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Name:
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MotorMan
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Subject:
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New Orleans residents
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Date:
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9/21/2005 4:03:40 PM
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I know that this is a "blame the victims" attitude, but this is taken out of a New York newspaper. My real feelings go out to the good people who obeyed the evacuation law and then got their homes looted. Much of the lootng came from gangs as far away as Tennesee who came with their own (stolen) boats and AK-47's. They were far better prepared than the police. The big Wal-Mart was built on high ground and it could have been restocked and reopened to sell fresh food in as little as two weeks after the all clear is given, but the looting was so bad, it will be at least January to get is restored.
Years ago, the New Orleans Mayor was one of the first to sue legal firearms makers for the misuse of guns by criminals and the Governor was quick to envoke the "No firearms are to be sold within five days of a disaster" rule well before Katrina. She was much latter on signing the paper necessary for the National Guard to be allowed in the CommonWealth of Louisiana. If the State Police are called in before it is necessary, it makes the local police look bad. Dittoes on the National Guard. For 125 years we have not allowed the Army to come in without an "Order of Insurection". These were used in the late 1960's and it got some students killed at Kent State at a protest. So, the Army is the weapon of last resort for looting and crowd control. The following is taken from the paper. *****************************************************************************************************
Why we couldn't save the people of New Orleans The New York Daily News, Sept. 4, 2005
In the late 1990s, the state's school systems ranked dead last in the nation in the number of computers per student (1 per 88), and Louisiana has the nation's second-highest percentage of adults who never finished high school. By the state's own measure, 47% of the public schools in New Orleans rank as "academically unacceptable." These government failures are not merely a matter of incompetence. Louisiana and New Orleans have a long, well-known reputation for corruption: as former congressman Billy Tauzin once put it, "half of Louisiana is under water and the other half is under indictment."
That's putting it mildly. Adjusted for population size, the state ranks third in the number of elected officials convicted of crimes (Mississippi is No. 1). Recent scandals include the conviction of 14 state judges and an FBI raid on the business and personal files of a Louisiana congressman. In 1991, a notoriously corrupt Democrat named Edwin Edwards ran for governor against Republican David Duke, a former head of the Ku Klux Klan. Edwards, whose winning campaign included bumper stickers saying "Elect the Crook," is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence for taking bribes from casino owners. Duke recently completed his own prison term for tax fraud.
The rot included the New Orleans Police Department, which in the 1990s had the dubious distinction of being the nation's most corrupt police force and the least effective: the city had the highest murder rate in America. More than 50 officers were eventually convicted of crimes including murder, rape and robbery; two are currently on Death Row. Ten billion dollars are about to pass into the sticky hands of politicians in the No. 1 and No. 3 most corrupt states in America. Worried about looting? You ain't seen nothing yet!
************************************************************************************************* From me again Louisiana has had more more given to it for Army Corps of Engineers in the last ten years than any other city. It has increased in each of the last four years under Mr. Bush, contrary to what is seen on TV. The various Mayors and Governors have spent the money on gambling docks, marinas and other changes that increase taxes and employment. On Tuesday when the city was flooding and the Coast Guard was saving people from rooftops, the Mayor announced "I thought EVERYONE knew that fixing the levies was the most important thing."
I am afraid the people of New Orleans have gotten the Government they deserve.
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