New Orleans Is No More

It looks as if the city of New Orleans has undergone a level of destruction that can only be described as biblical. As I write this, there are unconfirmed reports of cannibalism coming out of the city. Extremists on both ends of the political spectrum have responded to the destruction in depressingly typical ways. Those on the racist right have claimed that the actions of the mostly African-American looters should be looked at as being a normal reaction for blacks in general to the absence of law enforcement. The radical leftists have gone to the opposite extreme, attempting to justify the looting as necessary for survival. When critics point out that jewelry and plasma screen TVs hardly qualify as survival items, said leftists respond by saying that the items in question would likely be ruined anyway by the floodwaters, and that insurance companies will cover the losses. Luckily, few American seem to be viewing the actions of the lowest strata of the black community in New Orleans as being representative of the whole, and look at the violence and looting with a healthy repugnance.