Were from the government and were here to help

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We’re from the government and we’re here to help. Louisiana residents have been doing an awesome job of helping themselves, including thousands of boat owners, dubbed the “Cajun Navy,” who took to their own craft to rescue neighbors. Now a state legislator wants to require training, certificates, and state permits for boat owners who want to rescue people during a natural disaster.

This post was last modified on January 26, 2021

J.P. Travis: Born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1976 graduate of University of Michigan, father, grandfather, husband, founder and CEO of Travelyn Publishing (http://www.travelynpublishing.com/), and passionate anti-government believer in individual liberty.

View Comments (26)

  • I believe the idea driving this is to get names on a list to ALLOW them access to cordoned off flooded areas. As it stands, LEO will not allow anyone past cordoned off areas where these guys could easily launch their boats. As it stands, once an area is blocked off from access, cops will not allow just anyone with a boat past the barricades in to launch a boat and do as they please. This keeps potential looters and thieves out of abandoned areas.

    They're not interested in stopping people from running boats within their own neighborhoods, they want to be able to coordinate a rescue effort by sending resources to where they are needed the most; they need to be able to contact and trust the people they send in. But yeah, it will most likely run less smoothly once you get local politicians arguing amongst themselves to use those resources for their own constituents.

    • I listened to a long emotional interview with a parish sheriff in the midst of the worst flooding and he had nothing but praise for the Cajun Navy, so I highly doubt there are issues between the guys with boats and LEOs. And looting? I know the baseness of the human being is almost limitless, but looting during a flood is awfully difficult. You can't just break in and run away with a TV. You have to WADE. Which is SLOW. And there's shit you can't see, like holes and sharp things and power lines, under that water you're wading through. And when you get the TV you can't throw it in the trunk of your car. You have to put in your boat where everyone can see it, and motor back to where you launched the boat and WADE to your car with it, in a place where dozens of other boaters, some of them LEOs, are launching and hauling out boats.

      • I knew a guy who lived on the Trinity river north of Houston. They had some really bad flooding and when he was finally allowed back in the area, he found that his propane tank had been stolen. I'm talking about one of those big suckers that supply gas for the whole house, not the BBQ pit sized ones! The straps that held it down were unbolted and someone floated it out while the water was still high as there were no drag marks on the ground. Pirates in the East Texas Navy got that tank and were probably cooking meth with it before he even realized it was gone. Predators will find a way to take advantage of people when they are down. Remember the looting during Katrina? All that was done under the watchful eye of national TV cameras.

        . I think this legislation is aimed to make sure people conduct safe rescues and are reachable to be dispatched to areas they will be most needed. In other words, it will fail because some well meaning civil servant who knows dick about boats or rescue operations will mismanage resources available to him. This cajun navy is neighbors helping out neighbors and is a way of life for these resourceful people. Trying to make more of it than it is will only lead to failure, no matter how well intentioned.

        • Yeah, that's not gonna work. I'm a Cajun Navy kind of guy. I got a boat, been on water in one way or another all my life, so I'm gonna chug or row around helping people evacuate to dry ground, feeling good because I'm helping neighbors and meeting people. Hell, what else am I gonnd do when cable's out? But if some scatter-brained self-important bureaucrat tells me I gotta have a license to do it, or thinks he can call me and tell me where to go do it, I'm gonna stay home, sit on my kitchen counter, and fish for catfish in my living room. Or climb up on the roof with a case of beer and watch the licensed guys make fools of themselves.

          • It says he wants to require a permit. Which means a fee, and the involvement of desk jockeys. Yeah, it's gonna screw up a good thing. Just because some RINO is a control freak.

  • Of course. This is the way politicians operate. Never let a natural disaster go to waste, there is always a way to make money off of it.
    The scheme is, anyone rescuing a person from drowning must first undergo training but more importantly have a license and a certificate to do so. This results in the gooberment having to hire tens of thousands of new employees to shuffle this paperwork. These "employees" will have jobs for life but are required to join the SEIU or AFGE unions....which naturally results in a percentage of their government salaries being kicked back to the politicians pockets. It's the old money laundering scheme that the politicians have been using for years.

    • Imagine launching from your barn to help your immediate neighbors, and getting fined for it. Kinda like cops that have watched people drown because they didn't have the "proper" training. Proper, of course, as determined by the desk jockeys.

  • Only a politician would cook up such a scheme. Tax and penalize those who are doing the neighborly thing. Helping out when their neighbors need it.

  • Oh,oh, somebody didn't receive the proper tribute from the people doing the rescuing.

  • So during the next natural disaster we truly can witness "Death by regulation" as people are left to die because those who could have rescued them were not licensed to do so.

  • Doesn't matter what party, these F*cking people want to run every aspect of our lives. I hope that this guy is in a bad situation and nobody helps because they don't want to get involved. The founding fathers have got to be spinning in their graves right now. The golden rule now comes with a disclaimer....Good grief.