The looting in flooded New Orleans is an abomination. No excuses can justify it. No soft-hearted (soft-headed?) apologist can make a case that looting is OK given the circumstances people face. To make such a case suggests that simply because a person is poor, he/she has no moral compass. That's insulting to most poor people.
And what's being stolen? Not food. Not water. The looters are smashing shop windows to bag jewelry. They are hauling television sets out of Wal Mart. It's not about sustaining life. It's about out-and-out criminality. It's the mentality of the mob.
So in addition to the unprecedented damage done by Hurricane Katrina, some citizens of New Orleans are wreaking more havoc on their city. Their behavior is outrageous and tragic.
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