You know how in your local paper you have certain people who get published a lot? You know, the kind you wonder about what connections they have because what they say seems to mean so little.
This is one of those people. Until recently, all he did was write scathing letters about Democrats, praise Bush to the heavens. He is the kind that people write to the paper about in droves, disputing his ignorance of issues.
Well, read this and enjoy. It is a beautiful thing to behold.
Andrew Jackson got the British out of New Orleans in less than 24 hours.
The most powerful nation on Earth and its military could not even restore law and order in the city for four days.
When a patient dies in surgery, the operating surgeon is held responsible. It is called the Captain of the Ship Doctrine.
And there is even more. Dr. Sear is truly fed up, and I do love it.
It doesn’t matter if the anesthesiologist fell asleep, the scrub nurse miscounted the instruments or the blood bank gave you the wrong blood. As leader of the team, it is your burden.
If I as a pathologist make the wrong diagnosis, the same is true. I lose my job. That has happened in Polk County. A running back fumbles the ball, a CEO bankrupts the company — it’s their fault.
Two days prior to the landfall of Hurricane Katrina, anyone who watched the Weather Channel knew that a Category 5 hurricane had the Big Easy in its sights. Numerous studies had predicted the outcome. And, yet, FEMA, an emergency-response agency, made no provision for the worst-case scenario.
The day after this disaster, FEMA was turning down offers of aid from everyone, including Mayor Daley of Chicago. The commander in chief of our military could not even get a battalion of Army Rangers in the next day to restore order. Consequently, thousands of our citizens, mostly poor and black, were forced to live in filth and terror for days thereafter.
This was disgraceful and inexcusable. I’m sorry, captain, you fumbled the ball. Your appointees failed you.
Where was smart aleck Don Rumsfeld with his mobile military? John Ashcroft can cover nude statues in the Department of Justice, but we can’t pick up bodies in New Orleans? Where was your director of FEMA? He should be fired forthwith [he has been reassigned]. And, most importantly, where were you, sir, after the costliest natural disaster in our history?
I have been a loyal and steadfast Republican all my life, but this makes me wonder, is it time for a change?
OWEN SEAR, M.D.
Winter Haven
And just for good measure, a very short, very potent letter from a friend and fellow DFAer here. She and her husband are prolific letter writers.
Lost in Iraq, Needed on Coast
Remember the $9 billion lost in Iraq that the Republicans will not investigate? Think if we had that money today for New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.
PRISCILLA KRIMM
Lakeland
