal action. In frustration the President declared the area a national disaster area before the state of Louisiana did so he could legally begin some advanced preparations.
Rumor has it that the President’s legal advisers were looking into the ramifications of using the insurgency act to bypass the Constitutional requirement that a state request federal aid before the federal government can move into state with troops – but that had not been done since 1906 and the Constitutionality of it was called into question to use before the disaster.
Throw in that over half the federal aid of the past decade to New Orleans for levee construction, maintenance, and repair was diverted to fund a marina and support the gambling ships. Toss in the investigation that will look into why the emergency preparedness plan submitted to the federal government for funding and published on the city’s website was never implemented and in fact may have been bogus for the purpose of gaining additional federal funding. As we now learn that the organizations identified in the plan were never contacted or coordinating into any planning, though the document implies that they were.
The suffering people of New Orleans need to be asking some hard questions as do we all, but they better start with why Governor Blanco refused to even sign the multi-state mutual aid pack activation documents until Wednesday, August 31, which further delayed the legal deployment of National Guard from adjoining states.
Or maybe ask why Mayor Nagin keeps harping that the President should have commandeered 500 Greyhound buses to help him when according to his own emergency plan and documents he claimed to have over 500 buses
at his disposal to use between the local school buses and the city transportation buses – but he never raised a finger to prepare them or activate them.
This is a sad time for all of us to see that a major city has all but been destroyed and thousands of people have died with hundreds of thousands more suffering, but it’s certainly not a time for people to be pointing fingers and trying to find a bigger dog to blame for local corruption and incompetence. Pray to God for the survivors that they can start their lives anew as fast as possible and we learn from all the mistakes to avoid them in the future.
Very good post. Where did you find this report?
Cheryl’s dad sent the article. I’m sure it’s from TIADAILY.COM (The Intellectual Activist)