Subject: Baton Rouge


Subject: Letter from a Louisiana resident . . . This is good. Please pass
it on to others.

Those of us in La. know who screwed up this disaster. Our Governor,
the levee board, the Corps of Engineers and the New Orleans Mayor are
primarily to blame, with the incompetence of FEMA being secondary.

By the way, things have improved significantly. We give credit to our
armed forces who have taken the pressure off of local law enforcement
allowing them to regain control of our cities. I've often wondered why New
Orleans police have a reputation for being tough, no nonsense guys. I now
understand.

The looting here has been bad. You won't see it on TV, since we're
not even close to being news-worthy considering all the deprivation, death
and suffering being reported. Our parish took in the first 600 evacuees,
and put them up in one of our brand new high schools located next to I-10.
In l0 hours they had trashed the school, torn out urinals, ripped the
bleachers out of the gym and trashed the classrooms and computers. We moved
them, plus 600 more to a place across the Interstate at an expo center. By
Tuesday night, there were 3 car jackings and 3 armed robberies. So we had
to call in our deputies, police and Nat'l Guard troops to guard the
evacuees. Most of our law enforcement had been down in N.O. working the
rescue mission. The same stories apply to B.R., only multiply the numbers
10 fold. My godson/nephew is the chief of the K-9 Department in Shreveport,
250 miles north of B.R. He had been in N.O. working on the rescue till now,
except he has been called back to Shreveport tonight to protect against the
looting there. Mandy works for a doctor in a clinic next to our small
hospital in Gonzales. It's situated across the Interstate from the evacuee
center. At 11 AM yesterday (Thursday), the police locked down the hospital
and the clinic to protect them from looters. The clinic closed down at 2 PM
and the medical staff got escorts out of
the vicinity.

The national news seems to carry a constant theme of Louisiana
politicians crying "shame, shame America". "Where's the government?" It's
the mantra de jour.

Our governor had the power to declare martial law and commandeer school
buses to evacuate the N.O. folks. She did not. Her news conferences are
unscheduled, unformatted ramblings, punctuated with tears and calls for help
and prayers...but not much information or direction. She has been
noticeably absent from sight today since the President toured. Maybe I
can't see the forest for the trees here, but I don't want any of you
"Americans out there" to accept any blame for the lack of immediate response
when it was clearly the responsibility of local and state government
officials.

Frank H. Kean, III
1614 LaSalle Parc
Baton Rouge, La. 70806



Fact, if you are poor and uneducated in America, this is what happens.
Fact, if you depend on the government, you will be sorely disappointed.
Fact, if you are poor in America, there is no reason for you to be
uneducated. Its free! 12 grades. And if you really apply yourself, there
are enough grants and assistance out there for higher education, which will
raise you above the poverty level. And no longer will you depend on the
government and be disappointed.