A case of 'compassion fatigue'
From
MS/NBC Newsweek:
Katrina's Latest Damage
Crime is up. Schools are overcrowded. Hospitals are jammed. Houston welcomed a flood of hurricane evacuees with open arms. But now the city is suffering from a case of 'compassion fatigue.'
In the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, Houston earned a loving moniker among many of the evacuees who sought refuge there: the Big Heart. This, after all, was the city that housed, fed and mended more than 150,000 survivors in a herculean effort that won national acclaim. Houston officials mounted what is believed to be the biggest shelter operation in the country's history, including MASH-like megaclinics that took on problems ranging from emergency care to eyeglass prescriptions. Then, just as quickly, officials disbanded those facilities to usher evacuees into more-permanent housing, offering them generous vouchers that covered rent and utilities for a year. "No other city really provided the resources and assistance Houston has," says Angelo Edwards, vice chair of the ACORN Katrina Survivors Association. "If not for Mayor [Bill] White and his administration, a lot of us would've been lost."
Emphasis on ACORN mine -- this is an organization that is deeply linked with shakedown artist Jesse Jackson. Not the people you want speaking for a diverse group of people, these are people with a specific agenda -- handouts and welfare.
Two more quotes from the article:
"We extended an open hand to all kinds of people," says Councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs. "If they want to return home, it's their right." And if they want to stay, she adds, they "need to stand up, get on their feet and get jobs."
And
Of 189 murders in the six months after the hurricane, 33 involved Katrina evacuees as either suspects or victims, according to Police Chief Harold Hurtt. Initially, the killings resulted from clashes among rival New Orleans gangs, says Hurtt. More recently, they've stemmed from robberies or narcotics, he says. Many cops are struck by the brazenness of the evacuees. "It seems like the face of crime has changed in Houston," said Officer Brandon Brown one night last week as he patrolled the sketchy Fondren area of the city, where many of the arrivals have settled. "It's more tense, more violent."
Stories like this really show the difference between red-state and blue-state citizens. We only need to look back to
this post from two days ago to see the difference. Here I am linking to
Mostly Cajun who writes:
The truth of the matter is that Katrina only side-swiped New Orleans. MISSISSIPPI took the BIG HIT! You won’t see it on the mainstream media because the governor of Mississippi is a Republican and he’s not into Bush-bashing, and the people of the Mississippi coast are like the people of southwest Louisiana and southeast Texas after Katrina: They got back to ruins and started sorting out their lives without resorting to rape and pillage.
Not one more cent -- let them get jobs and earn their own cash.
Posted by DaveH at March 5, 2006 8:11 PM