This natural disaster is NOT a political issue. Why must the left try to drag their anti-Bush crap into this? Bush did not cause this, the lefties did not cause this. AMERICANS on both sides including feds, volunteers,
soldiers, local law enforcement, business, social aid groups etc etc, are all working very hard to help folks all over the entire region. The whiners can whine and armchair quarterback all they want, but it will not help. Mother nature primarily, and poor examples of "civilized" people secondly are the only ones to be BLAMED for the situation as it stands now.

Come on guys....... WTF?

I agree, I shouldn't even respond to them but it irks me to see such opportunistic BS.

Exibit A

Pretty pathetic way of stirring the pot Thom. I guess I am not suprised though. Exploiting a tragedy for political gain is not a new tactic (just a disgusting one).

What a bottom feeder...

Re: I feel like a complete A## h#le
 

Well said.

Don't click on link if you are an overly sensitive person:
Military Personnel Wounded in Iraq & Afghanistan:
http://www.thememoryhole.org/war/wounded/gallery.htm

warning: 2 of the photos are graphic

Honor the brave, support their funding - no more cuts!

when I was there last week, I was in a bar (where else) watching the weather reports. On Thursday and Friday tehy knew a 5 was coming. It was obvious. I asked if anybody was going go North or West and they all, I mean all laughed at me saying I was a scared Texan.

I wish I could contact them and tell them that they can come stay in my dry, cool home until things resume and I promise I won't say "I told ya so". Trouble is, they are most likely dead or completely out of reach.
Instead, just made a nice donation to Red Cross along with clothes and water as a relief. I would contact the folks I know there and offer up our home but they are still un-reachable.

Like Techweenie said, in another thread I think: Your guy is on the hot seat. Welcome to the White House. The buck stops there. You guys have had your fun with Bill Clinton, and are still having it. The spotlight is on Dubya, and he looks pretty foolish, usually. Especially so when leadership is needed.

And if I thought that making opinions about the "president"'s performance was going to hurt the relief efforts, I'd support keeping our mouths shut about Dubya's Dubious Decisions (or lack thereof). But I don't. His performance is more than "fair game." It is a necessary and important national dialogue.

As they say, 80% of the people out there are doing 20% of the work, and the other 20% of folks are doing 80% of the work (those numbers are actually generous toward the "80%"). Rescue efforts are underway. It is time for lifesaving services. This will evolve into a rebuild effort, which will involve my industry (construction labor). We construction labor folks are on it. You cannot believe the volume of discussions underway where the mobilization of those services are being planned. The local construction workers are homeless right now. This means temporary housing, and transportation when their services are called for. Stuff's in motion in our industry, and I know there are a few people in each industry who are properly attending to the difficult and important job of managing.

Where is Dubya? *****, he's the guy who's got the resources. He would have more resources if he had not squandered and deliberately axed them, but my bigger question is how is he coordinating what resources are available? Who is cutting loose federal money to make things happen. Who is calling the nation's five biggest pump manufacturers and asking "Whaddya got on your shelf?" Calling the trucking companies and asking "how fast can you get three dozen trucks to the ABC Pump Mfg. Company's warehouse?"

*****, this is the kind of thing Dubya jsut does not know how to do. He doesn't even know that this is also the way to form and pass legislation. He is so completely out of touch, and so completely devoid of any leadership qualities except the "poser" crap he's so good at. Nero fiddled while Rome burned. That's better performance than Dubya.

I would argue that this is what happens when government is relied upon. One would think (maybe??) that the local government of a city so prone to such a specific disaster would have several contingency plans in place. Perhaps they needed two or three "disaster czars" huh Sup?

If ever there was a city that loved liberal politics it was NO, yet massive planning failure. Just odd I guess, they love government so much, and know how to run it. In the end they run to Bush (federal government) for help, as they have no plans of their own. The lunacy of that is that it (the federal government) is nothing more than a larger scale inept bunch of idiots themselves. All Czar excluded ofcourse:rolleyes:

What is it with you conservative drones and "Czar" - is that the "Rush Limbaugh Word of the Week"?

No, Sup said we needed a "Gas Czar" instead of the options market as I recall. Just giving him a hard time.

Supe, Bush did not cause this and he is doing something about it to help. Do you really feel that Bush has dropped the ball dealing with this tragedy? Surely you must realize that this is an unprecedented event with no "snap of the finger" immediate cure. Seriously what else do you feel Bush could do thus far that he has not done (other than him personally waded thru the water to carry out survivors)? Why can't people accept that this is a horrific natural disaster that cannot be fixed in 5 days? Why are so many pointing fingers and trying to politicize this
tragedy? Why are people condoning the riot type actions of some?

I truly am apalled.

I'm about to write something that may/will be taken wrong by a few but it is the truth. Now, Fed Gov assitance aside (we all know more can always be done), having worked with and been exposed to folks in that neck of the woods a few observations have to be voiced. It is no slam but rather an objectiuve encounter that actually explains why the problems has escalated into a full blown *****storm:
1) Many of the folks down there have big hearts but rather meager education. They really don't seem to have the mental chops. I don't think they are stupid but they really don't seem to understand certain ramifacations.
2) They work on a interesting notion that today is today and that is about it. Very little future consideration is given. There seems to be a personal leadership vacuum. They wait for things to happen without taken control or taken charge.
3) They are very poor for the most part but seem to focus more on getting a better bass boat or rifle than focusing on more important things. (Fishing is important but not when you can't make a mortgage payment!)
4) They really do seem to think that the world owes then something, that they are entitled to benefits and so forth without working towards them. I hate to say it but many do seem a bit lazy.
5) The folks in town gov seem real enept. I was at the NO crisis center last year and gave a seminar. The leaders all liked their fancy posts but clearly had no business in their jobs. I suspect that many got there for reasons that are not uncommon in Dallas but far far more apparent there. Moral of the story, put a Donkey in charge of the horse stable and pretty some you just have a big pile of ***** and a bunch of frustrated horses.

Of course all these things mentioned are the absolute worse case scenerios and I am sure there are folks who are just the opposite. I have had the opportunity to work with dozens and dozens of folks down there from a wide income and education spectrum. I can't help but think that if this kind of thing happened in another part of the country that the local gov and the townfolk would have planned and dealt with it better.

Obviuosly this is not the most politically correct thing to post. And please don't take this as me being calous. I know many folks personally who have been severely affected and their lives ruined. A few are friends and many more are folks I work with. It is a terrible situation.

like dubya has the 9/11 tragedy to take us to war, one in which his leadership has caused us to flounder in? he still leans on that as to why we are in iwreck, and freeing those people, or was it to get the wmd's, or was it to spread democracy, or was it for the oil, or was it because those planes hit those buildings? i forget because the daily show is on vacation this week, so i am behind on his and the admin's latest talking point as to why we are there. if i recall, it was "lets fight them there so we don't have to do it here" last week. has it changed since jon's been on vacation?

like that tim, is that the sort of exploiting you mean? or am i missing the your point in this statement?

You guys better be carefull what you ask for- or one day you might get it. If we demand that one omni-potent, all knowing, all solving Caesar - will get one. And then we will really be sorry.

There is layers of responsibility in this, starting with basic acts of citizenship. Fire departments, police departments, local governments and state governments all have roles, then add layers of National Guard and FEMA. Do your really thing the President - the one furthest from the ground is the one to be calling trucking and pump companies??

I think it's an opportunity. A true leader would see this as an opportunity and a responsibility, and a true leader would be acting in a certain way. He would be making phone calls, and meeting with people.

I have appreciated all your jabs in my side, Len.

Hey, I'm as uncomfortable as anybody with ineptness, and with the scary notion of a Czar for anything, Including and especially the distribution of important resources. I am not a communist, and I like the supply and demand mechanisms. But having said that, supply and demand is not going to save those lives, and a humanitarian-focused effort to distribute important and scarce resources like water, food, fuel, etc. is needed right now. And until we find a better machine for making these decisions, we are going to have to rely on HUMANS to do it. Whether their paycheck bears a corporate logo, or a federal seal. Strange as it may seem to some of you, there are times when I trust the federal seal more than the corporate logo.

So, it's kinda back to some of the same ol' discussion we've had before. Even those many of you who love to hate gubmint, still rely on it, and expect services from it. Criticizing is a blast. But we do rely in government and we must. And gubmint is not "them." Government is an organization we own. So, caricaturizing our fears as a not-so-honest sideways way of pretending that we don't want or need government services is clever but unproductive. And an unrealistic dialogue-dodge.

Funny how as soon as Bush arrived, supplies started pouring in. Kinda like Teddy Roosevelt leading the Rough Riders.

Heck, at least it's good photo op material for GW should he hand MREs to outstretched hands.

Doesn't this just figure?
I make a post more for myself than anybody else, sometimes it's easier to talk to a total stranger. Some folks got that and I thank you for listening. But I ask the rest of ya'll why everything needs to be a political, compartmented, he said-she said slug fest?
One of the nice things about our government is that every 4yrs. you have the opertunity to voice your opinion and do your best to change what you don't like. If the chips don't fall your way just wait you will have another chance to try again. If you like the outcome you have time to enjoy the chioces you have made. Not everything has to the fault of the powers to be.
End of rant.

Not for nothing, but I will guaranfukintee ya that we'de have pics off slick willie passin out juice boxes or some other hore****. I am refreshed to see a guy that doesn't give a damn about PR, just a lets get **** done attitude.