Pluckiness wins

Jabbar Gibson should be applauded:

Should they run short of plot twists, scriptwriters for a rash of TV disaster shows this fall need look no further for inspiration than the first busload of storm refugees to arrive at the Reliant Astrodome. The journey of more than 50 people from New Orleans to Houston aboard a commandeered vehicle demonstrates how the worst of circumstances can sometimes bring out the best in people.

The 13-hour drive piloted by first-time bus driver Jabbar Gibson, 20, began Wednesday as trapped New Orleans residents came to the conclusion they could expect no help from the slow developing rescue efforts in the city. As reported by the Chronicle's Salatheia Bryant and Cynthia Leonor Garza, Gibson and others piled into a derelict school bus after getting permission from police and took off, slowly navigating flooded streets and stopping along the way to pick up other refugees on the roadsides. The group pooled their scant cash to buy diapers for babies and refuel the bus as they made their way to Houston and the promise of shelter at the Astrodome.

No good disaster plot is complete without a triumph of individual initiative over unfeeling bureaucracy, and this one's no exception. At the gates to the Astrodome, Red Cross officials initially tried to turn away the bus because it was not part of the officially sanctioned evacuation of the New Orleans Superdome. Earlier, that rationale had led authorities to refuse to help a young mother with five children and a 95-year-old woman passenger in the car when they sought entrance to the relief center.

Luckily, someone with a heart eventually got involved. After a half-hour delay, Jabbar and his plucky band were granted sanctuary inside the Dome.

Tip of the fedora to Roscoe for the scoop.

MORE: Michelle Malkin points us to these pictures that she thinks ought to be fodder for a Pulitzer.  Hard to argue with that.

Comments

[Jeff H]

If they actually charge this kid and go through with a trial, we should storm the courthouse with pitchforks and torches.

[Presbypoet]

Those in war, who see what can be done & take risks, are the victorious generals. Grant at Vicksburg, leaving his supply lines. Lee and Jackson at Chanslorsville, splitting already outnumbered forces. Washington's Christmas crossing of the Delaware. His victory at Yorktown. Special forces on horseback, calling down fire from heaven in Afghanistan.

Politically, Nixon going to China. Reagan & Star Wars. The Marshall Plan. Sadat and peace with Israel. Churchill standing firm in 1940, rather than make peace with Hitler.
Rudi after 911.

In business: Xerox creating the copier. Any number of silicon valley start-ups.

He is a risk taker. Like thousands of boat people who sailed off into the South China Sea, willing to die for freedom. Like sailors who braved harsh Antarctic winds off the Southern tip of South America to reach the promising waters of the Pacific.

Someone who hires this man will not regret it. He saw what is not as if it is, and made it real. He saved lives. He is a man of vision & courage. A hero. He let no one tell him what he couldn't do.

Imagine how many lives would have been saved if he had been mayor of New Orleans.

I have always found it interesting that bureacracy is French.

[Presbypoet]

sorry, bureaucracy.

[Zossima]

One of my favorite take-aways from Stephen Ambrose's writing about WWII was his contention that the ingenuity of the soldiers, the ability to improvise to overcome the lack of supplies and even bureacratic obstacles, was one of the major factors in defeating the Germans. I applaud the same here in our citizens' fight for survival.

[Zossima]

>>I have always found it interesting that bureacracy is French.

LMAO. I've been stuck in Paris. Being nice didn't work. Yelling didn't work. I finally found some Scandinavians to help me.

[GH]

Petition to honor Jabbar Gibson

http://www.petitiononline.com/JG0007Q/petition.html

"We have been extraordinarily moved by the story of Jabbar Gibson, and the initiative he displayed in commandeering a bus to drive Hurricane Katrina victims out of New Orleans. We were very alarmed to hear that he was at one time in danger of prosecution. Mr. Gibson declared to the news media, "I don’t care if I get blamed for it, as long as I saved my people." But WE care if he gets blamed for it."

[snip]

" We request that this young man be awarded appropriately with a Presidential Medal of Freedom and a full four-year scholarship to the college of his choice. For we truly believe that Jabbar Gibson as an individual, exemplified the courage and the spirit that is the best part of America and in so doing became emblematic of the actions many others who responded bravely and selflessly in the face of this disaster. He is someone we should support, encourage, and see prosper in this great nation. Jabbar Gibson and those like him are the future of America!"