Depraved Indifference

This is an Administration that deserves to be impeached en masse.

They are a group whose collective performance has swung from bad to worse to much worse.

I still cannot fathom how 58 million Americans voted to retain this Administration - and neither can the world.

There's really no way to sugarcoat this next statement. The blood of the dead of New Orleans are also on the hands of everyone who voted for these men.

They will be the ruin of America if someone doesn't do something soon.

Extraordinary rhetoric this morning from Thomas Friedman (I know, I know...but still...):

"An administration whose tax policy has been dominated by the toweringly selfish Grover Norquist - who has been quoted as saying: "I don't want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub" - doesn't have the instincts for this moment. Mr. Norquist is the only person about whom I would say this: I hope he owns property around the New Orleans levee that was never properly finished because of a lack of tax dollars. I hope his basement got flooded. And I hope that he was busy drowning government in his bathtub when the levee broke and that he had to wait for a U.S. Army helicopter to get out of town."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/07/opinion/07friedman.html

Posted by: Matthew Carnicelli at September 7, 2005 06:24 AM

I'll go one better...

Grover can rot in hell.

Senator Rick Santorum is criticizing the government's emergency response to hurricane victims Hurricane Katrina victims. But he's also criticizing the ones who chose to ride out the storm. "I mean, you have people who don't heed those warnings and then put people at risk as a result of not heeding those warnings."

"There may be a need to look at tougher penalties on those who decide to ride it out and understand that there are consequences to not leaving."

http://media.vmsnews.com/MonitoringReports/090605/549440/H000361890/

Grover lives around the corner--anyone up for a visit?

Karen, if I ever saw him on the Street during a visit...

maybe a snail mail campaign to Groover.....????

Posted by: monkey at September 7, 2005 06:43 AM

Monkey,

What...there's maybe 5 people who chose to 'ride out the storm'. And thousands who wanted to get the heck out but couldn't!

What a jerk!

Hearings requested:
http://www.yubanet.com/artman/publish/article_24723.shtml

and shame on any poor people in Pa who then turn around and vote for Santorum. Those are exactly the people he is referring to; the poorest of the poor who he doesn't give a d*** about in his book It Takes A Village Idiot like him to say.

Senator Rick Santorum is criticizing the government's emergency response to hurricane victims Hurricane Katrina victims. But he's also criticizing the ones who chose to ride out the storm. "I mean, you have people who don't heed those warnings and then put people at risk as a result of not heeding those warnings."

"There may be a need to look at tougher penalties on those who decide to ride it out and understand that there are consequences to not leaving."

Ok..so has the nation woken up? Will people like Santorum be ousted in 06?

Good cartoon on c-span this am.WH response to replacing justice Rehnquist,a second. Wh response to N.O.,DAYS!!
Congresssman Brown(D) from 13th district in Ohio was incredible and finally exposing this ADM. He's on house energy policy,talked about Rove's talking points to reps blaming state a locals,when in effect it was the cutting of funding and lack of FEMA response to N.O. He had great facts,not myths!

Please refer to the Senator from Pennsylvania as Dick Santorum from now on.

It's just one letter, doesn't change the phonetic sound, and is aptly fitting... plus he's got enough (R) in him already.

I have trouble with the second word in the title of the thread head.
Personally, I don't think it was indifference. I think the slow response was calculated. Either way it was depraved.

Oncall,

So you're seeing Cindy tonight? I think she's in my area this week too. I have to check.

One question:

Has Bush spent all his "political capitol"?

Second question:

When does he take out the next loan?

Yes, Sparrow tonight Cindy Sheehan is going to be in Chicago's ultra conservative western suburbs. We are expecting a large counter protest as well. I will post about it.

Posted by: oncall at September 7, 2005 09:48 AM

Furthermore W, how's that mandate going?

oncall,

Take pictures!

And I want to know if this administrations abominable actions are affecting the election battles for 06?

Senator Domeneci finally relented and now agrees with what oncall and I have been saying for weeks: Its time we start to look at CAFE Standards. Ya Think?
What made him finally wake up to that conclusion?
Perhaps $3 gallon gave him that hint.
Again Reid should be pushing that initiative, not Domeneci.

I was among the 2000+ anti-war protesters at Camp Casey in Crawford two weekends ago. After the pro-bush anti-peace rally in town, some of the bushies drove by the peace camp shouting "Osama really loves you guys for what you're doing here today." Just a guess here, but I'm speculating that Osama really *loves* the way this administration has fumbled (the "polite" f-word) and continues to fumble in the wake of its lamentable response to this tragedy in New Orleans.

It's appalling to think that almost 4 years to the day of the terrorist attack on NYC -- and billions of dollars allocated to FEMA since then for Homeland Security to prepare us and protect us from what we were told is "not a matter of if, but when" -- there would be another "attack" on America. And THIS time we would be prepared. There would be command and control, there would be communications and there would be preparation.

Well guess what. There was no command and control, no communications, no preparation.

This is what I have to say to the bushies out there: "Osama really loves YOU guys for how inept and unprepared your leaders are, for allowing everything to go wrong that could possibly go wrong."

Meanwhile, back in Iraq, 12 more US troops died since Katrina hit the coast.

Hawkeye...

Bush is Osama's dream come true, and has totally played into his hands.

OBL's goal was always to cripple the U.S. economy, and old STUPID up there in Washington was more than happy to comply.

Half a trillion dollars between Iraq and Katrina while cutting revenue (taxes) for those that need it least while driving the debt into oblivion; asking ZERO in the way of national sacrifice; more than likely 10-15,000 citizens dead... gas prices through the ceiling with ripple effects everywhere in the economy, states choking on limited resources and debt up to their gills, religious intolerance for anyone other than christians (Muslims just love that one)... and on and on and on.

Osama Loves Bush, Pass It On

Contrary to what O'Reilley and others have been saying about picking on poor George, today's left wing newspapers like the New York Post and the Wallstreet Journal's headlines read "FEMA Fools Sit on Hands" and write scathing attacks on W and his lame criticism of local authorities.Joe Scarborough, another left winger has been equally critical of Bush, Brown and FEMA's handling of the hurricane evacuation.

Posted by: Ira at September 7, 2005 10:12 AM

$3.69 here in Brooklyn for hi-test yesterday.

Thank God that NY has a robust mass transit system.

DeLay points to local officials
House cancels hearings; joint panel to look at Katrina response

Wednesday, September 7, 2005; Posted: 10:12 a.m. EDT (14:12 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The House majority leader late Tuesday tried to deflect criticism of the federal response to Hurricane Katrina by saying "the emergency response system was set up to work from the bottom up," then announced a short time later that House hearings examining that response had been canceled.

Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said House Republican leaders instead want a joint House-Senate panel set up to conduct a "congressional review" of the issue.

Tempers flared Tuesday during a contentious closed-door meeting between House members and Cabinet secretaries in charge of directing Katrina relief efforts. A Republican representative stood up and said, "All of you deserve failing grades. The response was a disaster," CNN was told by lawmakers emerging from the meeting.

But DeLay countered that assessment later in a news conference by saying that the onus for responding to emergencies fell to local officials.

"It's the local officials trying to handle the problem. When they can't handle the problem, they go to the state, and the state does what they can to, and if they need assistance from FEMA and the federal government they ask for it and it's delivered," DeLay said.

He added that Alabama and Mississippi did a much better job of responding quickly than Louisiana. Alabama and Mississippi have Republican governors.

more...http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/09/07/katrina.congress/

DeLay is an ass. Did anyone bother to remind him that Alabama and Mississippi were not flooded by busted levees? That their entire cities were not evacuated to a hellhole for 6 days with no electricity, no running water, no food, and no protection? DeLay, another Texan, is an ass.

hawkeye curious what hellhole you refer to for evacuation sites and your comment of DeLay, "another Texan, another ass"?

please check out Nick Lampson for Congress site to get involved in helping us Texans. Don't Delay.

I don't think the FEMA director told DeLay there was a lot of water in New Orleans until today, so I understand why DeLay would be SOOOOO FAR OFF HIS F*CKIN' ROCKER on this issue.

Does he know about the emergency declarations made by the Governor of Louisiana?

Let's not blame... let's not politicize... but let's parrot all the talking points out to our legions of brainless f*cks who can repeat them over and over again so that even they believe it.

Like someone else said upthread, I hold all those who continue to support this administration and all it's minions in EXTREME CONTEMPT.

DeLay: Perfect Name For This Government and Bush's response to anything unscripted (and I detest that scumbag ...)

"another Texan, is an ass." And who are the others hawkeye?

Just in time...

a kos poster has taken all the research on the National Response plan and other items and turned it into a letter which he sent to ABC news about their fallacious reporting on the same item that CNN reported above (Posted by: monkey at September 7, 2005 10:35 AM).

This poster also includes a LTE / LTCongressperson version at the end of his post.

Do a little editing so that it comes out in your own words... or preface it with your own paragraph but here's one to send to your favorite reporters and congressional reps and senators.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/7/03232/64789

10 reasons why Tom DeLay should resign from Congress

http://www.pcactionfund.org/withoutdelay/facts/

Posted by: Ira at September 7, 2005 10:46 AM

hellhole = superdome

Hawkeye (in Dallas)

I'm a worryer at heart.

Now I'm worried about this: these people have been transplanted to other states and some will stay and others will return BUT all the jobs are gone in all the states.

What will happen? Where will people find jobs and rebuild their homes and lives?

It can't happen on 6 bucks an hour yet our manufacturing, tech, and services are going overseas. And the fast food and walmart are the only jobs remaining.

We need to make this an issue of 06 midterm elections--creating policies that bring jobs back to U.S. and come up with decisive actions, tax breaks, healthcare, etc..the same issues of the election 04.

And maybe if they want to play the gay card again, we can remind them how they were used in 04 and COULD have passed it easily--like they did everything else to destroy America. BUT they chose not to.

Speaking of the hellhole in NOLA, here is an account from a friend of a friend, excuse the typo's...

I just went through the most hideous week of my life-Lived in NOLA for 11 years and never could believe what I saw taking refuge in the Superdome-I lived near S.Claiborne and Napoleon

When I heard Nagan said mandatory evacuation and since I have no car-I rode my bike to the Dome Sunday afternoon-Everything went smooth coming in but by Monday afternoon power went out and the generators kicked in with no AC-The storm was passing through when pieces of the roof started to open up!!!!!-Everyone took refuge under the plaza level and the Dome shook!!!-Next thing I knew it started raining INSIDE THE DOME!!!!-They were giving out limited C-Rations and water twice a day the first day.

When the levee broke that is when all hell broke loose-The only security was some guard and they were only kids! No water was running and the shit was piling up real fast!-Someone took an MP's .45 and shot him and when that happened all the security left the inside!

The next day the Dome was being looted from the bars and suites and what was not tied down was taken -I tried to warn the Army guys and had an M16 pointed at me because he thought I was an asshole because I showed him my security card from when I worked the events there

On Thursday night we were told that buses were coming for us but they wanted the women and children to go first then the Men-Some got upset and the Guards cocked there M 16 into the crowd and there was widespread panic (No pun intended!)-I was in the back and saw 5000 people ran!-Some Coronal said later that it was OK for families to stick together-I tried to get on the line for the bus about 7pm and had to climb over lots of garbage (Think I saw a body on the ground) About 12 am I got about 50 feet away from entrance to the New Orleans Center(Buses where supposed to be on the other side)-The guards said if no one steps back they can wait till 6am and not let anyone go-I seen babies get crushed,elderly and kids passing out because the spot lights were at full brightness aiming at the crowd!!!-They said the buses where to arrive at 2am but by 3 everyone got suspicious and by 4 I thought f*ck it! and left-at 6:30 some preacher was saying some trash and played amazing grace then they all left!!! No one got on till 1:30 on Friday and it was a mess!!! Sewage was floating all around and everyone outside could smell the stench coming from the dome

Saturday Mayor Nagin put a fire up Bushes butt and brought in the real deal -I got on the bus in a half hour but was forced to go to Texas-Heard the Astrodome was torn apart and did not want anymore refuges going into Texas but was convinced other wise-I was supposed to go to Dallas and tried to tell everyone that I had folks in Florida but they would not let me loose-

Got to Mesquite for a 5 hour search, then told I was going to FT. Worth but we where rejected there too!-Then Danbury and finally was sent to Wiley -I tried to explain I had made arrangements but had to verify everything to be set loose-At the Dallas airport I was marked as a security risk just because I lived in New Orleans but now I'm in Florida away from all this mess-I felt like I was a prisoner in my own country with no choice to set out on my own-Just watch all these so called shelters would get worn out because of what was heard on the news-Just got on-line and saw all the news on Monday night-

We as Americans have to do something or the whole U.S.A. will be a piece of shit-Thought I would give you guys some insight of what I went through!!!-David M.

Now I'm worried about this: these people have been transplanted to other states and some will stay and others will return BUT all the jobs are gone in all the states.
What will happen? Where will people find jobs and rebuild their homes and lives?

Sparrow,

This is the exact question I asked to myself yesterday, anticipating on USA Today. See bottom of article.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-09-05-cover-katrina_x.htm?POE=NEWISVA

iHow long will it take before they are reproached by some of living finely on welfare.On one hand, many of them were jobless, on the other hand, the reconstruction of NO is going to take years and will need thousands contractors. Why not train the willing ones to the proper jobs in the meantime? They could find a job, return to their home town...rebuilding their houses and lives, if possible.
That's called Social Insertion in France and it works trough...professional training. But I have not the slightest clue if you have similar structures in US?????
Taht might the beginning of a solution though.

Excuse me! But did you see this?

"• Some resilient, middle-class evacuees are already putting down new roots elsewhere. In Baton Rouge and Jackson, Miss., so many of them are buying houses that Sen. David Vitter, R-La., calls it "the great land rush." The average home price in Baton Rouge has jumped about $25,000, to $200,000, since Katrina, real estate agent Beth Alford says. One New Orleans law firm bought 50 houses in Baton Rouge, sight unseen, says Ann Prewitt, a Madison, Miss., agent."

(FROM Andree's article)

WELL, isn't "speculation" like this to be considered price gouging? How unethical is that during this time of need?

We as Americans have to do something or the whole U.S.A. will be a piece of shit-Thought I would give you guys some insight of what I went through!!!-David M.

Posted by: monkey at September 7, 2005 11:12 AM

Look at the good side of all of this (we need a moment of humor) New Orleanians will be travelling to many states in the country and teaching people how to make boudin, cook really good food...and damn what is with that dirty water you call coffee...

The New Orleans culture, though wrought with its own biases and prejudices will be spread far and wide...we might even teach you people how to have a good time New Orleans style!

Laissez les bon temps roulez!

Let the good times roll!

And as soon as Bush and his cronies bury themselves...

They will roll once again.

You'll *like* this one...

This is from Will Bunch's blog, Attytood. Will is a senior writer for the Philadelphia Daily News

Iraq 100, Louisiana 8: "The Garden of Eden" vs. "Hell on Earth"

Is it possible to actually quantify how screwed up the priorities of the Bush cabal in Washington have been? Usually not. But when it comes to the issue of wetlands -- the natural buffer that could have protected New Orleans against a deadly storm surge liked the one that essentially wiped out the city last week -- the answer is "yes."

In 2004 -- at a time when George W. Bush was running for re-election and presumably courting votes in Louisiana, a potential swing state -- the White House proposed spending a whopping 12 1/3 times as much taxpayer money restoring wetlands in southern Iraq as he planned to spend on the same task in the Mississippi Delta.

Before Congress intervened, the Bush administration asked for $100 million to restore the Iraqi marshlands, drained and destroyed by Saddam Hussein, to its status as -- according to legend -- the Biblical "Garden of Eden."

The proposed funding that year for the Louisiana wetlands, heavily damaged by overdevelopment, was just $8 million. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the city once buffered by those disappearing wetlands is now Hell on Earth.

Even though the Iraq wetlands project didn't get the federal dollars, it did get the next best thing: American know-how. And so some of the best minds that were supposed to be studying and improving Lousiana's environment instead found themselves in the Persian Gulf.

Read more...
http://www.pnionline.com/dnblog/attytood/archives/002344.html

"Tom Delay: He added that Alabama and Mississippi did a much better job of responding quickly than Louisiana. Alabama and Mississippi have Republican governors."

This statment alone should be enough to encourage support of our local efforts to defeat Tom DeLay, to send him to Louisiana in retirement to kill bugs (the only real skill skill that he has), and help us elect Nick Lampson.

Do we recall Dick Cheney's statement during the election that if you vote for John Kerry you will die. How ironic.

Do we recall Dick Cheney's statement during the election that if you vote for John Kerry you will die. How ironic.

Posted by: Ira at September 7, 2005 11:55 AM

It's not ironic, it's sad, because it went from being a lie to the truth.

Paybacks are hell.

We should insist that any investigation of the hurricane evacuation debacle, be kept in the US Senate and away from the hands of scum Congressmen Tom DeLay and Dennis Hastert.In fact there should be an Independent Counsel appointed b/c there is a slight conflict of interest with Bush intent on slamming local officials to cover his ass.

We should contact our Congresspeople and tell them that we insist on appointment of an INDEPENDENT COUNSEL. I don't see how in the world we can trust a Republican Congress to do anything but shift blame to Louisiana local officials. The Rove machine is already at work with that plan.

Posted by: Ira at September 7, 2005 11:55 AM

I heard from my brother and two sisters still in New Orleans.

They and the police officers they have been feeding, doing laundry for and generally being there for psychologically are not only devistated but outraged.

My siblings were taking care of one of the policemen who committed suicide.

He was so ditraught over the sheer number of poeple who had taken up arms against civillians, the police and the aid workers...and his guilt over having to shoot and kill so many citizens was overwhelming.

When I mentioned the Bush Administration's spin that the local authorities had failed...my brother lost it.

To Paraphrase without the profanity:

I dare anyone to try to smear the names of these brave men and women who have donee the impossible without support from our government! Many have made it back to their homes only to find their wives and children dead and yet they are still there in New Orleans going out every night and doing what the National Guard refused to do.

As late as Friday, the National Guard would not go into the worst areas and forced the police to go have the fire fights and drag out the bodies of the deceased while the Guard remained at their safe post near the Convention Center. My brother said the police are afraid that when the actual body count from shootings is realized it will be a loss of human life beyond imagining.

Jefferson Parish Sherrif, Harry Lee said FEMA cut the phone lines to disrupt their rescue efforts and he had to have his own people reconnect them and place armed guards to prevent FEMA from attempting it again.

When communications are restored and the truth gets out to the world BUSH IS TOAST!

Genocide is not going to go over well with the American people or the world.

Bless these brave distraught souls who have remained with the New Orleans Police Department for standing their ground and protecting the lives of the innocent civillians and rescue workers even though their lives have been shattered, we owe them a debt of gratitude I am afraid we will never ba able to repay.

If not an Independent Counsel, at least we should insist on an Independent Commission created exactly like the 911 Commission.Considering that we lost 3,000 plus victims on 911 and that the loss from this debacle is projected to be at least 3-7 times greater, why should we expect anything less. Is there any reason whatsoever for us to trust an objective investigation that either Hastert or Delay gets within 100 miles of. Hastert comments not to rebuild N.O. should automatically disqualify him.

I am absolutely serious that we should begin this effort right now to insist on either an Independent Counsel or Independent Commission in the form of the 911 Commission. Do others here agree, and if so how can we mobilize that message?

Ira-just heard Hillary calling for same!

Why should we trust the President who covered up Abu Grab and the WMD investigation for an objective independent investigation of this debacle.

Call your Congressperson today and tell them you want an Independent Commission and Independent Counsel appointed. On second thought there may very well be criminal activity in this matter which would in fact trigger an Independent Counsel.

W's pledge in 2000 to Usher in the Era of Personal Responsibility has failed.

Bush and Republican Congress investigating this is like Nixon investigating Watergate or like Simpson investigating the death of his wife and the against him!

I am serious Casey/Karen about this. We should start a petition drive to insist on an Independent Commission unless Bush suddenly relents. We should not allow Tom Delay or Dennis Hastert anywhere near this investigation and for that matter neither Bush, Cheney or Rove should be involved, otherwise we will know that the fix is in and the coverup has begun.

Indy... Does this mean your siblings have seen the light?

Posted by: Ira at September 7, 2005 12:25 PM

Maybe we can deliver them when we're in DC for the rally.

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- The mayor of New Orleans has ordered law enforcement agencies to remove from the city everyone who is not involved in cleaning up after Hurricane Katrina, whether they want to go or not.

But U.S. active duty troops will not be involved, the general in charge of military relief efforts said on Wednesday.

Lt. Gen. Russel Honore told CNN the task of removing people against their will was a law enforcement job and that the military would continue to deliver food and water to the survivors still in the city.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/07/katrina.impact/index.html

I am absolutely serious that we should begin this effort right now to insist on either an Independent Counsel or Independent Commission in the form of the 911 Commission. Do others here agree, and if so how can we mobilize that message?

Posted by: Ira at September 7, 2005 12:10 PM

Air America and I will try to get on with Randi Rhodes today through our friends at Air America Phoenix.

We will NOT go quietly.

defarge/oncall I understand that Cindy is going to be up there this week. Maybe someone could ask her to help in this petition drive since we can't trust Bush to objectively investigate wmds or abu grab why should we trust him and his hatchet men at the RNC and in Congress to run an objective investigation of this disaster.

Indy... Does this mean your siblings have seen the light?

Posted by: monkey at September 7, 2005 12:28 PM

After living through what they have and having our family friend Sherrif Harry Lee of Jefferson Parish tell my father in person that FEMA cut the phone lines to STOP rescue efforts...

Bush and Cheney better leave the country while they still can...

Nothing like a few million pissed off coon asses coming after you night and day.

This is the end for Bush.

Oncall,

Please tell Cindy that Annie and Buddy Spell are safe, have a generator and have been reunited with their daughter Sarah.

Thanks. =]

Wouldn't it be interesting to find out who sent wonkette the email referred to in the following post?

http://www.pnionline.com/dnblog/attytood/archives/002336.html

Agin-Hilliary is calling for independent commission-getto her & go from there....and Edwards, Kennedy, Kerry and evry Senator/Congressman from La & Miss

D.U. poster says the army is trying to recruit inside the Houston Astrodome.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4679619

D.U. poster says the army is trying to recruit inside the Houston Astrodome.

Posted by: sparrow at September 7, 2005 12:40 PM

On the way back from Covington we say the convoys and yes...there were recruiter vans in the convoys.

Can you believe it?!?!?

(Rhetorical Question)

hopefully that includes Republicans Vitter from Louisiana and Trent Lott, mhk. Glad to hear that others appreciate the seriousness of having a truly Independent Commission and that we stop a coverup from proceeding.

Ira,

These were convoys headed for New Orleans...and they had recruiter trucks...maybe stopping at LSU or the survivor camps?

Yes indeed...we need proof!

There's really no way to sugarcoat this next statement. The blood of the dead of New Orleans are also on the hands of everyone who voted for these men.

Posted by: Cyrano at September 7, 2005 06:09 AM

I couldn't agree with you more. People who KNEW he was incompetent voted for him - because it was more important to keep gays from marrying and to put more god-speak into government, and because it was more important to keep more of their money for themselves and to increase their corporate dividends.

The media covered up for him. The blood of the Katrina victims is also on their hands. Some say they are redeeming themselves now. I say it's too late - if they had done their jobs over the last 5 years, we wouldn't be in this mess.

Troop shortages: look at this article from the NYTimes:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/07/national/nationalspecial/07navy.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1126109232-mKVivgT3rSBvX1jLyhLHBw

Two navy pilots took time out of their military supplies delivery schedule to rescue people, and were reprimanded.

Indy:

I just hung up with the Houston Chronicle City Desk and they are very interested in this story.
They are sending out their chief as we speak to investigate and want photos if you or me find any credence to this. He will email me with his investigation and it will be on our channel 11 news if he finds any recruiters there. just emailed him the dp story he asked me details regarding who and what dp and this person hartman is if you can fill me in I will work directly with the houston chronicle to try and get to the bottom of this story. thanks for the input.

The following was written by a columnist aquaintance who works for the Times Picayune in New Orleans. His usual beat is entertainment. I can't think of a better way to explain the feelings that I have.

Chris Rose: Louisiana ambassadors say hello

Dear America,

I suppose we should introduce ourselves: We're South Louisiana.

We have arrived on your doorstep on short notice and we apologize for that, but we never were much forwaiting around for invitations. We're not much on formalities like that.

And we might be staying around your town for a while, enrolling in your schools and looking for jobs, so we wanted to tell you a few things about us. We know you didn't ask for this and neither did we, so we're just going to have to make the best of it.

First of all, we thank you. For your money, your
water, your food, your prayers, your boats and buses and the men and women of your National Guards, fire departments, hospitals and everyone else who has come to our rescue.

We're a fiercely proud and independent people, and we don't cotton much to outside interference, but we're not ashamed to accept help when we need it. And right now, we need it.

Just don't get carried away. For instance, once we get around to fishing again, don't try to tell us what kind of lures work best in your waters.

We're not going to listen. We're stubborn that way.

You probably already know that we talk funny and
listen to strange music and eat things you'd probably hire an exterminator to get out of your yard.

We dance even if there's no radio. We drink at
funerals. We talk too much and laugh too loud and live too large and, frankly, we're suspicious of others who don't.

But we'll try not to judge you while we're in your town.

Everybody loves their home, we know that. But we love South Louisiana with a ferocity that borders on the pathological. Sometimes we bury our dead in LSU sweatshirts.

Often we don't make sense. You may wonder why, for instance - if we could only carry one small bag of belongings with us on our journey to your state - why in God's name did we bring a pair of shrimp boots?

We can't really explain that. It is what it is.

You've probably heard that many of us stayed behind. As bad as it is, many of us cannot fathom a life outside of our border, out in that place we call Elsewhere.

The only way you could understand that is if you have been there, and so many of you have. So you realize that when you strip away all the craziness and bars and parades and music and architecture and all that hooey, really, the best thing about where we come from is us.

We are what made this place a national treasure. We're good people. And don't be afraid to ask us how to pronounce our names. It happens all the time.

When you meet us now and you look into our eyes, you will see the saddest story ever told. Our hearts are broken into a thousand pieces.

But don't pity us. We're gonna make it. We're
resilient. After all, we've been rooting for the
Saints for 35 years. That's got to count for
something.

OK, maybe something else you should know is that we make jokes at inappropriate times.

But what the hell.

And one more thing: In our part of the country, we're used to having visitors. It's our way of life.

So when all this is over and we move back home, we will repay to you the hospitality and generosity of spirit you offer to us in this season of our despair.

That is our promise. That is our faith.

Some dumb anchor on CNN just said that local officials in Louisiana should have pushed harder on the federal govt to get appropriate funding to get the levee's fixed.

Also said Hastert will be announcing a joint investigation by the House & Senate.

So much for independence.

Posted by: Ira at September 7, 2005 01:00 PM

I will try to canotact James Hill who has been daily going into New Orleans and see if he can verify and get photos of recruiters.

If he can get me his photos we will blow this wide open!

again Hastert should be shamed to keep his hands off of this investigation. "Also said Hastert will be announcing a joint investigation by the House & Senate."

his comments not to rebuild N.O. should be repeated on every available news site when he says he opposes an Independent Commission. We should go over Delay and Hasterts head directly to the public. Integrity of this investigation is the least we can do for the memory of those lost in N.O.

Hasert can do what he wants
Hillary is till pushing for independent

Indy who is James Hill a friend or investigator?
If a credible invesitigator is there any way I can communicate to my Houston Chronicle invesitgaor this guy James Hill's cell phone or contact info?
there are also independent bloggers holled up in N.O. maybe you could contact them to see if they have any independent cooberative info.of recruiters in Louisiana.again can you give me details on dp and this person Hartman cited there.

Another Crime!

http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_3004197

Ah-the new compassionate military

September 7, 2005
Navy Pilots Who Rescued Victims Are Reprimanded
By DAVID S. CLOUD
PENSACOLA, Fla., Sept. 6 - Two Navy helicopter pilots and their crews returned from New Orleans on Aug. 30 expecting to be greeted as lifesavers after ferrying more than 100 hurricane victims to safety.

Instead, their superiors chided the pilots, Lt. David Shand and Lt. Matt Udkow, at a meeting the next morning for rescuing civilians when their assignment that day had been to deliver food and water to military installations along the Gulf Coast.

"I felt it was a great day because we resupplied the people we needed to and we rescued people, too," Lieutenant Udkow said. But the air operations commander at Pensacola Naval Air Station "reminded us that the logistical mission needed to be our area of focus."

The episode illustrates how the rescue effort in the days immediately after Hurricane Katrina had to compete with the military's other, more mundane logistical needs.

Only in recent days, after the federal response to the disaster has come to be seen as inadequate, have large numbers of troops and dozens of helicopters, trucks and other equipment been poured into to the effort. Early on, the military rescue operations were smaller, often depending on the initiative of individuals like Lieutenants Shand and Udkow.

The two lieutenants were each piloting a Navy H-3 helicopter - a type often used in rescue operations as well as transport and other missions - on that Tuesday afternoon, delivering emergency food, water and other supplies to Stennis Space Center, a federal facility near the Mississippi coast. The storm had cut off electricity and water to the center, and the two helicopters were supposed to drop their loads and return to Pensacola, their home base, said Cmdr. Michael Holdener, Pensacola's air operations chief.

"Their orders were to go and deliver water and parts and to come back," Commander Holdener said.

But as the two helicopters were heading back home, the crews picked up a radio transmission from the Coast Guard saying helicopters were needed near the University of New Orleans to help with rescue efforts, the two pilots said.

Out of range for direct radio communication with Pensacola, more than 100 miles to the east, the pilots said, they decided to respond and turned their helicopters around, diverting from their mission without getting permission from their home base. Within minutes, they were over New Orleans.

"We're not technically a search-and-rescue unit, but we're trained to do search and rescue," said Lieutenant Shand, a 17-year Navy veteran.

Flying over Biloxi and Gulfport and other areas of Mississippi, they could see rescue personnel on the ground, Lieutenant Udkow said, but he noticed that there were few rescue units around the flooded city of New Orleans, on the ground or in the air. "It was shocking," he said.

Seeing people on the roofs of houses waving to him, Lieutenant Udkow headed in their direction. Hovering over power lines, his crew dropped a basket to pick up two residents at a time. He took them to Lakefront Airport, where local emergency medical teams had established a makeshift medical center.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Shand landed his helicopter on the roof of an apartment building, where more than a dozen people were marooned. Women and children were loaded first aboard the helicopter and ferried to the airport, he said.

Returning to pick up the rest, the crew learned that two blind residents had not been able to climb up through the attic to the roof and were still in the building. Two crew members entered the darkened building to find the men, and led them to the roof and into the helicopter, Lieutenant Shand said.

Recalling the rescues in an interview, he became so emotional that he had to stop and compose himself. At one point, he said, he executed a tricky landing at a highway overpass, where more than 35 people were marooned.

Lieutenant Udkow said that he saw few other rescue helicopters in New Orleans that day. The toughest part, he said, was seeing so many people imploring him to pick them up and having to leave some.

"I would be looking at a family of two on one roof and maybe a family of six on another roof, and I would have to make a decision who to rescue," he said. "It wasn't easy."

While refueling at a Coast Guard landing pad in early evening, Lieutenant Udkow said, he called Pensacola and received permission to continue rescues that evening. According to the pilots and other military officials, they rescued 110 people.

The next morning, though, the two crews were called to a meeting with Commander Holdener, who said he told them that while helping civilians was laudable, the lengthy rescue effort was an unacceptable diversion from their main mission of delivering supplies. With only two helicopters available at Pensacola to deliver supplies, the base did not have enough to allow pilots to go on prolonged search and rescue operations.

"We all want to be the guys who rescue people," Commander Holdener said. "But they were told we have other missions we have to do right now and that is not the priority."

The order to halt civilian relief efforts angered some helicopter crews. Lieutenant Udkow, who associates say was especially vocal about voicing his disagreement to superiors, was taken out of the squadron's flying rotation temporarily and assigned to oversee a temporary kennel established at Pensacola to hold pets of service members evacuated from the hurricane-damaged areas, two members of the unit said. Lieutenant Udkow denied that he had complained and said he did not view the kennel assignment as punishment.

Dozens of military aircraft are now conducting search and rescue missions over the affected areas. But privately some members of the Pensacola unit say the base's two available transport helicopters should have been allowed to do more to help civilian victims in the days after the storm hit, when large numbers of military helicopters had not reached the affected areas.

In protest, some members of the unit have stopped wearing a search and rescue patch on their sleeves that reads, "So Others May Live."

Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company

defarge/oncall I understand that Cindy is going to be up there this week. Maybe someone could ask her to help in this petition drive since we can't trust Bush to objectively investigate wmds or abu grab why should we trust him and his hatchet men at the RNC and in Congress to run an objective investigation of this disaster.

Posted by: Ira at September 7, 2005 12:33 PM

Ira,

I will ask her tonight.

Posted by: Indy at September 7, 2005 12:36 PM

I'll be seeing her tomorrow in a smaller venue. If oncall doesn't get the message to her, I will.

Who is Tom Hartman? He's reporting about the recruters.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4679980

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4680459

Please tell Cindy that Annie and Buddy Spell are safe, have a generator and have been reunited with their daughter Sarah.

Thanks. =]

Posted by: Indy at September 7, 2005 12:36 PM

Indy,

Consider it done.

Posted by: Ira at September 7, 2005 12:33 PM

Ira,

I will ask her tonight.

Posted by: oncall at September 7, 2005 01:40 PM

Ditto, Ira. I'll check tomorrow as well. Doesn't hurt to have multiple people ask.

Posted by: sparrow at September 7, 2005 01:42 PM

Google is an amazing tool. Just type in "Thom Hartman" and you'll get this URL at the top of the list. Give it a try!

http://www.thomhartmann.com/

Posted by: madame defarge at September 7, 2005 01:46 PM
Madame,

Um...duh? to me, huh? Thanks for the hint. Don't know why I didn't think of that!

sorry to be a pain about the recruiting story sparrow but when I click on democratic underground it gives me no details of who dp or this person hartman is. Whether its mere rumor or whether he has some infor that I can pass on to the Houston Chronicle City Desk investigator. I sent him your link just curious if there is any other infor regarding dp or Hartman or whethers will contact the N.O blogger. just trying to help.

thanks defarge I just forwarded your link to Tom Hartman's site.Let me know if you have other info from the N.O. blogger site. Currently listening to Al Franken and Rush's attacking our call for an Independent Commission and my likening it to the 911 Commission.

Posted by: Ira at September 7, 2005 01:54 PM
I've got that on too. Dittohead is an idiot. And Rash Lardbutt is not even worth talking about, IMHO...

Ira...not that you don't have enough to do...but this guy on DU is looking for Red Cross contact at Astrodome...wants to volunteer, is trained.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4680791

If you don't have an account there/permission to post, let me know and an answer if you choose to respond the his request.

Hey... look's like Veritas will have some new things to tell us tonight...

just out from WaPo

Coast Guard's Chief of Staff To Assist FEMA Head Brown

By Josh White
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 7, 2005; Page A23

With Michael D. Brown, the embattled public face of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, taking harsh criticism for the slow federal response to Hurricane Katrina, the secretary of homeland security this week assigned a top Coast Guard official to help bail him out.

Vice Adm. Thad W. Allen, the Coast Guard's chief of staff, was assigned on Monday to be Brown's deputy and to take over operational control of the search-and-rescue and recovery efforts along the Gulf Coast. The unprecedented task of coordinating the massive effort was handed off to a leader and expert who was described by colleagues as unflappable, engaging and intensely organized.

Read more...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/06/AR2005090601677.html?referrer=email

Posted by: Ira at September 7, 2005 01:32 PM

Ira,

James Hill is the IT genius and Veteran from Camp Casey in Crawford. He and an Iraqi Veteran Jackie, a film-maker, a Journalist Tim and a photgrapher Kris have been making daily trips into New Orleans and have rescued many trapped in their homes...these peoples' credibility cannot be denied...

The pictures speak for themselves.

I am trying to get them from him but I may have to wait until tonight.

From WayneMadson:

September 7, 2005 -- Right-wing media continues to refer to Americans as "refugees." The once respected United Press International (UPI), now owned by the loonie Moonie Unification Church of megalomaniac Korean "Reverend" and ex-convict Sun Myung Moon, continues to refer to Americans from New Orleans as "refugees." A Sep. 6 story stated, "troops scouring New Orleans for survivors and victims reported finding at least 40 mutilated bodies in the Convention Center refugee center." Webster's Dictionary's definition of a refugee: "one who flees to a foreign country or power to escape danger or persecution." So, in other words Louisiana, "Welcome to America!"
http://waynemadsenreport.com/

defarge I have the name and cell number of the Red Cross Volunteer co-ordinator on the ground in the Dome on my outlooks contact list but no time to sign into that site and post. contact me at work if you want to forward that info. Too busy trying to work, stop Hastert's faux investigation and find the army recruiters in the Dome. And I have lectured others about multi-tasking.

oh you'll *love* this one

FEMA = Florida Election Management Agency
http://www.perrspectives.com/blog/archives/000246.htm

Dems Assail White House on Katrina Effort
Sep 07 12:52 PM US/Eastern

By JENNIFER LOVEN and DAVID ESPO
Associated Press Writers

WASHINGTON

Congress' top two Democrats furiously criticized the administration's response to Hurricane Katrina on Wednesday, with Sen. Harry Reid demanding to know whether President Bush's Texas vacation impeded relief efforts and Rep. Nancy Pelosi assailing the chief executive as "oblivious, in denial" about the difficulties.

With much of New Orleans still under water _ and likely to stay that way for weeks _ Bush readied a request for about $52 billion for relief and recovery along the Gulf Coast, and the White House indicated millions more would be needed later. Congressional officials said they expected to approve the next installment as early as Thursday, to keep the money flowing without interruption.

There was no formal announcement of the details contained in the request, although the Associated Press learned that the government plans to distribute debit cards worth $2,000 each to adult victims of the hurricane.

"They are going to start issuing debit cards, $2,000 per adult, today at the Astrodome," said Kathy Walt, a spokeswoman for Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

The cards could be used to buy food, transportation, gas and other essentials that displaced people need, according to a state official who was on the call and requested anonymity because the program has not been publicly announced.

GOP congressional leaders met privately to plan their next step, possibly including an unusual joint House-Senate committee to investigate what went wrong in the government's response and what can be fixed. Establishment of a joint panel would presumably eliminate overlapping investigations that might otherwise spring up as individual committees looked into the natural disaster and its aftermath.

In a letter to the Senate's Homeland Security Committee chairwoman, Reid, the Senate Democratic leader, pressed for a wide-ranging investigation and answers to several questions, including: "How much time did the president spend dealing with this emerging crisis while he was on vacation? Did the fact that he was outside of Washington, D.C., have any effect on the federal government's response?"

At a news conference, Pelosi, D-Calif., said Bush's choice for head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency had "absolutely no credentials."

She related that she urged Bush at the White House on Tuesday to fire Brown.

"He said 'Why would I do that?'" Pelosi said.

"'I said because of all that went wrong, of all that didn't go right last week.' And he said 'What didn't go right?'"

"Oblivious, in denial, dangerous," she added.

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/09/07/D8CFHLI01.html

Dems Assail White House on Katrina Effort

At a news conference, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Bush's choice for head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency had "absolutely no credentials."

She related that she had urged Bush at the White House on Tuesday to fire Michael Brown.

"He said 'Why would I do that?'" Pelosi said.

"'I said because of all that went wrong, of all that didn't go right last week.' And he said 'What didn't go right?'"

"Oblivious, in denial, dangerous," she added.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/09/07/national/w095209D05.DTL

Posted by: monkey at September 7, 2005 02:42 PM

Ooops, sorry Monkey ... you beat me to it!

http://www.perrspectives.com/blog/archives/000246.htm

Posted by: dwahzon at September 7, 2005 02:38 PM

Dw,

That link is the perfect response to any schmoe that tries to tell me that the locals did not ask for help early enough. Clearly by asking for help when she did (prior to the hurricane making landfall), the Gov. of LA expected the same response as Florida got from FEMA.....oh well...live and learn.

And check out the doublespeak from Tom Delay on FEMA in 2001 vs Tom Delay on FEMA in 2005, courtesy of wonkette:

http://www.wonkette.com/politics/tom-delay/index.php#tom-delay-then-and-now-124241

Tom DeLay, Then and Now
Cue the wavy-lens time travel music, since here is Tom DeLay in 2001, taking credit for getting an additional $1.3 billion allocated to FEMA, on top of the disbursement of some $583 million in disaster relief for Tropical Storm Allison in 2001--pretty much all of the agency's remaining budget at the time. Most of the funds went to assistance to Houston, where his district largely sits, which bore the brunt of flood damage from the storm:

"We've attained our goal of equipping FEMA with the resources they need to carry out their responsibilities," DeLay said Wednesday. "I'm also pleased that the White House has released additional funds to help Houston recover from the damage inflicted by Tropical Storm Allison."

And what might those FEMA responsiblities be, for which DeLay fought his own party--and the Bush White House--at the time to fund?

Well, cue that sound spooky harp-distortion soundtrack, because here is Tom DeLay today:

The emergency response system was set up to work from the bottom up . . . . It's the local officials trying to handle the problem. When they can't handle the problem, they go to the state, and the state does what they can to, and if they need assistance from FEMA and the federal government they ask for it and it's delivered"

Translation: FEMA needed $1.3 billion in 2001 to wait for a phone call from the plucky, exhausted mayor of Houston.

Ok..so has the nation woken up? Will people like Santorum be ousted in 06?

Posted by: sparrow at September 7, 2005 09:09 AM

That's the big question. And, that's what all this spin, propaganda and attempted whitewashing is about.

I'm beginning my work in ernest this week on a Congressional campaign. I'd urge us all to look around and see where we can give our time, talents and other resources into taking back the House from DeLay and Hastert.

Check this out:

Dump Doolittle
http://solongjohn.blogspot.com/

our mayor then was a fine man named Lee Brown. We had 36 inches of rain dwahzon from a storm called Allison, that dumped 36 inches of rain on our city in 48 hours. We were all frightened here but fortunately we didn't have to deal with broken levees, a bowl shaped city or FEMA much back then; but our flooding was a once in 500 year flood. Personally I don't recall DeLay doing much to help back then either other than grandstanding and calling press conferences to try and upstage our Democratic mayor.

While some politicians have canceled fundraisers for their own campaigns in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Washington's Roll Call newspaper has found that many continue in full force.

The Republicans' House and Senate campaign committees suspended all telemarketing last week in the wake of the hurricane, though they got back on the phones this week, according to Roll Call.

There was little evidence this week that hurricane relief efforts had put a damper on Members’ fundraising. [National Republican Congressional Committee Chair] Tom Reynolds (R-NY), for example, is moving ahead with a fundraiser at this weekend’s Elton John concert at the MCI Center.

On Tuesday, an NRCC staffer sent out an e-mail alerting prospective donors that only four tickets remained for the concert, an event that is benefiting Reynolds’ political action committee. Anyone who buys a ticket to the concert will receive a complimentary ticket to a Sept. 21 reception honoring the Senate’s freshmen class.

House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) also have fundraisers planned at the concert.

Matt Mackowiak of Keelen Communications, an Alexandria-based GOP fundraising firm, said that none of the firm’s clients decided to cancel upcoming events in the wake of Katrina after some initial hesitation.

“We sort of saw that the Speaker did an event and he continued with his fundraising,” Mackowiak said, referring to a fundraising event House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) held in Indiana Friday morning.

Some have canceled their events. Among them are Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-RI). Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) canceled the official launch of his reelection bid.

going on the same day as Congress was voting on the hurricane relief bill:

“We sort of saw that the Speaker did an event and he continued with his fundraising,” Mackowiak said, referring to a fundraising event House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) held in Indiana Friday morning

We need one place to Dump all the people who get money from Delay. I seem to remember Ralph new Schwartz of Grand Rapids district got funding from Delay.

Then we need to broadcast that corrupt link.

NORFOLK, Va. - Rudolph Giuliani, who guided New York City through the dark days after Sept. 11, said there is no place for second-guessing during an emergency, and he is not interested in criticizing the way government officials handled Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.

The former mayor said before a speech Tuesday that it is too soon to draw any conclusions about whether the agencies that responded took too long or who was responsible. When the situation stabilizes, Giuliani said, the nation can examine the rescue efforts.

Giuliani said he would be willing to take a role in the relief effort but was not seeking a position.

Told by a questioner after the speech that he seemed the ideal candidate to head the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Giuliani said: "Maybe in a few years. Right now, I'm not a candidate for anything."

p.s. What took HIM so long to respond?

Did domebody say "multi-tasking"?

On Immoral Grounds, Some Judges Are Opting Out of Abortion Cases

http://www.ctx3.com/wordpress/?p=524

Bush visit halted 3 tons of food being delivered
RAW STORY

Three tons of food ready for delivery by air to refugees in St. Bernard Parish and on Algiers Point sat on the Crescent City Connection bridge Friday afternoon as air traffic was halted because of President Bush’s visit to New Orleans, officials said, NOLA.com reports Wednesday on the news blog.

The provisions, secured by U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-Napoleonville, and state Agriculture Commissioner Bob Odom, baked in the afternoon sun as Bush surveyed damage across southeast Louisiana five days after Katrina made landfall as a Category 4 storm, said Melancon’s chief of staff, Casey O’Shea.

“We had arrangements to airlift food by helicopter to these folks, and now the food is sitting in trucks because they won’t let helicopters fly,” O’Shea said Friday afternoon.

Iraq Redux: FEMA Blocks Photos of Katrina Dead
By Deborah Charles
Reuters

Tuesday 06 September 2005

New Orleans - The US government agency leading the rescue efforts after Hurricane Katrina said on Tuesday it does not want the news media to take photographs of the dead as they are recovered from the flooded New Orleans area.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, heavily criticized for its slow response to the devastation caused by the hurricane, rejected requests from journalists to accompany rescue boats as they went out to search for storm victims.

An agency spokeswoman said space was needed on the rescue boats and that "the recovery of the victims is being treated with dignity and the utmost respect."

"We have requested that no photographs of the deceased be made by the media," the spokeswoman said in an e-mailed response to a Reuters inquiry.

The Bush administration also has prevented the news media from photographing flag-draped caskets of US soldiers killed in Iraq, which has sparked criticism that the government is trying to block images that put the war in a bad light.

The White House is under fire for its handling of the relief effort, which many officials have charged was slow and bureacratic, contributing to the death and mayhem in New Orleans after the storm struck on Aug. 29.

Probably because Babs Bush has a thing against other peoples' dead loved ones...

Has she looked in the mirror lately?

SCAREY!!!

Life is full of coincidences... I just talked to the contractor who has done work on our house; married to a LA woman (not L.A. a la Doors...) whose family is in tight with Gov. Blanco. Says she will not take any s**t from anyone, including Boy George.

As our contractor says, her S.O.P. is to let someone yell, scream, point fingers, play the blame game, and sometimes, if necessary she'll get slightly annoyed at the time. But in most cases, she'll take care of the situation by letting things settle down and then..."cuts 'it' off, hands it back to you, and you'll say 'Thank you, m'am!'"

She has my full support!

Here's the most straightforward relatively simple statement of who's responsible for what and when I've seen written thus far.

Courtesy of an emailer at Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish:

BLAMING THE LOCALS II: An alert emailer writes the following:

"Plain and simple: President Bush signed Gov. Blanco's request to declare a state of emergency in Louisiana on 8/27 ( http://www.gov.state.la.us/Press_Release_detail.asp?id=976 ). Within the text of that declaration the Gov. declares:

Pursuant to 44 CFR § 206.35, I have determined that this incident is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the State and affected local governments, and that supplementary Federal assistance is necessary to save lives, protect property, public health, and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a disaster.

The Stafford Act is the legal stipulator in that declaration ( http://www.fema.gov/library/stafact.shtm#sec402 ).

Under The Stafford Act:

§ 5170a. GENERAL FEDERAL ASSISTANCE {Sec. 402}

In any major disaster, the President may--

# direct any Federal agency, with or without reimbursement, to utilize its authorities and the resources granted to it under Federal law (including personnel, equipment, supplies, facilities, and managerial, technical, and advisory services) in support of State and local assistance efforts.

When President Bush signed that declaration on 8/27 he accepted a responsibility to the citizens of Louisiana. Who has the greater resources, Gov. Blanco, or President Bush? Why is Gov. Blanco held to a higher standard of competence than President Bush, when they each had the same responsibility?"

The only problem here is the formulation: "accepting responsibility." This is something this president has a great deal of trouble doing.

http://www.andrewsullivan.com/index.php?dish_inc=archives/2005_09_04_dish_archive.html#112611599302067186

A much shorter distillation of the LTE material suggested by the kos poster...

This just in...

Camp Casey III, day five: Four cities Five Days

Red Cross was working on the internet getting people recognized when I woke this morning. The Bus has become an information portal, a reunion vehicle, and an office and home in the past five days. We are stretching out a little. We are establishing a cover for people to use the internet outside of the bus, and we are awaiting the arrival of equipment to establish permanent internet access for the shelter we are covering at this time.

We have been told that it is inappropriate to call for equipment and funds to establish technological gear in these parishes. I hope everyone knows where we are working, the infrastructure for the work we are doing was not here. We are not sending out daily updates from a coffee shop. We are working from a 1977 Gillig Bus, that has thousands of dollars of modern technology on it. This is how we are making this mission happen. We need to duplicate this model. We are a four man crew, who picks up help along the way. There are a lot of communities who need to have basic needs attended to. This equipment was borrowed, begged, and paid for with donations that we have collected. And now we are intending to duplicate this model, and leave these communities armed with the appropriate technology to get people stabilized. Do not worry about the gear, we are leaving it here.

Today we had a nice stream of arrivals. I did not get a look at James photos today, and we are hoping to start posting them soon. Gary, from www.plenty.org came in with another load of goods. James left with Gary and Ralph from the Plenty.org crew, and set off to pull some more people out of the swamp. If you want that work, it looks like James is going to stay on point in the struggle to keep people from dying in the toxic soup of New Orleans.

I got to talk with Paul, from www.plenty.org, he arrived with Lenora, Katherine, Kara, Ralph and Gary. Plenty Inc., is over thirty years old and has been involved in disaster relief for as long. We are honored they arrived with such urgency and we are happy to say we will be working with them to assist the people in need after Katrina.

Scott Johnson and Ben Breneman showed up today, and all I can say is, "thank goodness."

Here is what these guys pulled off: They brought in a great deal of supplies. After we got settled, they broke camp with a truck load of supplies headed for Bogalusa. First attention to this community, and the connection also allowed us to look North for other under attended parishes. We see Franklinton and Slidell in the sights for tomorrow.

Jaime took a hill full of goods in her truck to Folsom. Most of the goods were distributed, and we can say we believe Folsom is weathering the storm safely. If you hear differently please let us know at www.vfproadtrips.org/Katrina on the message board.

Reunions are starting, people are coming to this shelter at Pine View Middle school from East Louisiana, the stories are not pretty.

The daily distribution at Reverend Peter Atkins park continues in Covington, and today a shelter was recognized in Hammond. Craig stopped by and told us they needed toothbrushes and paste where they are housing two hundred evacuees. We gave them what we had and expect to have more provisions for them tomorrow.

We have distributed every day in Covington, twice now in Folsom, today we introduced ourselves to Bogalusa and Hammond. Four cities in Five days.

Andrea and Jeff, arrived this evening with a load of supplies they have collected since departing Camp Casey. With a van and a trailer in tow they set up camp. They are the fourth vehicle we have to perform distribution. This is going to be a major part of the infrastructure is the volunteers to drive and distribute. Many people say the shelters are served. OK, but not everybody is homeless, so they are not at the shelter. They, too, need these supplies.

Andrea and Jeff are from the 9th Ward, New Orleans. Not knowing what kind of shape their house is in. Looks like James will get into the city with them tomorrow and we are hoping to establish that as the vein to feed the people in that region.

So, if you want to meet Southern Louisiana, bring some supplies to this ditch and we will have a guide take you out to distribute yours and other provisions we are having sent as I write.

Gordon took some video tape of the kids here at the shelter and the young man with cystic fibrosis loves the camera and wants to be a videographer. Community is being established between the sheltered and the volunteers.

The bus is back from New Orleans, Gary from www.plenty.org reports that:

Subcontractors are already here and locals are out of a job.

There are a lot of people around who need immediate help, just a bottle of water or sandwich to get them down the road, Gary and the crew took a full bus load of water and goods and came back empty, they were able to stop in three communities. Food was distributed, In the Garden District, and French Quarter, as well as the Convention Center.

Five Cities, Five days, the food is getting out, the food is needed. We need your help.

We are calling on the world to come here and help. Go to the message board and let us know what you think we should do,

http://www.vfproadtrips.org/katrina

Veterans For Peace Chapter 116 is going just that!

Location:
Pine View Middle School in Covington, LA.
1115 West 28th Street Covington, LA. 70434

Services:
We are providing food, water, shelter, transportation, and supporting the Red Cross and the survivors. They have come from Slidell, New Orleans, inside Covington and other areas to the Pine View Middle School for help.

Actions:
We have gone into New Orleans and Pulled people out. We have distributed several tons of goods and needed services directly to the people of the affected areas.

We have set up a Food Bank, Volunteer Camp, And Satellite Media Hub right next to the School. We use this as base camp to bring in volunteers & supplies from all points. We then organize it and distribute it into the communities we can reach.

Resources:
We have limited power, but we have more generators on the way. We have access to bathrooms with portable Johns coming. We have real cooking facilities and shower (1). We have wireless Internet access with more one the way.

We have some cell phone service and it is improving.

We have millions of people ready to help!

Do We have you?

Our mission:
#1 Do No Harm
#2 Support Each Other
#3 Feed The People
#4 Shelter The People
#5 Give To The People
#6 Rebuild Our Lives
#7 Rebuild Our Cities
#8 Rebuild Our Shores
#9 Reclaim Our Humanity
#10 Learn From Our Mistakes

CALL TO ACTION:
Who Wants To Help?

We need trained Volunteers! NOW!

We need Food, Water, Supplies, and Equipment, Transportation and Shipping.

More will be posted as people sign up for jobs in Camp Casey Covington, LA. When jobs are filled by Volunteers They will postupdates needs lists and give their comments as to the results.

There is no time to waste, the storm clouds are returning, Thunder is rolling, the rain is falling and people are dying.

We have set up a permanent Camp Casey at the Pine View Middle School,
1115 West 28th Street, Covington, LA. We are supporting The Red Cross
with power and medical supplies and kitchen service, food bank, and
distribution and Internet communications and trained medical personnel.

DROP OFFS
Volunteer Kitchen, Food Bank and Distribution Center
Pine View Middle School
1115 West 28th Street Covington, LA. 70434

UPS & FEDEX
Veterans For Peace Chapter 116 C/O
645 Kimbro Drive, Baton Rouge, LA. 70808

We are using the school to support Veterans For Peace hurricane relief efforts from Covington, LA. for the people of the region.

Foreign aide mad at Bush's administration.

I just watched my 8 p.m news tonight, and it's a scandal!
Not only has France been allowed to ship only 1/4 of what what sheduled, on the contrary of GB and Germany, but the foreign rescue teams have to stand off, and are not allowed to have any contact with the press..... being harrased by the administration.

This aide is not for Bush but for the people, and it's impossible to take it trough.

Tonight it gets me mad. The only thing that makes me happy is that "neocon" translated into French makes "neojerk". (con=jerk)

Those of you who peeked at this article: http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_3004197

Posted by: sparrow at September 7, 2005 01:35 PM

Won't be too surprised to see this diary on kos:

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/9/7/1337/27686

Personally I think this may be the best news yet that I can report out of the Dome and Houston regarding the N.O. evacuees. Apparently some 17,000 Dome residents may have found their way into Houstonian's homes, motels, relatives homes or into their own new apts and hopefully jobs. This is really great news if accurate.

Tally of evacuees in Houston shelters drops dramatically:

"The number of Katrina evacuees counted at Houston's largest shelters is dropping dramatically as people leave for new accommodations, new jobs and new lives.

According to the latest tally, considered the most reliable to date, 8,066 hurricane victims are still stranded at the three Reliant Park shelters and the downtown George R. Brown Convention Center, down from 25,400 reported just Tuesday. It's evident at a glance that evacuees have more breathing room than they did last weekend, but it's hard to track how many people are simply switching shelters, moving in with relatives or actually finding more permanent housing. In fact, it's hard to get an accurate headcount at all.

After Reliant Park imposed a curfew for the first time last night, authorities were able to do their most accurate headcount so far."

Get your barf bag ready!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ucrr/20050903/cm_ucrr/badthingshappentogoodpresidents

The president still has time says Richard Reeves.
Do you think the thousands of families of deceased in N.O. have time Mr. Reeves.

And incompetence eventually catches up with Really Bad Presidents.

Many, many more are likely to have died in New Orleans than in New York or DC on 9/11. Should we invade the White House?

I've tried to stay away from the news today because I just get so angry & frustrated...but I did see this and my blood pressure is rising fast...

Americablog: Bush banning all media from New Orleans

Bob Brigham has just reported - and this is why we need OUR folks on the ground, to report this stuff - the military is banning all reporters from New Orleans. Outrageous. If you kill a couple thousand people, you definitely want to keep the media and the public from finding out.

Bush is literally trying to hide the bodies. This is beyond outrageous.

They're trying to hide the bodies. Who the hell does Bush think he is? So much for the First Amendment, so much for the Constitution, so much for a democratic government.

Hey, Democrats, time to speak up LOUDLY. This is what military regimes do, what dictatorships do, it's not what democracies do. We don't hide our dead bodies in our to spare our leaders their well-due shame.

More...
http://americablog.blogspot.com/2005/09/breaking-bush-banning-all-media-from.html

This I know: the media ain't gonna go for it.

If they try it, this is where Dubya's teflon is ripped completely off the pan, and all hell breaks loose.

Couldn't happen to a nastier bunch of guys.

Bush is literally trying to hide the bodies. This is beyond outrageous.

They're trying to hide the bodies. Who the hell does Bush think he is? So much for the First Amendment, so much for the Constitution, so much for a democratic government.

Hey, Democrats, time to speak up LOUDLY. This is what military regimes do, what dictatorships do, it's not what democracies do. We don't hide our dead bodies in our to spare our leaders their well-due shame.

More...
http://americablog.blogspot.com/2005/09/breaking-bush-banning-all-media-from.html

Posted by: madame defarge at September 7, 2005 04:52 PM

I was outraged by this too. I have a blog post about it at my place.

One word: Fascism

"So, for now, our collective mission is clear: treat this like a campaign, and at the start of each day, predict who will win the news cycle, and at the end of each day, evaluate who won."

quote from RNC Chief Ken Mehlman reported on ABC The Note

If the Right wants to blame local authorities ask them who's responsibility it is to have appointed FEMA Director Brown, governor Blaco?

If the Right wants to blame local authorities ask them who's responsibility it is to have appointed FEMA Director Brown, governor Blanco?

Should we invade the White House?

Posted by: Cyrano at September 7, 2005 04:45 PM

Damn! Its about time someone agrees with me!

September 24, 25 & 26...

Vive la Revolution!!!

The Onion puts it all in "perspective" here...

~snip~
White Foragers Report Threat Of Black Looters

NEW ORLEANS—Throughout the Gulf Coast, Caucasian suburbanites attempting to gather food and drink in the shattered wreckage of shopping districts have reported seeing African­Americans "looting snacks and beer from damaged businesses." "I was in the abandoned Wal-Mart gathering an air mattress so I could float out the potato chips, beef jerky, and Budweiser I'd managed to find," said white survivor Lars Wrightson, who had carefully selected foodstuffs whose salt and alcohol content provide protection against contamination. "Then I look up, and I see a whole family of [African-Americans] going straight for the booze. Hell, you could see they had already looted a fortune in diapers."
~snip~

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/40305

george's job-approval rating in the latest Gallup Poll, conducted August 22-25, is just 40 percent. That's the lowest Gallup rating ever for this president.

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200509u/nj_schneider_2005-09-06

Just wait til this week's poll results are out!

who are these stupid 40% still supporting Bush last week?

unfortunately Bush's name will not appear on any ballot in Nov.

unfortunately Bush's name will not appear on any ballot in Nov.

Posted by: Ira at September 7, 2005 05:26 PM

Maybe not a ballot, but perhaps a docket.

"Dream on, dream until your dream comes true."

Indy,

I want to tell you that we have SEEN and HEARD everyting abroad. We don't care about the politically correct. No beep, beep interrupting statements. We had it all, Ray Nagin, Aaron Broussard, Mary Landrieu...all yelling for help.

We are not about to forget.

If you think that Abu Ghraib was bad for the States, this is nothing compared to Katrina. You call it "neglicence", our word is much tougher : "incurie". From "curare" in Latin, "to look after".

There was none of it. THE STATE DIDN'T LOOK AFTER THE LOUISIANA PEOPLE.

That's what we've been watching day after day.

Bush Seeks $51.8B More for Katrina Effort
Pelosi assails President as "oblivious, in denial."

By JENNIFER LOVEN and DAVID ESPO, Associated Press Writers

Wednesday, September 7, 2005

Congress' top two Democrats furiously criticized the administration's response to Hurricane Katrina on Wednesday, with Sen. Harry Reid demanding to know whether President Bush's Texas vacation impeded relief efforts and Rep. Nancy Pelosi assailing the chief executive as "oblivious, in denial."

With much of New Orleans still under water, the White House announced that Bush is asking lawmakers to approve another $51.8 billion to cover the costs of federal recovery efforts. Congressional officials said they expected to approve the next installment as early as Thursday, to keep the money flowing without interruption.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the new request, which is in addition to $10.5 billion already approved and was being sent to Capitol Hill later Wednesday, would not be the last.

"We are sparing no effort to help those that have been affected by Katrina and are in need of help," he said. "There will be more that will be needed."

Included in the request are $1.4 billion for the military and $400 million for the Army Corps of Engineers, which is working to plug breached levees that submerged most of New Orleans and to drain the city of the rank floodwaters, McClellan said. The rest would go to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Meanwhile, the Associated Press learned that the government planned to distribute debit cards worth $2,000 to victims of the hurricane.

"They are going to start issuing debit cards, $2,000 per adult, today at the Astrodome," said Kathy Walt, a spokeswoman for Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

The cards could be used to buy food, transportation, gas and other essentials that displaced people need, according to a state official who was on the call and requested anonymity because the program had not been publicly announced.

GOP congressional leaders met privately to plan their next step, possibly including an unusual joint House-Senate committee to investigate what went wrong in the government's response and what can be fixed. Establishment of a joint panel would presumably eliminate overlapping investigations that might otherwise spring up as individual committees looked into the natural disaster and its aftermath.

In a letter to the Senate's Homeland Security Committee chairwoman, Reid, the Senate Democratic leader, pressed for a wide-ranging investigation and answers to several questions, including: "How much time did the president spend dealing with this emerging crisis while he was on vacation? Did the fact that he was outside of Washington, D.C., have any effect on the federal government's response?"

At a news conference, Pelosi, D-Calif., said Bush's choice for head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency had "absolutely no credentials."

She related that she had urged Bush at the White House on Tuesday to fire Michael Brown.

"He said 'Why would I do that?'" Pelosi said.

"'I said because of all that went wrong, of all that didn't go right last week.' And he said 'What didn't go right?'"

"Oblivious, in denial, dangerous," she added.

In the first government estimate of Katrina's economic impact, the bipartisan Congressional Budget Office said the damage seemed likely to reduce employment by 400,000 in coming months and to trim economic growth by as much as a full percentage point in the second half of the year. The impact should be temporary, with gasoline prices declining and consumer spending rebounding, said the assessment obtained by The Associated Press.

At the White House, press secretary Scott McClellan said the administration was acting quickly on an emergency supplemental measure for Katrina efforts because a $10.5 billion down payment approved last week "is being spent more quickly than we even anticipated."

Bush is expected to return to the region, but the White House would not say when. Separately, first lady Laura Bush planned to travel to Mississippi on Thursday, the same day Vice President Dick Cheney heads to the Gulf states.

Buffeted by criticism of the Republican administration, GOP Senate chairmen stood in unison and announced that Congress first would open hearings on how to help the Gulf Coast recover from the disaster, and then later examine the response.

"Our role in the United States Senate will be, yes, to investigate and provide appropriate oversight, but also to lower barriers for the recovery and the rebuilding and the economic growth of the Gulf states," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn.

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Susan Collins, the senator whom Reid's letter was addressed to, said her panel would open hearings on "what should we be doing right now." Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said that as chairman of the energy and water subcommittee, he could convene a panel this week to provide the Army Corps of Engineers with the money it needs to help the region recover.

The House on Wednesday was expected to pass two Katrina-related bills: One would allow the secretary of education to waive the current rule that recipients of Pell Grants for low-income students must repay those grants when they are forced to withdraw from classes due to natural disasters.

The other would allow circuit, district and bankruptcy courts to conduct special sessions outside their geographic boundaries when they are unable to meet because of emergency conditions.

Even as they called for investigations of the government's response, several Democratic senators said it was already clear that Brown, the FEMA director, should go.

Hillary Rodham Clinton bristled when asked about Republican accusations that she was trying to capitalize on a natural disaster to help her political career.

She said on NBC's "Today,""Every time anyone raises any kind of legitimate criticism and asks questions, they're attacked."

Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D, said in a telephone call with reporters Wednesday that he and other members of the Senate may try to push legislation that would separate FEMA from the Homeland Security Department. He said they may try to add the language to a spending bill that would fund the Commerce and Justice Departments.

Reid said in his letter that Collins' panel should pursue answers to several questions. Among them, why Bush and administration officials said no one anticipated the breach of the levees despite public studies and warnings, whether budget cuts thwarted the Army Corps of Engineers and whether enough troops were dispatched promptly.

just saw the sales of Paul Wellstone's paperback the Life of a Passionate Progresive and it sadly made may think what Paul would be saying to today about Bush and FEMA. Boy do we miss his voice.. He would be giving this Administration hell.

This I know: the media ain't gonna go for it.
Posted by: Cyrano at September 7, 2005 05:00 PM

Cyrano, I sure hope you're correct (never right!).

1000 reasons...Documenting the failures of the Bush Administration
http://www.thousandreasons.net/index.php

Posted by: Andrée - France at September 7, 2005 05:43 PM

Andree,

Great! Have all of the leaders of the world tell Bush he is a tyrant and help the American People once again free ourselves from this ruthless dictator!

Scotty had another rough day at the office...

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/09/20050907-2.html

I particularly like this exchange...

~snip~
Q Scott, does the President retain confidence in his FEMA Director and Secretary of Homeland Security?

MR. McCLELLAN: And again, David, see, this is where some people want to look at the blame game issue, and finger-point. We're focused on solving problems, and we're doing everything we can --

Q What about the question?

MR. McCLELLAN: We're doing everything we can in support --

Q We know all that.

MR. McCLELLAN: -- of the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA.

Q Does he retain complete confidence --

MR. McCLELLAN: We're going to continue. We appreciate the great effort that all of those at FEMA, including the head of FEMA, are doing to help the people in the region. And I'm just not going to engage in the blame game or finger-pointing that you're trying to get me to engage.

Q Okay, but that's not at all what I was asking.

MR. McCLELLAN: Sure it is. It's exactly what you're trying to play.

Q You have your same point you want to make about the blame game, which you've said enough now. I'm asking you a direct question, which you're dodging.

MR. McCLELLAN: No --

Q Does the President retain complete confidence in his Director of FEMA and Secretary of Homeland Security, yes or no?

MR. McCLELLAN: I just answered the question.

Q Is the answer "yes" on both?

MR. McCLELLAN: And what you're doing is trying to engage in a game of finger-pointing.

Q There's a lot of criticism. I'm just wondering if he still has confidence.

MR. McCLELLAN: -- and blame-gaming. What we're trying to do is solve problems, David. And that's where we're going to keep our focus.

Q So you're not -- you won't answer that question directly?

MR. McCLELLAN: I did. I just did.

Q No, you didn't. Yes or no? Does he have complete confidence or doesn't he?

MR. McCLELLAN: No, if you want to continue to engage in finger-pointing and blame-gaming, that's fine --

Q Scott, that's ridiculous. I'm not engaging in any of that.

MR. McCLELLAN: It's not ridiculous.

Q Don't try to accuse me of that. I'm asking you a direct question and you should answer it. Does he retain complete confidence in his FEMA Director and Secretary of Homeland Security, yes or no?

MR. McCLELLAN: Like I said -- that's exactly what you're engaging in.

Q I'm not engaging in anything. I'm asking you a question about what the President's views are --

MR. McCLELLAN: Absolutely -- absolutely --

Q -- under pretty substantial criticism of members of his administration. Okay? And you know that, and everybody watching knows that, as well.

MR. McCLELLAN: No, everybody watching this knows, David, that you're trying to engage in a blame game.

Q I'm trying to engage?

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes.

Q I am trying to engage?

MR. McCLELLAN: That's correct.

Q That's a dodge. I have a follow-up question since you dodged that one....

~snip~

Posted by: dwahzon at September 7, 2005 06:12 PM

I have an idea of how he can stop having such rough days... In fact, I've got an idea of how the whole damn office can stop having to do such "hhharrrrddddd work..."

Between 25 to 30 bodies have been found in a
nursing home in St. Bernard Parish outside New Orleans.
[Breaking News from MSNBC]

Still want to erase my request from other nations?

ThinkProgress has created a Katrina timeline that catalogues the most important events. Read about Bush's birthday cake photo op with Senator John McCain as Katrina hits New Orleans. Later that day, Rumsfeld attends a Padres baseball game. The day after Katrina hits, Bush plays guitar with a country singer then returns to Crawford for a final night of vacation. Two days after Katrina, Condi Rice takes ia a Broadway show and goes shopping.

Check it out.

http://www.thinkprogress.org/katrina-timeline

(Apologies to Madame Defarge, I know you're already pissed today! ;-)

Hey... I picked this off a dkos diary that may not be up for very long but it's incredible...

You must go to this site and read this woman's story and see the pictures that she took.

What's happening in our country?

These people can't leave the camps?

http://www.goldismoney.info/forums/showthread.php?t=23769

I just got back from a FEMA Detainment Camp

washingtonpost.com
White House: Mrs. Bush Comment 'Personal'

The Associated Press
Wednesday, September 7, 2005; 4:07 PM

WASHINGTON -- Barbara Bush was making "a personal observation" when she said poor people at a relocation center in Houston were faring better than before Hurricane Katrina struck, President Bush's spokesman said Wednesday.

Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary, did not answer directly when asked if the president agreed with his mother's remarks.

Mrs. Bush, after touring the Astrodome complex in Houston on Monday, said: "What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them." She commented during a radio interview with the American Public Media program "Marketplace."

McClellan, at the White House briefing, said: "I think she was making a personal observation on some of the comments that people were making that she was running into. ... But what we're focused on is helping these people who are in need."

Asked if Bush agreed with his mother, McClellan said: "I think that the observation is based on someone or some people that were talking to her that were in need of a lot of assistance, people that have gone through a lot of trauma and been through a very difficult and trying time. And all of a sudden, they are now getting great help in the state of Texas from some of the shelters."

Wednesday, September 07, 2005 4:27 p.m. ET

By Deborah Zabarenko

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When U.S. officials asked the media not to take
pictures of those killed by Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, they
were censoring a key part of the disaster story, free speech watchdogs
said on Wednesday.

The move by the Federal Emergency Management Agency is in line with
the Bush administration's ban on images of flag-draped U.S. military
coffins returning from the Iraq war, media monitors said in separate
telephone interviews.

"It's impossible for me to imagine how you report a story whose subject
is death without allowing the public to see images of the subject of the
story," said Larry Siems of the PEN American Center, an authors' group
that defends free expression.

U.S. newspapers, television outlets and Web sites have featured pictures
of shrouded corpses and makeshift graves in New Orleans.

But on Tuesday, FEMA refused to take reporters and photographers along
on boats seeking victims in flooded areas, saying they would take up
valuable space need in the recovery effort and asked them not to take
pictures of the dead.

In an e-mail explaining the decision, a FEMA spokeswoman wrote: "The
recovery of victims is being treated with dignity and the utmost respect
and we have requested that no photographs of the deceased by made by the
media."

Efforts to recover bodies continued on Wednesday. Out in the city's
filthy waters, rescue teams tied bodies to trees or fences when they
found them and noted the location for later recovery before carrying on
in search of survivors.

Rebecca Daugherty of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
found this stance inexplicable.

"The notion that, when there's very little information from FEMA, that
they would even spend the time to be concerned about whether the
reporting effort is up to its standards of taste is simply
mind-boggling," Daugherty said. "You cannot report on the disaster and
give the public a realistic idea of how horrible it is if you don't see
that there are bodies as well."

'INVITATION TO CHAOS'

FEMA's policy of excluding media from recovery expeditions in New
Orleans is "an invitation to chaos," according to Tom Rosenstiel,
director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, a part of Columbia
University's journalism school.

"This is about managing images and not public taste or human dignity,"
Rosenstiel said. He said FEMA's refusal to take journalists along on
recovery missions meant that media workers would go on their own.

Rosenstiel also noted that U.S. media, especially U.S. television
outlets, are generally reluctant to show corpses.

"By and large, American television is the most sanitized television in
the world," he said. "They are less likely to show bodies, they are less
likely to show graphic images of the dead than any television in the world."

There is also a question of what the American PEN Center's Siems called
"international equity," noting that American news outlets cover stories
around the world showing the effects of natural disasters and wars in
graphic detail.

"How is the world going to look at us if we go into their part of the
world and we broadcast these images and we do not allow ourselves to
look at such images when they're right in our own midst?" Siems said.

Mark Tapscott, a former editor at the Washington Times newspaper who now
deals with media issues at the Heritage Foundation, said the FEMA
decision did not amount to censorship.

"Let's not make a common decency issue into a censorship issue,"
Tapscott said. "Nobody wants to wake up in the morning and see their
dead uncle on the front page. That's just common decency."

Copyright © 2005 Reuters Limited.

More flood trouble:
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/050906/481/nim10309061632

I hope it's not ignored on US news...

"Mark Tapscott, a former editor at the Washington Times newspaper who now deals with media issues at the Heritage Foundation, said the FEMA decision did not amount to censorship."

Translation: I'm on the payroll, just like Armstrong Williams. You never bite the hand that feeds you.

Dear Mr Bush,

Where exactly were you as a seven year old girl was being gang raped and getting her throat cut in the awful dark recesses of the Convention Center...?

I wonder did you sleep on fine french linens than night? Where you at the White House, eating from fine antique china? Or were you still at your ranch that has virtually no cattle?

As the mothers that lost their babies from heat exhaustion, realized their babies had died right beside them, in their arms, did your ears itch with thier unheard but certain screams? What about the young adults who died of thirst, were you drinking a fine tomato juice from crystal goblets, or perhaps a soda your maid brought to you...? What were you doing at that moment Mr. Bush...?

When young girls started floating by with bullet holes in them, and old men turned up bludgeoned to death, were you standing in a well tended courtyard..? Or maybe you were taking pictures and sitting with Trent Lott while he cried into a three-hundred dollar hankerchief..? Or perhaps both. I supose if you could own a courtyard it seems natural you may become overwhelmed with emotion there eventually.

Mr. Bush when women started handing their babies to strangers, begging them to save them, did you think about Jenna and Barbara..? Did you call them and let them pour their hearts out to you? Maybe you thought of how far your own children were from you, and your chest ached with longing..? With need?

As the water rose and alligators started infiltrating low attics did you feel a shudder in a fine leather chair? Did any sharp sensation make you weep?

When the 5 year old was gang raped to death in that hell hole, could you see it from the window of Air Force One? What about the people with you? Did you point your web cam out that same window so Cheney could view, via the net, from Wyoming...?

Where were you EXACTLY Mr. Bush...?

Where were your much decorated Secretaries..?

When the images of the Super Dome and Convention keep going day after day, did you find a point where you sought out Laura to comfort you and perhaps hold your perfectly manicured hand...? Did you ever reach a point where you vomited, as I did, though I have no well heeled servants to pick me up and clean the mess.

When that man shot his sister for a bag of ice did you regret ALL that FEMA money that had been 'mismanaged' at your brother's hurricane parties..? Or did you send some of it as a private contribution to the Red Cross. Or maybe Pat Robertsons 'Relief Fund.' Did your accountant do the appropriate tax deductions on it as somberly as the rest of your daily transactions?

When my Gov. Blanco tried to tell you two days before the hurricane she needed help, did you use a real gold pen to try and wrest control from her...? Silver maybe...? Was it the same pen you used to cut the money to our levees by 80%...? Does that pen come with a fine matching set on your highly polished desk..?

As our native sons, our finest, the Louisiana National Guard, desperately tried to find updates about the damage from Iraq, did you use one of those high tech sattalite phones to call them and calm thier jitters..? Did you smile as they told you how valiantly they had held off enemies that threaten all your friends assets...? Did your own father flash through your mind when you realized one of those boys could have been exactly like the one who took your place in Vietnam..?

I see you on tv offering Salvation Army goods to the women from nowhere, oh and the fundraising speeches, and as I write this I wonder about where you are and what you are doing. I wonder are you shivering somewhere with the painful dread of upwards of 40,000 dead. Did the smell of human waste fill your well educated mind..?

Do the faces of those begging for food haunt you in the halls of your lush surroundings? Do you hear them starving in your sleep..? Does the presence of your body guards bring you as little comfort as FEMA provides to the survivors..?

It shouldn't, and I will tell you why...

The Constitution of the United States of America.

It is the document that lays out the reasons and procedures that will result in your arrest and a fair trial.

But until then Mr. Bush... YOU ARE FIRED!

Caught a glimpse of David Goergen on msnbc and he had this to say: "Something very strange is going on here."

Gergen has no place in this administration. He's part of the reality based community.

oops copy paste typo..

It is the document that lays out the reasons and proceedures that will result in your arrest, a fair trial, followed by a decent hanging.

We can even use a fine velvet rope.

But until then Mr. Bush... YOU ARE FIRED!

I just got back from a FEMA Detainment Camp

Posted by: dwahzon at September 7, 2005 06:47 PM

dw:

Looks like Manzanar, and every other atrocious prison camp you can name in the history of the 20th century.

He is imprisoning the poor. He's a madman.

This country is over.

Hmmmmmmmmm

Posted by: Christy at September 7, 2005 09:07 PM

Christy,

If you still have my email, I need you to contact me. I'm having a problem with my blog.

Christy,

you've got email!

Wow Christy...that's one helluva letter...

Two problems:
- he doesn't have a heart
- he doesn't have a well educated mind.

Bush is a four letter word.

new thread

Sparrow hit me up here simpson1962@bellsouth.net

DW youve got mail

When you listen to Bush suppoters,they too are ignorant,uninformed,fearful,and they are part of a huge problem of disconnect