Republicans & Conservatives: Archives

Dawn:
Get real
Everyone got to see the Commander in Chief in INACTION
Yea, there is plenty to blame
You mention the 2004 Exercise — what you neglected to include was that the changes that were identified by that exercise WERE NEVER IMPLEMENTED BECAUSE THE FUNDING WAS CUT
BY WHOM??
GUESS.
SO ONE MORE POINT — WHAT IF THE CHANGES HAD BEEN IMPLEMENTED — WOULD PEOPLE HAVE BEEN BETTER PREPARED? WOULD LIVES HAVE BEEN SAVED?? WOULD THE GOP WHITEHOUSE LOOK GOOD NOW INSTEAD OF IDIOTS??
WE’LL NEVER KNOW, WILL WE
WE ONLY KNOW WHAT HAPPENED BECAUSE THE CHANGES WEREN’T MADE!!.

Bush was not on top of it —
Yet a CG commander was on top of it enough to get his people and equipment to safety and deployed to come in right behind the storm
Didn’t need ANYONE’s OKEYDOKEY to do it, he just DID IT!!
Yet so far I’ve heard alot of rationalization and excuses about how Bushie had to WAIT for the Gov, etc
or that it would require the FED’s to trample on states rights (hmmmm, they havn’t had too much problem doing that recently, why now??)
Anywho,
Both excuses are BS
They were asleep at the wheel and we hit an iceberg
Do you feel safe(r) under Bushie???
Not I

In addressing a specific topic but yet having relevance to a much wider range of topics, this article is the absolute best that I have ever seen on Watchblog.

If there were to be a final summary after which there would be no further discussions on Katrina or, made a reader do a self examination of his or her own feelings, this would be the article.

Well, well everyone. Back again. The internet connection here was blasted, but we’re back in black now.

I have a friend that is down on the coast…the Mississippi Gulf Coast…not New Orleans. Yeah, the Gulf Coast that everyone seems to have forgotten. THAT Gulf Coast. He just emailed me today and I got this…

WELCOME TO MISSISSIPPI

O.K. I’ll make an attempt to tell what’s going on down here right now. It’s hard to do for several reasons. First, because there is so much , it’s hard to talk about. Let’s try to focus on the positive.

You’re right to be sick about New Orleans. They’ve turned into a bunch of animals over there. The idiots are shooting at the people who
are trying to help them???? I think for the most part it’s due to the frustration caused by the lack of response by their State Government….I mean, an SOS call? Give me a break.

Everybody is so focused on what’s going on in the Superdome, the Mississippi story is going un-reported.

It’s one of the bright things that are happening here now. We are NOT leaving our people to wallow and starve in their own filth ,and the cadavers of loved ones. Were finding the live ones and getting them north as fast a possible. Most of the hundreds showing up here have at least had a meal, and a bath.

Haley Barbour the Governor and his administration will come out as true heroes in this disaster once the total story is told. The
differences between the Louisiana and Mississippi responses are truly startling.
Haley and MEMA had already had Mississippi declared disaster areas TWO DAYS before Katrina hit……What does that mean? A lot……..

It means we had a two day head start on recovery. It means we had pre-positioned response teams…FULLY EQUIPPED ! It means we
already had supplies being loaded on trucks to go to the coast while the hurricane was still going on. It means Federal representatives from
FEMA were already IN State when it hit. Which means somebody on the Satellite Phone moving troops and aid our way while Louisiana was still trying to get …….. .
……. .

We have been dealing with looters a little differently on the coast. Once you shoot a few and leave their bodies laying in front of the
store with their arms full of booty, the rest get the idea pretty quickly.
Hasn’t been a big problem. In the case of breaking in to get survival supplies…food and water. The police have shot the locks off the
doors and helped take the stuff to distribution points.

School buses to haul refuges to shelters north, an idea Louisiana JUST figured out by the way, have been running shuttle since Wednesday
morning.

They are pouring in here by the hundreds. Red Cross has been doing a GREAT job on setting up relief shelters in our area.

The local Governments have opened all of the convention centers and school auditoriums to them. I know it’s hard to believe, but the
local Friday night Football games have ALL been canceled this week.

Our efforts are going elsewhere this weekend.
My daughter is the editor for the local University newspaper. She asked me what she could do for these folks, and I told her” The main thing they need right now is bottled water”. So she made a few phone calls and set it up with her newspaper and the local T.V. stations….in 24 hours they had collected over 600 gallons. This story is typical and is happening all over this part of the state.

Pulpwood haulers (lumberjacks to you Yankees) who showed up at Interstates and main feeder hi-ways heading south. Started cutting up
the downed trees with their own chainsaws, and loading them up with their hydraulic boom hauling trucks. Opening the way south for our
relief effort…nobody called them….they just showed up and started doing what had to be done.

Welcome to Mississippi

The local churches are jumping in too. Emmanuel Baptist has been cooking and serving three meals a day for 1500 people at the shelter there since Wednesday. Where is the food coming from? Strangers are just showing up at the convention center and dropping it off. Red Cross is providing some of it, but the majority is just showing up….from people who aren’t seeking and never will be recognized.
It’s happening all over the state. again and again.

Welcome to Mississippi.

Our local hotels are full of people here from New Orleans…..most are starting to run out of money, so we have begun collecting for their
hotel bills and providing them with meals at the shelters. Quite a few in town have taken them in to their own homes…knowing they may be there for months. I filled up one guy’s tank at the gas station Tuesday because he only had enough money for a few gallons.

Welcome to Mississippi.

Just stopped and put an antenna on one of our E.O.C. Trucks headed south to Ocean Springs. Their headed down to do a fuel supply run. While here, my daughter came in with another 300 gallons of bottled water, asking where she could store it. I said” How ‘bout the back of this truck?” :)))
This is how it works, over and over and over ………..

Sorry if this E-mail seems a little jumpy, I’ve been adding to it all day. As I get a minute and as thoughts occur to me. Things are happening
all around me, and it’s hard to sort it all out while “in the moment”.
I think that’s the way this story will be told…..later..It’s going to take a while.
It’s going to take a while.

While I’m thinking about it…..(big plug here for Motorola)…

Most of us cry at least once a day. You can’t deal with the hundreds we have coming in here everyday and not be affected. I’ve seen big
bears break down and just fall apart. Mostly blaming themselves for not getting out in time. That choice cost him a wife, child or in some
cases both. They all usually say the same things. “I didn’t think it would get that bad.” All you can do is listen and try to comfort. Sometimes you see guys just staring into the sunset….not saying anything….but you see those jaw muscles working hard to hold it in.
I had one tell me yesterday “We had to choose,Stay in the attic and drown,or climb on the roof into a 150 mile an hour wind. She was
screaming my name as she flew away.” How do you respond to that?
You don’t…..you just cry with him and listen….

Loose children who don’t know where Mamma or Daddy are, or even if their alive. Ten year olds, trying to be “mama” or “daddy” to a
little sister or brother……it will tear your heart out.
Most also know there is NOTHING to go home to. The house is gone, and in most cases the job too. They show up here with the clothes on their back, and that’s it. It’s all they have left.
It’s hard, just too hard for us……………..you do what you can,but……….

FORGET about Mississippi burning. That was our dark, distant past.
Watch us NOW. This is Mississippi today.
We’ve opened our Homes,Hearts and wallets to strangers in need.
We don’t care if their White, Black, Brown or Polka -dot.
Were going to be O.K., It will take years, but we’re dealing with it.
We will deal with it the way only a true southerner can…one day at a
time.
Were out of gasoline today. All the local stations have run out.

My phones are still acting squirrelly on out of state calls and my cell phone has been a paper weight since Tuesday. But I did sleep in my own bed last night, and took a hot shower this morning. There is food in my house, and I know where all my family is. You take these things
for granted, until their gone…….

Forward as you see fit….

Mark Flemmons
Modern Communications
Cleveland, Mississippi.

Now…let’s see someone politicize that…and see how big of an ass you end up being.

These people have shown American at it’s best

One huge difference. The victims in N.O. were cut off by so many avenues except by air or southern water routes. A situation requiring special transport to get aid in. No politicizing, just a glaring factual difference in rescue scenarios.

You people STILL don’t realize that there was a HUGE states’ rights issue that caused the majority of this debacle. If Bush had moved into LA without the “permission” of the governor then there would be HELL to pay from you libs that it would make this look like a skate. There is NOTHING that the president can do to control the National Guard. That is at the discretion of the state government and the governor more specifically. So Russ get your facts straight, b/c the Red Cross was ready to send in food, water and other supplies to NO at the convention center and the Superdome and were turned back by the state officials. Think that MIGHT have solved about 90% of the problems we’re having?

The Army Corps in LA has received more funding over the last few years than any other state in the union. Including California which has 7 TIMES the population.

Funding was and is NEVER cut…funding is never cut on any projects in government. If you can PROVE that I encourage you to show me. We spend more and more money every year. We may cut the RATE OF INCREASE in spending. That’s the difference. If you think that Bush cut funding for levees, read up on your facts. There was more spent in LA during the last 5 years under Bush than the last 5 years of the Clinton administration. That’s from the Army Corps. numbers folks. Much less, the levees didn’t break and they weren’t “dynamited by Bush cronies” like I’ve heard from some crazies out there. A barge hit it, and that is what they believe broke it. Do I know specifically? No, but that makes more sense than that it would just break…on the north side of the city…away from the brunt of the storm surge and winds and everything else that could have destroyed it. Barges take out river bridges (ala in Oklahoma not 5 years ago I think). I AM an engineer so I know a little bit about structures (since I BUILD bridges for a living).

David you’re right, they were cut off. I would say more completely than what you’re letting on b/c where are those planes gonna land(?), and where are the boats gonna get through the levee walls? Oh wait, that’s right…the levees were broken down by Bush and he flooded NO b/c he hates black people (thanks Kanye West for showing how much of a moron you are).

To clarify also…when I said:

There is NOTHING that the president can do to control the National Guard.

The president does not control the national guard until it becomes a part of the active military being used in on a federal basis (eg sending troops to Bosnia).

Robert, you may want to review the authorities granted the President, Chertoff and the Homeland Security Agency as they pertain to national disasters like 9/11 or Katrina. State’s rights may not be the obstacle you think they were.

David, in this matter…they are. Why do we not hear of the problems in Mississippi or Alabama. Both states received just as much (or more in the case of Miss.) damage than LA. But they didn’t have any problems. Why? The governors of both of those states declared a state of emergency and requested federal disaster relief BEFORE the storm hit. That’s what you’re supposed to do when you KNOW something’s coming. When it’s a total surprise (which I think 4 days notice isn’t that much of a surprise) then things might have some “stumble time” to get things running. But, the governor of LA didn’t declare a disaster area or state of emergency (can’t remember which) that would pass control of the relief effort to the federal govt. Each state has it’s OWN H.S. office and officials. They run things differently than the federal H.S. dept. so Chertoff couldn’t take control of anything until the governor ceded power to them.

By the way…would your “vote the in guy out” apply to Nagin, Blanco, and Landrieu?

Speaking of Landrieu (who to this point hasn’t been a figure of much controversy), she doesn’t deserve SOME of the blame as well? I mean if we’re talking about funding…something that people don’t realize is…Bush can’t to ANYTHING about funding with out Congress’ say so. So where were the appropriations from congress? NOT blaming Landrieu specifically for the funding either…but she should have grabbed someone’s ear over the years and said “hey we need more money in LA or we’re gonna be reclaimed into the ocean someday”. I’m not gonna get on her case for the “punch the president” comment b/c that’s rediculous. I’m actually ashamed at the way some people are reacting to that, but it was said in the “heat of battle” and she wasn’t talking ONLY about the president. Not giving her a pass though…she shouldn’t have said it!! I just think that there’s a LOT of blame to go around…and some people are catching WAY too much of the ire of the media, but if you want to act like congress and Pelosi and Reid and Frist and Hastert were all “innocent bystanders” to all this…that’s BS. They are the ones who provide the money…not Bush.

Jim T,
Thanks for sharing that e-mail. It shows what can happen when state governors are up on what’s happening and care enough to take the steps needed BEFORE a disaster hits, insted of waiting until AFTER then crying because help isn’t coming fast enough.
It also shows the spirit of the people in the TRUE South.
I have 4 employees in Mississippi helping somewhere on the Gulf coast but so far I haven’t been able to communicate with them. So this is about the only news I’ve gotten from there.

this is not about whether you are a democrat or a republican any longer - this is about whether christians, regardless of political affiliation, believe that mr bush is a christian man - do his actions reflect the teachings of jesus? - christian republicans of conscience are going to have to decide which comes first, their politics or their faith …

My country tis of Thee
Sweet land of liberty

My country,’ tis of thee,
sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing;
land where my fathers died,
land of the pilgrims’ pride,
from every mountainside let freedom ring!

My native country, thee,
land of the noble free, thy name I love;
I love thy rocks and rills,
thy woods and templed hills;
my heart with rapture thrills, like that above.

Let music swell the breeze,
and ring from all the trees sweet freedom’s song;
let mortal tongues awake;
let all that breathe partake;
let rocks their silence break, the sound prolong.

Our fathers’ God, to thee,
author of liberty, to thee we sing;
long may our land be bright
with freedom’s holy light;
protect us by thy might, great God, our King.

Just a reminder to everyone with any political prefrences. YOU CAN NOT PUT THE BLAME OF THIS CATASTROPHE ON ONE MAN!!! If hurricane Katrina has taught us anything it’s that ignorance runs rampant in politics at the local level. NO the presidents response wasn’t the swift move we all had envisioned, how could it be our reserve troops were already in assignments in Iraq. Don’t everyone get brand new with their thinking now!! Our Homeland security from terrorist or Natural attacks is not efficient because GUESS WHAT?? There are not enough reserves to assist us here at home (that is above ground, we have tons below). So this leads to the one thing that EVERYONE NEEDS TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT. Start holding your individual (that means your local ellections) more seriously otherwise will have nothing but PWM leading this country straight into the ground

Russ,
There was more money sent to NO and LA for the levee problem during Bush than in the years of the previous administration.
(Don’t want to mention names because alot of people want to keep on pretending that life began when Bush took office.)

Steve,
Thanks.

I haven’t heard much about the issue of global warming lately, certainly not from Mr. Bush.

Bush and his oil company buddies choose to point to a few fringe “scientists” who say there is still a debate about global warming. There isn’t. In the mean time, the issue of melting ice caps, rising sea levels, and coastal flooding will only get worse. Where will the next major flood be? How many will be killed? Is anybody starting to understand that levees are not the answer???

If Bush had vision (he doesn’t), he would encourage research and subsidies for alternatives to fossil fuel. Instead, his energy policy gives huge subsidies and to oil, gas, and timber companies.

Global warming.
I would like to know your opinion on this issue before Bush was elected.
If you think the hurricanes are a result of Global Warming the years before Bush came into office need to be considered also.
Curious…do you drive a car - on roads? use a mower that uses gasoline? live in a stick-built house? use an air conditioner? lights? electricity?
We are all responsible -
Those who blame Global Warming need to educate the average person more on how to conserve. Blaming everything on our President may be where they go wrong. Most people understand that the President - though he sets policies - is not responsible for everything.
That goes for Katrina also. There is a chain of command in government. If Bush had shoved the politicians of LA out of the way sooner and taken over the state - it would just be another thing to have bashed him about. Some would have claimed he did it because they are Democrats and the Republicans even wanted to control that.
What Congress did to FEMA needs to be addressed. It became wrapped in red tape and more people than the president can be thanked for that.
We can’t forget the government lawyers who have helped make the wrong decisions because of legal issues over the years -

I have to say that I am extremely bothered by quite a bit of Mark Flemmons’ report from Mississippi, not the least is his boast that they are gleefully shooting the looters and leaving their carcasses as warnings to anyone else who might have the same plan of action. I hope and pray this is not actually happening! Looting is not an offense that is ever punishable by the death penalty, especially if the punishment is to be handed down by self-appointed militia men.

The punishment Mr. Flemmons describes with obvious relish is nothing more than a murderous lynching. Mr. Flemmons would not be very effective on Mississippi’s Chamber of Commerce. Hopefully, his voice of no reason is not representative of others in his state.

It takes only thoughtless words such as Mr. Flemmons’ to conjur up all the shameful ghosts of the South, which may have been away for awhile but are certainly not forgotten.

Welcome to Mississippi indeed!

Response to Dawn:

Thank you for asking some good questions. I have been a member of the Sierra Club for at least 20 years, and have watched in horror as our environment has been ignored and abused, so Exxon-Mobil can reap record profits. I usually take mass transit (wish there was more available), drive a fuel-efficient car (the government should mandate tougher fuel economy standards), have allowed part of my property to grow trees, and I mow the rest with an electric mower. I use compact fluorescent bulbs, Energy Star appliances, yada, yada… I consistently vote for the best environmental candidate.

The problem with Bush is that he has ignored the huge number of scientists and research that show a very high correlation between burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and global warming. He places coal, and timber industry lobbyists in federal agencies like the EPA that are supposed to monitor them. And he has largely turned his back on alternative energy sources and conservation measures that can help prevent global warming. It is his short-sighted energy policies that steer this country, both domestically and overseas. I don’t blame him for everything, but I blame him for a lot.

My point is that we need to do everything we can now to reduce global warming. There are many largely populated cities close to sea level. Where will the next massive floods be? Miami? New York? What about coastal cities around the rest of the world.

To enhance your knowledge: Reality Check

Mike,

Our problems? Why they will not be solved?
Our leaders all needed money from someone to get where they are resulting in them having to pay back in some way the people who funded their campaigns.
All democrats are not funded by Environmental groups.
Environmental groups do not keep the economy running and are seen as obstacles.
Why? Because most of the time they are holding positions that appear to put a chokehold on businesses that keep our country running.
Maybe the majority of Environmentalists can afford $3.00+/gallon gasoline but those who ‘service’ our country can not. (low income jobs )
The building of refineries was stopped due to environmental reasons - this while a noble reason has created a supply and demand problem.
Now the refineries want government money to build because it is so much more expensive to do so than it was 20 or 30 years ago. Not cost effective for them.
Maybe the environmental lobbyists should have been parked in the CEO offices of GM, Ford, etc. getting them to find ways to use alternative fuels and raise the mileage standards on their vehicles.
I had a thread a while back about how the engineers at places like GM and Ford probably already know how to make our vehicles get double the gas mileage. People told me it couldn’t be done because of the weights of the vehicles - now all of a sudden they are coming out with ‘smarter’ vehicles that shut down cylinders that are not needed to get better gas mileage? Amazing? Not. I said there must be a way to alter the fuel injection or something. I guess I am smarter than I thought - ha ha. I was told by many it couldn’t be done.

Bush cannot be blamed for the diminishing wetlands that protected New Orleans from storm surges. The people directly in charge of that region had that responsibility. They sat on their hands, fingers crossed, knowing they needed to do something, praying a Katrina would not come. What happened there over the years cannot be blamed on Republicans and Bush.

It is nice to hear from someone who is not on the ‘Blame Bush for everything’ band wagon.

Jim T.

I got the same letter. Well, not quite the same. I thought it was the same until I started reading it again — it’s that good.

In fact, the one you sent is a little different.
The one you sent contains what appears to me to be “finger pointing” at Louisiana, including this …

“The differences between the Louisiana and Mississippi responses are truly startling.
Haley and MEMA had already had Mississippi declared disaster areas TWO
DAYS before Katrina hit……What does that mean? A lot….”

But the one I got said,

“Like Governor Blanco in Louisiana, Haley and MEMA had already had Mississippi declared a disaster area TWO DAYS before Katrina hit……What did that mean for Mississippi? A lot….”

In short, the letter you sent me appears to have been EDITED by someone to give the impression that the governor of Louisiana delayed in declaring an emergency — which is untrue. This was a “talking point” distributed by some anonymous Homeland Security Source very early — and subsequently debunked. In fact, Governor Blanco sent a letter to the President requesting federal assistance on SATURDAY, AUGUST 27. Here are the links.

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/week_2005_09_04.php#006412

http://www.newschannel6.tv/news/default.asp?mode=shownews&id=8601

It’s hard to say which version is genuine, but the evidence suggests it is the one I got. Why? The one I received is somewhat critical of FEMA on the one hand, but is very supportive of Mississippi’s governor Barbour — a Republican. In other words, it is “non-partisan” in its praise, and its assessment. The one you received appears to have been reworked to praise Republicans and blame Democrats. Since Mr. Flemmons strikes me as being a regular guy, helping out where he can — and not some partisan hack — I tend to the think that the version I received is the “real McCoy.” It also suggests that Republican operatives are stooping pretty low, editing some guy’s account to twist the facts.

Here is the one I received, in case your interested.

Mark Flemmons works for Modern Communications in Cleveland, MS .
This is the story from his
eyes. ( a little long but well worth the read). Makes you appreciate
what you have!

WELCOME TO MISSISSIPPI

O.K. I’ll make an attempt to tell what’s going on down here right now.
It’s hard to do for several reasons. First, because there is so much ,
it’s hard to talk about. Let’s try to focus on the positive.

Everybody is so focused on what’s going on in the Superdome, the
Mississippi story is going un-reported. It’s one of the bright things
that are happening here now. We were NOT subjected to the slow federal response that left Louisianans to wallow and
starve in their own filth, and the cadavers of loved ones. Most of the
hundreds showing up here have at least had a meal, and a bath. Many have already returned to their homes and the task of rebuilding.

Haley Barbour the Governor and his administration will probably be portrayed as true
heroes in this disaster, but the differences
between the Louisiana and Mississippi responses are truly startling.
Like Blanco in Louisiana, Haley and MEMA had already had Mississippi declared disaster areas TWO
DAYS before Katrina hit……What did that mean for Mississippi? A lot….

It means we had a two day head start on recovery. It means we had
pre-positioned response teams…FULLY EQUIPPED ! It means we already had
supplies being loaded on trucks to go to the coast while the hurricane
was still going on. It means Federal representatives from FEMA were
already IN State when it hit. Which means somebody on the Satellite
Phone moving troops and aid our way while Louisiana was still trying to
get the FEMA to respond at all.

It’s amazing how fortunate we were to have such a coordinated and well organized response from FEMA compared to what happened in Louisiana. We are truly fortunate and grateful to everyone.

Unfortunately, we’ve had our fair share of violence. Bodies laying outside storefronts,
stripped of the life saving supplies they’d attempted to obtain for their loved ones are a testament to the darker nature of some during a crisis.
Fortunately, in many areas, the police have shot the locks off the doors
and helped take survival supplies to distribution points.

Though we have far fewer displaced citizens, the ones we do have are being hauled north in school buses to shelters. My heart goes out to the victims in Louisiana. If only school buses could have been allowed into New Orleans, I’m sure most of those Americans could have been quickly evacuated as well.

They are pouring in here by the hundreds. Red Cross has been doing a
GREAT job on setting up relief shelters in OUR area.

The local Governments have opened all of the convention centers and
school auditoriums to them. I know it’s hard to believe, but the local
Friday night Football games have ALL been canceled this week. Our
efforts are going elsewhere this weekend.

My daughter is the editor for the local University newspaper. She asked
me what she could do for these folks, and I told her “The main thing
they need right now is bottled water.” So she made a few phone calls and
set it up with her newspaper and the local TV stations… in 24 hours
they had collected over 600 gallons. This story is typical and is
happening wherever phone lines and electricity are still available.

Pulpwood haulers (lumberjacks to you Yankees) who showed up at
Interstates and main feeder hi-ways heading south. Started cutting up
the downed trees with their own chainsaws, and loading them up with
their hydraulic boom hauling trucks. Opening the way south for our
relief effort…nobody called them….they just showed up and started
doing what had to be done. They told us FEMA hadn’t let them into Louisiana so they came here to be useful. Welcome to Mississippi.

The local churches are jumping in too. Emmanuel Baptist has been cooking
and serving three meals a day for 1500 people at the shelter there since
Wednesday. Where is the food coming from? Strangers are just showing up
at the convention center and dropping it off. Red Cross is providing
some of it, but the majority is just showing up…from people who aren’t
seeking and never will be recognized. They’re coming from all over the country.
again and again. God Bless America!

Our local hotels are full of people here from New Orleans…most are
starting to run out of money, since the hotels don’t seem able to discount their stay during this emergency, so we have begun collecting for their
hotel bills and providing them with meals at the shelters. Quite a few
in town have taken them in to their own homes… knowing they may be
there for months. I filled up one guy’s tank at the gas station Tuesday
because he only had enough money for a few gallons. The price of gas!

Just stopped and put an antenna on one of our EOC trucks headed south to
Ocean Springs. They’re headed down to do a fuel supply run. While here,
my daughter came in with another 300 gallons of bottled water, asking
where she could store it. I said “How ‘bout the back of this truck?”
)) This is how it works, over and over and over.

Sorry if this E-mail seems a little jumpy, I’ve been adding to it all
day. As I get a minute and as thoughts occur to me. Things are happening
all around me, and it’s hard to sort it all out while “in the moment.” I
think that’s the way this story will be told…later. It’s going to
take a while.

While I’m thinking about it…..BIG thank you to Motorola. I’m almost as
proud of being a Motorolan as I am a Mississippian. I know, I’m biased You guys may not
know about it yet, but Motorola has put on a Herculean support effort. I
was involved on the fringes for a while, but the effort to send radios
and infrastructure has been nothing short of phenomenal! My guys on the
coast called with a SEVERE need for repeaters and W.T’s. They had a few
towers and antennas still standing, but the repeaters were in about
three feet of water. Nothing compared to what they were enduring in New Orleans, I know, but it still goes to show how fortunate we were to get such a great response in Mississippi. I figured they’d be too busy in Louisiana, but no, after a few phone calls around the campus (now that I think about it, it was probably because we still had phones) there in
Schaumburg, I was given the Bridge call number for the emergency request
line. Made a call back to my guys and passed it on. I’ll be sheep dipped
if Motorola didn’t have equipment THERE the NEXT DAY!!!!!! Thank God for the phones!!

Mississippians have loooong memories. This one will NOT be forgotten.
Anybody see Jim Geary up there….kiss him for me. Lord knows I
won’t.)) And anybody else that you know was involved in Motorola’s
support effort. Tell them Mississippi gives a heartfelt “God Bless You.” now get those lines up in Louisiana!

Most of us cry at least once a day. You can’t deal with the hundreds we
have coming in here everyday and not be affected. I’ve seen big bears
break down and just fall apart. It breaks my heart, some are so poor, they had no transportation and leaving wasn’t an option. Others too old to get their husbands or wives out of the home. Some are even blaming themselves for not
getting out in time. Their situations cost them a mate or a child or in some cases
both. They all usually say the same things. “I didn’t have any way to get out. You can’t outwalk a storm!” All you can do is listen and try to comfort. Sometimes you
see guys just staring into the sunset…not saying anything….but you
see those jaw muscles working hard to hold it in. I had one tell me
yesterday “We had to choose, stay in the attic and drown, or climb on
the roof into a 150 mile an hour wind. She was screaming my name as she
flew away.” How do you respond to that? You don’t…..you just cry with
him and listen…

Loose children who don’t know where Mamma or Daddy are, or even if their
alive. Ten year olds, trying to be “mama” or “daddy” to a little sister
or brother…it will tear your heart out.

Most also know there is NOTHING to go home to. The house is gone, and in
most cases the job too. They show up here with the clothes on their
back, and that’s it. It’s all they have left. It’s hard, just too hard
for words…you do what you can, but it’s never enough. There’s only so much simple citizens can do. It takes a Society that cares…

I try not to think about Mississippi burning. I tell myself that was our dark, distant past. Though I can’t help but look at the difference between the response in Mississippi and Louisiana and wonder. But I’m also proud of Mississippi today. So many have opened their homes, hearts and
wallets to strangers in need. THEY don’t care if they’re white, black, brown
or polka-dot. Were going to be OK. It will take years, but we’re
dealing with it. We will deal with it the only way anyone can…one day at a time. Were out of gasoline today. All the local
stations have run out.

My phones are still acting squirrelly on out of state calls and my cell
phone has been a paper weight since Tuesday. But I did sleep in my own
bed last night, and took a hot shower this morning. There is food in my
house, and I know where all my family is. You take these things for
granted, until they’re gone…

Lucky to have been in Mississippi,

Mark Flemmons
Modern Communications
Cleveland, Mississippi