Barbara Bush: It's Good Enough for the Poor

posted by John Nichols on 09/06/2005 @ 1:08pm

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Finally, we have discovered the roots of George W. Bush's "compassionate conservatism."

On the heels of the president's "What, me worry?" response to the death, destruction and dislocation that followed upon Hurricane Katrina comes the news of his mother's Labor Day visit with hurricane evacuees at the Astrodome in Houston.

Commenting on the facilities that have been set up for the evacuees -- cots crammed side-by-side in a huge stadium where the lights never go out and the sound of sobbing children never completely ceases -- former First Lady Barbara Bush concluded that the poor people of New Orleans had lucked out.

"Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this, this is working very well for them," Mrs. Bush told American Public Media's "Marketplace" program, before returning to her multi-million dollar Houston home.

On the tape of the interview, Mrs. Bush chuckles audibly as she observes just how great things are going for families that are separated from loved ones, people who have been forced to abandon their homes and the only community where they have ever lived, and parents who are explaining to children that their pets, their toys and in some cases their friends may be lost forever. Perhaps the former first lady was amusing herself with the notion that evacuees without bread could eat cake.

At the very least, she was expressing a measure of empathy commensurate with that evidenced by her son during his fly-ins for disaster-zone photo opportunities.

On Friday, when even Republican lawmakers were giving the federal government an "F" for its response to the crisis, President Bush heaped praise on embattled Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Michael Brown. As thousands of victims of the hurricane continued to plead for food, water, shelter, medical care and a way out of the nightmare to which federal neglect had consigned them, Brown cheerily announced that "people are getting the help they need."

Barbara Bush's son put his arm around the addled FEMA functionary and declared, "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job."

Like mother, like son.

Even when a hurricane hits, the apple does not fall far from the tree.

Comments (135)

Oh! what a beautiful mind!

This just in: In case you were wondering where he's been lately, Big Dick Cheney and Mike (I didn't know there were people in the convention center) Chertoff have been dispatched to investigate why the Federal response was so slow. Karl's behind the curtain working the spin and slime machine.

Watch out Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin!

FEMA director Brown, DHS director Chertoff - you're safe. Halliburton, c'mon down.

Now, let's leave the pres'dint alone. He needs to get on with his life.

Posted by proudlib at 09/06/2005 @ 1:20pm
These people simply have no scorn.

Posted by geoman77 at 09/06/2005 @ 1:23pm
What anyone, even in this twisted administration, thought could be gained by Mommy Bush's visit to New Orleans is beyond me.

But really, bloggers, Babs is just an irrelevant old woman. What's the point in beating up on her? Do we really need to further illustrate the lineage of W's detachment? I think it's kind of late for that.

Posted by drhammer at 09/06/2005 @ 1:37pm
DRHAMMER

You're probably right, but the comment is just too stupid to go unnoticed.

Posted by BSF at 09/06/2005 @ 1:58pm
Republican Jerks

The Republican Nemesis [taxwisdom.org]

WAKE UP PEOPLE!

.

Posted by Linette at 09/06/2005 @ 1:58pm
BTW, I just saw a Reuters report that oil prices have slipped about 10% from their high. I'm going to rush out to my local gas station and watch the corresponding drop in price at the pump. I'm also going to hold my breath while it happens. Please, no flowers when you send condolences to my wife and daughter...

Posted by bookmanjb at 09/06/2005 @ 2:43pm
If anyone in US history was likely to tell the masses to eat cake, it is Barbara Bush. I've heard it said that W resembles her in personality and style, which is sad. I don't know that we are well off with a prez who resembles "Lady MacBeth of Kennebunkport" (with apologies for mixing my metaphors).

I any case, the administration belief that the masses should be grateful for any crumbs they're thrown, I wouldn't have expected better.

Posted by jims0121 at 09/06/2005 @ 2:50pm
You don't have to read German philosophy to see this whole incident as deeply emblematic of currents in American politics that have been afoot since the 1968 elections. Front and center is the insistence that the U.S. has no poverty or race problem and that any successful candidate must buy into this mantra (Witness the EARLY comments of frmr. Pres. Clinton; AKA the apologist for Bush II). The slave-holding South held on to its power long after 1868 largely by reminding poor whites that at least they are not black and could count on a few scraps from the State Legislature during tough times; hence, the considerably larger $$ pot that is in the works for Mississippi than its soaked neighbor. Old S.L. Barbara is merely the mouthpiece of a world view that has prevailed in those circles for some time now.

Posted by Kihnley at 09/06/2005 @ 3:19pm
Yeah, well. Barbara Bush, descendent of the wholly forgettable pre-civil war pres Franklin Pierce, wife to the marvelously out of touch George H.W. and mother to the most self-righteous mix of political savvy and cretinism ever to march about with the presidential seal embroidered on his jockstrap. Just another blue blood loser with a superiority complex. What else can you expect?

Posted by Jayarjunyah at 09/06/2005 @ 3:20pm
Did anyone expect a different type of reaction? What would one expect from an administration or a family that feels more at home with the "have and have mores." What would one expect from a mother or son who never did a day's work in their lives?

But, over 51 million people in this country , supposedly, voted that spoiled brat back into office. We are getting what we deserve as a stupid country, however, the victims of Katrina are feeling the brunt of an additional type of hurricane. It's the callous dehumanization caused by the "aire" of this administation's aristocratic arrogance.

The Marie Antionette style of sympathy paid to the unfortunates of Louisianna shows the same regard that is given our troops fighting an unjust war without the proper equipment, the same disregard that was shown to Cindy Sheehan, and the same disregard that has been shown to the middle class worker. Americans that have lost jobs to outsourcing now have to pay higher energy costs while the Cheney type top 1%-ers get tax breaks to implement and profit from all the hardships listed above.

This has got to be the most corrupt and arrogant government that this planet has ever seen, and the people closest to it are the most blinded. Even the power from the eye of Katrina isn't enough to reveal the truth to them.

Regards, Alias

Posted by Alias at 09/06/2005 @ 4:14pm
This is another straw on the camels back. When are we going to see the investigations resolved 2010? these should be expedited to actually get to the bottom of these issues, those that are ongoing should be given to an independent authority from the supreme court and final verdict should be made prior to filling the current empty seats.

The reasoning for completing these investigations prior to filling those seats is that the results of the investigations may require this entire administration to step down with a few actually serving time for obstruction of justice.

These are grievous issues, impeachment issues and the stalling of this administration is in itself evidence that their complicity is unforgivable.

We need to start clambering now to protect the 06 elections from the malfeasants of the last three major elections we must demand a paper trail on all voting machines, the polling precincts must have the facilities to handle the voters of their precincts with out long delays everyone,s vote must be counted not buried under bureaucracy.

Posted by dycel8r at 09/06/2005 @ 4:21pm
Mommy Bush didn't visit NOLA she visited Houston

Posted by DrBill at 09/06/2005 @ 4:24pm
Jayar,

You should be more forthright with your opinions.

Posted by oraibi1952 at 09/06/2005 @ 4:54pm
the correct market price to look at to determine which way gas prices will be going is the wholesale gas spot contract. Unleaded for delivery. Make sure to add in the fed tax and the state taxes, if any. Even then, wholesale prices can vary region to region, but its close.

Oil prices do not determine the price of gasoline. Gasoline is produced from oil, yes, but it's produced at refineries who can only produce so much of the stuff thanks to lovely environmental policies. So...you have limited potential supply of gasoline even with unlimited amounts of oil. Of course there is a relationship in the longer term, but not when refineries get to operate at 99 percent capacity. Its almost manna from heaven for the refiners. Maybe we should burst their bubble and add some increased supply:)

Oh, I thought I'd say a word about the strategic reserves W has bought for us. (20 Billion dollar facility that holds oil in caverns). It's mildly amusing that it contains only OIL not any other products such as GASOLINE. W can't be so dumb as to think that all refineries can survive a terrorist/hurricane disaster so perhaps the lack of gas to stick in the pipeline is part of a conspiracy:)

Posted by semivoid at 09/06/2005 @ 5:19pm
ORAIBI1952:

I've heard that. I've always thought my biggest problem was too great an inclination to subtlety and self restraint. I'm too fucking humble, that's what it is.

Posted by Jayarjunyah at 09/06/2005 @ 5:41pm
Jayar,

Laughing out loud.

Posted by oraibi1952 at 09/06/2005 @ 5:44pm
Ok folks, as "Dubya" would say,, shhhh, all this will be shoved under a rug, just as all the rest of the investigations. Why are all these criminal acts and injustices of human rights, our nations honor allowed to happen constantly?! Is "he" allowed to do what ever he wants with no repercussions, EVER? And lets put the fox to guard the hen house why don't we? Insane!

Posted by Murphy at 09/06/2005 @ 5:51pm
SEMIVOID: Yes, you are right about the theory of how the prices at the pumps are set. Of course, when the price spikes overnight, the oil industry always points to some external event (terrorism, market jitters, Arab skulduggery, whatever seems plausible), NOT to refinery problems, to explain it. The price NEVER drops as fast as it spikes. The fact that for once they really HAD refinery problems--on LABOR DAY WEEKEND no less--was like a wetdream come true. The gouging has been spectacular.

Posted by bookmanjb at 09/06/2005 @ 6:28pm
You know as "bad" as those Bushes are...

wonder why Bill Clinton hangs out with them?

Posted by Mask at 09/06/2005 @ 6:30pm
Bar and son know that this disaster will be soon forgotton by the American people. So why spend much time or thought in formulating a response, either verbally (bar) or logistically (dubya)? Do you really think that if the majority of Americans truly cared about "those people" that georgie would be president in the first place?

Posted by burningFox at 09/06/2005 @ 6:48pm
Mask; Bill Clinton's a big phony jerk too. He's in good company with the Bushs (BushI? Bushae?) They deserve each other. He's probably Bush Sr's love child. Has anybody noticed Clinton and Barbara B. have the same hair? Inbreeding. That's why they're all a bunch of paqueteros, as they say in Washington Heights. Cheap gangsters.

Posted by Jayarjunyah at 09/06/2005 @ 7:15pm
I was living in New York City when Hillary ran for senate. Her cult dominated the west side democrats to the point that people completely lost sight of the fact that there was a primary a full year before the primary went down. No support was given to the other "democrats" in the contest. Meanwhile, Billy C. was busy wooing the petty boojwah black professionals up in Harlem, flattering them with his attention. Calvin Butts of Absynnian Baptist nearly wet himself running back and forth between the remnants of the fading Pataki-Giuliani (pre 9/11) machine and the newly emerging, post administration Clinton dynasty. If memory serves, he ended up a junior college president somewhere upstate. Anyway, its disgusting. Clintons play silly tunes, and people dance. Phonys to the last. Why anyone buys into anything they say testifies to me how desperate many a liberal has become. We used to say the map isn't the journey, now the democrats say, "oh, let's just build everything around this dirt map". And dirt it is. But some of us aren't eating it anymore.

Posted by Jayarjunyah at 09/06/2005 @ 7:54pm
JAYAR, I look forward to your posts as I enjoy them immensely. However, I don't always agree. The Clintons are not very liberal, for sure, but they are better than George W. any day of the week.

Posted by ILOVEPHYSICS at 09/06/2005 @ 8:33pm
I'm sure that most of you have seen or read Scott McClellan's press conference today, but most of it should be repeated and shown to as many people that you know.

This guy speaks for the most powerful man in the world.

Babs just speaks for...who knows?

Q Scott, the reality at hand right now is that the President said that we still live in an unsettled world. This is an administration that has told us since 9/11 that it's not a matter of "if," but "when" that we could be struck by a terror attack and, obviously, other disasters that are the result of Mother Nature. So at this point, where is the accountability? Is the President prepared to say where this White House, where this administration went wrong in its response to Katrina?

MR. McCLELLAN: You know, David, there are some that are interested in playing the blame game. The President is interested in solving problems and getting help to the people who need it. There will be a time --

Q Wait a minute. Is it a blame game when the President, himself, says that we remain at risk for either another catastrophe of this dimension, that's not manmade, or a terrorist attack? Isn't it incumbent upon this administration to immediately have accountability to find out what went wrong, when at any time this could happen again?

MR. McCLELLAN: This is a massive federal response effort that we have underway. We've got to stay focused on helping those who are in need right now and help them rebuild their lives and get back up on their feet. It's a time of many challenges, enormous challenges. We've got to stay focused on the task at hand. That is what the President is doing.

Now, in terms of addressing threats, we've made a lot of progress since the attacks of September 11th. And one of the most important things we're doing is staying on the offensive abroad. There are important priorities that we have to continue to address and we are working to address those priorities, too. But we have a major disaster that has occurred over a 90,000 square mile [sic] here in the United States. There are people --

Q Right. And there are people who want to know why this government couldn't respond --

MR. McCLELLAN: Hang on. There are people who are suffering, and we've got to respond to their needs, and that's what we're going to keep our focus.

Q So no one is prepared to say what went wrong?

MR. McCLELLAN: We will look at back at the facts and we will get to the bottom of the facts and determine what went wrong and what went right. But right now --

Q Will the President support an outside investigation, or does he want to do it himself?

MR. McCLELLAN: -- but, David, right now, we've got to continue helping the people in the region.

Q Will he support an outside investigation --

Q But, Scott, more concretely, an officer of the Northern Command is quoted as saying that as early as the time Hurricane Katrina went through Florida and worked its way up to the Gulf, there was a massive military response ready to go, but that the President did not order it. It could have been ordered on Sunday, on Monday, on Tuesday -- the call didn't come. Why not?

MR. McCLELLAN: Bill, let's point out a couple of things. There were a lot of assets that were deployed and pre-positioned prior to the hurricane hitting. And you have to look back --

Q These assets were deployed, but the order to use them never came. The Bataan was sitting off behind the hurricane.

MR. McCLELLAN: I know these are all facts that you want to look at and want to determine what went wrong and what went right. I'm not prepared to agree with your assessment just there. There is a much larger picture here that we have to take a look at, and --

Q It's not mine, it's an officer in the Northern Command.

MR. McCLELLAN: -- in terms of the President, the President issued disaster declarations ahead of time so that we could make sure we're fully mobilizing resources and pre-positioning them. But this was a hurricane of unprecedented magnitude.

Q Right, but the military can't go into action without his order.

MR. McCLELLAN: I'll be glad to talk to you about it, but I've got to have a chance to respond to --

*

Q In view of the national crisis, will the President withdraw his proposal for this tax cut for the richest people in the country? And, also, my second question is, why did we turn down foreign help?

MR. McCLELLAN: Actually, I'm glad you brought that up. We have not. We have made very clear -- I made clear last week, the State Department made clear last week that we are going to take people up on their offers of assistance from foreign countries. There are some 94 nations and international organizations that have made offers of assistance -- whether that is cash support or I think water pumps from places like Germany or other areas. We said that if this can help alleviate things on the ground, we're going to take them up on their offers of assistance and we appreciate the compassion from the international community and their offers of assistance.

Q And how about my first question?

MR. McCLELLAN: Your first question?

Q Biggest tax cut, permanent tax cut for the richest people in the country -- in view of the national crisis, in view of the deficit --

MR. McCLELLAN: The highest priority for this administration right now is the ongoing response and recovery efforts --

Q No, no, I'm asking you a question.

MR. McCLELLAN: And I'm responding to your question. The highest priority right now for this government is the ongoing Katrina response and recovery efforts and helping the people who need the help. There are other priorities, too, and we'll be working to address those, as well.

Q I just want to follow up on David's questions on accountability. First, just to get you on the record, where does the buck stop in this administration?

MR. McCLELLAN: The President.

Q All right. So he will be held accountable as the head of the government for the federal response that he's already acknowledged was inadequate and unacceptable?

MR. McCLELLAN: The President's most important responsibility is the safety and security of the American people. He talks about that often. That is his most important responsibility. Again, there's going to be plenty of time to look at the facts and determine what went wrong and what went right and how the coordination was between the state and federal and local authorities. Right now we've got to continue doing everything we can in support of the ongoing operational activities on the ground in the region to help people.

Q Well, the President has said that this government can do many things at once: It can fight the war on terror, it can do operations in Iraq, and aid and comfort people in Louisiana. Can it not also find time to begin to hold people accountable? It sounds, Scott, as if the line that you're giving us -- which is, you don't want to answer questions about accountability because there's too much busy work going on --

MR. McCLELLAN: Wrong. No, wrong.

Q -- is a way of ducking accountability.

MR. McCLELLAN: You don't want to take away from the efforts that are going on right now. And if you start getting into that now, you're pulling people out that are helping with the ongoing response, Terry. Not at all. The President made it very clear, I'm going to lead this effort and we're going to make sure we find out what the facts were and what went wrong and what went right. But you don't want to divert resources away from an ongoing response to a major catastrophe. And this is a major catastrophe that we -- and we must remain focused on saving lives and sustaining lives and planning for the long-term. And that's what we're doing.

Q And there are people in Louisiana and Mississippi who are doing that job very well. Your job is to answer the questions.

MR. McCLELLAN: And I have.

Q By saying you won't answer.

MR. McCLELLAN: No, by saying that there's a time to look at those issues, but now is not the time, Terry.

***

Posted by simplefolk at 09/06/2005 @ 9:00pm
I read today that Homeland Security decided to donate the $138 Million in "Knock-Off" clothing & sneakers it has confiscated to the evacuees from Katrina; rather than destroy them at the behest of the top designer houses. Personally I'm really glad to know that Homeland Security has been protecting we Americans from these "knock-offs", all the while letting infrastructure and emergency management, go by the wayside. I feel so much safer now.

Posted by Larocque at 09/06/2005 @ 9:20pm
Our government's reaction to this disaster has been apalling. Even more disgusting is the "let them eat cake" attitude that the Bushes seem to exude.

For more on issues involving the poor and indigent - check out my blog: http://thewretchedoftheearth.blogspot.com

Posted by howard383 at 09/06/2005 @ 9:40pm
As I side point, I noticed in the press conference how 94 nations have offered aid. I remember a few days ago, some conservatives were making a big stink that nobody was offering the U.S. aid when we finally needed it. Ah - foot in mouth disease.

Posted by Hman23 at 09/06/2005 @ 10:41pm
Do you think this could turn into Katrina-gate? Or is it just me dreaming of impeachment?

Posted by dlecave at 09/06/2005 @ 11:42pm
No way. Sorry.

Posted by Hman23 at 09/06/2005 @ 11:46pm
It's great that the global community has offered their support even Cuba has offered doctors & meds. It is truly a wondorus world yet the powers that be are not availing this help could it be they feel this would open the door to help in Iraq?

Once again I direct you to Mr Keith Olbermann's Bloggerman site for an interesting review of the current situation, here is an excerpt:

No one is suggesting that mayors or governors in the afflicted areas, nor the federal government, should be able to stop hurricanes. Lord knows, no one is suggesting that we should ever prioritize levee improvement for a below-sea-level city, ahead of $454 million worth of trophy bridges for the politicians of Alaska.

But, nationally, these are leaders who won re-election last year largely by portraying their opponents as incapable of keeping the country safe. These are leaders who regularly pressure the news media in this country to report the reopening of a school or a power station in Iraq, and defies its citizens not to stand up and cheer. Yet they couldn't even keep one school or power station from being devastated by infrastructure collapse in New Orleans -- even though the government had heard all the "chatter" from the scientists and city planners and hurricane centers and some group whose purposes the government couldn't quite discern... a group called The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

And most chillingly of all, this is the Law and Order and Terror government. It promised protection -- or at least amelioration -- against all threats: conventional, radiological, or biological.

It has just proved that it cannot save its citizens from a biological weapon called standing water.

Mr. Bush has now twice insisted that, "we are not satisfied," with the response to the manifold tragedies along the Gulf Coast. I wonder which "we" he thinks he's speaking for on this point. Perhaps it's the administration, although we still don't know where some of them are. Anybody seen the Vice President lately? The man whose message this time last year was, 'I'll Protect You, The Other Guy Will Let You Die'?

I don't know which 'we' Mr. Bush meant.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6210240/

Posted by dycel8r at 09/07/2005 @ 12:03am
HMAN ya this could never meet the standards for impeachment no one got a blow job the American people just got screwed!

Posted by dycel8r at 09/07/2005 @ 12:06am
DYCEL8R:

I know, it's a shame when you look back at the low threshhold the GOP attack dogs gave Clinton

Posted by Hman23 at 09/07/2005 @ 12:25am
Soooo why does this administratons actions not merit an impeachment? The problem is the people still see what they want to see and hear what they want to hear. Just how much is enough how many people have to die and suffer and be s--- on to see the light. If you get a chance read Olbermanns blog link is in my 12:03 post its quite intertaining

Posted by dycel8r at 09/07/2005 @ 12:47am
gotta love it

Posted by dycel8r at 09/07/2005 @ 01:18am
Don't forget, she's old, she may be trying to get into heaven!!

Posted by Newt21961 at 09/07/2005 @ 01:21am
Ex First Lady Barbara Bush confirms that the poor are not taken care for in the richest country of the world, if live at the US refugees camps (Domes)is better than the normal environment of US poor, than public policy for the most needed is a clear failure.

Posted by areyouok at 09/07/2005 @ 03:19am
This Nation made available raw tape of comments by Barbara Bush in Houston. After a listen, I must disagree with how writer John Nichols characterizes her remarks.

Nichols concludes Mrs. Bush "was amusing herself with the notion that evacuees without bread could eat cake."

He then says, "she was expressing a measure of empathy commensurate with that evidenced by her son during his fly-ins for disaster-zone photo opportunities."

"Like mother, like son." he says, concluding that "Even when a hurricane hits, the apple does not fall far from the tree."

Nichols simply got it wrong. In fact, her comments are similar to remarks from several New Orleans residents. She clearly is proud, as she should be, of her fellow Houston residents.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with saying people from New Orleans should be grateful for hospitality received in Houston. To say Mrs. Bush conditions this appreciation by economic status is misleading and incorrect. Additionally, for Nichols to imply Barbara Bush is condescending is, I believe, neither accurate nor responsible.

For Nichols to attack a mother because he dislikes her son is, I find, much more offensive. Let's face it, for Nichols to use Barbara Bush to attack President Bush is, in the scheme of things, really a cheap shot.

This attack on Barbara Bush served no purpose other than to inflame. That the accuracy of the story is suspect ultimately hurts journalism far more than it will ever hurt the former First Lady.

Today is a crisis time for all Americans. Particularly now, journalists must rise to meeting the very highest of journalistic standards. We don't have the luxury to do otherwise.

Allen White San Francisco, CA

Posted by Allen White at 09/07/2005 @ 08:05am
Poor George Bush. Suddenly, he finds himself between Iraq and a hard place. But the real disaster of this entire administration and his Republican-controlled Congress is that the rest of us do, too. Their calamitous policies and practices are legion: from the mismanagement of wetlands, not to say their destruction because of greedy land developers; to recently cutting, by 71.2 million dollars, the budget of the Army Corps of Engineers, responsible for the crumbling, and now breached, levees in Louisiana; to denying the existence of global warming and refusing to make common cause with the more responsible nations, which have signed, and begun the implementation of, the Kyoto Accords; to mis-education through the badly conceived "No Child Left Behind Act," which leaves our children tested but untaught--unprepared to think critically, to solve problems; to unintelligent, troglodyte efforts to revamp science curricula to include the religiously-, not scientifically-, based "Intelligent Design"; to lying to the American public about Saddam's "responsibility" for 9/11 and the existence of deadly WMD in Iraq; to fighting an "elective" war that, since it began, has brought more carnage to Iraqis (and to Americans) than ever Saddam Hussein did when the U.S. supported him in the 1980s; to attempting to get rid of Social Security to support their friends in the securities industries; to lying about the true costs of their prescription drug benefit and threatening to fire the chief actuary of the Medicare program if he went public with the truth, to support Big Pharma; to playing politics through the FDA with the "morning after" pill because they care about "the culture of life" and which will only result in more births to girls and women unable to culture the lives of their children; to refusing to adequately support medical research that might someday save lives, again because of the "culture of life"; even, as Bush headed to the aptly-named El Mirage RV and Golf Resort, literally, to turning his back on the meteorologists, who had been warning about Katrina, as the storm gathered in the Caribbean, days before it made landfall in the Gulf states. The hurricane came and went. Now it's morning in America. Time to wake up, to act, to reverse and repair the damage wrought by nature but also by these men and women. Somebody, surely, is giving Americans the rainbow sign: No more water; the fire next time!

Ellen Tremper

Posted by ETremper at 09/07/2005 @ 08:16am
Allen White - Hold on a sec. How do you parse the following: "And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this, this is working very well for them". Nichols is certainly not the only one struck by Barbara Bush's comments. I believe that some journalists pressed the White House for clarification or comment on her statements.

OK, so she's proud of the generosity of the Texicans. Isn't there at least a hint of condescension or paternalism (maternalism?) going on here?

Posted by Fishbite at 09/07/2005 @ 08:23am
What Mrs. Bush said was dumb, but soon we must get beyond yuking it up over the stupidity of neo cons (didn't we already know which way their compassion ran?) and offer solutions of our own. One of the more obvious is the nationalization of 'second" or 'vacation" homes in the hands of the rich that could be turned over to the displaced from the Gulf Coast. The only place I have seen this discussed is on the Pirate Island Blog at www.coastnews.net [coastnews.net]. Worth thinking about.

Posted by sheriportgirl at 09/07/2005 @ 08:41am
Don't forget:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.

I'd like to see any of you do better.

Posted by stephens7902 at 09/07/2005 @ 09:08am
Awright, I don't like beating on an old lady any more than most folks. However, the Grand Dame's comments show that the prior generation of Bush's were at least as out of touch with reality as the current incarnation. Moral of the story...the nut-job didn't fall far from the bush!

Posted by leftofcenter at 09/07/2005 @ 09:38am
I am absolutely livid. I just learned that New Orleans' exquisite D-Day Museum, home to priceless historical artifacts, memorabilia, and donated personal WWII possessions, structurally withstood the hurricane and flood just fine but was raided by looters. What was not taken away was vandalized and destroyed.

Just last month my son spent three days in that museum, reading every plaque, listening to every audio and video clip, memorizing every detail of each exhibit. In three full days he still couldn't see all there was to see that was packed into that building.

Like I've said before, looting and madness happens when people are deprived of basic needs like food and water for an indefinite amount of time. Where was the help that was so desperately needed in those four days after Katrina decimated New Orleans?

People like to point fingers at the director of homeland security, at FEMA, at others. But, you know, who is the one ultimately responsible for this country and the actions of those under him? The President. Let's stop acting like knife-throwers at a carnival here, hitting everywhere on the board except the warm body in the middle.

Katrina ravaged Louisiana, Bush was on vacation for two days. After his famous fake-out appearance in New Orleans that grounded the rescue helicopters, he went and played golf. We have all been reading jaw-dropping reports of his psychopathic disregard for human life, and the list continues.

And now this. The D-Day Museum has been destroyed. Not by weather, no. Destroyed by the very people that Bush has so heinously betrayed and forsaken, the victims of Katrina. One of the most important museums containing original historical accounts by our forefathers and American veterans of World War II. Dececrated by people gone rabid with hysterical despair.

Listen carefully, Dubya, if you had been there for us from day one, had you taken care of your citizens like a real honest leader would have, had you pulled your fascist head out of your ass and arranged stand-by rescue and relief for the victims of this disaster the first moment you heard the damn thing was about to hit land, the destructive feral reaction of these desperate people would not have played out.

Shame on you, Bush. What do you have to say now to our war Veterans who volunteered their time and so diligently worked to preserve our history in the D-Day Museum? My son cried when he heard looters had destroyed everything in his favorite museum. By your negligence you have stolen and obliterated precious history from our children forever.

This is your fault, Dubya. The buck stops at your desk. Your regime shall now be named the Reign of Mass Destruction. Your criminal negligence during Hurricane Katrina has caused more deaths than 9/11, and unfathomable destruction of our priceless historical documentation by deprivation-crazed victims. And I'm not even counting the lives lost and property destroyed in Iraq.

Negligence, Mr. President, is the most silent, insidious, and deadly form of violence of all, and its stench is reeking from your soul.

Posted by RavenHovering at 09/07/2005 @ 10:20am
Apparently compassionate conservatives are just conserving their compassion! They're just saving it up man, you know for a rainy day or something! Then their will be a flood of love........

Like more tax cuts for themselves, abolishing the the inheritance tax or capital gaines - you know something like that! I didn't say they would spread the love around equally !.........

You know the old saying, " God helps those who help themselves" - that 's all they're doing man!

Posted by NO-NONSENSE at 09/07/2005 @ 10:45am
I have known from the beginning of bushes illegally acquired presidency that only misery and untold pain would come from it. I now call for his and cheyneys impeachment and trial before the world court for crimes against humanity.

Posted by vietnam steve at 09/07/2005 @ 10:54am
Even Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass, who never misses an opportunity to praise/defend Dubya, devoted his column today to the silver-foot-in-mouth disease that the old crone demonstrated in Houston this week.

Posted by proudlib at 09/07/2005 @ 10:59am
True true impeach the bum, off with his head and the heads of those who follow.

We have a chance to make a change we must if only for our own survival the 2006 elections must be protected from the prior elections misconducts lack of a varifiable paper trail ballot, enough machines to allow the voters to vote in a timely mannor, an umpire to manage the partisan observers.

Write anyone and everyone in government and demand these election protections.

To those like STEPHENS7902 great idealism's but in order to qualify you must have the honor and integrity to merit the respect of your peers. The support you have for this group of miscretants IE: the bush administration and those kiss ass republicans in congress is obvious, when will you call them to task for their failures are many and their resolve to correct the problems they create are non existant!

Posted by dycel8r at 09/07/2005 @ 11:22am
I am convinced that Barbara Bush is a Sith lord. She sure looks and acts like one.

Posted by ajcreer at 09/07/2005 @ 11:36am
Georgie has now reacted slowly to two major disasters: sitting for minutes in that classroom after being told of the planes hitting the World Trade Center and now Katrina. He is without brains, compassion or smarts. I am not surprised at what his mom said- I am surprised that others are taking her to task for it. Her reaction explains how Georgie was grinning while he spoke of how he could not wait to sit on Trent Lott's rebuilt porch in the future- Trent Lott, the guy who said this country would have been much better under a Strom Thurmond presidency. To see Georgie laughing and grinning at his own words while he is surrounded by destruction and disaster was sad yet not surprising. I wonder how many of the 51 million that voted for this idiot are proud of their vote now.

It also appears that some in the media have gotten some of their bravery back- the way Mr. Brown was raked over the coals by Ted Koppell was a great moment in TV news. A lot of media people are critical of Mr. Bush and his slow moving bloated agency called Homeland Security.

I wonder how many Republicans will stick by Bush now or distance themselves. I can't wait until the next round of elections come up!

Posted by DeeJayMI at 09/07/2005 @ 11:36am
Wow. I wish I was full of hate and could attack those who say something true. No one thinks a hurricane wiping out cities in our country is a good thing, but no one can argue that many "relocated persons in distress" are now in better living conditions than what was destroyed. The comment was not meant to say that they now have it great, but that volunteers using caring donations have created a living condition better than anyone could expect.

Just a little note. It is easy for a federal government to fail when people don't listen to their Mayor who said anyone seeking shelter who choses not to evacuate "...should bring three to four days' worth of food, sleeping gear, and medical supplies..."

Mayor Nagin failed in his responsibility to the well being of his citizens by not providing all public mass transit as means of evacuation. As the NEW ORLEANS EMERGENCY GUIDE FOR CITIZENS states, "Preparedness must begin with the individual", so it must be the mother of the President's fault.

Posted by MightyCow9 at 09/07/2005 @ 11:43am
Regrettably that opinion is not confined to Barbara Bush. I was talking with one of my friends yesterday and she told me she was tired of hearing about New Orleans on TV. She thought the media should be talking more about the people in Biloxi and the Gulf Coast. Those folks in New Orleans, she said, are just welfare people who moved from one welfare shelter to another, so it wasn't that bad for them. They didn't have anything, so they couldn't lose anything. However, the people on the coast were property owners and people with good jobs who had lost things of real value. The media should be emphasizing them and forget about New Orleans. It was the first time I had heard it put this way and I just said absolutely nothing. I was totally stunned and totally speechless. I just ended the conversation and hung up. I couldn't think of an appropriate response to express my disgust without sounding sanctimonious, but I suddenly no longer had any desire to converse with that person. It made me very sad to know my friend felt this way, just as it makes me very sad to know we have a president who was raised by a woman who feels this way.

Posted by njbd at 09/07/2005 @ 12:01pm
It must have been a slow news day for you to pick on the former first lady, and I'm sure you didn't take anyting out of context either, reporters never do that. Don't you think in this time of crisis you could leave the presidents monther alone!!!

Posted by Arutha5 at 09/07/2005 @ 12:20pm
The daggers are out today. Have you ever stopped to consider the following.

A day like 9/11/01 had never happened before. How does a nation respond without any flaws?

This storm hits. It is the biggest natural catastrophe America has seen in 100+ years - maybe ever. Again, how do local, state and federal governments respond without making mistakes?

Yes, mistakes were made, no doubt. But, there has been numerous good, caring and unselfish acts performed also.

It would be helpful if we all could look at this with some common sense.

Posted by USAPRIDE at 09/07/2005 @ 12:22pm
Strict father morality vs nurtruant family morality - conservative morality vs. liberal morality. George Lapkoff, in his book "Moral Politics", answers the question "Why has the Bush administration responded so callously to the suffering and needs of our countrymen?" Bush's conservative compassion is another example of conservative morality, the offspring of strict father family morality, as practiced by the radical conservatives.

Posted by Ifida at 09/07/2005 @ 12:29pm
Wow, people are actually shocked about Barbara Bush's comments. I don't care how poor those Katrina Victims were. We are all human. Nobody deserves to be treated as they were treated, not even animals. And Barbara's comments show how George was raised, as a selfish money hungry idiot that doesn't care about anybody or anything that doesn't deal with money and power. George was obviously raised heartless, screw the poor mentality. They aren't that conservative afterall. Just sounds good to those who are. And those people fail to realize that we don't have a choice to be born into certain low/middle class families. Just because those in New Orleans were poor, that is what everything is focused on, "they were poor" and shame on whoever says that, it should be, "they are human", screw the rest of it. Who cares what economic classes that they are in!! There are alot more circumstances that leave these people poorer than others, not just they are lazy and it is their faults. I'm not religious but whatever happened to the Bible, and everything that this nation is taught about helping feed those without food and clothe those naked, all of that? WHERE IS THOSE PEOPLE WHO VOTED ON THEIR MORALITY? WHAT A JOKE!!! Another lesson learned from what the Bush Administration is capable of. Oh, and did Haliburton get any contracts for helping rebuild New Orleans???? I think that's a good question!! Oh, and how much did Bush, his family, and his buddies donate to the disaster relief funds??? Bet ya nothing!!!

Posted by juliacuteone at 09/07/2005 @ 12:33pm
And haha USAPRIDE about how does the nation perform without any flaws after catastrophes. Well first off they can take the warnings before all of these events, and plan instead of after the fact!!!! Like duhhhhhhh..... Mistakes are all we see from this administration!!

Posted by juliacuteone at 09/07/2005 @ 12:39pm
J: They did warn the public prior to the storm. So did the local government. Too bad the people didn't heed those warnings.

"Mistakes are all we see from this administration!!"

Simply not true. Nothing more than ranting lunacy on your part.

Posted by USAPRIDE at 09/07/2005 @ 12:50pm
Don't blame only feds

Crime rate, inept pols leveled New Orleans before the storm

Let's take a break from the joy of Bush bashing to reveal the dirty little secret of New Orleans: Its local government deserves an F for its planning and response to Katrina. And one other thing: The New Orleans police force would be a joke if it weren't a disgrace.

Yes, I know it's impolitic to say such things while the suffering in the Big Easy is fresh and many cops risked their lives to save others. But now is the time to blow the whistle on the story line being repeated by rote across America: That the federal government ignored New Orleans because most of its residents are black and poor.

That narrative has all the accuracy of a historic novel: it takes two undisputed facts - the feds were slow and New Orleans is largely black and poor - and weaves in pure fiction to make the desired link.

The charge of racism-inspired foot-dragging isn't just nonsense. It's pernicious nonsense, as in destructive and malicious. You know that's a fact because loony Howard Dean, the Democratic Party boss, is now peddling it. He's joined by Jesse Jackson, who said the squalor in New Orleans "looks like the hull of a slave ship." Oh, please.

If even a smidgen of the racism charges are true, President Bush should be shot. But before we give him his blindfold, let's look at New Orleans before Katrina.

Start with crime. That looters ran unchecked after the hurricane isn't surprising when you consider that criminals have had the run of the city for years.

It is a perennial contender for Murder Capital. The 264 homicides last year were a drop of only 11 from 2003 - and the first decline in five years.

New Orleans, with fewer than 500,000 people, had almost half the murders of New York, which had 570 homicides last year in a city of more than 8 million. Put another way, if New York had New Orleans' murder rate, we would have more than 4,200 murders a year.

That the New Orleans police are hardly the Finest was proven by a shocking report yesterday: Nearly a third of New Orleans cops - some 500 of the 1,600 - are now unaccounted for. The department says some quit, but it doesn't know where most of them are.

The top cop, Eddie Compass, has responded by offering all officers paid vacations to Las Vegas and Atlanta. Yes, that's right - he is pulling all cops off the street, even while bodies lie in the open. Never in New York.

Then there's Mayor Ray Nagin, a Democrat, who has blamed everybody but himself. Maybe he has forgotten his plans for dealing with Katrina.

Last July, his office prepared DVDs warning that, if the city ever had to be evacuated, residents were on their own. According toa July 24 article in The Times-Picayune (spotted by the Web's Drudge Report), "Mayor Ray Nagin, local Red Cross Executive Director Kay Wilkins and City Council President Oliver Thomas drive home the word that the city does not have the resources to move out of harm's way an estimated 134,000 people without transportation."

"You're responsible for your safety, and you should be responsible for the person next to you," one official said of the message.

And how's this for preparation? Cops were told not to work on the day Katrina hit, one officer told The New York Times, but "to come in the next day, to save money on their budget."

By all means, let's investigate what went wrong in New Orleans. Let's start in City Hall.

Posted by LIBSARENUTS at 09/07/2005 @ 1:07pm
LAN - OK, let's start in City Hall. But let's end up in Washington.

Posted by Fishbite at 09/07/2005 @ 1:39pm
There has been something askew in the reporting from New Orleans. It has bothered me for a week now. Finally, when I took a look at the 2000 census data on New Orleans, a lot became clearer.

According to the Census, the population of New Orleans in 2000 was 485,000 of whom 326,000 were black, 136,000 white, and the remaining ten thousand or so each, Asian or Hispanic.

If 75-80 percent of the population evacuated the city safely before the storm hit, as everybody is reporting, that means that far more than half the black population escaped safely before the storm slammed into the city. Even if all those who did not evacuate were black -- and that is manifestly not true -- 25 percent of the total population is only 121,000. Twenty percent is 96,000. By far the majority of blacks in New Orleans, who numbered as the storm began some 326,000, evacuated in advance.

Even they lost much, maybe everything, but at least they were not caught in the roiling water.

Secondly, I have heard ever since reading about Huey Long of the 1930s that Louisiana is one of the most corrupt and dependency-prone states in the Union. Of all the cities in the south, New Orleans seems the one most welfare-oriented, least entrepreneurial, most state-dependent, and least economically dynamic. More than any other southern city, it is "Old South" rather than "New South." That, of course, is part of its charm. It refuses the modern bustle, says "Slow down, Be easy." It lulls. Its charm seduces. And it is also the prototypical, old-time welfare-state city.

The Census report shows what that means in vivid detail. In 2000, there were only 25,000 two-parent families in New Orleans with children under 18. By contrast, there were more than 26,000 female householders with children under 18, and no husband present. In other words, slightly more mothers all alone with children than married-couple mothers.

In addition, there were more than 18,000 householders who were more than 65 years old and living alone. Of these, most would normally be female.

If you add together the 26,000 female householders with children under 18, no husband present, and the 18,000 householders more than 65 years old and living alone, that is an estimated 40,000 female-headed households. That explains the pictures we are seeing on television, which are overwhelming female, most often with young children. The chances of persons in this demographic being employed full-time, year round, and with a good income, are not high. The chances of them living in poverty, and without an automobile, are exceedingly high.

In the future, city planners should carefully count in advance the numbers of persons who fall in this demographic when they formulate evacuation plans. Female householders all by themselves with children or over 65 are statistically likely to be severely disadvantaged in thinking about options for the future, disadvantaged in not having the means to determine their own destiny, and disadvantaged with respect to the habits of mind that accustom them to taking charge of their own future. Special provision will need to be made for helping them. They are likely to be accustomed to being taken care of by the state.

The younger mothers among them have been abandoned by those they should have been able to count on, the males in their lives. The over-65s (in urban areas) are likely to be totally dependent on Social Security and other government benefits, without private pensions or homeownership of their own. In emergencies, such persons need someone else to take care of them. It is wrong to throw them, at this point, solely on their own resources. Some will be able to manage that, but by no means all.

Is this not what our eyes are showing us among those who failed to evacuate in time? To be sure, thousands of those taking refuge are men, and some are married couples, and some are white, Hispanic, or Asian. More research could show that my own hypotheses -- and even visual observations -- are wrong. But the Census data helps explain to me what my eyes are seeing.

Another question that bothers me: I would also really like to know what happened to the better-off blacks and whites of New Orleans, who escaped before the storm hit. How many have lost their homes? How many have loved ones still unaccounted for?

What are things now like in those lovely suburbs around New Orleans?

It is not only those who did not evacuate in time that seem to have suffered horribly. I would love to see more reporting about the middle class -- and sympathy for them, too. They are Katrina's victims, too.

Is it possible that many of them will not receive the insurance payments they are counting on, in order to get their lives started up again at a level not too far below where they were before the storm hit? Have they taken a permanent hit? How will many cope with that?

The poor may suffer worst of all, but they are not the only ones to taste bitter ashes in times of calamity, and to find their souls tested. Those of the middle class who worked hard (maybe even worked their way out of poverty), played by the rules, and set aside some resources for times of trouble, also deserve our help. Especially just at that exact moment when everything they made so many sacrifices to attain has been taken from them.

It was just then that Job was tried. So might we all be.

Posted by LIBSARENUTS at 09/07/2005 @ 1:47pm
LAN - Gosh, so there are a lot of welfare moms in New Orleans. And some middle class or even wealthy blacks. And it's not just the poor folks that suffer - damn, those bitter ashes sure taste ... bitter. For the hard workers I mean.

This really helped put things in perspective for me. Kind of. Interesting reference to Job. God tried him to test his faith. Maybe that's what the administration (in D.C.) is doing - how bad can we keep screwing up and folks continue to have faith in us.

Posted by Fishbite at 09/07/2005 @ 1:53pm
SHERIPORTGIRL The nationalization of 'second' or 'vacation' homes would be a violation of the 5th ammendment to the Constitution.

Posted by ILOVEPHYSICS at 09/07/2005 @ 1:59pm
Barbara " bubbles" Bush may have made one of the most telling statements of this whole disaster. I can imagine her sentiments about the soldiers dying in Iraq. According to her " they are probably just not trying hard enough to finish the war for her little boy".

Posted by djm59 at 09/07/2005 @ 2:17pm
Hysteria springing from the mind and emotions of a liberal is reason enough to consider reinstating the widespread use of lobotomies for public safety. (that is a joke for those of you in Berkely CA and Madison WI and similar cities of refuge for the far left)

Posted by love liberty at 09/07/2005 @ 2:21pm
> Hysteria springing from the mind and emotions of a liberal is > reason enough to consider reinstating the widespread use of > lobotomies for public safety.

Yes, I see you've enjoyed yours.

Posted by madalch at 09/07/2005 @ 2:44pm
Blame Amid the Tragedy Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin failed their constituents.

BY BOB WILLIAMS Wednesday, September 7, 2005 12:01 a.m. EDT

As the devastation of Hurricane Katrina continues to shock and sadden the nation, the question on many lips is, Who is to blame for the inadequate response?

As a former state legislator who represented the legislative district most impacted by the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980, I can fully understand and empathize with the people and public officials over the loss of life and property.

Many in the media are turning their eyes toward the federal government, rather than considering the culpability of city and state officials. I am fully aware of the challenges of having a quick and responsive emergency response to a major disaster. And there is definitely a time for accountability; but what isn't fair is to dump on the federal officials and avoid those most responsible--local and state officials who failed to do their job as the first responders. The plain fact is, lives were needlessly lost in New Orleans due to the failure of Louisiana's governor, Kathleen Blanco, and the city's mayor, Ray Nagin.

The primary responsibility for dealing with emergencies does not belong to the federal government. It belongs to local and state officials who are charged by law with the management of the crucial first response to disasters. First response should be carried out by local and state emergency personnel under the supervision of the state governor and his emergency operations center.

The actions and inactions of Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin are a national disgrace due to their failure to implement the previously established evacuation plans of the state and city. Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin cannot claim that they were surprised by the extent of the damage and the need to evacuate so many people. Detailed written plans were already in place to evacuate more than a million people. The plans projected that 300,000 people would need transportation in the event of a hurricane like Katrina. If the plans had been implemented, thousands of lives would likely have been saved.

In addition to the plans, local, state and federal officials held a simulated hurricane drill 13 months ago, in which widespread flooding supposedly trapped 300,000 people inside New Orleans. The exercise simulated the evacuation of more than a million residents. The problems identified in the simulation apparently were not solved.

A year ago, as Hurricane Ivan approached, New Orleans ordered an evacuation but did not use city or school buses to help people evacuate. As a result many of the poorest citizens were unable to evacuate. Fortunately, the hurricane changed course and did not hit New Orleans, but both Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin acknowledged the need for a better evacuation plan. Again, they did not take corrective actions. In 1998, during a threat by Hurricane George, 14,000 people were sent to the Superdome and theft and vandalism were rampant due to inadequate security. Again, these problems were not corrected.

The New Orleans contingency plan is still, as of this writing, on the city's Web site, and states: "The safe evacuation of threatened populations is one of the principle [sic] reasons for developing a Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan." But the plan was apparently ignored.

Mayor Nagin was responsible for giving the order for mandatory evacuation and supervising the actual evacuation: His Office of Emergency Preparedness (not the federal government) must coordinate with the state on elements of evacuation and assist in directing the transportation of evacuees to staging areas. Mayor Nagin had to be encouraged by the governor to contact the National Hurricane Center before he finally, belatedly, issued the order for mandatory evacuation. And sadly, it apparently took a personal call from the president to urge the governor to order the mandatory evacuation.

The city's evacuation plan states: "The city of New Orleans will utilize all available resources to quickly and safely evacuate threatened areas." But even though the city has enough school and transit buses to evacuate 12,000 citizens per fleet run, the mayor did not use them. To compound the problem, the buses were not moved to high ground and were flooded. The plan also states that "special arrangements will be made to evacuate persons unable to transport themselves or who require specific lifesaving assistance. Additional personnel will be recruited to assist in evacuation procedures as needed." This was not done.

The evacuation plan warned that "if an evacuation order is issued without the mechanisms needed to disseminate the information to the affected persons, then we face the possibility of having large numbers of people either stranded and left to the mercy of a storm, or left in an area impacted by toxic materials." That is precisely what happened because of the mayor's failure.

Instead of evacuating the people, the mayor ordered the refugees to the Superdome and Convention Center without adequate security and no provisions for food, water and sanitary conditions. As a result people died, and there was even rape committed, in these facilities. Mayor Nagin failed in his responsibility to provide public safety and to manage the orderly evacuation of the citizens of New Orleans. Now he wants to blame Gov. Blanco and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. In an emergency the first requirement is for the city's emergency center to be linked to the state emergency operations center. This was not done.

The federal government does not have the authority to intervene in a state emergency without the request of a governor. President Bush declared an emergency prior to Katrina hitting New Orleans, so the only action needed for federal assistance was for Gov. Blanco to request the specific type of assistance she needed. She failed to send a timely request for specific aid.

In addition, unlike the governors of New York, Oklahoma and California in past disasters, Gov. Blanco failed to take charge of the situation and ensure that the state emergency operation facility was in constant contact with Mayor Nagin and FEMA. It is likely that thousands of people died because of the failure of Gov. Blanco to implement the state plan, which mentions the possible need to evacuate up to one million people. The plan clearly gives the governor the authority for declaring an emergency, sending in state resources to the disaster area and requesting necessary federal assistance.

State legislators and governors nationwide need to update their contingency plans and the operation procedures for state emergency centers. Hurricane Katrina had been forecast for days, but that will not always be the case with a disaster (think of terrorist attacks). It must be made clear that the governor and locally elected officials are in charge of the "first response."

I am not attempting to excuse some of the delays in FEMA's response. Congress and the president need to take corrective action there, also. However, if citizens expect FEMA to be a first responder to terrorist attacks or other local emergencies (earthquakes, forest fires, volcanoes), they will be disappointed. The federal government's role is to offer aid upon request.

The Louisiana Legislature should conduct an immediate investigation into the failures of state and local officials to implement the written emergency plans. The tragedy is not over, and real leadership in the state and local government are essential in the months to come. More importantly, the hurricane season is still upon us, and local and state officials must stay focused on the jobs for which they were elected--and not on the deadly game of passing the emergency buck.

Posted by LIBSARENUTS at 09/07/2005 @ 3:26pm
CNNUSATODAYGALLUP POLL: ONLY 13% BLAME BUSH? Wed Sep 07 2005 10:42:26 ET

A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll of 609 adults taken September 5-6

Posted by LIBSARENUTS at 09/07/2005 @ 3:29pm
LibsAreNuts - I'm sure everyone will thank me for not posting all the many articles that present a different point of view from the one you posted (3:36 pm). Here's my helful little aid to aftermath thinking:

Problem #1: Flood control measures were not sufficient to protect N.O. from severe hurricanes. If the levees, flood walls, etc. had been appropriately strengthened and maintained, perhaps there would have been no breach.

Problem #2: New Orleans' emergency measures to deal with the hurricane and flooding were either inadequate or not implemented effectively or both. With better emergency measures or better follow-through, more people could have been moved out of harm's way, the city shelters could have been better supplied and more secure.

Problem #3: As the scale of the disaster became evident by mid-day Tuesday (?), effective response beyond first responders already on the scene (Coast Guard and others) did not materialize until mid-day Friday. If soldiers, emergency personnel, air drops of supplies had materialized earlier, much suffering could have been alleviated.

Now, who is responsible for these problems? The governor of LA and the mayor of New Orleans for 1, 2 and 3? Remember that while focus above is on New Orleans, many other areas hit by the hurricane also suffered through incredible delays before the feds moved in. Again, who is responsible?

Posted by Fishbite at 09/07/2005 @ 3:48pm
Rio Bravo - stop with the surrogate posts of right wing hysteria you guys! Else I will start posting the set of NYT editorials on this subject and bury you in verbiage.

Posted by Fishbite at 09/07/2005 @ 3:50pm
Why is this being linked to as "News" on Yahoo?

By the way, everyone who is name-calling and pointing fingers: why don't you wait until the emergency is over. People are still dying and you are sitting at your computers typing lengthy arguments about Bush's personality, federal ineptitude, and "Republican Jerks" . Bureacracy and big-government will never, ever help anyone. Personal politics completely aside, get over it, get over yourselves, and go do something that matters to these people.

Posted by Joe H at 09/07/2005 @ 4:15pm
Joe H - Yeah, let's wait until the emergency is over. Then, get out the whitewash. And get over your own damn self while you're at it.

Posted by Fishbite at 09/07/2005 @ 4:25pm
Rio Bravo - what are you smoking? The $17 billion in the bill included huge amounts of funding that made no sense. The NYT could not say this part of the bill would be good, but that part is bad. Again, you vote it up or down and this bill, on balance, failed the smell test.

Posted by Fishbite at 09/07/2005 @ 5:24pm
It is very comforting to know that people like John Nichols and many who have posted here can help an average guy like me understand the true meaning of people's actions and words. Living in the same country as these intellectual giants makes me proud to be in France

..... wait, we are in the United States of America.

Give me a break!! I believe her words were: "...this is working out very well for them." Maybe to intellectual giants this means "It's good enough for the poor", but not to an average guy.

Like most, I believe the results of the Katrina response was not sufficient. Improvements, refocus, and probably some accountability are needed. However, the conclusions that the mainstream media and the "progressives" on this site draw about the sinister motives and criminal conduct of the government are pure fiction.

Now, if the intellectual giants posting on this site are not too busy either utilizing their disaster response expertise to consult in New Orleans, or opening up their homes to Katrina victims (or perhaps putting up "Clinton-Blanco '08" signs in their neighborhoods), here are a few questions you can give me your thoughts on:

1) Regarding FEMA and DoD slow response - what is the benchmark? In what comparable disasters did their response come close to meeting expectations? How long before or after a hurricane hits should they have responded, and what specific DoD units with equipment suitable for flood rescue (and from which states) should have been in place.

2) My understanding is that between helicopter and small boat rescues, the Coast Guard rescued in the neighborhood of 18-20k people starting almost immediately and within the first three days. Is this correct? How does this compare with other floods, hurricanes, and even the recent Tsunami? If this is also considered negligent, what should the number have been.

3) My understanding is that the shelters of last resort (Superdome and Convention Center) were part of the city of New Orleans' evacuation plan. When did the number of people there exceed the capacity for medical services, water, and food provided by the city and state as part of their plan? I am assuming that because it has been stated that FEMA knew that the city would flood in a catergory 4 hurricane, the city also knew this, and must have planned accordingly. Their plan must have called for federal assistance after "x" number of hours or days. How did FEMA and DoD perform versus the expectation in the plan?

4) There has been much discuusion about America's eyes being opened up about the extent of poverty in New Orleans. Was this situation just created during the last four year's Bush's sinister administration? I find it very hard to believe that this could possibly have been occuring during the "economic miracle" that "progressives" call the Clinton Administration.

Please share any facts you have about these questions.

Posted by averageguy at 09/07/2005 @ 6:55pm
Rio Bravo - Whatever the NYT view on 728, the bill as you say has languished.

Averageguy - I for one have not mentioned any sinister motives or criminal conduct. Just incompetence. If you look at what's happened and see instead a vivid demonstration of competence... then we'll have to agree to disagree. The first responders that were on hand in NO from the beginning did amazing, heroic things - no question there at all.

By the way, I think the incompetence was pretty well spread around and isn't exclusive to FEMA/DHS.

Posted by Fishbite at 09/07/2005 @ 7:08pm
fishbite - We agree on incompetence, no doubt.

I am just venting about many comments in the media implying sinister motives, and certainly using the term "criminal". I also have not heard the media acknowledge that the incompetence was evenly distributed.

Posted by averageguy at 09/07/2005 @ 7:17pm
Perhaps the best thing the progressives in this country can do is follow this lady and people like her around and record all of the latest soundbits that truly help to represent what the Greedy Ole Party is all about. The cloak that the Republican Party has successfully placed that has hidden the true extent of poverty in this nation has now been ripped off in the most unfortunate of circumstances. I don't mean to politcize such a terrible event, but it's exactly this type of attitude of unabashed greed that the Democrats need to highlight in order to take back the country from these greedy scumbags. Let's give back the country to the working class so that when New Orleans is rebuilt, the people that have survived the hurricane can truly live the often forgotten American Dream.

Posted by realmad213 at 09/07/2005 @ 7:40pm
One more time. It's republicans and democrats. The republicans burn you fast, the democrats burn you slow. They both burn you. You're burning. Why defend the man who performs unneccesary surgery on you with anaesthetic over the man who performs uneccesary surgery on you with a shot of bourbon? They're both trying to rob you while you're numbed up. They're both rulng class jerks. They both need their collective asses kicked.

Posted by Jayarjunyah at 09/07/2005 @ 8:35pm
That comment makes me want to grab my hard cover copy of DAS KAPITAL and beat that bitch to death with it. Those people deserve so much better than a visit from a senile old Lady and her idiot son.

Posted by spatzle at 09/07/2005 @ 8:39pm
As for whether only 13 per cent of the public blames Bush, go jump in the lake. Obviously people in this country are so self obsessed they won't pay any attention until it's their ass. Old news, boss. And no, I don't care if mainstream U.S.er's perceive people like me as being opposed to them. I am opposed to them. This is a struggle of ideas, ideas have concrete results. Their ideas are in the saddle. The devastation in Lousiana is the concrete result of their neglect of the public sector. Soon it will be their turn. Then different ideas will contend.

If this mess isn't a result of fiscal conservative policy, then explain why nothing of this magnitude has occurred in the last 100 years, and nothing like this occurred during the period in U.S. history when the public sector was at its apex. (1933-1975). No, this is the fault of robber bastards like Bush and his ilk, and their little birdie accomplices in the so-called democratic party. There is a long, hard road ahead of us, but this truth will emerge, and there is nothing you right wing dingalings can do to prevent it, because you can't help repeating yourselves. We will expose you. We will prevail. And there is nowhere you can hide. Please know that.

Posted by Jayarjunyah at 09/07/2005 @ 8:42pm
JAYARJUNYAH:

FISHBITE already exposed the 13% claim for wehat it is:

LibAreNuts - You plucked kind of an odd morsel out of the CNN poll. Somehow you left the following out:

Opinions varied widely, however, on the response of federal, state and local officials regarding Katrina. Forty-two percent of respondents characterized President Bush's response to the disaster as "bad" or "terrible," while 35 percent said it was "good" or "great."

Federal government agencies' response was described as "bad" or "terrible" by 42 percent, and "good" or "great" by 35 percent. State and local officials' response was described as "bad" or "terrible" by 35 percent and "good" or "great" by 37 percent.

Posted by Hman23 at 09/07/2005 @ 8:55pm
what PROUDLIB was reminding all the net_patriots_for_Bush, valiantly defending the hero & his sainted mother, of: a rousing & inspirational quote, from the blessed lady herself.

Miami Herald article, "Who's Counting the Dead in Iraq?" by Helen Thomas; published September 5, 2003: ... On March 18, two days before the U.S. invasion, Barbara Bush had an interview with ABC-TV's Diane Sawyer. "Why should we hear about body bags and deaths and how many, what day it's gonna happen?" Mrs. Bush declared. "It's not relevant. So why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?" ...

http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0905-04.htm http://www.snopes.com/politics/quotes/barbara.asp

Posted by sangabo at 09/07/2005 @ 9:07pm
The question was posed earlier - "I wonder how many of the 51 million that voted for this idiot are proud of their vote now."

At least one.

Also,

RIO BRAVO wrote - "When Democrats face self-inflicted failure of this magnitude, they do what years of liberal dissembling have taught them to do -- they blame somebody else (Bush). Then they play the race card (racist Bush). Of course, had Bush even suggested in advance of Katrina that troops would be standing by to maintain order, the Democrats and their race professionals would have gone apoplectic over the suggestion that their party faithful in the city were savages-in-waiting.

But many were just that, and they didn't wait long. Everyone else in this Democratic community seemed helpless, the victims of decades of mollycoddling liberalism. The city's feckless mayor and officials could only stand in front of microphones and plead for Washington to come and save them from the elements and each other. Then, in a ploy to absolve themselves and their party members, looters and all, of any culpability, they called the rescuers racists for not coming sooner."

I generally agree with your thoughts. I have not specifically heard the mayor say these things, but many in the media cetainly have.

Posted by averageguy at 09/07/2005 @ 9:27pm
OK, I've never made a comment before... but in this case I feel I must. Before anyone makes a comment about the condition of the effort happening in Houston I feel that you must come and be an eye-witness to it. Why? Because I am...and I must say that it is the most amazing event you have ever seen. Furthermore, if you come here you will get your facts straight. There is a curfew (impossed so that any late-nighters won't disturb those sleeping) some lights do go out at night -- but some are left on simply so that you can get up and go to the bathroom without stumbling...

Now, the care and dignity to which Houston is attempting to handle this horrific event is incredible. The services and support that the survivors are receiving is tremedous... Yes, it is an aweful event that happened. One to which this nation, as a whole, was unprepared for...in addition, it is clear that the mayor of New Orleans and the Govenor of Louisiana were also completely unprepared for this level of an event in their home turf and they continue to be incapable of handling it. Has anyone else noticed how they can't agree on anything? The incompetence of both of their offices is astounding to me.

Anyway, in Houston, we are doing our part and we are doing it amazingly well. So, before anyone slams the condition of our guests or the condition of their accomidations, I think you had better get on a plane, bus, train, whatever it be... and get down here and see it for yourself. Was the comment by Barbara somewhat crass? Probably, yes... but, you better come see for yourself to better understand what she is talking about...

Unfortunately, Harris county (home to Houston and the Bush family) is probably the most conservative county in the nation. And yet, we are taking in the masses...into the Astrodome, into Reliant Park, into the convention center, into various other shelters... and ultimately, into our homes, our schools, our families. Where private citizens are stepping up to have familes move in with them for an unknown length of time. When have you taken in a family from one of the poorest parts of your community? When have you volunteered to feed them? house them? drive them around? make phone calls for them? make their bed for them? play with their children? look for their lost loved ones? These are strangers to us and yet we take them in as family.

So, my point is simple, come be an eye-witness to what is taking place here.... get your facts straight so that you can tell others the truth. It is amazing... it is what needs to be happening for all of the others who are still without help... and it is Houston who is pulling it off. Houston, home to the massive right-wing groups that so many call uncaring...

Don't take the what the media has to say... come see for yourself. Trust me, we will put you to work. - It takes 750 volunteers a day just to feed everyone in Reliant Park... and you have to be trained to serve meals... and yet we have enough people volunteering to pull it off. These are not Red Cross workers, these are people from the community that have stepped up. - We are opening our schools to the children who are here -- we are hiring teachers from Louisiana that are without a job right now to help teach. - We are clothing our guests...not just with items that we don't need from our closets... but with new cloths and new shoes. Everyone gets a bag with basic items -- deordorent, toothbrush, toothpaste, etc. Everyone gets one... and everything in it is new. All purchased by the citizens of Houston. Not the Red Cross... not FEMA, the people.

This is just a peek at the effort happening here. Tonight, tomorrow, next week, next month Houston is what we should all be:

We the people...for the people...

And it is working...and it is working well... come see for yourself... and remember... we were not trained for this... we are not a government program and yet we are working within the current system... we didn't have any idea that our neighbor would one day loss everything and need us. But, we are here and we are working hard to make our guests feel welcome, comfortable, and normal once again. And it is working.... come see... you may be surprised.

S.

Posted by SLAH Girl at 09/07/2005 @ 10:41pm
Slah Girl...thanks. Please make sure everyone there in Houston hears that.

People are so eager to point fingers and politicize every little thing that goes on...all you see on the news are stories about who's not doing enough or who didn't do what they should have done, you don't hear anywhere near enough about those who are doing more than anyone could have ever hoped they would, like in Houston. In 1900, when 6,000 people died in Galveston after that hurricane, no one pointed fingers. And before you jump at the bit to say this is 2005 and it's a different situation, hear me out. Natural disasters happen. In my book there is nothing scarier. They are indiscriminate and unpredictable. After the Glaveston hurricane, the bodies were gathered and thrown into the Gulf of Mexico only to wash back to Galveston's shores with the tide. The poor in Galveston were paid a days wages and all the whiskey they could drink to wade out and pick the bodies out of the water. They didn't moan about how the government hadn't done anything, they just did it.

In all the knowledge people have acquired, there needs to be a point when people can stop, look around and just say "shit" because that is all there is to do. We are powerless against a hurricane like Katrina. Billions of dollars will never stop a city that is 12 feet below sea level from being devastated when a storm with an 18 foot surge, 140 mph winds, and 10 inches of rain rips through it. All we can do is press forward and pick up the pieces.

I'm frankly apalled at how quickly blame is being assesed. You bet that someone should be taken to task for what happened to those left behind in New Orleans, especially when you hear that no food or water was put into place for the 20,000 people in the Superdome, or that no security was around for the 10,000 in the convention center. But Chirst can't there be a time and a place? Hilary Clinton calls for an independent commission to investigate what went wrong only a week earlier. Congressman take chairmen to task in closed meetings while New Orleans is still under water, while it is still on fire. Couldn't their time be much better spent with a closed door meeting about doing everything that is in any way, shape or form possible to help the people who are affected? Is that too much to ask?

Posted by Joe H at 09/08/2005 @ 12:40am
Joe H - Stay happy in your little dream world, Joey my lad, if "shit happens" is the best you can come up with. We are powerless against the mighty forces of nature. Who could possibly have guessed that New Orleans would flood. How could we possibly have moved troops or supplies into the city earlier than 4 days afterwards. The trucks that made it in before FEMA... just lucky I guess.

I guess your only concern is that focusing on finding out what wrong would take away from the relief effort. Not, heaven forbid, that Bush might wind up with a little mud on his twinkly little face.

Posted by Fishbite at 09/08/2005 @ 09:17am
Is anybody here denying the generosity of Houstonians? It's great that they and many others all around the country are helping so much. The goodness of many Americans is evident in this tragedy. The complaint was that Barbara Bush said some ignorant things. Sure, some of the people in Houston Astrodome came from severe poverty, but the evacuees are not only poor people.

How is living in a stadium with tens of thousands of others for an indefinite period of time better than living in your own home, be it ever so humble?

It will be interesting to see how long the hospitality lasts. Will the people of Houston be as generous a year from now?

Posted by proudlib at 09/08/2005 @ 11:37am
When will the American people wake up and understand the fact that this administration is the most incompetent group that ever came to Washington. Bush Sr. is probably still calling the shots as its the "old school" group of bussies..Dumsfield, Cheney etc..etc..The list of incompetence from this group goes on just to name a few...The omission of WMD in Iraq...You would think our government would at least had planted some. At least Collin Powell had enough of it and got out after his United Nations show, loosing all his credibility gained from the first gulf war..The theatrical PR on the aircraft carrier "Mission Accomplished". The exposure of a CIA agent by Carl Rowe..Cheney's bumbling comments on "Meet the Press" regarding the insurgents are in their last stage..By the way..How long have Isreal and Palestine been fighting each other using suicide bombers ? Don't look for our troops to be home soon...Haliburton's non competitive contracts..The list goes on and on...Wake up America....

Posted by djmarch at 09/08/2005 @ 12:39pm
Stay happy in your little dream world, Fishy my lad-- It ain't at all about Bush, as much as you wish it were. Who could have guessed that New Orleans would flood? Ever lived there? Ever known someone who lived there? Did you even watch the news before Katrina hit? Flooding has always been THE concern. Residents have always known that a perfect storm would ravage their town. It's common sense really, you seem smart enough to figure it out on your own.

And Bush? F*ck Bush. I didn't even vote for him. I couldn't care less who has mud on their face after this whole thing is over. The point I'm trying to make is why now? What good does it do to start assessing blame before the situation for which blame is being assessed is over? All of you whiners can have your day, but people are still being rescued in New Orleans, wait until the threat of death is over before you chide those actually doing something about it.

Posted by Joe H at 09/08/2005 @ 12:53pm
I agree with the last comment especially, in that Bush Sr. is the head honco. He has been and will always be in charge until the day he goes into pergatory or hell! Bush Jr. and Sr. in an interview together once said it is their duty to fulfill thy fathers dream. Let America be reminded once again who our current Presidents father was. Prescott Bush was first and foremost, Adolph Hitlers personal financial adviser. It was also Prescott Bush who sold Hitler on the Gas Camber solution for the Death Camps. Prescott Bush company built the gas chambers in all the NAZI death camps and manufactured the gas. It was also Prescott Bush's idea to use Ambulances with exhaust pipes fed back inside as mobile gas chambers. Prescott Bush was also a major stockholder and adviser for Krups who manufactured the ovens for the death camps. Honor thy fathers dream? WAKE UP AMERICA! It is time to rise up and lay down the law and bring these evil humans to justice! It is time for a revolution. The Bushies have lead our great nation to doom! Unless we all rise up very soon and smash down all that the Bushies have created, the United States of America is about to end! Wake Up America!!

Posted by argeebee at 09/08/2005 @ 1:01pm
Correction to last comment, "Who our current President's Grandfather was"

Posted by argeebee at 09/08/2005 @ 1:05pm
SF. Mayor Gavin Newsom; "Let me tell you this with respect. I've seen where a lot of the people were living before. I'll take West Point and Middle Point,"

On the evacuees going to the 100 units that were to be made available in four San Francisco Housing Authority projects with a high incidence of drug and gang activity and homicide and a predominantly African American, working-poor population.

So who is Mr. Newsom like?

Posted by Mschlenker at 09/08/2005 @ 1:36pm
Could we really expect anything different from the Bushes? Did we not already know that they are racist, insensitive, lazy and out of touch with real life because they've been priviledged all their lives? I mean, really. It angered me because shouldn't the president's mother have sense enough to know he's been under fire and to have his mother, of all people, to publicly confirm that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree would just give more credit to his critics? (I'm one of those critics. It shouldn't be ignored. She should be chewed up and spit out for saying something so insensitive and having the nerve to be jovial about it.

Posted by PoliticalDiva at 09/08/2005 @ 2:36pm
Deejaymi, of your 9/7/05 post: I disagree. She said EXACTLY what she meant to say. She meant that those people are used to living worse, to even living like animals, so they probably have it better living like sardines in the dome. She wasn't being kind and she certainly wasn't being sensitive to others' plights. A person who has no clue what suffering is likely is the one who has no clue about how to sympathize, or better yet, EMpathize with other people. She is certainly no exception.

Posted by PoliticalDiva at 09/08/2005 @ 2:43pm
To all of you people who want to give Barbara Bush the benefit of the doubt:

How do you explain away what she said before the quote about "this is working very well for them." Specifically, this comment:

"What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas."

Kind of sheds a little more light on her intent, doesn't it? What a horrible thing to say to these people. She didn't mean well at all. The woman has ice running in her veins, and her son's attitudes reflect his upbringing.

Posted by emprwoclothes at 09/08/2005 @ 3:24pm
"Is anybody here denying the generosity of Houstonians?

Absolutely not. They do us all proud.

"It will be interesting to see how long the hospitality lasts. Will the people of Houston be as generous a year from now?

Sorry, ProudLib, maybe I'm missing the real point of your question, but I don't see anything productive coming from that kind of speculation.

Posted by drhammer at 09/08/2005 @ 3:27pm
EMPRWOCLOTHES- Good point. The "scary" statement is actually more offensive than the "working well for them" statement.

Posted by proudlib at 09/08/2005 @ 5:27pm
It's not meant to be productive. Just an observation. It's hard to keep up this level of generosity. Some of these evacuees will not return to New Orleans, so they will need to be absorbed into other communities. As with migrants throughout history, assimilation isn't easy. Hundreds of communities will be stressed by the extra people. In regions of few job opportunities, competion for jobs will greatly increase. Never since the Civil War has there been such a large number of homeless people. I'm hoping the generous people of Houston and all the other communities in North America don't get compassion fatigue.

Posted by proudlib at 09/08/2005 @ 5:39pm
WHat?? "Brownie is doing a good job?" If this is a government definition of doing a job...many are in trouble now and in the future.. Somebody here help spread the truth with me in the blogs and editorials of the papers of this land..Are many people aware of this...probably not! Especially if they are listening to the government gutless propandadized-multicorporational run NBC,ABC, CBS. In 1770-75 if we had as much truth as we do know, the powers that be would have run out of town on a rail, minimally speaking!

FEMA's Blocking Relief Efforts - An Amazing List >> (the links work if you click on the Rense page... >> >> http://www.rense.com/general67/femwont.htm >> >> FEMA won't accept Amtrak's help in evacuations >> http://news.ft.com/cms/s/84aa35cc-1da8-11da-b40b-00000e.. >> >> FEMA turns away experienced firefighters >> http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/9/5/105538/7048 >> >> FEMA turns back Wal-Mart supply trucks >> http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/national/nationalspec.. >> >> FEMA prevents Coast Guard from delivering diesel fuel >> http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/national/nationalspec.. >> >> FEMA won't let Red Cross deliver food >> http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05246/565143.stm >> >> FEMA bars morticians from entering New Orleans >> http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15147862&BRD=... >> >> FEMA blocks 500-boat citizen flotilla from delivering aid >> http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/9/3/171718/0826 >> >> FEMA fails to utilize Navy ship with 600-bed hospital on board >> http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0509.. >> >> FEMA to Chicago: Send just one truck >> http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-050902dale.. >> >> FEMA turns away generators >> http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/WWLBLOG.ac3fcea.html >> >> FEMA: "First Responders Urged Not To Respond" >> http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=18470 >> >> That last one is real -- not satire but straight from FEMA's website. FEMA's Brown Blasted While Dubya Still Refuses Foreign Aid By Wayne Madsen Wayne Madsen Report.com 9-6-5

"Team Bush" is still refusing international aid. * Russian rescue crews on four cargo planes with helicopters on board sit idle at an airport near Moscow waiting for green light, * Cuba has 1500 doctors with 26 tons of medical supplies and Bush is refusing them entry to U.S., * Venezuelan disaster rescue teams wait for a "go," * Dominican Republic crews with hurricane recovery experience wait and wait and wait. It's the same scene at airports around the world. Meanwhile, FEMA turned back 8 buses from Washington, DC that were to bring 400 evacuees to the DC Armory which has been stockpiled with just about every need. The Bush regime has finally reached the crescendo of evil. And why is FEMA so incompetent? It was turned into a political patronage agency by Bush for Bush's campaign lickspittles. This from a disaster recovery specialist with inside contacts at FEMA: Mike Brown was Joe Allbaugh's college roommate. (Allbaugh was Bush's first FEMA director). Allbaugh is now a consultant who makes tons of money for greasing the skids for companies to get business with the federal government in Iraq and with FEMA. Note to Federal law enforcement: You might want to investigate the relationship between Allbaugh and IEM, Dewberry, and URS -- the companies that took $500,000 to develop a "Catastrophic Hurricane Disaster Plan for New Orleans & Southeast Louisiana," a plan they never delivered and a project for they fraudulently included James Lee Witt Associates as one of their team partners. The sleazy revolving door spewing out money spins very fast with the Bush administration. Mike Brown had absolutely no experience in disaster management. When Allbaugh became director in January, 2001, he politically cleansed FEMA of anyone who was associated with outgoing director James Lee Witt, who had done an excellent during the Clinton administration. Allbaugh was charged with cleaning out of FEMA because of the neocon desire to rid the Federal bureaucracy of FEMA and replace it with charitable giving as a means of disaster relief. So, Allbaugh's first priority was to gut FEMA. This became an even greater priority after the Democrats (especially Joe Lieberman) forced Bush to create a Department of Homeland Security. FEMA was rolled into DHS. Allbaugh was caught by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) using the FEMA Boeing 737 aircraft for private purposes, including numerous personal trips to Florida and political trips around the country. The Republican National Committee reimbursed FEMA for the political junkets, but the embarrassing trips hit the pages of the New York Times and Allbaugh chose at that time to leave and set up his own consulting business. He left without any pressure from the White House. In early 2001, The American Arabian Horse Association fired current FEMA director Mike Brown as its executive secretary after a non-productive period of employment. Admittedly, Mike Brown had spent a large part of 2000 campaigning for Bush rather than doing his job, but the bottom line for the horse association was that Brown neglected his duties and day to day responsibilities. Brown was lucky. His old college roommate, Allbaugh, appointed Brown as his number 2 within days of his firing by the horse association. This cozy relationship was noted throughout the Allbaugh period. Upon Allbaugh's departure, Brown was designated by Bush to succeed him as FEMA director. He is called "Brownie" by Bush. "Brownie" has few supporters in FEMA. In fact, the general commentary is that he lacks basic organizational and management skills and he is a bullshit artist, not a leader.

Posted by weneedchange at 09/08/2005 @ 5:39pm
ZERO>>>You gave me a great idea!!!I'll just put all you nutty liberals on my ignore list and then this will turn into a wonderful thought provoking CONSERVATIVE blog....what a great feature

Posted by LIBSARENUTS at 09/08/2005 @ 6:12pm
To all those saying now is not the time to blame:

When is it a good time to ask for accountability? Since 9/11, our government was supposed to be better prepared for disasters; these disasters include terrorism and natural disasters. Is it ok to ask for accountability after all this has passed and the majority of Americans have once again gone about their business and once again become complacent?

This administration, this government, is supposed to protect and serve the people. With Hurricane Katrina it failed to act in an appropriate/adequate amount of time to lower the damage and effects of this castrophe.

I'm in no way trying to undermine the importance of the volunteers and people helping the refugees. I have immense respect for anyone doing something to help out, but our government and this administration has failed in its preparedness for disaster.

Posted by sarita8199 at 09/08/2005 @ 7:18pm
Sarita8199-

It doesn't matter if you aren't trying to undermine those helping...you are. In every instance, this blame game is taking our attention off rescue and relief and focusing it on name calling and finger pointing. Those dickheads protesting in front of the White House should be on trains to Houston and Mississippi. Then when they are done there they can come back and protest.

Let's honestly compare the difference between 9/11 accountability and Katrina accountability...what you are doing now, by blaming those who screwed up while the emergency is still occuring, would be the same as blaming people in the government for 9/11 while the WTC was still on fire, still crumbling. Your points about what should have been done and who failed are in all likelyhood completely valid, and those responsible for the screw-ups should be taken to task. But when you bring it all up now, it makes it all seem cold and heartless. I've said it before, but people are still dying, and still waiting to be rescued. As a country, our every effort should be to help those people right now. There will be plenty of time afterward for everything else.

Posted by Joe H at 09/08/2005 @ 10:57pm
Mama Bush should be an embarassment to the "Bush" family. Not only for her latest comments but doesn't anyone remember her response to Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America in March 2003 when asked if she was watching the news on the Iraqi war when she retorted "No, who wants to see body bags and the like...why should I waste my beautiful mind!" Papa Bush when asked about the criticism being directed towards his son "the shrub" said "of course as a father I don't like it, but as an ex President it goes with the territory" "but now don't say anything to his mother...unless you have on your flack jacket"...hears my answer "You Mr. Bush may be afraid of her but the rest of us could care less...maybe she puts on leather and whips you...but we are not afraid of this old lady"

In answer to NJBD...I know what you are feeling regarding the disappointment in your friend, I had the same experience and have decided anyone that cold and callous can't be a friend of mine! RMC

Posted by Rosemarie at 09/08/2005 @ 11:14pm
LIBSARENUTS: I think it's great you included the author who actually wrote your last post, but it's disturbing when I see in your previous post tonight (for the second time in the last two days), the article by Michael Novak without assigning him credit as the miserable National Review asshole author that he is. You know, it's called plagerism--you fuckhead! Sorry for the abuse (sort of) but it's more revealing when your conservative drivel actually springs from your own rotten mind.

Posted by Shane at 09/09/2005 @ 01:44am
Excuse me, it appears the other day in your plageristic frenzy you were blogging Novak's piece anywhere you could. So strike my two days bit, but you should still reconsider your illegal paste-a-hack job.

Posted by Shane at 09/09/2005 @ 01:56am
Pray for our President, pray that he has a spiritual awakening. But first pray that he goes to an AA meeting, gets a sponsor and works the steps, the 12 steps. Boy! Isn't he going to make a lot of amends?

Posted by valiant at 09/09/2005 @ 02:58am
I like it that the United States is slowly falling apart. The whole inability of Mrs Bush shows your country having developed a societal cancer of people incapable, possibly genetically predisposed towards callous lack of empathy. Women like Mrs. Bush would be characterized as criminally insane over here in Europe and institionalized.

It is obvious from Europe your politics is taken over by Tasmanian Devil Oligarchs. Your political system is broken. Where a hurricane hits socialist Cuba the authorities evacuate 1.5 million, including refridgerators and televisions and nobody dies - and there's no looting.

I actually take pleasure in the U.S. falling apart. When your housing bubble (zeppelin) bursts, when your have to pay the equivalent of 150$ per barrel oil, when the dollar becomes 1/10th the current value, and when your black population becomes gangsta and tears apart all inner cities, well, I will laugh. That'll be the end of another Mad Dog Empire.

Go to hell with your "Sieg Heil" NeoCons, your "Bought and Pacified" Democrats, your "Freedom is the new Ephemism for Evil" Republicans and the whole shallow, superficial Hollywood, Media and Reality Soap Babylon.

Good RIDDANCE

Posted by dagonweb at 09/09/2005 @ 04:30am
Well, it isn't as if we didn't know what a ghastly old harridan she is--and her "gift" to the world is a smirking, arrogant boy too damned dumb to pound sand in a rathole.

Posted by treffler at 09/09/2005 @ 08:20am
IMPEACH

"What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this--this (chuckling slightly) is working very well for them."

"Why should we hear about body bags and deaths? It's not relevant. So why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?" Barbara Bush

The poor and the dead in Iraq or New Orleans didn't really matter for the mother of George W. Bush. With a mother who talks like this it is no surprise that her son is also smug, callous and remorseless. All of those executions in Texas. All of those dying children and elderly in New Orleans. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civlians..DEAD. Thousands and thousands of brave American soldiers wounded and...DEAD. War and needless deaths were preventable. This president has prevented neither. Americans now realize that our nation has suffered from the depravity and deception of George W. Bush, Karl Rove, Dick Cheney, Condoleeza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld and others on the tragic stage of this administration. Americans are now joining hands and voices. They want the terror to stop. They want this administration to be brought to justice for its lies and errors. The American people are now requesting impeachment of this administration. Enough is enough.

posted by News from Mad Plato @ www.madplatonews.blogspot.com

Posted by Mad Plato at 09/09/2005 @ 08:51am
Facts...

Both catastrophees happened under the Bush administrations watch. 9/11 and now Katrina, in which they were well informed of happening prior to the horrid events....Nothing but pure incompetence through and through....

Posted by djmarch at 09/09/2005 @ 09:49am
...saw the replay on C-Span yesterday: Laura Bush speaking in Iowa and mentioning "hurricane Corinna" twice.

So you have the Bush mother giggling about how the victims are benefitting and the Bush wife so out of touch she can't even name that storm.

Posted by nathanhale at 09/09/2005 @ 10:00am
DAGONWEB--Over here if you said that crap you'd get smacked like the pasty little bitch you are. Anonymity must delight a hack like you. $150/a barrel oil is a long ways off, seeing as when it gets to less than half that everyone freaks and the price drops. And the inner-cities are already torn apart by gangsters, that happened in the 80's with a little thing called "crack". Enjoy socialism, you bumbling cook.

Posted by Joe H at 09/09/2005 @ 10:32am
If you want a fun photo and commentary that reveal the REAL Barbara Bush... Mother of all Mothers.... here's one not to miss.

CLICK HERE [tvnewslies.org]

Posted by Reg at 09/09/2005 @ 11:07am
Where to Point the Fingers

By Charles Krauthammer Friday, September 9, 2005; A25

In less enlightened times there was no catastrophe independent of human agency. When the plague or some other natural disaster struck, witches were burned, Jews were massacred and all felt better (except the witches and Jews).

A few centuries later, our progressive thinkers have progressed not an inch. No fall of a sparrow on this planet is not attributed to sin and human perfidy. The three current favorites are: (1) global warming, (2) the war in Iraq and (3) tax cuts. Katrina hits and the unholy trinity is immediately invoked to damn sinner-in-chief George W. Bush.

This kind of stupidity merits no attention whatsoever, but I'll give it a paragraph. There is no relationship between global warming and the frequency and intensity of Atlantic hurricanes. Period. The problem with the evacuation of New Orleans is not that National Guardsmen in Iraq could not get to New Orleans but that National Guardsmen in Louisiana did not get to New Orleans. As for the Bush tax cuts, administration budget requests for New Orleans flood control during the five Bush years exceed those of the five preceding Clinton years. The notion that the allegedly missing revenue would have been spent wisely by Congress, targeted precisely to the levees of New Orleans, and that the reconstruction would have been completed in time, is a threefold fallacy. The argument ends when you realize that, as The Post noted, "the levees that failed were already completed projects."

Let's be clear. The author of this calamity was, first and foremost, Nature (or if you prefer, Nature's God). The suffering was augmented, aided and abetted in descending order of culpability by the following:

1. The mayor of New Orleans. He knows the city. He knows the danger. He knows that during Hurricane Georges in 1998, the use of the Superdome was a disaster and fully two-thirds of residents never got out of the city. Nothing was done. He declared a mandatory evacuation only 24 hours before Hurricane Katrina hit. He did not even declare a voluntary evacuation until the day before that, at 5 p.m. At that time, he explained that he needed to study his legal authority to call a mandatory evacuation and was hesitating to do so lest the city be sued by hotels and other businesses.

2. The governor. It's her job to call up the National Guard and get it to where it has to go. Where the Guard was in the first few days is a mystery. Indeed, she issued an authorization for the National Guard to commandeer school buses to evacuate people on Wednesday afternoon -- more than two days after the hurricane hit and after much of the fleet had already drowned in its parking lots.

3. The head of FEMA. Late, slow and in way over his head. On Thursday, Sept. 2, he said on national television that he didn't even know there were people in the convention center, when anybody watching television could see them there, destitute and desperate. Maybe in his vast bureaucracy he can assign three 20-year-olds to watch cable news and give him updates every hour on what in hell is going on.

4. The president. Late, slow, and simply out of tune with the urgency and magnitude of the disaster. The second he heard that the levees had been breached in New Orleans, he should have canceled his schedule and addressed the country on national television to mobilize it both emotionally and physically to assist in the disaster. His flyover on the way to Washington was the worst possible symbolism. And his Friday visit was so tone-deaf and politically disastrous that he had to fly back three days later.

5. Congress. Now as always playing holier-than-thou. Perhaps it might ask itself who created the Department of Homeland Security in the first place. The congressional response to all crises is the same -- rearrange the bureaucratic boxes, but be sure to add one extra layer. The past four years of DHS have been spent principally on bureaucratic reorganization (and real estate) instead of, say, a workable plan for as predictable a disaster as a Gulf Coast hurricane.

6. The American people. They have made it impossible for any politician to make any responsible energy policy over the past 30 years -- but that is a column for another day. Now is not the time for constructive suggestions. Now is the time for blame, recrimination and sheer astonishment. Mayor Ray Nagin has announced that, as bodies are still being found and as a public health catastrophe descends upon the city, he is sending 60 percent of his cops on city funds for a little R&R, mostly to Vegas hotels. Asked if it was appropriate to party in these circumstances, he responded: "New Orleans is a party town. Get over it."

Posted by LIBSARENUTS at 09/09/2005 @ 11:32am
You DIMocRAT liberals have no shame at all do you...

Dems Used Katrina to Raise Funds Friday, September 09, 2005

WASHINGTON -- A new Democratic effort to whip up indignation about the Bush administration's handling of Hurricane Katrina (search) also tried to raise money for Democratic candidates.

Sen. Charles Schumer (search), a New York Democrat and the head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, issued an appeal Thursday urging people to sign an online petition to fire the Federal Emergency Management Agency's director over his handling of the Katrina response.

After an inquiry from the Associated Press, the DSCC quickly pulled down the page and said they would give the Red Cross any money raised by the anti-FEMA petition.

When recipients clicked on a link to the petition, the top center of the screen -- above the call to "Fire the FEMA director" -- had asked for a donation to the DSCC.

Since Katrina, Democrats have contended the GOP administration badly botched the response, and some have called for the firing of FEMA chief Michael Brown (search).

Republicans hit back by accusing Democrats of trying to use the human tragedy for political gain. The DSCC letter, the GOP said Thursday, was proof.

"It's a disgrace to exploit Hurricane Katrina to raise political funds," said Brian Nick, spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

DSCC spokesman Phil Singer said: "While the content of the letter is totally valid, it should never have been linked to a Web site that asks people to contribute to political campaigns."

Posted by LIBSARENUTS at 09/09/2005 @ 2:38pm
http://www.wiseass.org/files/katrina1.swf

Posted by Salunga at 09/09/2005 @ 2:41pm
A little food for thought for you liberals:

Iraqi soldiers donate to Katrina victims: (Hat tip:ITM reader).

"On behalf of myself and all the People of Tadji Military Base; I would like to console the American People and Government for getting this horrible disaster. So we would like to donate 1.000.000 Iraqi Dinars to help the government and the People also I would like to console all the ASTs who helped us rebuilding our country and our Army. We appreciate the American's help and support. Thank you".

These were the words of Colonel Abbas Fadhil, commander of the Taji military base. The donated money is little, less than 700 $ and it can do practically nothing but the spirit and and words mean quite a lot.

Posted by LIBSARENUTS at 09/09/2005 @ 6:55pm
USAPRIDE!

Are you from the land of the fairies? Before there can be pride there must be some kind of respect! NO RESPECT was shown to these victims. The guy, wasn't even prepared to take a break from his five week holiday! If you love your country don't let it be sold out. There were kind acts. And unselfish ones. NOONE is disputing that most Americans are good people. They cannot however provide emergency care... that is why there is well-paid administration.

There are lots of good Americans, also good African-americans, the prez just happens to be a crook!!!

USAPRIDE, love your country but don't shut ur eyes!

Posted by timschel. at 09/09/2005 @ 7:46pm
LIBSARENUTS

Touching story about the soldiers. What was the point exactly? Food for thought???

I understand, seeing as Bush was also a soldier. The VICEpresident had "other priorities" but he worked for Enron which is very pro-war, so it is kind of the same!

If you want to offer food for thought, do so. Otherwise stop making a schlemiel of yourself!

Posted by timschel. at 09/09/2005 @ 7:51pm
LibsR

"There is no relationship between global warming and the frequency and intensity of Atlantic hurricanes"

How do I say this.....uh, horsepuckey!

For a readable report on sea-surface temperature rise see CLIMA TE [ncdc.noaa.gov]

For info on global warming (mean annual temperature increases) see:HOT [climatehotmap.org]

and for the linakge between them and hurricanes go to any of the following NOAA [gfdl.noaa.gov] OR NCAR [ucar.edu] OR SCIEN CE [sciencemag.org] OR EURO [euronet.nl] the last showing that while it is unclear in many areas, the number of Cat 4, 5 storms in the Atlantic/Carribean IS increasing.

Do your homework or don't come to class young man!

Posted by leftofcenter at 09/09/2005 @ 9:21pm
Why would you give up space to write an article about Barbara Bush, who is probably well over 80 years old, saying something uncouth? For Christ's sake, I wouldn't trust my Aunt Katherine to speak to her bingo group without saying something inappropriate. Babs time has come and gone. Get a grip.

Posted by Connor at 09/09/2005 @ 10:12pm
It would seem that liberals have elevated Bush to near god-like status. He's responsible for everything---the hurricane, the economy (every friggin' bit of it--right down to your floss), gas prices (dammit, why can't he just pee oil?), the kid down the street being cross-eyed, and my dog gacking on the carpet. He personnally saw 9/11 coming---in fact, he dreamt about it the night before.

We are a nation of whiners and blamers. God help us if we could look at anything for what it is or take any responsibility ourselves. I mean, it is just SO much easier to blame one person. And it is really entertaining to demonize someone when crises happen. I am really enjoying the seriously professionally challenged Mayor Nagin right now for this very purpose.

One of the National Guardsmen said that this country is totally equipped to handle a crisis such as Katrina--JUST NOT THIS VERY SECOND. We are so overcome by bureaucracy that we can't just pick up and go in a crisis. Like everything, we like to learn the hard way. Let's blame somebody for decades of bureaucratic bull and bitch about it for hours. Let's see...........Who should we screw?

Posted by Connor at 09/09/2005 @ 11:01pm
Hey CONNOR, I respect your right to your opinion, but before you slam the mayor of New Orleans, ask yourself this: If I were mayor of a city, and I saw thousands of my citizens suffering while the entire city was a disaster area, would I demonstrate any more aplomb? Give the man a break - he stayed at his post. He can be forgiven a few curse words.

As for his actions, well, I'll let them be judged by the inevitable investigations.

Posted by ILOVEPHYSICS at 09/09/2005 @ 11:36pm
Connor, the bureaucracy that had to be overcome in this case is less than 5 years old. It was setup and heavily funded by this administration after 9-11, expressly for the purpose of disaster response. The people in charge were given a free hand, lots of money and nothing else to do but release color coded alerts. By any measure George Bush is the most powerfull man in the world. Why should he not be held accountable for his job performance? Isn't that personal responsibility too? Why do you people defend everything he does as though he were everyone's mother. He's a rough tough Texan, no? Next time you see him tell him to get off his ass and do a little work.

Posted by studntbdyrt at 09/10/2005 @ 12:40am
SHE IS WRITE

Getting the poor of that crap city is the best thing that could happen to them. Its a city run by all black democrats in a state that is pretty much all democrat and yet they have more poor people in that city than most major cities in the US. The best shot they have at a life is to become liberated from that oppressive socialism that feeds on the needs of the poor only to keep the power hungry in power.

Posted by whyme at 09/10/2005 @ 07:04am
Great post WHYME, by that logic we should flood the West side of Chicago, South Central LA, most of Detriot ,damn that list goes on. Let's scatter them lazy bastards and put them to work. That way they can feed the needs of the rich to keep the power hungry in power. After we have NO empty we can rebuild it the way it should be. Like an old timey Branson,Mo or Disneyland. Who knew that people losing their posessions and homes could be good for Amerika? Maybe we should flood Mississippi while we still have our Nat Guard around to control these poor socialists. Station the Guard by the welfare office, you know that's where they'll go first for help. Then explain to them "You are an eyesore and a drain on society, LEAVE NOW. " That would be the Christian thing to do, wouldn't it.

Posted by Bulbtop at 09/10/2005 @ 09:01am
It's not the first time that Old Lady Bush has shown that she's a rotten bitch with a heart of cold stone.

Posted by philbq at 09/10/2005 @ 10:06am
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. As news and images of the dead, stranded, sick and hungry waiting days for help inundated Americans over the last two weeks, public officials at every level have sought to deflect blame. Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael D. Brown and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff have pointed their fingers at the first responders in New Orleans and Louisiana, while the mayor and the governor have sought to tag the Bush administration with botching the emergency response. The New Orleans mayor has criticized the president for the slow response and the resulting loss of life, but recent reports show he failed to follow through on his own city's emergency-response plan, which acknowledged that thousands of the city's poorest residents would have no way to evacuate the city. He took a second hit when an Associated Press photo showed 2,000 school buses under water and parked in a lot, unused in the evacuation. Reports say those buses could have ferried thousands of residents to safety outside New Orleans had they been deployed. Black political analyst Earl Ofari Hutchinson, author of "The Disappearance of Black Leadership," said the problem lies with the current focus of black leadership, in both the elected and activist crowd, away from the poor and toward the new majority of middle-class black Americans. "In the past two decades, there has been a middle-class-focused leadership," Mr. Hutchinson said. "It is one thing to talk about affirmative action and moving people into top management positions in corporate America, but that does not do anything for the black poor." Julian Bond, chairman of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said there is plenty of blame for all governments -- local, state and federal. "Something like this has been predicted for years and years, and it seems none of [the government officials] did anything about it to stop it, not simply for people who had nothing before the storm and now have less than nothing, but for everyone there," Mr. Bond said. But taking a cue from prominent black leaders, Rep. Charles B. Rangel, New York Democrat, put the blame on Mr. Bush and his record as commander in chief. "The president's policies in Iraq contributed to the slow response of federal troops who should have been on alert even before the hurricane struck." "Now, as bedlam reigns in New Orleans, 35 percent of Louisiana's and 37 percent of Mississippi's National Guard troops are in Iraq. The hurricane is clear evidence of how the war directly affects the domestic security of our country," he said. Mr. Peterson, however, chastised those who would lay all the blame at the feet of Mr. Bush. "If black folks want to blame someone for this tragedy, they only need to look in the mirror. Hopefully, this will help black people realize the folly of depending on the government or leaders and serve as a notice to avert future tragedies in other cities," he said.

Posted by LIBSARENUTS at 09/10/2005 @ 11:12am
CNN= CADAVER NEWS NETWORK....you liberals proud of this???While at the same time bitching about showing 9/11 photos or beheaded journalists???Hipocracy flows through liberals blood

United Press International

CNN said a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order Friday heading off a federal ban on showing photos of people left dead by Hurricane Katrina.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency this week asked news agencies to refrain from airing or publishing photos of dead bodies, and excluded media from some recovery missions in New Orleans.

The recovery of victims is being treated with dignity and the utmost respect and we have requested that no photographs of the deceased by made by the media, said FEMA in a statement.

CNN announced the suit Friday afternoon, saying that prohibition of airing the pictures would prevent full and fair coverage of the story.

The government cannot be allowed to hinder the free flow of information, said CNN journalist Anderson Cooper. That's what we say in the lawsuit.

CNN talk show host Larry King announced late Friday a federal judge in Texas issued the restraining order and scheduled a hearing for Saturday to hear arguments in the suit.

Posted by LIBSARENUTS at 09/10/2005 @ 1:19pm
I notice some want to blame the people for the problems and errors, and lets not forget "they could have gotten out before the storm" comments. These people are mostly poor and elderly and not just black, with no vehicles and little if any money. The local, state and federal governments knew this, yet did nothing to plan for this level of damage, misery and suffering.

I have seen the response the feds can provide when they care (i.e. Camille),they were there the morning after and stayed until things were running on a positive path to recovery.

I am appalled by the lack of response and the attitude shown towards these victims,they are human beings!!!

I bet the cake was not provided by the FEDS!

Make FEMA independent again, DHS has got their priorities all messed up and they cannot handle 1/2 of what they have under their umbella. What a joke after 4 years we can fly fairly safely, but what about the water, pipelines, etc.

Posted by hockey999 at 09/10/2005 @ 1:53pm
You know, this is my first post, but I have to say that those supporting Bush have it wrong, most assuredly. AND those supporting Mayor Nagin are at least partially wrong.

Nagin could and SHOULD have used all available transport to get people out of his city before Katrina made landfall. He also could and should have made the evacuation mandatory before he did. Additionally, while I felt his just pain and anguish over the non-response by the federal government, I also question his ability to lead based on his response after the damage was done. He stated (and I'm paraphrasing here) that "this general showed up and started barking orders immediately... and people started moving and getting things done." Now, I, personally, have to question why HE wasn't doing that himself? C'mon, it isn't rocket science to say to folks there with boats that were waiting to help, "You four go to those 2 dozen houses, you four go there, you go there..." etc.

Now, as to Bush's non-response... NO ONE can say he acted with any leadership or responsibility on this!! Governor Blanco requested aid 4 days before anything dire happened, but she received NO real response. And Bush could and SHOULD have ordered an immediate rescue and aid operation because the governor had already requested the assistance. Mr. Bush continued his vacation, interrupted rescue and aid operations for photo ops, played golf, partied with high-end supporters when he should have been LEADING and HELPING and has been his usual late-to-the-party, rah rah ain't this great, psychopathic self. He DOES NOT CARE about the displaced, destroyed or dead. To him, this is only another opportunity to TRY to look good�the cowboy rides in to save the day.

pResident Bush simply does NOT care about the poor, the people in need or any other human compassion objective. His only concern has ALWAYS been the rich, the cronies, the sycophants up his a** and attempting to demonstrate his "power" all over the globe. His delay in responding was purposeful and deliberate. There is NO justification possible to explain the poor response to this tragedy. He knew it was coming, knew the result was horrible beyond description, yet played golf and did photo ops. That speaks for itself.

The pResident is also specifically at fault because he and his sheep in Congress cut the budget request from FEMA/Army Corps of Engineers that would have emolliated or eliminated the destruction wrought by this storm! Instead of spending an additional $65 million to reinforce the levees, the nation is now spending more than $60 BILLION PLUS the cost in human and animal lives and suffering. Great thinking there, Bush!!

Additionally, he has made great use of this catastrophe to bump a LOT of other things going wrong off the front pages: Rove and his treason, his failure in Iraq, Cindy Sheehan, the horrible economy and a rash of other things wrong in this nation. THIS, I believe, is the TRUE REASON behind the failure to respond: it gives the American people another focus instead of all the other garbage he was doing. Justice Rehnquist dying and Bush being able to attempt to slide Roberts in as Chief is just icing on Bush's cake�maybe he and his Mom can share it with the poor.

Posted by ghost122 at 09/10/2005 @ 3:46pm
"The pResident is also specifically at fault because he and his sheep in Congress cut the budget request from FEMA/Army Corps of Engineers that would have emolliated or eliminated the destruction wrought by this storm!"

Utterly false. In fact the levie work was completed. To have withstood a CAT5 storm the levie work would have to have started 20 years ago. NO knew about this threat since the 70's. Please use some other liberal talking point that is actually factual

Posted by LIBSARENUTS at 09/10/2005 @ 4:03pm
Dead bodies are still floating all over New Orleans. Hundreds, if not thousands, of children are still searching for their parents. Wiped-out communities are still awaiting water and power.

So, what is armchair first responder Sen. Hillary Rotten Clinton's first response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster?

A commission.

"It has become increasingly evident that our nation was not prepared," Sen. Clinton, lectured in a Labor Day letter to President Bush. Yes, thank you, Sen. Sherlock. Those gleaming degrees from Wellesley and Yale Law are really paying off.

Sen. Clinton's "Katrina Commission" would be modeled after the "independent" 9/11 Commission. I can see it now: Democrat Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco, whose main imperative is covering up her own culpability, will be the next Jamie Gorelick; Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard, the local corrupt-o-crat who got his 15 minutes of fame on "Meet the Press" last week, will be the next Richard Ben-Veniste.

And this time for "diversity," maybe they'll call on Randall "Black people are eating corpses . . . oh, never mind" Robinson and rapper Kanye "It's all about me" West to share their deep expertise.

Despite the abject failures of local and state officials to prepare for the worst, abide by their own evacuation plans, maintain an effective police force, and crack down on looters, Sen. Clinton's commission would only examine the "adequacy of federal response efforts."

Translation: Bash Bush.

Do we really need another group of staunch Democrats and milquetoast Republicans appointed to furrow their brows and pull their chins and stab their fingers in the air on cue for weeks on end while they find 50 different ways to tell us "We are not prepared"?

Have you forgotten the spectacle of 9/11 Commissioner Bob Kerrey hectoring witnesses, whining about his time being "eaten up," and yukking it up on Jon Stewart's "Daily Show" as he served on the federal panel investigating the deadliest enemy attack on American soil?

Or the stunning arrogance of 9/11 Commission chair Tom Kean, who carped that "people ought to stay out of our business" when challenged on Gorelick's clear conflicts of interest in investigating the barriers to communication between law enforcement and intelligence agencies?

As military leaders now spearhead bureaucratically delayed recovery efforts and private citizens and corporations lead the way on massive charitable relief campaigns, the last thing this country needs is another grand-standing panel of blowhards to soak up public resources to restate the obvious. There isn't a single Katrina victim who will benefit from hindsight hound dogs publishing thousand-page tomes with cherry-picked evidence that distorts the true narrative of what happened and why.

That is the wasteful, shameful legacy of the 9/11 Commission, which is undoubtedly relieved that Katrina has diverted attention away from the Able Danger fiasco on the eve of the fourth 9/11 anniversary. The panel failed to include any information in its report about the army intelligence unit that had identified al Qaeda cells -- including several 9/11 hijackers -- one year before the attacks. Five eyewitnesses deemed credible by the Pentagon have now vouched for the information, which the FBI never saw because of bureaucratic roadblocks enforced under the Clinton administration.

If it don't fit, you must omit. That seems to have been the unwritten mandate of the 9/11 Commission, and it's the mandate that the Democrats' top presidential contender in 2008 wants her Katrina Commission to follow.

President Bush gave in once to commission-ary zeal. He shouldn't make the same mistake twice. Let agency inspector generals, private, non-partisan researchers, the press and citizen journalists do the post-mortems.

Leave the leather chair-warmers and their PR agents out of it.

Posted by LIBSARENUTS at 09/10/2005 @ 7:04pm
I'm so sick of the meme that it was the state/local officials' fault, they never asked for any help, blah blah blah. The emergency was federalized on August 27th (2 days before Katrina hit), retroactive to the 26th. FEMA at that point--TWO DAYS BEFORE KATRINA HIT--was instructed by the White House to coordinate the efforts. They did not. The governor of Louisiana, after having asked for and received the OK for federal help, assumed it was coming. The Superdome was then used as an *emergency* shelter, which was supposed to be for a maximum of 48 hours, as everyone thought FEMA was on its way. Had FEMA done its job--if Chertoff and Brown had even known what that job ENTAILED--people would not have been at the Superdome and Convention Center for FIVE DAYS. This entire thing was the responsibility of FEMA, which was instructed on August 27th--TWO DAYS BEFORE KATRINA HIT--to take the reins. If you can't tear yourselves away from Fox News, Rush and the other hatemongers long enough to listen to reason, perhaps you'll take the word of Dear Leader himself, straight from the White House (where he should have been entrenched by August 27th, instead of flitting around the country enjoying himself). If you can read this and then still insist that FEMA is not at fault and did its job in an efficient and timely manner, you are beyond help:

For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary August 27, 2005

Statement on Federal Emergency Assistance for Louisiana

The President today declared an emergency exists in the State of Louisiana and ordered Federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts in the parishes located in the path of Hurricane Katrina beginning on August 26, 2005, and continuing.

The President's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives, protect property and public health and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the parishes of Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Caldwell, Claiborne, Catahoula, Concordia, De Soto, East Baton Rouge, East Carroll, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Franklin, Grant, Jackson, LaSalle, Lincoln, Livingston, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Pointe Coupee, Ouachita, Rapides, Red River, Richland, Sabine, St. Helena, St. Landry, Tensas, Union, Vernon, Webster, West Carroll, West Feliciana, and Winn.

Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency. Debris removal and emergency protective measures, including direct Federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent Federal funding.

Representing FEMA, Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary for Emergency Preparedness and Response, Department of Homeland Security, named William Lokey as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected area.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: FEMA (202) 646-4600.

# # #

Posted by laurieny at 09/10/2005 @ 8:34pm
BULBTOP So you think they are better off where they were before the storm? They dont have a chance in that city. I never said anything about "putting them lazy bastards to work" All I said is they need to get out from under the power hungery in that city and state and start their life off new. If that is such a great place for them why on earth are they so damn poor to begin with? Is it the fault of a man in DC? No its the fault of that sorry state.

Posted by whyme at 09/10/2005 @ 8:53pm
Interesting that the instructions for posts to this site say that comments should not make personal attacks. The Liberals also constantly talk about how much they have big hearts and really care about people and the like. But if you look at a list like this you see the real truth, Liberals are the ones that are using peoples personal tragedy's to push there hate filled propaganda in the press. They are also using a tragedy to tell people that we have to rely on someone else (big government) to help them. But then the constant thing that the Liberals teach in the indoctrination camps most of call schools is to always question authority. WOW the thing that I really find ironic is all of the war protests and peace marches and hippy movement came during a Liberal democrat presidency and if you look at LBJ and JFK and put them in an election today they would lose the DNC because they would be considered too conservative. Nobody is good enough for the vilest of people that are represented here because it seems that the holier then Thou are the true liberals who preach toleration but are intolerant of anyone's ideas but theirs. I feel so sorry for most of you as you can't even say that some people " Barbra Bush" might be a little old and might have said something wrong but you cannot even give her a pass. You better hope you never are in a glass bowl like they are, but then again you gave Hillary and Bill a pass because it was only about sex and money.

Oh how the truth must hurt.

Posted by liberal4hate at 09/10/2005 @ 10:39pm

John Nichols

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Barbara Bush: It's Good Enough for the Poor

posted by John Nichols on 09/06/2005 @ 1:08pm

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Barbara Bush: It's Good Enough for the Poor

posted by John Nichols on 09/06/2005 @ 1:08pm

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