Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Rest in Peace, Edgar Hollingsworth
The tragedy of New Orleans continues to unfold, and with it, ceaseless outrage:
So, who was Edgar Hollingsworth? A New Orleans resident removed from his home 17 days after Hurricane Katrina hit. Unspeakable tragedy, but what can you do, right?
Wrong.
Edgar Hollingsworth, in his early 70's, was found by a National Guard member who BROKE THE RULES OF FEMA AND REFUSED TO SIMPLY KNOCK ON DOORS LOOKING FOR SURVIVORS.
Instead, he did what common sense dictates; he broke down the door and looked inside. There he found Mr. Hollingsworth, clinging to life:
How many Edgar Hollingsworths are scattered throughout the homes in New Orleans? In Biloxi? In Mobile?
How many more people has FEMA's disasterous, incompetent and downright stupid policies killed since the media has been forced to stand-down, despite a federal court order allowing them to witness search and recovery missions?
Of course, you have the option of not caring.
Go to www.freerepublic.com and read their comments on survivors. Should help you sleep better at night, processing death in the most myopic and stereotypic terms, denigrating them in any one of the following tried and true ways, quoted from Free Republic's "caring" citizens:
"
11 posted on 09/07/2005 10:21:53 PM PDT by Hong Kong Expat
"Because those elderly people raised thugs and condoned the thug-culture and would still rather condone it than promote individual responsibility."
9 posted on 09/03/2005 4:24:31 PM PDT by Naspino (Not creative enough to have a tagline.)
"NOLA your dead now lie down STFU and put a stake thru your whoring slaving trading heart.
VOO DOO ain't going to save you now."
138 posted on 09/03/2005 5:10:48 PM PDT by dts32041
If that's not enough, visit the website where you can find hundreds, perhaps thousands, just as distasteful and heinous. Unlike the bad smell in New Orleans, the stench that emanates from that Internet pond of scum will never erode.
These people represent Bush's political base. Scary, but true.
And they can overlook inconvenient deaths like that of Mr. Hollingsworth by simply referring to anyone who died as 'welfare cases' and through the implication that these people were somehow not worthy of living.
Ironically, they are the very same people who scream endlessly about "supporting our troops." Clearly, said support is an abstract concept, given that many of our elderly veterans were amongst those trapped in New Orleans, including Mr. Hollingsworth.
But I will make no such abstract claim. Instead, I will ask, and if that doesn't work, beg: support our human beings.
Support people like Edgar Hollingsworth over rich, uncaring, fundamentally crooked Washington power brokers who use our tax money for their own pet projects and treat the Treasury as a place to be looted, come Hell or highwater.
May you rest in peace, Edgar Hollingsworth - you and every other human being who died needlessly in the wake of the storm.
You are a testament to our eternal shame, a shame that cannot be ameliorated by pretending we are somehow more than you, or will receive better treatment when placed in your shoes.
You are our grandfather, our father, our "troops" --- and having given more to your country than you received, you deserved so much better than you got.
Edgar Hollingsworth, an Army veteran of the Korean War, died Saturday at a New Orleans area hospital, Air Force Capt. Brenda Hendrickson of the California National Guard told The Associated Press by phone from Louisiana. He had been found four days earlier buried under a pile of rubble.-- Associated Press
Hollingsworth is scheduled to be buried at 2 p.m. Tuesday with military honors at the Port Hudson National Cemetery, 10 miles north of Baton Rouge.
At the request of his wife, Lillian, military personnel and other authorities who helped rescue him will serve as pallbearers, along with his son, Wesley, the California National Guard said in a statement.
So, who was Edgar Hollingsworth? A New Orleans resident removed from his home 17 days after Hurricane Katrina hit. Unspeakable tragedy, but what can you do, right?
Wrong.
Edgar Hollingsworth, in his early 70's, was found by a National Guard member who BROKE THE RULES OF FEMA AND REFUSED TO SIMPLY KNOCK ON DOORS LOOKING FOR SURVIVORS.
Instead, he did what common sense dictates; he broke down the door and looked inside. There he found Mr. Hollingsworth, clinging to life:
The Federal Emergency Management Agency had issued orders to rescue workers not to enter Katrina-ravaged homes unless they heard the cries of survivors. However, a National Guard team disobeyed orders after seeing Hollingsworth's foot protruding from the rubble of a home.
The guard team bashed open the door and found Hollingsworth unconscious and emaciated. Rescue workers immediately gave him saline solution through an IV and rushed him to a local hospital.
How many Edgar Hollingsworths are scattered throughout the homes in New Orleans? In Biloxi? In Mobile?
How many more people has FEMA's disasterous, incompetent and downright stupid policies killed since the media has been forced to stand-down, despite a federal court order allowing them to witness search and recovery missions?
Of course, you have the option of not caring.
Go to www.freerepublic.com and read their comments on survivors. Should help you sleep better at night, processing death in the most myopic and stereotypic terms, denigrating them in any one of the following tried and true ways, quoted from Free Republic's "caring" citizens:
"
Gee, what part of MANDITORY(sic) EVACUATION didn't you understand?"
"If they were capable of self-government, they wouldn't have been poor in the first place."
11 posted on 09/07/2005 10:21:53 PM PDT by Hong Kong Expat
"Because those elderly people raised thugs and condoned the thug-culture and would still rather condone it than promote individual responsibility."
9 posted on 09/03/2005 4:24:31 PM PDT by Naspino (Not creative enough to have a tagline.)
"NOLA your dead now lie down STFU and put a stake thru your whoring slaving trading heart.
VOO DOO ain't going to save you now."
138 posted on 09/03/2005 5:10:48 PM PDT by dts32041
If that's not enough, visit the website where you can find hundreds, perhaps thousands, just as distasteful and heinous. Unlike the bad smell in New Orleans, the stench that emanates from that Internet pond of scum will never erode.
These people represent Bush's political base. Scary, but true.
And they can overlook inconvenient deaths like that of Mr. Hollingsworth by simply referring to anyone who died as 'welfare cases' and through the implication that these people were somehow not worthy of living.
Ironically, they are the very same people who scream endlessly about "supporting our troops." Clearly, said support is an abstract concept, given that many of our elderly veterans were amongst those trapped in New Orleans, including Mr. Hollingsworth.
But I will make no such abstract claim. Instead, I will ask, and if that doesn't work, beg: support our human beings.
Support people like Edgar Hollingsworth over rich, uncaring, fundamentally crooked Washington power brokers who use our tax money for their own pet projects and treat the Treasury as a place to be looted, come Hell or highwater.
May you rest in peace, Edgar Hollingsworth - you and every other human being who died needlessly in the wake of the storm.
You are a testament to our eternal shame, a shame that cannot be ameliorated by pretending we are somehow more than you, or will receive better treatment when placed in your shoes.
You are our grandfather, our father, our "troops" --- and having given more to your country than you received, you deserved so much better than you got.
