An e-mail:
You would “condemn” someone who has just had all their possessions destroyed, has no access to food or a faucet of any kind, and who is quite possibly literally dying of thirst and starvation for “stealing” a bottle of water?
I hope in your zeal for reclaiming the “conservative” you misspoke and that you didn’t mean that.
ME: I meant it as a counter to Mary Landreiu excusing looting of any kind the other day on one of the shows. Obviously–and that has been my point all morning–treat someone stealing HiC in New Orleans differently than someone stealing and ipod, or, of course, someone wielding a gun, stealing a nursing home van (scroll down). But elected officials should say publicly that it is all wrong. Discourage it. Scott Mcclellan just said “zero tolerance” on looting. That’s the right message.