Republicans to the rescue!

[widebody911]

At least it's harmless to ignore the foibles of the Hollywood set. Every time one of your NeoCon buddies f*cks up, body bags get filled.

The downpour of Hurricane Katrina brought with it a scourge of sickness, homelessness, injury and death. But the aftermath of Katrina has wrought its own special plague�a celebrity hurricane of opportunism and bad taste.

While most of America is embracing New Orleans� tragedy as a chance to pull together and demonstrate a still-strong Christian character of caring for the least of these, Republicans are embracing it as an opportunity to display their foolishness, egotism and utter lack of sensitivity.

"I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees." �President Bush, on "Good Morning America," Sept. 1, 2005, six days after repeated warnings from experts about the scope of damage expected from Hurricane Katrina
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"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 (chuckle) � this is working very well for them." �Former First Lady Barbara Bush, on the Hurricane flood evacuees in the Houston Astrodome, Sept. 5, 2005
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"It makes no sense to spend billions of dollars to rebuild a city that's seven feet under sea level....It looks like a lot of that place could be bulldozed." �House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), Aug.
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"We've got a lot of rebuilding to do ... The good news is � and it's hard for some to see it now � that out of this chaos is going to come a fantastic Gulf Coast, like it was before. 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." (Laughter) �President Bush, touring hurricane damage, Mobile, Ala., Sept. 2, 2005
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"Considering the dire circumstances that we have in New Orleans, virtually a city that has been destroyed, things are going relatively well." �ex-FEMA Director Michael Brown, Sept. 1, 2005
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"Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job." �President Bush, to FEMA director Michael Brown, while touring Hurricane-ravaged Mississippi, Sept. 2, 2005
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"I have not heard a report of thousands of people in the convention center who don't have food and water." �Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, on NPR's "All Things Considered," Sept. 1, 2005
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"Well, I think if you look at what actually happened, I remember on Tuesday morning picking up newspapers and I saw headlines, 'New Orleans Dodged the Bullet.' Because if you recall, the storm moved to the east and then continued on and appeared to pass with considerable damage but nothing worse." �Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, blaming media coverage for his failings, "Meet the Press," Sept. 4, 2005
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"I mean, you have people who don't heed those warnings and then put people at risk as a result of not heeding those warnings. There may be a need to look at tougher penalties on those who decide to ride it out and understand that there are consequences to not leaving.� �Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), Sept. 6, 2005
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"You simply get chills every time you see these poor individuals...many of these people, almost all of them that we see are so poor and they are so black, and this is going to raise lots of questions for people who are watching this story unfold." �CNN's Wolf Blitzer, on New Orleans' hurricane evacuees, Sept. 1, 2005
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"What didn't go right?'" �President Bush, as quoted by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), after she urged him to fire FEMA Director Michael Brown "because of all that went wrong, of all that didn't go right" in the Hurricane Katrina relief effort
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-09-07-congress-bush-katrina_x.htm

"Now tell me the truth boys, is this kind of fun?" �House Majority Leader Tom Delay (R-TX), to three young hurricane evacuees from New Orleans at the Astrodome in Houston
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"We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans.
We couldn't do it, but God did." �Rep. Richard Baker (R-LA) to lobbyists, as quoted in the Wall Street Journal
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"I also want to encourage anybody who was affected by Hurricane Corina to make sure their children are in school." �First Lady Laura Bush, twice referring to a "Hurricane Corina" while speaking to children and parents in South Haven, Mississippi, Sept. 8, 2005
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"It's totally wiped out. ... It's devastating, it's got to be doubly devastating on the ground." �President Bush, turning to his aides while surveying Hurricane Katrina flood damage from Air Force One, Aug. 31, 2005
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"I believe the town where I used to come � from Houston, Texas, to enjoy myself, occasionally too much � will be that very same town, that it will be a better place to come to." �President Bush, on the tarmac at the New Orleans airport, Sept. 2, 2005
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"We just learned of the convention center – we being the federal government – today." –FEMA Director Michael Brown, to ABC's Ted Koppel, Sept. 1, 2005, to which Koppel responded " 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."
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"I don't want to alarm everybody that, you know, New Orleans is filling up like a bowl. That's just not happening." -Bill Lokey, FEMA's New Orleans coordinator, in a press briefing from Baton Rouge, Aug. 30, 2005

"FEMA is not going to hesitate at all in this storm. We are not going to sit back and make this a bureaucratic process. We are going to move fast, we are going to move quick, and we are going to do whatever it takes to help disaster victims." --FEMA Director Michael Brown, Aug. 28, 2005

"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." --GOP strategist Jack Burkman, on MSNBC's "Connected," Sept. 7, 2005

"Thank President Clinton and former President Bush for their strong statements of support and comfort today. I thank all the leaders that are coming to Louisiana, and Mississippi and Alabama to our help and rescue. We are grateful for the military assets that are being brought to bear. I want to thank Senator Frist and Senator Reid for their extraordinary efforts. Anderson, tonight, I don't know if you've heard – maybe you all have announced it -- but Congress is going to an unprecedented session to pass a $10 billion supplemental bill tonight to keep FEMA and the Red Cross up and operating." –Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), to CNN's Anderson Cooper, Aug. 31, 2005, to which Cooper responded:

"I haven't heard that, because, 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 here who are very upset, and very angry, and very frustrated. And when they hear politicians slap – you know, thanking one another, it just, you know, it kind of cuts them the wrong way right now, because literally there was a body on the streets of this town yesterday being eaten by rats because this woman had been laying in the street for 48 hours. And there's not enough facilities to take her up. Do you get the anger that is out here?"

[DaveE]

Originally posted by widebody911

"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 (chuckle) � this is working very well for them." �Former First Lady Barbara Bush, on the Hurricane flood evacuees in the Houston Astrodome, Sept. 5, 2005

I'm sure they were all so happy to be huddled together in the Astrodome rather than being in their own homes.

Just some incredible statements, altogether.

[Joeaksa]

Thom,

Have you ever thought of channeling the energy that you are now using to go after Bush into something productive, like a 911 or a VW bus?

Would love to get into another discussion but have work to do. Enjoy the weekend!

JoeA

[fintstone]

Looks to me like Republicans have actually come to the rescue. The local politicians that were all Democrats were certainly feckless. If Democrats were in charge at the federal level, they would still be whining and waiting for someone else to do the "heavy lifting."

[carnutzzz]

Wow- more sound bytes taken out of context and used by a liberal to accomplish nothing!

(Yawn)

You lost, get over it. Your party is in shambles, and doesn't have a clue, much less a plan.

Nothing against you really, I don't know you, but I tire of the political BS on this board.

[Victor]

My favourite. This sort of statement makes me hope God does exist so people that think like this can toast in hell.

"We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans.
We couldn't do it, but God did." �Rep. Richard Baker (R-LA) to lobbyists, as quoted in the Wall Street Journal

[skipdup]

Hate never built a levy.

[pwd72s]

Originally posted by skipdup
Hate never built a levy.

Neither did a "I hate Bush" spewing Aussie...Hey Victor...shaddup already!

[Racerbvd]

Had the stupid ****ing liberal demacrooks left when told, there would have been no problem, had the stupid local liberal demacrooks used the money on levies instead of casinos (and I love casinos), there have not have as big a problem. The state of LA is very liberal and demacrook, so it should be a utopia, but instead it shows how incompetent dems really are. And dave, if those idiots had followed instructions, well, we know better than that and jerk offs like you don't think people should be responsible for their own actions, not when you can blame a Republican.

Thom, I know you have way more talent and skills, tons of ability to play this game. I would be happy to have 1/4 of your talent.

[CamB]

Ditto to pretty much what Mike has to say - I reckon the blame can be spread better widely on this one. It seems harder to find someone who did something right...

Our local paper quotes some toxic chemical govt guy as saying that NO will be uninhabitable for 10 years. I wonder if he's right?

And I wonder if there are going to be any 40 ft long toxic alligators now.

[Rodeo]

Plenty of blame to go around. More than enough for everybody.

Here's the difference, though. I don't vote in New Orleans. And I don’t sit up at night and worry if the local politicians in New Orleans or San Francisco or Detroit can respond competently to a national disaster, whether terrorist or natural.

I do vote in national elections, and I want our NATIONAL response to be much better next time. So sorry if I don't focus on the Governor of LA, her constituents can worry about her. Four years after 9/11, I thought our national response would be much better, and I never imagined that we were dependent upon local politicians to handle national emergencies. I don’t think we are. I think that's what Homeland Security and FEMA are for.

We get it right next time not by focusing on New Orleans, but by focusing on our federal response capabilities.

[Jeff Higgins]

I simply cannot believe how low some folks can stoop in the wake of such a terrible dissaster. To use this as ammunition against your least favorite political leader(s) once again shows the true colors of some.

Like the Iraqi war, it has become very clear that the dead bodies in this dissaster mean nothing more than opportunity to this ilk. Opportunity to once again engage in their "intellectual" and political debates. They could care less about the people; it's all about their own need to win the debate. These poor folks simply provide another talking point that they can examine in their (now very obviously) inhumane and detached manner. I see far more jumping for glee at another "Bush failure" than outpouring of sympathy or relief for the victims.

What saddens me almost as much is the knowledge that many of these people celebrating "Bush's failure" are brighter than that. I'm relatively confident that the feds have no emergency plan for Lynnwood, Washington. Or Carmichael, California. Or any other town for that matter. That is why we elect local officials. We all know better than to think that the federal government can (or should) have that level of involvement in our local and state governments.

So, knowing that the "Bush failed" crowd understands that, what is the obvious conclusion to be drawn? They simply do not care that they are lying, or that we know they are lying. That is immaterial when there is a political adversary to roast. They understand that their constant wailing of their concocted lie will lead to its adoption as fact by the less educated, and the lazy media-duped population. Keep up the mantra "Bush failed" (just like the "Bush lied" mantra) long enough and it will become the truth for many. These folks that are using this tragedy in this manner should be ashamed, they should be very ashamed. The problem is, I no longer believe they are capable of feeling shame.

[likemystoppie?]

Damn. This is exactly why I hate politics. One side thinks THEIR view is better than the other. As long as we insist on having "sides" we'll never really get the human race we're it belongs. -Civilized.

People must start working together, and get over themselves and what ever views they THINK are correct based on their political views.


This country has gotten to far away from it's people really being involved, and politicians, NOT ALL, but most have proven that they're not about civil service, and more about their cushy careers, and furthering themselves or whom ever they're aligned with and their agenda.

I'm 32, and absolutely f*cking disgusted at this country's politics and social and economic policies.

Those of you who are enjoying Social Security or about to, enjoy it. I'm not living to retire on SS, nor do I think most of you are. I'm just saying it's not fair that I'm paying into a system to help YOU out, when no such system will exist to help out American's my age when we get to that point. But that's just one small piece that pisses me off.

Things are going to get really interesting when more Gen X'ers are brought to power......I'm sure some people will piss themselves in their Depends.......

[Rodeo]

If you have a nuclear plant failure, or terrorist attack, or other massive disaster in Lynwood (and I pray you do not), I do expect DHS and FEMA to handle the response. I’m not counting on your mayor (if you have one). Sorry if that offends you.

And I’m not "celebrating" anything. Far from it, I am deeply saddened, at the human lives lost, at the suffering that many had to endure, and for a City that I loved.

What’s wrong with examining this in a "detached" manner? Its exactly the way it should be examined, and hopefully next time we will do better.

edit: oops

[Jeff Higgins]

Absolutely Rodeo, I would expect them to respond as well. I would expect them to respond at the local officials' request and to work to the local officials' plan. You miss-read my post. There is a vast difference between providing support under a locally formulated plan vs. coming in with your own plan and taking over. That is not FEMA's function; they do not formulate local plans. There is absolutely no way in hell I expect a federal agency to have a detailed plan in place for my locale and everything that could possibly go wrong here. That is the responsibility of those officials that we have elected here, locally. Do you understand that?

[gaijindabe]

Weren't there a record number of hurricanes hitting the US in 2004?? Most of them in Florida. What was the FEMA scorecard looking like last year? I dont think there were any CAT 4 storms and no major cities were hit, but I remember FEMA doing what was expected of them..

[skipdup]

gaijindabe- You're right...

Originally posted by skipdup
John- I'm not commenting on Mike Brown's performance... but, regarding your comment on his experience...

Last year Charlie, the 2nd most expensive hurricane in US history - Ivan, the 3rd most expensive hurricane in US history - Francis, the 4th most expensive hurricane in US history - Gene, the 6th most expensive hurricane in US history, all which took place within 6 weeks of each other, were all handled by head of FEMA, Mike Brown.

IIRC, FEMA's response to all four hurricanes was viewed as almost completely positive.

Seems to me he probably had more "experience" to handle Katrina than anyone else in this country... despite his job judging horses.

[skipdup]

The thing that bothers me...

IF this was a local failure, are we now going to totally revamp FEMA & the rest of the federal response (so the feds can be every where at every time to do everything), based on one local failure? What if the local gov's in Dallas, Seattle, NY, etc all work as expected/needed?

[Rodeo]

Originally posted by Jeff Higgins
Absolutely Rodeo, I would expect them to respond as well. I would expect them to respond at the local officials' request and to work to the local officials' plan. You miss-read my post. There is a vast difference between providing support under a locally formulated plan vs. coming in with your own plan and taking over. That is not FEMA's function; they do not formulate local plans. There is absolutely no way in hell I expect a federal agency to have a detailed plan in place for my locale and everything that could possibly go wrong here. That is the responsibility of those officials that we have elected here, locally. Do you understand that?

Jeff, sure I understand. As far as you have taken it, its entirely reasonable and understandable. But let’s take a "detached" look at it, and go a little deeper, because the devil is in the details. I’ll use an example, a fictional town.

A massive petro-chemical fire erupts at the ____ plant in Anytown, USA. Suspected terrorist attack. Hundreds of thousands of citizens in danger. Tens of thousands need to be evacuated. The injured need medical care. Property needs to be protected. Order needs to be kept. Displaced people need to be fed and sheltered.

The Mayor of Anytown is on vacation. He’s a drunk anyway, and a crook. Has been misusing federal preparedness planning dollars for years, employing family members, his mistress, and a guy that can deliver 5,000 votes every election.

So what do I expect of DHS/FEMA in this situation? To wait for the Mayor’s call? To search for the Mayor’s plan, and if they find it, to follow the Mayor’s plan? To wait in Washington until specific requests come in for specific items?

To put this in perspective, in 2003, the President asked for $6.3 BILLION for FEMA (I didn’t search for later years or actual allocations). This is MORE than the ENTIRE budget for my state. Just for FEMA alone, not DHS. Please keep that in mind, $6.3 Billion in 2003.

Continued below ….

[Rodeo]

Here’s a short list of what I would expect from FEMA from someone NOT in the preparedness field:

I would expect both DHS and FEMA to have identified this plant in some fashion, long before the fire. If it’s the 461st threat on a list of 5,000 threats, I would expect that appropriate resources have been devoted to it, in accordance with its rank. New Orleans was on FEMA’s top 5 for years.

I would expect FEMA to have a manager responsible for that threat. Maybe the manager will be responsible for 10 threats in a 500 mile area, or maybe Anytown, U.S.A. is his only job, or maybe if the plant is big enough, he is assigned to that only. FEMA had a full-time, local presence in New Orleans. I don’t know its exact staffing but I suspect it was substantial.

I would expect that if DHS could not prevent the terrorist attack (and they can’t possibly prevent them all), that they would turn response over to FEMA, who would have the resources and skill to manage it as best they can.

I would expect the president to revise his schedule, cancel his vacation, fundraisers and photo-ops, and come back to Washington. I would expect the Vice President to do the same.

I would expect that long before the fifth day of the crisis, the respective directors of DHS and FEMA would know that there were thousands of starving people trapped in Anytown’s convention center, where armed bands of criminals were robbing, raping, and murdering them.

The list could go on for a long time, but I’m tired and I’m not in the emergency management business.