Someone's Rant from my InBox:
Welcome to the land of the free. Free to come and go as you please. Free to board up windows, free to ignore weather warnings, free to stand on the side of the road out of town with your thumb out begging for a ride, free to take your gasless car to a gas station and beg for gas, free to wait for someone else to come save your ass, free to sit on that ass and pray to god for help. What ever happened to "[insert your favorite deity here] helps those who help themselves."
Here again, in times of strife, the question on everyone's mind becomes: "Who is to blame?" Well I know the answer.. I blame NOAA for not calling you personally to tell you a HUGE hurricane is coming to your house and to leave the area. I blame the Red Cross for not setting up a five star resort outside the predicted hurricane path 3 days before it hit and for not shuttling you there on a charter bus. I blame the mayor for not sending a limo to pick up your poor ass to get you out of town. I blame ! your mother for not smacking you upside the head more often as a child to knock more sense into you, and you for not smacking your stubborn mother when she said she wanted to stay.
I believe it's President [insert whomever you like here: Bush, Clinton, Reagan, Lincoln, Washington.whatever.]'s fault for making you live below sea level in a geographic region prone to hurricanes. It's his fault you are poor, have 5 kids and no spouse, car, gas, food, water, scuba gear or gold chains around your neck. It's his fault your welfare check can't afford you an Escalade (or in this case a Zodiac with a 15HP Johnson outboard to get your soaking wet ass off your tin roof). [At least the numbskulls in the tornado belt have the common sense to build tornado proof basements to hide in. Oh wait. trailer parks. never mind.]
The people of this nation are becoming weaker and weaker- always looking for someone else to blame for their own predicament. It is always someone else's fault. I'm tired of people using socio-economic or "poor" as an excuse. "I can't feed my family 'cause I'm poor. I can't get a job 'cause I'm poor. I can't get an education 'cause I'm poor. I can't [whatever] 'cause I'm poor." I grew up poor and busted my ass to not be poor. This country gave me the freedom to do just that. I know that 99% of poor people are poor because they are just plain lazy. "Poor" is a choice, not an excuse.
What has happened to this area and the people in it is a tragedy. We as a country should do what is reasonable to help them. But before you go placing blame and pointing fingers at anyone else, point the finger at yourself (especially those of you waist deep in water) and ask yourself if you personally did everything you could to prevent your situation! |
