The head says that remaining in New Orleans is unwise, but the heart clearly holds otherwise for some residents. Officials’ heavy-handed efforts to get everybody out surely strike many Kansans as antithetical to our treasured property rights and individual liberty. Wouldn’t it be better to let people stay, so long as they understand they are accepting the consequences? Make them sign an affidavit or something. Or how about adopting the “Magic Marker” strategy used by officials in the Hampton Roads region around Newport News, Va.? When residents in that coastal area refuse to leave, according to one official, rescuers request that they write their Social Security numbers on their bodies to assure postmortem identification. “It’s cold, but it’s effective,” said the official. It also seems preferable to marching people out of their homes in handcuffs or at gunpoint.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
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10 Comments
Rhonda,Are you becoming a heartless, let ‘em eat cake, stop ‘em at the border, minority hating, non-liberal? How dare you suggest that we treat those scofflaws any different than Elian Gonzalez?
It’s hard to be a bleeding heart, isn’t it. Just can’t believe that there are always tradeoffs in life. No problem for a liberal, though; just pick one solution and blame the fact that you can’t have it both ways on the administration. That always works; and if you make it outrageous enough, the media will run it for a couple weeks..
If it were my house and property, probably everything I owned and my family had owned for hundreds of years, I wouldn’t want to leave it to someone else’s hands. I’d want to be there sweeping out the water, saving what I could.
The government cannot force you off your own property for any reason whatsoever, unless you committed a crime and they are arresting you on a warrent.
Other than that, forcing somebody to leave, no matter the situation, is a huge violation of human rights.
But remaining in a flood stricken home is not a crime. I’ve seen the people in the news who are willing to stay. The rescue people just give them food, water, and supplies and move on. That is the only thing they can really do.
Joe, Ray Nagin declared martial law (in name at least) in the city and said that “officers don’t have to worry about civil rights and Miranda rights in stopping the looters” on the evening of August 31. There’s some question as to whether he can do that, but the area is under a state of emergency.
If indeed they are under martial law, the authorities can force you to leave. They can’t “take” your property, but you can be forced to leave.
According to Oprah, it is un-American to be a refugee. They all must be called “evacuees”.
Not sure what dictionary she uses in her quest for extreme political correctness, but a refugee is any person seeking refuge. Whether that refuge is from a storm or war or religious persecution is irrelevant.
Yet, the talking heads claim that these people cannot be refugees because they are Americans.
Sorry, I don’t buy into this latest extreme and pointless (not to mention ridiculous) political correctness.
The real issue here is not property rights, it’s life. If some sniper is shooting up your neighborhood, the police can order you to leave until the sniper is dealt with. In NO, the potential for epidemic is huge, and some of the recent refugees may even be bringing it with them. We need to get those people out of there, quit putting them in arenas and other areas that promote spread of disease, and get as much health care to them as possible. Homeland Security was supposed to be making provisions for just such a scenario; where the hell are they?
If we cannot force an evacuation then fine. Simply announce that there will be no more relief supplies brought in; we will not risk the relief workers lives any more by sending them into a toxic waste site.
I wish the local Pastors would accompany the rescuers; tell their flock to “Go with God’s angels”
Jed
Have you checked out the credentials of the head of FEMA? Served as commissioner of the Arabian Horse Association. Acting Deputy Rhode a veteran of Bush’s 2000 campaign. Altschuler a travel agent for Bush.
ZERO disaster preparedness experience. The professional staff at FEMA has been demoralized as a result of their agency being turned into a dumping ground for political hacks. And the people of NO are paying the price.
Ben,You’d think the guy would be focussed on racing towards the finish line; he never made it out of the gate. Obviously, that’s why he’s no longer the head of AHA! He’s the product of Bushllit’s solution to executive unemployment.
how do i find out if some one has a warrent out on er the enter them over