Texas gets all the glory, but it looks like the people in my home state are definitely pulling their weight [CNN article].

Arkansas took in more than 60,000 refugees after Katrina arrived—only Texas took in more. Gov. Mike Huckabee is out preaching the Golden Rule and reminding Arkansans of the help they receive after their nearly perennial ice storms and tornadoes.

[snip]

…States as far as away as Arizona, Utah and West Virginia accepted refugees, but no place took a larger percentage of its own population than Arkansas.

I may not always agree with the Rev. Gov. Huckabee, but in a world of political doublespeak I found this comforting:

"I ask people, 'Have you been to New Orleans?"' Huckabee said. "These are people who drove your carriage down Canal Street. They carried your bags to your hotel room and picked up the dishes when you finished eating. By golly, we're going to be there to take care of them now."

It's comforting to see that the national news got something right: Arkansas is by far a poor state, a very rural state, and one whose yearly problems with damaging weather often go ignored because of said rurality and poverty … but it contains a lot of truly decent and caring people, and I'm glad to see that fact finally recognized.

'Scuse me while I drawl a little more than usual.