Democrats & Liberals: Archives

A parent in this situation faced with a starving, dehydrated child does NOT tell that child that ‘everything is being done that can be done’… they tell their child to hold their hand, ride on their shoulders, whatever. Even if the situation is hopeless, a parent should never express this to a child. Neither should a government who is similarly charged with the care of others.

Good article Stephen. People need hope and are being fed despair.

Doing all they can?

HA!!!

There are so many screw-ups in this its not even funny.

I think the president should have seen the lack of leadership going on in New Orleans and take a stand. During 9-11-01, Rudi Gulliani took the reigns and lead the rescue effort along with the New York Governor. In Louisiana, neither took the lead and I believe the Governor of Louisiana should have called up 10,000 National Guard, and if her state did not have them, I would have asked Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Okalahoma, and Missouri. This should have been done before the hurricane, but definitely should have been done the day after when things started getting out of hand.

We will all be hearing about the Mayor of New Orleans radio interview in the last 24 hours. Hasn’t hit the main media yet, but he is cursing mad at Bush, the Democratic Governor, FEMA, Homeland Security. He said he declared martial law days ago, and wants to know why the Governor has not invited the federal government to move in full force under a Federal Disaster declaration to drop ship food, water, and federal troops to restore order.

He said it is just a minority of people responsible for the rape and murder gangs, and greed looters, a great number of them being junkies without a fix in 3 days, raiding hospitals and drug stores for anything that will feed their Jones. In their looting they have come across guns and now pose a real threat after dark. But, he also said the majority of looters have just been trying to secure food and water which as each day passed became an emergency need for thousands upon thousands.

I listened to most of it this morning. It is an extremely damaging critique of our nation’s readiness to handle large scale disasters like Katrina or a dirty bomb which would have similar consequences perhaps.

One would think after 9/11, we would be far further along in our readiness and preparedness for dealing with catastrophe’s like this whether natural or terrorist caused.

I remember during the debates that one of Bush’s lines about being president was “It’s hard work!” That just made me shake my head.

People know leading a country is hard work, and do not have to be told. The current situation in those areas is difficult, no doubt, as are the challenges. Our leaders must be up to them, though. I hear talk about things taking months, and I think to myself, “months?”

Things will take time, especially if they are to be done right, but we need to accelerate the schedules involved here, and start measuring success by results, and not merely by arbitrary goals met. Our communications have to be vastly improved so we’re not fumbling around in the dark. We need people wracking their brains, and politicians and corporations digging deep in their pockets to get these things done pronto, because the longer we wait, the more people will die, and the more difficult it will be to bring back this badly hit part of the Gulf Coast.

Let’s quit whining about our best. Let’s quit dismissing the anger and the blaming of folks for not doing their job as political smear campaign. Lives are on the line now, and it is humanitarian concern and not partisan rancor that drives the harshness of the criticism.

Too little, too late! All I can say is that our federal government’s response is deplorable. I am outraged that so many have died, are dying, are without aid and basic fundamentals to live. Then we have the area being unsecure to boot. Our President’s response is to tell us that help is on the way. He will be flying over NO today to access the damage. He sends armed troops who “know what to do” with their rifles. What, to shoot people who will resort to stealing to survive? I realize that there are those crazies that need to be stopped, like the snipers that shot at rescuers, etc., but where are the many buses, supplies and troops needed? They are coming we are told. Too late for many! There are those that say this shouldn’t be a political issue. To them, I say, “Get your head out of the sand”. Stop making excuses for anything and everything our President and his administration does or doesn’t do. The only positive I can see from all of this is that perhaps more people will become aware of the big picture. GW is NOT doing his job. Period! Wake up, those of you that will defend him at any cost. I attempted to eat breakfast this morning and when I thought of all of my fellow Americans that had nothing to eat and drink, I lost my appetite. I wonder what kind of leisurely, full breakfast the President had this morning before leaving on his “trying to save face” trip to view the devastation? For those who will persist that GW is doing such a tremendous job as our leader, please go tell it to the people at Charity Hospital or the Superdome or even the Astrodome. Tell it to the Mayor of NO. Send your money, do your share, feel heroic, but please “wake-up” to the fact that our leadership did NOT respond appropriately and lives are lost because of it. Guns are not always the answer, George. Send food, water and transportation. Do it now! It should have been done days ago, but at least do it now.

Stephen:

I’d disagree that “it is humanitarian concern and not partisan rancor that drives the harshness of the criticism”. For some, this is true, but for many others, its simply another excuse for them to vent their anger in a polarized manner.

What needs to happen is that all sides need to forget that there are sides. In the face of a tragedy like this, we need to be Americans only.

We need to focus on solutions, and not think about who might get credit or take blame. We need to prioritize the problems, no matter how hard it is to do that. As a hypothetical example, it might be best to incur short term loss of lives in order to save even more lives later. This is hard to do, and it is hard to be a person making such a decision. (The type of example would be this: You can either save 1 person who is immobile, or you can save 10 people who are mobile. You cannot do both, so there is no good solution. You make the choice.)

There will be time later to point fingers, to lay blame and responsibility. Now is not that time. Doing so takes energy, and also saps energy from those trying to deflect criticisms, whether right or wrong.

If partisan wrangling is allowed, it will simply slow up the relief process. We need our leaders to simply lead, and to focus on the direct issues at hand.

So far, I don’t think its been handled well. I look for improvement. I’m NOT saying that people should be happy or satisfied—simply that creating partisan issues now will do more harm than good. There will be time later for such things.

Look,
These people didn’t have to start the widespread looting and criminal activity. Furthermore, they should have found a way to evacuate. That’s what mandatory evacuation means. The mountains of money that are flowing already will make the once poor survivors wealthier than they ever dreamed. Some win - some lose - just like the rest of life.

I have googled some interesting material about events preceeding this disaster which indicate a number of contributing factors in addition to the money being diverted.

Article : The Lost City of New Orleans
Risk & Insurance - December 2000
Source : http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_mobjk/is_15_11/ai_68642805

Article : Effect of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans
Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/effect_of_Hurricane_Katrina_on_New_Orleans

Excerpts :
An unintended consequence of a levee system is prevention of river silt from replenishing the marshlands.
Ecologists and regional planners had warned that the degradation of the marshland removed a critical buffer from storm surges.
Despite warnings no large scale changes were made in time.

One would think after 9/11, we would be far further along in our readiness and preparedness for dealing with catastrophe’s like this whether natural or terrorist caused.

Absolutely.

I find it inexcusable that after 3 or 4 days the government (all levels working together) cannot get those people out of there to someplace safe.

What I’ve heard about the “response” would be laughable if this weren’t real. Greyhound sending 50 buses? Sheesh — I remember back when the Olympics were in Atlanta the feds forced public transit companies to loan buses to Atlanta to help with the crowds.

And then where do they deposit all these poor souls? In a stadium? Take over the hotels and motels guys — it’s gonna be a long time before they have aplace they can truly call home.

And now I read that 1/3 of the MS and LA national guard troops are still over in Iraq — and that many of them are law enforcement and EMS types in their civilian jobs. A good reason why we should not be relying on the guards for fighting a protracted war.

“In their looting they have come across guns and now pose a real threat after dark. But, he also said the majority of looters have just been trying to secure food and water which as each day passed became an emergency need for thousands upon thousands”

Unfortunately looters cannot hide from the TV coverage. It seems that bottles of booze, television sets, jewelry and sporting goods make excellent carrying containers for the food and water. Providing of course that the smaller electrical appliances, DVD players and game boys do not restrict their movement too much.

I’m gonna catch hell for this statement of the obvious, but a major exacerbation of the problem in New Orleans is the several thousands that could have easily evacuated, and foolishly (bordering on criminal) chose not to.
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NOTE: I’m not talking about the elderly or sick or poor people that could not evacuate.
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Those people that could have easily evacuated, and didn’t, foolishly and negligently risk the health and safety of their own lives, their children and family, the poor, elderly, and sick that couldn’t evacuate, and those that are now attempting to rescue them.
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Now, having said that, as unpleasantly factual as it is, there truly appears to be a sluggish response by state, FEMA, and other federal agencies, and as Steve Smith has pointed out, there have been years of neglect at state and federal levels to properly address the unquestionable potential for disaster in New Orleans.

So, there’s plenty of blame to go around, but now isn’t the time to waste a lot of time and energy on the blame game or petty partisan squabbling and posturing, when more pressing problems need immediate attention.

From the AP, dated 9/2

The president … was to walk through hard-hit neighborhoods in Biloxi, Miss.

But Bush was avoiding an in-person visit to the worst areas of New Orleans….

I wonder why?

d.a.n.,

You said all of that without a single [ ] or ( ).

: ]
Bush should avoid New Orleans for a while.
They’re shooting at helicopters and such.
And think of the resources that would be needed to provide security just for him, which will only fuel the appearance of an elitist, privileged government.
His presence isn’t really required and won’t really help anything, and may even fuel some riots and unrest.

I agree with [d.a.n.] although I am sure that there are those who would like him to appear and take his chances. :-(

Great article, Stephen.
Donna — what you said!

joe-
We do need to focus on solutions. That’s my point. The harshness of the criticism stems from their lack. The normally docile reporters of CNN are ripping people new ones. Anderson Cooper was grilling Mary Landrieu over a corpse getting chewed on by rats in the street, for crying out loud.

And no, I don’t think that’s an unjustified response, not when you’ve accompanied teams looking for the dead through houses and smelled their decay. There will be plenty of hard choices, but unfortunately there will be a lot of easy ones- the wrong ones - and people will take them. Now is not the time to point fingers, now is the time for somebody to take responsibility. Unfortunately, that’s an unwanted burden in this day and age of plausible deniability. That must change if more people are to survive.

Partisan wrangling should be left out of the equation. Results, though, should not. It is not the political character of the relief effort or the policies on the levees that are being criticized, it’s the results.

Stik-
Lucky Ducky’s, huh? Let me tell you from personal experience that if you don’t have a car, your mobility will be a grave problem. As somebody who goes most places by bike, I can tell you that it takes an hour to ride 10-15 miles if you are a healthy young man of good endurance. You can only take what you can carry on your back. If you don’t have a bike, it will take an hour or more to get three miles.

Considere that for a moment. It’s one thing to call for an evacuation, it’s another thing entirely to make it work.

There are winners and losers, to be sure, but the game isn’t that simple, and the results of such a cold-blooded objectivist view may end up hitting too close to home.

Bush should avoid New Orleans for a while.
They’re shooting at helicopters and such.
And think of the resources that would be needed to provide security just for him, which will only fuel the appearance of an elitist, privileged government.

Clinton would have been there in the heart of the big easy and no one would have worried about calling him “elitist” or “privileged.”

What does that tell You?

There were bodies floating past my front door. I’ve never seen anything like that,” he said, near tears from apparent emotional exhaustion.
“I don’t treat my dog like that,” Edwards said as he pointed at the woman in the wheelchair. “You can do everything for other countries, but you can’t do nothing for your own people.”
Michael Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said FEMA just learned about the situation at the convention center Thursday and quickly scrambled to provide food, water and medical care and remove the corpses.
WHAT BULLSHIT!!!! THE ENTIRE COUNTRY KNEW BUT NOT THE FEMA??!!!
By midmorning Friday, despite a constant buzzing of military helicopters overhead, there was still no sign of the relief to the tens of thousands lined up outside the convention center.
THREE DAYS NOW AND THIS IS THE BEST HOMELAND SECURITY DOES!!!! WHAT DID THEY DO WITH THE $30 BILLION SPENT ON HOMELAND SECURITY—-THIS ADMINISTRATION STOLE FROM AMERICAN WORKING CITIZENS!!! THEY ARE NOW DYING DUE TO THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION WHO KNEW WEEKS BEFORE THE STORM HIT THAT PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS WOULD BE NECESSARY!!!! WHAT BULLSHIT!!!

Raymond Whitfield, 51, watched a National Guard truck drive by the convention center, but like most other official vehicles, it did not stop.
“The National Guard just drives around and around. I know the police, the National Guard, they got generators, so they can sleep and eat,” he said.

WHY DIDN’T BUSH JUST GET ON TV AND SAY “YOU ARE NOT MY BASE AGAIN???!!! YOU ARE MY “HAVE NOTS” AND YOU CAN DIE???!!! HONESTY AND REALITY OF THIS ADMINISTRATION AND WHAT THEY WILL DO FOR US IN A CRISIS AFTER SPENDING “OUR” BILLIONS!!!!! HOW MUCH HAS HALLIBURTON PLEDGED???!!!

Conditions were dire at the Superdome as well. By Thursday evening, 11 hours after the military began evacuating the Superdome, the arena held 10,000 more people than it did at dawn. Evacuees from across the city swelled the crowd to about 30,000 because they believed the arena was the best place to get a ride out of town.
The flow of refugees to the Houston Astrodome was temporarily halted overnight after about 11,000 people had arrived — less than half the estimated 23,000 people expected.

Helicopters dropped sandbags into the breach and pilings were being pounded into the mouth of the canal Thursday to close its connection to the lake.
IS AMERICA’S POLICY “LET THE POOR DIE” AND THEN PLUG THE LEVEE? I WISH I HAD HELPED EGG THE INAUGURATION PROCESSION THAT THEY HAD TO HALT DUE TO RIOTING, AS THE MOTORCADE CAME TO AN END & THE PRESIDENT SLIPPED IN THE WHITE HOUSE !!! DOES BUSH THINK THAT GOD BLESS ONLY APPLIES TO HIS BASE???!!! YEAH, MR. HABITUAL LIAR; WAIT 3 DAYS AND THEN GO MAKE SURE SOMETHING IS HAPPENING TO HELP THE POOR IN THE FACE OF THIS COUNTRY’S WORST NATURAL DISASTER!!!! WHAT LOUSY EXCUSE OR LIE DO WE GET TO HEAR FROM YOU ABOUT YOUR LACK OF PREPAREDNESS FOR IMMEDIATE RELIEF EFFORTS???!!! WHAT BULLSHIT~~~~~~~

Excellent article, Stepehen. Thank you. The powers that be have squandered many opportunities to mitigate the severity of this disaster, but are now paying the price for their failure.

From a recent Yahoo! news story:

“Just last year, the Army Corps of Engineers sought $105 million for hurricane and flood programs in New Orleans. The White House slashed the request to about $40 million. Congress finally approved $42.2 million, less than half of the agency’s request.

Yet the lawmakers and Bush agreed to a $286.4 billion pork-laden highway bill that included more than 6,000 pet projects for lawmakers. Congress spent money on dust control for Arkansas roads, a warehouse on the Erie Canal and a $231 million bridge to a small, uninhabited Alaskan island.

How could Washington spend $231 million on a bridge to nowhere — and not find $42 million for hurricane and flood projects in New Orleans? It’s a matter of power and politics.”
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As they say, hindsight is 20/20. But that’s absolutely no excuse for a stupid and reckless administration that cares more about corporate greed and political favoritism than the American public it allegedly serves. How much more of Bush can the American people afford to take?

I’m sitting here watching CNN’s coverage and all of a sudden it would seem that there are long rows of buses staged and ready to evacuate people from New Orleans and a convoy of National Guard trucks bearing food and water for the people stranded. I find it interesting that this is all happening just as W makes his way to the city. At least some of this couldn’t have happened yesterday? Will W be wearing a Coast Guard uniform? Is this visit just another photo op being set up by this administration?

Is it me or does DOHS seem to be the fly in the ointment here?

In the “old days” FEMA would have mobilized and gotten busy by the time the storm past. Now Chertoff seems to want to run the show and in an effort to keep tabs on everything and everybody, very little is getting done.

Why can’t Chertoff and company simply step asside and let FEMA do what FEMA does?

This shoukd be their show to run and I know from first hand experience they are excellent at what they do.

Now simply isn’t the time for Homeland Security to use this disaster as a test bed.

This is what the government is claiming.

http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/interapp/press_release/press_release_0727.xml

The pork-barrel and waste is what is truly disgusting, and limits our options when we need them the most (like now).
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Washington, D.C. Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today challenged members of Congress to block funding for unrelated pork projects in its aid package for hurricane recovery, and to help offset the bill?s cost by returning the $24 billion worth of earmarks in the recently enacted highway bill. Congressional leaders expect to negotiate an emergency supplemental spending bill when Congress reconvenes next week. Hurricane Katrina has been called the most expensive disaster in the country?s history. One expert said that federal aid could top $30 billion, which will add to the $331 billion deficit predicted for fiscal 2005.
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That is why we need a new rule/law that restricts bills to One Purpose Per Bill only containing one or more related items that are necessary for the purpose of a bill?
Shouldn’t a bill have a purpose?

Therefore, a bill for : $6,837,750 added by the House for projects in the district of House Appropriations Committee Chairman Bill Young (R-Fla.), including: $850,000 for St. Petersburg for facilities renovation and expansion of the Florida Museum of Fine Arts,
should not find its way into:
a bill for: $75,000 for Onondaga County for the Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame;
or a bill for : $150,000 added in conference for the Coca-Cola Space Science Center in Columbus, Ga.;
or a bill for : $250,000 added by the House for the North Creek Ski Bowl in the district of House appropriator John Sweeney (R-N.Y.);
or a bill for : $250,000 added by the Senate for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tenn. to support community programs;
or a bill for : $775,000 for the Biltmore Hotel in the district of Rep. Ileana Ros- Lehtinen (R-Fla.);
or a bill for: $100,000 for the Tiger Woods Foundation;
or a bill for : $300,000 for Baltimore for the relocation of the Center Garage;
or $1,000,000 added by the Senator McCain (R-AZ) for the brown tree snake (which is found only in Guam, not life-threatening to humans, nor has the ability to survive in North America; the snake was first introduced to Guam in the late 1940s and continues to be a sore spot for Senator John McCain; commenting on the numerous earmarks that found their way into the fiscal 2005 Defense Appropriations Act, the senator zoned in on this project ($1 million for the Brown Tree Snakes); once again, pork-barrel has somehow inappropriately slithered its way into another bill (the 2005 defense appropriation bill)).

There is not a single doubt in my mind that Local, State and Federal government and the private sector is doing verything possible to provide rescue/relief for the displaced citizens of New Orleans.

How fast is fast enough. Who can predict how high the levee should be, they have increased it’s height and strength every time the conditions got to be “worse than thought
possible”.

You cannot deliver relief to that quantity of people when many are sick, injured, and mob like in their clamor for help. All anyone knows is that they need help and they need it before anyone else.

How do you know who needs insulin - it has to be refrigerated as well.

How do you get oxygen to people with respiratory problems - I require oxygen 24/7. It is delivered with an elecrically powered concentrator. There are portable tanks to use for mobility. The maximum size tank holds 3 hrs worth of oxygen. Many people in this condition cant breathe with or without oxygen in extreme heat and humidity.

How about people with the need for dialysis for kidney problems.

What about babies needing special formula. Where are they?

Maybe if we were faster we could help the blind and deaf folks better.

What about the folks who are “healthy”, how do we tell them from the less able? Which one is hungrier, than the other.

How badly were things screwed up by all the folks who were told 3 or more days before the storm that it would be a good idea to evacuate. No they said “it can’t be anyworse than the last time”. “I am going to be a hero and ride this one out”.

Someone said that you can’t tell these people that you are doing everything you can. That would be false hope. Compared to telling them what, Oh by the way, we can’t do this fast enough, many of you are going to die. No, the suggestion is just to be heroic and do it faster, save everybody, blame President Bush for the whole thing. Why not, he gets blamed for everything else.

This is a terrible crisis but it’s one that should have been well anticipated by officials at the local, state and federal levels. They all deserve floods of blame.

I’m sitting here watching in disbelief! In one of the richest, most developed countries in the world, people are being left to die in the streets for days after a natural disaster. A country where many of the citizens claim themselves to be Christian, and the only outrage seems to be coming from the victims themselves. With the most powerful military logistics capabilities in the world, the old, the sick, the young and the poor, are left in baking heat with no water, no food. As a citizen of “old Europe”, I think back a few years to the flooding in Germany, where their national leader was on the scene immediately, ensuring what needed to be done, was done. And GW cuts his marathon holidays short at last. It reminds me of the contempt Vladimir Putin showed when the Kirsk went down. For shame, America.

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…blame President Bush for the whole thing. Why not, he gets blamed for everything else.
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Wow. I suddenly feel bad for the criticisms I have have made in the past. I… I kind of feel sorry for Bush. Thanks for bringing this up.

Being President must be very, very hard work.

We have a natural disaster. People are killed. Property is destroyed. I am glad that some people are looking for solutions rather than people to blame.

The media likes the blame game. I read two articles next to each other in the Washington Post this morning. I won’t comment on them except to give headlines and the paragraph in the middle that negates it with important parts bolded.

“Critics Say Bush Undercut New Orleans Flood Control”

“Even with full funding in recent years, none of the flood-control projects would have been completed in time to prevent the swamping of the city, as Democrats yesterday acknowledged.”

“Environment Minister Criticizes U.S. Policy: Neglected Climate Protection’ to Blame”

Many scientists say global warming and pollutants have not affected the number of hurricanes that have struck the United States in recent years, attributing the frequency to natural cyclical patterns. Some researchers, however, say there is evidence that higher atmospheric temperatures over time COULD make storms more powerful.

So let’s solve the problems, but be sure they are the right ones. Because blame and solving the wrong problems makes the real problems worse.

I’ve got little sympathy for Bush. He wanted to be president. Well, this is what being the president is about. HARD WORK. You’re only the top executive of a technologically advanced country of nearly 300 million people, draped across the breadth of AN ENTIRE CONTINENT. this isn’t like being the chief executive of Luxembourg, or Texas. (for those who don’t know, this state has a governor who requires a constitional amendment and senate approval to blow his nose)

The way I figure it, over a hundred thousand refugees from the New Orleans area will find their way into Texas, by the time everything is said and done. I volunteer in downtown Houston about three times a week, and I’m hearing about the Louisana refugees right now.

I’m also hearing that Mayor Bill White is opening up the George R. Brown Convention center to them. When asked about the conventioneer’s response to this, the guy said “they can sue”. Strikes me as ironic, really; one dome to another, one convention center to another. I also heard that he overruled the fire marshal and let more people into the Astrodome.

This is what I mean, folks. The Extra Mile.

Jack-
It’s the thought that counts, and even incomplete improvements might have been able to lessen the extent of the disaster. It’s time to stop expecting the least common denominator policies from our politicians.

“Clinton would have been there in the heart of the big easy and no one would have worried about calling him “elitist” or “privileged.”

Kind of like him showing up after the first attack on the WTC right?

“This is a terrible crisis but it’s one that should have been well anticipated by officials at the local, state and federal levels. They all deserve floods of blame.”

Quite correct Reed, but somehow I don’t think we will hear much whining about Blanco.

“It’s time to stop expecting the least common denominator policies from our politicians.”

So true SD. I take it you are preparing a story which will show the total ineptitude of Blanco, correct?
I mean, her employees did a great job in getting through the storm itself, but she failed miserably in preparing for the aftermath. She failed to properly supply her people and the criminals are running around killing people and looting.
For god sakes, she made the dome an evac point when she KNEW it was built to only be able to substain a CAT 3 hurricane.

Give me a break!
The are people whose lives are in peril and the first thing people do is say, “I support those people, it’s Bush’s fault for everything.”

Cast blame, bitch, whine and moan somemore about Bush and the evil Republicans, that will accomplish exactly what it has so far, nothing.
As for me, I’m going to ignore the politics on this one and actually help those who need it through my deeds.
Everybody using this for political gain are pathetic.

jack,

The storm damage in Mississippi and Alabama is a natural disaster. The broken levees, the feeble efforts to repair them, and the obviously inadequate plans to provide the people of New Orleans with police protection, sustenance and an orderly evacuation are all avoidable man-made disasters.

It’s not all Bush’s fault, by any means, but he must share the blame for the mistakes and failures of his administration if he is willing to claim the credit for its successes.

I, for one, would feel a lot less anger toward him and his administration for the unfolding tragedy in New Orleans if he were to go to the Astrodome and say, “We messed up. We were caught off-guard. This never should have happened. We’re sorry. Now, we’re going to do everything we can to make it up to you people.”

But I’m not holding my breath.

Paul in Euro,

I have this fantasy where George Bush is standing on the steps of the Superdome with a bullhorn in his hand. He blames Castro for sending the hurricane to America, and when he declares war on Cuba, he’s beaten to death by an angry mob.

Man, oh man. Gotta cut back on the opium.

“Clinton would have been there in the heart of the big easy and no one would have worried about calling him “elitist” or “privileged.”

Kind of like him showing up after the first attack on the WTC right?

An accurate assessment you have here! There was no visual backdrop for the 1993 WTC attack for any politician to rally around. But the point is, Bush has made no efforts to reach out to poor Americans — black or white. As I recall, the Republicans have said they want to reach out more to Blacks. They’ve missed an opportunity here.

.blame President Bush for the whole thing. Why not, he gets blamed for everything else.
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Wow. I suddenly feel bad for the criticisms I have have made in the past. I… I kind of feel sorry for Bush. Thanks for bringing this up.

Being President must be very, very hard work.
Posted by: tony at September 2, 2005 02:02 PM

Well it must be particularly hard for GW, considering all of the holidays he’s had to take over the past going on five years.

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As I recall, the Republicans have said they want to reach out more to Blacks.
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Good time to do that is when they are drowning…

Isn’t there a delicious irony in President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela offering discounted gasoline to poor Americans, and also free health care to citizens of Western Hemisphere countries, including the USA? And the poor African Americans seem to the US Govt only good enough to fight America’s wars, not good enough to rescue from disaster?

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Well it must be particularly hard for GW, considering all of the holidays he’s had to take over the past going on five years.
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whhhheeeeeeeewwww. Man… just have to sit down for a few after thinking about that.

Hard… hard… (sniff) hard work.

Below are a variety of comments from people who should know something about what’s going on in New Orleans. Some speak highly of the relief efforts, while others speak poorly of them.

Before those of us here on WB spout off in relative ignorance about what should have been and what should be done, it might do us well to notice the vast differences in the comments. They show incredible problems that are being addressed, and show how planning for disaster can be flawed (not recognizing the possibility of levees being BREACHED as opposed to simply being overflowed)

“There are amazing challenges and obstacles,” said Joe Becker, the top disaster response official at the American Red Cross. Under the circumstances, Mr. Becker said, the government response “has been nothing short of heroic.”

“Is the problem that they are only just now beginning to understand how serious the damage was?” said John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, a national security policy group in Washington.

“We knew if it was going to be a Category 5, some levees and some flood walls would be overtopped,” he said. “We never did think they would actually be breached.” Greg Breerwood, deputy district engineer for project management at the Army Corps of Engineers.

Martha Madden, who was the Louisiana secretary of environmental quality from 1987-1988, said that the potential for disaster was always obvious and that “FEMA has known this for 20 years.”

“We did not have precision on where it would make landfall,” said Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, the head of the National Guard Bureau. “It could have been anywhere from Texas all the way over to Florida.”

Susan Cutter, a geography professor at the University of South Carolina and an emergency preparedness expert, said Mayor Nagin should have ordered a mandatory evacuation on Thursday or Friday. “Evacuation is a precaution,” she said. “I don’t think they would have taken a political hit if they had ordered it, and it helped.”

While some in New Orleans fault FEMA - Terry Ebbert, homeland security director for New Orleans, called it a “hamstrung” bureaucracy - others say any blame should be more widely spread. Local, state and federal officials, for example, have cooperated on disaster planning.

“As I recall, the Republicans have said they want to reach out more to Blacks.
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Good time to do that is when they are drowning…

Posted by: tony at September 2, 2005 03:16 PM
Isn’t there a delicious irony in President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela offering discounted gasoline to poor Americans, and also free health care to citizens of Western Hemisphere countries, including the USA? And the poor African Americans seem to the US Govt only good enough to fight America’s wars, not good enough to rescue from disaster?”

Stephen
You say the answer is HOW HIGH?
When it should of been HOW LOW WILL PEOPLE STOOP!

Now please give me a few minutes, I need to go make sure my Republican friends apply their “For whites only” stickers to all our care-packages going out tomorrow.

“Before those of us here on WB spout off in relative ignorance”

Too late Jbod!

Man, oh man. Gotta cut back on the opium.

Posted by: Chuck Hanrahan at September 2, 2005 03:07 PM

Got that right chuck. Seems to me with the American right, if Bush proposed going to war with Cuba, they’d still say “RIGHT ON!” Course then I think, wasn’t he a substance abuser?

kctim -

??? I feel an insult here ???

Maybe - if we don’t support the President, then we don’t support the people of New Orleans and other areas? Maybe that’s what you are hinting at?

On a previous post - I challenged everyone to match donations to see where it went. As far as I can tell… I got two matches (and I think they were from DEMs.) My challenge was specifically going out to REPS… sort of a good natured competition to help out. (no response.)

In case you are wondering - I got $450 in the game.

Care to match?

Everybody using this for political gain are pathetic.

BULLSHIT! Our governments response to this is DEPLORABLE! If this doesn’t prompt some accountability for those in charge, then this country is truly F#$%ed.

And that goes for BOTH SIDES. If Bush can’t handle this, then it’s time for the remainder of those in our government to step up and take the bull by the horns, repuggie or democrat. If they don’t, I have no respect left for the lot of them.

It is understandable that people would cry out against partisan rancor. There has certainly been enough pressure to divide Americans into antagonistic positions where we consider one another the enemy. We have moved from thinking another American is wrong in his opinion to thinking he is somehow ‘evil’ and unAmerican. At this moment in time, that is not the issue. Clearly, emergency efforts have been badly handled and the situation has been exacerbated rather than helped. But whatever your political base, the fact is that Bush is the Commander in Chief and he is doing a totally unacceptable job. Wasting time on blame instead of taking action is intolerable in this time of emergency, but calling the efforts made by this individual inadaquate and ineffectual have nothing to do with partisan politics. It has to do with job performance — and New Orleans, The entire gulf coast and American deserve to have been much better served by the head of the country. Now is the time to criticize what is being done and demand it be changed because tomorrow is too late for victims waiting for help. Getting the work done right is the only consideration right now and if someone is screwing up the process that needs to change now.

Joann Redound

“Maybe that’s what you are hinting at?”

Sigh! Not even close.
The only show of support that matters in a time like this is for those affected.
Thanks for donating and don’t be discouraged about the lack of Reps response. Most of them are probably going through those evil churches that are trying to take over the world.

“calling the efforts made by this individual inadaquate and ineffectual have nothing to do with partisan politics”

It doesn’t? Then where is the outrage towards Blanco? You know, the person in charge of LA?
Its all about politics to you guys.
We’ve seen tiring attempts to blame Bush, yet again, and we’ve seen the race card being used. What’s next? Bush used a weather machine to create the hurricane and destroy the immoral city of NO?
You go ahead and place blame based on your assumptions and opinions, the rest of us who care will help.

—-
You go ahead and place blame based on your assumptions and opinions, the rest of us who care will help.
—-

I think I will do both.

—-
Maybe that’s what you are hinting at?
___

I was being a bit facetious with this one… btw.

New Orleans to Bush: “We can’t hear you!”

Bush to New Orleans: ” “

kctim-
Whoever deserves blame deserves blame, but we have to acknowledge that federal disaster relief has been criminally late in coming. You’re equivocating badly. Bush knew there was a CAT 5 hurricane heading for the coast, and the day after, he does a photo op with the presidential guitar, and only cuts his vacation short the day after. It’s now Friday, and federal aid to NOLA is only just coming in. If you judge by politics, oh, Bush has done everything he’s supposed to.

By practical measures, he fucked up royally. He had the power to shout down from above “Get your asses in gear, if you don’t know how to get it done, figure it out, and get it done yesterday!” The mayor shouldn’t have had to vent in a radio interview to get asses in gear.

The questions is, what are you willing to see unfold in Louisiana before you admit to a real crisis going on. I’ve read about this kind of disaster in history books and science fiction novels about asteroid impacts, mass plagues, and superstorms. Now it’s real, and the horror that we only knew in abstract, people in these places know now from experience. How bad would it have to get before you object to the slowness and negligence of the federal response?

Sooner or later, you have to realize that people have reason to feel this guy is out of touch and incompetent. The anger comes from that rational conclusion, not the other way around. But hey, nobody’s allowed to hate Bush, are they? Nobody’s allowed to complain when the country is lied to, the war is bungled, when our nation is made to look weak by a disaster relief effort unworthy of the world’s wealthiest country, the last remaining superpower.

This keeps up, and America will become a shadow of its former self. Will you be satisfied then? We’re not feigning outrage for political reasons, we really do think he’s this lousy of a president.

Then where is the outrage towards Blanco?

kctim,

Blanco deserves blame partly for being unprepared to immediately deal with this contingency and partly because she didn’t shame the ineffectual, feckless feds (including our oh-so-smug, faux-folksy president) into responding much faster. The mayor - who should have done a better job of getting the poor out of that town - deserves some (very) faint praise for setting up the mandatory evacuation and for finally (took far too long) voicing his frustration for the lack of state and federal response to the situation.

This country and its leaders need to do better all the way around, whatever their political affiliation. The only ones looking like real leaders are Gov. Rick Perry of Texas and Houston’s Mayor Bill White, who opened up the Astodome to those evacuating New Orleans. For their all-too-rare combination of guts, compassion, creativity and quick action, we salute them.

“We’re not feigning outrage for political reasons”

But yet, all your anger is towards Bush, a Republican isn’t it? Not one mention of Blanco, a Democrat.
Yea, you really do believe he is a lousy President, because of that R.

Excerpt:
Lord, I thank you for getting us out of here,” said Leschia Radford.
But there was also anger and profane catcalls.
“Hell no, I’m not glad to see them. They should have been here days ago. I ain’t glad to see ‘em. I’ll be glad when 100 buses show up,” said 46-year-old Michael Levy, whose words were echoed by those around him yelling, “Hell, yeah! Hell yeah!”
“We’ve been sleeping on the … ground like rats,” Levy said.
The soldiers’ arrival-in-force came amid blistering criticism from the mayor and others who said the federal government had bungled the relief effort and let people die in the streets for lack of food, water or medicine.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050902/ap_on_re_us/hurricane_katrina

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&u=/nm/20050902/ts_nm/weather_katrina_race_dc_1

Excerpt:
“We cannot allow it to be said by history that the difference between those who lived and those who died in this great storm and flood of 2005 was nothing more than poverty, age or skin color,” said Rep. Elijah Cummings (news, bio, voting record), a Maryland Democrat and former head of the Congressional Black Caucus.

http://www.crosswalk.com/news/1349207.html
God ”Unhappy” With Hurricane Response, Congressman Says
Susan Jones
Senior Editor
The government needs help, Rep. Cummings said - and he wants it to come from the private sector.
People are dying because they have no water - have no water in America!”
Cummings recited the Bible passage (Matthew 25: 37-40) in which Jesus tells his followers to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, and clothe the poor: “Whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”

Press reports on Friday said President Bush would not touch the ground in New Orleans

The president’s “God Bless” is for his base.

kctim,

You’re starting to smell like the excrement polluting the streets of NO. Your odor, aka rabid ideology, is showing.

The poor guy takes a few days vacation and what happens. A natural disaster hits New Orleans that has been anticipated by residents for 50 years and has been prepared for in the best way possible.

You go from a fanatic and her entourage camped outside your house, to your preacher wanting to assasinate a foreign leader to your GOD sending a hurricane. Is there no rest for the weary.

OK, we now have the blame Bush for everything excuse being used, the race card being used and now personal insults when you can’t argue against facts.
Thanks Magoo, but I’m still waiting for the weather machine excuse to popup.

Read this, Maybe some of you Bush supporters will reconsidered the focus on his responsibility. It matters what kind of person you put in the presidency.

kctim-
You can alert people to what Blanco did wrong, I can do it for Bush, and the people who read can decide. Fair enough? That’s why we have a democracy, free speech and all that other stuff.

Meanwhile, are our complaints against Bush unjustified? See the link above.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050902/people_nm/weather_katrina_domino_dc
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Rock ‘n’ roll pioneer
Fats Domino, who went missing in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, was rescued by boat from floodwaters near his New Orleans home and is “stressed out” but safe, his agent said on Friday.
He said Domino and his family initially were taken to the New Orleans Superdome with thousands of other evacuees
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/latimests/survivorswaitasdisasterbuilds
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff was asked on National Public Radio why no help had been sent, he said he was unaware of the problem.BULLSHIT!!!!!!!!!!!

Steve Smith will you stop calling him that poor guy - he’s BLOODY RICH - ARE YOU IN TOUCH WITH REALITY??

SD
“You can alert people to what Blanco did wrong”

Fair enough? Not at all, I will not stoop to that level and I hope those on the right don’t start doing it either.
Do you not see the hypocrisy of it all?
BOTH need to revise their plans so that further disasters are better handled, but yet you guys only gripe about the Republican.

Your right ANNIE, bullshit!
It’s not like Chertoff had millions of people in trouble to worry about. I can’t believe he didn’t make a special exception for a music pioneer.

Say Stephen hows about Bubba were you proud of Him?

SAy all you bleeding heart Liberals stop your crying. Bush Won——Kerry Lost.

Do you liberals honestly think Bubba would have done a better job. He was pre-occupied. He didnt get Binladin on his watch and we all know he had at least 3 chances to get him.

I live down here in S.E. Louisiana; just east of Houma. We were spared the most serious effects of the storm, but just barely. Many lost their homes. I just got back to mine today. I had minor damage and some flooding, and no power since Sunday. Meanwhile, I and many folks have been helping others rebuild what they could, fix roofs, keep generators running, moving food and water around to those who needed it, and whatever else we did (too much to list here).

But I want to make a statement about all of this criticism of the people who stayed, who were “told to get out and chose to stay”. Those who make these statements have no freaking idea what they are talking about. This part of Louisiana has about three highways that can be used for evacuation. The storm prediction put it on track for us on Friday. But it was still anticipated that it would go further east. Nevertheless, people started leaving by Friday evening. Quickly the roads started jamming up. Nonetheless, about 80% of the people in the city left. About half in the outlying areas left.
You had two million people cramming into three highways, trying to get out in two days. MANY people weathered this storm ON THE HIGHWAY!!!
There are always many who just can’t leave; regardless of where you are. Then there were many who could not leave because of the traffic. Others had no place to go. Hotels were booked all the way into Texas, Ark, Tenn, etc. You couldn’t go east.
Now take all of that, and add into it that this storm was the biggest to hit the gulf coast in roughly 50 years, and the fact that New Orleans has been denied federal funding to improve the flood control situation year after year after year, and you have what we are now left with. Truthfully, I don’t know if any other flood control would have helped. More highways would certainly have helped.
So we all joined together and have been doing what we can since Monday with little or no federal help. Finally, after Mayor Nagin blasts the govt (federal, mostly) for moving too slowly, the help starts pouring in. He’s been criticized for that, but it worked. In my eyes, he’s amazing. (He has really cleaned up corruption in New Orleans)
The people who should be commended are the law enforcement and fire personnel, the utility companies, fish and wildlife personnel, and all of those friends and neighbors who have been doing everything they can. They have been doing what they can, of what has to be done. The fed gov needs to get troops on the ground, and the materials here to do the job. They’ve been sitting waiting for authorization from Washington to proceed. It’s not Baton Rouge that is the problem. Why did it take FEMA two days to even show up?

As for me and most of my friends and neighbors, our labor day weekend and the next few months will be spent doing what we all have to do, while listening to criticism as to why we just “chose to stay when we were told to evacuate.” The next time someone says that to you, please call them a moron for me.
Thanks.

Cole

I find myself perplexed and to be honest, very angry. I feel this way for two very different reasons. Number one is, I know for a fact that 15 years ago America’s military was more than prepared for a disaster equal to or greater than Katrina. Number two is, every ones lack of concern regarding what this tells us about our governments ability to maintain order during a major terrorist event.

First, I spent 4 years with an Army unit that trained specifically for this sort of disaster in the late 80’s. We had two missions, contain an outbreak and/or control a disaster area. My position was as a Medical Technologist (Lab Tech - Microbiology, Hematology, Blood Banking, etc). I worked in a major hospital, maintaining proficiency in my field, about 65% of the time. The remaining 45% was spent training in the field, most weeks we worked 7 days. We were an Airborne unit and performed major exercises 4-6 times a year. Part of the reason for these exercises was to find the kinks, learn from them and fix them. This would greatly reduce malfunctions during the real deal. Guys died during these exercises all the time but we were always told that this is the cost of the knowledge gained.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, if Katrina hit New Orleans in 1988 our unit was design to have a city of that size under complete control in 36-48 hours and we would have. What you are seeing today would have happened in the first 12 hours not 5 days later. My friends today are some of the same guys who jumped out of those planes with me 15-20 years ago. Some have moved up the ranks in the military (Captains, Majors, etc), some are with FEMA, CDC, etc. All say this would not have happened 15 years ago and everyone is praying a major terrorist event does not happen during this crisis. Units like the one I was in were slashed in budget cuts years ago. The units that exist now handle much, much more and are for the most part now in Iraq (along with the needed equipment).

Second, based on the lack of response to a couple of posts I made on this blog regarding the danger of a large scale attack during this crisis, I’m concerned. Yes we need to look at the causes of the levee breaks, yes many people are responsible for not fixing known problems, yes there is blame to be placed but NOW IS NOT THE TIME FOR THIS. We must focus on saving the victims of this tragedy while at the same time remembering we are at war. I have now doubt we are deploying all available assets to the region and that’s what scares me. What’s left? I’m sure many people see what is happening in New Orleans and believe for what ever reason they would not have this happen to them. The mind set; I’m not poor or black, I would have left, I’m not stupid, I don’t live in a hurricane region for a reason, I have a plan, etc.; this allows for a false security. Again, we are at war, this could very easily be you in a terrorist event. Those of us who live in the northeast remember the Black Out 2003, nobody seemed to have a plan for that and it was post 9/11. Now turn off the power again and then add to it a large scale terrorist event involving nuclear, bio, or chemical. You can not adequately prepare for this, government must.

The news media needs to look at the broader picture resulting from hurricane Katrina and our response to this tragedy. America is now at its most vulnerable state in recent history. As we mobilize to deal with this catastrophe and continue fighting the war in Iraq our resources will be stretched to their limits. The social and political pressures to focus on this disaster will reduce our ability to defend against and respond to a major terrorist event in our country. With the anniversary of 9/11 looming near, the terrorist would love nothing more than to kick us when we are down.

I have yet to hear any government officials answer a single question regarding this increased risk to our nation. As the President moves assets into the affected region, is he being made aware of all vulnerabilities resulting from redeployments and reallocations of our assets? Are assets such as food, water, medicine, etc that have been deployed to the disaster zone being replenished immediately? Is the President considering the increased threat of terrorism in his decision making? Are there contingency plans to deal with a terrorist event on top of this disaster? I could list a hundred more questions but I’m sure you get the point. The news media must pay attention to all aspects of our response to this disaster. History will judge both the government and the media if we fail to maintain our defense and response to terrorism during this crisis and we are attacked.

I again urge all of you to call your Senators and Representatives to make them aware of the vulnerable state we find ourselves in regarding terrorism. If the terrorist have been waiting for the perfect time to attack now is it.

Also, some one please post a blog dedicated to this subject.

Thomas -

If you want the fish to bite… don’t use crap for bate.

Are assets such as food, water, medicine, etc that have been deployed to the disaster zone being replenished immediately?

A dismaying post, wisevil. Seems like we should be able to respond to at least two major domestic crises, just as we’re supposed to be able to (in theory, of course) fight two major wars. If we aren’t prepared, as you’ve indicated, then our leaders are failing us again. We need to get back to basics in this nation.

Wisevil-
Thank you for your contribution, and I agree heartily. I focused on the domestic side of things, but what you say is true as well, and the strain on our resources is precisely what I’m concerned with.

A society like ours is built on interdependent links of infrastructure, economics, and culture, and for the longest time, we’ve been leveraging all those to the hilt for the agenda of those in power including our nations only tax cut every made in wartime. What’s happening right now is precisely the reason nobody ever did that- It’s strategical suicide. It’s not much different than the old-fashioned practice of bleeding a patient who was sick (remember how Washington died?).

The driving idea among Democrats, I believe, is that we needed to be prudent about how we went about things. Unfortunately, the GOP went about our complaints about the tax cuts, the call-up of the national guard, and other things as if they were purely political concerns. All of these things had a political dimension, but there’s a difference between being partly political (as anything to pertains to policy must be) and it being just plain partisan.

It’s time to understand what should have remained understood from the beginning: Americans of all political persuasions do in fact care about the same things, even as they take different sides and use different words.

kctim-
No hypocrisy. I’m human. So are you. We got our selective focus on the world. We call this place Watchblog, which I suspect is a pun on the word watchdog- the idea being that each political party keeps an eye on the doings of the other, because folks do a better job of policing those they don’t have a stake in.

I won’t generally be so quick to jump on somebody’s whose liberal, you won’t generally jump on Bush or folks on the right either. But while its surely a virtue to keep an eye on our own, and police our own, others might have an easier time doing it, since they have less of a conflict of interest in whether to expose the other sides doings.

That said, I think Blanco will have some things to be ashamed of when all is said and done. How much? We’ll see. As for Chertoff, and the head of FEMA though, they were positively out of touch with what was going on. They didn’t know about the convention center until those interviewing them told them. It’s not partisan to punish such inexcuseable ignorance of conditions in the city.

Thomas-
The elections are over. We know. That doesn’t mean we don’t put foot to ass when the president’s screwing up, though. As for Bin Laden, Bush has had four years by sunday after next to find and put an end to Bin Laden’s reign as the prince of terrorism. We’re still waiting. Clinton’s just a private citizen now, it makes no sense to gloat over his failures, when Bush has yet to put an end to Bin Laden’s career himself.

“BOTH need to revise their plans so that further disasters are better handled, but yet you guys only gripe about the Republican.” — kctim

Right on both counts. More does need to be done on both sides of the aisle. But as most rational people believe that Katrina turned into a national tragedy, who else but the President is ultimately responsible for addressing that tragedy?

Oh, I forgot. Bush is above accountability and therefore does not need to accept responsibility. A hallmark of your party.

You can blame Blanco all you want, but she does not have the level of authority required to mobilize a national response. Bush does. Which is why it took five days for real help to arrive.

Stephen, I suspect that Bush has missed the boat on Bin Laden. I reckon he’s dead. Notice how any appearances now for Al Queda are fronted by the Egyptian Al Zawahiri?

I always thought that Americans had huge pride in their capacity to deal with any challenge, and particularly the capacity of their Government to act to protect it’s citizens. It seems now that such pride is dependant on what party in in power. Well, I guess it’s hard to have pride, if you have no capacity for shame.

Paul, don’t be so quick to judge America on whose in office. Witness the response of Texas in opening up its arms to the people from Louisiana. I’m seeing the same kind of togetherness post this disaster that we saw after 9/11.

Stephen, I see an America where the supporters of one party refuses to accept that their champion could possibly be less than heroic, despite the massive and growing evidence of his readily apparent incompetence. It is a very ugly side of a truly great, but still deeply flawed country. The shame I spoke of was that these people can see what the world can see, and yet admit of no shame that it could happen in first world America, when they would deem it unacceptable in the third world. I recall a time when GW’s old man was in the Presidency. There was far greater respect for fellow Americans across party lines. Now it’s as if there’s a low intensity civil war going on. Time was when Americans had much more in common than anything which divided them, and they respected each others differences; there was a civilised political debate.

SAy all you bleeding heart Liberals stop your crying. Bush Won——Kerry Lost.

Bush won, the USA lost. So help us if we get a terrorist attack or another hurricane or disaster, we are all SCREWED! This administration is in completely over thier heads now. They lack the leadership needed in these times. Kerry told the country we’d get more of the same, and that’s exactly what we have. The same incompetence, the same unresponsiveness, the same aversion of responsibility.

Welcome to REALITY
“The president is starting to grasp the magnitude of the situation,” said Sen. Mary Landrieu (news, bio, voting record), D-La. Sen. Trent Lott (news, bio, voting record), R-Miss., said, “The president obviously was just stunned” by what he saw.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050903/ap_on_go_pr_wh/katrina_bush
If we can’t respond faster than this to an event we saw coming across the Gulf for days, then why do we think we’re prepared to respond to a nuclear or biological attack?” asked former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a Republican.
Asked what he meant by unacceptable results, Bush said, “Well, I’m talking about the fact that we don’t have enough security in New Orleans yet.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050902/ap_on_re_us/hurricane_katrina

http://www.nola.com/newsflash/louisiana/index.ssf?/base/news-18/1125706441282760.xml&storylist=louisiana

One dead after busload of Hurricane Katrina evacuees overturns
9/2/2005, 7:17 p.m. CT
The Associated Press

OPELOUSAS, La. (AP) ? One Hurricane Katrina evacuee died and many others were injured when a bus carrying them from the Superdome swerved across a highway median and overturned Friday.

WE STILL HAVEN?T SEEN THE WORST YET TO COME.
To the Republicans - we’ll support our LEADERs - when the number one priority is USA,and we are not divided among the have and have nots; for we see no humor is such a statement of slander made against humanity. Now when we are able to see with our own eyes and hear with our own ears a truth “THAT EVERYONE IN THE COUNTRY IS BEING TREATED EQUALLY, THAT WE CAN TRUST IT AND NEVER BE LIED TO AGAIN.
But most of all “When money doesn’t buy American “INTEREST” and a man who’s authority is dependent on not only a country but a NATION learns to take care of priorities at home and put them foremost before his administration.

PS DON’T BE SURPRISED IF IT IS YOU NEXT YELLING “HELP ME” “HELP ME” …OUR COUNTRY IS BANKRUPT AND HOMELAND SECURITY DOESN’T EXIST WITH “PREPAREDNESS” for DISASTER; NATURAL OR otherwise.

Annie:

Not so loud, your hurting my ears.

Paul in Euroland said: “I recall a time when GW’s old man was in the Presidency. There was far greater respect for fellow Americans across party lines. Now it’s as if there’s a low intensity civil war going on. Time was when Americans had much more in common than anything which divided them, and they respected each others differences; there was a civilised political debate.”

That is correct Paul, but it was when the democrats controlled the Congress. Since that time they have lost Congressional seats, Senate seats, & Governorships. What you are witnessing is the meltdown of the democratic party. That shrill noise you hear is the sound of defeat.

I would like to add a little ditti from another post, if nobody cares. Thank you for understanding:

“Are you suffering from Liberal Intellectual Elitism? Join us over at the republican dummy party. I used to not be able to say “winner” & now I are one.”

Perplexed

eye is just a dumm librall, i caint compreyhand no rayson wy da prasident watted fore daiz to cum up wif a releef strategee to help sayve the peeple. idnt he sposed to b the d fakto leedr uf da free wurld? en da free wurld dese tings shood not hapen, ore shood pryvte bisness take over were da govnmente doss not feyl dat be its bussnes?

Reed,

Distribution centers cover large areas. Depending on location, this center could send the mother load (everything it has) to New Orleans and then have another event take place in its area, Atlanta. Now the next center over must respond, the time for relief supplies doubles, 5 days now takes 10 (just a guess on time but you get my point). Thus the question, are supplies being replenished immediately.

I’m not sure if you were agreeing with me or not but yes we are not prepared to respond to two major events at once. Just turn on the TV and see how we are handling one.

I am a liberal and I am outraged. This charade has gone on too long. This is not just an excuse to attack the current regime. How many more mistakes does Bush have to make to get so much as a slap on the wrist?
I am torn between loving my country and an almost irresistable desire to leave it. I try every day to make my world a better place. I pick up trash, cigarette butts and anything else that somebody else recklessly throws to the ground. This also includes me stopping the cooks at my work from washing fry vats in the storm drain. I keep my driving to a minimum, opting to take the bus or riding by bike instead. I have a garden that is 100% organic and produces the best fruit and vegetables that I have ever tasted.
Some people at my work call me a hippie and I couldn’t be more proud. They call me a liberal and I respond proudly, “Yes I am”
I, and my many “librul” friends fight constantly for social justice and equality. Social responsibility is not just welfare but a security screen. This is evident RIGHT NOW in New Orleans. Had action been taken sooner rather than after Spamalot and a fundraiser in San Diego, hundreds, if not thousands would still be alive today.
Derelection of duty, cutting budgets to fix levees, cutting FEMA’s budget and reducing it to an unwanted stepchild. Let me tell you, Bush is one small man, but there are thousands at the mercy of his policies.

Perplexed-
You’re always talking about the decline of the Democratic party. But whose numbers are going down, whose party is becoming more divided and turned against itself? Perhaps instead of calling yourself Perplexed, you should simply admit to being Confused. We’re not guaranteed a resurgence yet, but we aren’t having to justify the kinds of things the GOP is trying to explain to the American people.

This blame game is really getting old.

Cole pointed out an important part of local knowledge. Only a couple of roads could be used to evacuate, so some people couldn’t get out. The same infrastructure that leads out leads in, which explains some of the logistical problems of disaster relief.

This is what you have to remember. This was a really big storm. It hit the U.S. coast hard. New Orleans lies below sea level. For more than 150 years people have been building levees to keep a river going between banks where it would no longer naturally dwell. All of southern Louisiana is living on borrowed time. Eventually the water will run down the Atchafalaya River and leave New Orleans entirely. Without the Army Corp of Engineers, this would have happened forty years ago. You all can blame all this on Bush now.

Perplexed — don’t you get tired of the repetitious trolling?

Stephen:
“It matters what kind of person you put in the presidency.”

Yes, indeed. It also matters who he hires to work for him, too. Have you heard about our Secretary of Let-Them-Cake, I mean, State and her recent trip to the Big Apple?
Seems this past Wed. she went to see ‘Spamalot’ on Broadway (some people booed her after the performance), then yesterday went shoe shopping at Ferragamo and picked out some shoes that cost thousands of dollars — this while thousands of shoeless people are wandering the flooded streets of New Orleans, starving and dying of dehydration and illness.
Also, a woman in the store, outraged by the obnoxiousness of Condi�’s timing, supposedly went over to her and shouted, “�How dare you shop for shoes while thousands are dying and homeless!�” Condi then responded by having security people physically remove the woman from the store.
If anyone reading this wonders why any of this matters, they might want to remember that Condi’s supposed to be the one who should have been organizing any aid offered for Katrina’s victims from any foreign countries.

wisevil,

Thanks for the info. It helps me understand the basic system of response better. As for what I’m seeing on TV, I frankly don’t understand it. That is, I can’t fathom why it took the federal and state governments so long to respond with the basics, such as simply providing water to the people at NO’s Convention Center. Was it a lack of resources or just a lack of planning and leadership? Could it really take FEMA, which obviously dealt with many a hurricane just last year, so long to provide the basics of survival to large groups of clustered survivors? I just can’t understand it and I know a thing or two about hurricanes.

I live down here in S.E. Louisiana; just east of Houma.

Thanks for the update on what’s going on in Louisiana, Cole. I’ve lived in the Gulf region and know how hard it is to figure out exactly if or when to evacuate. As Charlie showed us last year, it’s really tough to predict the path of a storm, even in the short term. And the intensity can build in just a matter of a few hours, so what used to be a Cat 1 or 2 (not a huge problem) can quite suddenly become a 3 or 4 (get out now). No easy answers.

New Orleans has nothing to do with Chevrons’ oil interests in Niger or Afghanistan, so naturally, Ms Rice should go shoe shopping.
However, it should have been me watching “Spamalot” and she should have been doing the duty of the Secretary of State of the United States of America. I’m pretty sure she knows where that is on a globe.

Yes, indeed. It also matters who he hires to work for him, too. Have you heard about our Secretary of Let-Them-Cake, I mean, State and her recent trip to the Big Apple? Seems this past Wed. she went to see ‘Spamalot’ on Broadway (some people booed her after the performance), then yesterday went shoe shopping at Ferragamo and picked out some shoes that cost thousands of dollars — this while thousands of shoeless people are wandering the flooded streets of New Orleans, starving and dying of dehydration and illness. Also, a woman in the store, outraged by the obnoxiousness of Condi�’s timing, supposedly went over to her and shouted, “�How dare you shop for shoes while thousands are dying and homeless!�” Condi then responded by having security people physically remove the woman from the store. If anyone reading this wonders why any of this matters, they might want to remember that Condi’s supposed to be the one who should have been organizing any aid offered for Katrina’s victims from any foreign countries.

OH …. MY …. GOD. UNbelievable! Apparently she didn’t get the memo that her new position means when something like this happens in the country during her vacation, her vacation is OVER.

I’m OUTRAGED.

Jack-
This game of avoiding blame is aging far faster. Isn’t Bush responsible for anything? Whose decision was it to pile the Bureaucracy of the Homeland Security Department on top of FEMA and demote it from cabinet level? Who cut the funding for Louisiana, which many studies said was vulnerable to this kind of disaster, especially in terms of its levees? If Bush didn’t make these decisions himself, he hired the people who did, and as we all know, he doesn’t put people in those positions that contradict his views.

I’ve seen too much of what Bush decided to do to believe that he did not cut corners here, despite the advice of experts.

Bush’s terms in office are filled with such gambles. He goes to war on a case they know is filled with holes. He goes to war with a plan that has few provision for possibilities any military planner would tell you are obvious in the occupation and invasion of a country. He goes in with fewer troops than his top military advisors, testing out the Secretary of Defense’s new approach to war. Then he continually push an agenda for the war despite all the contradictory outcomes, telling us that if we just roll the dice again with his plan, we’ll win. He gives us tax cuts in the midst of a war, betting that it will improve the economy and avoid deficits then goes and cuts all kinds of programs, including the one that now has to help mediate a disaster that has swamped (in some cases literally) a huge swath of the Gulf Coast.

The President is a man perpetually trying to demonstrate that he is a national CEO with a bold and brilliant vision, and that all his gambles will come through. The problem is, he rarely succeeds in his gambles. He learned all his lessons about Business through Wildcatting (unsuccessful at that), business school, and speculative deals that friends got him in on. He’s not one of those brilliant managers and moguls who know how to plan for the worst, while hoping for the best. He’s an intellectual cousin to Ken Lay, and all the others, who feel entitled to succeed, entitled to boldly take their own approach, regardless of the rules they break. They don’t feel much of a need to take up the interests of those lower down, because they believe that if those people are serious about doing what they have to do, they’ll take care of it themselves.

Bush is only now, after the mayor of the city exploded to the national media, getting things where they need to go. The legitimate questions here are these: Why wasn’t Bush’s response immediate? He was likely told a CAT 5 hurricane was barrelling down on a major US city. Why did he persist in that schedule, even after landfall? Why was he even attending a fundraiser the next day, especially one where he did something so frivolous as accept a musical instrument as a gift?

You talk about leadership, but for the first few days of the attack, Bush was in his own world. His officials were little different. Chertoff and the head of FEMA, both Bush Appointees, were not aware of the situation at the Convention Center until CNN told them. They could have had TVs connected to satellite dishes, and known about this.

This wasn’t some political gaffe alone. This decision has likely meant the difference between life and death for hundreds, if not thousands. The assumption that we’re just trying to make political hay out of this is offensive to us who have to watch the disaster on TV, and share the dismay of the victims.

The Republicans need to break open this bubble of their excessively politicized worldview and recognize that their CINC’s decisions are having real-world, life-and-death consequences.

This week the liberals bash the president for Katrina. The hurricane was the result of his environmental policies. The NO’s city mayor had no responsibility, the governor had no responsibility, it was entirely the President’s fault.

Last week it was Roberts, the week before it was Bolton, the week before that it was who knows, & next week it will be something else. Kind of a non-stop bashing campaign. Then we are supposed to take the left seriously.

I used to be “perplexed” at the actions of liberals & now (according to Stephen) I am “confused”

MyPetGoat:

I am a conservative and I am outraged…I am torn between loving my country and an almost irresistable desire to stay here…I keep my driving to a maximum, opting to take my boat out on the lake whenever I can. I have a garden that is 10% organic & 90% nitrogen & pesticides and it produces the best fruit and vegetables that I have ever tasted.

Some people at my work call me a redneck and I couldn’t be more proud. They call me a conservative and I respond proudly, “Yes I am”.
I, and my many “redneck” friends fight constantly for 2nd amendment rights. Responsibility is doing away with welfare & socials programs & allowing each American to have the right to be responsible for their own life & actions… Had action been taken by the mayor or governor, sooner rather sitting on their behinds, hundreds, if not thousands would still be alive today…Let me tell you, the president is a big man. It takes a big man to wrap his arms around the victims & show his heart felt emotions to the country. Thank God for our president.

Confused

Left or right. Who the hell cares? We should applaud the leaders who do well and castigate those who don’t, regardless of political affiliation. I heard today on the tube that Blanco waited until Wednesday to ask for federal emergency help. I don’t know if that’s true but if it is, she deserves a lot of criticism. Likewise, Bush deserves a helicopter load of blame if he didn’t call Blanco an hour after the levees broke and specifically offer her aid.

Please forget the photo ops with the victims. All politicians indulge in them and they’re all for show, cynically used to cover up a multitude of sins. Maybe in some way they help politicians connect with the problems of the “little people,” but if so, they should have been doing it last Monday rather than five days later.

Forget your tribal loyalties. If you want accountability from your leaders, you’ve got to criticize and applaud based on actions and policies rather than ideology or party. Look hard at what’s happened and demand some action so we can do much, much better the next time (and there’s always a next time). Conservatives need to stop their knee-jerk defense of ineptitude and liberals need to admit when the administration does something right. In this case, Bush should be called to the carpet for his isolation, tardiness and lack of immediate leadership. But he should some faint praise for having finally said what the whole nation was thinking: that the status quo was unacceptable.

SD
“I won’t generally be so quick to jump on somebody’s whose liberal, you won’t generally jump on Bush or folks on the right either”

Keep an eye out over the next week or so my friend. I strongly believe that the best work is done from the inside.

Goat
“I am torn between loving my country and an almost irresistable desire to leave it”

Now you know how we felt throughout the 90’s.
Even though I don’t remember people blaming clinton WHILE they were still pulling people out of the WTC or Murrah buildings, I do understand what you say.
“I feel your pain.”

This game of avoiding blame is aging far faster. Isn’t Bush responsible for anything?

Of course not. According to Republicans, Bill Clinton is still in charge. We’ve got Clinton’s economy, Clinton’s Iraq war, Clinton’s terrorists… hell, every time President Bush tries to accomplish something, Bill Clinton ruins it for him.

Seriously, though. I hope this relief disaster lights a fire under the Republicans, and they put some support behind Senator Clinton’s bill expanding the military by 100,000 troops.

If we need to rely so heavily on the National Guard for Iraq operations at the expense of the Guard’s domestic mission, it’s obvious we don’t have a big enough military.

If the Bush administration has to have a militaristic foreign policy, they should have the troops to back it up. It’s a mystery to me why Republicans don’t want a strong military.

I am a conservative and I am outraged…I am torn between loving my country and an almost irresistable desire to stay here…I keep my driving to a maximum, opting to take my boat out on the lake whenever I can. I have a garden that is 10% organic & 90% nitrogen & pesticides and it produces the best fruit and vegetables that I have ever tasted.

Some people at my work call me a redneck and I couldn’t be more proud. They call me a conservative and I respond proudly, “Yes I am”.
I, and my many “redneck” friends fight constantly for 2nd amendment rights. Responsibility is doing away with welfare & socials programs & allowing each American to have the right to be responsible for their own life & actions…

What a perplexing disease. Destroy the earth, destroy the environment, destroy the poor. Shoot anyone who disagrees.

Let me tell you, the president is a big man. It takes a big man to wrap his arms around the victims & show his heart felt emotions to the country. Thank God for our president.

Heil Hitler! Der ganze Hagel unser unfähiger Führer! Nur die rechtschaffenen verdienen zu leben!

That is correct Paul, but it was when the democrats controlled the Congress. Since that time they have lost Congressional seats, Senate seats, & Governorships. What you are witnessing is the meltdown of the democratic party. That shrill noise you hear is the sound of defeat.
Posted by: Perplexed at September 2, 2005 09:53 PM

Perp, the only shrill noises i’m hearing are from the ones who refuse to recognise that which is in front of their noses; a pygmy masquerading as the giant needed to carry out the huge responsibilities of the POTUS. The sad thing is, Bush in not really the Pres, but merely a figurehead. He is so obviously a useful tool for the malevolent hands that remain in the background. I am gobsmacked that so many Americans cannot see through this shallow excuse for a National leader.

I am gobsmacked that so many Americans cannot see through this shallow excuse for a National leader.

If it’s any consolation, in Nov. 2004, half of us did. I hope that number has risen in the last 10 months.

America isn’t completely stupid, just slightly half stupid. =0

Paul In Euroland:

I am assuming you are in Europe & from your writing, not American. You spoke about the democrats & republicans ability to not get along with each other. You correctly stated, “There was far greater respect for fellow Americans across party lines.” Past tense.

I gave you the reason for the divisions between democrats & republicans. Things have not been the same since democrats started loosing elections. When democrats were in charge, they did as they pleased & republicans had no choice but to go along with the decision. There was no mud slinging, no shrill screaming, and no demanding that the losers have a voice in the decision-making. Now the shoe is on the other foot, and he American people have spoken in the voting booths. The democrats cannot accept this. They were in power for 40 years & it is inconceivable to them that they are in the minority. Unlike the republicans, when they were in the minority, the democrats sling mud, scream unfair, & demand that they be treated as if they are still in the majority. All the hype & protesting that appears on these pages is the result of the democrats not being in power anymore. They are self-proclaimed intellectual elitists & they cannot conceive of an America being run by common people. I believe it was David R. just a few days ago that said the hippies from the 60’s went on to be doctors, lawyers, educated people in other words & moved to the liberal bastions in the northeast & west coast. Everyone else (or the common people) became part of the evangelical cults & the clan in the south. This is a perfect example of how a liberal thinks. Thanks to the information age, the common people have come out of the closet. We have a voice & we will use it.

Now, you went on to answer, “Perp, the only shrill noises i’m hearing are from the ones who refuse to recognise that which is in front of their noses; a pygmy masquerading as the giant needed to carry out the huge responsibilities of the POTUS. The sad thing is, Bush in not really the Pres, but merely a figurehead. He is so obviously a useful tool for the malevolent hands that remain in the background. I am gobsmacked that so many Americans cannot see through this shallow excuse for a National leader.
If you are a European, you have no dog in this fight. Old Europe represents old ideas & a cast system that keeps poor people down & elite people elite. Our unemployment is 4.9%, what is yours? We live in a country that is slammed by you people & yet I don’t see foreigners flocking to Europe as they do here, except for the influx of Muslims & they have a motive. This is a country of opportunity, in spite of the liberals who would make it into the same socialist havens that you have. This is a country where a common person can attain an education, become a president, or become a millionaire. The sky is the limit, what can you attain, if you are not born to privilege. My father had a 4th grade education & my mother was European. I have 2 college degrees & I mention this only to show how far I have come from my father. My son is a college grad, owns his own company, & is well on he way to becoming wealthy. What a great land we live in, where else could we have such opportunity? I could have just as easily taken my first breath in the oppressive land in which you live, but God saw fit to let me breath the air of freedom. The thing that is scary is that democrats are in complete lockstep with Europeans. Honestly, of the liberal posts, I cannot tell who is American & who is European. We don’t want what you have, we are happy to be who we are.

Now, concerning our president. He may have faults, as everyone does, but he is OUR president. He was voted in by a majority of Americans. He is not a figurehead, he is in charge, & that’s the way we like it. He is the most powerful man in the world & despite what you read on these pages by a few radical leftists, the American people love him.

You have a lot to learn

Perplexed

The thing that is scary is that democrats are in complete lockstep with Europeans. Honestly, of the liberal posts, I cannot tell who is American & who is European. We don?t want what you have, we are happy to be who we are.

Now, concerning our president. He may have faults, as everyone does, but he is OUR president. He was voted in by a majority of Americans. He is not a figurehead, he is in charge, & that?s the way we like it. He is the most powerful man in the world & despite what you read on these pages by a few radical leftists, the American people love him.

The thing that is scary is that republicans are out of touch with the entire world. Honestly, of the republican posts, I cannot tell who is American & who is Nazi. We don?t want what republicans are trying to impose on the country, we are happy to be who we are.

Now, concerning the republicans president. He has many faults, many more than any elected leader since Hoover, but he is only the republican’s president. He was voted in by a majority of neo-con, fascist, slanderous theives who stole, lied and cheated every step of the way to make it possible. He is not a figurehead, and it’s clear from the lack of response to Katrina, he is not even in charge, & the beginning of this century in America will go down in the history books as one of the blackest times for America since the Great Depression. He is the most frequently vacationing leader in the world & despite what you read on these pages by a few on radical right, the American people despise him. He is the first American president to have his limo egged on the way to his inauguaration.

Perplexed-
You’re always putting down liberals as envious, inferior, immature, a minority out of touch with its real status. You’re always so sure that whatever reason the Democrat have for getting up in arms, it must surely be orchestrated from the top, rather than grassroots.

As much as I dump on Bush, I’m comfortable with Republicans as long as they’re comfortable with me. I could have been comfortable with Bush, but persistent failures have their way of annoying me. We don’t have al-Qaeda destroyed, nor Bin Laden caught. We have an open-ended war in Iraq whose victory depends on a political process that we are largely powerless to keep under control We have a hurricane response that was four or five days late, and probably too late for hundreds of Americans, with a president who was still on vacation two days into the event. Every success you guys claim is something in progress, uncompleted, or to be realized at some later date.

Open up your eyes and see the position you are in, if only to fight it and see your way back to the glory days you so desire. People want results, and they have become strongly disatisfied with those given.

There was no mud slinging, no shrill screaming, and no demanding that the losers have a voice in the decision-making.

Perplexed,

Where do you think Newt Gingrich got his reputation as a bomb thrower? How short your memory is.

the American people love him

Have you seen any recent polling, Perplexed? Sure are a lot of radical left wingers being polled. Still, most people at least respect the office and that’s all we should ask for.

But let the European or Europe-based folks speak. It’s one world. We’ve all got dogs in this global race, as the terrorist attackes in Spain and Britain have showed.

Interesting post perp. For the record, the unemployment in my country is about 4.5%. Since the accession of the new membe