A friend sent me this letter to the editor from the Denver Post.. Interesting..Interesting……………………...The Denver Post
THINK ABOUT THIS FOR A MOMENT.
Denver Post:
This text is from a county emergency manager out in the central part of Colorado after todays snowstorm.
WEATHER BULLETIN
Up here, in the Northern Plains, we just recovered from a Historic event--- may I even say a "Weather Event" of "Biblical Proportions" --- with a historic blizzard of up to 44" inches of snow and winds to 90 MPH that broke trees in half, knocked down utility poles, stranded hundreds of motorists in lethal snow banks, closed ALL roads, isolated scores of communities and cut power to 10's of thousands.
FYI:
George Bush did not come.
FEMA did nothing.
No one howled for the government.
No one blamed the government.
No one even uttered an expletive on TV
Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton did not visit.
Our Mayor did not blame Bush or anyone else.
Our Governor did not blame Bush or anyone else, either.
CNN, ABC, CBS, FOX or NBC did not visit - or report on this category 5 snowstorm.
Nobody demanded $2,000 debit cards.
No one asked for a FEMA Trailer House.No one looted.
Nobody - I mean Nobody demanded the government do something.
Nobody expected the government to do anything, either.
No Larry King, No Bill O'Rielly, No Oprah, No Chris Mathews and No Geraldo Rivera.No Shaun Penn, No Bar bara Striesand, No Hollywood types to be found.
Nope, we just melted the snow for water.
Sent out caravans of SUV's to pluck people out of snow engulfed cars.
The truck drivers pulled people out of snow banks and didn't ask for a penny.
Local restaurants made food and the police and fire departments delivered it to the snowbound families.
Families took in the stranded people - total strangers.
We fired up wood stoves, broke out coal oil lanterns or Coleman lanterns.
We put on extra layers of clothes because up here it is "Work or Die".
We did not wait for some affirmative action government to get us out of a mess created by being immobilized by a welfare program that trades votes for 'sittin at home' checks.
Even though a Category "5" blizzard of this scale has never fallen this early, we know it can happen and how to deal with it ourselves."
In my many travels, I have noticed that once one gets north of about 48 degrees North Latitude, 90% of the world's social problems evaporate."It does seem that way, at least to me.
I hope this gets passed on.
Maybe SOME people will get the message. The world does Not owe you a living.
George Bush did not come. [He couldn't have landed his plane!]
ReplyDeleteFEMA did nothing. [They probably don't have snowplows and as slow as they react the snow would have melted by the time they did. You certainly didn't need housing.]
No one howled for the government. [You couldn't, no phone, landline, cell service! Radios down also because of not electric power.]
No one blamed the government. [You aren't below sea level or depend on levees and pumps to keep water out!]
No one even uttered an expletive on TV. [That's the nature of some people regardless of geographic location.]
Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton did not visit. [You have Native Americans we have Blacks dependent on the government State and Federal. Jesse and Al depend on Whites being intimidated!]
Our Mayor did not blame Bush or anyone else. [Democrats always blame Republicans for their inabilities to cope with problems.]
Our Governor did not blame Bush or anyone else, either. [Same as above!]
CNN, ABC, CBS, FOX or NBC did not visit - or report on this category 5 snowstorm. [No longevity in a snow story.]
Nobody demanded $2,000 debit cards. [No one Demanded the debit cards until FEMA decided to hand them out.]
No one asked for a FEMA Trailer House. [Your home didn't have 4 to 12 feet of muddy water inside either!]
No one looted. [What's To loot when you can't even get out of a ditch or the snow!]
Nobody - I mean Nobody demanded the government do something. [What could the Federal government do? They can't melt snow!]
Nobody expected the government to do anything, either. [I'm surprised the Native Americans didn't since most are on Indian welfare from the government.]
No Larry King, No Bill O'Rielly, No Oprah, No Chris Mathews and No Geraldo Rivera. [All those ultra-liberals have to get in on a great story.]
No Shaun Penn, No Barbara Striesand, No Hollywood types to be found. [Only welfare enablers like these showed up after the water subsided and didn't stay long.]
Nope, we just melted the snow for water. [Water, water everywhere and none to drink.]
Sent out caravans of SUV's to pluck people out of snow engulfed cars. [Here they used anything that would float.The last time I checked SUV's don't float!]
The truck drivers pulled people out of snow banks and didn't ask for a penny. [People pulled others out of water and didn't ask for a penny. The US Coast Guard rescued well over 28,000 at no charge!]
Local restaurants made food and the police and fire departments delivered it to the snowbound families. [No restaurants open most were under water, police, fire departments didn't have boats only the Harbor Police had boats in use and unfortunately they were busy.]
Families took in the stranded people - total strangers. [No place left to take in people, water, water everywhere you looked and no dry beds.]
We fired up wood stoves, broke out coal oil lanterns or Coleman lanterns. [To hot for a fire.]
We put on extra layers of clothes because up here it is "Work or Die". [More clothes on you would drown here.]
We did not wait for some affirmative action government to get us out of a mess created by being immobilized by a welfare program that trades votes for 'sittin at home' checks. [Very few Blacks will live there but you have a lot of Native Americans waiting for government checks.]
Even though a Category "5" blizzard of this scale has never fallen this early, we know it can happen and how to deal with it ourselves. [Liquid water here no Frozen water! City folks don't keep pirogues.]
"In my many travels, I have noticed that once one gets north of about 48 degrees North Latitude, 90% of the world's social problems evaporate." [Not enough People around for social problems .]
It does seem that way, at least to me. [Only his narrow tunnel vision allows him see this.]
I hope this gets passed on. [Not by me.]
Maybe SOME people will get the message. The world does Not owe you a living. [President L. B. Johnson [D] thought Americans did in 1964/5 when he created The Great New Society program which become the welfare system of today.]
Some extra snow in an area that receives snow every winter is not analogous to a Category 5 hurricane, over 1,800 lives lost, over 700 still missing, $81 billion dollars in damages across three states, and flooding that lasted for weeks (and not just a couple of inches of water from melting snow). Over one hundred thousand local residents lost their jobs (how many people lost their jobs in Colorado last month?) which doubles the pain since state and federal income taxes are lost until those people rejoin the workforce. Nearly 5% of the population of Louisiana moved out of state or perished as a direct result of Katrina.
ReplyDeleteOne reason the government was involved (besides the obvious catastrophic loss of life, property, and civil infrastructure) was due to the fact that the levees which broke (and consequently caused the flood which did the bulk of the damage) were designed, created, and should have been maintained by the government via the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Despite protestations that they were not at fault, damming proof finally forced them to admit the truth:
On April 5, 2006, months after independent investigators had demonstrated that levee failures were not due to natural forces beyond intended design strength, Lt. Gen. Carl Strock testified before the U. S. Senate Subcommittee on Energy and Water that, "We have now concluded we had problems with the design of the structure." He also testified that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers did not know of this mechanism of failure prior to August 29, 2005. The claim of ignorance is refuted, however, by the National Science Foundation investigators hired by the Army Corps of Engineers, who point to a 1986 study by the Corps itself that such separations were possible in the I-wall design.[22]
Nearly two months later, June 1, 2006, the US ACE finally unequivicaolly admitted responsbility for the tragedy in New Orleans with the release of the completed report. The Final Draft of the IPET report states that the destructive forces of Katrina were "aided by incomplete protection, lower than authorized structures, and levee sections with erodible materials."
It is easy to watch the commercial-funded tv news each night and see the sensational aspects of the tragedy (looting, murder, and other criminal acts by the poorest segments of society) and condemn the entire region that was affected as being "evil" or "lazy". However, that would show one's true motivations and a lack of desire to even try to understand what Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff described as "probably the worst catastrophe, or set of catastrophes," in the country's history. In case his words bother you, Chertoff is also a Republican and was nominated to his post by Bush so you don't have to immediately distrust him if you are blind/deaf to anything uttered by a non-Republican.
Congratulations Colorado!!!
ReplyDeleteI am giving you and your extremely white, economically viable state a major golf clap.. bravo!
I was so horrified to hear how many homes were wiped off of the map, and how many rich white cowboys were dead in the streets of Denver. so sad!
So empowering were the stories of people with shovels saving millions of dying people that I find it hard to believe CNN, GW, and FIMA were no where to be seen. What a crime!
May you all be reunited with your lost children and keep warm in John Elways super dome.
I mean what a serious crises it must have been to so many people trying to get to Aspen to ski only to be stuck in their oversized SUV. Lord have Mercy on us all!
Anything I can do to help Colorado just give me a yell.
Love to all of you in this horrific crises!!! Keep on keeping on!!
Dear Mr. Anonymous...
ReplyDeleteThough I did not agree with everything said in the letter to the editor, you sir are QUITE uninformed as to who lives in Colorado.. Only rich white cowboys??? PLEASE!
We are as ethnically diverse as any other metropolis in the U.S.
LOTS of Coloradoans don't ski and don't drive an oversized SUV, and last I checked we don't have a superdome...
I actually work for FEMA -- not fulltime, just at disasters -- and would like to clarify a few points. The original email has been floating around for years, and gets claimed for various disasters. (Note that Colorado is not north of the 48th parallel.) Also, state and local officials did ask FEMA to come. And we have come. (Not to mention the National Guard feeding cattle from helicopters, and a lot of other government help.) Local governments are expected to handle snowfalls anywhere within the normal range, but FEMA can sometimes help financially with record or near-record snowfalls, as here. The funding is often a big help for exhausted local budgets. That said, I've seen local people all over this country help each other out in extraordinary ways in times of disaster. And when the event is big enough, people from across the country help -- including by sending FEMA.
ReplyDelete