The way the media is portraying the saga of flight 1549 is really ticking me off. It's not a "miracle" that no one died, it's the result of a highly skilled individual doing what he was trained to do and landing the plane safely in water despite everything he had to deal with. To call it a miracle demeans the pilot's training and skills and makes it seem like it was the hand of God. Why is the media always so quick to ignore the contributions of individuals?
I also want to point out that the first people on the scene, the folks that pulled people from the water and got them to shore, were ferry workers and dockworkers, not part of any government rescue team or something like that. The government, in many cases, would like "civilians" to wait and let the experts handle things, but when it really comes down to it, rescue teams, cops, firemen, whoever else can only get there so fast, and are often hampered by bureaucratic crap. Thankfully these folks in New York had more sense than to wait for someone "official" to show up, and they did things for themselves. You can't always wait of the government to save you, and your life will be much richer and happier if you learn to take care of yourself even in extraordinary circumstances, instead of waiting for the often anemic government to take care of you. Of course it's that entitlement attitude that the government should take care of everything that got us in our current financial mess and is making it worse with more and more bailouts to companies and individuals that should instead learn to take care of themselves.
2 Comments:
Actually Coast Guard Cutter Ridley was only about 5 miles away when it received the call and became the onsite command center. It took 15 minutes to get there only because the wake of the cutter at full speed would have overturned or severely flooded the many other smaller boats in the area. As with any rescue operation, it does not make sense to needlessly endanger others. Sorry, this is not another bungled job you can blame on the government.
I wasn't saying the government bungled it (no where anywhere in my post did I say the government can't do things well), I was merely pointing out that depending on the government for everything is stupid when most times there are better options. That even if we agree that all police in all of the US do the absolute best they possible can at their jobs, STILL they can't possibly be everywhere immediately. No matter what it's going to take a few minutes for a cop to show up at your house, and that's only if you have a chance to call 911. Only you can help yourself immediately, and failing that a neighbor is a heck of a lot closer than a cop.
But hey, thanks for your knee jerk comment that didn't actually address anything I wrote. I think the Coast Guard probably does a great job, and I never slighted their capabilities.
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