A Soldier's Perspective

Another Commission

Well, Gunnutt may have been joking around when he talked about what the Katrina Commission would sound like.

It may not be the joke that he thought it was. Seems Hillary is back in campaign mode with her demands for a 9/11 type Katrina Commission. What a great way to waste some more of our money, at a time when we need it most. I'm going to save Hillary and the rest of the country a bunch of time, money, and stress and tell you what REALLY happened with Hurricane Katrina and what the Commission's end result will be.

Hurricane Katrina was a significant tropical cyclone of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. It's a season that happens every year, though sometimes worse and sometimes better. It developed from a tropical wave about 175 miles east of Nassau in the Bahamas. The hurricane strengthened to a Category 1 hurricane before making landfall on the Miami-Dade/Broward county line in Florida, United States. Bush had nothing to do with the depression, except the kind that he's caused people like Hillary Clinton who can't get rid of him no matter how hard she tries. This is the time when we should have sent out our huge Killer Hurricane Wall or employed the Large Hurricane Strength Boxfan that could've blown Katrina somewhere else. I'm sure someone will be blamed for not doing so. I know Florida had the capability to stop the Katrina while she was vacationing there, but they were too busy playing on the teacups at Disney World, the commission will find.

After moving southwest across Florida the hurricane exited west into the Gulf of Mexico where it underwent rapid intensification, reaching Category 5 on August 28, 2005 and remaining there for the entire day. It made its second landfall near Buras, Louisiana with 145 mph winds, or Category 4, in the early morning of August 29, 2005. This is where the collective hot air of our politicians could have come in handy. Had they all gathered in Louisiana and just talked a little more, the warm air generated from their rhetoric would have been sufficient to weaken Katrina enought to prevent this disaster. I realize that it's a difficult proposition to get all those politicians in one place, so next time we just need to round up Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson to perform this vital task. Hurricane Katrina's eyewall then passed over the eastern edge of New Orleans before the hurricane was again over water. A few hours later it made landfall for a third time near the Louisiana/Mississippi border with 125 mph winds, or Category 3. It weakened from this point forward, losing hurricane status crossing over 100 miles inland, near Laurel, Mississippi. It was downgraded to a tropical depression near Clarksville, Tennessee as it continued to race northward.

As the hurricane approached landfall near New Orleans, Mayor Ray Nagin placed the city under a mandatory evacuation order. To the best of my knowledge, he didn't just order the "rich, white man" to evacuate, but the WHOLE CITY. Many residents remained in the city. The vast majority of those who stayed were reported to have been unable to leave because they did not have vehicles, money for gas and other transportation. Isn't that the mayor's responsibility and not President Bush's? Just a thought. Also, many residents were unable to travel because they were elderly or infirm. As a result, the Superdome was opened as a temporary shelter for those that were to stay in the city. Federal disaster declarations blanketed 90,000 square miles (233,000 km²) of the United States, an area almost as large as the United Kingdom. The hurricane left an estimated five million people without power, and it may be up to two months before all power is restored. Disaster relief plans are in operation in the affected areas.

Early in the morning of August 30, 2005 and as a direct result of Hurricane Katrina, breaches in three places of the levee system on the Lake Pontchartrain side of New Orleans caused a second and even greater disaster. The commission will find that President Bush was nowhere near the site and therefore find him innocent of sabotaging the levees. Hillary will probably end up concocting some doctored photos of Bush digging the levee out by hand with a devilish smirk on his face. Heavy flooding covered almost the entire city over a sustained period, forcing the total evacuation of over a million people. The city was now uninhabitable, due to 80% of its area being below sea level meaning that the water had nowhere to go. Again, we could have used Hillary, Al Sharpton, and Jesse's Jackson's brains to soak up all this excess water had they not already been saturated with stupidity. The commission will undoubtedly recommend that Sean Penn and his little red cup be drafted to help remove the water from the city and pour it back in the lake. At least, I'd recommend that.

On September 3, 2005 US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff described the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina as "probably the worst catastrophe, or set of catastrophes" in the country's history, referring to the Hurricane itself plus the flooding of New Orleans. Tomorrow, he's scheduled to change his position to read, "Hillary Clinton, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Kanye West, Michael Moore, and Cindy Sheehan were the worst catastrophe's to hit this country," and apologize for his mistakes. He will further be quoted as saying, "however, Katrina is a close second." Shortly after the speech, they will all be deported to an uninhabited island declared a communist safehaven for them to dwell in for eternity.

Hurricane Katrina may be the deadliest hurricane in the United States since the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, which killed around 8,000 (possibly up to 12,000) people. As of 7 PM CDT September 1, 2005, more than 20,000 are still reported missing. New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin stated on August 31 that the death toll of Katrina may be "in the thousands", an estimate also provided through a statement by Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco on September 1. Accurate numbers are not known. Damage was reported in at least 12 states. Hurricane Katrina will be remembered for its vast devastation of the Gulf Coast regions of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. The hurricane will also be remembered for the ineffective pre-planning for hurricane preparedness in New Orleans, as well as the slow response on the part of federal, state and local governments to provide effective search and rescue and safe refuge for the storm's victims. It will not be remembered for the hundreds of thousands of Americans who pitched in with their own money to send water, food, diapers and other necessities to the region. It will not be remembered for the children who emptied their entire life's savings in coins to help either. It will not be remembered for the brave military units called up from around the country during a time of war and an already stretched deployment schedule. They will also find that when there's a REAL emergency (which doesn't include talking to certain people camped outside his ranch), the President will end his vacation early and get back to work.

Nope, we'll be listening to soundbites of idiot politicians and "blame Bush" activists for a disaster that we couldn't stop for years, while the real "Katrina Commission" argues over blame!! BLAME PEOPLE!! 20,000 people are still missing and Hillary wants a commission?! Who elected this woman?! Over 8,000 people are confirmed dead and the best the ELECTED politicians can do is threaten each other!! Well, here we go. As of right now, I announce my candidacy for Presidency when I'm done serving in the military. If those idiots can aspire to hold the office under the same circumstances Bush has to deal with and do a good job, then count this idiot as one of the opponents. Or, I'll just serve with Michael Churchill in South Carolina and ride his coattails.