The Liberal Patriot

Are We Now Third World?

J.G. Schwam - August 31, 2005

What has happened to our government? This time a disaster nearly on the scale of the Indian Ocean Tsunami, famine and civil wars in Africa, genocide and war in Yugoslavia, floods in the Pakistan has happened to Americans. Each time the US Army and aid organizations shipped millions of pounds of relief supplies abroad.

We launched the Berlin Airlift and deployed the Navy in Indonesia, airlifted tens of thousands of tons of food and medial supplies to Ethiopia.

Where for the love of god are they now. Now that has happened on our shores.

They say it takes time but FEMA has dragged their feet and our utterly cold hearted disgraceful excuse for a president has ignored a gross amount of actions available to them to still the suffering and hunger and restore in our own country. This is not the third world; we are America, the world’s only super power, the richest, largest economy the world has ever known.

I cannot believe that no one in Washington or not to mention any of governors of Mississippi or Louisiana have not thought of the following options that could be happening now.

Consolidated Bakeries plants across the Midwest have tens of thousands of loaves bread in inventory at any given time a fraction of which could be requisitioned to feed the hungry.

Wal-Mart has a fleet of many hundreds of trucks and millions of pounds of food, diapers, clothing, milk and water and more in their warehouses.

Hormel has thousands of pounds of Salami, bologna and more in it plants at any given time. Beef giant IBP has thousand of pounds of beef in Iowa and elsewhere. Land O’ Lakes has thousands of pounds of cheese. Andy Boy and Dole have thousands of pounds of lettuce and Tomatoes in California and elsewhere.

Pfizer, Merck, Tycho, Johnson & Johnson, McKesson and others have thousands of pounds of medicine, insulin and first aid supplies in their warehouses across the nation.

JB Hunt, Yellow Freight, Covenant and many other national and super regional trucking lines others have the trucks to get it all there. Federal Express and UPS have fleets of hundreds of 747 freighters that could land the supplies in Baton Rouge, Jackson and Houston.

The Army and Barnum & Bailey have huge tents that could house thousands. There are hundreds of tankers available that could have thousands of gallons of water and fuels in place already. The army has military field stoves and mess tents that can cook for thousands. There portable power companies that have semi trailer sized generators and air conditioning units that could be in place.

Why didn’t the government requisition all of the above and more to aggressively quell the suffering on Tuesday afternoon when the level of the destruction was apparent?

There is looting largely because people are hungry, scared ill clad and panicking.

Do they not have the cash to reimburse these corporations for products and services? Are that broke that we cannot even take care of our own?

Do we not even have fifty thousand soldiers or guardsman to protect the lives of the living, restore order and distribute essentials on our own shores any more?

Or does our government just not give a damn anymore? I shudder to rationalize which is reason is the correct one. Are we really now third world?

I t shames and saddens me to think that we may have to start exchanging God bless America for God help us.

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