Another view from inside the Superdome...

[txaslftist]

Superdome of Shame
by Jack Duggan

Watching news coverage of the refugees trying to enter the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans for safety from the approaching force-five Hurricane Katrina, I was incredulous how the people attempting to enter the stadium were being treated by the National Guard troops and local police. The people were made to stand for hours outside in the awful Louisiana climate while they were admitted one or two adults at a time so they could be searched "for firearms and alcohol."

The frail elderly, many grasping walkers and others in wheelchairs seemed to be near collapse. They, along with hundreds of small children needing water and rest-room relief, were forced to wait as long as four hours to get to safety. It was often repeated during the video reports that the last time the Superdome was used as a hurricane shelter, a few of the temporary occupants removed some furniture. But this time, they had a large security force on hand, so that was NOT going to happen again, no-siree-bob.

During coverage by Geraldo Rivera Sunday night, FOX NEWS' video cameras zoomed inside the foyer deck of the Superdome and viewers could see a national guard person going through a powder compact from of a woman's purse that was way too small to hold a liquor bottle or a gun. It was obvious that they were looking for drugs in warrantless searches. They instructed all the refugees far back in the seemingly endless lines to have their prescription-pill bottles out when approaching the security checkpoint and also a photo ID to prove that they belonged with the prescription.

There were THOUSANDS of poor, mostly black citizens of the lower Louisiana area, many of them little children and sickly elderly, being forced to stand for hours while the government violated their civil rights with forced searches that were patently unconstitutional, unjust and unreasonable under the dire circumstances. "Don't want to be searched? That's okay...now turn around, go outside and die!" Big choice.

Can you imagine New Orleans' wealthy elite meekly submitting to such microscopic searches of their persons and property for drugs? Heads would roll. But poor people who had no money to escape the deadly storm's onslaught had no choice. They had nowhere else to go to save their children's and parents' lives. They were humiliated just for trying to survive. Their grandfathers and grandmothers suffered as slaves on Southern plantations decades ago, while today, they suffer as slaves to the state, the state that cancels their human rights and dignity in the name of "protecting" them....

The rest of the article is in Lew Rockwell, and makes for good reading.

[Karmadillo]

1. Kick

nt

[donsu]

2. kick

nt

[Roland99]

3. And if drugs, guns, knives, etc. *did* get into the dome?

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

7. You'd have folks on here........

.....saying security is a joke and what the hell is going on?

You can't win.

[Roland99]

11. Exactly my point.

Let them do their job.

[burythehatchet]

14. I think you will thoroughly enjoy the upcoming police state

:)

[Roland99]

16. Oh come on.

[Horse with no Name]

4. And I wonder how many of the bodies that are floating in the streets

stood in that line and turned back because of this?

[MADem]

8. They said no one was turned away, and eventually

...they let everyone on the field, and did the checks from inside.

If they had more personnel, they probably could have sped the process up...but a good chunk of the LA NG was unavailable, as they are in Iraq....

[Horse with no Name]

15. Not what I meant

I wonder how many people that had warrants, etc, saw them doing the checks from way back and turned away fearing arrest.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

18. So, what would have been your solution?

Let everyone in, no bag checks, whatever shit happens, happens?

[Horse with no Name]

19. Not at all

I actually made the statement on Sunday that it was necessary because of the potential for "survival of the fittest" attitude to crop up in the aftermath of this.
My statement was merely wondering how many of the people who were floating in the streets turned back when they saw the patdowns.
Whatever you read into that is your own baggage, not mine.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

20. If mere patdowns.....

....is enough in your mind to drive certain folks away, I guess it speaks to the necessity of why they do it.

[Horse with no Name]

23. I understand why they did it

but you have to understand some of the reasons some might have turned away from help. Some of the poor and homeless do suffer from mental disease including paranoia.
Once they saw people being searched, it wouldn't be hard to imagine they would freak out and turn around.
Others could have had warrants and might have been fearful of having to show identification and being thrown in jail.
The point I am trying to make is that, although it was necessary, it probably contributed to the loss of lives.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

24. Okay.....

....that was my point....it had to be done, obviously to protect the 30,000 lives as opposed to a few.

[DoYouEverWonder]

9. No one was turned back

but it was criminal to put them in there in the first place.

WTF kind of disaster planning was this? Put 1000 of people in the middle of the evacuation zone, with MRI's for 2 days and not much else.

Even after the storm passed they should have started evacuating the people then, we have a military that is very good at this. Where are they? Oh I forgot, bringing freedom and democracy to Iraq.

[Joe the Revelator]

5. I disagree...

Given the situation, checking people for drugs and guns was a very prudent measure. Going into the superdome,the thought was that people could be stuck inside for up to a month with no power and just the food inside the building. Adding weapons to that equation would have made a bad situation 100 times worse.

[Missy Vixen]

10. I disagree

There was plenty of time to search those folks as they entered (and could not leave,) the Dome, let them in and do it THERE. This was nothing more than a power play on the part of those doing the security.

How many died because they turned around from the two-mile-long lines and went home, or were turned away (at 11:00 PM Sunday night, as the news reported?)

Julie

[MADem]

26. Power play?

On the part of a bunch of reserve National Guard servicemembers? Who left THEIR families in harm's way to do this thankless, tedious, do-not-count-on-getting-a-relief-when-your-shift-is-up job?

I strongly doubt it--they were simply trying to ensure that no one's life was put in danger by someone with a gun, or someone who is drunk, on drugs, and belligerent. There are children sheltered there, too. They did tell people ahead of time that searches were going to happen, and to ONLY bring what one absolutely needed. Some people brought everything but the kitchen sink, which slowed everything down.

When the weather got very bad, they sealed off the stands, brought the remaining people in, and searched them on the field and then released them to the stands.

I think the LA National Guard did a tremendous job, considering how shortstaffed they are, and how quickly they had to respond to this situation without sufficient equipment and personnel. Had they had more people, they could have had more checkpoints, but the extra help is in Iraq.

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1125283561138731.xml

http://www.katc.com/Global/story.asp?S=3776545

[Missy Vixen]

28. Oh, okay

>On the part of a bunch of reserve National Guard servicemembers? Who left THEIR families in harm's way to do this thankless, tedious, do-not-count-on-getting-a-relief-when-your-shift-is-up job?<

Those National Guard servicemembers were getting their orders from somewhere. THOSE are the people I am blaming. THEY were the ones forcing the old, the frail, and children to stand in pre-hurricane conditions while waiting to be searched. I am all about supporting the troops. At the same time, searching someone's cosmetic compact (which was reported on the news,) is NOT looking for a "weapon".

>Some people brought everything but the kitchen sink, which slowed everything down.<

Those going to the Superdome were told to bring three days worth of clothing, water and food. Depending on the numbers of people present in each family, this could range from something the size of a backpack to several suitcases, cooler, etcetera. I'm not sure what I'd bring if I were in the same situation, and neither is the vast majority of those who post here, IMHO.

Julie

[MADem]

30. They got their orders from the governor

...who no doubt took advice from the mayor of NO before making the decision. The governor is a Democrat, FWIW. Her name is Kathleen Blanco. Mayor Nagin is also a Democrat, and, in the unlikely event that anyone might think he is one of those cracker types who gleefully discriminate against those of a darker complexion, he is black.

The federal government was NOT calling the shots during this effort--the governor was issuing the NG orders. Post-hurricane, since Northern Command is setting up a task force and they are sending four amphib ships to the area, those NG kids may fall under federal jurisdiction, but at the time they were conducting the Superbowl evolution, they were under the command and control of the STATE, not the feds.

So, if you are going to blame the order givers, you have to blame two Democrats...

I am not prepared to do that. I think they are in dire straits, but I think they did the best they could given the assets they had available to them. Had not funding been cut to secure the levees and upgrade the pumping equipment, had not wetlands protection been abrogated, had FEMA only worked the issue a bit harder in advance of this tragedy, it might have lessened the loss of life. But there ain't much you can do without money...

[theboss]

6. Has this guy been to a football game recently?

I go through the same search every time I go to a Steelers game.

[Patiod]

12. But it doesn't take that long

My hoagies and water and I go though it before Phillies games. But they're not obsessive. They just make sure that I don't have a gun or a bottle of booze.

Even with pillows and blankets to search, it shouldn't take as long as it did.

[MADem]

27. Some people brought boxes and suitcases

...chock full of personal effects. They couldn't make exceptions.

Most of the service personnel doing this work are E-6 and below reservists. I give them credit, not criticism. They had to leave their families to report for duty--I'm sure they are as worried about them as anyone else who is separated from their loved ones during this time. I admire their dedication and professionalism, frankly, in the face of a difficult situation without the proper equipment or sufficient staff.

[Patiod]

33. Not criticizing those working at the Superdome

My problem is more with the planning. In our area, the hospitals, police, fire and emergency preparedness people drills for these things -- terrorist actions, "dirty" bombs/fast-spreading epidemics, nuclear power plant problems -- have the emergency preparedness people never drilled for something that we've been hearing for years was not an "if" but "when" scenario?

I understand that they had far less than the emergency plan assumes - 24 vs. 72 hours, but you would think that the Superdome as a shelter site would have been part of a pre-plan and drilled for.

[txaslftist]

21. Well that's just you.

You are one suspicious lookin' dude.

[tammywammy]

13. I completely agree with doing searches

During the first night, tempers flared when the electricity first went out. Take a tense situtation, and someone with access to a weapon will use it.

If someone had made it in with a weapon and used it, the writer would be pissed about the lack of security.

[momisold]

17. Can you imagine

being in a huge group of people who are anxious, worried, tired, irritable, hungry, uncomfortable, etc., and add the mix of alcohol and weapons to that? Of course they had to have precautions. All the reports I saw said no one was turned away, all who wanted it got in.

[rodeodance]

22. cnn just announced that the Pentagon is taking over the resue operations

a press conference is coming up. Reg. army are to be mobelized.

[Mabus]

25. Makes you wonder what would happen if they hadn't had warnings

How would these same people be treated if there had been a 9-11 type emergency? Where are the easily accessible stocks of food and water? Where are the blankets and generators?

America is not prepared for natural disasters because of BushCo hasn't done shit. What would happen if the emergency was caused by something else?

[B Calm]

29. I'm surprised they didn't make them do drug piss tests before entry.

[JanusAscending]

31. What a "petty" conversation!!

These are human lives, and I don't care whether they were searched or not! They are "stuck"in there and now have to go through another evacuation! Do you know what I really think is serious? I'm wondering what our troops, fighting in "shrubs" stupid war, are feeling and thinking about now???? Many, many of them are from the areas that were hit the hardest. Can you imagine how helpless they feel? How will they be able to cope with the fact that their loved ones at home may have perished, whether the homes they left are still there? They must be agonizing over this. Here in the States we can't get any definate information on where friends and family are, as the communications are impossible. It's going to be even rougher for them to get any information about their loved ones. I WONDER IF THEY'VE EVEN BEEN TOLD ABOUT IT!! "Have to keep fighting boys" ya know??? If I were them, I'd tell Rumsfield and his Generals to go F themselves! We are going home to fight for our families in the USA who NEED US NOW!! I mean, God!! Put yourself in their places man! They're probably going out of their minds with worry! I don't know if even the Red Cross can help them?:rant: :banghead: P.S. The origional article was amazing, but the bickering back and forth was:puke:

[Name removed]

32. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[MADem]

34. They are not pigs and the searches were not illegal.

They are Americans, kids, people just like the rest of us. Husbands, Wives, Sons, Daughters, just trying to serve their country, get a little education, and better their lives. They are not the problem.


Grow up.