Troubled Waters

Knight Ridder: Feds So Far Have "Bungled" Help After Hurricane

By E&P Staff

Published: September 01, 2005 11:16 AM ET

NEW YORK "The federal government so far has bungled the job of quickly helping the multitudes of hungry, thirsty and desperate victims of Hurricane Katrina, former top federal, state and local disaster chiefs said Wednesday," an article by Knight Ridder's Seth Borenstein declared today.

Knight Ridder's newspaper in Biloxi, Miss., the Sun Herald, published an editorial on Wednesday blasting relief efforts in that area and lack of National Guard help.

Today's KR report continues:
~snip~

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001053119

Editorials Raise Questions About President's Response to Katrina--and Lack of Preparations

By E&P Staff

Published: August 31, 2005 10:30 PM ET

NEW YORK As the truth sinks in--this is the worst natural disaster in the nation's history--editorials in a wide range of newspapers have now raised critical issues about the lack of preparation, the effects of so many National Guard sent to Iraq, and the response of President Bush to the tragedy this week.

One of the most stalwart conservative newspapers in the nation, the Union Leader of New Hampshire, today blasted Bush's response to the great Gulf Coast hurricane.
~snip~

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001052874

Bush and minions are only too happy to see this monolith arise,turn our cities to ruins. Keeps the pressure OFF Iraq,DSM,Plamegate...and the economy!!
People working in Ohio (5 jobs to pay for necessities) called in on c-span this am and still consider this president "moral",but they are concerned as "stretched beyond the limits." Go figure!!

People working in Ohio (5 jobs to pay for necessities) called in on c-span this am and still consider this president "moral",but they are concerned as "stretched beyond the limits." Go figure!!

Posted by: Patti Ferschke at September 1, 2005 11:42 AM

Well, here in Southern California (a RED state contrary to what you've heard), I got people who are working as waitresses, working below minimum wage (because tips are supposed to cover their behinds), driving old pieces of junk with completely demolished rear ends. And guess what? Those pieces of junk still have a "BUSH-CHENEY '04" bumper sticker and a Christian revival bumper sticker, and maybe a "MARRIAGE = MAN + WOMAN" sticker.

Such is the power of the death cult. Don't underestimate them. EVER.

When I go up to the Bay Area for the weekend, my first act upon arrival at the hotel will be to throw out the Gideons Bible from my room. The Death Book does NOT belong where I am.

If my husband came home with the checking account overdrawn, and he sent the help on an errant mission while the mortgage was overdue, AND there was a disaster, there would certainly be a reckoning--ya think?
Posted by Fe Bongolan at September 1, 2005 11:25 AM

LOL. Been there. Done that. (But we didn't have "help"...) And there was a reckoning...called D.I.V.O.R.C.E...

With the current situation, that reckoning is called I.M.P.E.A.C.H....

And how many billions of dollars will it now cost the federal govt. for this boneheaded decision? This is the same logic being used to squeeze the state medicaid funding that has been cut from washington.
Protecting the city from Category 4 and 5 hurricanes "would cost, at a minimum, many, many hundreds of millions of dollars — and likely a lot more than that," says Corps spokesman John Hall.

"Protecting the city from Category 4 and 5 hurricanes "would cost, at a minimum, many, many hundreds of millions of dollars — and likely a lot more than that," says Corps spokesman John Hall."

Penny-wise and pound-foolish.

Fire this guy's butt immediately, if not sooner. And then fire his boss, and his boss' boss, and then the person above him, and so forth. You'll eventually get to the person truly responsible, who if he had any decency, would then perform the same favor for the American people that he did for the Texas and Alabama Air National guards - leave.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050901/ap_on_re_us/katrina_superdome_evacuation_hk1
Superdome Evacuation Halted Amid Gunfire
Excerpt:
Acadian Ambulance, which was handling the evacuation of sick and injured people from the Superdome.

He said that military would not fly out of the Superdome either because of the gunfire and that the National Guard told him that it was sending 100 military police officers to gain control.

"That's not enough," Zeuschlag. "We need a thousand."

{{{ BTW, why would anyone fire a gun at a rescue helicopter? Just makes no sense whatsoever....}}}}

{{{ IMHO, this is obscene.... Her propaganda is a way to bolster Nitwit's image, and focus attention - once again - on scaring the sheeples of this country. This propaganda only isolates Americans from opinions around the world with bandwagon patriotism.}}}

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/31/AR2005083102599.html
Hughes Launches 9/11 Anniversary Image Campaign
Excerpts:
Karen Hughes, who has been tasked with re-crafting America's image, sent a cable to all U.S. embassies yesterday urging them to think of ways to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that will demonstrate that terrorism is a challenge faced not just by the United States.
. . . . .
The rapid response teams would seek to counter misinformation about U.S. policies and actions in the same news cycle so that it is not perpetuated. Hughes plans to set up a rapid response center to monitor what is printed and broadcast by television networks such as al-Jazeera and al-Arabiya. "We're behind the curve in being able to put down rumors and myths," she said.
Another part of what she calls a "4-E" policy -- engagement, exchanges, education and empowerment -- is widening long-standing exchange programs to bring in clerics, journalists and other major figures of influence. "The terrorists and extremists we face want closed minds and rigid control," Hughes said. "We want open minds and to foster exchanges. The best way is to let them see for themselves."
************************************
And a second story, different paper, on the same thing - and I notice she's meddling in UN stuff:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/01/international/01hughes.html
State Dept. Official Urges Inclusive Tack on 9/11
Excerpt:
Ms. Hughes said she would continue sending suggestions to embassies on what they should say about issues of the day. Last week, she said, newspaper articles about the American position on improving the United Nations were based on what she said was an "inter-agency wish list" not intended for public release.

"It took me two days to find out that that's what happened, but I did find out," Ms. Hughes said, explaining that her job was then to put out a more up-to-date version of American objections.

She also said she and her staff would modify an informal administration policy that has been described by several officials as a boycott of Al Jazeera, the popular Arab satellite television network that has been harshly critical of American policies.

"As a communicator, first of all, you have to communicate your message through mediums to which people listen," she said. "So I think that we clearly need to be more effective about how we communicate on Al Jazeera."

{{{ A week or so ago there was a story about the fact that Al Jazeera is up for sale. Wonder who will buy the paper...???}}}

Associated Press
The first busload of New Orleans refugees to reach the Reliant Astrodome overnight was a group of people who commandeered a school bus in the city ravaged by Hurricane Katrina and drove to Houston looking for shelter.

• Convoy of Superdome evacuees rolls into Houston
• San Antonio to take in another 25,000 from Louisiana
• 100,000 evacuees in Houston.

Its truly tragic that FEMA is so feeble that a victim has to comandeer a bus to bring in evacuees, but at least now we know that Houston has taken in over 100,000 victims and San Antonio may be housing an additional 25,000.

NPR had a short story on the "on-the-hour" news update about how the web is playing a big role in helping people communicate and connect. The reporter referenced a page where the links she mentioned plus addition links could be found. These include "I am safe" "have you seen" forums as well as links offering / asking for housing, services, food, etc.

There is a set of links in the upper right corner of the http://www.npr.org home page.

There is also an additional list of links in a sidebar article on this page:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4827634

Here's what I wonder -

Easy to be a Thursday morning quarterback but:

If they knew that Katrina was coming (which they did), and they knew that they had thousands of residents who could not get out of the city for one reason or another (whchh they should have)

why didn't they have hundreds of buses evacuating residents before the storm struck?

where the hell was the plan???

In one night our local NBC station raised $10 million dollars to help these folks, so money and resorces are forthcoming from our community; fortunately much faster than our feeble FEMA.

Posted by: Ira at September 1, 2005 11:17 AM

Ira, any chance that you could post a collection of links for Houston organizations that are pitching in to which those of us outside the area could contribute money or in-kind help?

Ira,

You've got mail in your DCP mailbox!

unfortunately Carol there are thousands who refused to leave b/c of fears of looting, pets, elderly, many who just felt the storm would turn the last minute, an inexplicable psychology that happens in every hurricane whatever the planning, whatever the warnings, even when transportation was offered. Could a better job have planning be done? Of course you can always do better but many would not have let regardless. Part of the problem are the evacuations that are with false information when the storms actually do turn; crying wolf too often by weather forecasters. Would be good to hear from Linda in Pensacola who has gone through numerous hurricanes and I am sure understand this psychology.

Good News! My 2nd Cousin Charlotte was able to contact my family. All have been collected and brought to my sister Sara's house on the West Bank which was high and dry enough to survive the storm. I do not know whether or not they have sustained flood damage (I am assuming so because of the location) but at least it is dry for now.

Several of us were attempting to go to New Orleans to help, but no one knows where to begin. I am trying to coordinate the efforts of friends in Austin with Annie and Buddy, Cindy's lawyers from Camp Casey who live in Houma, Louisiana.

Yesterday Dot called me from Camp Casey II. She decided to drive down to Austin with the Impeachment Tour! The Bus went to the State Capitol then proceeded to Austin City Hall where they were greeted by more than 1200 supporters. Three bus loads of police were on hand to "observe" the protest. Dit Dot can fill you in later as to the details.

Dot and I went to Threadgill's to meet up with the hungry protestors and round up the roudy at heart. Cindy was exhausted and went back to the bus to get some rest.

James and Whitney said that as they were breaking down Camp Casey II, they were surprised by an ominous visitor...Karl Rove. I will not bear witness to this as I was notthere, but James said he came walking down the road from the Bush Ranch with many SS agents around him. You think maybe Karl was ready to repent and join the cause? Just a thought...we will have to grill James for details.

You were all sorely missed as Dot, James, Jeff, Rebecca, Whitney, Sumner and many others joined us at the Continental Club for drinks and the incredible James McMurtry! The bartenders at the Continental Club treated those from Camp Casey to a round of drinks on the house and happy hour prices the rest of the night.

If you recall, James McMurtry opened up for Steve Earl and also returned last weekend to Camp Casey to play another show in support of Cindy. He and the band played a rousing version of "We Can't Make Here" dedicated to all from Camp Casey who were present. We were floored!

http://www.jamesmcmurtry.com/

Now on to the business at hand...

Did someone say IMPEACHMENT?!?!?

I'm in...

September 01, 2005
A BLEAK REPORT FROM NEW ORLEANS: A colleague sends this email. (Click "read more" to read it).

Dear Colleagues,

I'm not sure how many of you know Bill Quigley. He is an amazing person, law professor at Loyola New Orleans, head of their clinic there. . . .

Anyhow, Bill's wife is an oncology nurse in New Orleans, and therefore decided she could not evacuate but would need to stay with her patients at the hospital. Bill apparently decided he would do likewise. Below is an interview with him about the situation in that city as of early Wednesday morning.

Read more:
http://instapundit.com/archives/025279.php

Blog of a student, Josh Britton, at LSU... updated as of this morning:

http://joshbritton.com/2005/09/01/baton-rouge-situation/

Baton Rouge situation
September 1st, 2005 @ 10:48 am
With frequent updates as I receive information.

I am receiving reports that there may be some safety issues in Baton Rouge caused by the influx of evacuees. When I left the LSU Journalism building late last night, I was not allowed to leave alone because of unconfirmed reports of suspicious and/or threatening activity around the Assembly Center. Also, I have received reports that cars have been broken into around the LSU campus and that students are being advised to move their cars away from some of the shelter areas.

Also, I have heard that cars parked near the RiverCenter downtown have been broken into and that perhaps 100 uniformed personnel have been dispatched to the area.

Please, please do not let this deter you from volunteering. I post this information not to scare anyone, but to remind each of you to keep your eyes open. There is ample security at each of the locations [UPDATE: I can no longer vouch for the safety of shelter locations in Baton Rouge], but please be aware of your surroundings.

UPDATE from Dave Frey at TigerSmack:

Just breaking on the radio. Also BR pawnshops are being looted for guns. This is getting scary. Updates as more info becomes available. I don’t think BR is prepared for this from a security perspective.

Update from 2theadvocate.com: City-parish officials are shutting down the governmental building and Courthouse in downtown Baton Rouge due to security issues.

UPDATE from a friend at LSU: Pleasant Hall has been locked down and employees are not being allowed to leave.

I am getting very angry about this situation because these folks causing the problems are seriously hindering the relief efforts. I understand that they are desperate, but we’ve got to take drastic action to make sure the volunteers and other evacuees are safe.

UPDATE: Dave Frey e-mails this:

i think there’s something major happening downtown br. my wife just got an email from a friend at a law firm down there and they’re being escorted out of their building by swat teams.

read more:
http://joshbritton.com/2005/09/01/baton-rouge-situation/

carol please check your email box. I have spoken with the Star of Hope, United Way, Salvation Army, St Vincent's and Second Baptist Church here locally(responsible for co-ordinating rseources here) and they recommended to hold off on the toys at least for right now. Your heart is in the right place.They are all concentrating on food and clothing at least right now. You might contact them next week when their essentials are accounted for. Thanks, Ira.

Found a terrific list of NGO's/charities that are organizing / providing relief and assistance for victims of Hurricane Katrina

http://www.truthlaidbear.com/katrinacharities.php

Heard a tip from our local NPR station about a website called www.give.org which lists a lot of NGO's / charities, some good, some not-so-good. They list what percent of what is donated to each group actually goes towards relief vs what's used in administration or further fundraising. Might want to check out unfamiliar groups on this site prior to donating.

http://www.give.org/

I just posted the following here

http://rebellenation.blogspot.com/2005/09/if-you-are-reading-this-blog.html

I have to go back to work but if you can PLEASE pass it on things have gotten very bad in the last few hours..floods of refugees

I love you guys will check back later.

Pass it on***

If You Are Reading This Blog
The people in and around the Super Dome will soon start dying of thirst and hunger.

If the gun men don't get them first.

TO MY BELOVED NATION, I AM BEGGING YOU

PLEASE HELP. HELP.

NOW

PLEASE GET HELP HERE NOW!!!!

NOW NOW NOW They can not take another 2 days.

They have NO CLEAN WATER, they are running out of food.

CALL YOUR CONGRESSMEN AND SENATORS AND TELL THEM TO DO SOMETHING!!!!!!

BRING HOME LOUISIANA NATIONAL GUARD NOW ! BRING HOME THEIR EQUIPMENT NOW!!!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HELP .

Please God help us.
posted by Christy @ 1:11 PM

'A scene of anarchy'
Editor's Note: CNN correspondents report back on what they are seeing in New Orleans and other Gulf Coast communities hit by Hurricane Katrina.

Chaos at the convention center

The New Orleans Convention Center has become a major gathering place for displaced.

I don't think I really have the vocabulary for this situation.

We just heard a couple of gunshots go off. There's a building smoldering a block away. People are picking through whatever is left in the stores right now. They are walking the streets because they have nowhere else to go.

Right now, I'm a few blocks away from the New Orleans Convention Center area. We drove through there earlier, and it was unbelievable. Thousands and thousands and thousands of people spent the night sleeping on the street, on the sidewalk, on the median.

The Convention Center is a place that people were told to go to because it would be safe. In fact, it is a scene of anarchy.

There is absolutely nobody in control. There is no National Guard, no police, no information to be had.

The Convention Center is next to the Mississippi River. Many people who are sleeping there feel that a boat is going to come and get them. Or they think a bus is going to come. But no buses have come. No boats have come. They think water is going come. No water has come. And they have no food.

As we drove by, people screamed out to us -- "Do you have water? Do you have food? Do you have any information for us?"

We had none of those.

Probably the most disturbing thing is that people at the Convention Center are starting to pass away and there is simply nothing to do with their bodies. There is nowhere to put them. There is no one who can do anything with them. This is making everybody very, very upset.

NEW ORLEANS — A 2-year-old girl slept in a pool of urine. Crack vials littered a restroom. Blood stained the walls next to vending machines smashed by teenagers.

The Louisiana Superdome, once a mighty testament to architecture and ingenuity, became the biggest storm shelter in New Orleans the day before Katrina's arrival Monday. About 16,000 people eventually settled in.

ADVERTISEMENT

By Wednesday, it had degenerated into horror. A few hundred people were evacuated from the arena Wednesday, and buses will take away the vast majority of refugees today.

"We pee on the floor. We are like animals," said Taffany Smith, 25, as she cradled her 3-week-old son, Terry. In her right hand she carried a half-full bottle of formula provided by rescuers. Baby supplies are running low; one mother said she was given two diapers and told to scrape them off when they got dirty and use them again.

At least two people, including a child, have been raped. At least three people have died, including one man who jumped 50 feet to his death, saying he had nothing left to live for.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-superdome1sep01,0,4489032.story?coll=la-home-headlines

PLEASE PLEASE help us

Im begging you

Powerful article from former NYT editor Howard Raines in the Guardian, courtesy of rossi highlighting it on rebellenation

http://rebellenation.blogspot.com/2005/09/im-just-glad-i-saw-it.html

Mr. Raines acknowledges the efforts that have been made despite lack of federal assistance but that's not the point that jumped out at me... it was this one:

"What other American president, one wonders, would fail to house these people in the decent barracks available at the closed and active military bases scattered throughout the South? The plain fact is that Jimmy Carter did a better job of housing the Mariel refugees from Cuba than Bush has done with the citizens of New Orleans."

Read the entire editorial:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1560149,00.html

He's right ... why aren't there military barracks being made available? Why aren't troop moving trucks, etc. in there already?

What's going on?

WHY THE LEVEE BROKE
Will Bunch, Attytood
Washington knew exactly what needed to be done to protect the citizens of New Orleans from disasters like Katrina. Yet federal funding for Louisiana flood control projects was diverted to pay for the war in Iraq.
http://www.alternet.org/story/24871/

National Guard at Breaking Point in Iraq and Gulf
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/090105M.shtml
On Aug. 1, a spokesman for the Louisiana National Guard lamented to a local reporter that the state might be stretched for security personnel in the event of a big hurricane. Dozens of high-water vehicles, generators and Humvees were employed in Iraq, along with 3,000 Louisiana National Guard troops.
{{{ Two articles on this one link.}}}

Did New Orleans Catastrophe Have to Happen?
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/090105I.shtml
Local officials are now saying, the article reports, that had Washington heeded their warnings about the dire need for hurricane protection, including building up levees and repairing barrier islands, "the damage might not have been nearly as bad as it turned out to be.
{{{ Two articles on this one link.}}}

Disasters Keep Coming but FEMA Phased Out
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/090105J.shtml
In the days to come, as the nation copes with the disastrous aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, we will be reminded how important it is to have a federal agency capable of dealing with natural catastrophes of this sort. ... Which makes it all the more difficult to understand why the country's premier agency for dealing with such events - FEMA - is being, in effect, systematically downgraded and all but dismantled by the Department of Homeland Security.

Sidney Blumenthal | "No One Can Say They Didn't See It Coming"
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/090105L.shtml
In 2001, FEMA warned that a hurricane striking New Orleans was one of the three most likely disasters in the US. But the Bush administration cut New Orleans flood control funding by 44 percent to pay for the Iraq war.

Courtesy of Sandy at LUTD:

Gulf Oil Reports Coming In
31 August 2005

We have moved from “interesting times” to the times that try men’s souls. The Coast Guard is confirming that at least 20 oil rigs and platforms are missing and a pipeline is on fire. Prof. Goose at The Oil Drum has an ominous post from a supposed insider that explains what missing platforms means, as well as providing information on other damage to the oil industry.

“We also set individual wells as satellites and pipe them back to existing platforms. These stand-alone wells are called caisson wells. 90% of those in the storm path are bent over, rendering them a total loss, We would have to remove the existing bent structure and drill a new well, as bent pipe is basically unusable.

We utilize platforms as gathering hubs. We pipe the raw oil/water to them and then send it on for separation, or separate it there and send finished oil on. Damage to a hub means everything going to the hub is offline indefinitely. There are +/- 15 HUBS missing. MISSING!! As in we cannot find them from the air.”

“Boats are usually brought into harbor to weather storms. We do not have a boat count yet, but from the initial reports, we may have lost or grounded 30% of the Gulf of Mexico fleet. This means everything will cost more, take longer - repairs, repositioning, everything.”

The Oil Drum also has links to newspaper reports on gas shortages from Michigan to Phoenix to Maryland. Our gas went from $2.89 to $3.04 between 8 pm, when my daughter went out to fill up, and 9 pm, when my husband went out. It was $2.64 on Monday.

In the meantime, “it’s all good” appears to be the motto of Bush economists. White House economic advisor, Ben Bernanke, said that “reconstruction is going to add jobs and growth to the economy” and the bond market’s lower interest rates “showed more concern about the potential hit to growth.” So which is it? A hit to growth or reconstruction as a catalyst to growth? If reconstruction here is anything like Iraq, we already know the answer. One thing is for sure, note to Louisiana and Mississippi, just say no to Halliburton.

http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/default.asp?view=plink&id=1338

congress coming back to session ealy should be appropriating money for infrastructure, wetland and energy conservation projects and for Energy Independence and new real CAFE Standards, not just throwing money for some Senator's or Tom Delay's newest pet pork projects, which in all likelihood it will be or some corporate give a ways to ADM or Haliburton for unwelcomed construction projects or overcharged food preparations. No thank you Haliburton keep your hands off.This is absolutely no time for corporate greed. Early meeting by Congress in my mind is meant for one purpose only, a Republican pr campaign to say we Republicans care.

From monarchy to anarchy...

I think whole situation is proof positive, mr. bush.

WE ARE NOT SAFER!

Where's the Homeland Security plan for a major disaster, that you've had nearly 4 years to devise mr. bush?

I am now worried for my brother who drove to Baton Rouge with food supplies... it makes me think of the driver's who are being paid by Halliburton in Iraq... will the food convoys be safe from attack?

Hey King... the pawns are coming.

Clearly, we can see the level of preparedness in the US after a catastrophe is on the order of the preparedness we had in Iraq. Seriously, how can we feel that the current government has our best interests at heart, when it doesn't do the work needed to really secure the homeland?

I keep reading stories of how FEMA and the US Army Corps of Engineers lost funds for the levees and for planning, how the wetlands were allowed to be developed. Officials at FEMA fired for criticizing the Bush administration for taking funds away for levees and flood control--

(link: http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/000931.html)

this is just like when General Kinsheki was retired early for daring to criticize the Iraqi invasion plan.

I have to say, this administration is either criminally incompentent or else calculating in the most Machiavellian sense. It is a tragedy. It is unacceptable.

Did someone say IMPEACHMENT?!?!?

I'm in...

Posted by: Indy at September 1, 2005 12:53 PM

GREAT NEWS on your family, brother.

p.s. I'm in too.

LUTD has assembled a great page of links to Hurricane relief and information websites:

http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/katrina.htm

A number of local and state organizations are listed. Check it out...

The Ugly Truth
by Matthew Sweet

You don't want to die
But the living gets you down
We want you to act like nothing's wrong
Even though you heard a sound
And then you're ripped right out of the ground
Like a f*ckin' root
No, you simply cannot hide
From the ugly truth

You felt you must be wise
'Cause you could find yourself
Among a sea of smiling faces
It's a way I've never felt
Yeah, it kinda flies right into my face
And out the other side
Oh, the ugly truth leaves nothing to decide
The ugly truth makes every one of us a liar
Ugly

If you can dig a big enough hole
To bury all your youth
No you still won't be prepared for the ugly truth
No you'll never be prepared for the ugly truth
You simply cannot hide from the ugly truth
Ugly

“I just can’t imagine waving a sign that says ‘Come and get me now.’”
September 1st, 2005
This morning as tens of thousands of tired, hungry, hot, frustrated refugees waited to be evacuated from the Superdome and other areas in New Orleans, Bush once again showed his lack of compassion, sympathy and understanding for the desperate, stranded victims of Hurricane Katrina in an interview on ABC’s Good Morning America.

Bush, who spoke as tens of thousands of people were evacuated on buses from the Superdome in New Orleans to the Astrodome in Houston, more than 300 miles away, expressed sympathy for those still stranded.

“Thousands have been rescued, there are thousands more to be rescued,” he said.

“I just can’t imagine waving a sign that says `Come and get me now.’”

It’s easy to understand why George W. Bush “can’t imagine waving a sign that says `Come and get me now,’” he knows damn well he will never be in those circumstances!

MORE & LINKS - http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=403

“I just can’t imagine waving a sign that says `Come and get me now.’”

Posted by: Pamela at September 1, 2005 03:27 PM

THAT'S what passes for compassionate conservatism.

As Christy has told me more than once, "it's like feeling sorry for the cow after you eat it".

Sending you prayers right now, C.

More compassionate conservatism...

"The truth is, a terrible tragedy like this brings out the best in most people, brings out the worst in some people," said Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour on NBC's "Today" show. "We're trying to deal with looters as ruthlessly as we can get our hands on them."

“I just can’t imagine waving a sign that says 'Come and get me now.'”
~~GWB

I want to see that quote on billboards all over the country.

People are dying. How much imagination does it take to understand that, George?

You be careful, sister.

We're praying for you, and all of those effected - praying HARD.

Teresa's post on LUTD in response to the "Incompetence of Epic Proportions" blog post which I linked to above...

Good comparison, Sandy. "Trail of Tears".

This country's lack of leadership is phenomenal. They seem to be counting their piles of coins in anticipation of the reconstruction. Maybe it's better that they reveal their true selves, though, rather than the usual phony compassion.

Maybe it's a good sign that Rove is in Crawford sensing a precarious support. Tha last vigil at Camp Casey's memorial cemetery drew the Bush supporters from across the road to join them in prayer and song. An amazing event that went unnoticed by the world.

Teresa | 1 Sep 2005 @ 13:18
http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/comments.asp?id=1339
----

Did anyone else hear/read about the last vigil at Camp Casey and what happened?

Indy,

I am relieved to hear the good news about your family.

OOOPS -

this:

"You be careful, sister.

We're praying for you, and all of those effected - praying HARD.

Posted by: Christy at September 1, 2005 03:50 PM"

was posted by me, to Christy! Sorry!

Somebody better tell Bill to stop spinning for Bush. Maybe he thinks that by portraying himself as a centrist, he's helping his wife's Presidential effort. But he's giving aid and comfort to Dubya at the moment.

He needs to shut up.

sorry cyranno,this is beyond politics, this is about a lot more than Bill or Hillary's ambitions. this is about life and death.
exactly what are you quoting that Bill Clinton said that you object to? just curious.

He's on CNN, with HW, talking about how what happened in New Orleans was totally unexpected.

I agree that it's about lives, but as Molly Ivans pointed out this morning, it is also about POLICY. If Dubya had followed the example of Clinton's POLICY, it is entirely possible that the dire situation in New Orleans might be completely different.

Ira, I won't speak for Cyrano, but let's just say that when I saw Bubba prop up GWB on one side, while Poppa Bush prop him up on the other side at a news conference an hour or two ago, I decided right then and there to not call Bill anything but Bubba again.

And I supported Clinton from his first primaries on.

FINALLY, more corporate media coverage of the guard troops NOT MAKING INTO New Orleans. Why? Because the situation in New Orleans is "unpredictable." Which prompted one reporter to comment that, basically, what was the purpose of our military then?

I want to see the Bush quote above on billboards and signs all over the country from now until 2008.

As a follow-up, when people like me (and you, and many others on this blog), objected to the POLICY of preemptive war in Iraq, Dubya was given a pass by the Media when his POLICY went completely south.

When people (include many economists) objected to the supply side tax cuts, believing that they were never likely to generate sufficient revenue to pay for the cuts, he was given yet another pass by the MSM for the resulting deficits.

This guy keeps getting a pass for disasterous POLICIES.

Maybe we've got to launch a new media campaign, focusing on a slogan like this.

IT'S HIS POLICIES, STUPID.

I would love to see uncurious George waving a sign that says 'Come and get me now.' Think of the mob scene...

that is the whole point kj/cyrano:
The President of the United States has to be propped up by exPresidents b/c he is so incompitent: "I saw Bubba prop up GWB on one side, while Poppa Bush prop him up on the other side at a news conference an hour or two ago, I decided"
somebody's got to do it for the good of the country seemingly for the next 3 years. Apparently neiter Bush nor his staff seem capable of doing the right thing on their own. Could you imagine Clinton just flying over this disaster, photoed looking out his window, and not immediately on the scene with food, water, and an effective FEMA. When Okl. happened does anyone think that Clinton needed Bush's dad
to prop him up. No it was just Bill and Al. You know, the folks that were expected to lead this country.

OK gang -

I love "Bubba", so I'm just gonna say this...

Let's just say that chaos in New Orleans totally gets out of control and we get into a state of total anarchy and violence (like Iraq) down there. It seems quite possible right now.

Let's just acknowledge that we all hate Bush, hold him partially, even largely, responsible for this mess, and we'd like to get his ass out of office.

But let's also acknowledge that he is in WAY over his head - has no idea what to do - can not effectively run the country in a situation like this.

Cooler heads, like "Bubba's", need to prevail. People are furious about this - and maybe Bush will go down for this (we can only hope) - but in the meantime - Bush knows people love Clinton, adore Clinton, know Clinton is a genious. Heck - he asked Clinton to help him. It makes me feel better to think Bill is in charge. I know HE knows what to do.

Posted by: Ira at September 1, 2005 04:34 PM

RIGHT ON IRA!!!

And BTW, where's Dickie???

Clinton has been a lot of inane noises as of late, statements like (quoting from memory, it may not be exact) "maybe I'm the only person who likes both John Kerry and President Bush" (which he said on Larry King Live, somewhere near the time of the November 2nd election).

On the other hand, I agree that he has to act the role of a Statesman. So, maybe I'm over-reacting myself.

OK - WHY AREN'T THEY AIRLIFTING/DROPPING STUFF TO THOSE PEOPLE?????

Sorry for shouting.

And Carol, you're right. Bill has a brain and knows how to use it. I truly hope he'll be able to help. And if so, we all need to make sure Bill gets the credit...ALL the credit.

Hey, if anyone would immediately worry about whether the people stranded in NO had enough to eat, it would be Bubba! Bubba understands hunger!

Bush sure knows how to USE Clinton and I'm really disgusted by the "triangulating" Clinton is doing with both bushies! Bush thinks,I'll USE Clinton so these efforts look like bi-part support,then Clinton has NO choice but to support Bush! After all,with my poppy at Clinton's side I win!! The CNN interview made me ill beyond the pale!!
Where's "THE DISASTER PLAN"and why wasn't it implemented?? Hospitals nation wide are required by law to have FIVE dAYS BACK-UP SUPPLIES....IN THIS NEW ENVIRONMENT..AND SOMEBODY NEEDS TO HOLD THESE CLOWNS ACCOUNTABLE!

Cryano......IT is his policies,stupid..roll with it!!

Just listened to Ed Schultz's discussion with a retired Naval commando.....asking same ???Why wasn't "the plan" implementd and calling this ADM INCOMPETENT!!..No kidding ??

Ira, I posted this at The Democratic Daily:
http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com

"Nick, I agree. This is it, this is the end. I’m outraged at the number of people all over the world, from 9/11 on, who have had to give their lives because of the person and policies of GWB. The karmic debt is staggering. But this is the end. We take back the Congress and then we impeach. A trial after impeachment at the Hague would be fine with me, as well.

Bush’s quote, which Pamela posted above, is one that needs to be repeated from now until 2006 then 2008. On handmade signs and on billboards. On television ads and newpaper editorials."

As a early, active and long-time supporter of Bill Clinton, I've moved on. Bill Clinton isn't my concern, nor is he my "leader." I'm an adult, and I don't chose to think about Bill Clinton in any other terms than the terms I chose to think of him in. John Kerry carries my voice with his moral leadership.

Just wanted to say "hi" to Cyrano, anyway.

"I agree that he has to act the role of a Statesman"
somebody has got to do it cyrano. Its Haad Wurk.

this from the cnn story - What the F@#!

"The Pentagon said that by next week 24,000 troops would be on the ground to assist in recovery efforts, including 8,600 National Guard members by Friday who could be put to work in law enforcement."

NEXT FREAKING WEEK?

Ok.. I just heard the clip on NPR where W says, "I don't think anybody anticipated a breach of the levees."

Ummm, hello.... What planet are you from? Just how stupid and uneducated are you? Were you not paying attention during your US geography class?

That's only been anticipated for the last 70-80 years or so...

Courtesy of the LA Times:

WASHINGTON — In 2001, the Federal Emergency Management Agency concluded that a catastrophic hurricane in New Orleans was "among the three likeliest … disasters facing this country."

In the years that followed, however, instead of receiving a mandate to marshal the resources needed to handle such a disaster, FEMA saw its standing within the federal government downgraded sharply and its mission pushed lower on the priorities list as the Bush administration focused on the threat of terrorism.

Read more:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-fema1sep01,1,4695939.story?coll=la-headlines-nation

Posted by: Carol at September 1, 2005 04:41 PM

It's ok to shout. I've been shouting all day at inanimate objects like the radio & my computer screen everytime I hear/read the what this regime ISN'T doing. We should all be shouting.

It's like the bumper sticker says, "If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention!"

SHOUT IT OUT!!!

Moral leadership. John has it, George doesn’t.

notice kj I avoided saying that maybe we really need to send the real President to N.O. I resisted. But it was really tempting.
"John Kerry carries my voice with his moral leadership."

Waving to Patti F. Miss you, roomie! :-)
Couldn't resist and turned on the television today. Blood pressure must be 210/150. And, I'm yelling. You would be so proud. @;-)

Posted by: dwahzon at September 1, 2005 04:47 PM

Did you forget that Dubya doesn't read the newspapers?

Since I was up anyway, I taped that ABC interview with pResNitwit on GMA this morning and just watched it a bit ago. I wasn't aware there was supposed to be a press briefing with Clinton and the two Bu$hes this afternoon, but accidentally caught that when I turned on the TV. I shoulda left well enough alone by leaving the TV off and only watching in-state news for weather reports.

This morning Nitwit had the audacity to bring up 9/11 again and compare that man-made disaster with the natural disaster in the Gulf Coast.... and mentioned the 'war on terra' twice, and three times saying they "needed to get a handle" on the situation... and said he realizes the people look to the president to solve problems: 'that's what presidents do.' And, of course, in his delusional mind he says there are enough troops to handle the situation in Iraq and the situation in LA and MS, too....

He said something about 22,000 (twenty two thousand) troops mobilized in the hurricane disaster area. Can that be right? Did he really mean 2,200 (twenty two hundred)? There may be a lot of people on stand-by or en route, but with the number of people currently being rescued and relocated and everyone working 24/7 (and anarchy still reigning on the streets in New Orleans), I seriously doubt 22,000 are actually in the area unless they're working behind the scenes. I'm thinking that two or three times that number of people are needed to help with rescue and clean-up operations. The size of the area needing help is equal in square miles to that of Great Britain, if George Stephanopolous had his figures right this afternoon.

This afternoon's press conference had Nitwit (again) stressing and mentioning the oil pipelines and fuel consumption - something he stressed at length this morning, and even more this afternoon). He's clearly more worried about the oil than the people. All he said was 'send money' and 'be patient' to the "folks" most affected (like they're really watching TV to hear that message?!?!?) - he didn't talk about who is getting food and water to the stranded people, especially those in New Orleans who are/were at the superdome. Sending money is all good and well, but since there was at least a two day advance warning that Katrina was headed for (likely) New Orleans, if he had been on the ball and not riding his bike and strumming a guitar in the two days before and the day the hurricane actually hit, food and water and other bare essentials could have been loaded on trucks and on its way to LA & MS and ready to roll from the northern borders of LA and MS as soon as weather permitted safe travel without a convoy of trucks ending up part of the disaster. There could have been immediate help available within the first 12 hours after the hurricane hit if anyone would have turned on the light bulb in Dimwit's brain (IMHO).

I was listening for weather reports those couple of days leading up to the hurricane landing, but not necessarily to news. I don't recall hearing anything about mobilizing aid in those couple of days prior to when the hurricane hit, but chalked it up to the usual lack of attention to details of MSM to report anything important. Did I miss something?

I did notice something I haven't seen for a while... Nitwit's jaw is wriggling back and forth again. He knows he hasn't performed as well as past presidents in almost similar situations and he's in trouble over his head for his lack of management skills (and National Guard personnel and equipment are in Iraq, not here at home where they're most desperately needed).... The jaw jiggling is telling when he's on the spot....

Ira, good for you. ;-) After months of restraint, I'm singing loud today. I want those billboards up and that quote passed around like butter after corn on the cob.

And I've called and written John Kerry's office, as have others (with better connections than I do), asking him to please, please, find a microphone tonight and give our outrage a voice.

Did you forget that Dubya doesn't read the newspapers?

Posted by: Cyrano at September 1, 2005 04:51 PM

Presumably a FEMA report might have been delivered to his office at some point... an obviously incompetent office.

if this operation was organized by our new Homeland Security office and Chernoff, we aren't so secure, and once things are stabilized and lives no longer at risk, this situation screams out for a Congressional investigation.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050901/ts_alt_afp/usweatherscene
Katrina survivors frustrated by slow relief response
{{{ OMG, this is awful!}}}

Nonny, that's a scary link.

found this story on a site called the American Blog.

Are these folks insane/out of touch with reality?

Thursday, September 01, 2005

BREAKING: Sec of State Condi Rice caught buying several-thousand-dollar pair of shoes in NYC moments ago, spends last night at Broadway show!

I posted this last night, but seems more appropriate for this thread:

We are witnessing a Federal Government effectively sitting on its thumbs during these most desperate times. The National Guard is nowhere in sight. Many are asking, "Where is the Guard? Where is the help?" We all know where the Guard is. We are now seeing the citizenry of this great country doing all that is humanly possible to help those in dire need of assistance. A cynic might say that these circumstances are the result of what the Federal Government has promoted for the last six years.The Federal Government's priorities are being manifest via this disaster. These priorites obviously are not for the citizens who are most injured, but rather for those with the least to lose (this includes big oil). People know that their government and President has failed them. The day has arrived when citizens will rise up in anger and demand change. Change is inevitable, but the anger is what I most fear. Anger left to its own devices could be potentially more destructive in terms of our national well being than what we are seeing now.

This is from someone with a generator in New Orleans who's posting to a blog and generating live pictures...

He appears to be a phone company / telecom employee of some sort trying to get some telecom back up and running in NOLA

http://www.livejournal.com/users/interdictor/

Survival of New Orleans blog... go there for links to pictures, to live video feed, to hourly posts.

Posted by: dwahzon at September 1, 2005 04:55 PM

FEMA's office is all but gone and absorbed into "Homeland" Security, and their funding was cut (story in one of the earlier links I posted on this thread).

One of my cousins worked for FEMA a few years ago, and was in my town within a day or two after a tornado went through, just barely after the electricity was back on since the tornado took out one of the main transformers near town. FEMA is supposed to come in after disasters, not before, and help people with paperwork so they can get funds to rebuild.

"Homeland" Security is supposed to be prepared for disasters before they happen so there can be rapid response during and after a disaster, but they have been concentrating on "terrorism" - not natural disasters, and especially not a natural disaster that was predicted two or three days before it happened. So far, all "Homeland" Security has proved they can do is raise false 'terra' alerts prior to an election - and sit around with their thumbs up their butts.

There is a report on CNN that an inmate has taken control of some sort of Louisana prison.

"I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees."
~ George W. Bush, Good Morning America, 9/1/05

VERSUS

"It appears that the money has been moved in the president's budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that's the price we pay.

Nobody locally is happy that the levees can't be finished, and we are doing everything we can to make the case that this is a security issue for us."

~ Walter Maestri, emergency management chief for Jefferson Parish, LA,
6/8/04

Robbing the cookie jar to pay for an unecessary war on foreign shores for our national security while our people are dying here on our shores.

Let us not forget those "Who Chose to Stay Behind", the term used by the MSM is the closeted racist and classist term for poor and African-American. These are the people who have died by the thousands and continue to die.

NOW WHERE'S THE OUTRAGE?????

"I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees."
~ George W. Bush, Good Morning Vietnam, 9/1/05

LIE LIE LIE LIE LIE LIE LIE LIE LIE LIE LIE LIE

Fe, the talking heads on CNN actually brought up that specific point about an hour ago. I think it was Jack Cafferty. It was amazing.

Fe, as you might remember, I don't watch live television. The exception is today.

I heard a guy named Cafferty (who I know nothing about)on CNN talking about "the elephant in the living room," that the people in New Orleans are black and poor. That they didn’t have the means to leave the Big Easy.

He also yelled, "Where the HELL is the water for these people" and, earlier, around noon, a woman reporter, talking about the guard troops (our local troops included), stationed in Baton Rouge and not moving into New Orleans because the situation there was too "unpredictable"... call into question then... what was the purpose of our military?

Hi everyone.

To everyone who answered my question this morning--thank you! I'm assimilating it so I can counter that argument.

Here's an excellent diary/analysis at kos

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/1/143439/6760

"I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees."
~ George W. Bush, Good Morning America, 9/1/05

Prevention is the best remedy to every problem.

Dubya's wisdom and leadership has been weighed in the balance, and found wanting.

Looks like more people are starting to stand up to Bush:

FDA official resigns over contraception policy

Wednesday, August 31, 2005; Posted: 12:53 p.m. EDT (16:53 GMT)

The recent decision ... about emergency contraception ... is contrary to my core commitment to improving and advancing women's health.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Susan Wood
What Is This? WASHINGTON (AP) -- A high-ranking Food and Drug Administration official resigned Wednesday in protest over the agency's refusal to allow over-the-counter sales of emergency contraception.

Susan Wood, director of FDA's Office of Women's Health, announced her resignation in an e-mail to colleagues at the agency. The e-mail was released by contraception advocates.

The FDA last Friday postponed indefinitely its decision on whether to allow the morning-after pill, called Plan B, to be sold without a prescription. The agency said it was safe for adults to use without a doctor's guidance but was unable to decide how to keep it out of the hands of young teenagers without a prescription -- a decision contrary to the advice of its own scientific advisers.

"I can no longer serve as staff when scientific and clinical evidence, fully evaluated and recommended for approval by the professional staff here, has been overruled," wrote Wood, who also was assistant commissioner for women's health. "The recent decision announced by the Commissioner about emergency contraception, which continues to limit women's access to a product that would reduce unintended pregnancies and reduce abortions, is contrary to my core commitment to improving and advancing women's health."

Plan B's maker has been trying for two years to begin nonprescription sales, and the FDA's latest postponement of its fate was a surprise: Commissioner Lester Crawford won Senate confirmation to take his job only after promising members of Congress to make a final decision by September 1."

with all of the bad news coming out of N.O, its good to hear something positive.

"I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees."
~ George W. Bush, Good Morning America, 9/1/05

I sure am surprised that he doesn't admit his misguided policy decisions had nothing to do with the scope of this disaster.

Give that imbecile the Alfred E. Neuman award.

Cafferty is doing the racial angle again. Powerful stuff.

Yes. Quite powerful. Public voice to what many have said between themselves.

Guard troops aren't due in until 10 pm. Reporter saying, “They’ve lost control of the city.” Tonight is not going to go well.

BTW, hello, Cyrano.

courtesy of gawker blog, 'The source for daily Manhattan media news and gossip. Gawker, reporting live from the center of the universe.'

Breaking: Condi Rice Spends Salary on Shoes

According to Drudge, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has recently enjoyed a little Broadway entertainment.

"Eyewitness: Sec of State Condi Rice laughs it up at 'Spamalot' while Gulf Coast lays in tatters. Theater goers on New York city's Great White Way were shocked to see the President's former National Security Advisor at the Monty Python farce last night -- as the rest of the cabinet responds to Hurricane Katrina..."

And Page Six reports that she’s also working on her backhand with Monica Seles. So the Gulf Coast has gone all Mad Max, women are being raped in the Superdome, and Rice is enjoying a brief vacation in New York. We wish we were surprised.

What does surprise us: Just moments ago at the Ferragamo on 5th Avenue, Condoleeza Rice was seen spending several thousands of dollars on some nice, new shoes (we’ve confirmed this, so her new heels will surely get coverage from the WaPo’s Robin Givhan). A fellow shopper, unable to fathom the absurdity of Rice’s timing, went up to the Secretary and reportedly shouted, “How dare you shop for shoes while thousands are dying and homeless!” Never one to have her fashion choices questioned, Rice had security PHYSICALLY REMOVE the woman.

Angry Lady, whoever you are, we love you. You are a true American, and we’ll go shoe shopping with you anytime.

Hi, KJ.

Too bad that JK isn't the man in charge today.

Anybody listening to this eyewitness report, Raymond Cooper, at the Convention Center?

Cyrano,

Some of us have called John Kerry's office today and asked him to speak for us tonight.

There is no way for GWB to spin his callous indifference with this situation.

BTW, it's nice to talk to some old friends.

listening to NPR now... what media channel is Raymond Cooper on?

CNN.

He's off at the moment, but was telling Blitzer about older women dying in the Convention Center, and just being tossed in the corner by police, teenagers raping women, etc.

CNN employing 6 and even 8 frame screen.
What will happen tonight is anyone's guess. Reporters are fearing for their own safety at this point.

Cyrano,

This is total chaos, anarchy. People are trapped. There is no help for anyone.

The mayor earlier called for thousands of people to walk out of the Convention Center... but where to walk to? Areas are underwater, different from block to block.

Yet again we witness a horrific event in real time... powerless to help those in immediate danger.

Lack of communication is hampering military from getting involved in rescue effort

The news we get abroad are absolutely horrific. My daughters kept phoning me all day to know about what was happening in the South.
One thing stroke my mind though. Katrina has been the breaking news for over a week, and before the hurricane we were repeatedly told that it was a level 5 hurricane.
On CNN International this morning I saw the interview of the Mississipi Governor who plainly stated that he was told it was a level 1 hurricane that turned to level 5 between Florida and Mississipi. Who is lying? I can tell you that the journalist was very itchy at him.
Now, besides the terible losses, the chaos ,how is the country due to be rebuilt? Will it be fast and cheap, and in ununable areas again, or will they draw a lesson from it? I mean having lives prevailing on profit.. How long will It take to people to come back to normal life, if they ever do?

I know that the French government offered to send 4500 troops, located in Antillas, and trained to major catastrophies to help, but we had no answer from King George.

Cooper is back on, warning authorities not to send the National Guard without bringing someone from government in to talk to the crowds.

Lack of communication my foot. The guard is stalled in Baton Rouge because the military doesn't want to send them in to an "unpredictable" situation. So they'll come in tonight, at 10 pm.

Disaster.

Blanco is saying that they will be getting as many as 40,000 troops.

Turning to the Newshour now.

At least, that was the report earlier today. And the reporter who reported it was outraged. Openly asking on national television, then what is the purpose OF our military?

yep, Newshour here too.

I've been compiling links on the DemDaily since Monday for organizations taking donations, government agencies, etc. I've made a static page that includes all of those links and missing persons websites and housing and shelter resources. It's all here - http://www.thedemocraticdaily.com/hurricane_katrina_relief.html

If anyone has stuff to add, email me @thedemocraticdaily.

Pamela, great job, as always.

Okay, later DCP. *waving to old friends*

Fats Domino is missing. He's 77 years old, and has not been seen since the beginning of the Hurricane.

I hate to break yalls clinton bubble

But..

There is a REASON he cant get georgies lips out of his zipper..

It is called the Dixie Mafia

And thier best front company halliburton..

Who do you think is running all that heroine out of Afghanistan and through Iraq into Saudi Arabia...from there into central america and up from mexico ala vincinte fox.

The Dixie Mafia is no joke. And they have direct reach to both bushes and clinton..

With Gilligan in office we are going back to the gas lines of the 1970s.

" Concerns are now mounting over limited supplies of gasoline, including the possible return of long lines and scarcity reminiscent of the 1970s gas crisis."
Arizona and Georgia seem t be almost in panic mode over soaring gas prices.

'I'm just glad I saw it'
New Orleans was the city of jazz, Faulkner and Tennessee Williams, the
place where the US Bible Belt came unbuckled. Former New York Times
editor Howell Raines laments the destruction of the Big Easy, and asks:
why did President Bush do so little in response?
Thursday September 1, 2005
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1560149,00.html

EXCERPT:

In both categories, the sacrifices of New Orleans need a kind of national reckoning that would enable our people to see the president who forgot to care for what he is. Every great disaster - the Blitz, 9/11, the tsunami - has a political dimension. The performance of George Bush during this past week has been outrageous. Almost as unbelievable as Katrina itself is the fact that the leader of the free world has been outshone by the elected leaders of a region renowned for governmental ineptitude. Louisiana's anguished governor, Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, climbed into a helicopter at the first possible moment to survey what may become the worst weather-related disaster in American history. She might even have been able to stop the looting in New Orleans if the 141st Field Artillery of the Louisiana Army National Guard had not been in Iraq for the past 11 months. They are among thousands of Southern guardsmen who could have been federalised by the stroke of a pen had they not been deployed in a phony war. Even Governor Haley Barbour of Mississippi, a tiresome blowhard as chairman of the Republican National Committee, has shone a throat-catching public sorrow and sleepless diligence that puts Bush to shame.

This president, who flew away on Monday to fundraisers in the west while the hurricane blew away entire towns in coastal Mississippi, is very much his father's son when it comes to the kinds of emergencies that used to call forth immediate White House action before its Bushite captivity. When he was president, his father did not visit Miami after Hurricane Andrew, nor for that matter, did he mind being photographed tooling his golf cart around Kennebunkport while American troops died in the first Iraq war. Now the younger Bush seems determined to show his successors how to holiday through an apocalypse. Consider the visible federal leadership presence in Louisiana on the day that the levee broke, a full day after the hurricane first hit. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, the US government department charged with disaster preparation and response, issued the usual promises. Bush, for his part, urged people not to stay where they were, even if their evacuation residence might be the roofless, toilet-clogged Superdome.

Meanwhile, in Baton Rouge, an army colonel seemed to be the most senior federal official at a televised news conference called to announce a Corps of Engineers plan to drop sand bags into the raceway of the broken levee. The proposed drop did not take place because the shortage of helicopters was such that the aircraft had to be diverted to rescue work. Twenty-four hours later, on Wednesday, as Bush met by intercom with his emergency team and considered a return to Washington, as Pentagon and Homeland Security promised relief by the weekend, intensive care patients were dying at Charity Hospital in New Orleans. They had languished for two full days because the overworked coast guard helicopter crews available in New Orleans did not have time to reach them. As for the Superdome refugees, it finally fell to the governor of Texas to announce that they could come to Houston's Astrodome. What other American president, one wonders, would fail to house these people in the decent barracks available at the closed and active military bases scattered throughout the South? The plain fact is that Jimmy Carter did a better job of housing the Mariel refugees from Cuba than Bush has done with the citizens of New Orleans.

The populism of Huey Long was financially corrupt, but when it came to the welfare of people, it was caring. The church-going cultural populism of George Bush has given the United States an administration that worries about the house of Saud and the welfare of oil companies while the poor drown in their attics and their sons and daughters die on foreign deserts. ++

© Howell Raines. The writer is the former editor of the New York Times

If the oil supply is in question, this is the effective end of Bush's Presidency, and potentially, the beginning of a very stormy period for the American economy.

Cities that rely primarily on mass transit will be in better shape than cities that rely heavily on automobiles.

... and again, what would happen if another major hurricane should hit this season (4 last September)...

How would people, even AFFLUENT whitebread folk, evacuate with no gasoline... or resources to deal with it?

Where is Hurricane Jeb in all this? Doesn't he have some recent experience in dealing with this kinda stuff?

From the SufferDome...
Delay of Game, W
15 Years, Loss of Down
4th down

This aint your brothers hurricane

Sho Nuf

Cities that rely primarily on mass transit will be in better shape than cities that rely heavily on automobiles.

Posted by: Cyrano at September 1, 2005 06:14 PM

And as someone living in a city that RIPPED UP its mass transit to build freeways (Los Angeles in the 1960's - proof that this is a red city), I can definitely concur.

The "you are what you drive" culture here in Los Angeles must die. That is what is forcing singles to drive Suburbans and strain the gasoline supplies! (Not to mention secretaries driving themselves bankrupt making payments on their BMW's...)

from James Wolcott

~snip~
There are those who say ... "[T]his is not a time for politics -- not only for moral and ethical reasons, but for political ones as well. That is, politics itself mandates that these days not be political."
~snip~
No, this is the time for politics, none better, because I can tell you just from being out of NY a few days that a lot of people in this country are shocked and sobered by New Orleans, but they're also worried and pissed off. They're making the connection between the money, manpower, and resources expended in Iraq and how raggedy-ass the rescue effort has been in the Gulf. If you don't say it now when people's nerves are raw and they're paying full attention, it'll be too late once the waters receded and the media-emoting "healing process" begins.

Thankfully, Paul Craig Roberts is ignoring the pleas for sotto voce commentary in a time of tragedy.

"Chalk up the city of New Orleans as a cost of Bush's Iraq war.

"There were not enough helicopters to repair the breached levees and rescue people trapped by rising water. Nor are there enough Louisiana National Guardsmen available to help with rescue efforts and to patrol against looting.

"The situation is the same in Mississippi.

"The National Guard and helicopters are off on a fool's mission in Iraq.

"The National Guard is in Iraq because fanatical neoconservatives in the Bush administration were determined to invade the Middle East and because incompetent Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld refused to listen to the generals, who told him there were not enough regular troops available to do the job.

"After the invasion, the arrogant Rumsfeld found out that the generals were right. The National Guard was called up to fill in the gaping gaps.

"Now the Guardsmen, trapped in the Iraqi quagmire, are watching on TV the families they left behind trapped by rising waters and wondering if the floating bodies are family members. None know where their dislocated families are, but, shades of Fallujah, they do see their destroyed homes.

"The mayor of New Orleans was counting on helicopters to put in place massive sandbags to repair the levee. However, someone called the few helicopters away to rescue people from rooftops. The rising water overwhelmed the massive pumping stations, and New Orleans disappeared under deep water.

"What a terrible casualty of the Iraqi war – one of our oldest and most beautiful cities, a famous city, a historic city."

~snip~
Read the whole eloquent essay here:

http://jameswolcott.com/archives/2005/09/new_orleans_die.php

IT'S DUBYA'S POLICIES, STUPID.

'I'm just glad I saw it'
New Orleans was the city of jazz, Faulkner and Tennessee Williams, the
place where the US Bible Belt came unbuckled.
===================================
Nikko,

And I"m just happy I was finished with my shelves today. Strangely enough I put all my southern authors on the top shelf. Not only Faulkner and Tennessee Williams, but Styron, Carson Mac Cullers, Eudora Welty, Flannery O'Connor, Edgar Allan Poe...sorry for some intruders as Saul Bellow...
Yes, there is a southern culture and even catastrophies cannot erase it. Nothing political in this. Culture is just culture.

Culture is just culture.

Posted by: Andrée - France at

I agree...except when history has never righted itself, culture itself beomes the problem.

THAT is the EXACT reason New Orleans will fall hard into violence.

It was very predictable

Here's an article on New Orleans disaster planning with a history of the cuts and cancelled studies... from Salon via der Spiegel

FORMER CLINTON ADVISOR

"No One Can Say they Didn't See it Coming"

By Sidney Blumenthal

http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,372455,00.html

Christy,

I didn't want to go on history tonight, but I spent 4 years at university just learning about the south, I mean the Old South culture...and I know pretty well what has not been solved. Except that when I say south, everybody asks why? Because. Period.
Going to bed.

Take care.

Posted by: Andrée - France at September 1, 2005 07:05 PM

I was not being specific about history, I was refferring to there being two SEPERATE histories existing in the EXACT same place.

Eventually, somethings gotta give.