Katrina: The Jury Answers

by Don Wittig

  “And look what Mr. Go did to the environment. Where we once had freshwater, now saltwater laps at the city gates. Marshes were destroyed. Subsidence was allowed to escalate. Barrier protection was damaged or destroyed. And Mr. Go combined with the ICW and Industrial Canal to create the perfect storm for the poor people of the Ninth Ward. Is it true people don’t care about the folks in the Ninth Ward? When I look you in the eye I know you care. Whether or not the United States government cares is another question. Maybe Mr. Mack will explain to you whether his client cares about people whose homes and every possession were washed away to the ends of the earth or covered with slime and salt.

  “Maybe they didn’t care. Maybe they cared. One thing is for certain: the Corps was negligent. The judge told you what negligence is. The Corps did not use ordinary care or exercise prudence. Can there be any doubt in anyone’s mind that the greatest country in the history of the world could build a levee that wouldn’t break? If you stick a piece of steel into mud and sand and only bury it twelve feet, do you think thirteen or fourteen feet of water just might push it over? It’s like a ten-year-old standing at the end of a runway and holding up his hand to stop a seven-forty-seven from taking off. You heard the testimony. There is no dispute the evidence compels you to answer the judge’s question number one ‘Yes.’ Yes, the Corps was negligent. Yes, yes. Follow the law, follow your conscience, follow the facts. There can be only one answer.”

  O’Reilly assessed the jury. Most nodded their heads in agreement. Mack stared at his feet. He didn’t even look at the jury—didn’t want to.

  Dr. Lewis smiled and seemed revived by the argument.

  Deerman reached for the back of his head, his adrenalin pumping. His look was that of a Roman watching the lions feast on the enemy.

  “Judge Martin only asked you three questions,” O’Reilly continued. “The first one, we all agree is easy. The Corps was negligent. But how much damage was caused by their negligence? We have only sued for one trillion dollars. The government spends that much every few months. That’s less than five percent of the national debt. A trillion dollars is not a lot of money anymore.

  “The saddest truth is that our government could have prevented all this by just spending a few billion dollars correctly. You know an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The government didn’t want to spend a little money to protect the people of New Orleans. Do they really care about the folks in the Ninth Ward?

  “Now what do you think it should cost them? Would you let them off with just enough money to fix what never should have broken? What about the Ninth Ward now? Don’t forget St. Bernard Parish, Picayune Parish, and the rest of Orleans Parish. Remember the pictures of oil and toxic waste spreading everywhere. “What about the environment? Katrina was an ecological disaster. Eighty percent—that’s right, eighty percent—of New Orleans was underwater. Muck everywhere. Excrement. It’s not just the houses and businesses. What about the automobiles, the trucks, even the boats? Remember those pictures of houses just picked up and smashed one on top of the other. Remember the people who died in the hospitals and nursing homes. There is nothing we can do for them now. But there is something you can do to set the record straight.

  “Do you want to tell the US government that it needs to protect its citizens? Do you want to tell the politicians in Washington, DC, that they should at least come see what they caused? Do you want to tell them that ‘enough is enough’?

  “We are not looking for half measures. That’s what Washington is famous for. A half cup of justice is a half cup of injustice! When Judge Martin asks you for the amount of damages, the only answer you can write down is one trillion dollars. The government spends that much in a few weeks. The people of New Orleans don’t want half a cup. We would rather you write down zero if you don’t have the courage and guts to write one trillion dollars.”

  The jurors looked very somber. Two nodded in the affirmative. Several looked down, seemingly stunned by the trillion-dollar figure.

  Mack wore a disinterested guise, trying to appear nonchalant. Mack wasn’t worried about a trillion dollars. A billion would be a loss.

  “Finally, the judge asks you what percentage of damages were caused by the Army Corps of Engineers. We know some of the local levee boards messed up a little. The state of Louisiana has some fault for its lack of cooperation. But who built Mr. Go? Who inspected the levees every year? Who gave the blueprint to the local folks? Who were the engineers in charge? I suggest you write in ninety percent. Ninety percent caused by the Corps and ten percent caused by the state and local authorities. You be the judge of that. But remember, this is a very important question too. Don’t say half a cup when you mean a full cup. Don’t be tricked by this question. Every question and answer is important. Don’t be misled by the Corps’ lawyer the way the Corps misled the people of New Orleans.

  “I have to sit down now, and Mr. Mack gets to make his pitch. Remember what his job is. Just like when he represented the president in Florida, he is here to win. He represents big government. He will try to make you listen to him and ignore the big bureaucratic blob of nameless and faceless people. He wants you to believe the bureaucrats didn’t blow it. Somehow they are harmless folks that just didn’t quite get it right. He’ll talk about responsibility and then deny responsibility for the Corps. Listen to him. But remember, he is a salesman trying to put his foot in the door. Don’t let him sneak that foot in your front door.

  “Thank you, folks. I’ll have one more opportunity to talk with you when the government’s lawyer quits. Listen to him with the same critical mind you used when you heard the witnesses.”

  Smiling gently, his head high, O’Reilly slowly and deliberately returned to his seat.

  Mack impatiently waited to step into the breach.

  40 Mack Attacks

  “T HERE YOU GO AGAIN, MR. O’Reilly. The man in charge of this trial, Judge Martin, asks you, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, just three questions. The real questions of this trial are simple. Who was negligent, what damages were proximately caused by the occurrence, and what percentage, if any, was caused by my client? But my colleague, Mr. O’Reilly, doesn’t want to talk about what the judge told you to consider. No, he wants to distract you from the judge and law. He wants you to ask if I care or if the government cares.

  “Do you see this red and gold pin in my lapel? Ask the two veterans serving with you what this means. It means I care a lot. You know I care. And you know I am no quitter. Do you want to tell the politicians something? Are you fed up with the bureaucracies and failures of government? Would you like to see something different from DC?

  “Think about that, folks. Of course we’d all like to see a better government. And not just in Washington, DC. We’re all fed up with the endless red tape of the bureaucrats. Nobody wants to see a FEMA trailer sitting in a rail yard in Chicago when it’s needed in the Ninth Ward. But FEMA is not on trial here.

  “And Judge Martin has instructed you that you cannot consider what the government did or did not do after Katrina. But you see how my worthy adversary tries to distract you from the facts of the case and the real questions you have to answer. I’ll do my best to focus on the facts and the questions. If I ever get carried

  KATRINA: THE JURY ANSWERS away during my argument and say something you think is just plain wrong, I want you to tell me about it after the trial. I’ll be waiting to talk with you.

  “I just ask one favor. If I mess up, don’t hold it against the fine folks in the Army Corps of Engineers. Hold it against me. I’m a big boy and I can take it. Promise you’ll tell me?” Mack was happy to see three jurors actually nod in appreciation. But was it actually appreciation or that they just couldn’t wait to tell Mack what they really thought?

  “OK. Yes, I care. I care about this great country, our president, our Congress, our citizens. Do you think I would have flown fighter jet planes over Hanoi if I didn’t care? I care about want happened and what will happen in New Orleans. An
d I know you do too.

  “However, are we going to go on fixing the problems with the same slipshod work, finger-pointing, and dodging of responsibility we all saw after Katrina? Will that fix the problems here? You know and I know it’s ultimately about responsibility. We can’t blame the schools when our kids don’t even show up. We can’t blame the Corps of Engineers when the levee board is sitting on a half a million dollars to fix a broken floodgate and don’t even bother to fix it before the storm. We can’t blame the Corps for not putting in a floodgate to stop the storm surge from going into Lake Pontchartrain, now can we? Remember, the Corps wanted to stop the flooding into and out of Pontchartrain, and who wouldn’t let them? The very same environmentalists who are now suing the taxpayers for a trillion dollars. By the way, the same environmentalists who jacked up world food prices because they demanded corn ethanol.

  “The Corps wanted other floodgates on the drainage canals. This time the environmentalists didn’t stop them. The local levee boards said no. No, you can’t put in floodgates, but yes, it’s your fault there were no gates to stop the flooding. Is that right? Whose responsibility is that?

  “Speaking of the environmentalists’ complaints in this case, ask yourself this question. What do Earthcore, Natureone, Greenpreserve, and the Sahara Club really want out of this lawsuit? Do they really care about the Ninth Ward? How many homes were lost there alone? Did one single environmentalist get up on that witness stand and tell you that even one of their fancy carpets got a little wet in one of their high-rise offices? Who pays those people’s salaries and for their high-priced lawyers? Well, let me tell you the dirty little secret. Mr. Deerman and his fellow club members get their money from Hollywood and from lawsuits. They get money from the movie stars and frivolous lawsuits. Why? So they can bring more lawsuits, lawsuits that block my client from protecting people from flooding. They file lawsuits to stop people from shipping goods up the Industrial Canal or the Intracoastal Waterway.

  “I see a couple of you folks smiling. But remember the testimony. Earthcore and Greenpreserve spent other people’s money to lobby Congress to stop the Corps from putting the floodgates in that could have stopped a lot of the flooding. Not all. I’m not saying all. Some. The surge that came in from Pontchartrain could have been stopped. Don’t forget that when you are answering question one and question three. How can the Corps be negligent when people like Earthcore and Greenpreserve won’t let them do their job? They know better so they interfere with the good engineers who are trying their best to do their jobs.

  “Judge Martin asks you how much of the damages the Corps caused. How much of the damages could we have prevented if the very people who brought this lawsuit helped the Corps protect the citizens of New Orleans instead of working against and spending millions of dollars to defeat sound engineering principles?

  “Remember the testimony of Crow Broussard. He complained about the Corps’ work on the Mississippi. Yes, there was flooding from the Mississippi from Hurricane Betsy in 1965. But not from Katrina. The Corps did what Congress told them to do, and New Orleans had no flooding from the levees it built on the Mississippi. They held just fine. The problem was in the areas where the state and local agencies didn’t do their jobs. But what did Broussard say? Broussard said there was mass subsidence caused by pushing all that rich silt from the Midwest out into the Gulf of Mexico. That’s true. So the environmentalists’ answer to subsidence in New Orleans is to take the levees down and flood your homes not with water but with mud. What a great solution! The Corps does what it’s supposed to do. The Mississippi levees held. But somehow it’s still the Corps’ fault that New Orleans is built on a sponge.

  “Now, I must admit Mr. Go has caused quite a stir, but remember St. Bernard Parish and others wanted that canal. It was supposed to help shipping and save people money. Congress responded to the demands of the people. It didn’t work. I’m sorry it didn’t work. We are fixing it. It won’t happen again. Are you going to blame the people who tried to help Louisiana be more competitive in cargo shipping? Shouldn’t the people who wanted the canal share some responsibility? And what about Washington?

  “Can’t you just see the smoke-filled rooms where Congress and lobbyists get together and figure out who gets to have a major shipping lane in their backyard? Was this just one more earmark? Remember, Congress sets policy. The Corps is the group that digs the ditches, does the work. They are not the ones who decide who gets the earmarks and spoils of government. Follow the money. Follow the money!

  “How much of the flooding could we have stopped if the levee boards used the money they had to repair the floodgate caused by the railroad damage? The Corps didn’t cause the train wreck. The Corps was not in charge of repairs. The members of the levee board who were in charge sat on their butts and allowed one more part of New Orleans to flood.

  “That’s not all the levee boards didn’t do. They allowed giant trees to sink their roots deep into levees, which caused all that piping and tunneling. They thought it was a good idea to put TV and fiber optic cables in the levees. They used your tax money to build yacht clubs, marinas, and high-priced condos. How much of the flooding and damages could have been prevented if the levee boards spent their yacht club money—your money—on the levees?

  “Is it right to say my client caused all these damages when the same people who want the money wouldn’t let the Corps do their job? You can’t have it both ways. You can’t stop the Mississippi from flooding every year and then complain the Army Corps of Engineers should let the Mississippi River continue to rebuild the soils of the New Orleans sponge. You can’t let local levee boards squander money on yacht clubs then blame the Corps when their levees fail.

  “Don’t forget what General Walker said either. When the Corps finishes a project, that project is turned over to the local authorities. The state and local folks are one hundred percent responsible. You never heard any of Mr. O’Reilly’s witnesses dispute this fact. So when you answer question one which is basically ‘is the Corps responsible?’—your answer should be no.

  “It’s kinda like someone builds you a home and hands you the keys. Five years later there’s a small leak in the roof. You don’t fix the leak. The hole gets bigger and bigger. Then the roof collapses. It’s your roof and you must fix it. The state of Louisiana signed off to take care of the levees many years ago. Louisiana agreed it was one hundred percent responsible. So don’t come back ten or twenty years later and say it’s the Corps’ fault. That dog won’t hunt.

  “Global warming. I think it’s just another political diversion from the real problems facing this nation. It’s a way for a few people or interest groups, like these complainants sitting right there across the room from me, to try to tell you what you can’t do on your own private property. Listen, just a few years ago, scientists said they had discovered dark energy. You’ve heard of all these black holes in space? Now, less than ten years ago, we were told that two-thirds of the universe is made up of dark energy. Do you believe it? If you do, what is this two-thirds of the universe doing to heat up or cool down the climate? A few years ago, we didn’t even know about dark energy. Now most of the universe is made of energy we don’t know anything about. We know the sun, the oceans, and the Earth’s core are constantly warming and cooling our little planet. What about the seventy percent no one is talking about? Did you hear any testimony or see any evidence of what this massive dark energy is doing to warm or cool the planet? Poppycock. Pure speculation. They don’t know. We don’t know. But these so-called scientists and experts are preaching their newfound religion: global warming. Oh wait, I think they are changing the name of their religion to ‘climate change.’ However they can bamboozle the most people.

  “Less than a decade ago, the scientists said there was no such thing as rogue waves. Rogue waves didn’t fit into their linear, mathematical models. So they didn’t exist. Sailors saw them. Shippers saw them. But the scientists denied them, but now they have seen the rogue waves via s
atellites. So maybe they were wrong. These math models the scientists use are no better than their assumptions. Garbage in, garbage out. Same as global warming.

  “The sun is three hundred and thirty thousand times more massive than our Earth. The sun’s magnetic bands cool the sun’s surface by two thousand degrees Fahrenheit. But what about supersonic solar winds that travel five hundred kilometers per second and faster, traveling far beyond the outer planets? These solar winds extend out to the heliopause, which is four times the distance of Pluto. The sun is a gigantic fusion reactor. The sun is real. We’ve known about the sun since Adam and Eve. India’s people had giant sun dials thousands of years ago. However, we still know so very little about the sun’s effect upon our weather and climate change. Most environmental alarmists ignore the sun in their computer programs—the same programs that say the ocean will flood us out in a few short years. The sun gives us over ninety-eight percent of all our heat. But the environmentalists ignore that fact. They call us ‘deniers.’ I say they are the deniers.

  “Our climate has always been changing and always will. You heard the testimony that just ten thousand or eleven thousand years ago we came out of an ice age. Again, just three or four hundred years ago, we had a Little Ice Age. We’ve been warming ever since. So are we to believe the Earth warmed up for ten thousand years, then cooled for a couple hundred years, and then started warming again because of SUVs and coal-fired electric plants? We didn’t even have Ford trucks or Studebakers.

  “Even if you believe the junk science you heard from Mr. Gore or these environmental alarmists, Judge Martin doesn’t ask you one single question about it. He asks you if the Corps was negligent and if that negligence caused damage. Even if you believe in global warming, the Corps didn’t create it and sure didn’t cause it. Think about it. The Corps actually produces the cleanest energy possible: hydroelectric power. The Corps helps create and maintain the most environmentally friendly form of transportation: water. The Corps is charged with protecting the environment, and it does. The Corps helps clean up toxic waste. Even Dr. Lewis agreed to that.