This is an Opinion Line comment that came in this week:
“I’m deeply sorry for the hurricane victims who were told to evacuate but couldn’t. I hope the ones who wouldn’t and then later cried for help rot in hell. I would take in all the homeless dogs if I could, and I hope every damn cat there drowned. I’m not heartless, but I am sick of people costing us money and lives because they are stupid and cats running wild because there is no leash law.”
Perhaps this person should have put a period after “sick” and ended the comment there.
Posted by Melissa Cooley
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21 Comments
We have seat belt laws and helmet laws and laws against smoking — all intended to keep people from doing something stupid that ends up costing society more than their careless attitude is worth.
It would seem that this same approach is equally valid in the case of those who live in places where natural disasters are bound to occur someday — in particular, California and the coastal areas of the South.
Of course, we in tornado alley have our own disasters; but nothing of the scale of Hurricanes Andrew and Katrina. A tornado doesn’t do as much damage as a hurricane can.
The Opinion Line commenter wasn’t entirely sick; though I must agree that the “phraseology” is horrible and the dog/cat thing was cold. It’s a classic case of ruining a good point by saying soomething irrelevant and stupid.
Nevertheless, why should we not feel resentful of people who willingly make a burden of themselves and then expect us to fend for them?
That’s not to say we should refuse help that is truly needed. Being caught in a disaster because of age, illness, or poverty is one thing. Willingly making a victim of yourself is really an anti-social thing to do. Society shouldn’t have to put up with (or encourage) that.
Even though I’ve already got three relatives from Acadia Parish staying with me, I’ll be glad to take a few cats.
If we as a society were truly fed up with bailing people out of coastal communities after hurricanes, tsunamis and storm surges, we would demand that our local and federal governments not allow building in those areas. People will move to a location with an ocean view and spend millions of dollars for it.This reminds me of a situation in Huntington Beach, CA where the local government wants to sell the last remaining section of wetlands. The environmentalist’s and majority of local people have been screaming not to allow building there, yet the corrupt local government has sold the land up to the very edge which may disrupt the balance of the estuary. The condominiums that were built are basically at sea level. If a large storm or hurricane hits the area, most of those houses will be underwater.I find it ironic that the people that are complaining about having to pay to save the folks living in the affected area are saying they shouldn’t have lived there anyway. They are the same people that dismiss environmentalist’s as “those crazy liberals”. Those crazy liberals are the one’s who have been warning the United States against these kinds of impending tragedies because of the blatant destruction of our wetlands which act as buffer zones for inland areas against large storms.
Only a sick person such as this would give an anonymus comment such as this one.
I hope someday you will understand what it is like to not be wanted by anyone. Maybe you already do???
Cats don’t ask to be taken care of in a irresponsible way. What a horrible thing to say.
And you know what? We can start on this course of action right here in Wichita. I have NEVER felt sorry for people who build and buy along the Cowskin Creek – doesn’t it seemingly flood every year? I’m tired of bailing those people out too – so if any of you people complaining about New Orleans happen to live along the Cowskin, PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS OR SHUT UP!
Five years ago an F3 tornado tore through the town of 12,000 people that I live in, flattening whole neighborhoods. I don’t wish anyone bad things, but here’s my complaint:Some of these neighborhoods were declared “flood zones” even though there’s never been floods there in the history of the town. People were not allowed to rebuild on their property.
When coastal residents haven’t repaired their property yet and are getting hit again, shouldn’t the same sort of rules and treatment apply?
I think Gail was the anonymus poster! He/she is evil incarnate!
I wonder how the OL commenter feels about the massive (and unaudited as yet) spending the US is bearing – ALONE – in Iraq, for Iraqi infrastructure needs. I remember reading a couple years ago about young US Army officers (early twenties) who had wads of US $100 bills to hand out, at their discretion, to Iraqis who had their vehicles shot up or their homes damaged by mistake. No disparagement intended to our Congress’ commissioning of military officers intended at all; I’m merely pointing out what human nature and wads of somebody else’s cash (yours and mine and, most importantly, our children’s) can lead to.
What we’re facing, really, is a choice in how to spend our national resources. Right now Americans are deciding how – or if – to rebuild an American city while we rebuild Iraq, alone. Can we do both? Can we do both without raising taxes? Why can’t we find coalition partners with pockets as deep as ours in Iraq? And if we can’t find them, why can’t we HOLD THOSE RESPONSIBLE ACCOUNTABLE?
One thing to remember is that New Orleans was built “in a flood zone” because this “flood zone” is where the Mississippi River empties into the Gulf. For more than a century now American farmers have seen export grain end up in New Orleans on its way around the world.
As long as the Mississippi empties into the Gulf of Mexico, Americans – not restricted to Louisianians – will have a vested interest (shipping) in that spot. That spot is New Orleans, or was. And as long as that spot is where Americans will congregate for work and trade, then cities will spring up.
If a new New Orleans is more convenient for US taxpayers than for residents, then residents will move to live closer to their work. Another thing to consider is the Dutch; the Netherlands itself is largely below sea level and the Dutch have faced this engineering challenge for centuries.
Who’s wants to claim that Americans are poorer civil engineers than the Dutch?
All Americans have an interest in the new New Orleans, unless we as a nation intend to abandon the Mississippi River for commerce.
Nobody needs to live in that fishbowl to maintain river commerce. Nobody.The Netherlands is a different govt., N/A. Does the Netherlands have hurricanes?
The person who made the Opinion Line comment must not realize that many of the people who didn’t evacuate were not in a position to evacuate. What were those people without cars expected to do? There should have been buses available to help them evacuate and there were not. When you don’t have an SUV of your own, getting out of town fast presents some challenges.
As far as hoping all the cats drown, ya know what, buddy? You share the earth with other species. They have a right to be here, too. Deal with it.
My point, Tracy, is that due to human nature people will move to “that fishbowl” to do their job. Especially if doing so results in a competitive advantage for them or their business.
I don’t think the Netherlands gets hurricanes, but I doubt they built their own levee system for the fun of it. I’m willing to take the Dutch at their word that, without their levees, the Netherlands would flood.
Now, do you think Dutch civil engineers are better than American ones, or just stupider?
Sorry, VC, it wasn’t me.
Actually, I like cats, and my writing is a quite different from the style of that awful Opinion Line comment.
I agree with Trell on this one.
I don’t think living below sea-level anywhere can be sustained indefinately.People who were raised in a toilet will try to stay or return there.You’re right it’s just that damn human factor. Home sweet home.I love Kansas, but if I had the means I’m sure I could get used to Bermuda or Hawaii.
Yeah, but you would have to worry about that Burmuda Triangle thing.
I don’t know what you would need to worry about in Hawaii.
I could only dream that Bermuda was the last place I was ever seen.Nothing like going out in style.
Gail wrote that opinion line. He said that people who died in New Orleans were too stupid to save.
Well, how stupid are cats and dogs. Stupid enough not to leave, right?
So they deserve to die to according to Gail.
Don’t listen to his feeble denials. He lies like a frickin’ rug . . .
I’m beginning to believe that most Kansans and a lot of the rest of this country just don’t get it. I was born and raised in Kansas, have lived here all my life, yet I understand why there are people who will always live in places that may someday be hit by a natural disaster. Every state in the U.S. has its own propensity for something. California has its earthquakes, fires, and mudslides, yet people continue to build homes in those areas most likely to incur those disasters. People flock to Florida, in spite of knowing how hurricane ridden it can be. All along the East coast we see the same possibility of hurricanes. Then there are the tornadoes. Hundreds of them a year. Yet we still live here, right? Why? Because we either choose to or our family, sometimes generations ago, chose to.
So many can’t understand the mindset of those who chose, or whose family chose to make New Orleans their home, knowing full well they would live in a “fishbowl.” I encourage those who just don’t seem to have a clue about the South to read or re-read Margaret Mitchell’s GONE WITH THE WIND. If you’re too lazy to read it, rent the movie. Focus on the scene before intermission, where Scarlett is in the field and swears that they’ll never be hungry again. Listen to her memory of what her father told her, and you might begin to understand.
If that doesn’t ring some bells, here’s a great article by author Anne Rice that everyone should read.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/04/opinion/04rice.html
As for Hawaii, try volcanoes.
Here’s a point I havent’ seen anyone mention. If you did and I missed it, apologies.Look at your grandmother, grandfather, elderly neighbor. Now think about their income. Most of the elderly I know are on Social Security.When do social security checks come out? The first of the month. When did Katrina, or Corrina as some call it sweep through?As you are heartless in your support of the people who didn’t leave, think about your elderly neighbors. Would you have offered them a ride if we were evacuatingWichita? While they waited for their only means of income to come?
Thanks RB for the great link
I like cats…fried, broiled, bbq’d, posters, door mats, sweaters, car seats…
There are a lot of reasons that people weren’t able to get out of Katrina’s path that had nothing to do with personal choices. The route to Interstate 10 was crowed to the point of grid lock. Highways were impassable in a lot of cases shortly after the evacuation began. Trying to move that many people out of a major metropolitan area anywhere in the country is going to be a nightmare….something we need to address in case of a terrorist attack.
A reminder: New Orleans wasn’t the only city distroyed by Katrina. There are a lot of people in other towns in the area that weren’t ordered to evacuate that are in a world of hurt. Even with the constant reporting on TV, you can’t imagine what it’s like down there.
On the subject of “why didn’t they leave when they had the chance”, I ran across this:
“As the situation grew steadily worse in New Orleans last week, you might have wondered why people didn’t just leave on foot. The Louisiana Superdome is less than two miles from a bridge that leads over the Mississippi River out of the city.
The answer: Any crowd that tried to do so was met by suburban police, some of whom fired guns to disperse the group and seized their water.”
http://www.cadenhead.org/workbench/news/2748
Great choice; starve or get shot.