America's Most Wanted - Looters

I have struggled with writing something regarding the devastation left behind from Katrina. I have pretty strong opinions when it comes to political topics (no - seriously. I do). The destruction and clean-up stories are being covered everywhere. And each one I read brings me closer to tears.

But there are two topics related to Katrina that make me sick. The first comes from the leftist’s communists, eco-terrorists, represented by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who are blaming the hurricane on the Bush Administration’s rejection of the Kyoto agreement. I do not have the time or the will to discuss the ignorance of this argument right now. Judging by the majority of the comments on the leftwing Huffington Blog, most people (left and right) feel the same way I do. If anyone cares to argue the point we can do that later. It will undoubtedly be a very short argument.

The other issue that disturbs me is the looting and lawlessness that is taking place in New Orleans and surrounding devastated areas. This is disturbing, tragic, and sad and I am struggling to understand what type of American would do this. The same type of American who looted in New York in the 70’s, Los Angeles in the 90’s, and New Orleans today. At least, it appears to be the same demographics. Poor, mostly black men and women taking from those trusting individuals (of all races) who evacuated as told ahead of the storm. Individuals who trusted their fellow Americans to not take what was left behind.

I think it is important to separate looters into two types. The first group is people who have gone 48 hours or more without food and water and are breaking into stores to fulfill those basic life-sustaining needs. These people have my sympathy and I do not look down on them, as I would do exactly the same thing in that situation.

The second group, however, should be shot on site. Those breaking into stores and walking out with flat screen TV’s (hey idiots, you won’t have electricity for a month or so – good luck with that T.V.), jewelry, radios, etc. These people are so brazen in their looting that they are doing this in broad daylight within site of public officials who are frantically searching for survivors. Where is the Korean storekeeper who we saw in LA armed with his gun to keep away the looters? I’ll tell you – he is in Dallas, or Houston, or Shreveport – praying that he made the right decision to leave behind all he owned for the sake of saving his family’s life.

I pray these looters don’t make it into the evacuation buses headed for my city. This type of individual will have a field day in Dallas. We already have the worst crime rate in the country. I’m not sure this city is ready to handle the long-term effects of relocating hundreds of lawless individuals to a town already know for its lawlessness.

So the question is why? Why does one particular demographic have a proclivity, given certain situations, to take from others in the middle of such tragedy? Is it because they have “felt repressed by the man” for so long that they are fighting back? If so, then how do you explain the looting in LA by minorities in minority communities? Is this behavior prevalent in all races and we only see the manifestation of it in minorities because those just happen to be the sectors hit the hardest in the previously sited incidents? I don’t have the answers. And if you started reading this because you thought I did – I’m sorry. This is more of a “thinking out load” exercise for me. I’m trying to understand where all the good Americans went – the ones we saw in New York on 9/11. The ones we found out about on Flight 93. The ones we read about fighting in Iraq (well, at least those of us who read something other than The Times). I know they are there in New Orleans. I just wish they didn’t have to compete for airtime with the criminals.