Katrina - on the Second Anniversary

This is just a short post to reflect on the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

Katrina put five and a half feet of water into my home in the New Orleans suburbs. For MONTHS after Katrina - my family and I lived a very bizarre life. You can go back through the archives of this blog for idea of what it was like - I'm not going to recap it here.

I will make some observations about how I feel personally - two years after that storm.

1. The human beings that I was exposed to after that storm - were hard-working heros. The vast majority of my neighbors, moved back into the neighborhood and took it upon themselves to restore their lives - they didn't wait on the government help. Help from the government eventually arrived - and those who had been helping themselves all along ended up even better off after that assistance arrived. The few that didn't attempt to help themselves from the beginning - the few that bitched about the government - are still spinning their wheels.

2. 80 percent of my neighbors are Black - so this survival work ethic I'm talking about above - is not the exclusive property of White folk. There was no looting in my neighborhood. People helped each other. People helped themselves. They refused to fail. They figured that government assistance might never come - so they did it themselves. They rightly calculated that if, somehow, the government rode to their assistance - they'd be better in the end for taking charge of their situations themselves early on. They were right.

3. I'm against illegal immigration - but Mexican's truly are the "New Frontiersmen". They have the spirit that our ancestors who crossed the western plains had - the same spirit that most of us have lost. Mexicans came flooding into the hurricane zone because they saw a financial opportunity through plentiful hard work. They didn't shirk it or try to avoid it - they jumped on it. You cannot hold people like that down. Then again, why would you want to?

4. Ninety percent of the blame for the dysfunctional response in Louisiana can be laid at the feet of Governor Kathleen Blanco - the High School teacher who should have never been elected to any political office higher than that of School Board Superintendent. The woman has always been unqualified for high political office and her indecisive actions during, and after the hurricane pretty much illustrate that. Her finger-pointing at Bush and Ray Nagen are evidence that not only is she unqualified for the post she's filling now - but she also doesn't have the moral courage to accept the blame for her failures.

5. I've softened on Ray Nagen (somewhat). In retrospect - it was a huge storm and Nagen was in the middle of it the entire time. He made decisions - he just made a lot of wrong ones. However, I'm fairly convinced now that his bad decisions weren't politically motivated. Everything the Governor did, and everything she didn't do - were politically motivated. This doesn't earn Nagen a spot as the Most Valuable Player of the affair - but at least he's not the guy that fumbled the ball - that was actually a gal - a gal named Kathleen Blanco.

6. Mary Landrieu and David Vitter (Senators from Louisiana - one a Dem the other a Republican) - they can take a long walk off a short pier. They didn't do as much damage as Blanco did - because they didn't have as much power to screw things up as she did. But they did demonstrate their impotence with drama on a daily basis. They were huge embarrassments to the State of Louisiana and continue to be to this very day.

7. Bobby Jindal - the only shining light in Louisiana politics and hopefully we come to our senses and elect him governor this time around. After the storm, Bobby wasn't pointing fingers like Kathy Blanco. Bobby wasn't crying on the national news like Mary Landrieu. Bobby was busy doing his fucking job on capital hill - and getting the votes he needed to put together a huge federal aid package that is rebuilding this region.

8. President Bush - errr, why am I even commenting on him? His role should only have been as a figure-head. The President of the United States is not responsible for fighting hurricanes. That's the job of the State and local governments. The REPUBLICAN led States (i.e. Mississippi and Alabama) understood this and that is why they did so well when compared with the DEMOCRATICALLY led Louisiana. The President is the Chief Executive and the Commander In Chief. Those are his duties - he fulfilled them well.

9. FEMA - it was a big storm - it was a calamity that was predicted - but never understood by humans until it actually happened. FEMA's sins were human sins. The situation they faced was WAY out of the ballpark of the game they thought they were playing. Throw a dysfunctional and unqualified governor (Blanco) into that mix and FEMA had their hands full. Hopefully FEMA learned their lessons about what to do next time.

10. The FEDERAL GOVERNMENT?

Thumbs up from me. It was the Federal Government's relief package that made me and my family whole again after loosing just about everything we had. I'm very appreciative. I recognize that those "Road Home" funds came from the Feds - they didn't come from Kathy Blanco - although she did screw up getting those funds to the people who needed them - and MANY STILL HAVEN'T RECEIVED THE FUNDS - AND THIS IS COMPLETELY BLANCO'S FAULT!!

So to the Federal Government - and to taxpaying Americans throughout the United States - I want to thank you. Thanks to you - this region will survive. Even though Kathy Blanco and her Democrat cronies will do everything they can to ensure it doesn't.

So that sums up my feelings on the second anniversary of the storm. I'm still very angry and bitter at Kathy Blanco and the Democrats. But I'm very appreciative to the Federal Government and American Taxpayers for helping my family through a difficult period in our lives!

"I'd rather have a sister who worked in a brothel ...

... than to have a brother working as a journalist."

This is not a joke topic - and I'm not kidding here!

Consider this - if I were asked to participate in a debate defending a profession - and I had to choose between that of a journalist ... or a call-girl ...

Well, I think I would have better luck finding more positive things to say about call-girls than I would journalists.

Seriously.

I mean - arguably, a call-girl provides an honest service for her clients. Arguably, if she puts a smile on the face of a fat, stressed-out, frustrated, but powerful businessman - then you could argue that the positive energy in that potentially spreads to everyone that that businessman deals with for at least a few days. Perhaps the next day he comes into work and he's a little nicer to his secretary - who is a single Mom and comes home a bit happier the next evening because her boss was not yelling at her - and her happiness transmits to her kids - who do a little better in school the next day because Mom was nice at home the evening before.

Hey - it's a stretch but I think there is more science behind my argument above than there is for global warming.

On the other hand - I can't find anything redeemable about the profession of journalism. I think journalists are the new "whores" of the 21st century.

Before I go here ... let's take a moment to lament the death of the "news reporter" - the guy or gal who just reported the facts and wasn't worried about the entertainment or shock value or political spin that could be placed on them. Reporters were honest people - but they don't exist anymore - or if they do they're working for some obscure paper in Wyoming or the flatlands of West Texas.

Reporters are an extinct species ... they were systematically hunted down and killed by journalists. Their food and water supply was cut off and they were hunted and killed off. To ensure that no more Reporters were ever bred - Journalists were placed to watch their breeding grounds - the colleges and universities - and those Journalists ensure that nothing but Journalists are spawned on those breeding grounds.

So that's the first reason you should hate Journalists - they're guilty of a form of genocide. (SMILE)

But the main reason you should hate journalists is for what they've done to our society. They've made us fearful of everything. They've turned us into the worst kind of voyeurs. They've brought Jerry Springerism into the main-stream. They've turned us into the worst kinds of judgmental bastards you could ever imagine and they've turned our attention away from things that matter and on to trivial matters that no one should be concerned with.

Example: The collapse of the Mississippi River bridge in Minneapolis a few weeks ago. Any question of why that bridge collapsed was a TRIVIAL matter - or should have been until a full engineering inspection and investigation had been done by the NTSB. That takes MONTHS though. Until that investigation is completed - any and all "causes" cited for the collapse of that bridge are merely speculation - i.e. TRIVIAL.

But the journalists couldn't wait for an answer - so they kept the airwaves stocked with rumor and speculation about the causes. In the end - their conclusion was that all of the national infrastructure was screwed. It must be George Bush's fault - or it must be the fault of Global Warming which is causing the infrastructure to go to hell in a handbasket - and the warming is George Bush's fault so it no matter the reason - it's G.W.'s fault!

Journalists are like little kids - kids who have to have instant gratification. You drive up to the drive through - order a story - then you pull around to the window, pay for it and move on. They think that the whole world and everything that happens has a simple answer - and it doesn't require a lot of hard work or investigation to figure out why something happened. Just conjure some veiled conspiracy - and sprinkle a modest amount of drama over the event and - VOILA! You have a story!

By the time anyone figures out you were wrong - you (and the American public) will be on to other more interesting things.

That's the way it rolls folks - from the Drama Whores of the 21st century - the Journalists.

Earl Charles Spencer claims that the Press is more responsible for killing his sister, Princess Diana, than anything or anyone else.

He's right - but many in the press are off on a cockamamie pursuit of a conspiracy between the CIA and British Intelligence to kill the Princess. Pathetic.

The TET Offensive, during the Vietnam War - was portrayed as an American defeat by the press. In reality - it was a victory for U.S. Forces in Vietnam.

The Iraq war today - is being portrayed as an American defeat by the press. In reality - in spite of all the ugliness - we're killing great numbers of terrorists in Iraq and have been since we entered the country years ago.

The press is incapable of getting stories correct - because the work ethic of the reporter was exterminated in favor of "fast-food" conspiracy theories and "junk-food" drama.

It's very sad.

If you're a reporter reading this - let me tell you how much I personally respect you ...

A degree in journalism is a liberal arts degree and, in fact - apparently you don't really need any degree to be a journalist.

Sean Penn proudly calls himself a journalist - and he can get away with it. He couldn't get away with calling himself an Electronics Technician, or an EMT, or a Teacher, or a Machinist, or a Policeman - or anything else that requires QUALIFICATIONS.

But he can call himself a journalist.

And so can Michael Moore.

And instead of condemning these idiot posers - journalists attempt to emulate them!

It's pretty sad when someone can mock a profession and the people who belong to that profession embrace them.

And it's impossible for me to respect journalists because of this. Every time I see a hot 24-year old "journalist" on the television ranting about how some politician has screwed up a situation ...

I just think about how many problems that "journalist" has ever solved in her life and question what gives her the right to point a finger? She's never paid her dues - unless you want to count breast augmentation as a "due payment".

That's not the way it used to be - and it's not the way it should be now. "Journalists" should not be respected - for they haven't earned respect.

And that's about all I have to say about them. When your son or daughter finally comes around to telling you what they plan on doing with their lives - pray to high heaven that they don't tell you they want to be a "journalist".