For several weeks after
9/11 I don’t think anyone
who wrote a column could
find anything humorous to
expound upon. The same feeling
is going around since the
hurricane along the Gulf
Coast. I’m fairly certain
most of you are like me
in that you are numbed by
constant pictures of thousands
of people losing their homes,
businesses and even the
lives of their family and
pets. This is a tragedy
of epic proportions.
After seeing hours and
hours of desperate flood
victims trying to escape,
you can almost sum up the
entire episode into a few
words: Horror, hurt, help
and hope.
I’m confident in my mind
there will be an immense
amount of finger pointing
as to who is to blame for
what happened during the
coming months. I have no
doubt that we will all be
tired of the partisan politicking
before we hear the end of
it. But I suggest to you
that you think about this,
will anything be done to
assure us that this kind
of reaction won’t be repeated
in the future?
Did the Mayor of New
Orleans fail to act promptly?
Probably. Did the Governor
of Louisiana fail to act
as fast as she could have?
Certainly. Did the United
States Government address
the potential need for their
help in a timely manner?
No.
I make no bones about
being a Republican, since
I have been in business
for myself all of my life.
However, I will not agree
that the head of some agency
as important as FEMA should
be a political appointee.
Someone, who is on the ‘A’
list and is one of the ‘good
old boys’ is somehow entitled
to this very crucial job.
This is a position that
needs to be filled with
someone with experience
and training in how to prepare
and react in the event of
some national disaster.
Not some ‘friend of the
party’. No matter what party
is in power.
We know hurricanes happen.
We should know how to react
in the event one such as
this occurs. This is a situation
in which we know something
will happen; we just don’t
know when it will happen.
Now, if we were unprepared
to evacuate and care for
these residents along the
Gulf Coast for an event
we know happens with annual
regularity, how would we
handle a nuclear attack
or threat by some terrorist
in one of our larger cities?
Not very well, I would imagine.
Are we not prepared to help
feed, clothe, shelter and
medically treat 500,000
to 1,000,000 of our citizens
if the need to do so arose?
At this point in time,
I would have to say, certainly
not. At least it doesn’t
appear that way to me.
Years ago, while I was
in the Army, we woke up
one morning in Fort Riley,
Kansas and were told to
take our tanks down to the
railhead. When we got there,
there was a line of flatcars
as long as you could see
in any direction waiting
to take our tanks, trucks
and other pieces of equipment
by rail to the East Coast.
Railroad men were there
with big pieces of wood
and chains to block and
secure my tank. We were
then loaded onto airplanes
and shipped off to Virginia
and later sent to the Atlantic
to blockade and possibly
invade Cuba. Where had all
of these flatcars come from?
Someone had to plan ahead
to arrange for them to be
there in the event of some
threat to our country. Someone
had figured out in advance
what would be needed in
the event we were to go
to war.
Why weren’t we doing
the same in this situation?
I find it hard to believe
that a nation with our brainpower
and resources wouldn’t have
the ability to stockpile,
food, water, medical supplies
and shelters for a catastrophe
such as this. Armchair generals
such as myself find it easy
to play Monday morning quarterback,
but I don’t think you have
to be a rocket scientist
to see that people in a
situation like this are
going to need a bathroom,
water and food. That’s just
common sense.
A lot has been said about
the drills and planning
sessions which were conducted
to handle these kinds of
events. I would like to
suggest that future conventions,
meetings and studies be
held in some part of the
country where there are
few outside distractions
such as those found in either
New Orleans or Las Vegas,
or Atlantic City.
Seems to me the people attending
these should be spending
more time thinking about
what might happen in the
future and take it more
seriously rather than using
the event as a vacation.
This is serious business
and needs to be taken seriously.
Peoples lives depend upon
proper planning.
