Tuesday, September 13, 2005

A Government of the People

Listening to the Laura Ingraham program, I heard a sound bite from someone who shall remain nameless, because who said it is not the point.

What was said was “the Government” is responsible for helping the victims in national emergencies such as Hurricane Katrina.

I agree. This is true.

So while Mayor Nagin debated with himself about whether he had the authority to use the school and the metropolitan buses to evacuate the people of New Orleans before they were flooded, and whether it was even legal to do so, thousands of American people were already coordinating emergency relief efforts.

While Governor Blanco was considering the possibility that the Federal Government might declare martial law and in so doing, step on her political toes, Americans all over the country were setting up disaster relief funds.

While FEMA director Michael Brown was waiting for permission from the governor of Louisiana to move in and take over rescue efforts, faith based organizations were already on their way to New Orleans with truckloads of supplies and volunteer workers.

While Some Democrat leaders were examining the timetable of the storm to see if they could find something to blame President Bush for, ordinary American citizens set up the “blog for relief weekend” to collect charitable contributions to send to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

While Red Cross workers were prevented from delivering emergency relief supplies by representatives of the State of Louisiana’s Department of Homeland security because they were afraid more hurricane victims would come to the Superdome requesting assistance instead of leaving, American people were boating through the flooded streets of New Orleans searching for survivors and distributing food and water.

While President Bush was conferring with his advisors about God knows what and, in so doing, delayed any action by about a full day, ordinary Americans were stuffing donation boxes at retail stores all over the country to help the survivors of the disaster.

While some Senators and Congressmen were busy blaming Bush for several things, including causing the hurricane and hating poor black people, individual Americans, black, white, and brown, were donating blood and living space for the displaced victims of Hurricane Katrina. Some even furnished entire homes.

While Mary Landrieu, on Fox News Sunday was making excuses, ordinary Americans were offering the displaced people of New Orleans jobs to help them get back on their feet.

Yes, the Government is indeed responsible for helping the victims of national disasters.

Thank God the people of the United States don’t wait for the government to act before they do.

9 comments:

Mary said...

Well said, Mark!

"We the People...."

Poison Pero said...

Sadly, there are too many people waiting on the government for their very existence.......They've either given up or never started to live independent lives.

Such is the state of "Political Indentured Servitude" the Liberal welfare system has created.....

Dan Trabue said...

We the people, indeed. Nice essay, Mark.

Just a comment from another blog. Over at Mike's America, you said:

"I doubt very much that Mike has threatened anyone's life. Maybe Dan thinks that because he' not above threatening people he disagrees with himself."

I can show you the threats if you like, they're still there no his blog.

Do I think they were genuine threats? No. Just Mike blowing off steam.

(For the record: he threatened on his blog to run me down if he saw me bicycling in his neighborhood. I responded saying I was sure he was joking, surely he wouldn't threaten a law-abiding bicyclist. He responded, "Take a ride in my neighborhood and find out." I took that as a veiled, if impotent, threat.)

However, my point was not that Mike was seriously threatening me, but that he has been especially hostile when I was only trying to engage in conversation to close the gap between the left and the right, at least in understanding, if not agreement.

Name-calling, logical fallacies, and mean-spiritedness is how I've been met.

So, no. I'm not projecting. You seem fairly reasonable from your blog. you even say that you try to understand us wacky liberals. So, why would you choose to think that?

For what it's worth, I'm a pacifist and don't believe in violence as a workable solution. Thanks for the free analysis, just the same.

Just setting the record straight.

Peace.

Mark said...

I have long been a proponent of the free exchange of ideas but I don't appreciate mean spiritedness and name clling from anyone.

That said, I have noticed while cruising through the blogosphere, that the preponderance of mean spiritedness comes from the left.

Don't simply take my word for it. Cruise around and see for yourself.

Dan Trabue said...

It hasn't been my experience. If you'd like, look at the blogs I link to (mostly lefties) and see for yourself. They're often critical of the current administration, but they are mostly relatively polite and reasonable with their guests.

I've also noticed that it seems that the lefties are more williing to link to right-leaning blogs. I do myself, but I don't link to any of the meaner right-leaning blogs.

Which is not to say you're wrong, just that my experience is otherwise - I've seen the righties being the most unkind, least willing to listen.

Might be an interesting study...

Anonymous said...

So....off the topic here, I justw anted to add a side note that I love the autorantic virtual moombat you put off to the left.Too funny-thanks for the great laugh!

Erudite Redneck said...

The government and the people. One and the same in this country, dude.

Oh, and I really don't think either extreme has the market on meanness. Each sides has more than its share of arseholes.
--ER

Erudite Redneck said...

Yer slipping, mark. It's 3:24 a.m. Wednesday and there is no new post up! :-)

--ER

Weary Hag said...

This is far and away one of the best Katrina-related posts I've read to date.

This is easily publishable.

Excellent job.