FEMA pays for stupidity

(2/13/06)
The senate investigation in to the actions taken and those not taken by the federal government in the hurricane Katrina crisis have been relatively quiet and as expected thus far. That was until Monday when a kernel of information slipped out concerning the allocation for the aid money that was given to the downtrodden and unfortunate souls of New Orleans. It seems as if those same victims of Katrina had enough time to squander their federal aid and still make it back to the Superdome to cry foul and blame the government for their stupidity.
What happened to that much needed federal assistance you ask? Why, the needy denizens of the Big Easy squandered it, of course. Reports have come out citing the usage of the two-thousand dollar federally issued debit cards that were given to New Orleans residents immediately following the disaster. These reports show that the fiscally challenged residents spent their lottery winnings on things such as bail payments and "adult entertainment." I understand it is taboo to question the intelligence of poor people, after all, it isn't their fault they live in the 9th ward and were too poor to get out in the first place, but may this allocation of federal aid be a clue to why so many people were left stranded after Katrina?
What I think we should all take from this revelation is that it was not strictly the government's fault that the recovery effort of Katrina went askew, it was the assumption by the government that they were dealing with sane, rational, and civil people that had a basic idea of how to conduct themselves. When the federal government attempted to grant some immediate aid to those stuck in the flooded city so that they may escape or find food and lodging, the "victims" instead used their money to buy themselves strippers or to pay off bail bondsmen. I wonder again why the tragedy lasted as long as it did.
In the days after Katrina all the painfully liberal media did was complain about those poor individuals who could not find a way out, those who will now suffer due to Katrina. In lieu of these recent reports showing the allocation of relief funds I find it not so hard to believe that the media has managed to make this a smaller story than it should be. The media will not show the magnitude of this because the media has a vested interest in the bleeding heart masses who will do anything aside from assign blame on the shoulders of poor people or people of different skin colors. This is the same reason Louis Farrakhan gets away with his nonsense, the media is afraid of offending anyone (except Republican administrations, of course). The travesty that occurred with the FEMA issued debit cards has no race or skin color associated with it at all, it is strictly the fault of the stupid. Residents of New Orleans cry one moment and spend their relief checks buying Kevin Garnett jerseys the next, only to resume their tears afterward.
While I may think these individuals are, for a lack of a better term, stupid, let us not forget to see their tremendous guile that comes from generations of abusing federal and state governments. Let us taxpaying, hurricane-evading, individuals give a collective tip of the cap to the soggy men and women of New Orleans who have managed to play the system the way they were raised to maximize their charitable intakes. The poor victims of Katrina now have more shoes and playstation games than a man of my modest means will ever dream of, and they have Uncle Sam and his big heart to thank for them. God bless you, citizen of the Chocolate City, you've managed to steal donations for your well being and keep one hand in the federal cookie jar for those days when you feel like using your own laziness and stupidity as a reason to rake in the cash.
The deplorable actions of the citizens of New Orleans are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the Katrina fiasco. The chocolate mayor should've stayed in the city, like a real man and leader would have, and the state government should've been more organized and quicker to realize their role as the second line of emergency respondents (FEMA is the last to respond). FEMA is not at fault and hopefully this investigation will yield these obvious facts as truths in the wake of a natural disaster and prevent this specific kind of human ignorance and stupidity from rearing its ugly head in a future emergency.