Cindy's Visit To Louisiana

Cindy,

Your article was interesting. I do have to ask you a few questions…

“The people in LA who were displaced have nice, if modest homes that are perfectly fine. I wonder why the government made them leave at great expense and uproot families who have been living in their communities for generations.”

Where have you been? Many of those homes are under water or destroyed. And lots of those “nice” homes are slums. Did you actually go to New Orleans or look at any pictures? And it was the local and state leaders who gave the evacuation order- which was DESIGNED TO SAVE THEIR LIVES!

“When I think of how many other poor neighborhoods are being decimated and made so desperate and hopeless by the failed policies of the Bush administration, it makes me so angry”

Don’t understand much about the welfare system, do you? It’s a breeding ground for dependence. It was that way LONG BEFORE Pres. Bush, and if the Dem’s get their way this next election it will outlive us all. Not to mention the huge problem of government corruption in New Orleans. Their own leaders have been fostering poverty for years.

“One thing that truly troubled me about my visit to Louisiana was the level of the military presence there.”

Ummm, again, where have you been? There’s been a huge argument by dem’s about how there aren’t enough troops because of Iraq and how the feds wouldn’t get the guard in fast enough. They are there to help in many ways. Why are some being used to keep the peace? Because some of the locals are living in anarchy. Looting for food is one thing I think we might all do. But when they overpower the police, steal and destroy property, terrorize the citizens and shoot at rescuers, I think you can safely say they’ve crossed the line. And you cry “governmental fascism.” Shame on you!

“If George Bush truly listened to God and read the words of the Christ, Iraq and the devastation in New Orleans would have never happened.”

So now you claim Pres. Bush isn’t truly religious because he can’t control the weather?

“The failure in every level of our government is criminal negligence.”

You say that, but the only finger you point is at Bush. Are you saying that he’s responsible for everyone’s criminal negligence? He made Mayor Nagin ignore his own disaster plan? He made Gov. Blanco drag her feet? And everyone else that had a part in the grand dropping of the ball?

You talk a lot about your visit to Algiers. How they came through the hurricane relatively unscathed, and yet they were devastated. How there was no flooding there, but they want a boat to provide help to people in flooded areas. How the poor were forced from their nice homes in spite of the approach of the largest hurricane disaster in American history. How lawlessness is rampant, but you want the soldiers moved out immediately. How there was no help for them until your Veterans for Peace showed up to save the day. You convey the message that Algiers is a town with no leadership, who are totally dependent on the federal government which does nothing, and they are now saved by you and your flock. Does that about cover your editorial?

And then you manage to get in this statement: “One thing George has taught us is that we are self-sufficient and we have a country that is worth fighting for and we are not going away.” So the “greatest terrorist in the world” taught us that we who totally depend on the government are self sufficient, that our country is worth fighting for even though you abhor having our soldiers fight abroad and at home. And that you are not going away, which you will because Algiers is only a short photo op on your way to Washington!

Cindy, you either need a new speech writer or you need to take your medication and get some rest. The country will be okay without you while you’re gone.

Note: Cindy Sheehan's article can be found at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cindy-sheehan/a-bright-spot-in-bush-wor_b_7433.html

Banning the Pledge of Allegiance?

I'm so sick of us having to tippytoe around and change our policies and beliefs because someone might be offended.

This is America. You are free to believe whatever you want here. But when one faction tries to force their beliefs on the other by law, that is unconstitutional. It shouldn't be allowed. That's what's happening here. Atheists, who are a very small minority, are trying to force the whole of the nation to comply with their own beliefs. They have convinced judges they're right, which makes it a legal case promoting one "faith" over another. That's expressly forbidden in the constitution.

"Offended" is a much abused term. Here it's an emotion brought on by the intolerance of a few toward the many. Wow, what a great reason to legislate against the majority of the country!

In America, we celebrate Christmas. If you don't believe in Santa Claus, that's your business. But don't take away our right to celebrate just because you happen to differ. Part of celebrating Christmas is remembering Jesus with reverance. If you don't believe in Jesus, that's fine. Celebrate whatever you want or whoever you want. I don't go to Iran and tell them not to observe Ramadan. I don't disrespect Jews for their holidays and beliefs. If you're the only Jew in a school full of Christians, don't take the school board to court because you might be offended that they celebrate the holiday with programs and songs. It's a national holiday, for crying out loud!

In America, most of us believe in God. Some worship a heavenly man. Some worship a vaporous cloud. Some worship money. Some worship themselves and expect us to. Some choose not to worship. Whatever. Your right to worship or not isn't more important than mine. Tolerance!

In America, we speak english. If you want to live here, you should learn it. If I moved to Bolivia and expected their government to cater to me, do you think they would? But here, we spend millions publishing everything in 40 languages so we won't "offend" somebody.

In school we learn American history coupled with patriotism. The pledge of allegiance is part of that. If you don't like it, don't say it, but don't take it away from the rest of us.

If there's something you'd like changed, bring it up with your congressman. If it has merit, it can be voted on.

America was born of a desire for freedom. Freedom from tyrants, freedom to worship, freedom to speak our minds. Part of having those freedoms is having tolerance for others, and that goes both ways. Someone is going to have a different set of values than you. If you don't like what I believe, that's your right. If you allow yourself to become offended, get over it!

If you don't like it here, there's the door. Don't let it hit you where the good Lord split you!
Americans, don't bow down to the intolerant few who want to force us to comply. Be proud of who we are. Stand up for a change and be counted.

Bringing Katrina Home

We Americans love to disconnect from reality. The majority of us have no clue what was going through the hearts and minds of of those who struggled to survive Katrina's wrath. Nor do we want to. We'd rather spend all our energy bickering about who to blame for everything, and then go back to our sheltered little lives. That's our way. It's so much easier than taking down the walls, feeling someone else's pain and acting in a totally selfless way.

The following account was posted on the internet by someone who chose to be anonymous. That doesn't change the power of the message. The discussion on Huffington Post had been the normal left/right slinging of blame and propaganda. Suddenly this appeared and took me completely off guard. As I read it, I found myself engulfed in howling winds and rising water. The girl in the article will carry the scars throughout her life. I hope that I can carry a small portion of her pain in my heart to remind me that the universe does not revolve around me. The needs of others should be more important than my daily agenda. And in light of her and those around her, my petty troubles seem insignificant. I hope some of you can find a similar change of heart.


"When I took my son to his guitar lesson, I met one of the guitar instructors who is from New Orleans. The instructor said his niece survived the hurricane in one the parishes in Louisiana. He talked to her on the phone recently. This is the niece's account: A whole community of people assembled in the high school gymnasium to ride out the hurricane. The bleachers were full of people. The one hundred plus MPH winds knocked out all the windows. The water entered the gymnasium foot by foot. People on the lower bleachers tried to climb higher, but the upper bleachers were already full. As the storm surge rose to fourteen feet, people started to drown en mass. When the water was high enough, the niece was able to swim out the gymnasium window into the one hundred MPH winds. She said she saw a one-year old baby float past her face down."

Veterans For Peace- Shopping List

The Veterans for Peace have set up shop in Covington, LA. Their anti-war "road trip" is taking a break to help victims of hurricane Katrina, which I think everyone would applaud (until we get to the fine print). They've issued a shopping list of things they need in order to be effective in helping, and here's where the problems start. They want our donations so they can pay for nurses, food bank trucks, self contained kitchens and office and media equipment. Nurses, ok. Food bank trucks, well, maybe. Self contained kitchens... isn't that a bit much? And office/media equipment. What? Did I hear that right- office and media equipment?

Depending on which site you get the list from, they want up to $45,000 of our donations to pay for the following:

(5) Apple iMac G5 Computer 20" Monitor = $3,000 each
(5) 500 Gigabyte Firewire Harddrive= $500 each
(5) Canon XL2Digital Video Camera = $4,500 each
(2) Digital Projector (3000 lumens) =$1,000 each
(5) Apple iPods with recording = $600 each
Monthly Satellite Access and Website Hosting Fee = $200 pr/mo

Do they think the American people are STUPID? Why would we spend that kind of money to upgrade their media wagon when we could be using those funds to feed and clothe the suffering? Not to mention those grotesquely overpriced TOYS have no business being there anyway.

Veterans for Peace are using the disaster to scam us into outfitting them for their pilgrimage into the political arena. Shame on them!

How about those self contained kitchens and food service trucks and vans. Will they be leaving all that stuff in New Orleans for the benefit of the people? And this rolling media center, in their own words- "will support refugees, volunteers, Red Cross, staff, press, keep in touch through via email, web, blogs, and teleconferencing. In order to insure our message gets out." And there it is, folks, the whole reason behind the humanitarian effort and the huge expense-

"In order to insure our message gets out!"

Dear veterans, if you need all this stuff to be "truely effective" in helping the disaster victims, as you say, then maybe you're not cut out for charity work. By your own admission, you're not effective. That means you're in the way. Go home and let someone be there who will make do with what they have for the right reasons. We will not trust our donations to someone who uses them for their own agenda under the guise of hurricane relief.

By the way, how many hungry mouths will an ipod feed?



Here are links to some of their sites in case you want to see for yourself:
http://crawfordpeace.nfshost.com/node/1865
http://www.vfpsb.org/
http://www.vfproadtrips.org/

New Orleans Bush Bashing

First, let me say how horrifying Katrina's devastation is. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims. This article is in no way directed at them in this terrible hour. It's written in response to Van Jones' editorial Bush's Role in the Drowning of New Orleans on Huffington Post. Lots of people are so quick to blame the federal government for everything bad that happens in America. In this case, most of that blame actually belongs to others. And the pundits can't see that all this bashing helps to divide the nation instead of pulling us together to aid those who so desperately need our help.

* * * * *

Everybody's so quick to blame "W" for all of this. In your article you blame him for the flooding because he diverted money. We were in the middle of a war. Should we have said, hmmm, let's leave our servicemen more ill-equipped and pour money into something that might happen years down the road? I imagine if he'd had a crystal ball things might have been a little different. "Experts" have been warning us of disaster for years. I don't know a state or city that has completely prepared for anything. You gonna blame that on W too?

New Orleans has known about the problem for how long? If you want to blame someone, blame the city fathers for not doing more about the situation and protecting their citizens. Blame the city planners for building below sea level in the middle of lakes and next to a gulf, and putting the city in a bowl with no drainage. Blame the CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) who should have stepped right in with a plan developed years ago. Community first, then state, then federal. That's how it works.

You forget that when they ran a mock flood several years ago, 1/3 of the citizens said they'd refuse to evacuate no matter what the government said, even if it was a hurricane. If I were given 3 days warning of an approaching hurricane and I couldn't drive my family out, by hell I'd walk them out! I wouldn't just sit there and blame everyone for making it happen and not rescuing me fast enough.

Another thing... you just have to play the RACE CARD, don't you. Take a natural disaster and turn it into whites hating blacks. I think color was the LEAST of anyone's worries as they tried to get out. It's true that most of NO's survivors are poor and black, which was also true of the community before the flood. That doesn't make it a race issue. It means that New Orleans had a large number of PEOPLE who were poor, under educated and stuck in a rut. Blame the city for not working hard enough to train and motivate them. Blame the welfare system for making it too easy to live on checks and stamps. Blame the people for not having the balls to stand up and change their own lives. Blame bleeding hearts like you who find it easier to complain about it than to dig in and help people improve their lives.

Better yet, stop blaming. There are far too many who need our help, and they need it NOW. Put down the poisoned pen and either start writing checks or handing out food and water. The way to insure America's survival is to help each other instead of tearing each other down.