Ok, enough already!
Reading this and this just makes my blood boil. The left is complaining that Republicans miserably failed the people of New Orleans, and that FEMA is too slow in taking action, and a litany of other complaints.
However, Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White reminds us what it means to be a leader. He should not be berated, he should be applauded. He did not just send a group of 35 New Mexicans made up of law enforcement officers and firefighters into an area with armed gunmen, toxic waters and decaying corpses. Sheriff White led them.
It is so rare we see courage and true leadership among the elected officials in this state that we don’t know what it looks like when it happens. We need more Sheriff Whites. No one wants to talk about it, but dozens of police officers in New Orleans turned in their badges rather than do what Darren White and dozens of other brave New Mexicans are doing.
Think about it.
During 9/11 we were reminded of the hero that is behind every badge. Members of the NYPD and NYFD ran into collapsing buildings to save the lives of people like you and me, and in so doing gave up their own. There are many heros like that in New Orleans, and they did not turn in their badges. They are on the street night and day trying to bring law and order back to a ravaged area, and saving peoples lives. They are also being reinforced by folks like the team from New Mexico who are there for no other reason than they share a sense of duty.
If politics was the motivating factor, Sheriff White could have more easily kept his face in the public eye as a talking head making evening news commentary on what others are doing right and wrong. Instead, he left his family and the comfort of his home to roll up his sleeves and lead by doing. My thanks goes out to Darren White and all of those with him, and so should yours. Feel free to leave a thank you in the comments section. In fact, ask your friends to write a note of thanks.