Over 4,000 Sex Offenders in New Orleans?
I was watching the news on CNN last night before going to bed and there was this program called 360. The focus of the news article was on registered sex offenders in New Orleans and where were they? They don't know where they are!
When the storm loomed on the horizon, N.O. emptied the jails and literally turned the scum of the earth on the poor, and yes, black, displaced Americans. Is it no wonder a sector of the population acted the way they did when herded into the Superdome and Convention Center.
I watched as they made some analysis of who came or attempted to come to the rescue of these mostly black, poor displaced Americans. They were mostly white Americans and how were they greeted? Gunshots! Looting!
How or why should we have expected anything different when a large sector of these people had been released from jails and turned on the innocents in the Queen City with no restaints or fear of retribution.
Granted help should have come sooner! Mayor Nagin should have bussed most of these people out of N.O. But unfortunately, this plan was only on paper. He made no provisions for drivers of the scores of buses available. I like President Bush taking the blame. The first thought was FDR's motto, "The Buck Stops Here!"
I just wish all the locals from N.O. and the Governor acted like the mayors and governers of Mississippi and Alabama. They took control immediately and they were in the thick of things from the get go! Let the chips fall where they may, but responsiblity begins are the lowest level up. The mind set of blaming Washington is just plain wrong!
My motto is "Make a decision and act on it". It is easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission. But that is Me.
Actually, that was the incomparable Harry S. Truman. The Truman Library site has a picture of the sign that sat on his desk here, and provides the following history:
The sign "The Buck Stops Here" that was on President Truman's desk in his White House office was made in the Federal Reformatory at El Reno, Oklahoma. Fred M. Canfil, then United States Marshal for the Western District of Missouri and a friend of Mr. Truman, saw a similar sign while visiting the Reformatory and asked the Warden if a sign like it could be made for President Truman. The sign was made and mailed to President on October 2, 1945. Approximately 2-1/2" x 13" in size and mounted on walnut base, the painted glass sign has the words "I'm From Missouri" on the reverse side. It appeared at different times on his desk until late in his administration.
We stopped at the Truman Library when I was a boy, intending to wave at him as he walked to his office. He walked from his home, which we drove by very respectfully several times, to the library nearly every day. However, a waitress at one of the local cafés reported that he was home with a cold that day. That's how the news was handled back then.
The freeing of the criminal element makes a lot of sense when you look back on the peculiar events following Katrina. I think the governors and mayors of Mississippi and Alabama were able to take control not only because they are good people, but because there was a system in place to fall back on. The only system in New Orleans seems to have been habit. Once things changed, everything fell apart.
Thanks for a wonderful post. By the way, look for your motto on the front page of my site in the future.
