Well, we're still flooding here (the temp's are much better 40-50's this weekend) - all over the state, and the citizens here, are still sandbagging and Protecting Our Own, we do not wait for Fovernment Assistance or handouts, and expect the taxpayers to Bail Us Out. We're tough, we dig in, we help each other, and know what it means to be a neighbor without having known the person next to us the day before as we fill one sandbag after the other. We do not leech on society - we contribute - we trust - we roll up our sleeves and pitch in. So - no blame to put on anyone - nature at it's best. So - maybe, if some people would expend their energy in a more conducive manner, the end results in New Orleans would have been better. Learn to work together as a people and quit waiting for handouts.

Dateline: Fargo, ND (2009) As floodwaters recede in Fargo, people all over the country are demanding answers, and the finger pointing has begun. First, why weren’t enough busses rushed to Fargo to deliver every single, solitary resident out of harm’s way? And why was there no infrastructure set up to prevent further tragedy for those who were left behind, abandoned by their own government?

Many people were left without power. A Reuters correspondent who saw the suffering firsthand commented on his blog, “it’s just like Baghdad only worse.” While locals scramble to survive, many are turning from grief to outrage. “Where’s my FEMA-issued $2000 check card, eh? Why do I have to wait for my free trailer, dontcha know?” demands one local, who asked not to be identified for fear of government reprisals against his personal safety.

Personal safety is a growing concern among citizens who fear that President Obama does not have the Fargolese people’s best interest at heart. Climate change activists in Europe are blaming Obama’s reckless attempts to reduce global temperatures for the sub-zero conditions now threatening lives. Rev. Louis Farrakhan is demanding an investigation by the United Nations into allegations that the President sent covert agents to Fargo to bomb the banks of the Red River and cause flooding and possible death to thousands of mostly white North Dakotans.

Farrakhan is not the first to bring the question of race into the picture. At a protest in San Diego, Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rev. Al Sharpton took to the streets leading angry Caucasians in cries of “No justice, no peace!” President Jimmy Carter, while in Zimbabwe to receive the Robert Mugabe Medal of Valor, took a moment to address the Fargo situation. He said, “We need only see the faces of flood victims to know that America does not value the lives of white people.” And Fargo Mayor Dennis Walaker raised eyebrows with his comment that Fargo is a “Vanilla City,” that would soon rise again.

Even the media seem to have gotten carried away. CNN reported rumors that killer whales were swimming up and down Fargo’s flooded streets hunting for human flesh, and hate radio personality Neal Boortz was quoted, “So a bunch of white trash in up in North Dakota are freezing and drowning. What am I supposed to do about it? Cry?” Mr. Boortz owns a luxury condominium in a Midtown Atlanta high-rise and a McMansion in Florida.

There is still no comment from the White House about the comedy of failures that led to the deaths of so many or the allegations of racism and sabotage. This comes as no surprise to many who are still outraged by the harshness of Obama’s decision to wage a unilateral Global Contingency Operation, despite overwhelming world opinion that most Americans should just die anyway. Will the voters be more forgiving in 2012? Only time will tell.

I was joking with some people yesterday about how FEMA wasn't on the ground, and if they were they'd probably screw it up. I was corrected by my fellow North Dakotans that FEMA has boots on the ground. The difference is, Bush was ready to insert FEMA into New Orleans but the idiot in charge of 'NOLA' didn't ask for help. ND did.

This is really a matter of population, topography, transit, and the type of disaster.

Fargo has a metro population of 200,000, and a significant number of those are spread around the city center in sparsely populated areas. There are no less than six different highways out of the area. The river is rising, they are not being hit by a storm. There's no chance that they can evacuate to the wrong area - they just have to get away from the river. I'm not degrading their self-sufficiency in the slightest - they've placed millions of sandbags, but that's also a clue. They've had at least a week to prepare - that's 168 hours - and it was declared a disaster area and given access to FEMA's resources before it crested.

New Orleans has metro population of over 1,000,000, packed pretty densely in a small area, with 2 major escape routes, and all of them are over water. Unlike a river rising, you can evacuate into danger during a hurricane. Unlike the present situation in Fargo, FEMA was completely AWOL for Katrina. There was a 72 hour window between the time it was predicted to hit near New Orleans and the actual landfall at 6 am. The area has real problems with corruption, no doubt about that, and real problems with poverty. But those issues merely exacerbated a natural disaster that was far more unpredictable and unmanageable. Comparing a Category 3 to 5 hurricane in the bayou to a river flood in the Dakotas is like comparing apples to asteroids.

Just remember Neal is an entertainer. He picks arguments convenient to the worldview of his owners and listeners in order to sell advertising time. Everything he does is a simple gimmick.

First Fargo doesn't have many residents to displace if compared. Next the Red river is expected to flood every spring. So people are ready for the event. The question is how much will it flood? In addition the New Orleans event did not project major flooding, it was an "unexpected" result of the storm. However the storm did come with plenty of warning and perhaps key individuals were aware of the flooding possibility. I wonder why FEMA was not in Fargo helping to prepare for the emergency, by filling sand bags and constructing levies. Do they only respond after the fact? Perhaps a preemptive strike by the Feds could have helped. Though I agree that the mentality of people in the ND is probably in contrast of that in New Orleans. The two events are not very similar.

I wonder if any actors or musicians will start a fund-raiser for the victims of the flooding in North Dakota? Probably not. After all, it's a "small state" just like Alaska, and there aren't enough "helpless" ethnic minorities there either. Nobody helped out Iowa after last spring's floods and tornadoes either.

New Orleans is a mixed bag right now. I've seen some progress there in the last three years, although many areas are still abandoned. I think the silver lining to Hurricane Katrina is that the population that's moved back in is more productive than before.

I think it's an unfair comparison merely because we are a Red state and we're used to personal responsibility. When a person is born and raised to be dependent on local, state or federal government, how can we expect them to function any differently just because it's an emergency. It's also unfair to paint all the NO residents with a broad brush. We have our share of the "trained to be helpless" up here too...(we just don't let them hold elective office) and the rest of us just rolled our eyes and did their share too. To do any different just hurts all of us! I'm proud of our community and especially all our "kids" without whom this (so far) success would not have been possible!! I'd add that FEMA has been here, as well as the US Coast Guard, Border Patrol, Army and Air National Guard and the coolest tool of all has been the Air Force's UAV Predator which has been shooting valuable video! The Corp of Engineers and the National Weather Service are all here too! The only ones getting in the way are (wait for it....) the media.
I hate the winter, but I'd never even consider living anywhere else!

As a former North Dakotan, I am so proud of my homestate, though I wouldn't expect any less dignity and hardwork from the people there.

This rural state that is so often made fun of is filled with the true American spirit. Something is going wrong? You fix it. Your neighbor is in trouble? You help them. Sure, they will take any help they can get, but they are also going to break their OWN backs trying to help themselves.

the motto?
God helps those who help themselves.

Remember? NO is a chocolate city.

Remember? President Bush doesn't care about back people.

Rememeber? The racist screams that NO wasn't being help by FEMA.

As I have been watching the flooding disaster in Fargo, I think, what a great bunch of Americans that live in the great state of North Dakota! It lifts my spirits.

This isn't a white/black thing. It is an attitude towards the govt thing. I can't speak about NO, because I was not there, but I do know there are plenty of people who did carry on, helping their neighbors first, not expecting the govt to come fix things for them. That is the same attitude we have up here.

Up here, the federal govt is not the first place you turn in a disaster. We turn towards each other, our national guard, our governor, etc. The people that have "skin in the game" so to speak.

The media is all agog about the volunteer effort. Many say they have never seen anything like it. That just proves they don't spend much time in areas that are just like ND. I would frankly be shocked if I had a flood or fire and I did NOT have people swarming all over our property to help. Just the way it is here.

I am a North Dakotan by choice, not by birth. When my husband retired from the Air Force, we decided to stay in ND vs moving closer to family. I think that says it all about the people of ND. It is the people that kept us here, and the flood fight is the perfect example of the kind of people we have up here. Quiet, unassuming people who will work together to rebuild whether the govt or the news media is here or not.

To be fair, FEMA is here, and the governor did ask the president to declare this a disaster area, and the president did mention ND during his weekly radio address, but he does seem to have just blown us off for the most part. That is okay though, we don't care. It won't stop the volunteers and the entire state pulling together for all the flood victims on both sides of the state.

..of democrats to come to the aid of white people in Fargo.

FEMA? Nowhere to be seen.

So much for the "post-racial era" that Obama promised dimocrat voters.

"Louisiana for the year 2007 ranked 10th, jumping up from 2nd in 2006."

I meant to say Louisiana jumped to 10th place from 8th. Sorry, about that. 2nd place goes to New Mexico. Nevada is number one!

(According to "Most Dangerous States 2007 - infoplease.com)

If Atlanta, or Los Angeles, or New York was hit with a disaster the size of Katrina, you'd see much the same post catastrophe mess there that you saw and see in New Orleans. New Orleans was a disaster before Katrina, with huge numbers of renters in low income, dilapidated housing. How can you rebuild when you don't own? The amount of desperation post Katrina was proportional to the situation. Not making excuses, but trying to shed some light on the situation. Those with resources and proper insurance rebuilt with a passion, and have joined in helping those with few or no resources.
I'm a native New Orleanian, who moved to the Mississippi coast a few years ago, but who still works in New Orleans. I lost my home in Mississippi, and my place of employment in New Orleans.
I, like most of the people I know in New Orleans and Mississippi, have rebuilt both home and business, with energy, sweat, perseverance, and a combination of insurance and personal assets. And we began when we had no utilities, often not even clean water to wash the awful grime off.
So give us a break, Neal. You are just seeing those of us down here with no resources to start with.

Yeah it seems that this same thing has happened in my state. We were flooded much worse than New Orleans and we helped one another out and life went on. It is funny how that works.

A Facebook friend of mine said he wouldn't respect any God who saved Fargo and not New Orleans. I said that looking around today, God has also "saved" the Mississippi coast, while New Orleans still suffers, which is to say: God helps those who help themselves. Sometimes "grace" is in proportion to how little of God's crap you're willing to take. It's not that Providence has lousy taste in cities.

Perhaps... am I forgetting something, or did Katrina hit overnight without any knowledge of it coming? NO had time and resources to BE prepared !

They will handle it the same way North Dakotans handled the Red River Flood of '97. With hard work, cooperation between neighbors, everybody pitching in to do what is needed with or without gov't assistance. The total opposite of NOLA.

PS: I was there in '97 where the flood was proceeded by a storm that took down all power for almost a week during the time that the flood waters were rising.

"In a town of 90,000 residents, 80,000 volunteers showed up to help..." I heard this on Sunday Morning yesterday. They've already got the NOLA looters beat hands down. 80,000 people failed to act like mindless wards of the state. Fargo 1, NOLA, 0.

I believe the comment that 'nnemark' pretty much says it all.
Where is FEMA? Where is the Federal Government?

What, just because most of the populace up there is (and I hate to say this) "WHITE" they don't need any assistance? Is that it?

I'm actually impressed with the media and how they are covering how the locals are banning together, and do what they must to help their neighbor. This isn't the first time that those in our northern tier states have shown the care and the responsibility to serve others in need and not cry out for the government. They ARE a perfect EXAMPLE for the rest of the nation.

President Obama doesn't care about White People !

Funny, I was thinking the very same thing this weekend......

These flood victims have already won vs. New Orleans. The gung ho attitude to get the sand bags out puts them light years ahead of the majority of loosers from NO. Their grit & determination has shown what all of America once was and can be again if we get the man off our neck.

....it stays out. Unless it is smacked by the giver, and in this case I would never expect the government to say that they don't want you to depend on them. This is why I fear government healthcare. Unless we turn this around America's competitive edge will be gone forever.

I don't hear people complaining and demanding to know where the guv'ment is. They are taking care of their problems as a community.

Has anyone taken a head count of volunteers from New Orleans going up to help out with the sandbagging operation?
I haven't heard of any busloads of Katrina "victims" going north to return the favor.