Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 16, APRIL 27, 2009, THE ISLANDER
It couldn’t happen
here; Could it?
I was always amazed at the idiots
who found fault with President George
W. Bush for Hurricane Katrina.
Sure, mistakes were made, but
the vitriol leveled at former President
Bush was, well... it was almost like the
storm itself was his fault, and not an
act of nature.
Here's the thing... while Katrina is
believed to be the third strongest storm
ever to hit the U.S., what acerbated
the situation was the levees that failed
around New Orleans causing all the
flooding.
And guess what... the levees are
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and
Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco's
responsibility, although there are sev
eral issues that are difficult to pin on
Louisiana's elected officials.
For instance, the levee's were
designed for a Category 3 storm, not a
Cat 4 like Katrina.
In addition it has been reported
on the internet that "The failure of
the levees was due to system design
flaws for the most part, combined with
the lack of adequate maintenance.
Apparently, the designers, builders
and maintenance people did not devote
enough time or attention to the levees
in the region."
At least part of that is the mayor's
and governor's fault.
But, there is another terrifying
aspect of Hurricane Katrina that did
not get much exposure in the national
media and is documented in a shocking
book called "The Great New Orleans
Gun Grab: Descent Into Anarchy" by
Gordon Hutchinson and Todd Masson.
In brief, the book details how, as the
city filled with water and drowned, the
citizens descended into mass hyste
ria and anarchy. It explains how law
abiding citizens were targeted by law
enforcement agencies, while looters
and thieves seemed to run rampant.
According to the blurb on the back
of the book, "Within horn’s (the city)
became a place that would reveal to
Americans whether their Constitution
had any more value than the frayed,
fragile, brown parchment on which it
is written."
"As looters and thugs took over, the
city's leaders turned their crosshairs
and iron sights toward the lawful, gun-
toting citizens who sought nothing
more than to defend themselves from
the marauding hordes. In what proved
to be the greatest real life test case of
the Second Amendment in American
history, America failed miserably," say
the authors.
"The 'Great New Orleans Gun Grab'
tells the story of New Orleans residents
who legally defied mandatory evacu
ation orders to protect their property,
and who were subsequently beaten,
harassed and robbed of their guns by
the very civil authority that was fund
ed and charged to protect them."
The book opens with some very pow
erful and thought provoking quotes.
Such as Communist Party of China
Chairman Mao Zedong's, "Power comes
from the barrel of a gun."
And British historian Lord Acton's
comment that, "Power tends to corrupt;
absolute power corrupts absolutely."
This book clearly shows that power
does come from the barrel of a gun and
that those with the power can eas
ily become corrupted. And if you take
guns away from law abiding citizens,
they truly have no way to defend and
protect themselves.
One of the more eye opening sto
ries was of 58 year old Patricia Konie,
one of the New Orleans residents who
stayed to protect her property.
It should be noted that a 'mandatory
evacuation' has no hold in law. No law
gives authorities the right to force a
law abiding citizen out of their home.
Mandatory evacuation is simply a
term so authorities can cover their
butts from a liability stand point. This
is still America and you own what you
own and no one, not politicians or law
enforcement can take it away without
due process.
But they did so to Patricia Konie,
who had survived Hurricanes Betsy
(1965) and Camille (1969), and not
before roughing her up.
On September 7, 2005, after fend
ing for herself in the storm ravaged
city for a week and a half, three Cali
fornia Highway Patrol officers and a
Louisiana State Trooper, along with
a reporter and cameraman, knocked
loudly on Konie's door.
They said they wanted to make sure
she had enough food and water.
Once they determined she had
enough supplies, they asked her what
she was going to do if looters came by
her house.
She said she had a gun and showed
it to them.
What she had was a small caliber,
1905 pistol for which she did not have
ammo.
As soon as the officers saw it lying
flat in the palm of her hand, barrel
pointed to the side, her finger no where
near the trigger, they kicked her door
the rest of the way open, knocking it
partially off the hinges, and cornered
her between her kitchen table and the
cabinets as she told them to get out of
her house.
Instead of leaving, one of the offi
cers, the size of a linebacker, grabbed
her arm, remember this is a 58 year old
woman, and slammed her against the
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