# Hot Blava

The national debate will always seep over into local politics and thus, events on the national stage will find their way into Hot Blava. We hope that Hot Blava will be an interesting mixture of national issues and issues that affect Utah, and particularly Utah County where we live. Mostly, it is great to write about issues you're thinking about as it solidifies your thinking... or exposes your own irrationality. You can decide which is which.

## Wednesday, May 09, 2007

### Tornadoes and the Guard

There has been much hand wringing about the shortage of equipment available in Kansas after the recent tornado because the national guard is "missing in action." Take Bob Aagard, a local blogger, for example.

> However, the National Guard hasn't been involved in helping with some of the tornados in the midwest as they usually are.
> It's because the troops and their equipment are in Iraq.

This is factually inaccurate based on the news reporting I heard on NPR, but it is an understandable misconception based on the way this natural disaster has been covered.
A head guy for the Kansas National Guard interviewed on NPR said that they have enough equipment for the current disaster. They are concerned about their capacity if they have another disaster. This is a legitimate concern, but is has clearly been misrepresented in the news.
The governor of Kansas came on in a subsequent interview and clarified that only 10% of Kansas guardsmen are overseas. 50% of their equipment is overseas. That is a lot of stuff that they are missing, but again, not as bad as we've been led to believe.
I heard a lot of complaints that Bush had failed to ask US citizens to sacrifice anything in the war against the terrorists. Why is that we must now complain when part of our sacrifice is made evident?
On a totally different point, I heard a few great personal stories from tornado survivors who recounted their blessings during the disaster. I'm so grateful for the good people of our country. We are so blessed.

#### 1 Comments:

At 9:41 AM, May 10, 2007, Frank Staheli said...

  This is an excellent clarification of the situation in Kansas. I seem to tend to trust that the news media at least gets statistical information correct.
  I don't know why...
  ;-)

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