The Gretna, LA media show

I wasn't going to post any more today. Just let the post of about my sister's birthday stand alone. That was until I saw a CBS interview with the Chief of Police in Gretna, Louisiana. (you can see it on CBS video Turning Away Evacuees" ). It's more exposure on the story, many in the press and bloggers have had for days now.

My first outrage came as I looked at the back drop behind the police chief, single level or small shanty type homes that might give the appearance that Gretna is poor and had nothing to offer. Though I have never been to Gretna, I knew from prior research that this probably wasn't the case. So I went looking with the help of google, Gretna though small, has 3 country clubs and 2 college/universities. It is not poor (outrage 2).

To the Gretna Police Chief:

No water? Seems to me that all those stores that were closed, since your city evacuated, might just have a bunch of bottled water. Yes, breaking into a store is against the law, but law without mercy is tyranny. You could have gotten the water and given it to those you knew were thirsty, you could have gotten the food and given it to the hungry, the sick and the dying.

Even if you could not provide shelter (and I've looked at the map of Gretna, so I find that doubtful) you knew enough about the situation in NOLA to know that those sick, filthy, hungry, thirsty, dying, disparate people would be heading for the bridge. Yes, you had a responsibility to the people of Gretna to protect their lives and property. And they are NOLA residents and tourists and not your responsibility, right?

But what about your responsibility as a human being? These were your brothers and sisters, your fellow Americans, they wanted to escape their hell, they wanted food and water. At the very least you could have given them food and water. I wonder where Jesus would have stood on the bridge that day.

You added to their suffering.

The reason I gave a tip of the hat to State Senator Walter J. Boasso (R) is that he did what you failed to do. You could have used your authority to give aid to those people who were in real need, as Boasso did.

To CBS: Bravo for reporting it, but shame on you for allowing the backdrop, without showing the rest of Gretna.

To Fox's Geraldo and Shepard Smith: Bravo for your reports and pleas to allow these people to walk over the bridge and telling the US what was really happening. It is the confirmation of this story needed to keep it from being the ravings of someone certain Americans and the government can marginalize.