New Orleans police: We serve.... ourselves!

[ovidsen]

MSNBC's always entertaining Keith Olbermann just aired a LOVELY item from correspondent Martin Savidge reporting from a New Orleans Wal-Mart where, among the looters, two uniformed police officers were pushing a shopping cart loaded with various items. Martin asked them if they saw the looters. They said yes. Would they do anything? No. One cop reminded Savidge that he was also in the store illegally. They ambled away. Something tells me they weren't heading for the checkout line.

Now THAT'S setting an example.

[getmeouttahere]

1. I can't think of a better place to loot!

[bridgit]

17. true enough...

:hi:

[doublethink]

2. Okay you get down there and set an 'example'

and all the Repubs in support for the Iraq war get your ass over there and set an 'example' and all the people in this world who have never experienced whatever you truly believe to be the 'correct' way to handle things ..... get your ass out there and set an example .... 'Judge not and you shall not be judged' ... my point .... you really don't know how you personally are going to respond to any situation in life until you are confronted with it one on one personally .... keep the faith and Peace.

[-..__...]

3. There's been several reports of PO's involved in the looting.

By themselves, these acts are disgraceful and should not be tolerated.

The real slap in the face is that they're not even trying to hide it!

As if it's just another perk of the job and "what are you going to do about it?" "Arrest me?"

[doublethink]

5. Look .... I'm not condoning material looting ....

water, food .... yes in this instance. However ... perhaps these people do not see the Federal Government coming in and doing their part in this disaster. Perhaps these people (cops) are so 'out-numbered' by the populace down there ... :wtf: can they do ... really. Maybe for an instance in this situation they have lost all hope in what is going on down there. People make mistakes. Rational thinking in this predicament is I am sure leaving a lot of people down there. Things they believed in all their life ..... maybe don't seem to matter in the moment? In a war zone, morality shit goes by the way side, soldiers fight for their own so they can come home to their family's. Not some ideology like 'freedom' ..... just something to think about. Peace. :)

[Cleita]

4. The rest of the story is that the police were

taking the goods across town to people who needed goods. It was on my local news last night, which is generally pretty unbiased. The reporter who interviewed one of the cops asked if they were going to allow people to loot. The cop said that all the goods aren't resaleable and the Walgreens will be reimbursed by insurance and government money. People need the stuff he told the reporter and should take what they need although he said he wasn't going to tell them to do that.

[doublethink]

6. Thank you Cleta for that perspective ...

things are not always what they seem to be. Peace. :)

[Cleita]

7. I'm always happy to set the paranoid newz straight. n/t

[Berry Cool]

10. Yeah, but the cops Savidge interviewed

definitely looked as if they had something to hide. If they were going to give what they were looting to people who needed it, why did they get so defensive and accuse him of breaking the law by being in the store?

I'm not so convinced they were being selfless humanitarians. If they were not stealing for themselves, why get defensive? This is not to say that it was wrong to take anything for any circumstances and that I would not have if I needed to, but I like to think I wouldn't have looked upon it as some kind of Christmas-in-August opportunity.

[doublethink]

11. See post # 2 and # 5 ........ Peace. n/t.

:hi:

[Cleita]

16. Truth will not be known until all this is sorted out.

However, our paranoid newz is reporting the sensational at the expense of what could be real humanitarian efforts. I really miss Walter Cronkite.

[pitohui]

9. fine until it's yr house

my friend just saw houses on his street being looted on the nat'l news

there's no essential medical supplies in his home

no lives are being saved by stealing his clothes, tv, or dvd player

no excuse for looters

none

looters are a BIG reason why people don't evacuate, which means they are a BIG reason why people die in hurricanes

[doublethink]

13. My point exactly ..........

people don't get involved in 'other peoples plights' or tragedy in this country/world until it affects them PERSONALLY. Republicans are notorious for this. Cancer? Who gives a shit until one of my own gets struck. Crime? Who gives a shit until I am taken. I take it your friend is in a safe place. His/Her life intact, watching TV ...... A BIGGER reason people don't evacuate hurricanes is because they are POOR. Have no way out. Can't even get to the Super dome. It's a sad situation brought on by all of our greed, not your fault .... and I feel for your friends loss 'Materially' if any. OUR COUNTRY HAS THE ABILITY AND RESOURCES TO STOP ALL OF THIS BULLSHIT ...... TONIGHT. But we have other priority's $ ........ Imagine if you can the WHOLE WORLD in the state New Orleans is in right now? I would care less about my DVD player in that instance. Something has to change. Peace, and all the best to you and your friend......

[ovidsen]

12. Interesting!

And if that's the truth, it's certainly better than the idea that they're actually taking things without paying for them.

But if that's the case, why didn't they tell the MSNBC reporter that that's what they were doing? And if they DID, why didn't Olbermann air it? He's usually a fair guy.

[doublethink]

14. He that assumes makes an ass of you and me ....

I'm just saying? :shrug: and Peace .... :)

[pitohui]

8. yea well antoinette frank my favorite NOPD cop

what can you say

we see the best & the worst of human nature in such situations

[doublethink]

18. You get it .......

:) Peace.

[zulchzulu]

15. That's bullshit...they need to feed families too

Besides, it's a fucking Walmart. Tear the damn thing down while you're at it.

[Alcibiades]

19. That's true

I'm not going to go all the way to New Orleans to "set an example" by looting the Wal-Marts there. But I live across the street from one, and if it ever floods here, then I'm picking up my merchandise at a deep, deep discount!

Oh, look, yet another looting thread!

One of my friends lives in New Orleans--she had just bought a house, and took out flood insurance. She evacuated on Saturday. Everything irreplaceable, she took with her. Everything else is under ten feet of water, so she reckons her house is safe from looting.

There's no need to insist on a Kantian categorical imperative, here. Looting a Wal-Mart and someone's house are entirely different things. Looting your favorite retail outlets is a bit like a fire sale. It's all about deep discounts and consumerism gone wild.

Theres a certain amount of moral ambiguity that we ought to be comfortable with. "Judge not lest ye be judged," or something like that.