Hurricane Katrina

[Balta1701]

Food for thought.  Once there is stock footage available it will almost certainly eventually be used down the line in negative campaign ads the likes of which we've never seen before.

 

Can you imagine an ad with a soundtrack simply repeating Bush's "But what whent wrong" over and over as accompanyment to bloated bodies floating down the street, holed up in attics, piled up to be stuffed in body bags?

 

Of course, precisely the same footage can be run to the tune of Nagin's "If you stay, you're on your own. . . "

 

Lots of PACs took a lesson from the seeing the effectiveness of the Swift Bulls***ters for Defeating Kerry in Any Way Possible.

 

Thing is, lots of the body images already exist, despite the current media gag order.  Lots of people have been taking snapshots of all aspects of the carnage since day one, and those are going to get out.  The images of the dead are not nearly as controllable here as they are in the case of US soldiers coming home in flag-draped caskets.

I believe a guy, maybe even in Illinois, tried to use some of the 9/11 images in a campaign ad against his opponent in 2002. The outcry was so bad that the ad was pulled after less than a day.

 

Again, it's all a question of how the footage is used. I don't think images of bodies will make campaign ads, because the people watching the ad will be disgusted.

 

You want to know what pictures are going to make great campaign ads? It won't be pictures of the bodies or anything else like that, i'll be the picture of Bush holding up McCain's birthday cake on the Tuesday after the storm hit, or strumming the guitar in San Diego the Wednesday after the storm hit.

[Rex Hudler]

I found this column very enlightening on how things afftect people personally and what is going on down in New Orleans.... It is definitely worth the read.

 

From Saturday's Birmingham Post-Herald

[Balta1701]

It always comes back to the President, doesn't it.

Newsweek. Bush didn't really understand how bad the storm was even until Thursday after it hit. His aides were scared to tell him. Governor Blanco was trying to beg Bush for help. She couldn't get Bush on the phone. Etc.

 

It's a standing joke among the president's top aides: who gets to deliver the bad news? Warm and hearty in public, Bush can be cold and snappish in private, and aides sometimes cringe before the displeasure of the president of the United States, or, as he is known in West Wing jargon, POTUS. The bad news on this early morning, Tuesday, Aug. 30, some 24 hours after Hurricane Katrina had ripped through New Orleans, was that the president would have to cut short his five-week vacation by a couple of days and return to Washington. The president's chief of staff, Andrew Card; his deputy chief of staff, Joe Hagin; his counselor, Dan Bartlett, and his spokesman, Scott McClellan, held a conference call to discuss the question of the president's early return and the delicate task of telling him. Hagin, it was decided, as senior aide on the ground, would do the deed.

Story continues below ↓ advertisement

 

The president did not growl this time. He had already decided to return to Washington and hold a meeting of his top advisers on the following day, Wednesday. This would give them a day to get back from their vacations and their staffs to work up some ideas about what to do in the aftermath of the storm. President Bush knew the storm and its consequences had been bad; but he didn't quite realize how bad.

 

The reality, say several aides who did not wish to be quoted because it might displease the president, did not really sink in until Thursday night. Some White House staffers were watching the evening news and thought the president needed to see the horrific reports coming out of New Orleans. Counselor Bartlett made up a DVD of the newscasts so Bush could see them in their entirety as he flew down to the Gulf Coast the next morning on Air Force One.

 

How this could be—how the president of the United States could have even less "situational awareness," as they say in the military, than the average American about the worst natural disaster in a century—is one of the more perplexing and troubling chapters in a story that, despite moments of heroism and acts of great generosity, ranks as a national disgrace.

 

President George W. Bush has always trusted his gut. He prides himself in ignoring the distracting chatter, the caterwauling of the media elites, the Washington political buzz machine. He has boasted that he doesn't read the papers. His doggedness is often admirable. It is easy for presidents to overreact to the noise around them.

 

But it is not clear what President Bush does read or watch, aside from the occasional biography and an hour or two of ESPN here and there. Bush can be petulant about dissent; he equates disagreement with disloyalty. After five years in office, he is surrounded largely by people who agree with him. Bush can ask tough questions, but it's mostly a one-way street. Most presidents keep a devil's advocate around. Lyndon Johnson had George Ball on Vietnam; President Ronald Reagan and Bush's father, George H.W. Bush, grudgingly listened to the arguments of Budget Director Richard Darman, who told them what they didn't wish to hear: that they would have to raise taxes. When Hurricane Katrina struck, it appears there was no one to tell President Bush the plain truth: that the state and local governments had been overwhelmed, that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was not up to the job and that the military, the only institution with the resources to cope, couldn't act without a declaration from the president overriding all other authority.

Go read the rest...it's about 5 pages.

[Balta1701]

All 3 major national 7 day papers in this country have expansive articles about the disaster which is FEMA's response to the hurricane today.

 

NY Times

 

WaPo.

 

LA Times.

[Rex Hudler]

I read the Newsweek piece and NY Times article and neither make me want to blame the President.

 

I see many breakdowns over the whole situation and not really one entity to blame. I'd like to think that we would be ready for anything, but I just can't see how anybody was or could have been truly ready for this. The night after the hurricane many believed New Orleans had been spared. The next day, it was evident there would be widespread flooding and people who were left in New Orleans headed to the Superdome and the Convention Center if they could get there.

 

Remember the day of the hurricane, only 8,000 or 9,000 people had come to the Superdome. Within a couple of days that number was estimated at 24,000. The convention center was not originally a shelter and people started flocking to it after the fact.

 

The next day is when reports of lawlessness began (more than looting grocery stores) but I don't think anyone thought it would be as bad as it got. I don't recall any other disaster where the lawlessness ruled like this. I don't think anyone realized how compromised local authorities were or that the National Guard lost 20 rescue vehicles and their command center in the flooding.

 

I think we all saw this tradgedy grow in front of our eyes. With the uncertainty of who was in charge (state vs. Federal - note they didn't know), I can understand the confusion. I can understand that the federal government didn't want to just push the state government aside and take over without it being requested.

 

The fact that it was difficult to get relief there because the whole state of Mississippi was difficult to get through because of storm damage and the route from Mobile to New Orleans along the coast was practically impossible to get through made getting supplies there much more difficult and took time.

 

To me all of these things explain what happened. Does this mean that they cannot learn from this? Hell no. Does it mean that perhaps some people could have done much better and their jobs may be in jeopardy? Sure

 

I think investigating what happened is a good and necessary thing. But flaming the situation right now trying to blame everone doesn't help fix the problems we have now.

[KipWellsFan]

Headline from Rush Limbaugh's webpage

 

The Left Celebrates Katrina Destruction,

Terror Attack They've Been Waiting For

www.rushlimbaugh.com

 

Is this what it's really come to? Rush is such a classy guy.

Edited September 12, 2005 by KipWellsFan

[Rex Kickass]

I read the Newsweek piece and NY Times article and neither make me want to blame the President. 

 

I see many breakdowns over the whole situation and not really one entity to blame.  I'd like to think that we would be ready for anything, but I just can't see how anybody was or could have been truly ready for this.  The night after the hurricane many believed New Orleans had been spared.  The next day, it was evident there would be widespread flooding and people who were left in New Orleans headed to the Superdome and the Convention Center if they could get there. 

 

Remember the day of the hurricane, only 8,000 or 9,000 people had come to the Superdome.  Within a couple of days that number was estimated at 24,000.  The convention center was not originally a shelter and people started flocking to it after the fact. 

 

The next day is when reports of lawlessness began (more than looting grocery stores) but I don't think anyone thought it would be as bad as it got.  I don't recall any other disaster where the lawlessness ruled like this.  I don't think anyone realized how compromised local authorities were or that the National Guard lost 20 rescue vehicles and their command center in the flooding. 

 

I think we all saw this tradgedy grow in front of our eyes.  With the uncertainty of who was in charge (state vs. Federal - note they didn't know), I can understand the confusion.  I can understand that the federal government didn't want to just push the state government aside and take over without it being requested.

 

The fact that it was difficult to get relief there because the whole state of Mississippi was difficult to get through because of storm damage and the route from Mobile to New Orleans along the coast was practically impossible to get through made getting supplies there much more difficult and took time.

 

To me all of these things explain what happened.  Does this mean that they cannot learn from this?  Hell no.  Does it mean that perhaps some people could have done much better and their jobs may be in jeopardy?  Sure

 

I think investigating what happened is a good and necessary thing.  But flaming the situation right now trying to blame everone doesn't help fix the problems we have now.

 

 

From what I've read, the Governor of Louisiana declared a state of emergency before the hurricane. With the Presidents acknowledgement the Sunday before the hurricane hit, primary responsibility then became FEMA's.

 

Do I think that everyone responsible should be held accountable? Absolutely. Dems and Republicans alike. But I think so many people that just see this as a partisan attack are missing the point. The president was elected to lead the country. That's exactly what he didn't do here. And he seemed to have no clue about any of what was happening. And he didn't seem to give a s***.

 

Perception is reality in politics. If this had been a disaster like this and Bush had even looked like he was trying, this wouldn't be so much of an issue. But he just seemed pissed to leave Texas.

[Texsox]

But he just seemed pissed to leave Texas.

Anybody would be.

 

As a Bush sometimes basher, I fell like coming to his defense. IMHO the information he was working with was wrong. I still cannot believe, if the information was accurate, he would have acted and scheduled his time the way he did. That just is not the person I believe him to be.

 

I expected to see America, from Bush on down, in our finest hour of humanitarian aid. I really expected much, much, more.

 

Switching gears, Rush has become a very wealthy man by being the GOPerheads bully ringleader. The blind loyalty they show him is scary. I know someone who will argue forever that Rush has never been wrong!?

[Rex Hudler]

Louisiana being declared a state of emergency does not turn control over to FEMA. That is merely a designation to enable an area to receive federal aid, it has nothing to do with who is in control.

[Texsox]

Louisiana is facing an epic legal battle to determine who should pay to repair damaged properties, with insurance experts predicting that tens of thousands of homeowners will discover their insurance claims will not cover the cost of rebuilding their homes.

 

Jim Brown, Louisiana's insurance commissioner from 1992 until 2004, estimates that only a quarter of houses in the poorest areas affected by Hurricane Katrina had flood insurance. Standard insurance policies, carried by almost all homeowners, cover damage caused by storms but not floods.

 

In addition, those who bought federal flood insurance beyond the means of many poorer households may find compensation falls short, since it covers losses of only up to $250,000. “There is a big insurance gap,” said Mr Brown. “In all likelihood many people will suffer great financial loss.”

 

Similar disputes are expected along the Mississippi coast, where the worst damage was caused by the storm surge brought ashore by Hurricane Katrina rather than the 145mph winds. Experts said disputes are likely to arise over whether a storm surge will be classified as a flood.

 

Flood coverage was offered under a scheme backed by the Federal Flood Insurance Program. But it was expensive, costing up to $1,000 a year for a $200,000 home.

 

“The [physical] nightmare of the emergency is hopefully over for many people but the financial nightmare is just about to begin,” said E.L. “Bubba” Henry, alawyer representing insurance companies.

 

A report by Risk Management Solutions, a company that provides catastrophic risk data to insurers, estimated that losses from the hurricane could reach $125bn, with insured losses of between $40bn and $60bn. Insurance experts said in general, if damage is caused by wind or rain, the insurance companies are liable. But if the water comes from the ground, the Federal Flood Insurance Program is liable. Many homeowners are expected to argue that the flooding was caused by the wind and torrential rain, which led to the bursting of the levees in New Orleans.

 

James Donelon, general counsel for the state Department of Insurance, believes this question will have to be decided in court.

[Balta1701]

Louisiana being declared a state of emergency does not turn control over to FEMA.  That is merely a designation to enable an area to receive federal aid, it has nothing to do with who is in control.

The President today declared an emergency exists in the State of Louisiana and ordered Federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts in the parishes located in the path of Hurricane Katrina beginning on August 26, 2005, and continuing.

 

The President's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives, protect property and public health and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the parishes of Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Caldwell, Claiborne, Catahoula, Concordia, De Soto, East Baton Rouge, East Carroll, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Franklin, Grant, Jackson, LaSalle, Lincoln, Livingston, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Pointe Coupee, Ouachita, Rapides, Red River, Richland, Sabine, St. Helena, St. Landry, Tensas, Union, Vernon, Webster, West Carroll, West Feliciana, and Winn.

 

Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency. Debris removal and emergency protective measures, including direct Federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent Federal funding.

 

White House Press Release.

Edited September 12, 2005 by Balta1701

[Queen Prawn]

I don't understand how any home/building owner in New Orleans did not have to have flood insurance (unless their mortgages were paid off which then they can do what they want). We were forced by FEMA for a couple years to have flood insurance because of the creek that is about a half block behind our house. FEMA repealed it and now we do not need to have it.

[southsider2k5]

This is a little different angle on the response to Katrina

 

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05254/568876.stm

 

Also I don't know if anyone else saw it or not, but there was something out over the weekend to the effect of Bush didn't know how bad the problems were down there because his aids were all afraid to tell him? Did anyone else see that?

[southsider2k5]

Another interesting hindsight article...

 

It seems that they did try to make Louisana safe for a Category 5 in the 70's, but lawsuits from enviornmental groups ended the projects.

 

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadA...le.asp?ID=19418

[bjm676]

I can't believe the words that come out of people's mouths. Unbelieveable.

 

Richard Roeper

 

Say that again? 'Things are going relatively well'

 

From the disputed presidential election of 2000 to the terrorist attacks on America on 9/11/01 to the failure to find Osama bin Laden to the quagmire of a war in Iraq to Hurricane Katrina, this has been a terrible decade, century, millennium.

 

 

It's got to get better in 2006, doesn't it?

 

In the meantime, we're two weeks into one of the most tragic and shameful events in American history. Here, in chronological order, are some of the most memorable quotes from evacuees, politicians, journalists, media personalities and celebrities.

 

 

*"I wasn't going to let a little thing like a hurricane keep me from wearing my bathing suit." -- Eva Longoria on the Video Music Awards, Aug. 28. Had Longoria known what was going to happen in the days to come, one imagines she would have come up with another bit.

 

 

*"The looting is out of control. The French Quarter has been attacked." -- New Orleans councilwoman Jackie Carlson, Aug. 30. Meanwhile, President Bush was playing guitar with country singer Mark Willis in San Diego. Bush would return to Crawford, Texas, that night, for one more night of taking it easy before finally cutting his vacation "short."

 

 

*"I must say, this storm is much bigger than anyone expected." -- FEMA Director Michael Brown, on CNN, Aug. 31.

 

 

*"Excuse me, senator, I'm sorry for interrupting . . . for the last four days, I've been seeing dead bodies in the streets here in Mississippi. And to listen to politicians thanking each other and complimenting each other, you know, I got to tell you, there are a lot of people out here who are very upset, and very angry, and very frustrated . . .

 

"And when they hear politicians . . . you know, thanking one another, it just . . . cuts them the wrong way right now, because literally there was a body in the streets of this town yesterday being eaten by rats because this woman had been laying in the streets for 48 hours . . ." -- CNN's Anderson Cooper, Sept. 1, in an awesome tirade directed at Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), who had been tossing compliments to fellow politicians and blowing bromides up the wazoo before Cooper cut her off.

 

 

*"George W. Bush gave one of the worst speeches of his life yesterday, especially given the level of national distress and the need for words of consolation and wisdom. In what seems to be a ritual for this administration, the president appeared a day later than he was needed." -- New York Times lead editorial, Sept. 1.

 

 

*"It was chaos. There was nobody there, nobody in charge. And there was nobody giving even water. The children . . . they're all just in tears. There are sick people. We saw . . . people who are dying in front of you." -- CNN producer Kim Segal, describing conditions in the New Orleans Convention Center, Sept. 1.

 

 

*"Considering the dire circumstances that we have in New Orleans, virtually a city that has been destroyed, things are going relatively well." -- FEMA chief Brown, Sept. 1.

 

 

*"From here and from talking to police officers, they're losing control of the city . . ." -- CNN's Chris Lawrence, Sept. 1.

 

 

*"We just learned of the convention center -- we being the federal government -- today." -- FEMA Director Brown, trying to deflect criticism to local government, on "Nightline," Sept. 1.

 

 

*"Don't you guys watch television? Don't you guys listen to the radio? Our reporters have been reporting on it for more than just today." -- Koppel's response.

 

 

*"Many of these people, almost all of them that we see are so poor and they are so black . . . " -- CNN's Wolf Blitzer's well-meaning but unfortunate description of the evacuees, Sept. 1.

 

 

*"Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job." -- President Bush, Sept. 2. One of the most idiotic, misguided, clueless and smug things the president has said during his two terms in office.

 

 

*"I'm satisfied with the response. I am not satisfied with the results." -- President Bush, later that day.

 

 

*"Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house -- he's lost his entire house -- there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch." -- President Bush, cracking wise in Mobile, Ala., Sept. 2. And maybe when he sits on that porch, one of those unemployed evacuees can bring him a nice iced tea and a fan. After all, they'll be looking for work.

 

 

*"George Bush doesn't care about black people." -- Kanye West Sept. 2 on an NBC telethon for hurricane relief, as a deer-in-the-headlights Mike Myers stood beside him, no doubt wishing he was off making "Shrek 57."

 

 

*"I know you didn't want to interrupt your vacation and I know how you don't like to get bad news. Plus, you had fund-raisers to go to and mothers of dead soldiers to ignore and smear. . . . Mr. Bush, you just stay the course. It's not your fault that 30 percent of New Orleans lives in poverty or that tens of thousands had no transportation to get out of town. C'mon, they're black! I mean, it's not like this happened in Kennebunkport. Can you imagine leaving white people on their roofs for five days? Don't make me laugh!" -- Excerpt from Michael Moore's open letter to President Bush, Sept. 2. Moore is reportedly considering making a documentary about Bush and Katrina. It would be the easiest film he's ever done.

 

 

*"I open the television, there's people still there, waiting to be rescued, and for me that's not acceptable. I know there's reasons for it. I'm sorry to say I'm being rude, but I don't want to hear those reasons." -- Celine Dion in an interview on "Larry King Live," Sept. 3. An hour later, yours truly was in the audience at Dion's show in Las Vegas, where she told a baffled audience that she had cried and yelled at Larry King earlier that evening.

 

*"The guy who runs this building I'm in, emergency management, he's responsible for everything. His mother was trapped in a St. Bernard nursing home and every day she called him and said, 'Are you coming, son? Is somebody coming?' [starting to cry] And he said, 'Yeah, Mama, somebody's coming to get you. Somebody's coming to get you on Tuesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Wednesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Thursday. Somebody's coming to get you on Friday.' And she drowned Friday night. She drowned Friday night." -- Jefferson Parish president Aaron Broussard, Sept. 4, on NBC's "Meet the Press," in one of the defining media moments of all the hurricane coverage.

 

 

*"We lost everything. Katrina didn't care if you were poor or rich; all the houses look the same now." -- Mississippi resident Penny Dean, quoted in People magazine, which has covered the hurricane story in honorable and comprehensive fashion.

 

 

*"What I'm hearing which is sort of scary is that they all want to stay in Texas. Everybody is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this, this is working very well for them." -- Former First Lady Barbara Bush, sounding like a bad caricature of a "Dallas" character, in the Houston Astrodome, Sept. 5.

 

 

*"I understand there are 10,000 people dead. It's terrible. It's tragic. But in a democracy of 300 million people, over years and years and years, these things happen." -- Republican operative Jack Burkman, MSNBC, Sept. 7, in an obvious attempt to go for the Humanitarian of the Year Award.

 

 

*"Go f-- yourself, Mr. Cheney. Go f-- yourself." -- Off-camera citizen heckling the vice president during a live interview that aired on CNN and MSNBC, Sept. 8. The "Go f-- yourself, Mr. Cheney" guy has his own Web site and is auctioning copies of personal video footage on eBay.

 

 

*"First time I've heard it. Must be a friend of John, er, uh, never mind." -- A chuckling Cheney's nonsensical, half-joke of a response when a reporter asked if he'd been hearing a lot of that sort of thing.

 

 

*"We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans. We couldn't do it, but God did." -- Rep. Richard Baker (R-La.), Sept. 8, in a quip to lobbyists quoted by the Wall Street Journal. Baker is denying the quote; the WSJ reporter stands by his story.

 

 

*"How, then, did we get here? How did the richest country on Earth end up watching children cry for food in putrid encampments on the evening news? How did reporters reach crowds of the desperate in places where police, troops and emergency responders had not yet been--three days after the storm?" -- Time magazine, in a report to be published today.

 

 

Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper are hosting a special benefit screening of "Walk the Line" starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon on Sept. 25. All proceeds to hurricane relief efforts. To purchase tickets, go to ticketmaster.com.

Edited September 12, 2005 by robinventura23

[southsider2k5]

Things are improving still down in NO. Only about 50% of the city is now flooded, many areas are out of the water completely. The airport is about to reopen to cargo planes only. Also they are still finding way less dead bodies than the 10,000 they expected at one point.

 

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050912/D8CIM1K80.html

[Balta1701]

Also I don't know if anyone else saw it or not, but there was something out over the weekend to the effect of Bush didn't know how bad the problems were down there because his aids were all afraid to tell him?  Did anyone else see that?

That was covered in a Newsweek piece...1 page back in this thread.

[southsider2k5]

In the no big surprise department...

 

Michael Brown is resigning as FEMA director

[Balta1701]

In the no big surprise department...

 

Michael Brown is resigning as FEMA director

He finally did a heck of a job with that decision.

[southsider2k5]

Interesting to note with Brown

 

WHO'S RESPONSIBLE? Now that FEMA director Michael Brown has been made the scapegoat for Katrina, who's going to be the scapegoat for Brown? The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, chaired at the time of Brown's 2002 nomination by Senator Joseph Lieberman, held Brown’s nomination hearing on June 19. Seventeen Senators were members of the committee, but only four (Lieberman, Akaka, Bunning, and Bennett) bothered to be present for the nomination hearing. Of those who were not present, only Senator Collins submitted official questions of Brown. On August 1, Majority Whip Harry Reid officially requested and received the unanimous confirmation of Brown.

[Balta1701]

Interesting to note with Brown

Not only that, but the hearings on Brownie lasted all of 42 minutes.

 

Of course, had someone actually done anything about it...you'd have heard cries about those evil "Obstructionists" in the Democratic party and how they should give wide latitude to the President's nominees, but you're right that they at least had a shot at him.

 

Overall though...isn't the one "responsible" for Brown the guy who nominated him in the first place?

[Balta1701]

By the way...the new head of FEMA...he's the duct tape guy.

 

    President George W. Bush on Monday named David Paulison, a top official in the Homeland Security Department, to replace Michael Brown on an acting basis as head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

 

 

Americans have apparently heeded the U.S. government's advice to prepare for terror attacks, emptying hardware store shelves of duct tape.

 

    On Tuesday, less than 24 hours after U.S. Fire Administrator David Paulison described a list of useful items, stores in the greater Washington, D.C. area reported a surge in sales of plastic sheeting, duct tape, and other emergency items.

[NUKE_CLEVELAND]

Well, I guess in a way it's comforting to know that even when likely thousands of Americans are lying dead in an abandoned shell of an American city, the Bush Administration still puts Rewarding its campaign contributors at the top of its list of priorities.  I mean, if Halliburton and Bechtel can't turn a profit, what is this world coming to?

 

 

What should we do Balta? Shall we exclude firms with expertise in these situations such as Halliburton and Shaw Group because they gave money to Bush? You find someone who's demonstably better and the government will hire them.

 

Next thing out of your mouth will probably be that Bush somehow conjured up Katrina just to steer business toward his corporate favorites.

 

:rolly

[Balta1701]

What should we do Balta?  Shall we exclude firms with expertise in these situations such as Halliburton and Shaw Group because they gave money to Bush?  You find someone who's demonstably better and the government will hire them. 

Personally I'd just prefer we withhold contracts from Halliburton until they can account for the couple hundred million from Iraq that has mysteriously gone missing from their hands.

[southsider2k5]

Personally I'd just prefer we withhold contracts from Halliburton until they can account for the couple hundred million from Iraq that has mysteriously gone missing from their hands.

 

Who do you think should rebuild the oil and other energy infrastructures down there?