On Quitters
I can’t even begin to form coherent thoughts about this ignorant asshole’s latest column:
It’s over for the Saints. Their city, their stadium, their lives are a mess. And given the death toll and the economic devastation of Katrina, the franchise’s future is somewhere else.
While most the city of New Orleans lies under seven feet of water, thousands lie dead, and tens of thousands lie in shelters, this impotent sack of bloody whore pus is advocating that the perenially-losing team that the city has (for some reason) wildly supported for 38 years pack up its bags and move to Los Angeles. LA, a city of nearly four million people, has such finnicky and worthless fanbase that in the past it couldn’t support one pro team. Look at how LA treats the Clippers… the Saints would need a whiny probable rapist as team captain to get any Angelinos to fill the seats.
The Saints permanently leaving would be laughable if the city’s existing wounds weren’t so fresh and deep. Tom Benson may be many things, but he’s not stupid when it comes to non-football matters. He would be a villain the likes of which America has never seen. To New Orleanians, Bin Laden and Benedict Arnold would be remembered fondly in comparison. If anything, this disaster has solidified the Saints’ place in Louisiana.
But allow me to address Czarnecki and the other defeatist shitferbrains who are calling for New Orleans to not be rebuilt (or in Dennis “Pork” Hastert’s case, further demolished):
When the World Trade Center buildings collapsed, did we question rebuilding such a commanding symbol of America’s economic power? Hell, the site is a ripe target for terrorists: After they were attacked by terrorists in 1993, didn’t people realize that it may be attacked again? After they were destroyed by terrorists in 2001, didn’t the plans for a replacementinclude safety measures in the highly likely event it would also be attacked? Despite the high probability of further attacks, New York has persisted in its efforts to replace the towers. And thank God for that, because despite what some raving lunatics claim, New Yorkers (and Americans in general) aren’t cowards and quitters.
Meanwhile, America fights a global war on terrorism despite cloudy end goals and long odds. Some funny-smelling slack-jawed idiots call for America to remove its troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. Why? Because our military is sustaining casualties and costing us vast sums of money. Well, I’ve never heard of a bloodless and inexpensive war that was worth fighting. If there is one thing that can be learned from the early years of the (then-unknown) war on terrorism, it’s that quitting empowers terrorists.
The situation New Orleans now finds itself in was repeatedly predicted and well-known by anyone with even a remote knowledge of its levee system. If rebuilt, the city will still be in danger. Another massive hurricane is nearly guaranteed within the next 100 years.
But as with the WTC, the global war on terrorism, and fast cars and short skirts, quitting is not an option. The greatest war of all remains that of humankind versus nature: the fight to control disease, to survive natural disaster, and to control the primal yet natural instincts that resides deep within all of us. The french quarter still stands, downtown still stands, many of the residential areas still stand. Fuck no. If the people of New Orleans will still cheer for a shitty football team after 38 years of ineptitude, what makes you think they’ll cede their home to Poseidon?
But while quitting should not be a choice in any necessary conflict, proceeding blindly without concern for the mistakes of the past is equally foolhardy. Jeff Jarvis links to an old Times Picayune article detailing some of the regulatory changes and infrastructure improvements that must be implemented in order to survive future storms. The destruction of the wetlands south of New Orleans is perhaps the biggest contributor to the severity of incoming Hurricanes. As the Picayune mentions, normal coastal restoration techniques are not enough, new methods are needed. When most people think of environmentalists, they think of mouth-breathing potheads chaining themselves to trees and torching SUVs, but it’s time for mainstream and bi-partisan environmentalists concerned with coastal management rather than pure conservation to be seen and heard. If I’m missing a group that’s doing this, please alleviate my ignorance.
There are too many who have died or lost everything they have for New Orleans to ever be the same. But the city’s infrastructure can and will be rebuilt, and I for one plan to be there for Super Bowl XLIV.
