catmman on August 22, 2010 at 11:45 AM

Catmman, you’re not very well informed. Please see my post, “Everything you know about Hurricane Katrina is wrong.“

Laura Curtis on August 22, 2010 at 3:50 PM

Laura,

I drag this over from your other post on this subject.

I am not un-informed about what happened in New Orleans during Katrina. I also am not sensitive to the fact there were those from NO who did what they should have done and worked hard and have worked hard to recover. I worked with NO evacuees who were flown here into San Antonio after the storm.

That being said, the crux of my comment was that I’m tired of the narrative. I was also trying to point out that many of those who suffered, in particular those who are continued to be portrayed by the media as victims of some heartless right-wing crime against humanity, brought much of their suffering upon themselves.

In fact, there is another Spike Lee ‘documentary’ coming out soon on HBO about Katrina. Is it even handed? No. Even the small preview I saw last night continues with the “blaming Bush” meme and portraying many of those in NO who have done nothing for the past five years but hold out their hands – as ‘victims’. Not victims of the storm, but ‘victims’ of racism, right-wingers, etc.

In fact, you do place blame where it belongs – pretty much with everyone involved. Everyone made mistakes and taken as a whole, they contributed to Katrina becoming a clusterfark.

I was at Clark AB in 1991 in the Philippines during and after the volcanic eruptions of Mt. Pinatubo. For two weeks after the eruption, we were pretty much on our own. Our base had effectively been destroyed. We had less infrastructure intact than was left in NO after Katrina. We were cut off from outside help for WEEKS, not days. Our airfield could not support even evac flights due to the ash. Transportation was by ground and it was spotty due to local evacuees and destroyed roads. No electricity for quite some time. We had to collect water from puddles on the ground, sanitized with chlorine bleach for drinking. We had little food. Many places we lived and worked were completely destroyed.

I understand that what happens during an event like Katrina. I also understand firsthand how narratives don’t usually fit what actually happens.

We had to take care of ourselves. We had to feed ourselves, protect ourselves, etc. for weeks. We didn’t have media cheerleaders blaming Dick Cheney for leaving us there. We rolled up our sleeves and got to work to get ourselves out of the mess.

I know that happened during and after Katrina, sure it did. But what are we hearing, even now five years later – more of the same meme that everyone ‘else’ was responsible.

I’m sick of the purposeful dishonesty and the continued failure of many to take responsibility for themselves and for what happened.

Oxycodone addiction. Oxycodone….

Ephedrine faq….

Yes, I heard about Honore. I’d like to hear more about his positions on the issues. But if he is a conservative, and kept up the straight talk and didn’t hesitate to challenge the media, he would be a powerful candidate. Be interesting to see how far the media would go to attack him. I don’t think they could Palinize him.

(I suspected I had it comin’ to me, my wife is named Laura…)

I’m probably going to get a CCW early next year – I’ve been meaning to for a while now and just haven’t carved out the time for the course yet.

Just finished a Conceal Carry Weapons course given by Gordon Hutchingson a no nonsense former fire arms instructor for the Baton Rouge Sheriff’s department. Terrific class with some excellent advice and good firearms advice.

Gordon wrote a book about the Gun Grab which folks should check out.

New Orleans Gun Grab Descent Into Anarchy

http://www.neworleansgungrab.com/