There’s a helluva lot of rhetoric flying by… and precious little leadership still
What I want to hear is a leader — one in the White House or one who wants to be — with a clear agenda to learn and protect: Here’s what we did wrong at all levels and both sides; here’s what we should learn; here’s what we’re going to do to fix it. But I’m hearing none of that. Instead, the people in power are giving us rhetoric: just so many words, just so much acid.
: In a spot-on commentary on On The Media, Bob Garfield said the Bush administration is ducking responsibility by complaining that everyone else is playing “the blame game.”
Nevermind the irony — the explicit abdication of accountability by the ‘accountability President.’ In the throes of a humanitarian crisis, the Bush administration contends we have nothing to blame but blame itself.
: And then we have Howard Dean saying that Bush doesn’t care about some citizens, echoing Kanye West. It’s a silly bit of psychosnarking.
DEAN: No. I do not think that this president cares about everybody in America….It’s not enough to be a nice guy. I’m not disputing the fact the president is a nice man, and maybe he’s compassionate in his personal life. The truth is that Americans have suffered deeply under this presidency, 80 percent of Americans, and that black people, Hispanic people, and poor people and old people have suffered disproportionately….
BLITZER: You made a very powerful, serious charge against the president of the United States, that he doesn’t care about everyone in this country.
DEAN: I believe that’s true. Because look at his policies. It does not matter what they say, it matters what they do. Americans have suffered under this presidency, 80 percent of them, income has gone down on average of $1,700.
He goes on to wonder whether John Roberts cares.
So blame is the Republican word. Care is the Democratic word.
And race is now Nagin’s word:
While Nagin has previously said he didn’t think the slow response was related to the demographic of the overwhelmingly poor, African-American crowd that needed rescuing, his thinking has evolved.
“Definitely class, and the more I think about it, definitely race played into this,†he said. “How do you treat people that just want to walk across the bridge and get out, and they’re turned away, because you can’t come to a certain parish? How do resources get stacked up outside the city of New Orleans and they don’t make their way in? How do you not bring one piece of ice?
“If it’s race, fine, let’s call a spade a spade, a diamond a diamond. We can never let this happen again. Even if you hate black people and you are in a leadership position, this did not help anybody.â€
But, of course, they are all trying to avoid the word that matters: incompetence.
I came across this article ( http://business.bostonherald.com/businessNews/view.bg?articleid=101320 ) before I was heading out to meet some friends for drinks and dinner. The Energy Bill just passed cut ExxonMobil a tax break. Also, all the pork Congressman stuffed into the Energy Bill is unconscionable.
It’s time we looked into RICO Racketeering charges against Bush/Cheney. The evidence of cronyism, mismanagement, coercion and more is becoming so vast that even his bible-thumping base can see through the spin. That’s what I see. Any ideas to make this happen or at least some derivative thereof. It’s time to start distilling and compiling the evidence and putting it in front of the public court: Web 2.0 style.
I’m tired of searching, but this might give a little background for those who want to consider this simply a black-white issue. Perhaps Nagin could discuss that next time he starts playing cards. And, perhaps Katrina will have the side-effect of finally driving Howard Dean, Al Sharpton, and Jesse Jackson from infesting public discourse.
As for the Bush administration, as the last comment points out, they’re setting right to work: doling out contracts to some very large businesses that just happen to have a Bush connection.
And, taking the steps I discuss here. Don’t expect to hear too much about the possibility of illegal aliens taking reconstruction jobs that could go to the actual victims of the hurricane though. Wouldn’t want to be mean-spirited and all.
Let’s not forget that incompetent governor of Louisiana who required 24 hours to OK anything. She needed two days to make her mind up about anything–meanwhile people were dying. Blame Bush, blame Nagin, but don’t forget to blame the incompetent who deserves the biggest portion of the blame–the state government.
I wonder if I’d be called racist if I mentioned that some of those people in the Convention Centre and Superdome acted like animals–or is that not politically correct to expect a higher standard of decency from these Black criminals? If the tables were turned and it was Whites raping Blacks we’d be accused of Abu Ghraib # 2. Some of the people murdered in that safe haven were mutilated. Why didn’t the mayor and Governor secure these places? Were they afraid to show their asses there?
Or could I play the race card by saying that the people in that nursing home were allowed to drown because a lot of them were white?? Almost as stupid as what Dimwit Dean is spewing.
http://illumiblog.blogspot.com/2005/09/something-you-cant-blame-on-bush.html
http://www.radioblogger.com/
This administration is sinking and no idiot can save it.
The incompetency is first with the entire White House. They were busy playing golf for three days before they realized that, “hey there is a hurricane that is killing people”. This administration is only committed to make wars and to kill and not to mention, to make more and more money for self and for the greedy friends. Concept of “Rescue” and “care” is not even in their nature. Look at them one by one. You’ll find out, if your brain properly works, that is. It should be a shame for the administration for the fact Canadians beat U.S. Army to New Orleans suburb. But then again, there is a huge difference between Canada and the idiots of the White House.
Yes, there is a huge difference between canada and the USA–in the USA we hunt down terrorists, in canada they post their garble in blogs.
http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=2043db0e-6342-4299-b75a-08662567f4f6&page=1
Whatever the “failure” in communication, Canada got there (thousands of kms away from Canada) before the US army did (under it own nose). If Canada can do it that fast, even with communication problems, imagine how patheticaly the US army has acted.
You know what, because of stupid $hit heads in the press, politicians on both wings, and dumb*uckes with internet access, I am ready to turn my TV off and pray God will help the people that deserve it and Hell would open up and suck in all that deserve that, starting with Jesse Jackson!!!!!!!!! I just wish someone would finally get fed up with him and tell him to shut his pie hole! IMHO there would a LOT more love in this country without goobs like him!
Nagin has a lot of nerve complaining about anything. He didn’t follow his own evacuation plan, he had a hundred buses sitting idle that could have moved people out of town, but he wants to play the race card instead of taking responsiblity.
Not that I’m letting Blanco off the hook. Or the police from neighboring towns who wouldn’t let people walk across a bridge to a safer spot.
PS Or the corrupt (Democratic!) politicos of Louisiana who begged for more and more money from Congress for flood control and then spent it on who knows what.
I am sick and tired of the race card. We will never resolve the race issue in this country until we can honest discussion. But we can’t because the burden of the resolving race problems in this country no longer lies with whites. Rather, it lies with blacks. Black culture must change before race relations can improve. Of course, merely pointing this out will draw charges of racism.
Here are some anecdotes from that right-wing extremist publication – the New York Times – that show why:
Partly because of the shortage of troops, violence raged inside the New Orleans convention center, which interviews show was even worse than previously described. Police SWAT team members found themselves plunging into the darkness, guided by the muzzle flashes of thugs’ handguns, said Capt. Jeffrey Winn.
…
When the water rose, the state began scrambling to find buses. Officials pleaded with various parishes across the state for school buses. But by Tuesday, Aug. 30, as news reports of looting and violence appeared, local officials began resisting.
…
Governor Blanco said the bus drivers, many of them women, “got afraid to drive. So then we looked for somebody of authority to drive the school buses.”
…
Violence also broke out. One Guard soldier was wounded by gunfire and the police confirmed there were attempts to sexually assault at least one woman and a young child, Chief Swain said.
…
Capt. Winn said armed groups of 15 to 25 men terrorized the others, stealing cash and jewelry. He said policemen patrolling the center told him that a number of women had been dragged off by groups of men and gang-raped – and that murders were occurring.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/11/national/nationalspecial/11response.html?ex=1284091200&en=fb3db5ce85bd72f4&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss
The burden of race relations is no longer a matter of addressing white racism. That battle ended 40 years ago. The burden of race relations now lies with blacks addressing the violent subculture in their own community. But rather than attacking this subculture with primarily victimizes other blacks, black culture GLORIFIES the violent subculture through gangsta rap and hip hop.
Kanye West says George Bush doesn’t care about black people. The truth is that Kanye West doesn’t care about black people. He’d rather enrich himself by glorifying violent gangsta rap black subculture than stand up for their mostly black victims.
Responsibility for improving race relations in this country lies with Kanye West and his ilk, not with George Bush.b Here is a link to Kanye West’s lyrics. Take some time to read this disgusting filth and and see with your own eyes where the real problem is:
http://www.dapslyrics.com/display.php
If black people don’t get their own house in order there will be a resurgance in REAL white racism rather than the bogeyman kind we incessantly hear about today:
Carol Swain bravely describes a world of white nationalists who reject racial integration. But where the establishment ignores these groups, Swain argues that the best response is debate rather than denial. The nationalists draw support because they express widespread white grievances that our leaders refuse to face, especially runaway immigration and affirmative action. Like Jefferson, Swain hears a firebell in the night.” Lawrence M. Mead, New York University “It is the great virtue of Carol Swain’s work that she is willing to conduct honest inquiry into racial questions and bluntly tell the truth as she finds it. Drawing on the tools of social science as well as her own extraordinary personal experience, she shines a powerful light on issues ranging from crime and illegitimacy to affirmative action and the role of religion in promoting racial harmony.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0521808863/104-2515480-2971156?v=glance
Faramin,
Canada got there (thousands of kms away from Canada) before the US army did (under it own nose).
We Americans appreciate the assistance sent by our Canadian cousins. But what did the Canadians find when they arrived? Massive violence. Read this and weep:
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1125629846148_165/?hub=TopStories
{Blacks fault lack of local leadership
By Brian DeBose
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
September 10, 2005
Some in the black community are beginning to question what happened to the black leadership during the Hurricane Katrina disaster, especially in the city of New Orleans.
    While a few black leaders, including the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the Rev. Al Sharpton and the Congressional Black Caucus, have singled out the president for blame, others say Mayor C. Ray Nagin, who is black, is responsible for the dismal response to the flooding that stranded thousands in the city’s poorest sections.
    “Mayor Nagin has blamed everyone else except himself,” said the Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, founder and president of the Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny.
    “The mayor failed in his duty to evacuate and protect the people of New Orleans. … The truth is, black people died not because of President Bush or racism, they died because of their unhealthy dependence on the government and the incompetence of Mayor Ray Nagin and Governor Kathleen Blanco,” he said.}
    http://washingtontimes.com/national/20050909-113107-3180r.htm
Jackson, Sharpton, Dean, Pelosi and others have been breathing their own fumes for so long they’ve forgotton what fresh air and truth smells like.
Who’s governance and policy making, both long term and recent, created the disaster waiting to happen that was New Orleans?
Hint: It wasn’t George Bush.
Incompetence is the problem. And unfortunately, the MSM is more focused on class warfare than effective government – no matter how many incompetent politicians it shelters.
This whole, “there is blame/incompetence” on both sides is a canard, propagated by the guilty (and those who voted them in).
As Eileen posted elsewhere: “the upshot of all this will be *vastly* increased Federal authority countermanding states’ rights during times of regional or national disasters and threats.”
Our forefathers put the local and state in place to protect home rule, but it didn’t envision having to protect cities in crisis situations from the hostile spawn of the huge Democratic Vote Plantatations of Dependent Voters… which former Pres. Johnson’s Great Society plans made possible when it enabled families without fathers to be the norm rather than the exception.
Just read the account of that ex-soldier, who took food,water and worked tirelessly to clear access for stranded people awaiting Blanco’s decision to let the military in.
Black and white alike gave extraordinary aid everywhere he went to this hero on his journey to help them, until he got to New Orleans. This hero was disabled and depended on massive painkillers to even walk. When he got to New Orleans, thugs relieved him of his medications, as he was helping stranded folks. He had to stop and begin a pain racked exodus home..without his medicine.
The wonderful black New Orleans culture that inspired so many was of a previous generation and already a memory, long before Katrina’s arrival. This past week we saw New Orlean’s decadent culture, nurtured by ideaologies of the Jackson and Sharpton type, and it bore no resemblance.
The next time McClellan or some other Mouth-of-Sauron decides to let the words “blame game” drip from his lips, I’d like to hear a journalist with a backbone retort: “I don’t know about you, (insert jerkwad’s name here), but the word is “accountability” and it’s not a game to us or to the American people.”
Somebody please do this for me, for this country, and for the sake of a mainstream media Americans can have half a hope of trusting.
[...] – BUZZMACHINE: “The blame game… the race card… the care card” … (buzzmachine) [...]
Plenty of journalists with backbones. We need more with *brains*. Journalists may mean well, but they are notoriously bad at reporting science, for instance. It’s not surprising that they also have difficulty comprehending large events like this, too.
Jason van Steenwyk is a Florida Army National Guardsman who has been mobilized six times for hurricane relief. He notes that:
“The federal government pretty much met its standard time lines, but the volume of support provided during the 72-96 hour was unprecedented. The federal response here was faster than Hugo, faster than Andrew, faster than Iniki, faster than Francine and Jeanne.”
As reported by a wingnut blogger, of course.
Meanwhile Kos is now attacking JJ for being a centrist. I guess calling Jeff Jarvis a “bearded git” is that ultimate plan for taking down the DLC that we’ve all been waiting for.
I do believe that particularly nasty phrase is quoted from Roger Ailes, which doesn’t mean it should have been repeated, in the least.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9287434/
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.
Note how many posts simply repeat the continuing mantra of the post-er, regardless of the occasion? Wouldn’t an event of the appalling dimensions of Katrina beg that we all look closely at our values, that we respond to the occasion with some attempt to broaden our viewpoints and take in, rather than emit, a response to actual events?
Nothing sinister about that, Ruth. We all come to this with relatively set worldviews, regardless of how open or closed our minds are.
For instance, Angelos there sees a story about Bush’s staff preparing a detailed report for him on an ongoing crisis and dubs it a “perplexing and troubling chapter” — this is his mantra, that anything that “wingnuts” do is evil, troubling, etc. Someone like me sees a story about Bush’s staff preparing a detailed report for him on an ongoing crisis and sees, er, a story about Bush’s staff preparing a detailed report for him on an ongoing crisis, which is the kind of thing a presidential staff should be doing and would be doing whether the president was Bush, Kerry, or Clinton.
In my worldview, I don’t think a president’s time is best used sitting around watching TV hoping for the odd special report, no matter how well-informed couch potatoes think they are.
Angeloses and I are both suspicious of the press, but Angeloses are suspicious that they aren’t vicious and pro-active enough in ripping apart the enemy, whereas I am suspicious of them because I know from experience that they like to get things wrong, and they tend to make stories editorials based on *their* worldviews, regardless of how open or closed *their* minds are.
That’s been my biggest concern since the beginning of the howls, that the Katrina “story” from the press and bloggers alike has been primarily an ongoing editorial interspersed with anecdotes.
With all due respect, I don’t think you’re really interested in people responding to the occasion with some attempt to “broaden their viewpoints”, but it just doesn’t sound as broad-minded if you say “wingnuts aren’t responding by mindlessly yielding to slanted editorializing”.
That was text from the article itself, Carson, not my words. I should have put and
But I would agree with them. When staffers have to “draw straws” to see who has to give the president “bad news”, that is a scary situation.
That the “leader” of the free world demands nothing but sunshine blown up his ass, while the world crumbles around him, should serve as another shining example of how far removed from reality this administration is. Our nation is following the exact trajectory of all the companies he ran into the ground as “CEO”. I guess he’ll need the Saudis to bail him out again…
Yes, I want the media to be a watchdog. I want in-depth investigation, not a rehashing of Scotty’s dissembling.
For example, the media seems to have finally gotten the clue that Chimpie is not a “popular president.” His incompetence has left him with nothing but his core of 38%. Those are the die hards who will vote Republican no matter what, and are too ashamed, even in an anonymous poll, to admit how badly their boy is doing.
The article I linked to is what I want from our media, no matter who comes out bad in the end. Trust me, there were many times I was upset at Clinton for a particular policy or decision, though overall the nation was prospering and I was along with it. I want the media to dig up all the crap that governments try to hide.
The problem is, with tihs administration, that’s EVERYTHING! When people who bring bad new to the president are threatend with termination if they go public (even when it’s a budgetary issue, which is the public’s business), or just outright terminated and smeared, I worry.
You wingers just kept plugging your ears saying lalalalalalala, but you can no longer ignore the reality of the situation. Unless you really are that delusional. Choice is yours.
Hey, like I’ve said many times in various threads, I didn’t vote for Gore or Bush back in 2000. So I went into this with a blank-slate attitude. But as the saying goes, Bush has been weighed, he has been measured, and he has been found wanting. I have seen all I need to see. What are you looking at?
“Chimpie?”
You are so very enlightened!
I suggest that you wipe the foam off of your mouth, check your spelling, and your agenda.
Angelos: But I would agree with them.
Wow, I have to admit that I hadn’t actually looked at that article: “HOW BUSH BLEW IT”. A thoughtful, balanced, and broadminded piece! No, it’s literally a 5-page rant long on opinion and remarkably short on facts.
The little bit of realistic information that you repeated, Angelos — that his staff had to make a report to him — the part that we know is actually true without having be told by a biased reporter — does sound innocent enough, but the story you linked to reads like a piece of utter fiction. It is nothing but an opinionated narrative concoction based on no real source but information purportedly from “several aides who did not wish to be quoted because it might displease the president”.
Who we *do* get quotes from are all the expected critics: Nagin, Blanco, Landrieu. People who still need to account for their own actions to an extent that they are at the very least not reliable critics of others. Nagin on Meet the Press Sunday did nothing but dodge Russert’s quizzing about the buses, degenerating into more attacks on others, even after he pretended to take the high road and criticized the “partisan squabbling” of others.
Evan Thomas writing things like “The one federal agency that is supposed to handle disasters—FEMA—was dysfunctional” — while this may be true, it is not a fact, but opinionated assertion. The closest Evan Thomas comes to a brush with facts is to back up his assertions with assertions of other biased voices. And no attempt — none — is made to get different viewpoints, such as that of actual FEMA and other emergency workers. Why didn’t Evan Thomas talk to Jason van Steenwyk, for instance? I’ll answer that! Because it would bring balance to reporting where none is actually wanted. A biased hit piece doesn’t work as well if you report all sides of the story.
Unremarkably, some of the only real quotes about an actual meeting between Bush and other politicians comes at the end of the five-page story, when the account, despite all the window dressing, makes clear that Blanco was the holdout, not wanting to come to solid decisions but wanting to play behind-the-scenes games. So why isn’t the title of the article “HOW BLANCO BLEW IT”? Ha! Don’t even try to answer that.
How can I put this delicately? This article is hogwash. Horse feathers. Flying pigs. This may actually be the worst piece of national “reporting” I’ve seen yet, ever. The only way journalists can get away with such fatuous work is because there are still enough Angeloses who want demand cynical reporting even if it has to be made up out of wholecloth.
Hey, Chimpie, Blimpie, Fuckwad, what’s the difference? Had I been able to preview, I would have caught it.
Good to see you’re focused on the important things like typos, not the ginormous incompetence of the leadership of America.
And, to save you time, I am aware that ginormous is a made up word.
“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.”
Delicate task? Oops, sorry sir, you have to come and do your job? This is a problem? Only for this President. He just does not give a shit. He likes the title, but he doesn’t want the actual responsibility. Which is exactly why his businesses failed. CEOs just sit in leather chairs, and do golf meetings, al the while collecting stock options, right? There are COOs and VPs to do the actual work, right? Ahh, but with no vision and no leadership, things quickly crumble. America, for example. Crumbling.
“President Bush knew the storm and its consequences had been bad; but he didn’t quite realize how bad.”
THREE days later??!?!?!?!?!?
“At about 8 p.m. [Monday], [Blanco] spoke to Bush. “Mr. President,” she said, “we need your help. We need everything you’ve got.” Bush, the governor later recalled, was reassuring. But the conversation was all a little vague. Blanco did not specifically ask for a massive intervention by the active-duty military. “She wouldn’t know the 82nd Airborne from the Harlem Boys’ Choir,” said an official in the governor’s office, who did not wish to be identified talking about his boss’s conversations with the president. There are a number of steps Bush could have taken, short of a full-scale federal takeover, like ordering the military to take over the pitiful and (by now) largely broken emergency communications system throughout the region. But the president, who was in San Diego preparing to give a speech the next day on the war in Iraq, went to bed.”
Um, nothing. Because Bush doesn’t know anything, and obviously didn’t care to even assign the project to someone who did. Or maybe, as we’ve subsequently found out about Brown, there is nobody who konws what to do, at any level of this administration.
“Bush was told at 5 a.m. Pacific Coast time and immediately decided to cut his vacation short. To his senior advisers, living in the insular presidential bubble, the mere act of lopping off a couple of presidential vacation days counts as a major event. They could see pitfalls in sending Bush to New Orleans immediately. His presence would create a security nightmare and get in the way of the relief effort. Bush blithely proceeded with the rest of his schedule for the day, accepting a gift guitar at one event…”
If the decision was immediate, why did it take him more 36 hours to even fly over NOLA?
“In the inner councils of the Bush administration, there was some talk of gingerly pushing aside the overwhelmed “first responders,” the state and local emergency forces, and sending in active-duty troops. But under an 1868 law, federal troops are not allowed to get involved in local law enforcement. The president, it’s true, could have invoked the Insurrections Act, the so-called Riot Act. But Rumsfeld’s aides say the secretary of Defense was leery of sending in 19-year-old soldiers trained to shoot people in combat to play policemen in an American city, and he believed that National Guardsmen trained as MPs were on the way.”
Believed????
“On Wednesday morning, Senator Landrieu was standing outside the chaotic Superdome and asked to borrow a FEMA official’s phone to call her office in Washington. “It didn’t work,” she told news-week.”
The state and local emergency communications systems were woefully and inexcusably inadequate. FEMA’s too? Where do all those DHS billions go? Maybe Verizon could join Halliburton as the feeding trough.
“Bad news rarely flows up in bureaucracies. For most of those first few days, Bush was hearing what a good job the Feds were doing. Bush likes “metrics,” numbers to measure performance, so the bureaucrats gave him reassuring statistics. At a press availability on Wednesday, Bush duly rattled them off: there were 400 trucks transporting 5.4 million meals and 13.4 million liters of water along with 3.4 million pounds of ice. Yet it was obvious to anyone watching TV that New Orleans had turned into a Third World hellhole.”
And the media is a filter? Our president needs to be insulated from the truth?
“A debate over “federalizing” the National Guard had been rattling in Washington for the previous three days. Normally, the Guard is under the control of the state governor, but the Feds can take over—if the governor asks them to. Nagin suggested that Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, the Pentagon’s on-scene commander, be put in charge. According to Senator Vitter, Bush turned to Governor Blanco and said, “Well, what do you think of that, Governor?” Blanco told Bush, “I’d rather talk to you about that privately.” To which Nagin responded, “Well, why don’t you do that now?” The meeting broke up. Bush and Blanco disappeared to talk. More than a week later, there was still no agreement. Blanco didn’t want to give up her authority, and Bush didn’t press.”
A pox on both of them.
A leader, though, especially a president, should be able to persuade a governor to do the right thing. You know what Clinton or Reagan would have done? They would have taken charge, but still allowing the governor to save face. They would have “suggested” this rather strongly. And they wouldn’t have taken no for an answer.
But Bush doesn’t lead. He poses for the cameras, and fights back boredom and smirks, and utters banalities. He was probably happy to just go back to sleep. Oh well, she won’t let us take over. Goodnight all, see you at the next photo-op in front of some firefighters. Hey, can we have them shirtless and oiled up next time?
Just picture yourself as the schmuck on the bridge and the trucks pull up full of water and food for the NO evacuees and you have your orders, so you don’t let them through. And people die.
You want some heads to roll? they already did.
No, the gov. didn’t have the expertise to know that when people evacuate to a pre-approved location, she had to make sure supplies were getting to them. And the administration didn’t know/didn’t have the right people in place to tell them.. they needed to cut through complex responsibility networks or nothing would get going.
That no one knew what the other was doing is both’s fault.
on 6/7/05 in hearings on homeland security, FEMA noted that 125,000 in NO didn’t have transportation to evacuate. what happened to that info?
About that blame game. Ever since Katrina hit the MSM has been behaving like a pack of rabid dogs, in sync, on message, on cue and in a veritable feeding frenzy in their efforts to dismember Bush and FEMA. My God does the MSM think the rest of us are absolute idiots? Talk about rhetoric flying..
This is interesting from Drudge:
“CNN PRODUCERS TOLD ON-AIR GUESTS: GET ANGRY
Mon Sep 12 2005 12:42:11 ET
After weeks of intense Katrina coverage from the main press, LA TIMES guru and former CNN host Michael Kinsley divulges that CNN was coaching guests to artificially enhance emotions!
Kinsley writes:
“The TV news networks, which only a few months ago were piously suppressing emotional fireworks by their pundits, are now piously encouraging their news anchors to break out of the emotional straitjackets and express outrage. A Los Angeles Times colleague of mine, appearing on CNN last week to talk about Katrina, was told by a producer to ‘get angry.’”
Developing…”
I just briefly listened to Scarborough and Carlson – the token conservatives at MSNBC – who were Also ranting the same ‘company line’…in higher and higher decibels. And it was all fed/Bush bashing. Oh, they drop maybe one token line twice a day about local or state ‘issues’, but if this is what MSM calls fair and balanced reporting we need new schools of journalism and ‘ethics’ courses which actually teach it.
On Scarborough, a guest mentioned that NO didn’t get back to – or didn’t accept – Amtrak’s offer of a TRAIN to take people out of there. Quick cut to a break. At least he let her finish on the other side. And today for the first time I saw a picture of those buses on tv for about a nanosecond. Nothing but the facts, though, right?
I can’t wait to see the selective coverage we’re going to get during the Katrina hearings. I smell a bigger and bigger rat brewing every day. Even Nagin acknowledged to Stone Phillips there were ‘turf wars’ between the Feds and Blanco…related to ‘money’. *Interesting.* Tell us more. Did Stone ask??? Of course not!
I cannot wait for the facts to be fully aired.
Oho.. Now MSNBC continues its diatribe on Olbermann with the same Bush bashing guest Carlson just had on. (How inventive.) The screen banner on Carlson’s show was HOW BUSH BLEW IT. On Olbermann, the same banner was running again only in about Double The Type Size.
Wonder when we’ll see or hear HOW NAGIN BLEW IT or
HOW BLANCO BLEW IT, or HOW THE STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS FAILED THE POOR, BLACK PEOPLE OF NO?
Never. You can absolutely take that one to your bank, cash it in and get rich.
This is over the top failed reporting. It is the worst I have ever seen, and that’s saying ‘a lot’.
Now here’s the *sweet part* when it comes to matters of ‘incompetence’ and culpability, and how one actually gets to the bottom of those barrels…..:
Nah, we’ll save it for when it Counts, MSM. For now, you can just bet on it, and wish you’d not been part of the Left Behind Machine when the stench of Katrina subsides.
We idiots wouldn’t want to let you down now, eh?
Sweet dreams, All.
Interesting rants. I wonder if you’re implying though, that Fox has impartial coverage of all things Rep/Dem?
Just curious.
Look, the government failures and lies are well known by now. No one in charge, no one who really knows what they’re doing.
The only people in the government who know what they’re doing are military and Coast Guard, and yet they’re subject to the whims of the idiots in Washington.
Just keep living in that bubble Eileen. That’ll keep you away from anything critical of Dear Leader. You’ll have some ejumucation then.
Jesus H, even the WSJ has a detailed timeline of the failures of the President, DHS/FEMA, on down the line.
It’ll start raining frogs any minute now.
———–
But when all is said and done, Bill Maher puts it best (and I can’t believe I’m saying that):
And finally, New Rule: America must recall the
president. That’s what this country needs. A good,
old-fashioned, California-style recall election!
Complete with Gary Coleman, porno actresses and action
film stars.
…
Now, I kid, but seriously, Mr. President, this job
can’t be fun for you anymore. There’s no more money to
spend. You used up all of that. You can’t start
another war because you also used up the army. And
now, darn the luck, the rest of your term has become
the Bush family nightmare: helping poor people.
Yeah, listen to your mom. The cupboard’s bare, the
credit card’s maxed out, and no one is speaking to
you: mission accomplished! Now it’s time to do what
you’ve always done best: lose interest and walk away.
Like you did with your military service. And the oil
company. And the baseball team. It’s time. Time to
move on and try the next fantasy job. How about cowboy
or spaceman?!
Now, I know what you’re saying. You’re saying that
there’s so many other things that you, as president,
could involve yourself in…Please don’t. I know, I
know, there’s a lot left to do. There’s a war with
Venezuela, and eliminating the sales tax on yachts.
Turning the space program over to the church. And
Social Security to Fannie Mae. Giving embryos the
vote. But, sir, none of that is going to happen now.
Why? Because you govern like Billy Joel drives. You’ve
performed so poorly I’m surprised you haven’t given
yourself a medal. You’re a catastrophe that walks like
a man.
Herbert Hoover was a shitty president, but even he
never conceded an entire metropolis to rising water
and snakes.
On your watch, we’ve lost almost all of our allies,
the surplus, four airliners, two Trade Centers, a
piece of the Pentagon and the City of New
Orleans…Maybe you’re just not lucky!
I’m not saying you don’t love this country. I’m just
wondering how much worse it could be if you were on
the other side. So, yes, God does speak to you, and
what he’s saying is, “Take a hint.”
I halfway agree Jeff. Bush’s biggest mistake is not pointing his finger directly at Louisiana. He never ever gets nasty. I am tired of it.
The media deserves failing grades, including FOX. The mayor is criminal, as is the Gov of LA. I never could dig it up but over at stolenthunder.blogspot there is finally information about the State Director of Homeland Security of LA, Major General Bennett C Landreneau. He was replaced with Honoree(sp). Finally info is trickling out.
The Democrats demanded the 9/11 Commission who gave us Homeland Security, whether Bush wanted it or not. They demanded he give the head of it “real authority”. He caved. This was his mistake in this entire fiasco. Now they shout when their baby is not flawless. They added a heck of a layer of tape in the miserable system that is truly scary as hell. This one man gives the prez “the report”? Thanks all.
But I am still waiting and counting for someone……..someone…….to tell me what Bush did wrong besides being 24 hours off mark. Same question, what exactly did Federal FEMA do wrong and when? Show me. I can show you what the mayor did wrong. I can show you what the Gov did wrong. They are the first responders that were no shows. Waiting.
My God. and still no one here cares about rebuilding. Wasted mines.
Hey dumb fuck, you think everything wrong in the world is Bush’s fault!?!?! Where were you during the 90’s when Dickhead Clinton ran our military down, loaded up every position he could with slim balls like him, and let Osama walk at least twice because he didn’t have the balls to make a decision?! At this rate, if another Demo gets in office, we may as well burn the White House and turn everything over to the UN. A flooded city will be the least of our worries then.
“On your watch, we’ve lost …. the City of New
Orleans”
BTW, only a STUPID lib could actually blame a president for a flood from a Hurricane!!
Jennifer,
4 years laters, we still have no clue what’s going to happen at the WTC site. I’m not much more optimistic about NO’s timeline, even without the politics.
I’ve talked about this with my wife, who never got a chance to get down there (I’m fortunate to have been twice), that the city as it existed is over.
The rebuilding questions are endless. Let’s just image a world without politics for a sec, and only a few dozen brilliant civil engineers. And say they figure out ways to keep this from happening in the future (put a couple Dutch engineers on that committee).
You still can’t bring back the magic of walking down St Charles into the French Quarter, having a Bloody Mary at Lafite’s Blacksmith shop, heading down to the waterfront for some window shopping and the live music in that park (the name of which escapes me).
Heck, you already have the moneyed/Republican set thanking God for destroying the projects and evicting the heathens (blacks). What they don’t realize is that you don’t have a vibrant city without all walks of life. Given the chance, they’d rebuild the land with million-dollar condos. Gentrification is the name of the game.
I hate to admit it, but NO as we know it is gone.
What, no reply Angelos? How again is it OUR presidents fault that NO flooded?
Let me guess, you like Louis Farrakhan, think Bush blew up the levies in NO to flood JUST the poor black neighborhoods!
The black people are vital to NOLA’s culture. If they don’t come back then I fear you might be right…….
Well then Jennifer, you’re not going to want to read this
http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2005/09/town-called-gope.html