The Katrina evacuees that "didn't want to leave" and other Thelma Drake malarkey

Of course, much of the agony could have been avoided, but some still refuse to see this. Recently, I had the opportunity to ask Congresswoman Thelma Drake, "how is it we can mobilize an Army to evacuate Lebanon, but we couldn+óGé¼Gäót evacuate New Orleans?

Her response was simply, "They didn+óGé¼Gäót want to leave."

As I pondered the ignorance and broad-brush dismissal of her answer, I could only shake my head in bewilderment, knowing of several thousand people trapped in the Superdome and Convention Center begging for help. I remember the aerial pictures of those trapped on roofs with signs pleading for help. Then I learned of exit roads from the city being blockaded by armed vigilantes who prevented an influx of people of color into their white suburban refuges. And Drake justifies the ineptitude by blaming the victims.

I shouldn+óGé¼Gäót be surprised: The Congresswoman continued to amaze me with her rallying Virginia for offshore drilling, by saying there were no spills from the offshore rigs from Hurricane Katrina +óGé¼GÇ¥ and only casually acknowledging that the tanks and refineries on shore did receive damage.

I tried to explain to her that Bayou Sauvage, formerly the last and largest wildlife refuge in the New Orleans area, is now a toxic wasteland. Once vibrant and green bayou, it stands a year later a dead zone. No plants have taken root, the trees barren with a telltale oil line 3 feet up their trunks. So while the rigs withstood the winds, the tanks, boats and processing plants on the shore have created America+óGé¼Gäós newest candidate for a Superfund site.

Drake is sliding into Rumsfeld territory - we can't take a word she says seriously.

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