They were poor. They lived in homes that, to some Americans, would
appear no more than shacks. They've suffered discrimination at the hands
of their fellow Americans. And when the hurricane came, it seemed to
veer out of its way, just to hit them.


So why didn't hundreds of Cajuns from western Louisiana appear on my TV
screen this week, complaining that George W. Bush doesn't like them,
demanding $200 billion of my tax dollars or blaming the bad weather on
Halliburton?


Hurricane Rita may have hit western Louisiana harder than Katrina hit
New Orleans, but Rita ran across folks made of sterner stuff then you'll
find in the Ninth Ward. Here's how one Washington Post story described
the scene just hours after Rita made landfall near Intracoastal City, a
"city" that in many senses barely exists:


"The only people who can get here are the sturdiest of sorts, a small
armada of Cajuns with pretty French names and sunburned skin and
don't-mess-with-me bravado. The bayous were full of them Saturday,
gliding high and quick in airboats, and so was the Vermilion River,
where they were spinning steering wheels on fast Boston Whalers and
kicking up wakes in flat-bottomed, aluminum boats. They did not wait for
the president or FEMA or anyone else to tell them that there were people
out there, out there and desperate, on rooftops...


I got out of the sheriff's office in about 20 seconds,' said Steve
Artee, as his son, Chris, made a hard, boat-tilting turn on the swollen
Vermilion. "They just took my cell phone number, and I was gone. That's
because Kathleen Blanco wasn't involved.'"


Now, anyone who hates Blanco and bureaucrats can't be all bad. But I
don't agree with Mr. Artee that the people of Vermilion Parish behaved
more responsibly or showed more strength of character because Gov.
Blanco didn't have their parish on her speed dial. I believe the people
of western Louisiana behaved better because they are, in fact, better
people.


The failure revealed by Hurricane Katrina was not a failure of
government, at least, not any more than government always fails. The
failure in New Orleans was a failure of character. Corrupt people
electing corrupt politicians who gave millions in tax dollars to corrupt
cronies to either mis-construct vital levees or to spend the money on
entirely useless pork projects. Then, when disaster struck, these same
people living a Faustian deal of votes for tax-funded handouts, were
utterly lost when those corrupt government officials headed for high
ground without them.


As John Fund of the Wall Street Journal wrote: "In just the past
generation, the Pelican State has had a governor, an attorney general,
three successive insurance commissioners, a congressman, a federal
judge, a state Senate president and a swarm of local officials
convicted. Last year, three top officials at Louisiana's Office of
Emergency Preparedness were indicted. Just this summer, associates of
former [New Orleans] mayor Marc Morial were indicted for alleged
kickbacks involving public contracts. Last month the FBI raided the home
and car of Rep. William Jefferson as part of a probe into allegations he
had misused his office."


Not to mention the widespread looting by the citizens of New Orleans
themselves, which included televised looting by police officers, too.
The chief administrative officer for Kenner, LA, was just busted for
pilfering food, drinks, chainsaws and roof tarps from New Orleans and
stashing them in his suburban home.


Hey, stay classy, New Orleans!


Then came Hurricane Rita, Katrina's ugly sister, to wreak similar havoc
just a few hundred miles to the west. The communities affected were, on
the surface, similar as well: Abbeville or Cameron, LA were "low income"
communities. The education levels were similar to the Ninth Ward, too.
And you won't find many branches of the Aryan Nations meeting among the
dark-skinned natives of Cajun country, whose heritage is a genetic gumbo
of Europe, Africa, the Caribbean and American Indians.


But while the people of New Orleans were panicking and complaining (not
to mention stealing, shooting and stabbing) days after the storm, the
Cajuns of western Louisiana were out in their boats, looking for lost
neighbors and rescuing strangers off rooftops.


It wasn't just because Gov. Blanco wasn't involved. It was because
almost NO government is involved in these folks' daily lives. The people
of rural Louisiana grow up with the assumption that their survival in
this world of woe is their responsibility. Unlike far too many people in
New Orleans, "low income" isn't an excuse to the working families in
rural Louisiana. It's just a condition to be dealt with. They live their
lives as though they own them, unlike those government-dependent
"victims" who live as though life is something the state provides for
them and is responsible to maintain.


Randy Gary, a fisherman from Cameron, LA, was asked about his future
after his boats were destroyed and flooding poisoned the oyster beds he
fished.


He didn't blame FEMA or accuse President Bush of stealing his lunch
money. He wasn't spotted kicking in the door of the local Wal-Mart to
snag a plasma-screen TV "for survival purposes." He has yet to join the
Cajun Action Committee to investigate why so many of Rita's victims
spoke French.


Instead, as the AP reports, he smiled.


"What else we gonna do?" he said, pledging to rebuild his shattered
home and work. "It's my life. It's what I do."


Hurricane Rita, you've met your match.

I LIKE IT !!!!!!

Does help explain why we got little media attention for Rita. They figured we could handle Mrs. Rita with out their help. It's hard to bring a strong cajun down. It may be a rough road but we are not going to sit back forever and pity ourselves. We will move on.

may God bless you all. yes the cajun people here are tougher and have been taught to take care of themselves and that they are resposible for their lives and that it is not someone elses duty to provide from them. i am proud to be from sulphur and raised by a true cajun family. we have a lot of self pride and would never show ourselves in such negative light as some people have from new orleans. we belive in helping our neighbors and a strong belief in God. cameron will rise again, stronger than ever. may God continue to bless and keep us all and may we continue to pray for the people in new orleans that they will find in their lives what we have always known and had. true pride to be from louisiana.