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We all saw the same thing. We didn't have to rub our eyes in disbelief either. Maybe we were expecting it. As Hurricane Katrina was sweeping through the states of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana hundreds of thousands of families were trying to escape to safety with their loved ones. The worst of society was also sweeping through the storm ravaged cities like New Orleans. Immeasurable thousands of the dregs of society rose to the top of their game and only proved an old familiar axiom that disaster brings out the absolute worst in people.

It was the worst of humanity that was roaming unchecked through the city of New Orleans. These thieves were open and defiant and did not fear apprehension. They were brazen in their unchecked thievery, doing it in open daylight, with television network cameras rolling and holding their own version of a Blue Light special.

So while governors, elected officials and FEMA representatives were alerting the residents and the nation to help, to donate, to give what it could for the sake of others, these criminals were, according to an Associated Press report, becoming weaponized. These thieves had become roaming gangs who were armed with possibly newly acquired firearms. New Orleans' homeland security chief, Terry Ebbert, said looters were breaking into stores all over New Orleans and stealing guns. They even decided that they would go after the cops. Mr. Ebbert pointed out in published reports that some of the gangs of armed men moving had fired upon police officers who had been stranded on the roof of a hotel.

Just what would be the motivation of a person to walk out of their home that day, now freshly flooded, and decide, "I'm going to go down to the neighborhood store or even better yet, downtown and take what's mine, because after all society owes me something?"

These are individuals who were morons before they left their home. This disaster of historic proportions was merely a dinner plate that had been set for them, courtesy of Hurricane Katrina. The hurricane did not suddenly change a church going person with high moral standards into a morally challenged cretin. They were basking in their 15 seconds of fame as they explained to the camera in a near gleeful manner how the items they were looting were just the essentials; you know...televisions, electronic equipment, jewelry and clothing.

What should be done? Of course there are some liberals who are advancing the feather weight theory that these looters are just circumstantial criminals, thieves who by day are ordinary law-abiding citizens, who are just stressed out, uptight and pushed over the edge because of seeing so much horror. Their tortured little minds just plain snapped. Now I have to say that type of logic is as airtight as the levees that gave way in New Orleans.

The only shock they may be suffering from is that they may be identified later when all of the television cameras that recorded their misdeeds come back to haunt them in court. Just look at the items of choice they decided to take. Unless pilfering a television set is a survival item in a city with no electricity, these marauding rogues and their new family of criminal neighbors is truly no better than those who would steal from a family who was attending a funeral of a loved one.

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