Thursday, September 08, 2005

Views on Hurricane Katrina


Like many citizens of this country, I have been watching the coverage of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. I was disturbed and dismayed by the images of children and the elderly starving for food and water. I was equally upset by the scenes of looting throughout New Orleans (I am sorry if you are lugging out TVs, Playstations, and DVD's, you are looting not "finding"). The ineptness of the mayor and governor was evident from the first day post-Katrina. The federal response could have been faster as well.

The most shocking aspect was the non-stop, senseless blaming by the mainstream media before people were fed, moved to safety or rescued. In terms of wrestling, the media, left-wing wackos were so eager to get on the top rope and drop kick Bush and FEMA, the coverage almost became unwatchable. It is hard to believe that people with this much hate would use hurricane victims to score political points. However, I was relieved to see in the CNN poll yesterday, that most Americans did not blame Bush for the crisis. It was a natural disaster, people! Could have things been performed better or more timely? You betcha! Yet, the Dems could not put politics aside in order to help these victims.

Race hustlers will use the delayed response from the federal government to keep more Blacks on the plantation. Unfortunately, these events will probably hurt the strides that the GOP has made with Blacks. Can you imagine any Black pastor now openly supporting the President?! He or she would be forced to resign immediately. The poor citizens of the Gulf Coast will be used to get the race hustlers more air time, and more donations to fatten their bank accounts. The other disturbing aspect of the Katrina situation is the lack of accountability on the part of the residents. Despite the image shown in the media, I would wager that most of these blacks are not as poor as the media would like for you to believe. I believe that if you told these people that if they left the city, they would get $1000, most of these people would find a way out. I cannot believe that most of these people did not have access to any transportation. Where were the family members who had access to transportation at? My mother lives in a lower-income area, if she needed to leave, I would be down there in a heartbeat to get her. The problem is that many people in that area are conditioned to believe that they are victims. All of their problems are due to outside forces, not their own poor decisions. These people are taught not to see themselves as part of American society, but as outcasts. So when the "man" tells you to leave, you are supposed to ignore it. These are the people who are keeping you down, besides they might be lying to you. I know this is a harsh assessment, but it is based on reality. I grew out in that type of environment and I am fully aware of the predominant mentality present. Do I suggest that we don't help this people? Absolutely not! I have already donated money and will continue to donate more. I am also slated to volunteer to help with some survivors that have been moved into our area. My other fear is this disaster will be used as a catalyst for drastic increases in federal spending, the stoppage of the Bush tax cuts, and decreased committment to the war on terror, which I will talk about more later...