mornhm - FSO wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:09:Hopefully I won't be confused for a liberal, but I'll start with a story and then a suggestion that might make their behavior somewhat more understandable (not excusable but understandable).
An officer of the law told me about a patrolman who stopped a car on an interstate because it was driving erratically. When he came up to the car he noticed that the back seat was full of firearms and amunition. He asked the driver to step out and away from the car (how he could talk at that point is beyond me). Anyway the guy jumps out more than happy to comply. After they got away from the stopped vehicle the officer asked the driver about the firearms in the back seat. The guy said he knew where the witches were living and since the bible said to kill them, that's what he was headed to Blair to do and would the officer like to come along and help. (This was while the Blair Witch movie was in the theaters and news).
Anyway, I've read statistics on how many people on the streets are truly mentally ill and it's alarming (not just mildly depressed - "but d-d-d-dats all folks" looney tunes crazy). It's impossible to know what is going through the mind of someone shooting guns down there, but they may believe ("know") that they are saving what is left of humanity by killing ????? (?????=whatever they think is in the helicopters). Just a thought before playing the terrorist card or thinking that these people are trying to kill rescue workers. What's left in NO from what I understand are mostly people on the bottom of fortunes wheel, and a lot of them may not be perceiving reality as we do. Let's face it. It would be hard to remain sane under the circumstances they find themselves thrust into and easy to slip into full blown lunancy if you were on wrong side of the edge to begin with.
Again, I'm not trying to excuse their behavior just offering another possible reason for their actions.
There's an element of truth in what you say, but let's remember that not only were idiots shooting at volunteers in helicopters, the national guard troops, or the police, but even in the places of shelter there were people being murdered and women being raped. That behavior isn't some kind of insane misunderstanding, that is just plain criminal.