If Wal-Mart Ran FEMA…

By: Mr. Wilson on September 6, 2005
Jerrson Parish President Aaron Broussard on Sunday's Meet the Press:
Let me give you just three quick examples. We had Wal-Mart deliver three trucks of water, trailer trucks of water. FEMA turned them back. They said we didn't need them. This was a week ago. FEMA--we had 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel on a Coast Guard vessel docked in my parish. The Coast Guard said, "Come get the fuel right away." When we got there with our trucks, they got a word. "FEMA says don't give you the fuel." Yesterday--yesterday--FEMA comes in and cuts all of our emergency communication lines. They cut them without notice. Our sheriff, Harry Lee, goes back in, he reconnects the line. He posts armed guards on our line and says, "No one is getting near these lines." Sheriff Harry Lee said that if America--American government would have responded like Wal-Mart has responded, we wouldn't be in this crisis. [Emphasis added]
That Sheriff Harry Lee is a smart man. The same is actually true for a lot of companies and private organizations, including the Red Cross and Salvation Army. What saddens me is that the American taxpayer will learn the exact opposite of what this lesson ought to teach, begging to have more tax dollars thrown into the abyss of promised government "solutions" and getting little to nothing in return. Never mind that this is the same government that caused or exacerbated a whole host of deadly problems in Katrina's wake. It's like putting Homer Simpson in charge of the power plant under the assumption that since he caused the nuclear meltdown, he surely must have the ability to halt the damage, or at least to prevent a similar meltdown in the future.

Comments

See what your friends and neighbors have to say about this.

Mr. T
September 7, 2005 at 1:30AM

The big hit is going to come when they finally tally the body count on this catastrophe.

Steve
September 7, 2005 at 5:22AM

Oy!  I’m afraid the death toll is going to be far higher than anyone estimated. 

I don’t know, well, yes, I do, what’s up with FEMA.  They turned away water from Wal-Mart.  They told Alaska Airlines to take a hike.  They cut phones lines.  When you put your campaign manager’s old roommate, who got fired by the International Arabian Horse Association, in charge of disaster relief you’re asking for trouble.

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