...   
      
    LL>>> Folks who lived in the Lower 9th Ward were mostly renters.   
      
   BK>>Which is not untypical for the poor.   
      
    LL> It has been 8 years since Katrina hit New Orleans.  And   
    LL> many people who were displaced have never been able to   
    LL> return to their homes or former neighborhoods.   
      
    Many were shut out by guards such as Blackwater.   
      
    LL>>> They had evacuated prior to Katrina hitting New Orleans, but   
    LL>>> were unable to return due to the levees breaking leaving the   
      
   BK>>They were also barred from returning by security people.   
      
    LL> Not only were residents of New Orleans barred from   
    LL> returning home, but so were others (such as family and   
    LL> relatives) who were outside the city.  Sure, cleanup was a   
    LL> mess.  But access should have been granted sooner, and for   
    LL> more people.   
      
    Yep. But that would have let people actually keep their homes.   
      
   BK>>From what I have read, Blackwater was guarding the former 9th ward.   
   BK>>You can find that easily enough.   
      
    LL> Private contractors were used, but so was the National   
    LL> Guard.   
      
    The National Guard has to keep records of what they do. Private   
    contractors may just keep payroll records. Plus reimbursment for   
    bullets. Or maybe they had to buy their own.   
      
    LL>>> entire area flooded.  Yes, most of them worked, although at   
    LL>>> low-paying jobs, hardly enough to live on much less raise a   
    LL>>> family.   
      
   BK>>Exactly.   
      
    LL> That is the way it is in every major American city.   
    LL> Right-wingers like to blame it on blacks, pointing to   
    LL> cities such as New Orleans and Detroit, but the poor   
    LL> (regardless of race) live everywhere.   
      
    Yep, and the suburbs are the growing area for poverty.   
      
    ...   
      
   BK>>Aristotal taught that the poor will do what they need to survive,   
   BK>>the rich will do anything to get richer, only the middle class   
   BK>>provides stability.   
      
    LL> Aristotle was a very smart man, but he never imagined how   
    LL> it could be humanly possible to solve the problem.   
    LL> However, today we are gods and have solved the problem -   
      
    LL> With the number of poor we have in this country, it is   
    LL> necessary to have government programs (handouts).  Food   
    LL> stamps, free cellphones, subsidized housing, SSI/medicaid,   
    LL> etc.  If there were no subsidies, the people would riot and   
    LL> revolt.   
      
    Well, the republicans are working to make that happen.   
      
    LL>>> You can find bad people in every neighborhood.   
    LL>>> Right-wingers like to point out that Rev. Martin Luther   
    LL>>> King was a troublemaker, a black man who spoke for a   
    LL>>> violent people, all of whom happened to also be black.   
      
   BK>>VS the violent white people he didn't speak for.   
      
    LL> White people do not kill white people.  But black people   
    LL> kill black people (and sometimes white people).  Or so we   
    LL> have been led to believe.   
      
    Most murders are same race, and the prime suspects are always   
    family, friends and associates.   
      
    LL>>> No white minister would ever encourage white folks to   
    LL>>> disobey cops and other law enforcement officials.  There is a   
      
   BK>>Uh... some are preparing for war against the government.   
      
    LL> Preparing for war against the government is one thing.   
    LL> Doing so might even get you elected to Congress.  Going to   
    LL> war against the government quite another.  Might even get   
    LL> you killed.  Unless you win.  In which case you become a   
    LL> patriot.   
      
    The old rule, it's not treason if you win.   
      
    ...   
      
    LL>>> For Republicans, it really is about white or black.  It   
    LL>>> wasn't always like that, but it is today.  For example,   
    LL>>> George Romney received 30% of the black vote as a candidate   
    LL>>> for governor of Michigan.  Mitt Romney received 6% of the   
    LL>>> black vote as a candidate for president.  That is how much   
    LL>>> the Republican Party has changed over the years.   
      
   BK>>Above all, it's politics. Give the people someone to hate and   
   BK>>you get votes. Playing on fear has always been the dictator's   
   BK>>primary weapon against his own people.   
      
    LL> Give the people what they want to hear and you get votes.   
    LL> Not necessarily what they hate, although very often it   
    LL> amounts to being the very same thing.  The politics of fear   
    LL> is used not only by dictators but also by presidents (re:   
    LL> GWB).  Is it a good tool?  For dictators it is (as long as   
    LL> they are able to remain in power).   
      
    True, as I have often said.   
      
    BK>>> Remember Mitt Romney's infamous 47%?   
      
    LL>>> George Romney marched with MLK and the blacks for freedom.   
    LL>>> Mitt Romney refused to speak at the Lincoln Memorial for the   
    LL>>> 50th anniversary of MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech.  What a   
    LL>>> tremendous opportunity that was missed by Mitt Romney and   
    LL>>> the Republican Party.  Even Michael Steel admitted the GOP   
    LL>>> goofed.   
      
   BK>>OTOH, the republican party found Michael Steel too reasonable   
   BK>>long ago.   
      
    LL> And now the Republican Party is finding Piyush "Bobby"   
    LL> Jindal too reasonable ...   
      
    The Republican party may find the Tea Party is dragging them   
    down.   
      
    ...   
      
    LL> Especially the RAND Corporation.  "Thinking Through the Cold   
    LL> War", by David Jardin, free for download, smashwords.com   
      
    I think the Rand Corp was a bunch of peace mongers compared to   
    the current crop of right wing hate spewers.   
      
    ...   
      
    LL>>> Cajuns are not exactly the wealthiest folks in the world.   
    LL>>> And yet most of them voted for the man with the red face.   
    LL>>> Probably because they thought he was a crawfish.   
      
   BK>>He played on fear.   
      
    LL> He's a politician.  Now retired.  And happy.   
      
    The pay cut for taking the presidency would have bothered him.   
      
      
   BOB KLAHN bob.klahn@sev.org   http://home.toltbbs.com/bobklahn   
      
   ... Some find fault like there was a reward for it.   
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