The Sins of Katrina
By Irwin N. Graulich (09/21/05)
Now let me get this straight. You build a city six feet below sea level, sitting between 2 large, powerful bodies of water and expect no flooding problems.
You charge people exorbitant city and state taxes to safeguard their property and give them services, yet you pay little attention to warnings from engineers and writers about the strength of your levees. There are businesses paying an obscene amount of taxes, assuming you are safeguarding their infrastructure, yet they keep reading about local political corruption and financial scandals.
When a category 5 hurricane ultimately hits with devastating force and the levees break, destroying lives and property.....you blame George W. Bush. Welcome to the world of our socialist Democrats who refuse to take responsibility for their own actions.
These political hacks like Mayor Nagin and Governor Blanco have learned quite well from the likes of John Edwards and his fellow trial lawyers, whose talents to redistribute blame onto the other side are only trumped by their uncanny ability to get paid through legal extortion!
Clearly, local responders are the people initially responsible for dealing with a regional disaster. Otherwise, a federal agency would have to continuously monitor every locality in the country 24/7 for potential tragedies, a rather ridiculous and impossible task.
Americans cannot and should not expect this type of help at the Federal level, sans a big event. This means that individuals and businesses along with local and state authorities must have a plan for "dealing" with issues including weather related calamities and man induced tragedies.
FEMA was created to warn about a possible disaster and respond only "after" it occurs, if it is determined that local authorities cannot handle the problem themselves. The agency cannot and should not attempt to put its fingers into every dike in the country, and certainly not absolve local responsibility, despite what Mayor Nagin and Governor Blanco espouse.
The President cannot repair every pothole or aging bridge in America, nor should he. So, clever politicians are continuously plotting ways to get his attention and money.
Enter the race card, bringing an incompetent black mayor and poor black minority to the Federal gaming table. The many honest victims of this tragedy were quickly upstaged by the crooked looters who cheat and steal tv's and Nike sneakers, items one obviously needs to overcome a flood disaster.
The liberal media, afraid to criticize looting thieves for fear of being called racist, feed into this extortion plot. Only when singer Celine Dion, a true racist, excuses looter behavior, do we begin to understand why many decent black people dislike whites who continually patronize them.
And why are those relatively few criminal black looters related in any way to the blacks in my city; any more than I am related to the looters? There is no relationship between the black looters in New Orleans and other black people in America, except for skin pigmentation. Just like there is no connection between me and David Duke or even Ted Kennedy, except for skin pigmentation.
Of course we are all Americans; unfortunately a very small number of us are despicable criminals or racist haters. But the liberal media played up the looter angle for ratings and to keep the racial embers in America warm.
How come poor blacks in Harlem did not take advantage of 9/11 when most police officers were in midtown and lower Manhattan? In fact, crime actually went down on that day and the days following the attacks. How about the idea that decent blacks in New York have virtually nothing in common with black looters in New Orleans--nothing!
Of course we have compassion for our fellow Americans who need help and lost everything, even though many of them did not listen to the warnings or had become the mayor and governor's fodder for totally mishandling the situation.
We all know that the evacuation plan was not followed, while hundreds of school buses were seen floating on tv. How come those same buses were gassed up and ready to go when election day came around to bring all those poor people to the polls? Let's ask the mayor that question!
And while we are in Mayor Negin's office, let us not forget to find out why New Orleans has one of the highest murder rates in the country, and why there was so much corruption during the last few Democrat administrations including bribery/scandals that resulted in numerous politicians, police and judges being sent to prison.
Rather than assigning blame where it is due, we now have some religious leaders with their own agendas explaining who is truly to blame. Naturally, Muslim clerics claim that Katrina is punishment to America for the Iraqi occupation and support of Israel. Several Christian clergy have said that Katrina is God's punishment for the lewdness in New Orleans and the strip clubs on Bourbon Street. Of course, a number of rabbis have attributed the Katrina disaster to the Lord's punishment for American support of the Gaza disengagement.
While the Muslim position is obviously stupid and illogical and does not even require a response, the equally foolish Christian clergy position shows a sexually repressed religious figure who thinks that God hates nude female dancers more than he hates murderers.
Finally, we see a total idiot like Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the Shas party spiritual leader in Israel, who should hang up his religious garb and seek serious psychological help. Yosef's brilliant (sic) revelation was that "Katrina was God's retribution for (American support of) the Gaza withdrawal." Hey rabbi--then why were there hurricane disasters before 1948? No wonder so many Jews in Israel are secular.
If these religious hucksters are wrong, then why did Katrina actually occur? How about this for an answer--because tragedies happen in life. A world without at least some tragedies would not allow human beings to appreciate the wonderful things with which we are blessed. I thank God that 10,000 people did not die, as was originally discussed.
The Bible is not a place for predicting why or when hurricanes and natural disasters will occur, although it is a place to tell you who is responsible for preventing as much damage and destruction as possible from occurring. Coincidentally, it was this past week's Jewish Bible (Torah) portion that dealt with the issue.
This comes as quite a surprise to most Jews who were probably at the mall, attending a sporting event or sleeping late on Saturday/Sabbath morning. As far as the small number of Jews who were actually attending a synagogue, they were much too busy discussing the stock market with the person seated next to them, as the reading was being chanted, and therefore, missed the explanation.
So for all those Jews and the rest of humanity, the biblical explanation can be found in Deuteronomy, Chapter 21, showing the concern one should have for the possessions of another person. It is specifically forbidden to ignore the potential loss of another person's property. Do you hear that mayor?
Yet the explanation goes on to be even more specific with regard to the New Orleans flood. The Talmud, known as the compilation of oral law expounds on concepts in The Old Testament and how to apply them, surprisingly addresses recent events. In the Talmud commentary from this week, known as Baba Metziah, chapter 31A, the rabbis discuss a flood on your neighbor's property and the concept that one is actually responsible for taking steps to prevent a flood from doing damage, if possible.
If we are responsible for trying to prevent a flood disaster on our neighbor's property, then local government is even more responsible. That is how to apply religion to life. Not making silly predictions or trying to pin the problem on God.
Finally, now that President Bush has pledged $60 billion, the race hucksters are beginning to circle New Orleans like vultures. Jesse Jackson, Louie Farrakhan and Al Sharpton will attempt to extort their share of the pie. Knowing government's ineptitude in paying for anything, we can rest assured that at least $30 billion will be wasted. Where Bush plans to get this money is yet another issue.
In summary, it is actually quite simple. The real reason that this particular disaster occurred in the first place is because New Orleans was built between two bodies of water, below sea level and on the Gulf Coast, which is prone to hurricanes. That is the answer in a nutshell.
And what to do with the mayor and governor who are most responsible for the neglect. How come we make corporate executives take responsibility for their actions by recently placing a number of them in prison for financial fraud? Well, human fraud deserves at least equal punishment.
So let's get the court ready for The People vs Negin and Blanco.
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