ON NPR's "This American Life" barred from WALKING out of New Orleans

[yurbud]

Ira Glass had the first hand stories of the victims of the hurricane in New Orleans, and apparently they found out it was possible to WALK out but were barred from doing so.

I wasn't listening at first, but story after story common themes seemed to emerge from survivors: they were expected to stay in New Orleans until they starved and dehydrated to death, and police and FEMA seemed intent on making sure it happened.

Glass ended the story with a clip of Bill O'Reilly saying the object lesson of the hurricane was you can't rely on the government to solve your problems, so if you are poor, you better pull yourself up by your bootstraps FAST. Glass played the clip for a high school student who had been relocated and asked her what she thought O'Reilly meant. She was incredulous, "He said that? That's saying if you're rich, you live, and if you are poor you die."

Conservatives are using this to teach America a few lessons:

1. You can't trust gov't (especially when they run it).

2. If your poor and on fire, we won't even piss on you to put it out.

I hope America hears them soon and acts accordingly.

[Gabi Hayes]

1. thanks for reminding me...it's on here in chicago right now

just turned it on

thx again!

[Bok_Tukalo]

2. I am surprised this hasn't been reported very much

Even during the event itself, it seems the "quarantine" of New Orleans was ignored as a component of the story.

[linazelle]

3. Totally ignored. nt

[yurbud]

4. I read a story about college students driving all the way in

and had a brief moment of wondering why people didn't just leave by whatever means.

Unfortunately, this is the answer.

[yurbud]

5. UPI story on cops barring foot evacuation of New Orleans

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=1767593&mesg_id=1767593

[hippywife]

6. The most important aspect of this

is that it appears that foot evacuation was blocked by the Gretna sheriff to keep these people from entering his jurisdiction, not just to keep them in NO. They didn't want them dirtying the streets of Gretna.:grr: :grr:

[Nikki Stone 1]

7. Love TAL. Is there a transcript?

It sounds like FEMA was trying to punish the NOLA survivors. And their governor

[G_j]

8. This week's show is a MUST! you will be blown away!

I can't even begin to decribe how eye-opening and moving these accounts are! Please check your local NPR station for times.

From WBEZ in Chicago | This American Life

www.thislife.org

After the Flood
Surprising stories from survivors in New Orleans. Broadcast the weekend of September 9-11 in most places, or available via RealAudio next week.

[yurbud]

19. I'm thinking of buying it. I've gone back to NPR this week and...

they have done an admirable job in spite of the political meddling and attempted intimidation with that load Bush put in charge of CPB.

[1932]

9. If shit were valuable, the poor would be born without assholes.

[1932]

10. People believed that they were brought to Convention Center to die.

The first guest said that they saw water trucks pass them by when they had no water. Thought it was intentional. She said the NG kept lining them up for busses every 4 hours that never came. She said it was like psychological torture.

She thought they were being encouraged to start a riot.

She saw people die, but not from violence. She said the criminals from the neighborhood with the guns were protecting people because of the rumors of rape and murder.

She said that young men were like Robin Hood. They went out and looted juice water, beer for the older people, raincoats. She said that it could have been a free-for-all, but they took things people needed.

She said that people who tried to walk away were sent back at the bridge to the dry west bank, where they could see lights on. The NG had guns on the bridge and sent people back.

[DoYouEverWonder]

15. I watched the whole storm on the internet and on newscasts

they treated the people of New Orleans worse then criminals. Most freepers treat their dogs better.

For the first week Bush and the Federal Government were in charge of the response to the disaster. From the top down the freeper mentality prevailed. Let them all drown was the attitude, they're going to loot our property otherwise.

[nashville_brook]

26. i would have been so far beyond panic-stricken -- i would have felt the

same way. i would have been sure they were going to line us up and shoot us. the behavior of the "police" forces was that of terrorizing the people. i haven't heard on single story about a cop doing something for the people.

i can't swallow that this was a big misunderstanding. i can't believe this wasn't intentional on some level. probably a high level. it's just too well-reported that the people were left behind to die.

there was a pdf of something called Endgame -- a project by Immigration to remove all undesireables. they played this like Endgame. not like rescue. that's their behavior, not my wild imagination. i know what i've seen.

[G_j]

31. and she said: bless the looters

or something like that, because they fed and protected people, she also said she would never feel quite the same about the "gangsters" after the experience. She was grateful to them. There is a story you aren't hearing!

[1932]

11. Second story: Police shot at evacuees trying to cross into Jefferson Par.

A white tourist says she was in a group of 200 African Americans trying to cross the bridge. Police shot at them. Police told them "you are not going to turn JeffersonParish into another Superdome."

The tourist interpreted that as, "if you're poor and black, we don't care about you."

Said that they were lied to repeatedly about buses coming.

Eight of them (which eventually grew to seventy) set up camp on the median. They cleaned it up, set up a latrine area.

"Blessed are the looters": she says some guy "escaped from New Orleans," stole a water truck, came back to N.O., found their group of people, gave them water, and then drove as many as they could back out of N.O.

When he left, they spotted an NG truck that took a sharp turn which knocked food out of it. So people ran out and collected the food. So they had a camp, food, and water.

When it turned dark, a Gretna Sheriff came up to them with a crazy look screamed at them to get off the freeway and they had to leave this place of safety they created. They went into the dark. It was martial law and they were aware the NG had a shoot to kill policy.

A helicopter flew over their campe and blew all the food and water they collected away. The were sure it was on purpose to make sure they wouldn't come back.

The found and abandoned bus and they spent the night in it.

[1932]

13. They spent the night in the bus. They could hear gunshots.

They were afraid of the police shooting at them and afraid of the police finding them and kicking them out of the bus.

The next morning they tried to cross the bridge again.

Someone in their group was able to contact the head of their union, who contacted the Gretna police, who were finally convinced to let the eight in their group through.

But when the approached the police line, a cop shot in the air at them and told them to stop. But they were eventually convinced to let those eight people through.

They were pissed that it was just the eight tourists (four black, three white and one puerto rican) who got through and the black, poor N.O.'s residents.

They were told that only family members could leave, so they lied and said they were all family members.

[stevedeshazer]

12. recommended -

Ira Glass is one of the few reasons I bother to listen to NPR these days.

That's a great show.

[eleny]

14. It's on at 2 PM in Colorado. Edit: Recommended

In less than an hour. Thanks so much for the heads up. I love that program but too often forget to tune in.

Glass is a treasure. I wonder how long his program will last given the way public tv and radio is going?

[1932]

16. Third act: "I had no idea it was a crime to be poor. And the punishment

is death."

Ashley's repsonse to Bill O'Reilly's bullshit.

Without a car, Ashley did not have a choice to leave.

They were sure someone would come to help after the storm. Nobody came. She didn't have water for two days. She started halucinating about water bottles and she thought the world was going to turn into hell.

She was like, "damn, I'm starving." She thought she was going to die. "9/11 was bad because it was terrorists, but nobody is suprised people hate the United States. N.O. was worse because our own government betrayed us."

She would like to meet Bush and ask him why he said Brown was doing a good job. People were dying. That's a good job?

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

17. Its 4 PM in CT and this is being aired

Fantastic first person reports of survivors of NOLA
One woman is praising the efforts of the "thugs" in the Superdome who cared for the people in there

[eleny]

18. This is like science fiction

Being driven out of the encampment and seeking the shelter of the bus and being afraid of being killed by police. Astounding.

The blowback, the concussion of all this is going to rock this country. Our half has now grown to a greater percentage. I'm so sure of this no matter the noise coming from the pulpits of the devils of hate on tv and radio.

[G_j]

20. nominated

[democracyindanger]

21. "Republicans complain that government doesn't work

then get elected and prove it."

PJ O'Rourke, of all people.

[Joanne98]

22. I'm beginning to think they FAILED ON PURPOSE !

To advance their long range plan of privatizing the country. Maybe we should start a new conspiracy theory and call it FOP!

[eleny]

23. These people are on MSNBC right NOW!!!

Abrams is interviewing Larry Bradshaw and Lorie Beth Slonsky.

Gretna Sheriff confiscated their provisions. He took them to his car.

[G_j]

27. maybe just a gut feeling

but this guy's explanation comes across to me as suspect.

[pitohui]

24. nagin said they could leave, gretna said they couldn't cross the bridge

nagin is mayor of new orleans

the other side of the bridge is jefferson parish -- gretna -- where nagin has no authority

it is jeff parish officials' fault that the ppl were turned back & not allowed to cross

this is nagin's version anyway & i have no reason to doubt it given some of past history bet. the 2 parishes, for instance, in the 1980s, when sheriff harry lee of jeff parish tried to build a fence between east jefferson & orleans to divide a white neighborhood from a black neighborhood

fema apparently enforced jeff parish's request that ppl not cross the bridge, they also turned back white ppl (tourists) who tried to walk over so it was more than a racial thing

i'm not sure of their reasoning but they say it was because there was no food, water, electric in gretna, which may very well turn out to be the case, keep in mind, the entire area was hard hit, not just orleans parish

dehydrated ppl can die just as well walking in the hot sun as they can standing still, & maybe better

i really don't think fema killed ppl on purpose, they just bungled the damn job

yes, conservatives would love you to take away from this event that gov't is no damn good & you're on yr own, then they can de-fund every type of safety net & start killing "the useless eaters" by the millions instead of the thousands

this is why they wrap up w. o'reilly

[Joe Chi Minh]

25. How can they even think of forming a government

when they don't so much as believe in it? It's as if McCarthy had sued the Communist party for unfair discrimination, because it wouldn't allow him to become one of its leaders.

[nashville_brook]

28. actually, the way they handled NOLA is a lot like the way Iraq is n/t

[yurbud]

32. I was holding back on that, but it was an immediate thought

You die, we profit.

Only the location changes.

What the GOP is doing to us is a lot like Venezuela too. When they had the coup and briefly overthrew Chavez, all the TV channels there covered it UNTIL it started to unravel--then it was wall to wall old movies so people would have one less way to find out they needed to fight for their elected leader.

[Joe Chi Minh]

47. Yes, it's scarily simple, isn't it?

[Stinky Bushes]

29. again I believe that Bush did this on purpose to

encourage people to say, "You can't depend on the government." WE NEED TO FIGHT BACK BY SAYING THAT FEMA IS GOOD IN PRINCIPLE BUT NEEDS NEW LEADERSHIP, RESTRUCTURING, AND A RETURN TO PRE 9/11 EFFECTIVENESS.

[ryan_cats]

30. Well, You can't depend on HIS government, that's for damn sure.

[stevietheman]

39. And that's why their gamble is failing.

They gambled stupidly that people would rail against government in general, but what's really happening is that people are really railing against BUSH'S GOVERNANCE (or lack thereof). It's not that we think government is naturally ineffective, it's that we know that Bush's version of it, especially post-Katrina, is ineffective.

[kestrel91316]

42. Yep, gov't is no damn good, time to shrink it down even more and

get on with drowning it in that bathtub already.

SABOTAGE

TREASON

MURDER

[xynthee]

33. Keep checking this page for the RealAudio link :

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/pages/archives/archivemain.html#05

(The 9/9/05 show - After the Flood)

It's supposed to be posted sometime next week.

To order the CD, see http://www.thisamericanlife.org/webwares/basket.jtmpl?act=addbycode&code=296

This is the most incredible thing I've ever heard on NPR or ANYwhere! I kept expecting to hear gunfire, followed by silence; I couldn't believe NPR actually aired this!! I was absolutely incredulous!

Everyone MUST hear this!!!!

[mom cat]

34. The top link is not working for me. Is it being disapeared?

[pitohui]

35. maybe but the story won't disappear

ray nagin is shouting it to the rooftops & i can't blame him

[mom cat]

49. He has shown so much courage.

[xynthee]

45. Link still works for me

But, yes, I do fear the story will be disappeared. I can't believe they allowed it on the air to begin with.

Maybe you can try their main archive page, then click on the 2005 link:

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/pages/archives/archivemain.html

:shrug:

[mom cat]

48. Thanks...I put it in my favorites

[JPZenger]

36. Acting Outside Their Jurisdiction

I'm not an expert on Louisiana geography, but I believe the town of Gretna does not border the bridge across the Mississippi, but instead is further to the southwest. According to the accounts of the tourists, paramedics and locals who were trying to cross the Mississippi River bridge on foot, the Gretna police stopped them on the bridge, and fired over their heads to stop them. I question how the Gretna police could have felt they could stop refugees from entering a place that was not even in their town?

[pitohui]

38. you are mistaken

you are confused

i know it's confusing but it's the geography of the "crescent city" that the river is curved

you actually drive or in this case walk east over the bridge to go to the west bank

but that is in fact gretna on the other side of that bridge, no doubt abt it whatsoever

[guruoo]

41. NO tourists: Police fired warning shots to stop them from leaving

Police fired warning shots, New Orleans tourists tell

Frightened Japanese, European and American tourists say police fired over their heads to end their attempt to leave New Orleans.

Stranded since Hurricane Katrina hit the city on Monday, the 200 tourists were thrown out of their hotel on Thursday morning and said they were confronted by police as they attempted to get to buses to take them to safety.

Turned back to the centre of New Orleans, where looters were still roaming the lawless streets, the tourists huddled together on their suitcases under a pavilion next to the Mississippi River.
<snip>
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200509/s1452073.htm

[cally]

37. I missed it but I'll listen to the realaudio version

tomorrow. It sounds incredible.

[Maraya1969]

40. One reporter was saying this exact thing as it was happening

He kept saying that the people were not allowed to walk over the bridge and get out and he kept pointing to it and yelling that if they could just get over the bridge they could get water and food.


I can't remember who it was. Pretty sure it was on MSNBC because that is the station I watch most often.

[kestrel91316]

43. Shepherd Smith?

[Maraya1969]

46. Yea that might be him.

[G_j]

44. ==

[xynthee]

50. RealAudio now available!!

http://www.thislife.org/ra/296.ram

Everyone needs to listen!! I can't listen here at work, but I'll be listening as soon as I get home.

Spread it around.