Kaitlyn,
It’s now the beginning of December 2005 and the impact of Hurricane Katrina is still reverberating. Below is an article about the change in the political landscape in Louisiana due to the evacuation of so many New Orleans’ residents.
Who, it must be understood, always voted Democrat for the political handouts that would be promised to them. So many of these base voters have left the state and it would appear many are not coming back.
Who can blame them? They managed to find all kinds of buses to get these people to the polls but when their lives were in danger they left the buses to flood.
I don’t know what the political climate in Louisiana will be when you are old enough to read this. I suspect Louisiana, a mixed political state before Katrina, will be a lot more conservative that it had been.
Just so you know, Kaitlyn Mae, how it happened. Don’t let your teachers tell you different.
Before hurricanes Katrina and Rita, there was a familiar equilibrium in the Louisiana Legislature, whose hallway still is pocked with bullet holes from Huey P. Long's assassination. Black Democrats were key allies of Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, and conservative rural lawmakers harbored age-old grievances about New Orleans' grip on political power. Now, with the city's population dispersed — and no indication of whether, or when, most residents will return — some lawmakers hope they are witnessing a permanent reversal of fortunes, said Elliot Stonecipher, a political analyst based in Shreveport. "Even good people are quietly sitting back, not lending their support to the rebuilding of New Orleans," Stonecipher said. "What you're seeing is a lot of people snickering and winking and nodding…. This is something they thought they would never see." |
A Katrina Thanksgiving Political Cartoon
Just for the record.
The Saga of the Prisoner
The story of “Jim” has been documented in this Katrina missive. Poor fellow, arrested for a misdemeanor, held in a New Orleans’ jail and left to drown in flood waters. Now this fellow, an American citizen, can’t even get a trial!
We’ll keep following this story.
For those who might have missed his story, Jim had been arrested and jailed in Bernard Parish near New Orleans. He had been advised by his legal aid lawyer that if he pleaded guilty on August 27, when he would be brought to court, the charges to be reduced to a misdemeanor and be released for time served. That’s what he expected, but then came Katrina and all bets were off.
It’s been over 2 ½ months now since Jimbo began his Odyssey on August 28, 2005, the day after he expected to go free. when he was sitting in jail waiting for his court date. Two months later, he is
still sitting in jail with no attorney and no court date scheduled.
Earlier this week Jimbo called his Mom to tell her they have been moved from the “visiting shed” to the main prison at Angola. He has not yet been brought before any judge to be charged or make his
plea. How long can an American citizen be held without being charged with anything? Note: it was written before he was transferred.
Below I give you Jimbo’s 3rd letter to his Mom. If his tone is different, it might be because unlike when he wrote the first two, he is now aware that his words are being repeated on the internet.
Also attached, is a letter he and a fellow inmate collaborated on describing their ordeal. His previous correspondence can be found here.
Now, direct from Camp-D Visit Shed run by the Great State of Louisiana, in Angola, La, here’s Jimbo’s latest letter to come into my possession. I feel like I know him.
Dearest Mom, Hey! How are you doing? I’m ok, I guess. I was surprised to get to talk to you the other day. We can’t use the phone any more, cause a guy was calling a 13-year-old girl. So the state police came up here, and the warden won’t let us sue the phone. You can call up here and talk to Mrs Peggy, and she will come get me for the phone like she did. Thank you for sending me money. It helps a lot. Well there is not much to talk about, cause we do the same thing very day. Stay on the floor, on our own mattress. Did you get a hold of the people from FEMA? If so, write back let me know if I can get the money, or any kind of help from them when I get out. Did you try to call my court appointed lawyer yet? Can you try to call the attorney general office to if you can find out anything. Who is the lawyer you told me about? Is he any good? Does he think I will get a settlement out of this mess? [There is no lawyer. This was a miscommunication.] Well, here is the detailed letter of what happened to me from the time I left St Bernard. I let a friend write it cause I get in too much of a hurry, and my writing is messy. I’m going to tell FEMA I lost all my tools and all my clothes. hope they can help me. Write me back ASAP, and let me know more about this lawyer. Can he help me get of of here? I’m ready to get out and go back to work in Texas. I’ll never come back down here, not unless it’s for work. I can’t stand it any more. Oh, yeah! I wear a size 34 x 34 jeans, extra large shirts and a size 9 shoe. Did you get those newspaper clippings? Write me back and let me know if you get this letter too. o.k. Well, I’ll let you go for now. Write back ASAP. I love you Mom. Love Jim PS Give Ting & Snow [Mom’s dogs] a hug & kiss for me. |
Naginhead Audacity
Please note, Kaitlyn, in this article, that New Orleans’ Mayor Nagin continues to be “shocked” about what happened in New Orleans, although he was, largely responsible for it.
The audacity is he is giving this little musing while he and his family are vacationing at the luxury resort, Sandals. In a private villa no less. While his constituency is spread across the land, being cared for by citizens of other cities and states! Don’t forget this fellow also got himself a nice house in Texas!
Do not, Kaitlyn, do not let your teachers tell you is was the federal government that failed Louisiana during Hurricane Katrina. Just look at how the local officials, especially Mayor Ray Naginhead, live their hypocritical lives with absolutely no compunction.
Mayor Nagin who, along with his wife, Seletha, and three children - Jeremy, Jarin and Tianna - are vacationing in the island, was speaking to reporters in Montego Bay on the weekend. The Nagins, who have been staying at a private villa owned by Sandals chairman Gordon "Butch" Stewart in the resort town of Negril, leave the island today.  "I have had the chance to think about this a lot, and I’m still shocked that this happened in America, a country with so many resources, where we can send battle ships around the world in 24 hours and yet you saw what happened in New Orleans," he added. |
New Orleans’ Cops Still Making Their Own Reality
The myth of the bridge snipers, Kaitlyn, was formed completely by the few New Orleans’ cops. At least those who did not leave their post or get busy stealing cadillacs.
Check the link, Kaitlyn. Turns out the so-called snipers were but a mentally retarded individual who had no gun.
Sad, Kaitlyn. Do not allow your teachers to perpetuate this myth.
November 25, 2005 Another Katrina Media Myth Bites The Bullet Yesterday's Los Angeles Times reports that another myth of the Katrina hurrican and its aftermath has been exposed. The infamous "snipers on the bridge" incident that supposedly kept relief contractors from rescuing helpless victims turns out to have been a media-fueled urban legend, according to witnesses. The "five or six" snipers taken out by the police department turns out to be two, and one of those was a mentally-handicapped man whose only venture out of his house in years apparently came out of desperation for food: Even in the desperate days after Hurricane Katrina, the news flash seemed particularly sensational: Police had caught eight snipers on a bridge shooting at relief contractors. In the gun battle that followed, officers shot to death five or six of the marauders. Exhausted and emotionally drained police cheered the news that their comrades had stopped the snipers and suffered no losses, said an account in the New Orleans Times-Picayune. One officer said the incident showed the department's resolve to take back the streets. |
First Katrina/Kaitlyn post-the Beginning-9/6/05
9/7/05-Hurricane Folklore/Wisdom and Nastiness
9/12/05-Hillary's "Katrina Kommission" and the Debacle of the Debit cards
9/14/05-FEMA Email; Dumb, blond Louisiana Senators
9/15/05-Ophelia and Grandmother
9/16/05-Katrina and the Helpless Pets
Stop Blaming FEMA-a pictorial explanation
What Will Become of New Orleans?
Katrina Gossip
Katrina Folklore
Nagin,the refinery bill,Character
Cops and Cadillacs
Documenting the Thieves
Blanco and the Dead
Samaritan Helps Evacuees-Murdered!
No comments:
Post a Comment