Hurricane Katrina

[Texsox]

Maybe they can be used to sue God, or Mother Nature?  After all, Jessie Jr. wants Bush to stand on a pile of rubble, and say to God, we know you did this, and we are holding you accountable!

Wouldn't it have been better if they were there before the storm hit?

[KipWellsFan]

link.

 

Reported by the AP, confirmed by the Times Picayune.

 

Yes, that's right...helicopter rescue efforts STOPPED while Bush was in town.  You read that right.

 

God, don't you wish there could have been just 1 more helicopter flight to the Convention Center?

 

Sheesh, and people think the States have a liberal media.

 

p.s. the link doesn't work

 

here's a little thing I put on my blog

 

I've heard some crazy things said recently in the wake of Hurricane Katrina but none top the idiocy and ignorance of what Trent Lott said on Friday night in an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper:

 

    Cooper: I asked someone here, I told him that I was going to be speaking to you tonight, they said to me they wanted to ask, was part of the problem that a lot of these national guard troops are in Iraq or overseas, I mean, are the forces so depleted, is that an issue?

 

    Lott: Anderson, only the news media is asking that question.

 

 

 

I know what you're thinking, 'DID YOU HEAR WHAT KANYE WEST SAID?!?!!?'. Sure it was ridiculous but I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt because he was visibly shaken and his comments probably came in the heat of the moment. Nonetheless, he earns honorable mention for the irresponsibilty of his comments, especially considering the forum in which he decided to express his rage.

 

video sources

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/09/03.html#a4769

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/09/02.html#a4762

http://thedanreport.blogspot.com/

[kapkomet]

Yep, the whole damn thing is Bush's fault. ALL of it. That motherf***ing prick asshole. How dare he f***ing breathe while he's taking a s*** so that people can second guess his every move.

[Balta1701]

p.s. the link doesn't work

The link works on my computer...possibly because I'm dialed in through a university network. Here's the text.

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

The food was expected to be in the hands of storm survivors after the president left the devastated region Friday night, he said.

[HighHeat45]

Yep, the whole damn thing is Bush's fault.  ALL of it.  That motherf***ing prick asshole.  How dare he f***ing breathe while he's taking a s*** so that people can second guess his every move.

 

It was his responsibility to land Air Force One in new orleans, get everyone aboard and take off right as the storm hit.

[KipWellsFan]

The link works on my computer...possibly because I'm dialed in through a university network.  Here's the text.

 

That's not the link I meant but they're all working now anyways.

[KipWellsFan]

It was his responsibility to land Air Force One in new orleans, get everyone aboard and take off right as the storm hit.

 

That's what Chrisopther Walken would have done.

[Balta1701]

This WaPo piece will probably shape the discussion for the next 24 hours.

 

Behind the scenes, a power struggle emerged, as federal officials tried to wrest authority from Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D). Shortly before midnight Friday (Friday as in Friday September 3rd -- not the Friday before the storm hit), the Bush administration sent her a proposed legal memorandum asking her to request a federal takeover of the evacuation of New Orleans, a source within the state's emergency operations center said Saturday.

 

The administration sought unified control over all local police and state National Guard units reporting to the governor. Louisiana officials rejected the request after talks throughout the night, concerned that such a move would be comparable to a federal declaration of martial law. Some officials in the state suspected a political motive behind the request. "Quite frankly, if they'd been able to pull off taking it away from the locals, they then could have blamed everything on the locals," said the source, who does not have the authority to speak publicly. (hint hint)

 

A senior administration official said that Bush has clear legal authority to federalize National Guard units to quell civil disturbances under the Insurrection Act and will continue to try to unify the chains of command that are split among the president, the Louisiana governor and the New Orleans mayor.

 

Louisiana did not reach out to a multi-state mutual aid compact for assistance until Wednesday, three state and federal officials said. As of Saturday, Blanco still had not declared a state of emergency, the senior Bush official said.

 

"The federal government stands ready to work with state and local officials to secure New Orleans and the state of Louisiana," White House spokesman Dan Bartlett said. "The president will not let any form of bureaucracy get in the way of protecting the citizens of Louisiana."

 

Blanco made two moves Saturday that protected her independence from the federal government: She created a philanthropic fund for the state's victims and hired James Lee Witt, Federal Emergency Management Agency director in the Clinton administration, to advise her on the relief effort.

 

Bush, who has been criticized, even by supporters, for the delayed response to the disaster, used his weekly radio address to put responsibility for the failure on lower levels of government. The magnitude of the crisis "has created tremendous problems that have strained state and local capabilities," he said. "The result is that many of our citizens simply are not getting the help they need, especially in New Orleans. And that is unacceptable."

 

In a Washington briefing, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said one reason federal assets were not used more quickly was "because our constitutional system really places the primary authority in each state with the governor."

 

Chertoff planned to fly overnight to the New Orleans area to take charge of deploying the expanded federal and military assets for several days, he said. He said he has "full confidence" in FEMA Director Michael D. Brown, the DHS undersecretary and federal officer in charge of the Katrina response.

 

Brown, a frequent target of New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin's wrath, said Saturday that "the mayor can order an evacuation and try to evacuate the city, but if the mayor does not have the resources to get the poor, elderly, the disabled, those who cannot, out, or if he does not even have police capacity to enforce the mandatory evacuation, to make people leave, then you end up with the kind of situation we have right now in New Orleans."

 

New Orleans City Council President Oliver Thomas acknowledged that the city was surprised by the number of refugees left behind, but he said FEMA should have been prepared to assist.

 

"Everybody shares the blame here," said Thomas. "But when you talk about the mightiest government in the world, that's a ludicrous and lame excuse. You're FEMA, and you're the big dog. And you weren't prepared either."

 

In Baton Rouge, Blanco acknowledged Saturday: "We did not have enough resources here to do it all. . . . The magnitude is overwhelming."

 

State officials had planned to turn to neighboring states for help with troops, transportation and equipment in a major hurricane. But in Katrina's case, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida were also overwhelmed, said Denise Bottcher, a Blanco spokesman.

You know what the best news in that piece may very well be? The fact that someone finally turned to the guy who had FEMA running so damn well during the Clinton years and got him back involved.

[HighHeat45]

This WaPo piece will probably shape the discussion for the next 24 hours.

 

You know what the best news in that piece may very well be?  The fact that someone finally turned to the guy who had FEMA running so damn well during the Clinton years and got him back involved.

 

During the Clinton years FEMA never had to deal with anything HALF as big as this project.

[HighHeat45]

http://www.opinioneditorials.com/guestcont...n_20050903.html

 

NUKE, you should get a laugh out of this article like I did.

[NUKE_CLEVELAND]

http://www.opinioneditorials.com/guestcont...n_20050903.html

 

NUKE, you should get a laugh out of this article like I did.

 

 

 

OH HELL YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

MADE MY NIGHT RIGHT THERE

[The Ginger Kid]

http://www.opinioneditorials.com/guestcont...n_20050903.html

 

NUKE, you should get a laugh out of this article like I did.

 

I'm stunned that it took so long for the conservative apologists and spin wizards to put stuff like this together. They never take this long to run in and wipe W's ass for him after he's made a mess. This is priceless s*** right here, ladies and gentlemen:

 

And what of the hundreds of thousands of people who knowingly and willingly chose (elected, decided) to ride out this beast? Why didn’t they prepare for the hurricane? Why did they stupidly choose to stay in the first place when they were told how bad this one was going to be? Where did they read that the federal government is first and foremost responsible for getting them out of a jam? I can’t find that written anywhere. If your survival plan is to just wait for the Marines, it might be a while because, just in case you have not heard, the Marines are fighting two wars at the moment.

 

The bottom line is that rescue and relief efforts on this scale from the federal government take a few days to get rolling, which is one of the reasons why it is the primary responsibility of mayors and governors to have plans in place to fill in the gaps while federal assets mobilize. And it is every American’s personal responsibility to evacuate when told to do so if they can, and the vast majority of those who stayed did so of their own free will and refused to prepare for the consequences of that decision.

 

This made my night, too!

 

Not only does this tool attack the usual suspects (Michael Moore and the NAACP) but now he's going after GOP mouthpieces like O'Reilly. Canabilism at its finest! And somehow he even manages to blame destitute minorities, who had no means of fleeing NO, for their own sad state of despair. Genius. Pure genius. I can't wait to read Anne Coulter, you know she's gonna string up some libs by the stones.

[LosMediasBlancas]

So, since Friday evening, CNN has been showing previews for a Larry King special about how you can help the victims of Katrina. The special was to air Saturday night, almost 24 hours later. Call me crazy, but if CNN was serious about letting the public know how to help, they wouldn't wait 24 f***ING hours to reveal that information. The previews were on during every CNN commercial break on Friday.

So, I tuned in for the replay of this 'special' and so far I've seen Celine Dion just absolutely lose it and cry and scream hysterically. What does Larry ask her? Hey Celine do you have a song for us? What does Celine do? She sings a song. Thx Celine, everything is so much better now.

Next on is a jazz musician (forgot his name) who procedes to help the situation by doing what? Playing the horn.

One of the most sickening BULLs*** hours of TV ever.

[Balta1701]

During the Clinton years FEMA never had to deal with anything HALF as big as this project.

Of course not. But during the time that our current head of FEMA, Michael Brown, spent trading horses for some Arabian company before he was fired (for being an "unmitigated, total disaster")...he never had to deal with anything 1/6000000th the size of this. At least that guy had to deal with Northridge and the Mississippi floods.

 

(He got the job because he was the college roommate of Bush's former campaign aide and 1st FEMA director, Joe Allbaugh, who left to found a consulting company who's sole job was to teach other companies how to make money off the Iraqi reconstruction)

[Texsox]

Yep, the whole damn thing is Bush's fault.  ALL of it.  That motherf***ing prick asshole.  How dare he f***ing breathe while he's taking a s*** so that people can second guess his every move.

 

If we didn't elect him to lead during an national disaster, what did we elect him to do? Remember the Buck Stops Here? Remember the job being described as the most powerful man in the world? He is the undisputed leader of this country and he did not have his finest hour or day.

 

Cancel the fund raiser.

Be on TV a few times a day.

Cowboy up and talk tough about stopping the looters, rapists, and murderers.

Kick some ass, Mr. President.

 

I'm betting Reagan would have shown some leadership and got people moving. People look to the President in times of trouble. That's why their approval ratings always go through the roof during crisis. We band together under a strong leader. Bush blew it and I'm very disappointed. I thought e would be perfect for this. A blend of compassionate conservatism with a dash of cowboy macho.

[HighHeat45]

This made my night, too!   

 

 

Have you seen any numbers on how many people stayed because they couldnt leave, and because they didnt want to? I know I havent, and no one will.

 

This is America, it is never our fault for anything. People who could have left but decided to stay are now saying how they couldnt leave because they were too poor. No one is gunna go on TV and say "You know what, i made a mistake. I should have left when I had the chance but I decided to stay so I am facing the consequences" and even if someone did say that to a reporter, there is no way in hell they would put it on TV.

 

[Rex Kickass]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9195946/

 

Why poor people couldn't get out of NOLA.

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9189916/

 

The Bush administration tries to shift the blame to the state and local levels.

For all the people telling others not to point fingers out of deference to the President or whoever, does that include the White House pointing fingers?

[Texsox]

Have you seen any numbers on how many people stayed because they couldnt leave, and because they didnt want to? I know I havent, and no one will.

 

This is America, it is never our fault for anything. People who could have left but decided to stay are now saying how they couldnt leave because they were too poor. No one is gunna go on TV and say "You know what, i made a mistake. I should have left when I had the chance but I decided to stay so I am facing the consequences" and even if someone did say that to a reporter, there is no way in hell they would put it on TV.

 

 

OK, they start walking. Where do they sleep, with no money for inflated hotel rooms? They cannot carry a lot of food, so how do they eat? Stores and restaurants would be closed within walking distance. Would you leave the shelter of your home to go walking in a hurricane? How far can you walk in one day? How far can you walk carrying a 9 month old baby? How far can a 5 year old walk in one day? :headshake

[Texsox]

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/343324p-292991c.html

 

The challenge for America is to remember the faces of the evacuees who will surely be ushered back into a black hole of public indifference as soon as the White House and local officials can manage it. While pledging ourselves to remember their mistreatment and fight for their cause, we should also be sure to cast a searching, skeptical eye on the money that Bush has pledged for rebuilding.

 

Ten billion dollars are about to pass into the sticky hands of politicians in the No. 1 and No. 3 most corrupt states in America. Worried about looting? You ain't seen nothing yet.

 

Much more at the link.

[HighHeat45]

OK, they start walking. Where do they sleep, with no money for inflated hotel rooms? They cannot carry a lot of food, so how do they eat? Stores and restaurants would be closed within walking distance. Would you leave the shelter of your home to go walking in a hurricane? How far can you walk in one day?

 

I understand there were alot of poor people who couldnt leave, but im saying there were also people who could easliy leave but didnt want to and are now probably lying about it to TV reporters to make everyone feel bad for them.

[Texsox]

I understand there were alot of poor people who couldnt leave, but im saying there were also people who could easliy leave but didnt want to and are now probably lying about it to TV reporters to make everyone feel bad for them.

 

Sorry, I should have read more carefully. I agree, I am certain there were a few people like that. I wonder why there are any cars left in the city. I would have loaded up all my vehicles and headed out of town. And I believe I wold have picked up some passengers along the way.

 

But hind site is everything. Less than a month ago we were in the path of a hurricane that wound up well south of us. So far in ten years we have been warned a couple times a year, and never really hit. Have I become complacent? Yes. I no longer board up every window, just one area of the house we would go to. I have lots of camping equipment handy, so I know I can make safe drinking water, stay warm and reasonably dry, perform most first aid. But I never pull that stuff into my safe area any more. I never fill my bath tubs like the first few years, never make certain that every water container is full and ready.

 

Need and Greed in Katrina's Wake

While some souls may be in peril for human misdeeds after the hurricane, let's temper our judgment with wisdom and mercy.

By Forrest Church

 

A rising flood tide brings all kinds of terror in its wake, whole populations cast into its swirling eddies, people fighting for their very lives. When the waters subside, it is not surprising that we should witness both the very best and very worst of human nature.

 

The best is both evident and admirable. In their readiness to give to charity, Americans are the most generous people on earth. Money is pouring in to the Red Cross and other relief organizations. A welling surge of humanitarianism is bringing comfort and relief to hundreds of thousands of our fellow citizens who languish bereft in the face of nature’s devastating power.

 

The worst of human nature evoked by such a catastrophe is both evident and hidden, in each instant manifesting the opposite of generosity, namely greed.

 

Evident is the criminal lawlessness. Hospitals being ransacked. Armed pirates on the prowl. Looters trashing stores. The wanton disregard for human life and property stands as a sobering reminder that, when freed from social constraints and driven by greed the human animal can become both feral and (unlike most other creatures in the animal kingdom) cruel.

 

Some people, given the opportunity, will steal whatever they can get away with stealing. Encouraged by crowd behavior and an apparent immunity to consequence, others will succumb to greed under the cover of chaos, committing crimes that they would’t dream of under ordinary circumstances. Opportunistic crime is not reserved for street thugs, of course. One corporate scandal after another testifies quite eloquently to the wide band in which human greed operates.

 

The great majority of citizens resist the temptation to steal what isn’t theirs. To jump from the videotape to the conclusion that the dike of American virtue has collapsed in minority communities is as callow a judgment as is its ideological counterpart—namely that the only sins that really count are those committed in the corporate boardrooms or the halls of power.

 

Also, we must not forget that people have been without water, electricity, and sometimes food for almost a week now. Many of these despised looters have lost everything: left homeless, their cars literally flooded in three feet of water, their livelihoods suspended, and little in their bank accounts to fall back on.

 

Before rushing to blanket judgment, we must be examining our own moral pretensions. The first law of nature is self-protection. I myself would steal bottled water if my children were crying out in thirst and food if they were aching with hunger. Any moral judgment that doesn’t place our own sin within its purview is incomplete.

 

Which leads to the hidden scourge of greed that looms over the horizon of this catastrophe. Over the past four years, the present administration has slashed the public works budgets of places like New Orleans to below subsistence level so that the richest one percent of Americans can continue to enjoy their tax cuts. Moments of crisis are moments of decision and opportunity. When Congress comes back into session, rather than eliminating the estate and dividends taxes and making the high-bracket tax cuts permanent, perhaps this tragedy will prompt a welcome reassessment of priorities.

 

Nature is devastating enough on its own, without our assistance to compound its impact or increase its threat. When our leaders permit the infrastructures of our great cities to rot and rust, scoff at reports that global warming may lead to an upsurge in hurricanes in future years, and can’t even see the rowboats for all the yachts and battleships they are underwriting, then a finger of blame can be fairly pointed. If we have time to point a moral finger right now, it is not only the looters whose greed should rivet our moral attention.

 

That said, one can’t help but be angry at looters and other lawbreakers who show no human sympathy at a time when every soul should be crying out and every heart open to a bereft population, rich and poor alike—seeing our tears in their eyes, extending our compassion and aid, and remembering that, but for the grace of God or the accident of fate, we go there also.

[Texsox]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/03/katrina.w....aid/index.html

 

(CNN) -- The oil-rich nation of Qatar has offered the United States $100 million to assist in the humanitarian crisis triggered by Hurricane Katrina.

 

The state-run Qatar News Agency said Saturday that Qatar's emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, decided to contribute that amount for relief "and humanitarian supplies for the victims of this disaster."

 

The U.S. government has received offers of support from dozens of nations across the globe.

 

As of Friday, the White House had not accepted any offers, but Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the State Department was "working very closely with the Department of Homeland Security to match up what is available with what is needed."

 

There was no immediate word whether the United States would take Qatar up on its offer.

 

Complete run down of all aid offered at link.

 

Next question, why not take any and all aid offered? Why would be turn down Qatars 100M??

[Rex Kickass]

Germany's even offered 30 million barrels of oil. Wow.

[LosMediasBlancas]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/03/katrina.w....aid/index.html

Complete run down of all aid offered at link.

 

Next question, why not take any and all aid offered? Why would be turn down Qatars 100M??

 

Because the problem is not a lack of money or supplies, it's been not realizing the extent of the effects, slow response time and no sense of urgency from the beginning.

Mark my words, by Wednesday of next week, when all of this help finally starts arriving in huge quantites, they'll be telling people to stop sending supplies because it's causing gridlock.

[Texsox]

Because the problem is not a lack of money or supplies, it's been not realizing the extent of the effects, slow response time and no sense of urgency from the beginning.

Mark my words, by Wednesday of next week, when all of this help finally starts arriving in huge quantites, they'll be telling people to stop sending supplies because it's causing gridlock.

 

Well if the government doesn't need the $100,000,000.00 have them send it to me. I assume it would be a wire transfer, not shipped in trucks to New Orleans. The proper government reaction to someone offering $100,000,000.00 is thank you, send it to this account.