BUSH BRINGS MUCH NEEDED HUGS, FROWNY FACES TO NEW ORLEANS
BELEAGUERED CITY’S DEPLETED SUPPLY OF PLATITUDES ALSO REPLENISHED
President reassures horrified nation: “Trent Lott’s home will be rebuilt.”
Regular readers of this website know that I am no fan of the Bush Administration, but the situation in New Orleans beggars belief. I’m so outraged I can barely think straight. Bad enough that the White House (again!) ignored repeated warnings of impending disaster and (again!) diverted necessary resources to its wealthy patrons and ideological hobby horses, but the federal response to the catastrophe is like a goddamned cabaret show.
Conservatives often justify the slashing social programs to fund corporate tax cuts by saying, “A rising tide raises all boats.” Well, the tide rose folks, and this is the result.
Suggest all you Bushwackers READ! The New Orleans
Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan at
http://WWW.cityofno.com. It spells out what actions should have been taken and by whom. You should also ask the Mayor of that city why hundreds of school busses now sit under water when they ould have been used, Saturday, Sunday and Monday morning to move people without transportation out of harms way.You might also want to ask the Governor why she didn’t activate the 60% of the national guard she still had available before the hurricane hit. You complain about the percieved slow response from FEMA yet they were
positionig assets to respond over the weekend. I
suppect you idots have no idea how big an area of
devistation this is and how difficult it is to respond to an area where there is no power, linited communications and hardly any passable transportation lanes. If you folks had two brain cell to rub together you would understand that a
major portion of the relief material had to be bought and moved to an assembly point before it
could loaded on vehicles to be moved into the area. I guess it is just easier to blame Bush
than it is to admit that the local and state
democratic leadership dropped the ball and are not fit to govern. I look forward to he hearings that will conferm this.
To the Man from Guam,
President Bush and other prominant Republicans have admitted that the federal response to Hurricane Katrina was less than adequate. So I do not understand your extreme anger at the Yeti for his anger at an admitted poor showing by FEMA and others. I think you need to do some serious introspection to find out where your anger should be properly directed.
Frankly, I think your name calling of the Yeti refects your character rather than the Yeti’s. I have met the Yeti and he is a pretty okay guy.
My posting was tongue and cheek. It suprises me that there were some people who didn’t get that. Sorry, maybe I should have been more blunt in trying to rip Davey a new asshole!!!
Right, Sam, and your stance is SOOO MUCH BETTER AND CONSTRUCTIVE than the so-called Bush whackers: “oooh! let’s blame this and all the problems of the universe on the Democrats’ micromanagement pansying ineptitude!”
Rub your two neurons around this idea: your accusation is off-base and even more surreal than the ‘bushwhackers’ considering what little political clout the democrats have in this administration at this time. Who knows… maybe the democrats trying to get anything achieved is impossible in an administration that basically ignores their needs, etc? Even during a time of crisis?
As if the bipartisan system wasn’t inherently corrupt as it is…
Man from Guam: Once, I made an inappropriate comment on DY’s site, calling a friend of his, whom I did not know, a “fuck-head”. After DY chewed me out I put up another comment apologizing, bc upon reflection it was totally out of line. It’s a shame that I needed him to chew me out to cause me to reflect, but sometimes that’s human nature, as is occasionally saying inappropriate things. May I suggest that you should, without hesitation, apologize for such an over the top unwarranted insult. You may disagree with him, but come on, calling anyone “pathetic fucking garbage” should only be reserved for “special moments”.
Brav-fucking-o.
please read this article:
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/hurricane/2004-09-14-new-orleans-storm_x.htm
it’s re. Hurricane Ivan in sept of 2004, the one that was SUPPOSED to be Katrina, the one that would’ve been Katrina had Ivan not changed his mind…
it’s too eerie how EVERY ASPECT of what happened this year was already in question a year ago… everything from the inappropriateness of the shelters to the inability of the poorest ones to leave… everything.
I support Bush, generally, but I also agree that the heads of FEMA and DHS are saying staggeringly moronic things and that FEMA is mis-directing all sorts of volunteered help. But just as folks to my left are running to first principles and blaming it on Bush, this disaster has reminded me again that big government is a false promise for dunces when it comes to efficiency and organization. (No need to point out that Bush has long-since abandoned the small-government portion of the GOP and the right-wing– as if the existence of the bloated DHS isn’t evidence enough.)
Some of these posters above are exactly right– though years and years of plotting and planning supposedly occurred, it seems as though the City of New Orleans either failed to execute or failed to train– either way failed to enact any plan. The mayor had to be goaded by President Bush to declare a mandatory evacuation. (AP) School buses and apparently metro-transit buses weren’t used for the initial evacuation. The Superdome option was a fairly good short-term option that had no flood contingency– why can’t these people plan everything as though their city is below sea level?
No option was offered for the poor or carless to get out, and that is, without a doubt, the city’s responsibility first, and the state’s second. The State was, I’ve read, supposed to have plans, too– facilities for evacuees, food for 3-4 days (which, as they’ve been told, is the minimal response time for federal aid). No such execution. Delays. Liability fears. The Army Corps of Engineers wins no prizes for delaying their announcement of the broken levees.
Yeah, Bush needs to fire some people, and he’s not really the man for reforming what needs to be reformed. It’s unfortunate that any defense of Bush must involve a laundry-list of blame for massive local-government fuckups that the federal bohemoth is left to cope with. It’d be fine by me if the White House was caught unawares every time a disaster happened, as long as the local people were prepared. That’d be a very reasonable compromise.
Molly and Ellen,
I wasn’t going to perpetuate this discussion any further, mostly because enough people couldn’t figure out that you were posting tongue-in-cheek that I was content to let hang from your own petards. But I couldn’t stop myself.
Molly, you’re a dolt. Go back and read my Sept 3 post. Of course there were sick and elderly and we failed them. You and me and Bush and the mayor of New Orleans and the Governor of Louisiana and any body else you can think of that should have been on guard, failed them. There seem to be about 10,000 people there who have refused to leave. Rescuers have even begun withholding fresh water from them, in the hope of forcing them out. I watched a rescue worker on TV scream at a woman to get in his boat and she wouldn’t. Behind her, in her driveway, was a van with water to the roof. I’m all for helping those people, but aren’t they now making a horrible situation worse? When they get sick, and they will, somebody will have to go back and look for them. If that woman had left in the first place, like most of the other sentient beings in that town, the aftermath of the storm would be much more manageable than it is. Sure, Bush and pretty much every other government official is at fault to one degree or another. But that doesn’t absolve an individual of the responsibility to take care of oneself or one’s family. For cryin’ out loud, if you wake up one day and there’s no government left, wouldn’t you get up and go for help? Damned if I would wait for somebody from the gummint to show up and pull me out of the toilet bowl. I’ll get out of the toilet bowl myself, thank you.
Okay, people, let’s get something straight. You can heap abuse on me, that’s fine — I run a public website, and negative feedback is part of the package. But people who comment on this site are my guests, and I will not have my guests maligned. That means no tearing anyone a new asshole, Molly, and that means no calling anyone names, Davey.
Disagree all you want, but keep it civil.
(This is a democrat talking.) you know.. it’s always easy to be right after the fact. i like your site.. but i’m tired of people bitching about bush. He’s damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t. they “heard about a possible terrorist attack pre 9/11 but didn’t warn people” so therefore he’s an asshole… well now he warned people with enough time that the crippled could have rolled out of town in their chairs and now he’s an asshole. so basically what everyone’s saying is that bush should have had 50,000 buses waiting on the outskirts of the affected area to come flying in and sweep everybody away. That’s a great idea.. except for those buses were being used as transportation for other cities. The government doesn’t have a plethera of buses just sitting around in case a town gets flooded. I think that if you’re all realistic and put down you bush bashing stick, you’ll realize it really wasn’t that absurd. ask yourselves.. if kerry took that long.. would we be yelling so much? Doubtful.
The other thing i’ll say is that if those folks that stayed behind would have saved up a little from every welfare check they got.. they could have bought a basic wooden boat and two oars just to keep on their roof in case this happens. I mean.. for crying out loud.. you live BELOW SEA LEVEL PEOPLE.
(and for those mad about the welfare statement.. you know it’s true.)
Matthew.. love you dude. don’t be that guy that deletes a comment because it goes against the general flow.
“if those folks that stayed behind would have saved up a little from every welfare check they got.. they could have bought a basic wooden boat and two oars just to keep on their roof in case this happens.”
“Welfare” is a generic term that could apply to several different social programs, but according to the 2004 supplement of the Social Security Administration, the average monthly TANF payment to a poor Louisiana family was $251.50.
Median rent in New Orleans during a similar period was $673 for a 2-bedroom.
You do the math.
OK, Dad. At least I wasn’t profane.
Ok, Dad. At least I wasn’t profane.
Between LAN3 and monday morning quarterback, I think they’ve nailed it.
Those of us who live along the Atlantic & Gulf coasts are sitting targets for hurricanes, yet most of us are in denial about the fact. It’s human nature to believe that ‘it can’t happen to me!’ Unfortunately, the last two hurricane seasons have proven that yes, folks, it can & probably will. That is why this writer is leaving her home 5 miles inland from the Atlantic & relocating to Central Texas NOW!
Mathew you have every right to be angry and are justified in placing blame on Bush and his administration. The fact is this disaster is too big to be handled with state resources. The feds needed to step in immediately and that did not happen. No Bush did not cause the natural disaster but his administration is to blame for the events that followed. Those events were anything but natural. It’s unfortunate that so much of the resources were being utilized in an unneeded war in another country. Had that not been the case I am sure the people of NO would not have been stuck in an emergency shelter run by gangs for five days. I can’t help but wonder if the children raped and killed in that building would have been if their parents had been the affluent people of California?
I would like to state somthing I found very insulting in the posts by Molly.
She says that Mormons have many wives. (often young nubile teenage ones.) Where did you get this information from? Have you ever known a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints? We do not keep more than one wife. You would probably be ex-communicated if you did. Please don’t say somthing about a religion when you don’t really know about it.
Sorry Matt, my bad!!! As for the anger at my comments about mormons…it was meant to be tongue and cheek, please take it as such.
I keep hearing people saying, “they live below sea level for cryin’ out loud! This was bound to happen sooner or later!”
Well, the entire country of Holland has been below sea level for centuries. They maintain their levees and dykes. I understand they don’t get hurricanes like the gulf coast but, they also have never suffered the effects of a breach like this. Because they spend money to protect themselves.
I hope someday people aren’t saying about the people of Western Washington, “They lived at the base of a volcano for cryin’ out loud. That mudslide was bound to happen sooner or later!”
Molly, Molly, Molly—
What are we gonna do with you? How insensitive, how politically incorrect of you to speak of Mormons in the way that you did. And, the phrase is “tongue IN cheek”.
Now I’m really gonna torque you off. I found one organization that responded beautifully to the Katrina disaster. They were loaded and ready to go and they handed out food, clothing diapers, you name it. And they did it all much, much quicker than the government did. They are probably the second most evil organization in the world, after the Bush Administration. (See, now that was tongue in cheek.) I’m speaking, of course, of Wal Mart. Yes, Wal Mart, Molly. $20 million in aid they committed. 1500 truckloads of goods. Setting up mini Wal Marts in stricken areas, where they are GIVING AWAY stuff. Relocating their employees to new stores and jobs.
If those knuckleheads in Washington don’t realize that the fastest, most responsive logistics operation on the planet is based right there in Bentonville, Arkansas, then they really should be fired. Homeland Security should right now be in contact with Wal Mart and contracting with them to provide logistics support for the next crisis that comes. WalMart moves a New Orleans-sized amount of goods every day as a matter of routine. They could have had stuff in place within hours of the storm ending.
But we can’t have that, can we Molly? Wal Mart might make a profit off their services and that would be evil.
Oh…to be named Molly. If I were I could pretend that Davey’s missives were directed at me and I could feel educated and enlightend by such an informed teacher.
Another organization that has done amazing work in the wake of the Hurricane is the Red Cross. Unlike our federal government, they responded the same to this disaster in the same way they respond to any disaster worldwide, and they do it for free, and don’t seek recongnition. While they can cite numbers of people helped, housed, and meals provided, due to their impressive organizational setup, fema has no idea how many people they have helped as was evidenced in ABC news last night. It’s difficult to measure your success if you don’t know what it is you’ve done or not done.
Props to the Red Cross.
Don’t forget the Mormon’s and their truckloads of food from utah etc… They left DAYS before the hurricane. The government? Total retards..
I don’t buy either the people who stayed in New Orleans all wanted to stay, nor that they all wanted to leave. There’s always a minority that decides to ride it out, generally because the calculated risk of death worth more than the extravagant inconvenience of evacuating and leaving your home, sometimes pets, and, well, life behind. Hurricanes themselves generally kill very few people, and some people are prepared for flooding. (And some people are in spectacular denial, or else they over-value their possessions compared to their lives and the lives of their family members.)
As for the the people who wanted to leave but couldn’t… this makes me sick. Of all the missed opportunities to save lives, I think this by far was the biggest. I don’t know what to say to this– literally tens of thousands of people who couldn’t leave on their own could’ve left the city on a bus and thus avoid the chaos, shortages, crime, exposure, and, of course, the lethal combinations thereof. This is undeniably a local issue.
There’s no reason that both of these populations can exist and that both ‘sides’ can’t acknowledge this. The former group can take their lives in their own hands, but the latter should’ve had an option. I can see how much of a hardship it would be for I, myself, to get out of town, and I have access to some money (though no car). Without money, without a car, without friends close friends with a car.. I don’t know what I’d do. But I know now that I should come up with a solution myself– waiting for instructions could doom me.
Ideally, you make this stuff really local– instead of having the Mayor (or, god help us, the Feds) order the bus drivers around, the bus drivers should know to report to their buses and queue for passengers at such-and-such pickup area. If nobody has to wait for orders, the plan will go through even if the city has lost its head, one way or another.
I heard an interesting interview of a Bangladeshi journalist on NPR. Bangladesh lost 100,000 people to tidal waves following a cyclone. The journalist said many poor people in Bangladesh did not evacuate because they had nowhere to go or no means to leave the area, or because they were literally more afraid of the consequences of evacuating — possible loss of all their belongings to looting with no way to replace them — than they were of the disaster.
Bangladesh apparently did three significant things following this catastrophe: 1. Replanted coastal forests to break the force of cyclones. 2. Rebuilt schools in the flood plains to serve as evacuation centers — all the schools are on stilts or otherwise raised above the flood level. 3. Organized teams of volunteers to go into poor neighborhoods and offer counseling and assistance so that people will be willing to evacuate.
Frankly, I think we ought to be talking about doing something similar in this country. Poor people are not nuts: Poor people usually have very good reasons for making the choices they do, although they might not be the choices that more affluent people would make.
Politics, as when Andrew came thru Florida in 1992, we had a democrat for governor, and had to wait for 3 days for any assistance.
Can’t we just all get along?
Can’t we just go back to reading reviews of “Deuce Bigalow: European Gigalo”?
Way to not blame the city or state governments for not responding (or evacuating or at least providing water or medical staff or police in the Superdome), as they are the first respondants in a disaster.
Seriously, the governor waiting 24 hours to call in the National Guard? Why don’t we hear you complaining about that? Maybe it’s because you’re ignorant as to how the system is supposed to work, and just want to try and point the blame at your favorite straw-man again.
Hate Bush, that’s fine.
Just hate him for the right reasons. The Feds responded when the city and state levels didn’t. Get your facts straight.
Stop me if you’ve heard this…
Molly, Davey & a Mormon walk into a bar…
…the bartender says,”What’ll you have?”
Davey says, “I’ll have a beer.”
The Mormon says,”I’ll have six beers. One for me and five for my nubile young wives that are waiting to help me repopulate our sparse areas.”
Molly says, “D’oh!”
Seriously… That is really insulting.
What a funny joke..
Hey Ugh. I think you’re the one who needs to get the facts straight. The local government realized they couldn’t respond to the magnitude of the impending disaster and called the Feds. The Feds didn’t come.
The governor declared a State of Emergency on the 26th. Then requested a FEDERAL State of Emergency on the 27th which was declared. A Federal State of Emergency is declared when the scope of the disaster is beyond the ability of the local government to handle. Katrina hit land on the 29th. The levee was breached later that day.
In addition, when there has been a Federal State of Emergency declared, FEMA (a FEDERAL agency, not local) is running the show. The Governor doesn’t “call in” the National Guard, the Federal Government is supposed to send them. Oh but wait…. 24 hours after the hurricane, on the 29th, the pentagon claimed there were already enough National Guard in the area. Guess they were wrong.
On the 31st the President organized a task force to coordinate Federal response. THE FRICKIN’ THIRTY FIRST!!! That’s 4 days after a Federal State of Emergency was declared. Two days after the hurricane hit land.
So yeah, I’m blaming Bush.
“The Governor doesn’t “call in” the National Guard, the Federal Government is supposed to send them.”
I’m sorry, but you couldn’t be more wrong, Ellen. In cases of disaster relief concerning a state, it is the duty of the Governor to call them in. From the Army National Guard Website: http://www.arng.army.mil/About_Us/
“For state missions, the governor, through the state Adjutant General, commands Guard forces. The governor can call the National Guard into action during local or statewide emergencies, such as storms, fires, earthquakes or civil disturbances.”
Naglin didn’t leave any supplies or medical aid for the refugees in the Superdome, and hundreds of schoolbusses sat empty in parking lots rather than ferrying out the poor and homeless. The Governor didn’t call in the Guard in time. But PLEASE, if it makes you sleep better at night, blame Bush. It’s not the first time he’s been made out to be a strawman.
Sorry. Not sure what a “strawman” is. Doesn’t matter though. I get your point.
Actually, it doesn’t make me sleep better. It scares me to death.
I believe the important words in the quote you pasted are the first three…”For state missions”. When Louisiana declared a Federal State of Emergency it was no longer a “state mission”.
If it helps you sleep at night to blame Naglin go ahead. Blaming the victim is always easier and denial is a more snuggly bedfellow.
Sleep tight.
“I keep hearing people saying, “they live below sea level for cryin’ out loud! This was bound to happen sooner or later!”
Well, the entire country of Holland has been below sea level for centuries. They maintain their levees and dykes. I understand they don’t get hurricanes like the gulf coast but, they also have never suffered the effects of a breach like this. Because they spend money to protect themselves….”
Posted by: ellen on September 7, 2005 09:28 AM
Sorry Ellen – Not true.
In ’53, there was a breach that cost 1800+ lives. (http://www.thehollandring.com/1953-ramp.shtml)
Yes Hendrick, that is true. But the difference between Holland and our government is that Holland then Investigated what went wrong, Determined what they needed to do to prevent such an event from occurring again and then Spent the necessary capital to beef up their levee systems. This included constructing some incredible water control gates. It appears that even after investigating the 9-11 experience, we did not determine the critical flaws in our disaster planning and then put into place a plan that would work, most especially in the area of communications. Why, because certain politicians are not willing to spend the money!
Hendrick, you’re right. My bad.
Nancy…also right.
So, we’ll see what the future months and years bring. Will this administration take the necessary steps to prevent another disaster? Only time will tell.
Everything about this situation infuriates me, breaks my heart, and makes me want to wail and gnash my teeth. But at least you just made me laugh for a minute with that mock headline.
Thank you, Defective Yeti.
For all the comments on what the Feds should do for Louisiana, we’re overlooking the fact that LA already takes more Corps civil works $ than any other state.
Even if all that money went to flood control, is there a point when someone has the obligation to tell folks that living behind levees below sea level is a losing proposition?
OK. Why don’t you go down and tell them. I’m sure they’ll slap themselves on the foreheads and say…”crap! why didn’t someone say something sooner?!”
Really, after giving it more thought, I really am sick of the amount of Federal dollars we’ve wasted on that state. I mean, a bunch of idiots who choose to live below sea level don’t really deserve it and now that they’ve gotten themselves in this pickle they want more? I’m sure the entire nation hasn’t benefitted from the fact that New Orleans has one of the largest deep water Ports in the country. Screw them!
Hendrick? What state do you live in? Are you safe from the possibility of flood, earthquake, mudslide, hurricane, volcano eruption and tornado? Or worse yet…terrorist attack? Because if you aren’t then what are you doing living there? It’s just a matter of time….
I’m not sure this is right time to be touting the deep water in NO, port or not. Maybe you’re being ironic, and I missed it.
I’m not saying that there is anywhere that is 100% risk-free. I’m saying that some locales are inherently more risky than others. Those risks have costs to society measured in dollars and lives.
No one saying NO residents are idiots. But I’m not sure how we can continue to do the same thing (build below sea level) and expect anything but the same same result.
Well, at least Bush won’t have to purge those voters in New Orleans from the rolls in 2006 and 2008. I’m glad the GOP did everything it could to help the poor and the black die quicker. As Jesus would have, so they say.
Too bad the Louisiana National Guard was guarding oil wells in Iraq instead of the pipelines in New Orleans.
Oil companies = casinos and/or drug cartels. Oil prices will only go down when the deaths of oil executives only go up.
No no no Hendrick. My reference to a deep water port was neither insensitive nor ironic. I was trying to make a point about why that city is important to our entire nation and my snarky attitude got in the way.
So, to clarify… The Port of New Orleans is very very important to the US for it’s major import and export business. It sits at the base of 5 or 6 rivers (now…”base”? not sure that’s the correct term). Tons and tons of export business comes by barge down those rivers to the port where it is exported. The same is true for imports going the other way. It would cost much much more to transport another way than it would cost to maintain and/or repair that port.
Large cities always exist around large ports…hence New Orleans. I guess our forefathers, or the French in this case, thought it was worth the risk of being below sea level.
So, without being a smart-ass, my point was that the expenditure federal dollars has and will benefit the entire nation, not just the state of Louisana.
I apologize if someone has already laid into “Davey,” but I would just like to point out–having lived half of my life on the west bank of NO–that in order to WALK or ride a bicycle out of the area into safety would require you to start going as soon as the alerts of a storm forming were announced. It is not only NOLA itself that is below sea level and flooding, but the entire surrounding areas. But that dumb ass point aside, here is a better question.
Why didn’t they use the school buses and city buses to relocate people?
And why, why, whywhywhy do people continue to defend Bush in the face of such gross inadequacies? How many atrocities will you fools willingly suffer and continue to smile and sing the song?