Letters to Editors
Over at NOLA.COM, the locals are getting support from a nation that mourns thousands of lost lives with them and helps figure out what went wrong with the total response scolding letters from out-of-towners.
My personal favorite--Posted Friday, Sept. 9, 2005, at 2:28 p.m.
Media arrogance of the grandest scale was displayed The Times-Picayune's editorial, "An open letter to the president."
New Orleans -- a city of political corruption, debauchery, drunkenness, fornication, crime and welfare recipients -- was a nightmare before, during and immediately after Hurricane Katrina because city, parish and state emergency plans were woefully inadequate to begin with, then poorly implemented. So, when things go badly, as it clearly did in New Orleans, local government officials immediately look to Washington -- first to blame and then for a bailout.
When your foul-mouth bully of a mayor points his finger of blame at President Bush, he should remember that he has three fingers pointing back at himself**. If anyone is removed from office, the mayor should be the first to go. And the governor of Louisiana should be next.
Also, how much effort was but forth by the Times-Picayune and its employees to rescue, feed and house the poor evacuees of New Orleans? If this was so easy to do, as you suggest in your open letter to the president, if the city was so accessible to your reporters and others, then help should have -- could have -- first come from them.
Be careful with your demands. The American people are generous, but they won't give if they feel bullied or, in my case, if my president is unfairly attacked.
Joe Braddy Winter Haven, Fla.
Those NOLA types clearly need a good scolding because there are plenty of other letters like this one:
Your Opinions
Posted Sept. 9, 2004, at 2:21 p.m.
BLAMING THE INNOCENT (got to love that title)
The Times-Picayune is blaming FEMA and President Bush for the failure to meet the needs of the citizens of Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina. I don't know what gets into you folks, that you always blame the feds. The city and state governments are responsible for citizen safety. These two governments should evacuate the citizens, care for the citizens and set up medical facilities. They should provide transportation. They should provide food and water. They bear responsibility, but you just go nuts blaming President Bush.
Your residents are dying but you want to blame the innocent. You liberals take the cake.
George B. Williams Manassas, Va.
One wonders if GBW actually understands the scope of the disaster? If he's actually hunting around the internet (like Obsessive Kate) enough to find and read NOLA.COM how could he not also see that this was beyond any locality or state that didn't have Superman as a resident? And I think some Mississippi**** and 'Bama residents might be annoyed that he ignored them in his ire.
I wish the editors would hire Jed (not my brother) to answer the letters. He did a few from the NY Daily News. (found through crooks and liars)
Had the same effort and organization put forth in sending our troops into Iraq was carried out with Hurricane Katrina, maybe less suffering and loss of life would have occurred.– Curtis Izen, Merrick, L.I.
I see your point Curtis, however it does appear as though the same amount planning did go into Katrina relief efforts as went into Iraq, only with more body armor.
Jed
My newspaper was late yesterday; I blame President Bush. My soup for lunch was cold; I blame Bush. Our cat missed the litter box; I blame Bush. And as why I have yet to win the lottery, I blame Bush. To the angry left and Michael Moores of he world, a little advice: Hate consumes you, not those you hate.– Dan Otto, Wyoming, Minn.
Hey Dan, when your cold soup and cat pee unnecessarily kill scores of civilians, let me know. . ....
Jed
______
**I hadn't heard that one in years. Brought me right back to middle school when I went to a teacher because I was the target of a bully. Took me hours to figure out he was blaming me for being bullied.
ADDED LATER
**** From another out-of-towner to NOLA.COM
People dying in Moss Point, Miss.
Sharon Andrews from 33025 writes:
Now, the eleventh day into the Katrina disaster, the destroyed town of Moss Point, Mississippi has received no help from any relief effort or organization. The town is north of Pascagoula. The town people are trying to get word out that there is no help and people are dying. Can someone on your staff call authorities and get some aid to these people, please? The government is essentially worthless.And God bless all of you at NOLA! Without you New Orleans would have been completely lost. Many, many people owe you their lives.
and this one from a local...
Update on Injured woman in Kenner
Name: Laurie Crowe
Home: phone number and email removed by Kate (don't want her to get any hate mail. After all, she almost blames the authorities for not responding)
Subject: My Hurricane Story -- Update on Injured woman in Kenner. I wanted to thank those who responded to my posting if all goes as planned she currently has transportation outof Kenner and a flight to Calif. (Thanks to Center for Missing and Exploited Children).
Beside people on NOLA.COM, they are the only agency that has helped.The replies from NOLA.COM has been a blessing, being so far away we were getting low on options. My prayers go out to everyone affected by this hurricane especially to those who are still trapped.
My personal favorite--Posted Friday, Sept. 9, 2005, at 2:28 p.m.
Media arrogance of the grandest scale was displayed The Times-Picayune's editorial, "An open letter to the president."
New Orleans -- a city of political corruption, debauchery, drunkenness, fornication, crime and welfare recipients -- was a nightmare before, during and immediately after Hurricane Katrina because city, parish and state emergency plans were woefully inadequate to begin with, then poorly implemented. So, when things go badly, as it clearly did in New Orleans, local government officials immediately look to Washington -- first to blame and then for a bailout.
When your foul-mouth bully of a mayor points his finger of blame at President Bush, he should remember that he has three fingers pointing back at himself**. If anyone is removed from office, the mayor should be the first to go. And the governor of Louisiana should be next.
Also, how much effort was but forth by the Times-Picayune and its employees to rescue, feed and house the poor evacuees of New Orleans? If this was so easy to do, as you suggest in your open letter to the president, if the city was so accessible to your reporters and others, then help should have -- could have -- first come from them.
Be careful with your demands. The American people are generous, but they won't give if they feel bullied or, in my case, if my president is unfairly attacked.
Joe Braddy Winter Haven, Fla.
Those NOLA types clearly need a good scolding because there are plenty of other letters like this one:
Your Opinions
Posted Sept. 9, 2004, at 2:21 p.m.
BLAMING THE INNOCENT (got to love that title)
The Times-Picayune is blaming FEMA and President Bush for the failure to meet the needs of the citizens of Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina. I don't know what gets into you folks, that you always blame the feds. The city and state governments are responsible for citizen safety. These two governments should evacuate the citizens, care for the citizens and set up medical facilities. They should provide transportation. They should provide food and water. They bear responsibility, but you just go nuts blaming President Bush.
Your residents are dying but you want to blame the innocent. You liberals take the cake.
George B. Williams Manassas, Va.
One wonders if GBW actually understands the scope of the disaster? If he's actually hunting around the internet (like Obsessive Kate) enough to find and read NOLA.COM how could he not also see that this was beyond any locality or state that didn't have Superman as a resident? And I think some Mississippi**** and 'Bama residents might be annoyed that he ignored them in his ire.
I wish the editors would hire Jed (not my brother) to answer the letters. He did a few from the NY Daily News. (found through crooks and liars)
Had the same effort and organization put forth in sending our troops into Iraq was carried out with Hurricane Katrina, maybe less suffering and loss of life would have occurred.– Curtis Izen, Merrick, L.I.
I see your point Curtis, however it does appear as though the same amount planning did go into Katrina relief efforts as went into Iraq, only with more body armor.
Jed
My newspaper was late yesterday; I blame President Bush. My soup for lunch was cold; I blame Bush. Our cat missed the litter box; I blame Bush. And as why I have yet to win the lottery, I blame Bush. To the angry left and Michael Moores of he world, a little advice: Hate consumes you, not those you hate.– Dan Otto, Wyoming, Minn.
Hey Dan, when your cold soup and cat pee unnecessarily kill scores of civilians, let me know. . ....
Jed
______
**I hadn't heard that one in years. Brought me right back to middle school when I went to a teacher because I was the target of a bully. Took me hours to figure out he was blaming me for being bullied.
ADDED LATER
**** From another out-of-towner to NOLA.COM
People dying in Moss Point, Miss.
Sharon Andrews from 33025 writes:
Now, the eleventh day into the Katrina disaster, the destroyed town of Moss Point, Mississippi has received no help from any relief effort or organization. The town is north of Pascagoula. The town people are trying to get word out that there is no help and people are dying. Can someone on your staff call authorities and get some aid to these people, please? The government is essentially worthless.And God bless all of you at NOLA! Without you New Orleans would have been completely lost. Many, many people owe you their lives.
and this one from a local...
Update on Injured woman in Kenner
Name: Laurie Crowe
Home: phone number and email removed by Kate (don't want her to get any hate mail. After all, she almost blames the authorities for not responding)
Subject: My Hurricane Story -- Update on Injured woman in Kenner. I wanted to thank those who responded to my posting if all goes as planned she currently has transportation outof Kenner and a flight to Calif. (Thanks to Center for Missing and Exploited Children).
Beside people on NOLA.COM, they are the only agency that has helped.The replies from NOLA.COM has been a blessing, being so far away we were getting low on options. My prayers go out to everyone affected by this hurricane especially to those who are still trapped.
Picture this scenario:
ReplyDeleteGeorge W. Bush is caught on camera assaulting a pregnant woman. He punches her in the face, and when she's down, he kicks her until she miscarries. Meanwhile, he's screaming every racial epithet and four-letter word imaginable at her.
Every news station airs the footage repeatedly.
Question: what happens to Bush's approval rating? Would it drop to zero?
I don't think so. I suspect it can't drop much lower than 25% no matter what he does, no matter how heinous, no matter how obvious that he's the trigger man. Why? Because there are that many Americans out there who have their whole ego wrapped up in believing in Dubya. And if Dubya starts assaulting pregnant women, weeeell, by God, that's what the good Lord intended, and by the way, seen any pregnant women around here lately?
These letter-writers won't change their stripes literally come hell or high water. Hell and high water have come, folks. (Even Richard Nixon's approval rating never dipped below 27. Think about that.)
Thanks for posting this today, Kate.
"... if the city was so accessible to your reporters and others, then help should have -- could have -- first come from them."
ReplyDeleteWow. New mandate for the Fourth Estate: you're not just watchdogs any more. You're first responders and emergency rations providers in case of catastrophic disasters, too.
Joe Braddy may very well have beat Barbara Bush for saying "Most Retarded Fucking Thing I've Heard In the Last Ten Years." It even rivals the time a co-worker of mine said "Germany borders on Russia, that's how the Nazis got there so fast and easy."
www.Herald.com today (Sunday, 9.11.05) does an excellent job of sifting through the rubble to identify the failures -- on every level of government including the citizens themselves. There is enough blame to go around for everyone, from the Federal response all the way down to the people who could have evacuated and didn't.
ReplyDeleteAmy,
ReplyDeleteThe military's mission is to save us? From floods? I don't understand. They train for that?
I learn something new every single day.
OK Reading it gain. "We pay their salaries." So. If we need something they should be able to deliver. Got it. I'm going to be expecting a LOT more from that clerk at Wendy's from here on out.
ReplyDelete"The military's mission is to save us? From floods? I don't understand. They train for that?"
ReplyDeleteAre the National Guard and the Coast Guard part of the military? Because from my understanding, those two agencies are supposed to help and rescue people in disasters, yes? Well, the Coast Guard if there's a lot of water involved.
Again, educate me. I had to look up whether EMTs and Paramedics were mutually exclusive categories yesterday, dammit. (What I learned: Paramedics are Super-EMTs, so calling Bradshaw and Slonsky either EMTs or Paramedics is acceptable, though paramedic is more accurate.) Anyway, I expect to loll around and not have to Google up anything today.
OK -- and I should note that I did not know a lot of this myself until a few years ago.
ReplyDeleteCoast Guard is not military. Things have changed since Homeland Defense was created, but still. Not military. Their mission varies. They do law enforcement of our water borders and they are trained extensively in search and rescue.
National Guard is military reserve. National Guard are not trained to rescue per se.
Military, also not trained (as far as I know) for rescue. They can move serious supplies and equipment around but I don't think they are allowed to shoot you. They may have specific units trained for search and rescue. I don't know. It would seem logical, but we are talking about the military here --
Homeland defense (FEMA, Customs, Border Patrol) are Federal agencies with different missions none of which include rescue. Customs and Border Patrol CAN shoot you but probably wouldn't. FEMA is primarily for coordinating the resources of the U.S Government for disaster relief. They have money to hand out. They can muster up stuff people need for Storm clean up, medical assistance, Etc. Customs and Border Patrol have been paying for training of about ten percent of their agents as EMT's. My husband decided to get certified as a Paramedic on his own dime using up his vacation days.
Training for Emergency medical personel is in the following heirarchy.
First responder is basically a six month First Aid, CPR intensive basic aid training.
EMT is an additional six months learning skills such as setting temporary splints, closing wounds, anything short of deciding what drugs to prescribe though they can administer drugs. Their job is to get you to the hospital alive.
A Paramedic is an additional year of training and certification which involves skills that a basic emergency room nurse can do and in addition to that they can prescribe and administer drugs.
I do not know all the different levels of nursing, though.
Firemen usually carry certification as EMT's and then Paramedics also. Not all, but most.
That's completely wrong the Coast Guard is a military force under the perview of the United States Depart of Homeland Security. They were previous under the the Depart of Transportation and the Department of Treasury.
ReplyDeleteSimply because the Coast Guard does not fall under the control of the Department of Defense, doesn't make them any less of a military force as the rest of the Armed Forces.
In fact the Coast Guard has a rich military history, in which they've participated in almost every major armed conflict the United States has been involved in.
I would suggest looking into Operation Market Time which took place during Vietnam. Coast Guard patrol craft actively patrolled Vietnamese waterways and engaged Viet Cong forces on those waterways.
The orginal poster is incorrect. COAST GUARD IS,HAS AND WILL always be on the FIVE branches of the military.
ReplyDeleteWe operate in DHS because we can do LE also.