I cannot let the story of Hurricane Katrina pass without noting the impact of our bullshit “homeland security” hysteria on the situation.
When the evacuation of New Orleans was announced, the city established the Superdome as a shelter “of last resort”. Anybody who couldn”t get themselves out of town - namely the poor and some tourists - was welcome to ride things out there.
By noon today, CNN was showing a long line of people waiting to get into the Superdome. As of 9 p.m. tonight, the lines are still there.
Estimates put the total Superdome crowd at about 20,000 - 30,000. So why is it taking so long to get everybody inside?
“Homeland Security”. Each and every person coming into the Superdome is being searched by the National Guard. No “sharp objects” are allowed. I saw a shot of a Guardsman patting down a young black woman to make sure she wasn”t holding any banned objects. Meanwhile, the crowd swelled outside in the growing rainstorm.
For at least ten hours today, the scene outside the Dome looked like this:
The thousands of people - mostly poor and black - seeking refuge from a storm threatening to destroy their lives were subjected to the kind of pointless demonstration of “security measures” that will do more to harm America than any terrorist could.
Meanwhile, the hundreds of National Guard troops who spent the day searching the harmless citizens could have been put to good use helping the elderly get to shelters; guarding against potential post-evacuation/pre-storm looting or just getting some rest before what will surely be a sucky next few days for them.
But no. We have to make sure no weapons get into the Superdome.
As for the storm itself; take care down there, people. It don”t look good.
Update: Fox News had some Guardsmen on live around 10:30 (still lines to get in) showing some of the “contraband” they”d collected. It included a wrench, scissors and nail clippers. The reporter asked why they don”t allow nail clippers (”They have pointed ends”), but didn”t ask the question “Isn”t that a bit excessive?”. Ah - reportage.
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