To follow-up on the anniversary of Hurricane “Katrina” and what really happened down there here is some more information that the Mainstream media (MSM) seems to ignore. I hear Spike Lee has a new movie out now about Katrina and even suggests that the levees were “Blown up” with explosives so to flood out the poor areas of New Orleans.
Seems that the MSM and Lee are quick to criticize the reaction time of the Federal government and Fema when in fact it is the initial responsibility of the State government to activate the National Guard. History in fact shows that President Bush asked Louisiana Governor Blanco (Dem) to activate the National Guard but she elected not to. Just like New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin decided not to evacuate people with hundreds of school busses because he wanted “Greyhound Busses” to be sent down…
The Investor Business Daily reports numerous facts about the National Guard’s work during Katrina that the MSM seems to fail to mention: IBD 30 Aug 2006
The National Guard had 2,500 troops in New Orleans during the hurricane and had thousands of liters of water and MRE’s and supplies at the Superdome in advance…
After the storm hit the National Guard embarked on one of the largest rescue\relief operations including: 10,244 sorties flown, 88,181 passengers moved, 18,834 cargo tons hauled, and 17,411 “Saves” by helicopter lifts from roofs and dangerous areas.
The National Guard had more than 200 boats and 150 copters working…
The National Guard makeshift Medical Center at the Superdome handled 5,000+ patients and delivered seven babies…
The National Guard did a great job and it is unfortunate that this is not reported as it should in the Mainstream media outlets…
The Winfield's heard that the Senator would be passing by the farm on his way into Stuarts Draft to tour and meet with the workers at the Hershey plant.
They decided to put a few things to attract the attention of the "Allen Tour Bus" as it passed and also to show their support of his campaign. It worked and the Senator stopped to meet with the Winfields and thank them for their support. Alongwith making stops as the Senator at the Hershey plant to discuss issues and meet with business leaders such as the workers at Hershey, Senator Allen is also taking the opportunity to stop and meet with citizens of the state on a fact finding tour...
Senator Allen took the opportunity to meet and talk with Scott Winfield about farming and agricultural issues in the Valley. He spent some informative and quality time finding out about the status of the farmers in the area and Scott was glad to talk with the Senator about the Turkey production part of his farm operation. Scott was also able to get a photo with Senator Allen in front of a sign after a minor alteration to show "Farmers for Allen" support for the Senators re-election to the Senate...
With the first anniversary of the Katrina hurricane upon us there are many media programs out there right now looking back on the disaster and what has happened since then. As with many major events like this it is interesting to watch how the media covers the event and the “feeding frenzy” that they seem to get caught up in trying to be the “First to report the story”…
It will be interesting to see how many of the “First Reports” will be portrayed now or even mentioned…Remember some of the stories coming out of New Orleans during, after, and to this day about “what happened” in New Orleans from the hurricane?
The book “The Politics of Disaster” written by Marvin Olasky notes many of the media reports that came out of Katrina:
* “Police Chief Compass spoke of little babies getting raped”…
* Mayor Ray Nagin described hundreds of armed gang members killing and raping people inside the dome and requested 10,000 body bags”…
* “Reporters circulated rumors of hundreds of gang members killing people at the Superdome and thirty to forty bodies stored in the Convention Center freezer“. (Actual number: Zero)…
* “The Los Angeles Times reported Snipers and armed mobs terrorizing seething crowds of refugees” (Never Happened)…
* “CNN’s Paula Zahn speaking of bands of rapists going block to block”. (There were no such bands)…
* “NPR Radio told listeners that a thirteen year old was reportedly raped and killed in a Convention Center bathroom”. (Did not happen)…
* “Fox News Geraldo Rivera’s novelistic sense was as good as ever when he spoke of how “The sun set on a scene of terror, chaos, confusion, anarchy, violence, rapes, murders, dead babies, dead people”…
* “Oprah Winfrey told her fans that in the Superdome “gangs banded together and had more ammunition, at times, than the police.”
* “On AIR AMERICA radio, Randi Rhodes repeatedly urged poor listeners in hurricane areas to loot away, avoiding discount centers and hitting the high-end stores”…
“Orleans Parrish DA Eddie Jordan later said that four murders had occurred in the entire city during the week after Katrina hit, making it a typical week in a
city that anticipates more than two hundred homicides per year”…
“New Orleans coroner Frank Minyard said he had only seven gunshot victims during hurricane week: “Seven gunshots isn’t even a good Saturday night in New Orleans.”…
And then there was the fraud and looting that happened. The American people responded by providing millions of dollars in private donations to the victims of the Katrina hurricane. Unfortunately many took advantage of the situation where possible as reported here in a newspaper article by Eric Lipton:
Auditors Find Huge Fraud in FEMA Aid
By ERIC LIPTONFebruary 11, 2006WASHINGTON, Feb. 10 —
Thousands of applicants for federal emergency relief money after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita used duplicate or invalid Social Security numbers or bogus addresses, suggesting that the $2.3 billion program was a victim of extensive fraud, a Congessional auditor will report Monday.
The auditors did not try to estimate the total dollar amount of fraudulent claims. But the report says that FEMA itself had found that 900,000 of the 2.5 million applications for all forms of individual assistance were "potential duplicates."Still, the auditors found signs of fraud nearly everywhere:
¶ Nearly half of the 11,000 individuals who received special debit cards as payment — an approach used in the immediate aftermath of the storm in Texas — got a second $2,000 payment in emergency aid.
¶ Inspections of 200 properties in Texas and Louisiana listed as home addresses turned up 80 that were vacant lots or nonexistent apartments.
¶ More than half of a group of 248 other applicants had used Social Security numbers that were never issued, belonged to dead people or did not match the name provided.In one case, auditors found 17 individuals, some with the same last name and addresses, who used 34 bogus Social Security numbers to collect more than $103,000 in payments.Auditors found isolated instances where the electronic debit cards were used to pay for "adult entertainment," a .45-caliber handgun, jewelry or bail bond services.
Much has been reported, and ignored at the same time, of an incident at the Augusta County Fair last week when a volunteer from the “Democrat” booth made a rude and unacceptable comment. The comment was directed towards Rhonda Winfield who was at a booth supporting the troops and was signing her book about her son, Marine Lance Cpl. Jason Redifer who was killed in action while serving his country in Iraq last year, for fair visitors purchasing the book.
I was in attendance at the time the comment was made when the volunteer from the “Democrat” booth said “Jim Webb is more of an American patriot than this man ever was.” and placed campaign literature for “Democrat” Jim Webb on top of the book that Rhonda was holding…
This story has been told and discussed for the past week or so in the Letter to the Editor section of the NewsVirginian and numerous blogs. The interesting thing is how the story has been reported by the NewsVirginian and comments made by the editor Todd Foster… After the incident I wrote a letter to the editor describing the incident with direct quotes and sources and submitted it to the NewsVirginian. Instead of my letter being printed in the normal format it appeared next to and after a Letter to the Editor from the chairman of the Augusta County Democrat party, Tom Long describing the incident, which he was not present at and providing no direct quotes, sources, or timeline. Foster stated that he did not contact Long but Long’s letter started with: “I am writing only because Mr. Steve Kijak wrote first, attacking Augusta County Democrats. The News Virginian graciously offered an opportunity to respond.” How did Long know of my letter that had not yet been printed? Long’s letter did not provide any direct quotes or sources of information.
I wrote a follow up Letter to the Editor in response to Long’s letter but it could not be published according to Foster due to many other letters from the “Democrats” that were submitted already. http://newsvirginian.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WNV%2FMGArticle%2FWNV_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149190132416&path=!news!opinions One letter from a “Democrat” has been printed and that letter provides little facts or sources to what happened at the “Democrat” booth. The letter writer was also not present at the time of the comment at the Republican booth so Facts are limited here also… My response letter appeared today in the “Free for All” section of the NewsVirginian next to the “Reader photo of the week” of a hummingbird, and in a section that includes classified ads and the weather report. This response letter is no way near the “Opinion” section where Letter to the editor letters appear and are expected… Maybe next time it will be near the cooking section?
In contrast the Augusta Free Press has interviewed Rhonda Winfield on the incident for facts and has also contacted me to determine directly what happened. http://www.augustafreepress.com/stories/storyReader$40395 To this date the NewsVirginian has NOT contacted Rhonda for a description of the incident on a firsthand basis.
This post is to note the numerous way a story can be reported and the way “Facts” can be determined and\or ignored. Foster of the NewsVirginian stated that he never “Interviewed” Tichenor but called him just to determine that he was the person who made the comment. But in the NewsVirginian account of the incident the NewsVirginian reported:“Tichenor says he left immediately, but Republicans say he disrespected the mother of fallen Marine Jason Redifer, a Stuarts Draft native who was killed in Iraq. Redifer’s mother, Rhonda Winfield, was at the Republican booth signing copies of her new book, which is about her son. Tichenor allegedly pointed to the book cover and said “that man” [Redifer] wasn’t the hero that Webb was. Webb was Navy secretary under President Reagan and crossed party lines to run against Allen.”
Foster stated that he only determined that Tichenor was the person involved. But here he reports that “Tichenor says he left immediately”. The NewsVirginian also provided more information about Tichenor in their report stating: “Local Republicans ought to understand, too, that Tichenor will be 88 years old on Sept. 1. The retired DuPont chief chemist is a Ph.D. and Rhodes Scholar. On Thursday night, he was clearly confused.” Pretty good amount of information provided by Foster just asking if Tichenor was the person who made the comment as stated in the editor notes that appeared in todays paper following my response: “Editor’s response: No one from the Democratic side was interviewed. Mr. Tichenor was asked to confirm whether he was the volunteer in question.”
Many newspapers respond by claiming that there is no “bias” in the mainstream media and it is just a ploy used by the evil Republicans when the story is not reported their way. I am not claiming “Bias” in the way the NewsVirginian reported this story but I am questioning the tactics and procedures used by the editor to present the facts and the newspapers “Opinion” as it appeared on their opinion page…
Have to go now and cancel my subscription to the NewsVirginian. A subscription that I started and signed up for on the first day of the Augusta County Fair at the NewsVirginian booth…
The Augusta Free Press: http://www.augustafreepress.com/
The NewsVirginian Opinion page:
http://newsvirginian.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WNV/Page/WNV_SectionFront&c=Page&cid=1059969228147
The United Conservatives Blog: http://unitedconservatives.blogspot.com/2006/08/news-virginian-another-example-of.html
SwacGirl Blog: http://swacgirl.blogspot.com/2006/08/todd-foster-gets-last-word.html
The recent incident at the Augusta County Fair where a Democrat Volunteer of the Jim Webb campaign made a insulting comment about the memory of Marine Lance Cpl. Jason Redifer to his mother, Rhonda Winfield has received much attention within the County Republicans. Unfortunately the local Waynesboro newspaper "elected" to voice their opinion as to what happened on their opinion page without interviewing Rhonda Winfield. But they did interview the Democrat Volunteer about the incident and published his comments...
"If you think all conservatives wear
suits you haven't met the United Conservatives of Virginia!
We go where wingtips fear to tread!"
Flora over at the "United Conservatives" blog read about the incident and took a ride over to Richmond to meet and interview Rhonda Winfield. She conducted a in depth interview and has been reporting on it for the past several days and it is exactly what the Waynesboro newspaper, The NewsVirginian should have done. Link to her post on this follows:
http://unitedconservatives.blogspot.com/2006/08/news-virginian-another-example-of.html
The local Waynesboro newspaper The Newsvirginian has turned a recent incident where a Democrat volunteer to the Jim Webb Senate campaign insulted the memory of a fallen U.S. Marine into a "Cindy Sheehan" issue.
The "NewsVirginian" stated on it's Opinion page: "However, Republicans have no compunction about attacking another mother who also lost her son in Iraq. The difference is Cindy Sheehan has joined the antiwar movement. That should not make her a target of neoconservative wrath. A mother is a mother, whether she’s a Democrat or Republican. Winfield is as far right as Sheehan is left. Both should be off limits to criticism."
As stated in the title of this post, I do know Rhonda Winfield and she is no Cindy Sheehan. Rhonda has continually supported the memory of her son, Marine Lance Cpl. Jason Redifer who was lost in Iraq fighting the war on terrorism. She wrote a book about her son and his sacrafice to our country and it's citizens. Sheehan on the other hand has taken the memory of her son and turned it into a politcal vehicle for her benefit while the media disregards the facts about her son, Casey Sheehan...
It is unfortunate, but not unexpected, that the local newspaper has turned this away from a attack on the memory of a fallen soldier and to a political issue.
Let me point out a few facts about Cindy Sheehan and her son:
Casey Sheehan volunteered for his service to the military...
Casey Sheehan re-enlisted in the military when he had the opportunity...
Casey Sheehan volunteered for the rescue mission which he was killed on while trying to rescue other military personnel and serving his country...
Cindy Sheehan has taken every opportunity to capitialize on the loss of her son and she has truely turned the issue into a political one...
Rhonda, is NO Cindy Sheehan....
Flora over at United Conservatives Blog has a novel idea but one that I doubt the local Democrat party will use...
http://unitedconservatives.blogspot.com/2006/08/webb-campaigner-insults-lcpl-jason.html
more to follow...
