Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour just gave small government a whole new meaning. Small, as in mean and cold-hearted. While Barbour bows and scrapes to the Conservative God of the Almighty Dollar, people are bracing to lose everything in what could be the worst flooding in history.
So what do you suppose Governor Barbour did to protect the people of his state? Do you think he took any measures to help them, or to shore up their homes, or provide emergency shelter?
As the water rose, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour moved furniture out of his lake house outside Vicksburg on family land that was inundated during the 1927 flood. A week ago, he urged residents to flee low-lying areas, saying that the state wouldn't assist the evacuations and that people should help one another secure their property and get out.
Widespread flooding was expected along the Yazoo River, a tributary that is backed up because of the bloated Mississippi. Rolling Fork, home of the bluesman Muddy Waters, was also in danger of getting inundated.
That's right. He told them they were on their own, to just do whatever they could. Well, that, and he did remember to apply for federal assistance. After all, the federal government is great when conservatives don't want any responsibility for anything.
Those folks most affected by flooding aren't people Barbour cares all that much about, I guess.
While some farms in the cotton-, rice- and corn-growing Delta are prosperous, there is also grinding poverty. Nine of the 11 counties that touch the Mississippi River in Mississippi have poverty rates at least double the national average of 13.5 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
All those good folks in Mississippi can take comfort in the fact that conservative lawmakers nationwide are praying for them. They're not doing anything to help them, but they're praying for them. All hail the Very Earnest Conservatives.
