New Orleans: Anarchy Would Be An Improvement

I still can't bring myself to dish any humor right now. The news that rescuers in New Orleans are being SHOT AT -- not carjacked, not threatened, but SHOT AT for no reason -- is really pissing me off.

A medical evac helicopter tried to land at a Kenner-area hospital. There were over a hundred people waiting on the helipad, many with guns. The pilot refused to land. I don't blame him; he'd almost certainly have been skyjacked.

People who donated their boats to relief efforts have given up, because people were firing shots at them as they rescued stranded residents. People are "commandeering" (read: stealing) evacuation buses. Even military helicopters are being shot at.

(I apologize for having no links for these; I'm clicking from blog to blog and from news site to news site rather quickly.)

And my big question is: WHY? How can ANY rational human being justify shooting at rescuers? Demanding that they be rescued, sure, I can buy that. But just firing shots at rescuers for no reason?

Karen suggests that if the looters and criminals can maintain the lawlessness -- if they can keep the police and military from gaining control -- then the criminals remain in charge. (Not that there's anything left to be "in charge" of ...) But we're no longer talking about a disaster, or a "war zone", or lack of civilization. We're now talking about something we in the West have never seen before: a complete breakdown of social order.

I'm off to Las Vegas for a few days (a trip that cannot be cancelled at this late date). Maybe it will give me some distance from the disaster, and I can be a bit more entertaining when I get back. I certainly hope entertainment will be appropriate when I return.