The insensitivity of the compassionate conservative

[Virginian]

I got this email, not from someone trying to convince me, but from someone who thought it was in poor taste and wanted to chat about it.

Subject: Fw: Fw: WEATHER BULLETIN


For those of you who are not aware, North Dakota and southwestern Montana
got hit with their first blizzard of the season a couple of weeks ago. This
text is from a County Emergency Manager out in
the western part of North Dakota after the storm. Amusing, if it were not
so true........

WEATHER BULLETIN

Up here in the Northern Plains we just recovered from an Historic event---
May I even say a "Weather Event" of "Biblical Proportions"? --- With a
historic blizzard of up to 24" inches of snow and winds to 50 MPH that broke
trees in half, stranded hundreds of motorists in lethal snow banks, closed
all roads, isolated scores of
communities, and cut power to tens of thousands.

FYI:

President George Bush did not come, and was not expected to come...

President George Bush did not cause the storm...

Global warming did not cause the storm...

FEMA staged nothing...

No one howled for the government to do something...

No one even uttered an expletive on TV...

Nobody demanded $2,000 debit cards...

No one asked for a FEMA Trailer House...

No one looted...

Phil Cantori of the Weather Channel did not come...

And Geraldo Rivera did not move in to be on camera.

Nope, we just melted snow for water, sent out caravans to pluck people out
of snow engulfed cars and trucks, checked on our neighbors, fired up wood
stoves, broke out coal oil lanterns or Aladdin lamps, and put on an extra
layer of clothes because up here it is take care of yourself and
others and 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
'sit at home' checks.

Even though a Category "5" blizzard of this scale has never fallen this
early, we know it can happen and and we know how to deal with it ourselves.
"In my many travels, I have noticed that once one gets north of about 45.25
degrees North Latitude, 90% of the world's social problems evaporate."

Who are the people who write this insensitive stuff.
How many homes did the blizzard destroy? How many businesses were wiped out leaving people without jobs? How many people died? How many people lost everything, including loved ones in that blizzard.
Are the right wingers so callous that human lives mean nothing to them?

[Justitia]

1. Is there like more than 10 people in that area anyway????

From the census numbers, the population for the ENTIRE STATE of ND is only slightly more than the city of New Orleans.

And when was the last time someone drowned in snow?

And "social problems evaporate"? If I remember correctly, those states were among the highest for "red state welfare".

Idiots.

[Virginian]

2. Liberals are people who have learned to play well with others.

No social problems in ND? By the time a kid enters school, he has met everyone he will ever meet in his lifetime. That would pretty much stunt one's social development. Imagine a world run by five-year-olds. Pretty scary, huh?

[Toots]

3. Comparing getting 24" of snow to a devestating hurricane

Kind of similar to the Congressman who claimed Blanco lost over a thousand Americans in a single day and compared it to the death toll in Iraq and saying Bush* is doing good by comparison..

[JHB]

4. Snopes is your friend

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

Claim: E-mail compares North Dakotans' response to a blizzard to New Orleans residents' handling of the flood brought on by Hurricane Katrina.

Status: Multiple — see below

Example:

(example of the letter)

(snips)
The e-mail makes the claim of the snowbound Dakotans "No one howled for the government." Yet in a 31 October 2005 letter to President Bush, Governor John Hoeven of North Dakota did indeed "request that you declare a major disaster for the State of North Dakota as a result of a severe winter storm/snowfall, accompanied by record-breaking snowfall, rain and high winds, that occurred on October 4-6, 2005." Said request for official disaster status was spurred by an interest in obtaining FEMA assistance (e.g. "Additionally, eleven counties meet the criteria established by the Federal Emergency Management Agency 'for near record snowfall' and should be eligible for assistance with FEMA’s snow policy <9523.1>").

Midwesterners hit by this storm appear to have overcome their short-lived catastrophe without federal assistance (although as of 31 October 2005, North Dakota is seeking to recoup its storm-related expenditures from the government — see the Letter to the President above). However, in comparing response to that weather-related disaster to what overwhelmed New Orleans, it needs be pointed out that the bulk of the digging out from under the snowfall and rescuing stranded motorists from snow-entombed cars fell to the state's police and emergency service workers and the National Guard, not (as the e-mail would have it) to rugged individual citizens who hadn't been "immobilized by a welfare program that trades votes for 'sittin at home' checks." The nature and severity of the two disasters were different — the one could be coped with locally, but the other could not.
Barbara "one can shovel snow, but one cannot shovel water" Mikkelson
--------

So it's not just in bad taste, it's wrong.

[Justitia]

8. ha, ha, ha - good find! Definitely send back w/"reply all" -eom

[CornField]

5. The arrogance is astounding

To even consider being in a sound shelter without power (but with heat) for one cold night compares to days in the heat without shelter or water is stupidity at its finest. Until someone comes in and tells ND their snow is a contaminent incompatible with life, they should just sit by their nice warm heaters, wearing their nice warm clothing, sipping their nice warm hot chocolate and keep their mouths shut.

Edited to add, I know this is a fake, but I'm still pissed off because 'someone' wrote it -- and obviously believes the drivel it contains.

[BJW]

6. FEMA is assisting--disaster was declared

This is thinly-disguised racist b-shit.

[EstimatedProphet]

7. Add this and send it back with 'reply all'

FYI, also

No one died from the storm

No buildings were destroyed

No one was told to evacuate, without means to do so

No floating dead bodies were found

The water supply was not poisoned

No one was trapped in shelters for days without food or water

No one was left homeless from the storm

There was no need to pass out $2,000 debit cards

Even given all this, the Governor wanted to declare a disaster area (insert Snopes link), although there really wasn't the need for one like there was following Katrina.

So why, after a hurricane as devastating as Katrina where thousands were killed, is this email trying to compare the two storms? they don't compare. The only thing that does compare is Bush's response-NOTHING. At least here it's justified.