Ted the Penguin

Hurricane Katrina

To everyone who reads this; please read this (different website, same article). Regardless of your political affiliation or views on current events, it’s a must read. (local pdf if any of the above links aren’t working.)

Now, I should also note that immediatly following the article, this sentence is posted:

LARRY BRADSHAW and LORRIE BETH SLONSKY are emergency medical services (EMS) workers from San Francisco and contributors to Socialist Worker.

Does this have any bearing on the spin of the article itself? Is CounterPunch anywhere close to unbiased? Umm, no. It’s simply not that type of publication, nor does it try to be.

In conversation with Brian tonight, and with assistance and influence from Tom and Johanna, I was given a link to this and then a response was later posted here. The remarks made about the Second Amendment issue, I’ll keep my thoughts to my self at the moment as I haven’t made up my mind, but the rest of both articles seems fairly on point.

If this is true, and I hope to god that it isn’t, though I have the nagging feeling that it is, what IS becomming of our society? Sure, we have the few who seem to understand that the good of the many out weighs the needs of the few (obligatory star trek reference, sorry), but then we have those who can’t seem to accept change and will take any situation and attempt to mold it, and succeed, to suit their preference.

Maybe that sheriff was ordered to do what he did and he’s just doing his duty. Maybe the tale that these two EMS workers are telling is a high fabrication of the truth and everyone in New Orleans was nice and wonderful to the storm victims. I don’t know. And the thing is, this applies to more than just the aftermath of the hurricane. Remember after 9/11, when the Red Cross went and diverted tons of supplies and money donated FOR the victims to other things? Remember the infamous UN oil-for-food scandal? Why does this happen time and time again? Is it because some people are just plain evil? Or is it because greed is a part of human nature? Who knows, that’s for a psychologist, among others, to figure out. Not me.

I say just damn the paper work. Damn orders. Do what YOU think is right. Get the supplies/money/help where it needs to go NOW. Sort out the details later. We have free will in this country for a reason. It does us no good if we don’t exercise it.

My friends in the service, or formerly in the service may disagree with me. I understand that to a point, orders must be followed, if they aren’t, then nothing would ever get done and society would descend into chaos. A lot of paperwork and buercracy is necessary, the world simply can’t function without it. Checks and balances and such. Regardless of this, there does come a time when you say, “Damn the consequences. I’m going to do this because it’s right.”