Deroy Murdock
After
Katrina-Keep Katrina Relief "Pork-free"
Deroy
Murdock
AFTER KATRINA: BUMBLERS, YES; BIGOTS, NO.
By Deroy Murdock
"It is reported that black hurricane victims in New Orleans
have begun eating corpses to survive."
This blood-curdling news came from self-described social-justice
advocate Randall Robinson, former chief of TransAfrica, an architect of
the anti-apartheid sanctions movement, and author of The Debt What
America Owes to Blacks, an impassioned plea for slavery reparations.
Writing for Arianna Huffington's webpage, September 2, Robinson continued:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/randall-robinson/new-orleans_b_6643.html
"Four days after the storm, thousands of blacks in New Orleans are dying
like dogs. No-one has come to help them. I am a sixty-four year old African-American.
New Orleans marks the end of the America I strove for. I am hopeless. I am sad.
I am angry against my country for doing nothing when it mattered."
Desperate blacks reduced to cannibalism, thanks to America's negligence
no doubt with President Bush leading this deadly pageant of bias. What
a horror. What an outrage. WHAT A LIE.
Here is what Randall Robinson posted after his original comments:
"RETRACTION: The claim in the first sentence in my post was incorrect.
I
had been told this was happening, but these claims have turned out to be
unsubstantiated. I therefore retract them -- but stand behind everything
else I wrote without reservation"
Even with his main premise in ashes, Robinson adheres to the white
racism narrative that he erected upon it. Typical.
While Robinson may be the most irresponsible person to scream "Racism!"
after the flat-footed government reaction to Hurricane Katrina, he is
not alone.
"To the President of the United States, I simply say that God cannot be
pleased with our response," U.S. Representative Elijah Cummings (D
Maryland) said at a September 2 Congressional Black Caucus news
conference. "We cannot allow it to be said that the difference between
those who lived and those who died in this great storm and flood of 2005
was nothing more than poverty, age or skin color."
As comedian Mike Meyers nervously stood beside him, Grammy-winning
rapper Kanye West took advantage of NBCs "A Concert for Hurricane
Relief," also September 2. He rambled way off-script during the live
broadcast:
"I hate the way they portray us in the media. If you see a black family,
it says they're looting. See a white family, it says they're looking for
food. America is set up to help the poor, the black people, the less well off
as slow as possible. George Bush doesnt care about black people."
http://media.putfile.com/Kanye79
Like New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin, Louisiana Governor Kathleen
Babineaux Blanco, and FEMA director Michael Brown, President Bush must explain
why, for three to four days, no one could manage at least to air
drop bottled water and granola bars on thousands of Katrina survivors
who baked under temperatures exceeding 90 degrees at the Crescent City's
Superdome, its Convention Center, and freeway overpasses in the Central
Business District.
While he must answer for that and other badly dropped balls, Bush need
not apologize for being fueled by bigotry during last week's "inadequate"
federal response, as he described it.
This charge crumbles on first inspection.
George W. Bush is a politician with a very ambitious agenda. Does
Randall Robinson really believe that Bush thinks it would be easier to
persuade Congress to reform Social Security if he merely arranged to
deny poor, beleaguered blacks food and water for over half a week?
Does Elijah Cummings truly believe that Bush thinks it would encourage
the Senate to confirm his judicial appointees if he ordered FEMA to
conduct slow-motion rescues of elderly black ladies from their attics?
Does Kanye West actually believe that Bush eagerly anticipated televised
images of parched, screaming black babies as a public diplomacy tool to
boost European and Middle Eastern support for U.S. policy in Iraq and
the Arab world?
These men probably think Bush is not so bright, but do they honestly
believe he is that stupid? Or do they sincerely believe that Bush who
has appointed not one but two black secretaries of state is so
consumed by racism that he would jeopardize his domestic and foreign
agendas for the brief pleasure of watching black Americans broil, as if
in a skillet?
Given the stunning cloudburst of philanthropy now raining on Katrina's
survivors (a reported $504 million in donations as of Tuesday,
private-sector job offers for many evacuees, free housing granted to
others, etc.), do these racial demagogues, in fact, believe that Bush
expected most Americans to share his alleged glee at black suffering?
And if not, why would Bush isolate himself politically and personally in
such a counterproductive, not to mention hideous, manner?
In fact, Robinson, Cummings, and West might be surprised to learn that
Bush acted on Katrina long before it struck the Gulf Coast. As the
Associated Press reported Saturday evening, August 27:
"President Bush declared a state of emergency in Louisiana on Saturday
because of the approach of Hurricane Katrina, and his spokesman urged
residents along the coast to heed authorities advice to evacuate."
"We urge residents in the areas that could be impacted to follow the
recommendations of local authorities," White House Press Secretary Scott
McClellan said that day.
According to a Sunday morning August 28 AP dispatch, Bush also lit a
fire under Governor Blanco while Katrina twirled furiously across the
Gulf of Mexico.
"Gov. Kathleen Blanco, standing beside the mayor [Nagin] at a news
conference, said President Bush called and personally appealed for a
mandatory evacuation for the low-lying city, which is prone to
flooding."
Here's the story in Blancos own words:
"Just before we walked into this room, President Bush called and told
me
to share with all of you that he is very concerned about the citizens.
He is concerned about the impact that this hurricane would have on our
people. And he asked me to please ensure that there would be a mandatory
evacuation of New Orleans."
http://forums.sptimes.com/Forums/ubb/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=8&t=000401
For his part, President Bush dispatched four Navy ships to the region,
asked Congress to return from vacation and approve an initial $10.5
billion in federal assistance to the region (which he signed Friday),
and recruited his father and President Bill Clinton to raise private and
corporate money to aid Katrina's survivors.
Clearly, Bush could have done much more. Often soft spoken and
non-demonstrative, at least in public, he does not seem like the kind of
guy who knocks heads together. Its hard to imagine him phoning FEMA
Chief Michael Brown and saying: "Unless plastic bottles of Poland Spring
water fall from helicopters onto those folks at the Superdome within the
hour, your cojones will be in my desk drawer the moment you return to
D.C. Any questions?" (I could see Rudy Giuliani saying that.)
Of course, even if Bush attempted this exact scenario, he immediately
could have run into problems.
As has been reported, federal, state, and local officials in New Orleans
and the Gulf Coast labored largely without electricity. Cell phones
worked barely, if at all. As I repeatedly did while seeking friends last
week, anyone who dialed into New Orleans 504 area code heard rapid busy
signals, and little else.
Meanwhile, armed psychopaths who shot at rescue helicopters might have
sabotaged bottled-water drops, just as their gunfire suspended Friday's
evacuation of the Superdome.
Still, this tragedy of errors has been compounded by, at a minimum,
FEMA's hapless Michael Brown who was surprised to learn last Thursday
that hurricane survivors were huddled in squalor at the Convention
Center, even though cable news channels discussed that development on
Wednesday. FEMA also reportedly said Thanks, but no thanks to offers
of bottled-water deliveries and even a virtual brigade of first
responders, boats, vehicles, and more from Chicago. FEMA only welcomed a single
tank truck from the Windy City.
At the state level, according to a CNN timeline of the Katrina Crisis,
Governor Blanco called for 40,000 National Guard troops, but not until
Thursday, September 1, three days after Katrina struck.
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2005/katrina/interactive/timeline.katrina.large/content.11.html
Moreover, the APs Jennifer Loven reported Monday that "Blanco has
refused to sign over control of the National Guard to the federal
government and has turned to a Clinton administration official, former
Federal Emergency Management Agency chief James Lee Witt, to help run
relief efforts."
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/09/05/D8CEFEK00.html
President Bush is getting slammed for not deploying forces he doesn't
control in the first place. James Lee Witt, meanwhile, adds a retired
public servant to a process already brimming with agencies and officials
that do not exactly harmonize like a barbershop quartet.
As for Mayor Nagin, he failed to move to higher ground and deploy at
least 255 school buses. Rather than easily evacuate 12,750 New
Orleanians per journey last week, these buses sat in formation on a
soaked parking lot where AP photographer Phil Coale found them last
Thursday, September 1.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/050901/480/flpc21109012015
Satellite photos of what is now nicknamed the "Ray Nagin Memorial Motor
Pool" are posted at JunkYardBlog. They show these buses leaking oil and
gas into flood waters, rendering them even more toxic. Another 146 local
mass-transit buses, that could have whisked 7,300 at-risk citizens to
safety, are stalled in another parking lot less than a mile from the
Superdome.
http://junkyardblog.net/archives/week_2005_08_28.html
Also, Nagin announced Monday that he would dip into the city's rapidly
dwindling coffers to fly exhausted New Orleans Police Department (NOPD)
officers to Las Vegas for five-days of rest and relaxation even as
city residents sleep on cots in sports arenas, and local attics still
likely contain citizens anxious for rescue.
The next day, as Fox News Channels Shepard Smith reported on "The
O'Reilly Factor," Nagin piled another indignity on his beleaguered
constituents at the Superdome.
"Today they sent in the National Guard and a number of buses to go to
the Hyatt Hotel across from the mayor's headquarters. And the mayor got
all of those people out of that Hyatt hotel in those buses with armed
guards. They took them to the Superdome, where they go to [board] buses
to get out of the city"
"They didn't go to the back of line, Bill. The mayor of New Orleans
ordered that these 400 tourists from outside of his state and outside of
our country, in some cases, were to go to the front of line and not have
to wait with the commoners on line. And do you think the people in New
Orleans are happy about that? Bill, I assure you they're not."
For all their mismanagement, Bush, Brown, Blanco, and Nagin have had to
operate during what likely is the worst natural disaster in American
history. Katrina flattened and soaked 90,000 square miles that remain in
a state of emergency an area nearly that of the United Kingdom. The
problems these officials faced were (and are) mammoth, Herculean, and
gargantuan. For all their shortcomings, at least they have not operated
from malice.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/050901/480/flpc21109012015
That cannot be said of the shameful New Orleanians who darkened and
complicated an already grim situation. Few begrudge those who stole
water and food to stay alive. Those criminals who ripped off TV sets,
jewelry, and enough pairs of jeans to complete their Christmas shopping
four months early behaved without a thread of ethical justification.
However, one at least can see how they personally would benefit from
their thievery.
But imagine the unvarnished evil of a sniper who fired at doctors and
nurses who tried to evacuate patients from Charity Hospital. Terrified
of bullets, medical personnel kept the infirm in sweltering rooms where
some expired.
A flotilla of private boats prepared last week to rescue stranded
hurricane survivors. The boat owners turned back and went home when they
were shot at. Those dying on their rooftops had to wait longer, perhaps
fatally, thanks to their own murderous neighbors.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,168112,00.html
Scott Harney posted this news on the New Orleans Times-Picayune's
webpage, NOLA.com:
"Spoke to my uncle this morning (Thurs) in Riverbend near Carrolton and
St. Charles. He and several (elderly) residents are holed up there and
the security situation is getting desperate. Heat is extreme, and there
are roving gangs of looters with guns. The looters have also
commandeered a backhoe and are ramming homes. While Leake Avenue and River Road
are dry, they are afraid to leave as they fear they will be
shot, carjacked etc."
http://www.nola.com
Michael Shellie of Oregon told the New York Post about looters who broke
into his New Orleans hotel: "They threw everything out the windows just
for the fun of watching it crash: televisions, vending machines, beds.
And they robbed the manager at gunpoint, so he fled."
The Saks Fifth Avenue near the fashionable River Walk was sacked Sunday.
Soon thereafter, it burned in yet another fire that authorities declared
as arson.
Rather than applaud as 14 contractors crossed the Danziger Bridge to fix
the 17th Street Levee that faltered and submerged their city, a
well-armed band of hoodlums instead opened fire on these engineers. NOPD
officers, on hand to provide security, shot back at these hooligans. In
a magnificent and morally pristine use of force, the NOPD killed two of
these goons and wounded two others in a firefight. They also captured
two more who fled, one of whom was injured in an exchange of bullets.
If these derelicts hindered the levee doctors work for even a quarter
hour, that was 15 minutes too many. Katrinas still-trapped victims can
thank these criminals, not George W. Bush, for this latest delay in
getting help.
All of this aside, does New Orleans even have a future? Some see it
more clearly than others.
The Associated Press Allen Breed wrote Saturday: "A once-vibrant city
of 480,000 people, overtaken just days ago by floods, looting, rapes,
and arson, is now an empty, sodden tomb."
http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/05/09/04/100wir_katrina001.cfm
NOPD Deputy Chief Warren Riley was even more ominous. "There is
absolutely no reason to stay here," he told reporters Sunday. "There
are
no jobs. There are no houses to go to, no hotels to go to. There is
absolutely nothing here. We advise people that this city has been
destroyed."
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/05/katrina.new.orleans/
Joyous patrons at Johnny White's Sports Bar apparently missed Deputy
Chief Riley's advisory. The French Quarter watering hole stayed open for
business through Katrina's 140 MPH winds. Its bartenders poured drinks
even as the levees broke and the streetlights dozed through the night.
At this writing, they still serve adult beverages around the clock.
On Monday as engineers plugged that deadly hole in the 17th Street
Canal and began dehydrating the Crescent City, a few revelers who
remained in the French Quarter tapped into the magic that makes this
enchanted town so precious. These merrymakers threw beads and danced
through dry streets in an impromptu parade.
***********
KEEP KATRINA RELIEF PORK-FREE
by Deroy Murdock
Recently battered by waves of water, New Orleans and other
Gulf Coast communities soon will be caressed by waves of tax dollars.
The initial $10.5 billion in disaster assistance that President Bush
signed, even as hurricane survivors vacated the Crescent City, soon will
be dwarfed by a second, $52 billion check from Washington. Other checks
surely will roll in like the surf.
The ongoing emergency and unfolding humanitarian crisis in Louisiana,
Mississippi, and Alabama give Congress an opportunity to help Katrina's
victims rather than themselves. Democrats and Republicans alike should
show enough restraint and maturity, just this once, to avoid larding up
Katrina-related appropriations with dozens and even hundreds of
unrelated vanity projects.
Sadly, Congress record in this area is discouraging. For years, member
of both parties have exploited dire circumstances to wedge their own pet
schemes into urgent assistance packages for people haunted by hardship.
*An April 2005 measure that aided victims of last Decembers south Asian
tsunami also allocated $25 million for Montana's Fort Peck Fish Hatchery
and $500,000 for a University of Nevada oral history of "the Negotiated
Settlement Project."
*An October 2003 natural-disaster assistance measure featured $9.7
million to compensate Michigan orchard owners for downed trees.
*A $78.5 billion Iraq War appropriation in April 2003 included $110
million for Ames, Iowa's National Animal Disease Center and $200,000 for
the Light of Life Ministries in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.
Citizens Against Government Waste, which catalogued these items, urges
congressmen to sign its "Hurricane Katrina No-Pork Pledge" and "oppose
any project or provision that is not directly related to the impact of
Hurricane Katrina in any supplemental appropriations bill that provides
funds for hurricane relief."
"If Congress wants to inspire the American people to continue to make
sacrifices, we need to be making sacrifices of our own," Republican U.S.
Senators Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and John McCain of Arizona said in a
September 6 joint statement. "Members of Congress should, at least
temporarily, deny themselves a few of the comforts of political office
and refrain from directing tax dollars to special projects in their
states that might help their political campaigns but not necessarily the
country as a whole."
America's brave legislators could start by returning to the Treasury
many of the absurd budget earmarks they showered upon themselves during
recent spending orgies. The 2,000-page, $286.4 billion highway bill that
veto-phobic President Bush signed August 10 virtually exploded with some
6,400 pet projects worth approximately $24 billion. Among other things,
it renames Alaska's Knik Arm Bridge "Don Young's Way," after House
Transportation Committee Chairman Don Young (R Alaska), and dedicates
$229.45 million to that conduit. It also provides $20 million for a
Magnetic Levitation Transportation System between Las Vegas, and Primm,
Nevada.
The closely related tendency of politicians and civil servants to stray
from their vital duties and horn into almost any activity may have
exacerbated the cataclysm that has engulfed New Orleans.
As Newsweek correspondent Charles Gasparino explained September 7 on
MSNBC.com, the Orleans Parish Levee Board is involved in plenty of stuff
that has nothing to do with keeping Lake Pontchartrain out of people's
living rooms. It manages hundreds of acres of parks, dozens of
commercial properties, and a pair of marinas, an airfield, and a
riverboat casino.
The Associated Press reported January 31 that the state-appointed Levee
Board has spent $2.8 million developing "a proposal to build a
4-mile-long island on Lake Pontchartrain with beaches, camping areas,
and possibly hotels, restaurants, and an amusement park." Cost: $200
million.
"Just imagine a 4-mile stretch of sandy beaches that doesn't directly
impact traffic, curtails pollutants in the lake, and maybe provides
tourist attractions like hotels and museums," said Levee Board
commissioner Eugene Green. "That's something that needs to be explored
seriously."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9232666/site/newsweek
Had Congress and the Levee Board focused on bolstering New Orleans
ramparts rather than underwriting laughable sideshows, Bourbon Street
bartenders still might be pouring cocktails to go.
"Yes, moving more funds to what was an obvious impending disaster would
have made sense, but that is not the way Congress works," Citizens
Against Government Waste President Tom Schatz laments to me. "They react
instead of being proactive and prefer pork to progress. Do they get it?
We will see." http://www.cagw.org
==============
New York commentator Deroy Murdock is a syndicated columnist with the
Scripps Howard News Service and a senior fellow with the Atlas Economic
Research Foundation.
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