I was deployed to Louisiana with the Army National Guard after Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. We received notice that we were to report to a staging area that was three hours away for me that night while I was at work. I rushed home, threw my gear into a duffel, and my husband and I drove for three hours at breakneck speed, so I wouldn’t miss formation that night. (I also got a speeding ticket for driving over 100 mph in a 65 mph zone, and no amount of begging and explaining that I was deploying in post Katrina efforts would sway that particular State Trooper, who told me I should consider myself fortunate he wasn’t giving me a reckless driving citation.)

We started driving at 2300 that night in a convoy of Humvees and Deusenhalfs, and we didn’t get to Louisiana until three days later, stopping to sleep on the floors of churches, abandoned armories, etc. Once we got there, amidst the chaos that was a short-notice deployment of National Guard troops from 35 states, mandated by the National Guard Bureau after opportunistic Louisiana politicians swine whined about the “inadequate” response on the part of the Guard – no doubt due to RAAAAAAAACIIIIIIIISM – we immediately went to work doing everything from securing evacuation facilities, to delivering supplies, to helping transport medical personnel.

We didn’t sit around, and we didn’t delay. We got there as quickly as we could, and did what was asked of us with gusto, knowing we were helping our fellow Americans after a horrible disaster. But because Bush was evil, according to the mainstream media, we all had to be racist, because we somehow focused on rich, white folks in the Garden District, rather than helping the oppressed minorities elsewhere. Could have fooled me! I don’t remember rescuing a single rich person from a mansion. I do remember grateful little children – of all races – coming up and giving us hugs, and tearful parents who lost everything thanking us for helping them.

That is, of course, not what the media needed to hear to support its narrative that the evil, racist Bush was leaving desperate minorities to die, so coverage other than by the military’s own public affairs officers and journalists was scarce.

Fast forward to today.