Someone help refute my repug colleague

[Radio_Guy]

I was sent this e-mail, and it sounds like a lot of baloney. The words inside the parentheses are mine.

<snip>

This text is (allegedly) from a county emergency manager out in the western part of North Dakota state after a recent snow storm.

WEATHER BULLETIN

"Up here in the Northern Plains we just recovered from a Historic event --- may I even say a "Weather Event" of "Biblical Proportions" --- with a historic blizzard of up to 44" inches of snow and winds to 90 MPH that broke trees in half, knocked down utility poles, stranded hundreds of motorists in lethal snow banks, closed ALL roads, isolated scores of communities and cut power to 10's of thousands.

FYI:

George Bush did not come....

FEMA did nothing....

No one howled for the government...

No one blamed the government

No one even uttered an expletive on TV...

Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton did not visit

Our Mayor's did not blame Bush or anyone else

Our Governor did not blame Bush or anyone else either

CNN, ABC, CBS, FOX, or NBC did not visit - or report on this category 5 snow storm (is there such a thing?)

Nobody demanded $2,000 debit cards.....

No one asked for a FEMA Trailer House....

No one looted...

Nobody demanded the government do something

Nobody expected the government to do anything either

No Larry King

No Bill O'Rielly (one decent thing about this e-mail so far)

No Oprah

No Chris Matthews

No Geraldo Rivera (make that two)

No Sean Penn

No Barbara Striesand

No Hollywood types to be found

We just melted the snow for water

Sent out caravans of SUV's to pluck people out of snow engulfed cars.

The truck drivers pulled people out of snow banks and didn't ask for a penny!

Local restaurants made food and the police and fire departments delivered it to the snow bound families.

Families took in the stranded people - total strangers (uh, that happened everywhere after Katrina as well)

We Fired up wood stoves

Broke out coal oil lanterns or Coleman lanterns

We put on an extra layers of clothes because up here it is "Work or Die"

We did not wait for some affirmative action government to get us out of a mess created by being immobilized by a welfare program that trades votes for 'sittin at home' checks.

Even though a Category "5" blizzard of this scale has never fallen this early...we know it can happen and how to deal with it ourselves. (I have never heard a meteorolgist give blizzards by category numbers, making this whole e-mail very suspect)

In my many travels, I have noticed that once one gets north of about 48 degrees North Latitude, 90% most of the world's social problems evaporate."

<snip>

Because of my job, I don't have time to answer this point by point. But this is an obvious distortion of the facts of Katrina's aftermath. Can I get help forming a rebuttal?

Thanks.

[DrGonzoLives]

1. Snopes.com

n/t

[OKNancy]

2. That's been posted a brazillion times

seems as though a lot of DUers have been sent this. It's debunked on snopes.com

[unhappycamper]

3. snopes.com is your friend

http://www.snopes.com/katrina/soapbox/dakota.asp

[Radio_Guy]

11. Doh

I didn't think of Snopes, and I don't know why. :banghead:

I should have known better. That should have been my first place to go.

Thanks.

[rpgamerd00d]

4. After you quote Snopes, add "Don't you check your sources 1st? Sheesh."

[jedicord]

5. Ask him how many people died or lost their homes.

Then recite Katrina's numbers.

Republican is the party of hate.

[Kingshakabobo]

6. Make sure you hit "reply to all" if it was sent to multiple addresses.

After you debunk it with "Snopes"

[BOSSHOG]

7. Racists having too much time on their hands

The first 72 hours after the hurricane departed us neighbors, friends, and everyone pulled together and used our assets; food, trucks, chainsaws etc. Cleared the highways, kept the food flowing, took care of each other. Businesses down here provided their assets to those in need. Then eventually our tax dollars in various and asundry forms were put to work in the gulf coast region. And, some people from other parts of the country voiced support and empathy and rolled up their sleeves and came down to help.

"Most" of the world's social problems evaporate." I'd require proof of that statement. Classic right wing rant. "In my many travels." I would rather not have as neighbors anyone who would pass that email. And I'm just a law abiding tax paying productive citizen, retired veteran and all around wack job liberal. We're doing just fine without those north of 48 degrees north.

[M155Y_A1CH]

8. How many lost their homes?

Ask him how many people died due to the storm.

Edit: I must have been typing when Jedicord replied

[sutz12]

9. Pretty simple really.....

Just send back to him:

What? All 20 of you?

[The Sleeper]

10. You know the deal...

EVERY argument they posit is just a way to justify their agenda, and that agenda is nothing but a bunch of lies.

I reject ALL of it...the little homespun bullshit manipulative moralistic story, AND the larger point it supposedly illustrates. It's just lies to justify lies.

[zbdent]

12. Ask him how well he can

shovel (or for that matter, pile) water . . .

[hfojvt]

15. "How long

can you tread water?"
From Bill Cosby's "Noah" comic routine.

[zbdent]

18. It's a valid point

Try shoveling water from one part of a lake to another.

Or, as one person said, "When you get full of yourself, put your finger in water and then take it out and marvel at the impression you left . . ."

[zbdent]

13. Another point

I heard somewhere that one inch of rain is approximately the equivalent (I think) of 12 inches of snow.

So, the "category five blizzard" dumped the equivalent of three and a half inches of rain on ND.

I would think that there was a bit more rain hammering New Orleans (and the surrounding areas). Plus, I don't recall a glacier breaking loose and crushing any towns in ND (that would probably be the equivalent of the levees breaking on the Lake) . . .

[DelawareValleyDem]

14. I see the original two feet of snow has increased by twenty inches

This one just keeps growing with the retelling.

[stop the bleeding]

16. hundreds of motorists vs 130,000 people displaced and about 1000 killed?

Doesn't even compare if you ask me, ask him to spill the beans on what he is taking, cause it ain't logic.

[stop the bleeding]

17. snow is deep, ask him how deep the shit is??? n/t