Friday, September 02, 2005
Breakdown
The news coming out of Louisiana sounds more and more like The Stand. And the worst stories are still unfolding. For example, from the New York Times:
Here's the conclusion I'm coming to from all this: when the big one hits Los Angeles, it would be good if I weren't here. There won't be a warning or evacuation, either, so everyone will be in the city when the shit hits the fan. I think I'm going to buy a helicopter.
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Superintendent P. Edward Compass III of the New Orleans Police Department said, armed thugs have taken control of the secondary makeshift shelter at the convention center. Superintendent Compass said that the thugs repelled eight squads of 11 officers each he had sent to secure the place and that rapes and assaults were occurring unimpeded in the neighboring streets as criminals "preyed upon" passers-by, including stranded tourists.Two kind of incredible video clips. First, Anderson Cooper going apeshit on Louisiana senator Mary Landreiu. Landrieu spends a good deal of time thanking all the politicians who have visited and Cooper flips out:
I have to tell you, there are people here who are very upset and angry, and when they hear politicians thanking one another, it just, you know, it cuts them the wrong way right now, because there was a body on the streets of this town yesterday being eaten by rats because this woman has been laying in the street for 48 hours, and there is not enough facilities to get her up. Do you understand that anger?It sounds like he's seen some things he didn't want to. What really brought home to me the fact that society is collapsing completely over there, though, is this footage of police officers looting a Walmart. You might remember the controversy over the fire truck filled with possibly stolen jeans that was dug up at the World Trade Center. There won't be any confusion about what's going on in this footage; the police are pretty shameless. And what did they get for their efforts? Shoes. Shoes from Walmart. Shoes you couldn't pay me to wear. Meanwhile the people they're sworn to protect are killing each other all over the city. Unbelievable.
Here's the conclusion I'm coming to from all this: when the big one hits Los Angeles, it would be good if I weren't here. There won't be a warning or evacuation, either, so everyone will be in the city when the shit hits the fan. I think I'm going to buy a helicopter.
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