Katrina Disaster Stirs Political Passions
While reading the comments posted by visitors in this very blog I was surprised to see how much political furror has been stirred up by this terrible tragedy.
The post quoted below is just one example of this phenomenon.
The following comment was posted by Laurin:
I am enraged at the President of the United States. I am a 23 year old female and currently reside on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, having come from a family that has served it’s country proudly both in civil service and in the military. I work as a suicide hotline operator at a local agency in the town of Salisbury. While I do not consider myself one of political advocacy or radicality I feel that something must be said of the nation’s continual unravelling. I have planted my feet and remained unspoken at the events since 9/11 - events that I had found myself periodically doing body recovery as a rescue swimmer aboard a 110 ft. Patrol Cutter for during my time in the military. Events that I wanted to speak out about, but found no common ground or driving force to do so. Now I have found an important reason from which to further educate those around me that have no means, or are plainly ignorant to the foundations of our rotting American values.
I was born in the town of Slidell, Louisiana. (Which has been barely covered by the news with the exception of minor mentions) Many times while working the various odd jobs after serving a 2 year stint in the United States Coast Guard I would be questioned as to where I was from. With the familiar age old reply of “Say that again?” or, “Where on earth is that?” I would smile and reply “30 miles from the French Quarter in downtown New Orleans.” Occasionally I would even come across folks from Slidell itself, who would smile at my services and always reply to my questions with a “M’aam” at the end of every sentence. They were courteous, and always engagingly charismatic. This is not to say that everyone from the state who’s motto is “Anything Goes” is a perfect saint. Those from the state of Louisiana are just like any other: average Americans striving to make ends meet and create a worthy life for themselves and their family.
Several days ago, Hurrican Katrina wiped out over 85% of my hometown, and currently 80% of the city of New Orleans is sitting underwater. While Americans are sitting at home, tuning in to CNN and wondering how such an atrocity could have occured - there are those of us that call up memories of certain articles predicting just such a disaster. The Times-Picayune reports on August 31st:
In early 2004, as the cost of the conflict in Iraq soared, President Bush proposed spending less than 20 percent of what the Corps said was needed for Lake Pontchartrain, according to a Feb. 16, 2004, article, in New Orleans CityBusiness.
Also that June, with the 2004 hurricane season starting, the Corps’ project manager Al Naomi went before a local agency, the East Jefferson Levee Authority, and essentially begged for $2 million for urgent work that Washington was now unable to pay for.
In a nation so concerned with military response and activity overseas, we can now only hope that a city steeped rich in history and welcoming tourism will not ultimately lie in ruins. The New Orleans depicted in travel brochures, movies and even the popular Mardis Gras draw will undoubtedly no longer have it’s strangely inviting wonder and beauty.
The question that I pose to others who cannot fathom an intimate understanding of such an obscenely large grief is this: “Could you begin to describe your feelings if the city of your birth was taken off the map by a disaster that could have been aided through funding that was severed in favor of an overseas war with no end in the near future?”
Tomorrow afternoon I will visit my local chapter of the Red Cross and insist on being sent to Louisiana to help aid victims and lend my military training for relief, albeit small. I urge all of you who care about American freedom and security to aid in your own way, however small.
Please do not hesitate to express your views either in favor or against the ones from the above poster in the comments section.
September 1st, 2005 at 3:16 pm
I find it interesting Bush is blamed for allocating monies. Check Congress and, more appropriately, Louisiana’s Senators and reps for what they did.
September 1st, 2005 at 3:31 pm
I agree with Laurin 100%. But just like the state where I live
(S.C.) the voters in La. & S.C. supported Bush by nearly
60%. Elections has consequences, but only the rich and
powerful understands this in the U.S.
September 1st, 2005 at 3:35 pm
I am a 58 year old, Viet Nam Veteran who resides in eastern North Carolina and have had first hand experience with Hurricanes and the damage that they can do. I am outraged that President Bush denied the funds necessary to repair the levees in the New Orleans area. Of course this made no headlines in the national news or wasn’t part of his financial agenda when he was trying to steer funds to his own personal war in Iraq. I was a victim of another war that was fought by brave men and women from another era. This was a war in which the President (Johnson) and his general (Westmoreland) had cooked up so that they could derive tremendous financial gain. 58000 brave souls died as a result of their greed. Now we have Iraq, George Bush and his oil buddies are hoping to profit from this one, this is what it is truly all about…Oil. How many brave souls are going to die, this has yet to be determined as this war continues.
The dead and dying in New Orleans are also victims of the war in Iraq, not directly, but indirectly as the funds they needed to prevent such a disaster was diverted to the war. People, the government does not care about us, this incident is one small example that proves it. All the government cares about is about how deep it can get into your pocket as it eliminates our good jobs and gives them away to foreigners. Look at how we’re being gouged at the gas pumps as the price is being pushed up by fear and the goverment’s spin doctors, Just think of how much this is making for George’s pals in the oil industry, and how much of a personal kickback he’s getting from all of this. I wasn’t a big fan of Bill Clinton, but he looks like a saint compared to this guy, at least the stock market was good then, and gas was about a dollar a gallon. Maybe we should kick in for an intern to get George’s mind off of screwing us.
I am overwhelmed by the suffering that those people are experiencing as a resulf of Katrina, any one of us are prone to natural disasters of one form or another. Pay attention to how the government and other nations react to this, because it could be any one of us who are next on the list. We are still a great land, full of great people, who will go on, in spite of a “not so great” government system full of corruption and greed.
September 1st, 2005 at 3:41 pm
Congress (and as Mark mentions above, especially thous from LA) sets the budget, not Bush. I see more more ignorance of how our government works is running amok.
You want to blame someone? Blame God, and blame those idiots in Louisiana that first built, and then decided over 300 years to expand, a major metropolitan area largely below sea level in an area so prone to major flooding in tehheart of hurricane country.
New Orleans should not be rebuilt where it was. It needs to be moved elsewhere, or forgotten. We’ve spent unGodly amounts of money to rebuild Princeville, NC (pop
September 1st, 2005 at 4:39 pm
Anyone who thinks that federal budgets, spending and budget cuts are the total responsibility of the congress without any influence from the executive branch is a blooming idiot. If that is truly the case, then why is Clinton blamed for the lack of spending to target Bin Laden and his crew during his administration. What is happening in New Orleans is the fault of the entire federal government structure. They are focused on something else altogether. And that is the conquest of the middle east.
September 1st, 2005 at 4:41 pm
We are pretty much desperate for help here in Louisiana. In Plaquemine and St. Bernard Parishes (which is south and east of New Orleans) there are few roads leading into the communities and cities. There is a lot of swamp land in these areas. The roads have been washed away. The only way to reach the people on their roofs in these areas is by air boating through the swamps or comming in from the Gulf. These people are dying because no one can reach them. There are not enough boats nor man power, not to mention water and food. Hundreds if not thousands are going to die waiting to be rescued in some areas. I want to see Bush in a boat pulling people off of their roofs.
September 1st, 2005 at 5:12 pm
I cannot understand what is worse, watching people in need or the fact that our government, sworn to protect all those withnin its borders, is sending help too little and too late. I want to hang my head in shame at our democratic system that would allow their own citizens to die, allow lawlessness on the streets and not provide immediate medical attention to those in need. The hospital ship “Comfort” is docked in Baltimore and not scheduled to arrive until sometime next week; again, too little too late. By monday military ships are scheduled to arrive to help; too little, too late. It is horrific that this has turned from “search and rescue” to “bag and tag.”
I thought the National Guard was developed or designed to protect our borders and help citizens in need, but that is difficult to do when they are in, oh, Iraq. This was an act of God and Mother Nature obviously has weapons of mass destruction, and maybe if Bush thought that way our government would have acted quicker and not hesitated to send in aid.
September 1st, 2005 at 5:45 pm
I moved to Lafayette LA five years ago. Today there are at least 10,000 extra people here. There are arguements all around as to who to blame for the levee break. You want to blame people for the ” bag and tag”? Blame the looters. Yesterday 200 men met at the local mall to take their personal boats to aid in rescue (the first of 3 groups that left yesterday). They were told they were taking their own lives in their hands because looters were shooting. Policeman were told to maintain order instead of rescues. All across the gulf city after city is devastated. In Acadiana people have opened their homes and their hearts. I have seen 5 years old children empty piggybanks, and toy boxs to help. I have heard of men who “snuck” into St. Bernard Parish to try to help victims when government was too slow. This week, maybe for the first time since I moved to LA, I am proud to call this place home. Instead of placing blame PLEASE send prayers and help to the 7,000 people packed into the Cajundome, the families that have 14-30 people living in a single house. Help the small children who need to go to school. Pray for the volunteers who are witnessing the most horrific thing a person can imagine. Pray for those rescuers who were ordered to walk past the dead to attempt to save the living. After the crisis is over, we can talk blame and anger. Today, my thoughts are concerned with looking in the eyes of those shell shocked evacuees and letting them know that I will do everything I can to help. That is my priority.
September 1st, 2005 at 5:49 pm
It has come to my attention that the word of God has been so frequently ignored,sidestepped and candy coated that this tragedy is recorded and foretold in scripture. Our only chance for survival is to >>>2nd Chronicles 7:14 ” If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves pray and seek my face turn from thier wicked ways then will i hear from heaven,forgive thier sins and heal thier land. My family is in Denham Springs feeding and opened home to help wont you pray and open yours? Heart first ask Gods mercy and do a check up from the neck up? Have a brother who said ” These people think the govt. owes them however he thinks he owes the land that has allowed him to prosper and it is his oppoutunity to serve and give back”,he has no electricity except by generator he is cooking on grill and feeding any who go there. Lets all become servants of the Holiness of God instead of blaming God lets take responsibility for the things that have happened. Begin with accepting your savior JESUS and asking him how to help.
September 1st, 2005 at 5:58 pm
You are in our prayers…Slidell, New Orleans, Biloxi, and every other city and family that has been touched by this horrific disaster. We, your neighbors in Texas, will do everything that we can to house your displaced, feed your hungry, and offer solace to those that are grieving. Please accept our love and compassion in your time of need, and know that we are praying for your healing and restoration.
Please know that you are not forgotten…you matter, you are loved, and you are cherished, even if it may not feel that way right now.
September 1st, 2005 at 6:06 pm
I feel badly for Laurin’s hometown of Slidell, and my sympathy and prayers go out to those left in the wake of Katrina’s devastation. However, I’m puzzled that she seems to be implying it’s the President’s fault that a levee failed when a) building a state levee is not a federal issue (atleast it shouldn’t be), and b) the United States Constitution empowers congress to allocate funds, not the President.
Why isn’t she upset with Louisiana’s congressional representatives for not earmarking federal funds for the levee? Why isn’t she upset with Mary Landrieu and David Vitter, Louisiana’s two senators, for failing to make sure their state received the necessary funds? Could it be because it’s easier to blame a President she dislikes and link it to a war she disagrees with?
I am no psychiatrist, but it appears that Laurin is looking for something/someone to vent her frustration and emotion on, and a President she didn’t care for in the first place is a convenient whipping boy. IMO, an illogical and childish response, but perhaps slightly understandable that she’d rather blame someone she doesn’t like than accept the fact that, in an imperfect world, these things happen.
September 1st, 2005 at 6:17 pm
I am writing from France. 30 years ago I spend 3 years in New Orleans . I loved that city , a town with a soul. Today i feel sad. I think of my friends over there, their houses , their business. I think of all these streets with marvellous names: Melpomene, Magazine, Pearl etc.The beautiful houses, the trees. The melting pot of people , sounds and flavours.
Mr. Bush should take better care of american people and cities instead of talking of democracy in a part of the world he has nothing to do.In french we say:” charité bien ordonnée commence par soi -même”
September 1st, 2005 at 6:31 pm
Our thoughts and prayers are with the Gulf Coast. I have family in Brownsville, TX (also along the coast), and we constantly worry for them, but they have faced nothing compared to this. We cannot begin to know the pain and desperation everyone feels, but will chip in the best we can to help. Okay, about the politics (since everone insists on turning it into a blame game, Laurin’s is understandable, but the others aren’t) here’s my 2 cents: as far as blame, I am puzzled at everyone placing blame on Bush. Here is the way I see it: there was an evacuation. They stated plain and simple that New Orleans and surrounding areas ARE NOT safe places to be for this storm. According to the blogs I have been reading, a lot of people chose to stay (some had to due to lack of funds or transportation, but that is not the point here), knowing the potential for danger this storm had. I have traveled along I-10 on my way from NC to TX, go through Slidell regularly. All it is is water, water, water everywhere (the highway is built on a bridge going over Lake Pontchartrain). Is this Bush’s fault? Is it not a state’s responsibility (or should it not be) for the states to pay for their own maintenance and repairs? Can Bush be blamed because a storm hit an area that had been expecting it for some time (it was stated on the news they built the Superdome to withstand a Cat 3 Hurricane)? How much responsibility does the US gov have to shoulder to support a state (or city) that is under sea level and cannot pay for their own maintenance? Sorry, but the less government meddles in the lives and affairs of others (this includes the Federal government meddling in business that should the State governments’ responsibilities) the better. God bless all of the residents of the Gulf Coast, I will always remember the way you were, and the way you grew over the years from my childhood to my 30s. I will be praying and helping you as much as humanly possible.
September 1st, 2005 at 6:44 pm
kblehman is right. Something like a levee would fall under a state budget which is the STATE’s responsibility. (Jee who woulda thought?…)
People that are blaming Bush need to stop because he has nothing to do with it nor can he really help in any way. The only thing that can be done is be patient and wait for things to slowly return to normal. Sure Bush can and i’m sure will allocate some money to the relief fund and troops and help will be sent to the affected areas. But in no way will that completely solve all of this and that is not his fault. He in no way could have predicted exactly where this storm would hit and know that the levee not being finished would cause such a major problem. This is a state problem. You need to be mad at your state representatives for deciding that the levee was not worthy of the money needed to fix it knowing that at any time a hurricane could hit and stop blaming Bush just because you may not like him or his views on certain issues.
Marie, Bush does take care of us American people and cities. The war in Iraq is doing more good than you will realize. The media only portrays the negative things. My cousin is now over there for his 2nd year and says that there is a lot of good happening that the media just chooses not to portray because that is not how they view the war and want it to be seen. They in most parts believe that the war is a bad thing and do not want it to be portrayed in a positive light. They also do not want to offend anyone who is against the war so they report basically neutral information that will not anger either party.
September 1st, 2005 at 6:50 pm
I don’t understand our government’s response to this situation at all. Why didn’t our president end his vacation when the events were happening and rally some sort of evacuation effort for people without means while the hurricane was chugging up the gulf toward some of the poorest states in the union? Are our governing officials so out of touch with the people that they didn’t realize many folks don’t have the means to leave? Worse yet, did they realize people didn’t have the means to leave and didn’t act?
When the tsunami hit South-East Asia, they had no warning. We knew the hurricane was coming days ahead of time, and we didn’t help those in need get out of Katrina’s way. Our nation has much to be ashamed of.
September 1st, 2005 at 6:54 pm
“If that is truly the case, then why is Clinton blamed for the lack of spending to target Bin Laden and his crew during his administration. ”
Right o wrong, Clinton was blamed for gutting the overall intelligence budget, but he is more often blamed for cowering and withdrawing in Somalia. bin Laden himself said this inspired him to attack America on Septmember 11, 2001. That is what we blame Clinton for.
“I want to see Bush in a boat pulling people off of their roofs.”
That’s intelligent.
“I thought the National Guard was developed or designed to protect our borders and help citizens in need, but that is difficult to do when they are in, oh, Iraq.”
Stop thinking. The Army National Guard was chartered from the very beginning to be a dual use force, with both state and federal uses. We have 6,000 Guard and Reserve soldiers available for duty in the affected areas, and tens of thousands from other states as needed. The real issue is that National Gaurd troops can only perform certain roles, and are not trained to be swiftwater rescue specialists, flood control specialists, hydraulic engineers, etc. No one large group is and that wouldn’t change if every National Guard soldier in the world was deployed stateside. Play politics somewhere where people don’t know the facts.
“This was an act of God and Mother Nature obviously has weapons of mass destruction, and maybe if Bush thought that way our government would have acted quicker and not hesitated to send in aid.”
Again, replacing intelligence with volume and rhetoric.
The federal government can only allocate resources once they know where they are needed, and they know what is needed.
Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama state and local governments need to communicate their needs, and they can only do that if theri governments are functioning. The government of New Orleans and government of Louisiana has all but failed in their duties to their people, before, during, and after the storm.
Marie, you are part of a bankrupt society that profited from Iraq while her people died under the boot of Saddam Hussein, and you have high unemployment, and a goverment that fails and is replaced like clockwork every few decades (when the Germans don’t decide to change it for you). Pardon me if I don’t give a damn what the French think. We’ll take care of our own and the rest of the world as we always seem to in times of need. It is what Americans do.
September 1st, 2005 at 6:56 pm
You said it yourself. They didn’t have the means to leave. Rapidly evacuating many many people is a lot harder than you would think. People can only get out so fast. They were trying to get as many people out as they could and then would worry about getting those others without a way out out. In many cases people decided to ride the storm out and stay around. They in no way would expect what happened to happen. I’m proud of our nation. There really wasnt anything Bush could do to help with the evacuation. It is also very hard to predict exactly where the hurricane will make landfall. And by the time this is known it is in many cases too late to leave and get everyone out. But If you are so ashamed of your country maybe you should move to another country.
September 1st, 2005 at 6:56 pm
I am french. I love America. I have been living three times in the US : in Maryland, in New York, and in California.
I feel deeply sorry for all what happen, but how come you don’t make a revolution? How come you still keep this stupid President, who, day after day, degrades the good image that many European have about the US.
Proud Nations have always kill the king when it was time to change. I feel sorry that the only US President who was physically killed was Kennedy.
Go in the street, and get rid of Bush. It won’t help to solve all of your propblem, but it will help you to be proud of yourselves, being more than a nation who only believe CNN or foxnews.
Remember : the media are always telling lies (look at the last paragraph of http://www.smplanet.com/imperialism/remember.html), only the Internet allows for many opinions.
September 1st, 2005 at 7:19 pm
“I feel deeply sorry for all what happen, but how come you don’t make a revolution?”
Perhaps because our system of government, with all its warts, has led us to become the history of the world economically, culturally, and militarily. Your nation… not so much. you’ve been failing and in decline for the better part of 200 years. Pardon us if we don’t want to emulate your track record of abject failure.
September 1st, 2005 at 7:20 pm
Perhaps because our system of government, with all its warts, has led us to become the MOST PWERFUL NATION IN THE history of the world economically, culturally, and militarily.
Sorry.
September 1st, 2005 at 7:25 pm
It’s amazing to me how one person can be blamed for all the ills of the world. “Bush reduced the Corps of Eng. budget and doomed New Orleans”.
Can we put just a little bit of personal accountability back into our society??? Maybe if New Orleans / Lousiana decided to protect their OWN city correctly, instead of building the Superdome, or instead of “wooing” the Charlotte Hornets away, or instead of building a NEW Basketball Arena, or any of the other things they’ve built in order to RAISE their own standard of living, we wouldn’t be here right now. But they CHOSE what to spend their money on. THEY CHOSE to put the responsibility of their safety on the Fed.
Our hearts are always shown by what we spend money on. Was theirs on safety of their citizenry or on their income, status, and “draw” as a superbowl town???
Personal accountability. Try it. You might not like it, but it will make the world a MUCH better place.
September 1st, 2005 at 7:27 pm
Serge…
1. I don’t believe you’re French. I believe you’re a local troll just trying to stir up some response here. Get a life.
2. We'’re incredibly proud of ourselves already, and we don’t need to kill someone merely to make us feel good. We will overcome this, just as we’ve overcome every obstacle thrown in our way.
Get a life
September 1st, 2005 at 7:31 pm
First of all, those of you in France, you don’t support us one way or another, so you really don’t have a say here. Instead of posting Anti-Bush messages on here, send some money to the red cross.
Second, I don’t think that people understand what happened here. When the storm hit the gulf, it blew up. New Orleans and the surrounding areas were under a MANDATORY evacuation. Granted, not everyone could get out, but those that could and chose to stay for whatever reason, it’s their own fault. They should have left. Now they’re crying because they have no food and water, well, if they had left I’m pretty sure they would have the necessary supplies. Never complain about what you permit.
Next, after the storm hit, there was no way of getting into the city. Rescue workers had to use boats. BOATS…on I-10. The interstate is impassable, bridges are out, roadways leading into the city are under water. It takes a little bit of time to get into the city, and people don’t want to wait. They have to understand that everyone there is in danger, not just themselves. The city was still flooding until yesterday, making it even more dangerous for those trying to help save people. They put their own lives on the line to help rescue these people, so stop complaining. IT TAKES TIME.
It’s chaos in New Orleans right now–its not safe even for the police officers. Looters, gangs, disease, fires… It’s just not safe. People are doing what they can to help these folks, but it takes time.
Stop blaming the government or the President because they’re not responsible. Take a look at what the Representatives from Louisiana did to fight the funding cutbacks there. Nothing. They didn’t fight it at all… they had their own agendas to attend to. The levee is the state’s responsibility, not the federal government. Get a grip.
September 1st, 2005 at 7:49 pm
I have to say, I think it is wonderful that people can write their opinions openly and share knowledge with each other. But today the bottom line should be not placing blame, and not putting down. The bottom line is a natural disaster has occured. True there could have been more preparation in a city like New Orleans. True, people could have done things differently hundreds of years ago. And true it is possible, Congress, The President, Government officials locally and nationally could have done more. But today, we are in an emergency life and death situation. I think this time should be focused more on prayer and helping than outrage and blame over something no human being alive could have prevented today or when the city of New Orleans was built. I feel horrible living in central Florida not being able to do anything for those people effected by Hurricane Katrina at this moment. So, the best I can do is pray and hope others will see this as an opportunity for humanity to be at its best. For the USA to be at its best and for everyone around the country and around the world to come together again, and help one another in a situation beyond blame and beyond comprehension. I wish to send my love, compassion, and condolences to the victims and survivors of this event and also to thank everyone for sharing their views and opinions, because it helps me to learn more and others as well.
September 1st, 2005 at 7:53 pm
While people are sitting around looking for “someone” to blame, people are in trouble. People can blame anyone they want but it changes nothing…there are still men, women, and children needing basic help like food, clothing, and water not to mention shelter.
Some of you think you have a right to be angry and frustrated? Go down there and put yourself in the position of these poor souls. Good grief, while they are trying to get help, there is some idiot beside them in a crowd shooting at the only help available and keeping them from providing aid. That’s whose fault? Who knows the motives behind these aweful people, certainly can’t blame Bush for the actions of lunatics!
Kyria, do you really believe the President’s job entails evacuating cities being threatened by storms or earth quakes? I think I saw that on a movie once….why do states have Governors, Mayors, Senators, and the likes? There was plenty of warning for everyone but sadly many could not leave or would not leave….that is hindsight….simply, what do we do now?
Serge, since he is our “stupid president” as you said, shut up and mind your own business. Your credibility is shot if you think “proud nations kill kings”. You feel ” sorry that the only US President who was physically killed was Kennedy.” Studied American History did ya? Doesn’t sound like it. Why don’t you request that your countrymen pull resources together and send aid. We Americans have certainly done so, many times over for other countries in need! One more thing, your desire to see the USA in trials and tribulation is obvious as you urge us to “make a revolution” and “go in the street”. Why don’t you come over and go into the street….please wear something that will help us to spot you easily, like a shirt with a bullseye on it so we know who you are. ;>}
September 1st, 2005 at 7:54 pm
I cannot BELIEVE the way that conservatives are responding to the people of Louisiana’s outrage at the misspending of federal funds, from kblehman’s ridiculously callous accusation of one woman’s anger at the fiscal stupidity of the current administration as a “childish response”. Really goes to show you who does the hard work for those in need when push comes to shove. Not the neocons.
September 1st, 2005 at 8:00 pm
I cant believe the devastation. It has been my frustration to see the response times. We are overstretched and the area was very depressed. It is only making matters worse. I am in sunny CA and I feel so guilty to be ok and I just want to help in some way. I wish we could pull out of IRAQ but that is a theory that will not fly with Bush. Most people who support Bush have blinders on to the truth. The truth is out there and it is the bottom dollar. America does need to wake up. We don’t live in an idealic socieity. We live in America land of the all mighty dollar. What do we stand for anymore??? Why do people around the world hate us? I just hope the compassion of the American people shines through all of that and I pray for the government to get a clue. However I am proud to be an American and I support all the troops near and far. They are our only hope.
Marie from CA
September 1st, 2005 at 8:05 pm
The blaming should cease and people need to come together to help each other out. I agree with the Chaplain that posted God’s instruction that if we HUMBLE ourselves, TURN from our WICKED ways and seek HIS face, then He will hear our cry and HEAL our land. We really have a great president. He does care about the people of America and it’s shown through his saddened eyes as he looks at the destruction caused by Katrina. I am from Birmingham, AL and I am 24 years old. I am neither Republican nor Democrat-I’m vote for the godliest person, with the most morals and values that our Forefathers possessed when they founded our nation on what used to be GOD. I remember when Hurricane Ivan hit South Alabama and the Destin FL area last year. The President made a visit to the affected areas; walked around with people as they cried over the loss of their homes. President Bush consoled them. There’s a picture I have somewhere of Bush with his arm around a woman crying in front of the rubbish of what used to be her home; he’s kissing her forehead, just holding her. Bush does care about people and is probably one the most humble Presidents ever. Everything can’t be blamed on him from people that simply don’t like him or agree with the War and are looking for another situation to blame him for. The city of New Orleans is below sea level and probably should have never been established in that particular area b/c everyone knew this could and would eventually happen. Not to mention that there was a mandatory evacuation that the people did not yield to-how can the gov’t be blamed for their ignorance? As far as the war in Iraq- My brother-in-law is in Iraq this very moment and speaks of the good it is doing for the people there. The media only covers the negative-(i.e. the brainwashed suicide bombers) because most are democratic and oppose the war and want the people of the U.S. to feel the same way. Because of the war, there are women going to school with freedoms they’ve only hoped to dream of. If the war was about oil or gas, it wouldn’t keep going up….the issue with the gas prices stem from the fact that the people in China are no longer riding bikes and their demand for crude oil only keeps increasing; which increases the amount needed across the world versus the amount that can be supplied at this moment throughout the world. If some of these people on here would take 3 months out of their year and take a Macroeconomics course, they’d learn a little about how all this stuff works. OPEC determines the price of gas-not BUSH!!!!! Furthermore, Congress has to okay the plans proposed by Bush; make sure you vote Representatives/Senators in offices that will get the things done that you see fit!!
Nevertheless, we could go on and on for days trying to find someone to put the blame on when we should take responsibility and try to help our neighbors. This is not a perfect world and the people that live here CAN make mistakes or make poor decisions-ALL WHO ARE WITHOUT SIN CAST THE FIRST STONE!!! We’ve all made mistakes. The destructions from the Hurricanes, the Wars and Rumors of Wars, Children turning against their Parents, Earthquakes, mass catastrophic destructions- are all signs of the End Times- whether anyone wants to believe it or not. Perhaps, God is trying to warn His people that He is soon to return. We as Christians need to spread his love and invitation of salvation to those on a pathway to Hell and stop blaming everyone and bickering and arguing with one another. Instead-Lets take a moment to look at our own life and how the sinful lives we live need to be changed and be thankful that we still have life and another chance to make things right with God before it’s our time to leave this world; unlike many of the lives lost the past few days. Ask ourselves and God- “How can I be used to help my neighbor?”, even if it’s only taking a moment to say a prayer for those who have lost everything including family members. The things of this world mean nothing. We could have all the riches, all the friends, the fame, the glamour, and so on- if we don’t have salvation we have NOTHING. If anyone thinks that life here on earth is hell, there’s going to be a rude awakening for those that actually go there. Love endures all things. Let’s stop the bickering and blaming and just come together in one accord, as brothers and sisters in the Lord, let love each other and do all in our power to offer prayer and help to our neighbors to the south. Let’s pray for our President and our leaders instead of spending so much time blaming them for everything.
Here’s my prayer for all:
Lord,
You see the hurt in lives of your people. I can only imagine their struggle and pain. I know that you are big God, an awesome God that can take away their pain. Lord, you said in your Word, for us to be anxious for nothing- but in all things with prayer, supplication, and thanksgiving, let our requests be made known unto you. Father, right now I come to you and ask for peace to come to these people in such a time as this. You said that you will provide all of our riches in glory through Christ Jesus- I ask now that you supply the needs of those who have nothing- Lord, that they will look to you for their needs and be thankful for their lives. Comfort those that have lost loved ones and belongings, that they’ll realize that You are in control and give them faith to trust in you for all things. We were not made to handles things such as this- but you’re a God of hope, peace, and understanding and if we put our lives in your hands, you will take care of our needs. For the people that are lost and do not know you, Lord, I pray that they find salvation, turn from their sin and seek refuge in you. I pray for our leaders, God, that you would give them wisdom to make right decisions for this nation. I pray for the angry people all over the world that continually blame you Lord for the things that happen; that they’ll come to realize that you are a gracious Lord and all you want is to be trusted and worship. You are all-knowing. You know best. I pray that they will begin to put their trust in you and experience the things I have experience in you love. Thank you all things Lord. I ask this in your name-Amen.
September 1st, 2005 at 8:27 pm
For the record, women are a lot less free in Iraq now.
Before the war they did not have to wear head scarfs and could walk in the streets and could have jobs.
Now, in most places, women must wear the veil or get beaten or raped. Women can no longer walk in the streets without being afraid.
2 Christian women were beaten to death in June (look for AP story June 24th, 2005) because they were not wearing head scarfs and were listening to music. Christians are doing really bad in Iraq.
And women still have to worry about their men folks being taken away and put in prison and they don’t know where they are and have no trial or lawyers.
Do not kid yourself. Women have lost a lot of freedom in Iraq since the war.
September 1st, 2005 at 8:33 pm
Kaza when was the last time you were in Iraq? Or do you think that because you read the news you’re somehow an expert on conditions there? Before you open your mouth, go over there and see whats going on ok? I’ve been here for 4 months now and don’t plan on leaving anytime soon. Don’t believe everything you read.
September 1st, 2005 at 8:40 pm
Laurin:
Thanks for posting and for letting your passion and anger rage right around now. We need more people like you. Open the dialogue and let’s begin the process of curing the ills of democracy with MORE democracy.
I am a U.S. citizen and I want George W. Bush’s head to be placed on a stick and paraded through the streets–NOW! I come down full force on the THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION on this one. The reasons are numerous:
1. The response for this disaster was too little and too LATE. First responders should have had the right tools to be there at the right time FIRST THING MONDAY MORNING. Two words: First-Responders. Where were they on Monday, when it really mattered?
2. As far back as 1999 people have known about the vulnerability to New Orleans, not just to its residents but in terms of the strategic importance of this particular region in the Gulf and the U.S.’ energy supply. As has been reported in several places already, the Times-Picayune ran an 8-part series on the city’s vulnerability back in 2001.
If funds were diverted away from existing initiatives to help safeguard this vital link in our country’s energy supply chain–it was due to the War on Terror and nothing else. If lcoal authorities were not able to get enough FINANCIAL BACKING FROM CONCERNED AND POTENTIALLY AGGRIEVED parties to secure funding for the levee it is because the democratic system FAVORS THOSE WITH DEEP POCKETS AND ENTIRELY IGNORES THOSE WHO HAVE NOTHING.
3. QUIT BLAMING THE EVACUEES FOR LOOTING. If no one is going in to help them, they have a right to help themselves. The media is intent on showing us people dragging away sneakers and cosmetics when in fact all they need is food and (Ironically) water. Leave the refugees alone. They have lost everything.
4. Did anyone check the DOW Jones yesterday (8/31/2005)? Did anyone else notice that one of the companies whose stock rose the highest was HALLIBURTON?!?!!!! A corporation run by Dick Cheney?!? I don’t want to hear any nonesense about God (earlier in this thread) when the looting from the tragedy in New Orleans is taking place from the top on down. –To those in this thread who in say the War in Iraq is “doing more good than we think,” all I have to say is follow the money and then look at your own bank accounts, the war and disaster profiteers and taking away our democracy before our very eyes.
5. I personally went to the White House grounds on Tuesday night with the same simmering anger I know Laurin felt. I was looking for others who shared my mindset. There was not a soul there at 9:30 p.m., except for the anti-nuke protester who has set up shop there since 1981. Where was Bush when we needed him to take charge? Why was he playing the guitar in California, selling the War in Iraq and the new prescription medicine benefits there? What in the world can you touch, see, smell, and feel from a jet cruising at 1,000 feet over the disaster area? If President Bush can fly onto an aircraft carrier all by his lonesome and declare, “Mission Accomplished,” why can’t he land in a disaster area and walk through a hospital? Why isn’t he in Houston right now?
6. Yes, there will be NO AID from any foreign nations (EXCEPT VENEZUELA) for this crisis. This administration has done a good job of alienating the rest of the world and projecting a sense of invulnerability that WILL come back to bite us slowly but surely, like the rising floodwaters in New Orleans.
Question: If we are the most advanced nation in the world, the most powerful country with the most resources—how can this nation afford to let these flood victims die before our very eyes because we acted too slow? We can invade a country several times the size of the affected flood area in a matter of days, but we can’t save lives back home? Is there not something incredibly wrong about this?!?
In closing, as contradictory as it may seem to all of you, I think in many ways it might be right to let Mr. Bush off the hook—but only TO LOOK WITHIN OURSELVES BECAUSE WE SURRENDERED TO BUSH’S MANDATE…it is up to us to reclaim our democracy one person at a time. Blowjobs don’t constitute grounds for impeachment–disaster profiteering and war profiteering–now those are reasons that would have gotten our founding fathers going.
September 1st, 2005 at 8:40 pm
Oh my. What has happened to my country? I sat quietly this morning reflecting the last 5 years. Got pretty pissed. Watching the people down in New Oleans with few people to help them. My brother in-law (an Army man) would love to help them. But, he is in Iraq. My best friends wife (Guardsman and mother of a two year old) would love to help. But, she is in Iraq. I’m sure President Bush would love to help too. But, he is still on vacation. What hard working American gets to take a month vacation? I never have and don’t know anyone that has. Ridiculous! Bush could care less about black america down South. If this kind of tradegy were to happen in a white American suburb there would be an entirely different response. This makes me sick. I used to think Cindy Sheehan was an idiot. Funny, she is starting to make more sense everyday.
September 1st, 2005 at 8:43 pm
This is for all who think that France is not doing anything…
“France expresses its readiness to bring its aid based on the needs American authorities express.” 09/01/06
Money is already being collected and sent to la Croix Rouge (Red Cross).
If you understand French, go to www.lemonde.fr or www.lefigaro.fr and you can read for yourself that the French are reacting.
Also, France is not the only country offering support.
I personally don’t care about politics, nationalism, or whatever…. that is not helping any of the survivors and victims right now.
I’m a French citizen living in the USA… but I am proud to be a human being.
Please. put your quarrel on the side for now… In the meantime, people are dying of thirst and hunger in NOLA and the affected areas. Help them first then once this is cleared, fight.
Prayers of strength and courage for all.
Ervelyne
September 1st, 2005 at 8:48 pm
I am living down here in our beautiful, though flooded, state of Louisiana. We all have serious concerns for our family and loved ones. Many of us are still waiting to hear from our missing families. We are truly in a state of crisis here. Our state has been raveged first by the storm and now by the civil unrest that is following. I am an American first and I support our troops with all of my heart. I respect the efforts our men are makeing over seas, but once again we are a nation in crisis. We need our men to be home. Our citizens are in grave danger here in our own homeland. I would plead to all those who are able to send help. This devestation will only continue to get worse untill we can gain some sort of control over the chaos that this storm has left behind. We are a great nation, but once again we have been shown the chink in our armor. I support Bush, however I cannot understand the delay in getting relief to those suffering and in danger here at home.
September 1st, 2005 at 8:52 pm
It’s amazing how a natural disaster can be linked to Bush. He must have
had special weather planes fly over and create a hurricane so he could raise gas prices. Let’s not forget all those soldiers who voluntered for the
military that he has killed in Iraq. This is about a hurricane, and people suffering. People in “OUR COUNRTY” who are hungry, thirsty, sick, dying,
and totally ravaged with grief.
Save your obssession with Bush, get up off your ass and help.
September 1st, 2005 at 8:59 pm
Im gonna sit back, drink my bottled water and eat my Twix bar and listen to all you idiots blame the president for a natural disaster. Of course its his fault.
He should have warned people about the Tsunami in December too. He should have been there right as the last wave flooded the city.
He should have known about all the wildfires this country would battle this year. Air Force One should be equipped with fire-fighting equipment.
He should have told California residents about the mudslides since he seems to know everything.
And what I’m saying sounds about as ludicris as what you guys are saying. Go back to work…
Marc…welcome to today. President Bush is in Washington DC, not in Texas anymore. “If this kind of tradegy were to happen in a white American suburb there would be an entirely different response. ”
I’m pretty sure the response would be the same if there was no way of getting help into the “white American suburb”, kinda like there’s not many ways of getting help into New Orleans. Duh…
David: “If President Bush can fly onto an aircraft carrier all by his lonesome and declare, “Mission Accomplished,” why can’t he land in a disaster area and walk through a hospital? Why isn’t he in Houston right now?”
Last time I checked, the hurricane hit New Orleans, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Not Texas. Did I miss a memo? Why would he be in HOUSTON when most of the damage is in NEW ORLEANS and MISSISSIPPI? Duh…
Vahine: “France expresses its readiness to bring its aid based on the needs American authorities express.” 09/01/06″
While its great that France can express readiness, they need to put it into action. Just like all the prayers and thoughts are really great and all, but thats not putting action to it.
September 1st, 2005 at 9:04 pm
I was born and grew up in New Orleans. What a shame that the people of that city do not pay for the things that are needed. With the state having a state tax and the city having a sales tax of over 9% not even to mention the income from the casinos plus the fact that Feb brings tons of money to that city why should I who now lives in TX have to pay for New Orleans? What a shame the city went wild 15 years ago. I choose not to live in a place that has no respect for itself. I guess looking at the people that have now taken over the city one can only wonder if when all is said and done if this is what New Orleans needed. A big clean up. I wanted to go back and take my family to the place I grew up but to be honest I was scared to death. I am sorry for the lives that were lost and for the building that were at one time beautiful but the bottom line is New Orleans was in need of a little cleaning of the soul. I hope Houston can survive the people that are brought there. But then again I might have to move to a safer place, I’ll let you know in a few months.
September 1st, 2005 at 9:04 pm
David, Laurin….
First, David, you spout fiction, NOT fact and I implore you to get those straightened out before you say or write one more word. You are spreading lies and here is your chance to get your facts straight. Surely in all of your self righteousness you don’t want to be a liar, do you?
And Laurin, there are many parts of this timeline that should have been different, starting decades ago as the city of New Orleans was built up around (meaning below) the high ground of the French Quarter. Presidents probably noticed. But it is and always was the responsibility of the local and state governments and your US Congressional Representatives to fix the problems. Yes, President Bush will likely pay a political price for this. But when you get there (and I hope you are able to help), look around and ask yourself how much of this was built before November 2000 when President Bush was elected? You cheapen your argument overall when you point your finger at a President who wasn’t even born when the problematic infrastructures were being built.
And Confederate Yankee, you are right on! Folks, read through his posts and think about it….
September 1st, 2005 at 9:04 pm
Blame game in NO…
It’s absurd to blame anyone for the hurricane itself but what has happened since the winds stopped is certainly ripe for discussion.
The local government (state, county, parish, city) all share blame in the response plan or lack of. They seemed to have a plan to prevent the waters from breaching the dykes but no plan at all if that did happen. It has been known for decades that a direct strike of New Orleans by a category 3 or greater hurricane would swamp the city. It seemed that the local officials were in denial about the failure of the flood control system. Why there was no contingency plan to patch the breaks immediately, should be a question that gets asked often once things stablize. Check out this article written in July of 2000 and see how many of these predictions are coming true…
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/news/2000/wnoflood.htm
It’s becoming obvious that Katrina is not simply a regional catastrophe but a national tragedy. The Great Depression was triggered by drought and subsequent famine in the early 1920’s. Many of the early signs of the economy in the aftermath are not good. With the domestic oil business severely damaged, we have already seen gas prices leap to uncharted heights. Interstate commerce in general in the southeast will take months to repair due to the damage to I-10. Rail cannot move until all the tracks are inspected and repaired. A great many of the houses currently flooded will have to be torn down and now the natural gas fires are starting.
Looking at the big picture…The stock market is jittery…Millions of people are sure to be unemployed or refugeed by the storm…The cost of just about everything will be going up (AKA inflation) which further stagnates the economy.
The scope and depth of this catastrophe is only now becoming apparent. I don’t think any one disaster has ever effected our entire nation so much but that said, we are an amazingly resiliant nation. The people in the southeast are in for months and years of misery. It’s naive to think that Katrina will scare people from building on the Gulf. New Orleans will be rebuilt, hopefully with a larger thought to protect the city from the seas. Our hearts in the heartland go out to all those affected…Give to the Red Cross!!!
September 1st, 2005 at 9:15 pm
David,
First responders are local New Orleans-based emergency services units made up of police, fire, and medical assets. As you don’t even grasp the meaning of the basic terms, I didn’t deem the rest of your response worth reading. You’re pretty obviously here to erroneously place blame without the slightest clue what you are talking about. I’m just waiting for you to condemn SuperBush for not sealing the levee with his heat vision. Talk about being a few board-feet short of a deck…
Marc,
We have 28,000 soldiers mobilized in the largest stateside deployment of troops in United States history. Do you honestly think 28,002 would have that much more of an impact? Again, another person goes after Bush, who is not on vacation (like a President in the age of satellite communications, cell phones, and high speed internet is every really on vacation). Your comment about “black America” is just stupid, as is your comment about white suburbs. Perhaps you didn’t notice, but it those in Mississippi and Alabama who lost everything were overwhelmingly white. If Cindy Sheehan, favorite of David Duke and neo-Nazi group Stormfront is among your heroes, I’d suggest you have major critical thinking problems to being with.
Christine,
If the human mind were easily capable of understanding the magnitude of this storm’s destructive path, you would understand why aid seems to be flowing slowly. The infrastructure is simply gone in many places-no roads, no telephones, no airfields, nothing. Wiped clean like Hiroshima after the atomic bomb (though Hiroshima still had roads, which now many areas here do not have at all). The amount of destructive energy released here is equal to that of dozens of nuclear explosions. Does that put things in perspective for you?
Authorities still do not know where many people are, and even if they have an idea of where they are, they have few ways of getting supplies to them. There are a finite number of helicopters available. Sikorsky and other companies can only make so many per year. We can’t just crank out new pilots and crews when we hear a storm is coming.
You are talking about millions of people displaced, tens of thousands of miles of land that has been violently rearranged, and weather events still occurring. It has been three days. For three days, we’ve done a phenomenal amount of work, the media just can’t convey to you just how much has been overcome to get to where we are.
September 1st, 2005 at 9:28 pm
My husband is a Nationa Guardsman in Oklahoma. His unit is sending soldiers to Iraq this coming monday. Today the state of Oklahoma is sending over 1000 of its National Guard to assist in the security. These men and women are going into New Orleans with their heads held high, their hearts full of compassion and sorrow to assist. Out of my husbands unit, the few people who are not going to Iraq readily VOLUNTEERED to deploy to New Orleans. I for one am proud of BOTH the team going to Iraq and the team going to New Orleans. I fear for both teams safety. I pray that not only does God hear our prayers for the people who were directly harmed by the hurricane, but also for the soldiers who are on their way to assist.
The only qualm I truely have with this entire situation is where is the aid from other countries? In December, after the tsunami, Americans opened our hearts and our checkbooks to the foreign countries to assit in their recovery. As did many other foreign countries. Where is the aid for us? Every report I have seen is that its AMERICAN’S openeing their checkbooks, no reports of other countries assisting…
September 1st, 2005 at 9:29 pm
I’m sure it makes people feel better in the short term to have someone/something to blame, but it’s been proven time and again that you can’t beat mother nature. I don’t care how much money you spend on a “super-levee”, it doesn’t guarantee anything.
New Orleans is lucky that the eye of the hurricane steered away, becuase if it had plowed straight through the city the way it was originally feared, no levee in the world would have protected it from complete anihilation. When you build a city in such a vulnerable location, you have to expect the worst and be ready to pick up the pieces. There’s no one to blame but the looters.
September 1st, 2005 at 9:33 pm
You know, I haven’t read all of the above in detail, I have just kind of skimmed it, so I may have missed a lot of the points and the information. But regardless of the reasons, and the politics of it all, I do not understand at all why there hasn’t been a better response to get to the people of NO who are trapped in the city. I am watching the desperate TV coverage on MSNBC of the people who are in downtown New Orleans, who are trapped, and have no food, no formula for the babies, no water. I don’t understand why there isn’t a ton of military and humanitarian aid rolling into the city right now. What is happening? Where is the response? It seems that we are country who is more than capable of helping, and providing a quick response, what has happened? I know it must be hard to get in there, but for crying out loud, LOOK AT THOSE PEOPLE! It is tragic.
September 1st, 2005 at 9:35 pm
The hurricane was an act of god people not the President!!!
But I guess this is one more thing to blame on him.
I swear all you democrats do is whine. Get you butt out there and donate money or give blood instead of complaining about the president.
September 1st, 2005 at 9:41 pm
Everybody look in the mirror and state, “I am responsible for myself and my family.”
September 1st, 2005 at 9:49 pm
Shelli, you said it yourself; you can’t be bothered to read the answered provided for you in this thread, and you bask in your ignorance. You remind me of the old joke:
“Q: which is worse, ignorance, or apathy?”
“A: I don’t know, and I don’t care.”
Some of the people of New Orleans had no choice but to ride out this storm, but the vast majority made the conscious decision-a gamble, really-that the storm wouldn’t be that bad. They lost their gamble, and many will pay for that gamble with their lives and the lives of their children.
Ignorance and studidity can often be fatal. We’re just not used to seeing on so grand a scale.
September 1st, 2005 at 9:54 pm
American,
Majority of the refugees are in, or in route to Houston. Do something different than what the President does: read a newspaper. Don’t rely on memos.
September 1st, 2005 at 10:01 pm
Bush: “Who would have thought a levee would break?”
September 1st, 2005 at 10:09 pm
I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and I realize that it has been almost 100 years since the terrible 1906 Earthquake. Watching the devastation in Louisiana and Mississippi makes me shudder to think what it will be like when we are hit by a huge quake. I know it will happen someday, but I prefer not to think about it. I think I finally realize how important it is to be as prepared as possible.
Also, I read that the poverty figures went up last year and have gone up every year in the past 5 years. Unfortunately, now tens of thousands more people will be added to these figures.
September 1st, 2005 at 10:12 pm
I am a 21 year old mother of 4. My daughter recently came home with a flyer that says help us. It was pertaining to Hurricaine Katrina. We are going around to every business in Tyler Texas asking them to help us raise money. I agree with Laurrin and I am also very upset about the fact that Pes. Bush would even be on vacation at a time like this. I have been on the web looking and reading abouth this. My husband who is a tow truck driver witnessed several wrecks on I20 the day of the evacuation. He unlocked a mans car that was from the french quarter who was staying in a local motel knowing what was going on against company policy he paid for the mans unlock out of his own pocket. When I went to the local grocery store the parking lot was full of Lousiana licence plates and there was a mother with 4 kids sitting in her car. I walked right past her onmy way in on my way out she was still there I asked her if she was ok she had her car packed with things. She said her name was Eva and her she was escaping from the storm but ran out of money on the way up that her car was out of gas and her kids were hungry she didn’t know where to go or what to do anymore. I helped her push her car to the gas station that was in the parking lot and filled her car up with gas I told her and gave her a map of where she could go to get help and i had her follow me to a Dairy Queen and fed her and her kids. then since it was so late I had her follow me to the nearest motel and paid for a weeks stay. I may have only helped her for a day but i did what i could and would doit again. I feel a lot of sorrow for all the victims of this hurricane and I will continue to help in any way that i can.
September 1st, 2005 at 10:15 pm
wow. this is fantastic. it’s nice to be able to read such a vast array of responces to what has just taken place over the last few days. right or wrong, people are talking, speaking out, being read or heard. i don’t want to judge, or place blame. i just want to impart on all the fact that what we need right now, as a whole, if this is truly what we are as an individual, nation-a world, is to understand what i feel we have been lacking, some, not all….
Repect
Common Sense
Decency
Responsibility for ones own actions
and…..
remember that golden rule?
Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.
September 1st, 2005 at 10:15 pm
Perhaps the fury of Hurricane Katrina was so powerful that any human effort to cope with its impact was bound to seem woefully inadequate. Is any official up to the task of responding to an epic storm that has left hundreds - possibly thousands - of people dead, tens of thousands homeless and millions without electrical power or drinking water?
Maybe not, but when New Orleans flooded Tuesday, it was not comforting to see state and local officials looking overwhelmed and bewildered. Confusion was rampant. Looting broke out. The public was left to wonder whether anyone was really in charge or had any sort of plan. No one emerged as New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani did on 9/11 to show that authorities were working together to provide relief and prevent chaos.
“Too many cooks in the kitchen!” a frustrated New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said of the lack of coordination of relief efforts, complaining that crews scheduled to plug a broken levee were diverted to rescuing storm victims. Officials weren’t on the “same page,” he said.
That lack of coordination is inexcusable considering that people living along the Gulf Coast have grown up hearing about what could happen if the “big one” hit the region. Yet the levees weren’t raised or strengthened sufficiently to prevent flooding. Initial plans for evacuating the city and ensuring civil order were haphazard at best.
At this point, only a massive federal response can prevent a horrific situation from becoming even worse. The magnitude of the devastation stretching across three states requires more resources than state and local officials possess. This is one of the big moments when the nation looks to much-maligned Big Government for help.
After what appeared to be a halting response Tuesday, the Bush administration moved Wednesday to provide support and reassurance.
President Bush returned to Washington and helped fill the leadership void. Flanked by members of his Cabinet outside the White House, he spelled out the priorities and pledged an unprecedented rescue-and-relief response.
Some parts of that response - 1,700 truckloads of water, ice, meals, medical supplies, generators and tents - will provide desperately needed relief. Others, though, seemed puny in the context of the urgent problems evident on TV screens.
Just eight swift-water rescue teams and a small air rescue effort, for instance, to save countless people stranded on rooftops and pleading for help? As the president spoke, many of them had been without food, shelter or safe drinking water for nearly three days. In addition, what is the plan to restore order in New Orleans, where looting is rampant? None has emerged from any source.
To be sure, the overall task is immense: providing food and shelter for thousands who’ve been displaced, rebuilding the area’s infrastructure and restoring civil order. The president has mobilized a massive response. Even so, the feeling lingers that for the victims of Katrina in most imminent peril, help might be arriving too late.
September 1st, 2005 at 10:46 pm
Shelli, do me a favor. Ok…do New Orleans a favor. Get in your car and try to drive to the city. Try to drive downtown. Take I-10 just to be sure.
Can’t get through? NEITHER CAN THEY!!!!!!
While you’re sitting watching MSNBC do you see all the water surrounding these people? That’s why rescue workers can’t get to them. They have helicopters, but they only have so much fuel, so many landing spots, and so many pilots. And the pilots can only fly a certain amound of hours before they need to sleep.
I’m sorry you don’t understand why the calvary isnt just rolling into downtown NO to help…but your ignorance of the entire situation amuses me.
Some people have never been through/helped with a natural disater before, therefore don’t know the logistics of trying to recover afterwards.
September 1st, 2005 at 10:46 pm
Confederate Yankee, this is a forum that seems to be designed for people to express opinions, sadness, outrage, etc regardless of how ignorant it may seem. It appears to be designed for people feeling pain. It is good to express one’s opinions regardless of the merit. Extreme AROGANCE is not the way to help comfort. Ask yourself…what is your purpose for posting? To defend the President? To make yourself feel bigger?
I truly express sorry to everyone being affected by this tragedy. I hope help arrives to people in need as quickly as humanly possible. The human spirit can survive many things. I trust the government is doing everything possible to facilitate rescue operations.
September 1st, 2005 at 10:51 pm
OHHH SOO TRUE, YOU ARE SO RIGHT, BUSH SHOULD HELP HERE BEFORE HE F**KS WHIT OTHER CITIES THAT DONT EVEN WANT HIM, THATS ANOTHER ONE FOR THE RECORDS BUSH, YOU ARE A RETARD
September 1st, 2005 at 10:56 pm
My thoughts go out to everyone affected by this tragedy.
Now, do I blame Bush? Yes. I also blame Bush Sr., Clinton and Regan, who either cut the budget of the Army Corps of Engineers or did little to add money back.
For years, every time a hurricane hits the Gulf of Mexico, the Red Cross starts yelling…”If it hits New Orelans, it’s gonna be baaaaad….!” Kinda like those scientists in the disaster movies saying “I told you so!” Come on, I live in Michigan and I knew it was gonna be bad if a Cat 5 hurricane hit there. I mean, the worst hurricane in modern history was Camille in 1969, which hit…guess where…New Orleans.
So everyone knew that this kind of disaster was a very good possibility. So why wasn’t the area better prepared for this? Why weren’t the local, state and national governments better equipped to react? Didn’t anyone learn anything from Camille? Where were the evacuation plans? Where were the supplies? Lots of questions here.
I mean, the government goes on about being better prepared for terrorists attacks, yet we lose more to Mother Nature’s attacks every year then the terrorists.
Of course, it’s easy for me to be an armchair quarterback and makes these comments from up here in the north. It just seems that the area was woefully unprepared for a disaster that they knew was a very big possibility.
Maybe the lesson will be learned this time.
September 1st, 2005 at 11:06 pm
sdw227,
You make of this forum what you will. Some have indeed used this forum to speak of loss and pain, and some have used it to propogate ignorance and heated rhetoric of political, social, and racial natures.
If you are unable or unwilling to differentiate between arrogance and ignorance, or facts from rhetoric, perhaps then you are one of those I am talking to.
We needs facts and experience, not ignorance and opinion. I’m a writer by trade and a research skills professional, so yes, I do tend to be far better at finding facts than others, and perhaps my impatience can sounds condescending. As someone who has been through multiple hurricanes, I also speak from experience.
It is NOT good to “express one’s opinion, regardless of merit.” That, sir, is a fool’s position. In time of crisis, we need accurate, factual information. I’ve done my best to dispell myths and provide real information beyond the “common knowledge” that is obviously not all that common with some posters.
I’m sorry if a quest to disseminate accurate information instead of hyperbole troubles you.
September 1st, 2005 at 11:07 pm
I’m from the South and have been glued to the TV for days. Harry Connick Jr. is at the Convention Center on a phone to Ron Reagan in Seattle. He says…. “THESE PEOPLE NEED HELP….WHERE ARE THE SUPPLIES.”…..another reporter on Canal Street says, “WE HAVEN’T SEEN ANY RELIEF IN 4 DAYS”…..IF THIS WAS BOSNIA, THEY WOULD DROP SUPPLIES BY AIR”.
What is the problem with this Country? Why are there no supplies being dropped to the people that need it? Who cares if the President is going to fly down and access the damage? Is he going to bring food from Air force One? Why is there no navy personnel going ashore to help out? Why is the Hospital Ship taking days to get there? Where are our troops? Why is this taking so desperately long? People are starving and elderly people are dying in numbers. If this was a third world country the USA would have already taken care of this problem. There’s supposed to be tons of supplies and food and millions of meals being sent. The president can fly over New Orleans and be back in his house for lunch in hours…. but it takes FOUR DAYS TO GET FOOD TO THE PEOPLE THAT NEED IT. Please try to get this email to someone that can make a difference.
Ernest Cunningham
Denver, Colorado
September 1st, 2005 at 11:14 pm
Just wanted to mention when laying blame for not properly building levees and such… It was people YEARS ago who built and continued to build here. This is swampland. Albeit, much of the developed areas were DRAINED swampland. Mother nature has reclaimed what was hers to begin with.
September 1st, 2005 at 11:16 pm
The lack of cooridination during this time is understandable. What happened on 9/11 was a horrible tragedy and yes the city was organized and Giuliani did an amazing job, however a whole city was not destroyed. The city did not lose its entire infrastructure. New Orleans has lost everything. How is a city government supposed to function from an on ramp off of the interstate system. Yes, our officials look overwhelmed and confused. We do not have just one city underwater we have many areas. This is not just one city or one part of a city being affected this is an entire region. These people are only human. Yes, NO is below sea level and this has been predicted for years. Well, we can moan and groan about lack of funding and levees and whose fault this is but that won’t do any good. What we need now is help and time. This is going to take time. We don’t need blame. Everyone is asking what’s the plan, where is the plan to fix this. Who knows what the plan is or were and who cares. When Katrina hit all bets were off. Things are now being dealt with the way they have to be–moment by moment. How do you cooridinate this effort? Who do you put in charge? We have many cities, parishes, local governments along with the federal government involved in this operation. One person is not in charge. One person can not be expected to shoulder this load. All I ask at this time is that instead of reaching out with your places to put blame reach out with help and support.
September 1st, 2005 at 11:31 pm
Good god!!! If I read one more post on a blog that blames the hurricane and its aftermath on our President I think my head will explode! Get a grip. He had nothing to do with pulling any funding from anything. He may have made a recommendation, but congress still has to vote on it….
If you want to complain about Bush, find something he actually had a hand in…
September 1st, 2005 at 11:38 pm
http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,76397,00.html
September 1st, 2005 at 11:49 pm
Why is the USA always FIRST to commit humanitarian aid when some remote area of the globe experiences a disaster…I ask (rhetorically) this because the sound of silence from the rest of the world is deafening when we now need assistance. I not heard from any one country pledging aid or funds. I expect that Great Britain and Canada will step up (as always) but where are France/Germany/Belgium/Finland/The Netherlands/Japan/
Switzerland/Norway - all relatively wealthy countries who the USA have assisted greatly at some time over the last 60 years. Many of these countries owe their existance today to our liberating them or rebuilding the vanquished after world wars. US taxpayers (and our additional generosity)have footed the bill for the majority of disaster relief for the Tsunami, Famine in Africa, landslides in Mexico, earthquakes in Turkey and Iran…The list goes on.
September 1st, 2005 at 11:59 pm
I’m reading some of these comments, and many of them just blow me away. My heart aches, literally, for those affected by this tragedy. I watch it on the news, and I cannot help but to cry for these families who have lost everything. I saw a woman on 48 hours last night whose husband of 53 years died at her feet on the side of the Interstate—where is the humanity in saying it is their fault for not getting out? Placing blame at a time like this makes that man no less dead, and makes her heart no less broken. A natural disaster has occurred-the gulf coast will probably never be the same again-many people will never return to NO because they cannot even find the place where their home once stood…I cannot even find words to express the sadness that this has placed on my heart…I try to put myself in their shoes and wonder what on earth would I do if it were me? Surely, I would have no funds to evacuate with my child, so I would be stuck in my home, watching the water rise and trying to save my baby girl from drowning. I cannot even fathom what these people are going through—and I am grateful for everyone who found themselves able to help and have done so…..this is what brotherhood is all about, and this is why I love the USA!!!!!
September 2nd, 2005 at 12:01 am
I’m confused. How much money should the federal government spend to protect a city that was built in a ditch between two large bodies of water.
The government needs to do everything it can to shore up a port of entry at the mouth of the Mississippi, but no more. If people insist on living and working below sea level, the federal government shouldn’t be espected to make it work out logistically.
Laurin, please do insist on being allowed to go to New Orleans. I’m sure the Red Cross will bend to your wishes.
September 2nd, 2005 at 12:05 am
OK, here is something ELSE to blame the White House on. I find it appauling that the President of the United States could only take 35 minutes out of his flight schedule from Crawford to D.C. to fly over the ravaged areas left by Katrina. 35 minutes. Getting to the White House is more important than taking a helicopter tour for a couple of hours and then landing somewhere to be a show of support for those left in the wake of this trajedy ? Even he admits that this is one of the worst natural disasters of our recorded history. . .but only worth a 35 minute fly over, so as not to waste time flying back from Crawford to Washington in order to look “presidential”when he signs a relief bill for the states of Louisiana, Mississippi , Alabama and Florida.
And for those of you who might rebuttel with, “There are security concerns with the lawlessness”, I answer with, that didn’t affect President Lincoln when he made the trip to the front lines to fire General McClellan, Or President Roosevelt during the second world war. . .or for that matter even this President, who will make a surprise visit to Iraq amid security concerns. . .but can only give The Gulf Coast 35 minutes of his flight time between Crawford and DC.because he has more pressing concerns with speeches(last tuesday) about how the war in Iraq is like the 2nd World War (huh?) instead of how it is SO MUCH MORE like Viet Nam.
So regardless of who is to blame for Iraq vs. New Orleans Levee money allocation. . .(and the buck does ULTIMATELY stop at the White House, as Truman once stated). . .the fact remains that THIS president could only find 35 minutes to give to a grieving part of a nation, who are the neighbor states to his beloved Texas?
When you look up the word ,”clueless” in the dictionary, it states: “See G.W. Bush”.
September 2nd, 2005 at 12:10 am
Once again, our inept Federal Government has proven that they wouldn’t be able to find their way out of a paper bag, even with printed directions and a GPS unit. My heart goes out to those people who have lost EVERYTHING. Their lives will NEVER be the same, and I want to cry everytime I hear them talk about “we will rebuild” and “we are resilient”. These are TRUE Americans — those who are devestated and have nothing, yet still trying to be optimistic and help their fellow neighbors in need. These people need help and they need it NOW — we as Americans cannot just sit this one out on the sidelines.
It makes me physically sick to my stomach to read how last year $350,000 was spent on a training excerise for this EXACT scenario. How all weekend long, there was nothing on TV except the predicted damage this storm would do. And yet, here we are, with American citizens in a major American city drowning in their attics because the Federal Government can’t get their act together and mobilize aid. People sitting for DAYS on ruined highway overpasses without a single rescue official in sight — no food, water — NOTHING. Oh, we are sending them a hospital ship with supplies, but it is coming from VIRIGINA, and won’t be leaving until Friday or Saturday, and will take a week to get there. But you wouldn’t guess that from all the lip service the government is giving us — “we are committed to providing relief” — “the government is doing everything in it’s power to help the victims”– “we are proud of our efforts so far” — blah blah blah. And here is the Superdome, still full of refugees, 4 days after the storm, and no sign of an evacuation plan. No sign of a relief supply plan. No sign of anyone trying to plug the levees. They are blaming the major devestation for hampering rescue efforts –”it’s very hard to get around there”. While I can accept that to some extent, the fact still remains that the media seems to have no problem getting into even the most devestated areas. The looters don’t seem to have a problem getting around New Orleans. What in the name of GOD are we waiting for??
If any ounce of good comes of this, hopefully it will make each and every one of us wake up and smell the coffee. I keep hearing the phrase “people are just unable to wrap their minds around something like this”. Since when did America need to be coddled and eased into a catastrophe? We KNEW it was coming. We KNEW what could happen. We KNEW how bad it could potentially be. And as far as not being able to comprehend death and destruction — have we already forgotten the sight of those people jumping from the tallest buildings in the world just before they collapsed on 9/11?
President Moron should have just kept his ass on vacation. He is absolutely tits-on-a-bull useless. Too bad it wasn’t him and his family trapped and drowning in one of those attics with no help in sight. I hope he burns in HELL.
September 2nd, 2005 at 12:11 am
The true facts are that Global warming is the cause of this disaster. How interesting it is that our president does not recognize Global Warming!! Too bad he doesnt live on the gulf coast. Maybe he should listen now to all the scientists and meteorlogists that it does exist. It also is truly a shame that many of those people who stayed there couldnt afford to buy gasoline to get out paid with there lives. It is now time for all of you who support this administration wake up and see the forest for the trees. All he cares about is the rich. Eventually there will be no more middle class. Are you middle class americans? If so, you better be ware of what is to come. He could do something about the price of gas, he just wont. Remember, Bill Clinton did.
September 2nd, 2005 at 12:18 am
Luckylady do you read the news?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9157866/
http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,76397,00.html
You get yourself down there and help out since no one else is… ok?
September 2nd, 2005 at 12:26 am
I stumbled upon this website after searching for information regarding Hurricane Katrina and read through all of these comments that were posted to Laurin’s article.
Honestly I don’t know much about politics, the details of how search and rescues work or any specifics about the situation but I do know that right now what is of utmost importance is SAVING LIVES.
People are STARVING, people are dying of THRIST, people are HOMELESS . . . and this is in our OWN homeland. PLEASE help these people someone. If it were you or I then we would want someone to help us. Imagine a mother stranded with a crying hungry baby. If America can deal with problems abroad then I suggest this issue be dealt with swiftly and effectively. Don’t allow our own citizens who pay taxes for simple things like relief aid to DIE.
Although I do not particularly care for President Bush or the current state of the national and state government I don’t feel like pointing fingers. It goes with saying though that Louisianna’s state government REALLY should have had better measures in place to combat something like this. Building a city below sea level in a massive hurricane zone wasn’t exactly the smartest decision.
At first I wondered why everyone did not heed the evacuation orders but then I was reading some articles that mentioned many people did not have the means to leave - either financially or they were not physically able to do so. My question is this . . . why weren’t these people offered assistance at that point? Couldn’t someone have stepped in and helped these people escape the storm?
Many people have posted that it is impossible to reach the victims. I do not know much about search and rescues but I am sure there is a way. Where there is a will - there IS a way. Trying is better than letting people die. Hopefully response will reach these people before it is too late.
About the looting . . . it is this SIMPLE - if I were starving or my family were starving I would do the same thing. I could not imagine looking into my little girl’s eyes and knowing she was hungry or thirsty. I would take what I needed. It is a matter of survival. Taking items besides food and water is stupid though and what is with all of the shootings?
In this time of need and crisis I hope everyone can pull together and rebuild the lives that have been destroyed.
May peace be with you all.
Mandy Terry
California
September 2nd, 2005 at 12:32 am
“If you are unable or unwilling to differentiate between arrogance and ignorance, or facts from rhetoric, perhaps then you are one of those I am talking to.
It is NOT good to “express one’s opinion, regardless of merit.” That, sir, is a fool’s position.
I’m sorry if a quest to disseminate accurate information instead of hyperbole troubles you.”
Confederate Yankee, yes, I am able to differentiate between arrogance and ignorance and facts from rhetoric. Don’t be so quick to jump to the conclusion that I am an uneducated fool.
And no, a fool’s position is not one that would hinder people from expressing themselves. It is a medical opinion and also the opinion of the constitution.
And no Confederate Yankee, you do not trouble me. It would take far more to make me troubled. I too have experienced many hurricanes but never one like Katrina except when she was a cat 1.
Don’t mistake my statements as ones from emotion. I simply feel that perhaps people should be given the freedom to express opinions without attack. The same privilege that should be extended to you….
September 2nd, 2005 at 12:35 am
Confederate Yankee, You speak of ignorance quite frequently,sounds to me like your full of ignorance.Everyone is so quick to place blame on GOD but it”s usually those IDIOTS who call on him first when their own life is in danger.But then again looking at this web-site and all the times you have put your IGNORANT 2cents worth in, you need to get a life!
September 2nd, 2005 at 12:40 am
Susie in KC - Global waming is a conveinient scapegoat for a natural disaster of this magnitude. According to NOAA, of the most powerful hurricanes of all-time, only one (Andrew and now Katrina) have occured in the last 25 years. There have always been tropical storms and there have always been storm cycles, This was the long-expected worst case scenario for New Orleans…When you live in coastal areas you assume some kind of risk for hurricanes. The same goes for living in an earthquake prone area like California or live near a dormant volcano (Mt. Rainer or St. Helens). This was a NATURAL DISASTER not a man made one…
September 2nd, 2005 at 12:41 am
sdw277, we will have to agree to disagree.
Just becuase someone has an opinion doesn’t mean that it is valid. They have the First Amendment right to bring it up of course, but they do not have the right to be exempt from criticism. We have something called the “marketplace of ideas” when ideas good and bad are judged upon their merits, and the bad ideas are discarded.
September 2nd, 2005 at 12:43 am
cdu, thank you for your eloquent contribution to this thread’s discourse. Your use of ALL CAPS has rightfully put me in my place.
September 2nd, 2005 at 12:59 am
It’s a shame that so many Americans seem to have no understanding of how our government works-do a little research before you point fingers.
I feel for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, and can’t imagine their shock, grief and suffering. That said, now is not the time to be laying blame, looting, starting fires or firing on those trying to conduct rescues and evacuations. How people can complain about not being evacuated and then hinder the evacuation process by attacking rescuers goes beyond all reason. A terrible situation is being made worse by those who break the law.
I commend Pres. Bush, the local governments, military, rescue operations and the neighboring states for pulling together so quickly in the aftermath of this devastating disaster. The focus is and should be to continue saving lives and keeping people as safe as humanly possible. As frightened, hungry and grief-stricken as I realize victims must be, they must pull together and be a part of the solution rather than the cause of more problems, and just be grateful for their lives.
I don’t mean to sound callous, but I hope that people that live in coastal areas now begin to take mandatory evacuations seriously. No home is worth risking your life over. No matter what your financial situation is, there’s always a way to find the means to evacuate. Lives are more important than money or personal belongings. What a terrible lesson to learn, and at such a great cost.
I pray for the victims. I pray for those facing uncertainty, those fearing for their loved ones.
September 2nd, 2005 at 12:59 am
I would like to first wish everyone affected by this storm the best of luck in the next few weeks, months, and, unfortunately, years to come. They will no doubt have much to struggle with.
That obvious statement aside, here is another, what crawled up Confederate Yankee’s ass.
So quick to jump on anyone that so much as looks to Bush during this crisis. Isn’t Bush this country’s leader? His criticism, fair or not, comes with the job.
Last I checked this was also a Blog and not CNN, so if you came here for facts you are in the wrong place. So we really don’t need policing from you C. Yankee, thanks anyways.
This so mush is TRUE:
The authorities asked those that could not leave N.O. to come to the Superdome. Many people followed those instructions and now are paying a dear price for it. It seems they have all been forgotten and now are in quite a dire situation. People who survived the storm are now dying of dehydration.
So I wonder:
Where is the gov. at ANY level to help these citizens? The fed. gov. should be there ALREADY with aid, not on the way. With so much footage of the US dropping relief from the sky to Africa and Afghanistan, why isn’t there any of that happening in our own country?
To say that our gov. is doing all it can I think is incorrect. If it IS doing all it can then we are in horrible shape to take on another terrorist attack. What if a dirty bomb is set off, is this response what we should expect from our government? In that case, C. Yankee, if you are not questioning the current administration you are just as ignorant or apathetic like you accuse so many of us here to be.
If this isn’t exactly the kind of crisis our people our gov. should be ALREADY prepared for, then what is?
September 2nd, 2005 at 1:02 am
How helpless I feel to only be able to offer my money to help your struggling countryman when I know that money is not any part of the immediate solution for the south. Supplies that are no doubt stockpiled around many army/navy/airforce bases around your country and ours should be being airdropped as stated in a post above. A fuel depot could be set-up to allow tanker trucks to continually replenish fuel needs at the nearest, safest airstrip closest to the devastation and planes could refuel there and make repeated air drops of bottled water and food while rescue operations continue.
My god, in Canada we successfully air drop rabies vaccine bait into our wilderness to fight the battle on raccoon rabies so could someone please tell me why airdropping supplies to the desparate and dying folks in the South is not possible? Perhaps my sense of logic has been lost while trying to comprehend the scope of this tragedy?!?
God bless.
September 2nd, 2005 at 1:04 am
It burdens my heart to see these people in such destress and the only thing it appears that everyone is doing is arguing over whose fault everything is….
Forget about the president, who should be doing what, and so on….. help is on the way to the victims affected by Katrina… with bridges gone, cities leveled and NO flooded- it’s almost seems impossible to rescue. The last time I checked people CAN”T walk on water. To drop food would be a waste being that it would sink in the flood waters. Our gov’t is doing what they can. WE have to do what we can and help our neighbors. STOP BLAMING AND PRAY FOR THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MR. YANKEE:
I agree with you totally!! Tell it like it is-
September 2nd, 2005 at 1:07 am
prstud: “Where is the gov. at ANY level to help these citizens? The fed. gov. should be there ALREADY with aid, not on the way. With so much footage of the US dropping relief from the sky to Africa and Afghanistan, why isn’t there any of that happening in our own country?”
Are you implying that there is NO aid for these people? Are those Coast Guard and national guard helicopters a figment of our imaginations? Are the national guard troops handing out MREs and water at the superdome just illusions?
And Yankee has a right to jump on people criticizing the President. The government IS helping and just because you see people in NO on the news yelling that they have nothing doesnt mean its true. They have no cars, they have no homes, they have no steak dinners to sit down to. If that’s their impression of having nothing, then they’re right. The people at the superdome are making their own situation worse by causing riots and shooting at those trying to help them. There IS help there, these people are just refusing to accept it. They want their demands met NOW, and they have no concept of how bad it is out there. It takes time…
September 2nd, 2005 at 1:23 am
While the anti-Bush folks are busy in the blame game. People are still dying. Can’t you folks put your anger on hold, even for a little bit, and direct your attention to saving lives. Have you spent as much time giving blood or volunteering for relief efforts as you have blogging about your hatred of Bush? Hind sight is always 20-20.
September 2nd, 2005 at 1:25 am
We’ve had a long time to prepare for a disaster similar to the one we are witnessing. Before this unfortunate event Bush and his associates got in the way of developing a concerted strategy to help for this impending disaster by chanelling money to Iraq instead. In the near future, all of the “help on the way” right now will not only be seen as ineffective damage control insofar as the disaster in New Orleans, but damage control in a broader sense, too. They have let the people of New Orleans down by doing too little too late, and the balance of their greed and their political short-sightedness will erode the levee around the White House and Congress.
September 2nd, 2005 at 1:29 am
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050828-1.html
Interesting news release from your president, from his ranch, on the eve of what was heralded to likely be the largest natural disaster to hit the US in it’s history concerning Hurricane Katrina plus a second news item regarding a new Iraquis Constitution.
The hurricane that was threatening devastation, death and destruction to the citizens of his homeland got 3 paragraphs…….the new Iraquis Constitution got 12 paragraphs…..which do you think the American public (pro or anti Bush) would have considered the “bigger” news storey.
Your president (or your Congress or his press agent or whoever puts their hand up his back to move his mouth) sure have their priorities messed up.
September 2nd, 2005 at 1:34 am
wetlands…….wet / lands…..what part of that didn’t our forefathers understand?? and while you’re all at it, you can blame anyone you want, but the fact of the matter is, anyone that gets into power today still has to pay for the stupidity/history of the past, regardless of who they are, who they know and who they have backing them up. ever see a person repeatedly bump their head against a wall? maybe they know something we don’t…..
September 2nd, 2005 at 1:38 am
After reading through the dialog above, I am dumbstruck by how many of us are so hooked into the Blame Game. Accomplishing absolutely nothing while spouting partial facts, learned and unlearned opinions, and regurgitated information gleaned from whatever the individual preference of news source wants us to focus on. I watched the talking heads on MSNBC last night pounding away at Louisiana politicians trying to corner them into blaming the Bush Administration for not being prepared for this horrific tragedy. For not moving into action thousands of relief workers and millions of dollars of direly needed supplies on less than three days notice, to the exact location needed (which wasn not 100% clear until less than twelve hours prior) at just the right time. It is possible that a quicker response might have been possible. Remember this storm was a minor hurricane when it crossed Florida.
I for one, want to believe that everybody is doing what they can as fast as the situation will allow. This kind of relief effort has never been undertaken in our nation before. EVER.
We can review all aspects of the cause, and the actions taken, after this nightmare is at least past critical life and death for so many thousands. Take your need to change the political process, remove the people in place within that process, and desire to end the war, cure aids, solve poverty, discover clean renewable energy, save the whales, end or protect womens right to choose, etc… and get out of the way!. Send your twenty-five bucks to the Red Cross and drop to your knees and pray to whatever or whomever you pray to for the quickest end to the misery in the Gulf Coast. And throw in some thanks that your home is not being destroyed, while all the malcontents want to place blame and make those responsible for leading the relief efforts spend thier time and effort answering the question “WHO IS TO BLAME”. The most insignificant question possible at this point.
September 2nd, 2005 at 1:43 am
Stadium refugees will die because people like “American” above think up things like:
“They have no cars, they have no homes, they have no steak dinners to sit down to. If that’s their impression of having nothing, then they’re right. The people at the superdome are making their own situation worse by causing riots and shooting at those trying to help them.”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4206620.stm
“American” should think twice about what he says right now, before someone in that stadium right now makes it out and sets the record straight for him in person upon return. I have news for you “American:” there are many people in this country who live in abject poverty because people like you have been turning your backs on people like them for a long time now…
September 2nd, 2005 at 1:44 am
The Albuquerque Tribune
To print this page, select File then Print from your browser
URL: http://www.abqtrib.com/albq/op_editorials/article/0,2565,ALBQ_19867_4047143,00.html
Editorial: As tragedy hits, Bush is missing from duty
September 1, 2005
As Americans in the mostly destroyed Gulf Coast struggled to cope with the deadly and devastating impact of Hurricane Katrina, where was their president?
Still on vacation.
Worse, still out of touch.
Were National Guard and Reserve units, plus active-duty outfits in the world’s most powerful army and navy standing ready Monday and Tuesday to rush to the rescue of the besieged?
Nope. Their commander in chief was AWOL - at least until Wednesday afternoon, when finally he began to call in the cavalry.
Where was the nation’s supposedly much-improved emergency response system Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to deal with what everyone was told was a Category 5 hurricane capable of catastrophic devastation?
It sure wasn’t anywhere near Katrina’s path.
When forecasters warned early, and very accurately, as it turned out, that the storm would pose special problems for below-sea-level New Orleans and other coastal Gulf Coast cities, the federal government’s plan for relief proved to be weak - when it could be seen at all.
Don’t just take our word for it. Ask the thousands in the area who have been pushed to the brink by a lack of water, food, first aid and medicine.
Or just ask the thousands stranded in the Louisiana Superdome.
After what must have been the worst night of most of their lives, they spent Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday wondering what kind of help - if any - was en route.
They must have been delighted to hear Wednesday that the answer was - shazaam! - a trip to the Houston Astrodome.
Does President Bush, who seemed transfixed by other issues while his fellow citizens suffered, truly understand that one of our great and unique cities, New Orleans, is lost and needs emergency triage just to stay on life support?
As he defended the war in Iraq and talked about other important - but certainly not as pressing problems facing the nation - did he understand that a disaster of epic proportions was unfolding in cities like Gulfport, Miss., and Mobile, Ala.?
Did he understand this was our Asian tsunami?
As if evidence wasn’t plain enough to see, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin sent the nation a chilling note Wednesday when he estimated that thousands could be dead in the city.
If that’s not a federal problem - one requiring the 24-hour-a-day attention and response from Washington, D.C. - what is?
On that note, various news organizations have reported that the cost of the war in Iraq is the reason cited by Louisiana and New Orleans officials for cuts of more than $25 million from federal Army Corps of Engineers’ budgets the past two years.
In those budgets: emergency funds that would shore up and raise the riverbanks and levees that protected New Orleans. Officials recognized the city’s vulnerabilities 30 years ago and were desperate to complete the work after an intense 2004 hurricane season.
The money, gone to Iraq, was not there.
All that’s in New Orleans today are broken levees, a flooded metro area, refugees headed to Houston - and an uncertain future.
Today is Day Four of one of the worst natural tragedies in American history, and perhaps when all is said and done it might rival even the horrors of 9/11. It already does in terms of its geographical reach and its direct impact on millions of Americans.
Bush is scheduled to grace the Gulf Coast with his presence on Friday when, finally, he tours the devastation - and no doubt proclaims his sincere sympathy and compassion for the afflicted.
That would be Day Five.
Copyright 2005, The Albuquerque Tribune. All Rights Reserved.
September 2nd, 2005 at 1:47 am
It is logical to wonder if we are truly prepared for situations such as this. If we open our eyes and try hard not to be defensive the answer is no, we are not prepared for situations like Katrina. Leave terrorist attacks out of the equation. With the emphasis that has been placed on whether the US is prepared for disasters it is becoming apparent that we are not prepared. Yes, the government is scrambling. Yes, the National Guard and Coast Guard are working to maximum capacity. The situation is by far more complex than a simple steak dinner. Or a toilet to use. The psychological effects of these situations take a great toll on individuals. No, riots are not warranted. But they happen for reasons.
It is logical to ask why we as a country are able to perform the military operations around the world to the extent that we do. I recall watching operation desert storm on television. It was amazing the force and ability of the US military to take control of a city. Of course we no longer have control but that is a different discussion. I think it is natural and expected to question our preparedness. Not to question would make us complacent and unable to deal with emergency situations.
September 2nd, 2005 at 1:52 am
Were not the citizens of New Orleans urged to evacuate the city? I believe they had as much notice that Katrina was going to be no shit really bad as any relief officials had to prepare. Many could not get out because of special needs or they ran out of time. Many did not get out because they chose to stay. ALL of them need any help they can get, as fast as they can it. How could anybody be prepared for the single worse natural disaster and human tragedy in our country in any living souls memory?
September 2nd, 2005 at 1:55 am
Lauren, you are spot on. It is tremendously embarrasing what the rest of the world is looking in at. In times of need, we should be banding together. Instead there is violence, strife and unrest on the streets. And in the face of such devastation! What is wrong here? We, who are away from the tragedy, should be heeding the call to go easy at the gas pumps, but we insist on topping our tanks and creating shortages. The bad side of human nature, or dare I say American-nature, is really coming out here. You can even read it in the posts here. Please, for all of our sakes, lets band together and leave the ugliness for later. Isn’t there enough ugliness today?
September 2nd, 2005 at 2:00 am
I am from Slidell as well. Right now, my father and brother are missing. New Orleans, the city that is my heart and the very core of who I am, is destroyed. Thousands of loving, hard working people have died a lonely, horrible death. I want to be angry at what seems to be the lack of preparation. I want to be furious over the time it has taken to respond. However, down in my heart I realize that one cannot prepare for something one cannot possibly imagine.
September 2nd, 2005 at 2:09 am
Thomas: While you pretend to know me, you have no idea. I come from poverty, I come from having literally no food in the cabinets at home. If I was in the middle of that mess right now, I would sure as hell be looting food and water. Its basic survival.
I haven’t turned my back on the people living in poverty, but I chose to not feel sorry for myself and got myself out of it. I don’t feel that society owes me anything because of how I grew up. Times get hard, I know that.
And I’m not worried about someone coming up to me and setting the record straight for me in person. You dont know who I am. Fact of the matter is that I live in downtown San Antonio right now, and they ARE bussing people from NO to San Antonio.
And I’m sorry you feel you have to stand up for people who are raping, killing and starting fires there. There’s no reason for that no matter how bad the circumstances. Being poor doesnt mean that you have to rape or kill someone. You can’t justify that no matter how hard you try. But you keep telling yourself that they’re shooting at the people trying to help them because they’re poor. I feel sorry for you.
September 2nd, 2005 at 2:11 am
I cannot fathom how desperate all of those people must feel! Where are the supplies? Why is it taking Days UPON Days to air drop food or water to those tens of thousands of people at the dome? Yes there is water surrounding the dome, but there are more desolate areas where supplies have been dropped…sorry excuse. And yes they are being moved, but you cannot tell me they really thought it would all be done in a matter of hours! Im confused and angry. Screw Bush, he is our president and is suppose to lead this country in times of crisis. We have numerous countries, including Canada, who have stated that they are ready to help in any way..we just need to ask. He goes on TV to state that he has ZERO tolerance for looters…well I have zero tolerance for his lack of response to the hungry, desperate families and individuals who are living minute to minute. I have two small children and I wonder how I would manage if we were in this situation, how I would ease their hunger pains, take them to a sanitary place to just go to the bathroom, or shelter them from the death all around them. God bless those people, they ARE in my prayers and I am sending what money I can.
September 2nd, 2005 at 2:21 am
I think we should blame Bush for this… he should’ve stuck out his hand and forced the hurricane to stop before it ever hit land. Give me a break- why get mad at the president when he’s trying to help the cause? America feels for everyone affected by this disaster, but let’s not put a political spin on this since neither party was involved.
September 2nd, 2005 at 2:21 am
No one seems to be addressing the racial reality of this situation. The poor and the black of New Orleans are dying before out eyes - no one is coming to save them. Military ships and aid will not be forthcoming for days…I simply cannot imagine the despair the people of New Orleans feel today. May God be with them all, for today only God is with them.
September 2nd, 2005 at 2:26 am
What happens to New Orleans can happen to any of us down the road. Let us not confuse an unfortunate catastrophic event such as Katrina, with the “will of God” or “Mr. Bush’s shortsightedness”. We, including myself, must focus on finding it in our hearts to help the people of New Orleans in some way, and take this very important opportunity to rise above ourselves rather then just be yet another victim of “God’s Will” or “Mr. Bush’s short sightedness”.
September 2nd, 2005 at 2:27 am
If you all want to bury your head in the sand and not blame the Federal Government for it’s lack of response, go ahead… but someone is to blame for letting dead bodies go uncollected in the streets. A woman was interviewed this morning on TV with her dead husband’s body laying next to her as she waited on a highway overpass for some help. How could this be happening?
Of course, you cannot blame anyone person for a category 5 hurricane (or can you? kyoto, anyone?) but the RESPONSE to such tragedy needs to be manged by someone, right?
You CAN blame Bush for his lack of leadership skills in this tragedy. Instead of immediately rising to the occasion, he was off fiddling around on a guitar in Colorado and by the time he was forced to give a statement, grinned through the whole press conference (maybe he was thinking about the Oil profits.)
I heard a New Orleans FEMA official on the radio just now and he said it is complete chaos. There is no command center, no coordination.
My heart goes out to all the poor folks left behind to die. Why didn’t they get the chartered buses BEFORE the hurricane came?
I say to them: “It’s your city, TAKE IT BACK!”
September 2nd, 2005 at 2:28 am
Why are we bringing race into this? A hurricane hits the poor/wealthy/white/black/blue/purple. Everyone down there needs help.
September 2nd, 2005 at 2:28 am
I will contribute a case of mixed MRE to whomever in NOLA needs it.
If we can deploy the 101st Airborne Division combat-ready to any point it the world in 24 hours, why can’t we deploy 500 cases,MRE +1 to a street in Louisiana in four days? Airdrops are pretty damn easy. A pallet can be offloaded from a Chinook (cargo helicopter) at ground level in less than 30 seconds. Chinooks are readily available in Alabama and Texas. MRE at any NG/AF/Army readiness center.
Does the lack of relief imply a failing of the governmental structures charged with providing such relief, you betcha. We had 48hours warning that a Cat5 hurricane would hit the gulf coast, no matter where, exactly, it would hit somewhere between Brownsville and St. George Island. the data was available for all to see. FEMA should have been double-timing support and supplies when the hurricane went from CAT3 to CAT4. I know the capabilites are there. I know the supplies are there. Oh, yeah, it isn’t even a combat zone…yet.
September 2nd, 2005 at 2:32 am
One more interesting note. The government spokesman mentioned that it would be very difficult to get the vacationing congresscritters back to work to allocate funds for…I seem to recall the same congrescritters had no trouble getting back to ‘work’ in less than 24hours at midnight to meddle in the private affairs of a family in Jeb Bush’s home patch. Vote the bums out!
September 2nd, 2005 at 2:36 am
MOTSS. In the end each, of us are solely responsible, for our well-being and those of our families and loved ones, regardless of the disaster. Fortune favors the well-prepared.
September 2nd, 2005 at 2:37 am
First I will quantify my remarks by saying that I lived through the eye of Frances and Jeanne in 2004. Mark my words, the death toll will travel north of the 20,000 mark. We are already seeing mob mentality begin to set in. As resources that sustain life like water and food dwindle further, all social reason will fly out the window. I suspect over 2,000 deaths will be the result of people being robbed/beaten for food and water. It is about to get that bad. You can’t strand 50,000 people at the Superdome without some kind of incident.
I completely blame the government. Not only the Federal government, but the state and local governement as well. This was piss poor planning by all involved. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt to say that at the least a massive evacuation should have been under way by Wednesday.
We have been through this before folks. It was called Andrew. You would think his son would have learned. Maybe Florida is just lucky to have the other son, he actually has a few brain cells and leadership skills.
September 2nd, 2005 at 2:44 am
I feel really bad for the people an animals stuck there. I have been to New Orleans many times and have had alot of fun. I love the Big Easy!!
New Orleans nor it’s people will ever be the same. It will take years to rebuild. But when they do I will be back to support thier economy.
This is a act of god and it is becoming a national crisis just like 9/11 we need to stand together. I am not saying you have to agree with the president but lets stop blaming him and help these people and and animals get out and live.
September 2nd, 2005 at 3:21 am
I can’t believe how many people sit at their computers and bitch about the president, government, etc. Instead of sitting on your ass doing nothing get out there and do something to help the people that need it! I feel bad about what happened and I can’t sit here and say “I know how they feel”, because I don’t. I see things on T.V. and it breaks my heart. Don’t just pray. They do need prayers, but they also need food, cllothes, water, money, and who knows how many other things. Send them money or food sitting in your house that you don’t need, maybe even the clothes you haven’t worn in a long time.
I’m getting together with my son’s teacher next week to set up a donation box at their school. Kids can bring in toys they don’t play with, clothes that are too small for them. Parents can bring in anything they feel like bringing. I want to teach my 5 year old son that when there is a disaster like this do what you can to help and someday when you need help someone will be there for you.
God bless everyone that is doing what they can to help. Even if it’s only $5 then it’s more than what they had before you gave it.
September 2nd, 2005 at 3:23 am
We need to donate to the agencies that are trying to help the victims of Katrina.
Its up to all Americans to contribute in some way to help!
God bless all affected by this catastrphe.
September 2nd, 2005 at 3:24 am
Look, the buck stops with the President. All of you who are trying to push off responsibility for funds being cut to Congress and especially Congresspeople from Louisiana should be ashamed. We have a right to be angry. And we have every right to take it out on the President of the United States!
September 2nd, 2005 at 3:25 am
Oh get over it, Eddie
September 2nd, 2005 at 3:29 am
Hmm . . . well this is interesting . . . like I said in my post above I don’t particuarly care for Pres. Bush and there isn’t much use in pointing fingers but I have to share this with you all. It is regarding his stance on foreign aid.
“Offers have been received from Russia, Japan, Canada, France, Honduras, Germany, Venezuela, Jamaica, Australia, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Greece, Hungary, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico, China, South Korea, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, NATO and the Organization of American States, the spokesman said.
Still, Bush told ABC-TV: “I’m not expecting much from foreign nations because we hadn’t asked for it. I do expect a lot of sympathy and perhaps some will send cash dollars. But this country’s going to rise up and take care of it.”
“You know,” he said, “we would love help, but we’re going to take care of our own business as well, and there’s no doubt in my mind we’ll succeed. And there’s no doubt in my mind, as I sit here talking to you, that New Orleans is going to rise up again as a great city.” ”
Personally I feel that statement is a bit arrogant and stupid. The reason I say this is because we are always helping and providing for other countries so there is absolutely nothing wrong with our government graciously accepting their help.
Oh yeah I forgot . . . not much of anything is “gracious” about our government.
September 2nd, 2005 at 3:30 am
All I have are tears for these ravished people who are now dying from lack of food, water, and medical treatment and sorrow for a government who is doing too little too late.
September 2nd, 2005 at 3:32 am
Everyone DONATE to the Red Cross, etc. I don’t have a ton but I will be sending in as much as I can.
C’mon . . . let’s pull together and help pick up the pieces.
September 2nd, 2005 at 3:34 am
I am from Tennessee and found this site while searching for a site that contains a link in which I can get information about personally coming to LA to help. When I ran across this thread I decided to stop and read it. After reading the initial post, I became ensnared; then reading all responses. I have seen blame thrown in all directions and sarcasm dripping from posts insulting the opinions of others. I have seen posts blaming GOD and those asking that we humble ourselves before GOD. I’ve seen posts communicating the desire for a revolution and posts exclaiming pride in our country. I have seen the local and federal government be called useless and posts declaring that they are not to blame. I have seen posts declaring New Orleans dead and those wanting to see it live again. After having read all of that, my opinion will be simple, direct, and without blame.
It is a tragedy, we all already know it, no need to reiiterate it every time we speak. Stop worrying about whose fault it is at this particular moment. There are things of greater priority than placing blame. Once the missing are accounted for, once the water is stopped, once the looting is haulted, and once order is restored, THEN worry about who is to blame. Unless you personally are doing something, be it sending money, clothes, food, toys, or personally going; telling others what they should be doing is hypocricy, and will likely not be taken well. Put yourself in their place, if it was your home destroyed, your children or parents missing, your neighbors killed; what would you want? Lastly, prayer never hurt anyone.
September 2nd, 2005 at 3:43 am
I live on the Gulf coast and while we had damage and power outages from katrina I am thankful that we didn’t suffer the damage that New Orleans and Mississippi did. My heart breaks for the people suffering today and for months and months to come. I was angry watching the Coast Guard working thier butts off - where were the military helicopters that could have been helping get those poeple frying in the sun on their roofs? I think we all know where most of them were. I understand the logisitcal problems of getting supplies into the city but it still could have been done faster - if the poeple down there weren’t so desperate they wouldn’t be wreaking the havoc they are right now. Those are executive decisions. When the tsunami happened people were on the ball getting help to those poeple - and that was a great thing - yet we can’t seem to get it together for our own people suffering at home and I don’t see any of these foreign nations that we’ve always stepped up for in the past stepping up for us now. Shame on those in charge! And even if congress and law makers are “in charge” the man in the big chair in the white house isn’t suffering any and didn’t do anything to help for quite some time and we all know he should have. Pray for those poor poeple on my gulf coast that their days get easier as time goes on and pull together to help make that happen.
September 2nd, 2005 at 4:29 am
I wasn’t sure about posting here, until I perused most of the posts. I happened upon Laurin’s post while searching for information about my community. I, too, am originally from someplace few people have heard of, and it is best described as “across the river from Norfolk, VA”. I currently live (maybe) in Ocean Springs, MS, 3 miles from Biloxi, MS. We left Sunday and headed to Baton Rouge. Unfortunately, we were diverted on the interstate and a 2 hour trip took 7 hours. (As it did when we evacuated for Hurricane Ivan.) Laurin appears dismayed by the little air time Slidell, LA, is receiving. Has anyone heard anything about Ocean Springs, MS? If so, it has been much less than that broadcast about Slidell. We tried to go home a couple of days ago, but Interstate 10 from the LA stateline to the AL stateline was closed. It only opened today, but residents who evacuated are still urged to “stay away”. I may have a house, I may not. I may have a job, I may not. We lost power here in Baton Rouge and it was only restored yesterday. I have no reason to believe my house has power. I have no reason to believe that I have potable water. We have been in a frenzy since power here was restored to learn anything we can about the fate of our house. We are not alone in this situation. But we are in a better situation than thousands of others and I must be thankful for that.
My husband is a member of the US Navy. He ship sits pierside in Ingalls Shipyard in Pascagoula, MS, but as it is still under construction, they also had an office at a building at Ingalls. The office is gone. He still has a job (thankfully) but he doesn’t have a safe place to do that job. All of the computers, papers, etc., that were used in the office while preparing to commission the ship are gone.
It would have been ludicrous for first responders and other emergency personnel to have responded Monday morning. They would have been placed in harm’s way and could possibly have been of no help to anyone. Unfortunately, because of the flooding, there is only one road in and out of New Orleans. The interstate across Lake Pontchatrain as well as the twin spans over the Mississippi River have both been destroyed. In my area, Highway 90 is gone in many places. The bridge that connects Ocean Springs to Biloxi is gone. The interstate has only been cleared in the past few hours. Due to the nature of such disasters, the rescue personnel have to clear a path to get to where they are needed. This takes time.
Now, we believe we can at least get to the house to survey the damage. But events are now complicated by the gasoline issues. Almost all of the gas stations here in Baton Rouge are out of fuel due to the increase in the population from evacuees. We have no idea about service stations at the house. Are they still there? Do they have power? Do they have fuel? All of these issues but be considered before attempting to get home. We don’t want to be part of the problem. Our plans are to go home, assess, and if our damage is minimal, volunteer our time and skills to whatever outfits there are and help our community.
In case you have not heard, President Bush will be touring the devastated areas on Friday. In today’s world, our President can not just walk into an area. Security must be provided. Consequently, this has to be planned. I am also sure the President doesn’t want to confound the current situation. He doesn’t want to create additional problems for the rescue personnel.
As far as the Navy ships that are responding. First, with the exception of the USS Bataan (which was conducting exercises in the Gulf) these ships are leaving from Norfolk, VA. To travel down the East Coast, around Florida and then into the Gulf takes days. The hospital ship USS Comfort is leaving from Baltimore, MD. It will take an extra day or two for the Comfort to travel to the area. Then, once these ships get in the area, where are they supposed to go? Due to the nature of their business, the ports are situated in the Gulf of Mexico. All of the ports in the affected area have been damaged, if not destroyed. Logistically, the Navy ships have to make a plan as to how they will get their personnel into the affected areas in order to be effective.
It is a terrible situation that will not improve for some time. How long, no one can say.
September 2nd, 2005 at 5:09 am
To My Fellow Americans,
I find this both appalling and disgusting in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. People have lost everything, people have died, businesses ruined and where this catastrophe will increase the price of oil. Yet, Bush finds time to play the guitar. America, he has miserably failed you. Then again, this does not surpise me in the least especially when he said at one time, “If this were a dictatorship, it’d be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I’m the dictator.”
September 2nd, 2005 at 5:11 am
I am not a fan of this “President” and did not vote for him. Whether it is true or not that the military cannot reach the people in the affected areas; I feel in my heart that Bush and the federal goverment have not responded quickly enough to this tragedy. I am just truly appalled that this great, technologically advanced nation cannot get aid to these “refugees”, some of whom are dying in the streets. I am deeply saddened for our fellow Americans.
Confederate Yankee — do you believe that your obvious mastery of the English language should be mistaken for intelligence? You sound like a complete idiot to me.
September 2nd, 2005 at 5:37 am
I am totally outraged that the president has only had a minor glimpse of the damage and death in New Orleans, Mississippi, and Alabama. How many times is he gonna screw up and send in his dear old daddy and president clinton to save him for screwing the country up? Our Leader…Our coward I say. He should be down there walking the streets, talking to people one on one and above all else he should be helping!! I guess the war in Iraq (which no one seems to be sure of why we are there including the soldiers is more important) Why is it that when someone in another country seems to be in trouble we have to go in and rescue them, but when it comes to our own….we need more time???? I am so outraged and disgusted that we would ever allow a man like this to be in control of our country. We as americans need to really understand that we created our own hell in a sense by not uncovering the naked truth about Bush…He is out for $ and no matter how many americans die, through “natural disasters” that could of been prevented had he not denied funding or through wars over the rich being richer from oil and our own 18 year old children being drafted in high school to fight a war for a reason they beleive is freedom we must look at the obvious….OUR COUNTRY IS IN A CRISIS!! And Katrina is just natures way of stating the obvious, if we don’t group together and save ourselfs….no one will do it for us, especially not our almighty government!! Good luck and god bless the victims of katrina and all the soldiers who have died for this!
September 2nd, 2005 at 5:39 am
Nice Guy?
or the Devil’s Spawn?
He snorted cocaine … He dodged the draft….His friends knew him as an alcoholic womanizer with a bad temper….a complete failure at business until his wealthy friends rescued him. Yet within a few short years he was elected Governor of Texas, and quickly catapulted into the White House in spite of losing the popular vote. Then he was re-elected with last minute help from Osama Bin Laden, in spite of high disapproval ratings. He still couldn’t think his way out of a wet paper bag without the advice of his staff …..and yet he’s been able to declare an endless war and institute some of the most radical changes in American history ….
……. How has He done it?
I submit to you that George Walker Bush is the ANTI-CHRIST. The violence and destruction that began when Bush first entered office, is now certain to culminate in the apocalypse, as predicted in the Bible over 2,000 years ago
September 2nd, 2005 at 5:49 am
I suspect that Bush being a so-called “man of god” probably hoped this would happen to New Orleans, viewing it with the “sinful” contempt that any fundamentalist holy roller would. After all, the money that would have saved those levies shouldn’t be wasted there on some “hedonistic” city (think like a fratboy cowboy christian Texan for a moment) but would be better spent on a couple more bombs to drop on tents in some open desert where “millions of oppressed have been freed” (to quote Bush). “Millions of oppressed” what? Dollars? Barrels of oil? Acres of oil field?
New Orleans is the latest demonstration of the Bush’s ultimate disregard for human life AND the American way (yep, I said it, so go ahead and wave your flags as jingoistically as possible - it’s your right, at least for now). Bush may not have caused the disaster, but he ENSURED its tragedy.
September 2nd, 2005 at 5:59 am
Having been raised as a Christian, I was taught early that the Antichrist was someone who would come in the name of Christ but be the enemy of Christ. Using that definition, let us examine the proposition that George W. Bush could be the Antichrist. If Jesus Christ was in Bush’s place and he was the president of the United States, would he have taken any of the actions that Bush has taken, including the war in Iraq? In other words, is Bush following the teachings of Christ? “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:20).
Christ taught us to love one another, especially our enemies (Matthew 5:43-46). Christ said that even the pagans love those who are like themselves, but the true mark of love is to love those that are different from you. Christ taught us to turn the other cheek and to “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Did Bush turn the other cheek when he falsely proclaimed Iraq as a threat? Do you think Bush loves his enemies? Do you think he even loves his friends, since he openly attacks those friends that disagree? Do you think Bush loves Osama bin Laden or Saddam Hussein? If he is a follower of Christ, then he must love them. Have you ever seen love in Bush’s eyes? Have you ever heard Bush talk about loving one’s neighbor? Does he treat the inmates at Guantanamo or the prisoners of Iraq like he would want to be treated? Do you think Christ would say, “You are either for us or against us?” Have Bush’s actions caused there to be more or less love in the world?
The war on Iraq was apparently undertaken because God whispered in Bush’s ear that war was the only way to solve the problem. I hate to tell Bush this, but God doesn’t whisper those kinds of things in people’s ears. That is the job of the devil! Jesus would never condone a war, as his whole message was to use love, not violence, to solve our problems. War is always a failure of civilization. Bush has set back the civilization of planet Earth. Anyone who wages war in the name of Christ is committing the ultimate Christian sin.
Bush makes a big show of being against abortion in order to advance his political career. His public claim is that abortion is immoral. Yet his actions have resulted in the deaths of thousands of people, most of whom were innocent of any “crime.” And apparently, Bush himself was once involved in an abortion by a former girlfriend. By his actions, Bush has now caused the release of thousands of tons of depleted uranium in Iraq, which will cause birth defects for generations to come. Isn’t that just as immoral as an abortion? And if we judge by the shear number of atrocities, isn’t Bush the most hypocritical champion of human rights?
The Bible says not to lie, and Christ reinforced that message since lying destroys the very fabric of our civilization. As I see it, Bush has told more lies than anyone in the history of our presidency. How can that be Christian? Bush said that he would unite us, yet the country and the world have never been more divided. Other lies have been told about uranium, weapons of mass destruction, the connection between Iraq and 9/11, the economy, and the environment. Is it possible for one to lie in the name of Christ?
Many questions persist. Would Christ have asked that the votes not be counted in Florida? Would Christ send Powell to lie before the UN? Would Christ make campaign ads that continually distort the position of his opponent, just to win an election? Would Christ curse and use the name of God in vain in the White House? Would Christ alienate the rest of the world by unilateral action and my-stick-is-bigger-than-your-stick international politics? Would Christ try to strip Americans of their basic human rights, such as access to an attorney and the right to be presented with formal charges regarding alleged violations of national or international law? Would Christ tell military veterans that he loves them and then cut their benefits? Would Jesus have done any of these actions? I think not.
In summary, Bush pretends to come in the name of Jesus Christ and misses no opportunity to exploit Christ for his own personal political advantage. But in every case, Bush has done the opposite of what Christ taught us to do. This is how Bush has led America and this is the example he has set for “his” people. The people who support Bush’s war in the name of Christ surely share in his sins, and Bush’s sins are magnified by the number of people he has misled in the name of Christ. In many ways, Bush, with his fundamentalist Christian attitude, is no different than the fundamentalist Muslims. All kill in the name of God, and I suspect that God would like to have His name kept out of it entirely.
Is it possible that Bush is the Antichrist? His Antichrist-like actions make one wonder.
September 2nd, 2005 at 6:00 am
Many countries offered aid to USA, but seems that your goverment still thinking about it. Something similar happened on 11-S you rejected aid from other countries on the begining. Looks like there are serious coordination problems.
But if you think that foreigners here are not understanding enough about your problems, you should read blogs and forum in other countries, for the average people you are not the most popular country in the World.
Anyway people is sending aid to humanitarian organizations and governments are waiting for an answer. Be less arrogant, stop being so selfish, lets the other people how they could help and demand to your government to improve coordination.
September 2nd, 2005 at 6:00 am
I still can’t believe the people who are defending Bush! Yes, this is a terrible tragedy and we should all give whatever we can to help those helpless people, but it IS HIS DUTY as president of this country to stand up and protect and lead this country in times of need! The local Canadian station ran a story in which their government stated they and at least 8 other countries were ready to help, “The America’s just need to ask”. And Bush has the audacity to say that “we’re not expecting much from foriegn nations”…could we thumb our noses at the world any more than we already have! It’s a disgrace and I hope the people of Louisianna and Misissippi have their day to tell Bush how it felt to be neglected by their government and especially their leader.
Now is the time to do everything and anything we can to help. Our local tv station has had a telethon and already raised over $140,000. We are collecting clothing and food to send. Do your part, yes, but as Americans we have the right to speak out and demand response and answers from our government on all levels. They represent us…whether we voted them in or not…their JOB is the welfare of this nation and the people within it!
I saw a woman on TV today holding her little boy, probably 12 months, and she was crying saying she was having a hard time keeping him alert. He has had no water, no food in days. My heart is torn. Where is our government. We should have been in with supplies day 1!!!!! Now supplies are needed nore than ever and mass chaos will surely ensue when these people do finally get supplies. SAD SAD SAD, and Shame on our government and the president.
And to all of the people stating thet these people “should have left”! Have you ever been broke? Have you ever only had the roof over your head, the clothes on your back, a little food in the fridge and your family. Generally that would be fine, but when a hurricane is bearing down and you have nowhere to go, no money to get there, and no car to get you there…what exactly are your alternatives? 40% of New Orleans population lives BELOW the poverty level. You only do what you possibly can and unfortunately our government has let these people down..miserably and with dire consequences.
No Bush did not send Katrina, but he knows the way to get aid, relief and supplies to these people…where has he been the past 5 days?
September 2nd, 2005 at 6:05 am
Unfortunately the only news we receive is about the failures of the response to get to the people who need it most and questions about who is to blame for those failures. We hear that x amount of trucks and x amount of liters of water are being delivered but not where they are. Only that they are on the way. All over America we ask why couldn’t helecopters just drop needed water to those who are stranded? I don’t care a rats backside about who is to blame, I do want to know why the supply drops haven’t happened or why it is not possible to do what appears obvious to those of us not involved.
September 2nd, 2005 at 6:11 am
I agree with the above comments of the lack of support given to the Hurricane devistation from our President. Not to mention the price gouging at the gas pumps ! I think that the price increase per gallon should go directly to the relief fund to help in the aid of the disaster instead of in the rich mans pocket !!! I wouldn’t mind paying the price then. God Bless them all
September 2nd, 2005 at 6:12 am
p.s. david i would walk with you and hold that stick proudly!
September 2nd, 2005 at 6:15 am
Pepe I couldn’t agree with you more! I feel ashamed that foreign nations feel Bush represents America. He DOES NOT represent me and my desire for better foreign relations. I wish I could accept their help and give it to these stranded and desperate people. Please know that many of us hear your call and will do everything we can to make our leaders accept your help as fast as we can!
September 2nd, 2005 at 6:16 am
Bush and the federal government are a disgrace to this copuntry. I am appalled at how long it took for him to react to this. Poor guy, he had to cut his vacation short. Who takes a monthlong vacation anyways? Who
can afford to???? This is an outrage. I am thoroughly disgusted and appalled as to how our government is handling this catastrophe.
September 2nd, 2005 at 6:43 am
It really pisses me off all the talk of blame and who is right and wrong but answer me this is anybody on the site doing anything to help with relief efforts or is this just a blame game while other AMERICANS ARE DYING on the sided of roads people in NEW ORLEANS are stopping the relief effort themselves by shooting guns at everybody trying to help. How can we airlift them food if they are going to shoot the helicopters out of the sky. How can the national guard get them out of there if they are shooting at them. The hospitals can’t even evacuate people because people there are trying to kill anybody that tries to help.
CONCERENED in TEXAS
September 2nd, 2005 at 6:56 am
I too was born in La. and have roots going back for generations. My heart breaks for those poor people and my anger grows. I’m not concerned over who is to blame for the whole sorry mess. However, I can not understand why it’s taking so long to help the people in the stricken areas. Yes, the highways are damaged, but where are the ships, the aircraft? I know there is a mothballed navy fleet docked in Port Arthur, Texas. The ships are maintained in order to be available in times of national crises. Where are they? I lived along the gulf coast of Texas for many years. I know there are thousands of boats docked around the Texas and western gulf coast of La. Why haven’t they been allowed to help? I read and been told that they are being kept out of the area. Why?
This is America, we are better than this. How can it be allowable for people to die in evacuation centers? How can it even be conceivable for the Fed. Government to take 4 and 5 days to help our citizens. I knew the storm was coming, I knew it was going to devastating. Why didn’t the government?
I’m really tired of watching the looting on T.V, of reading blogs that imply that if people are going to break the law, they aren’t worth saving. I think the rest of the country needs to understand some things about the people of Louisiana. They are proud, tough as nails and POOR. I’ve lived poor in the past and when you live poor the world becomes very small and immediate. These are people who were born with nothing, now have nothing and no reasonable expectation of ever having anything. And now the waters have risen, the water and food is gone and the government apparently has turned its back. What would you do?
I’m not defending all the criminal activity. But I think I understand some of it. I would loot too if I have to feed and protect myself and family.
If this is the same kind of ineptitude that is happening in Iraq, it’s time to bring our troops home.
How can we lead the world if we can’t even lead our own citizens?
September 2nd, 2005 at 7:07 am
I think it is an enormous tragedy and really feel sorry for these people. I am from another country and do not know why is so many people worried of what other countries will think of the U.S. but let me tell you that no country in the World with the size, the population and the size of the United States could mobilise the number of troops, helicopters and boats that I have seen in the last three days.
I do not think that any industrialized country has ever had a catastrophy like this one.
Of course these people fell abandoned I would to but the reality is that it takes time to organize, transport and start operations in a city with no acces. The moved an army in two days.
September 2nd, 2005 at 7:13 am
No Karen, we don’t need help from other nations to sort out the cancer that has been growing in this country for some time now. I’m afraid that rectifying this matter is entirely up to us, the citizens and good people of the United States of America. Our problems are not in Iraq, France, Germany, Venezuela, China, Russia or Sudan…our problem is in Washington and the solution lies in our hands to right this wrong and clean up this mess as best as we can.
By now, I hope it’s clear to the folks reading this thread that this is what our Founding Fathers wanted us to keep doing over and over again. As Fiorello La Guardia once said, “The cure for the ills of democracy is more democracy.” This forum represents the promise of our democracy that has been handed to us through generations. For better or for worse.
The levees in New Orleans broke, and this huge (Female?!?) storm has brought death and devastation upon us, like we have not seen in our lifetimes. Put this into context though folks. Earlier this very year, close to 200,000 people died on December 26th, 2004 all over Asia due to a tsunami, but here in America, our death tolls point to “hundreds, perhaps thousands,” sure the pain is right here right now, and once you talk about more than 10 dead people in the U.S., it suddenly becomes abstract, difficult for the average American to conceptualize the magnitude of something because by and large as a nation we are not used to seeing this.
But I have news for you: there are levee situations waiting to unfurl in every coastal city and town across America, if you think about it. If a similar situation were to ensue in any other city or town in America, we would all be abandoned, in the same way that those folks–people like you and me–who are still in the Superdome tonight. Or can anyone on this forum really stand up and honestly disagree with that
Bush, and the oil interests that he represents, need to be held accountable for getting us in mess after mess. Thanks to this admisnitration, we are entering a dark time, full of uncertainties, doubt, simmering anger and which has quickly spun out of control due to the selfish machinations of an administration intent on protecting its own interests at the expense of the middle class, the people who are in the Superdome tonight, our men and women in uniform in Iraq, the unemployed due to mass layoffs in the name of cost cutting measures to boost further corporate welfare.
I will give money to the Red Cross, to be sure. But it won’t be alot because my family simply does not have enough to give right now, due to Bush administration politicies. Instead, words and words backed by focused action will have to be all I can give. But make no mistake; that’s all our founding fathers had, if you think about it… and they built this nation based on that. Let’s not allow those words to ring hollow. We can do better than that.
Even if that hospital boat got there tomorrow morning first thing, it might be too late for many people in New Orleans who are too weak or feeble to escape the living hell they are in right now as I type these words. We cannot blame them for not heeding the call of the authorities. We cannot blame them for being angry and feeling violent that their city is now uninhabitable. We are all typing and reading from the comfort of our homes. We cannot imagine what it means to have nothing to begin with and feel left behind to rot. These people in New Orleans are not watching TV. Some may have radios, but not much more than that. We can blame all of those who knew full well how a tregedy like this could ensue and would eventually come to pass. We all have a role to play in this awful blame game that this forum has merely touched upon. It is now up to us to right this wrong. And since Bush and his administration have already ensured that they will fill their coffers by reconstructing New Orleans (or as House Speaker Hastert has so thoughtfully suggested, abandoning it altogether), may I suggest that we begin from the top on down.
Mr. Bush we the people demand to know where were you last Saturday while this storm was gathering strength? Where were you on Sunday, when it was clear that New Orleans was going to suffer a direct hit? Where were you on Monday, when the storm hit and there was no rain? Surely, you weren’t smiling and playing a guitar in California and speaking about your resolve to “stay the course” in the quagmire that today is Iraq…
http://news.yahoo.com/photo/050830/480/capm10208301856
And where were you on Tuesday, Mr. Bush? Flying over the disaster area in the comfort of your jet and making sure the reporters got a shot of you leaning over “just to bear witness”? One of the postings above alluded to the ease with which our armed forces, with your proper instruction can invade a country and bring it to its knees not unlike playing a video game.
You were never there Mr. Bush, just like you and your administration has been a shadow over this country since you were first (s)elected. You have been on a permanent vacation at our expense, Sir. And we want answers. NOW!!!
My fellow Americans. Let’s stop the looting of our people from the top on down. Let’s wake up and do something that we can be proud of, like owning up to our responsibilities as citizens of this great land. Our people in New Orleans need help, and if things keep running their course, it will likely be too late…even for those of us who are on dry land…
September 2nd, 2005 at 7:22 am
I’m 17 years old, and I live in sunny San Jose, California. Seeing this devistation on the television, unable to contact three extremely close friends of mine from Louisiana, and desperate to find *some* way to help those in need… it truly sickens me to read what some people have to say.
I’m not a fan of President Bush. I personally do not like what he has done as Chief Executive Officer of this country. I respect those who *do* like President Bush in what he has done, especially with the War in Iraq. Some people believe the War in Iraq was a mistake, and its motives for even going in there were hazy; however, others believe that since we are in that country and broke it, we might as well fix it.
Please. I beg of you. Do not know throw your judgments and beliefs and views at everyone. Whether you like President Bush or not, like how the government handles issues or not, don’t like the French — whatever it is, GET. OVER. IT. Stop the blame game and focus on what’s happening.
Murders. Rapes. Looting. Gunfire. Prison breaks. Elderly dying in their wheelchairs, corpses rotting and festering on sidewalks… people treated like animals wail and scream for help.
This is inhumanity. I’m driven to tears because of this. As a citizen of this country, I have *no* clue what to do. Donating money, I feel, isn’t enough.
Have your opinions. Say what you want. Pray to whatever God you believe in (God, Budda, Allah, etc). Just please… blaming someone or something… it isn’t going to help a child find a working bathroom or drinkable water.
September 2nd, 2005 at 7:26 am
Racheldear82…had we been prepared and provided relief to these people in a more orderly and immediate manner…these people would not feel the desperate need to shoot at these helicopters in a hope to draw attention to themselves and their families and get rescued. I cannot say I condone it, but I can only imagine the desperation these people feel. Going days without food, medical aid and relief with absolutely no end or help in site….Can’t you imagine how desperate they feel? What if this were a disaster (natural or terrorist) in your home town…would you still feel the same way? Isn’t it this type of tragedy we are suppose to be planning for since Sept 11th? Maybe this disaster is on a “grander scale”, but we seem to be flailing and leaving our citizens to die and fight for their families.
ALSO I AND MY FAMILY ARE DOING EVERYTHING WE CAN TO HELP, INCLUDING GIVING MONEY, FOOD, CLOTHING AND OUR TIME. SO SCREW YOU AND “THE BLAME GAME” The great thing about Americans: we can help those in need and demand response, action and answers from our government all at the same time!!!
September 2nd, 2005 at 7:44 am
Thomas, I agree with you on so many levels except for the need for help. Why are we too pig headed to accept aid for our people? No it will not cure “the cancer”, but it will open the gates of humanity from other countries. Can we not humble ourselves for a moment to allow the generosity of others, albeit others who do not think to highly of our country. But I so Agree with all of your other statements!!!!
Trish, as I said before the great thing about American’s is our ability to help others and ask our government to be held responsible for their actions all at the same time! This is our way of focusing on whats happening and doing what we can. As Thomas said THIS is what our country, our democracy, was built on. If we ignored this where would we be? Those people deserve not only ANY help that we can give, but our focus and demand of our government for action! Sitting back and worrying that your not doing enough when you give everything you can…does nothing either!
September 2nd, 2005 at 7:45 am
Hi…first, my qualifications (best to know where I get my opinion)… I’m in the military (part of that federal government folks have been disparaging)…in fact, spent most of the last 72 hours arranging logistics to support the Gulf Coast disaster. Really, not sure why I am spending my first free hours in a while posting here other than the sheer anger I am feeling at the uninformed opinions expressed…I was actually just trying to get some better pictures of the area to see if my old house was still standing…was stationed at Keesler AFB about 10 years ago and have many friends there. This whole thing is gouging a pit in my stomach too. BTW, I have also been through a hurricane (Isabel, a couple of years ago) and while that was a minor wind storm by comparison, I have some first-hand inkling about the problems associated with hurricane aftermath. Oh, and while we are at it, I just came back from a tour in Baghdad a couple months ago…so I have some insights there and most of the rhetoric on Iraq expressed here is a bit off base too.
That said…to call the federal government slow in responding is simply a monumentally uninformed opinion. Most folks making that statement have no clue a) how utterly destroyed the area is, making movement excrutiatingly slow and b) how complex an undertaking it is to support this big an effort. Preparations were well underway before the storm hit. The effort continues to grow exponentially daily. It is not a simple thing to stage troops, ensure they are equipped and supplied themselves (if they are not, then in less than a day, they add to the problem), and move them over a 1000 miles (in some cases) to an area with little remaining infrastructure. Rest assured, we are the best in the world at moving this sort of thing…it just doesn’t get any faster.
Hate President Bush if you want…I don’t care (but I would blame every President since Carter about underfunding the Corps for levee improvements…has happened with almost every budget in the last 20+ years if my Engineer buds are correct). Don’t like what is happening in Iraq…you have every right to express that…part of why I joined the service was to protect those exact rights. Call me a punk or a puppet or anything you want for being part of the establishment…that doesn’t bother me either. But get off the idea that this is a conspiracy, or laziness, or incompetence, or slow. Our deployments to Iraq do not impede our support of this effort…I have not seen or heard that any of the requests for support denied due to force availability (I have insight into only part of the effort, but I think it applies universally). Also, the President does not micromanage the work I do (or the director of FEMA, or any of the other leaders in my chain, either for that matter)…I work in signals (communications) and rest assured that the President does not have to be in DC to work the problem. He told us to get on it before the storm hit…we did and are.
BTW, The part I find to be the saddest…the violence in New Orleans. Just imagine what the 4000 National Guard personnel we are sending to the city could really do if they did not HAVE to provide SECURITY, but instead could be moving and distributing supplies. Personally, I have no issue that folks are looting food and water…they need it. But the problem is, unfortunately, too many folks there are looking out for themselves and not for each other. More incidents than you can count today of people trying to take a shot at the responders and each other and it just slows us down…that is a matter of personal responsibility…not the government.
Lastly, my wife just donated $250 to the Red Cross tonight on behalf of my family….have you? In fact, what have you done to help today? While most folks here are whining and venting on things that have nothing to do with the problem at hand, my conscience is clear…is yours? That includes folks overseas…I don’t care if you in France or Outer Mongolia…if you aren’t offering to help someone, anyone, in need and your reason is Iraq, then you are part of the problem. Do something to help…if you can do it better (and most of you can’t), stop complaining and do it.
I’m tired and going to bed…spent too much time on this silly blog anyways…and my shift starts early.
September 2nd, 2005 at 8:06 am
This is not the tragedy that we need help with Karen. We are witnessing a power grab of mammoth proportions here. U-2 spyplanes over New Orleans to “get data”!! This is not the Soviet Union here. This is not Afghanistan or Tajikistan or Kyrgystan or any stan. This is New Orleans! NEW ORLEANS–OUR BACKYARD!!! If we cannot use Google Earth or satellite images to answer these questions in 2005…come on now!
This has been a deliberate “wait, help is on the way” move to insure that armed national guards can sweep in an “take control” of U.S. citizens who are among the poorest in our nation.
Or is it not, Mr. Bush!!!
The world is watching Mr. Bush! Before we go around parading “democracy this,” or “democracy that” among other societies we need to mind our own backyard. Not quell an insurgency in New Orleans. This is NOT an insurgency! This is something which you, George W. Bush in your infinte “Republican compassion,” cannot fathom–A HUMANITARIAN CRISIS!! Our people need help, not bullets right now. Any international relations class 101 (a class you never attended at Andover, Harvard or Yale because you were too busy snorting coke with your buddies) will teach that aid administered by an army intent to “quell unreast” presents many difficulties in a disaster area. Where do you draw the line between a pissed off New Orleans resident and “an armed thug.” As the democratic model that we represent ourselves to be, WE AMERICANS MUST BE A MODEL TO THE REST OF THE WORLD. NOTHING LESS, SIR!!!!! Before we go into other countries and act unilaterally in the name of democracy and leave behind 25,000 dead in Iraq…before you go into New Orleans and add to a tragedy that has already taken so many lives.
The world is watching Mr. Bush. THE WORLD IS WATCHING!!!! All you have done Mr. Bush is to force the good citizens of this country to hunker down on the other side of the levy surrounding the White House and bear witness to our slow, collective demise. For New Orleans it’s too little, too late and entirely, entirely misguided. But your levy and the levy of complacency around the 1% of the population of this country that controls 90% of our wealth will not hold forever…
September 2nd, 2005 at 8:18 am
Oh, and Brian. Glad to know you have $250 to give. My family does NOT. And we won’t for a very long time to come with this impending recession either. In my house we could easily be one of those people stuck in the Superdome tonight.
September 2nd, 2005 at 8:26 am
Thomas, we must agree to disagree. Politics or not, we must graciously accept what these countries are offering. Are we such a “super power” that we do not need it. We sure have not proven it in this tragedy! You…come on now!
We knew this direct hit was IMMINENT and we knew the damage could be devastating…I still ask where were we? Funny they were moving buses into the super dome to transport people to Texas and we still did not have enough supplies for all the people and our military could not “move in” due to the mess….HMMMMMM.
September 2nd, 2005 at 9:04 am
No one can place blame on any one person!! Blame first goes to those who decided not to evacuate after being told to. How can parents make the decision to stay and place their children’s lives in danger? I have been told that they didn’t have the resouces to evacuate. I am sorry, but I believe that I would have found a way to get my children out, no matter what. Why were people on boats during a hurricane?? We live 150 miles from the beach and we leave if hurricanes get over a 3. We go stay with family. Those who could not evacuate, why didn’t you go to shelters away from low lying areas? Second blame goes to the New Orleans mayor. You have been told several times in the past of what would happen if this type of hurricane hit your city, but yet you chose to ignore the warnings. Look what has happened now. Now you are blaming the government. Come on, it’s your city and levys are not funded by the federal govt’ (I checked) You knew the hurricane was going to be bad. Why not get the people out one way or another. The only blame that should be placed on our government is that of not getting help in fast enough. Yes, I know that it has been a long time since a disaster like this has happened and they are not sure of what to do. But again, after the tsunami, millions was sent oversees!! AGain, we help those out of our country, but do you see those who we’ve taken care of before helping us now. I haven’t seen any so far.
Now that help is trying to be sent to new orleans, look at what they are doing!! If they continue the looting, shooting at people trying to help them, and committing crimes against others, everyone will leave and they will be on their own!! I don’t know how I would react if I were in their shoes, but I do know that I wouldn’t shoot at those trying to help me!! You don’t see people in Mississippi behaving this way and they were hit harder than in New orleans. They are not underwater in all places, but many of them have nothing left and lost family members. They have no homes, no jobs, no food, and no water just like those in new orleans.
We have several guard members from our area who were shot at in New Orleans. Guess what they are not going back!! To the people in New Orleans, please think about what you are doing!! You are going to make things worse for yourselves and those around you. You all are in our prayers, both lousiana and mississippi. We are sending what we can to your area. We are taking care of those from your area who are now living in ours temporarily. Everyone is trying!! You and everyone around you will overcome this. Pray!! The lord will take care of you and all of the U.S. will help you get back on your feet.
September 2nd, 2005 at 9:16 am
You have picked one hell of a time to play the politics card. How about something like: I am from New Orleans and although our town was virtually destroyed, the people there are strong minded and will rise up to the occassion and rebuild our great city!
Oh no, blame it on one man and one man alone. Just like Sept. 11, the Republicans, Democrats and others could have never foreseen such devastation.
Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by the hurricane.
September 2nd, 2005 at 9:43 am
“They in most parts believe that the war is a bad thing and do not want it to be portrayed in a positive light. ”
Did I just read that? War being portrayed in a “positive light” . WOW, maybe what’s happening in NO isn’t really all that bad if we look at it in a “positive light”. I know my opinion isn’t much nor does it matter but people dying due to a war or a natural disaster just doesn’t come across as “positive light” to me. No matter how it ’s being portrayed on the news.
The war is happening, the disaster happened, people are dying and killing. We are living in a hateful world but maybe if I look around with my eyelids shut I can find that “positive light”??? Whatever it is your on… Ship some my way.
There’s nothing positive about the realism of the world’s status other than maybe there will be an end to it from a higher power.
September 2nd, 2005 at 9:52 am
America has got to be kidding me. i am watching the news right now and i see the president of Tulane university ( a predominately white school in New Orleans) in Houston, TX at the super dome taking about how it took him eight hours to get out of New Orleans. then they show video of tulane kids walking out of bus into the Houston sport arena……. i turn the channel and now i see predominately black people literally dying at the New Orleans convention center, there a girl in diabetic shock, and a dead man holding a white piece of paper with his name on it. how could this be? you mean to tell me we can send our poor Black, Latino and White sons and daughters to die in Iraq to give them freedom, but we can not expect them to risk their lives to bring food to Americans ? what the f**k, America, what the f**k.
PS. I am a college student trying to make ends meet, and i already donated and plan to donate as much as i can.
September 2nd, 2005 at 11:02 am
I would like to start off by saying i am praying.For the victims and our government.It makes me sad to know that the president of the U.S. put so little effort into the evacuation.Knowing days ahead of time that “Katrina” was on the way.Most of you said that you cant blame just the president.You are right.Its the dominoe effect.starting with the president working its way down the government.I think it was a poor effort on all thier parts to do whatever they could and i hold my head in shame.The hard working people of AMERICA make this country go around and deserve better.Better efforts, planning, and well bieng.When the people are in disaster the government should be there within a moments notice.Giving or sharing whatever they have.The victims should not say “THANK YOU”.The government should be thanking them for eccepting thier help.To New Orleans and surrounding cities/towns i pray for you.
GOD BE WITH YOU
September 2nd, 2005 at 11:08 am
This is unbelieveable. Where the Hell are all these other countries that we have helped in their time of need? Why are we even in Iraq right now? Korea? SCREW THEM!!! It is more obvious to me now more than ever that Americans need to start getting selfish. Not towards each other, but to the rest of the world. I’m in South Florida and it could have very easily have been me on top of one of those rooftops. I hear of George Bush denying money to repair these levees to so this money can be sent to his war effort. I COMPLETELY support out troops in everything they do, but we need to take care of America right now. This is insane to me. Elderly, babies, just anyone left to die in streets? During the Terry Schiavo case Bush says we must err on the side of life. Practice what you preach. It seems to me there are thousands of lives depending on you now. And yes I understand there are other aspects of government responsible also so don’t post any responses preaching this to me please. I don’t think Dad and President Clinton will be able to help you here. Mazzive aid sent to Indonesia, but we can’t even get into New Orleans. This is pathetic. As a government you should be ashamed. As a proud American, I plan on driving up from Southwest Florida for my Labor Day Weekend and seeing if I can’t get close enough to take ANYBODY out of there. Black, white, old, young, rich, poor. It doesn’t matter to me. I’m a human being. I’m an American. And I have a beating heart in my chest. I’m sick of watching this with tears in my eyes. It’s time to act.
September 2nd, 2005 at 11:09 am
Some people on this board make me sick to the stomach.
People are dying and it is somehow their own fault? Children are dying but hey, it’s their parents’ responsibility, right? What you are implying is dangerous and racist and frankly I don’t think these people need your hypocritical prayers much if that’s what you feel.
It always amazes me how the most ignorant are always the first to see ignorance in others.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much stupidity and arrogance in my life and I don’t think you’re much equipped to be giving morality lessons to others.
September 2nd, 2005 at 11:12 am
Laurin, my condolonces over the loss of your hometown, and no I couldn’t fathom it.
September 2nd, 2005 at 11:43 am
C’mon let’s think of better excuses for Bush. Where is he? Did he die or something? Was there an unreported mass suicide in D.C.? I thought I would be seeing a lot more of him on t.v. He is a true coward. This is all unbelievable that you bumbling idiots would rather blame the citizens of New Orleans for not leaving- rather than blame the people you pay taxes to support? A clue… YOU PAY FEDERAL TAXES FOR SUCH PROTECTIONS. These poor people in New Orleans and other afflicted areas pay disproportionate taxes and what are they receiving? This is not your gated community you stuffed shirt! America– do not stand for this fashion of apathy and incompetence! Stand up!!!
September 2nd, 2005 at 11:49 am
What the notoriously conservative Manchester Union-Leader had to say about President Moron:
Bush and Katrina:
A time for action, not aloofness
AS THE EXTENT of Hurricane Katrina’s devastation became clearer on Tuesday — millions without power, tens of thousands homeless, a death toll unknowable because rescue crews can’t reach some regions — President Bush carried on with his plans to speak in San Diego, as if nothing important had happened the day before.
Katrina already is measured as one of the worst storms in American history. And yet, President Bush decided that his plans to commemorate the 60th anniversary of VJ Day with a speech were more pressing than responding to the carnage.
A better leader would have flown straight to the disaster zone and announced the immediate mobilization of every available resource to rescue the stranded, find and bury the dead, and keep the survivors fed, clothed, sheltered and free of disease.
The cool, confident, intuitive leadership Bush exhibited in his first term, particularly in the months immediately following Sept. 11, 2001, has vanished. In its place is a diffident detachment unsuitable for the leader of a nation facing war, natural disaster and economic uncertainty.
Wherever the old George W. Bush went, we sure wish we had him back.
Even his own party is seeing what the rest of us Americans have been seeing for a long time now…Wake up America and call the kettle black and see that our Bin Laden supporting President is INCOMPETENT!!! Without his staff he is a C- President at best.
September 2nd, 2005 at 12:23 pm
I reside in Ohio,Bush has really put it to this Country!!! Oh yes,He can send Millions to other countries for support, but what about helping those of us here in the USA!!! I read in a local paper here that food was rotting in wharehouses,{for the needy}, so tell me ….why isn’t food such as that being shipped to those who need in the hurricane strickin area’s. That is a crime! Bush has this country in RUINS!!! Those citizins should have had assestence getting out of there instead of hording them in shelters with nothing and having them forced on rooftops!!!!!
September 2nd, 2005 at 12:28 pm
I just can’t sleep tonight folks. I think I just figured out why:
Folks, New Orleans is in Bangladeshistan.
Yep. You heard me right. You see, I’m one of those stupid Americans who knows nothing about geography and I’ve had it wrong all along. Gosh darn it! I’m sure glad my neighbor who read this came by to clarify it all for me.
New Orleans is far, far, far away. Out in the Indian Ocean you see. Lots of black folks live there. It’s kindof like Haiti only they speak English funny out there and that’s why it’s taking so long for “help” to get out there.
So, you heard it here first folks: New Orleans, capital of Bangladeshistan.
Phew! Glad we got that straightened out (thanks to Brian our “informed” and well-heele federal servant who wrote above), so folks in New Orleans: Help Is On The Way (To borrow another illustrious American’s words from a few months ago…BY THE WAY–where did that get him…hmmm…er..nevermind).
Anyway. Since New Orleans is in Bangladeshistan, our newly-created department of Homeland Security has had a VERY hard time getting the logistics together for a 2-hour flight from Washington, D.C. to the Gulf Area. That explains it all…Now I know why all those people in that THIRD WOLRD STADIUM CALLED “THE SUPERDOME” ARE SUFFERING SO.
Nevermind the fact that we were all sitting on TV Sunday watching mother nature’s soccer game as the storm imminently appeared as a BIG RED BALL ON OUR SCREENS on the weather channel and we too were wondering when folks would get out there.
I feel so safe now in America right around now. With the help of God, and our president, our lives have improved so much over the past four years! This is real progress! We can get from Washington to New Orleans in FOUR DAYS. WOWZERS!
And fellow Americans, you should also rest well knowing that our very own Department of Homeland Security was able to pull it together and save our people during this awful time of need. Now I know full well that in the event of a terrorist attack we will be OK and “help will be on the way.”
So, if you live in Seattlestan, San Franciscostan, Los Angelestan, San Diegostan heck even in Fresnostan or Bakersfieldstan and an earthquake of large magnitude happens to ruffle your covers a little too hard and send the coast under water–you too can rest well tonight knowing that our Homeland Security will make sure that “HELP IS ON THE WAY.”
OH! AND LET’S NOT EVEN TALK ABOUT TERRORISM!!
That is NOT an act of GOD, to be sure. But, I know…”Help Is ON THE WAY” regardless. We have a newly organized agency set up to insure just that.
Wait, but where are all those men in uniform folks? DONT WE HAVE BASES IN TEXASTAN?!??? And I hear about all sorts of moneys being promised in Washington but no one has drinkking water in New Orleans?
PERHAPS ALL OF OUR TROOPS ARE TOO TIED UP IRAQISTAN right around now! Or are we too cowardly to admit this these days in Washington because it will send the markets in a tailspin?
What is it Mr. Bush?!? Come clean THE AMERICAN PEOPLE HAVE SOME SERIOUS QUESTIONS FOR YOU SIR. I think it’s time you account for the past four years of building a foreign and domestic policy largely based on LIES! The Department of Homeland Security failed us in a natural disaster that we all saw coming our way on the weather channel. Tell me, Mr. President, how will this new DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY PROTECT ME FROM A DIRTY BOMB IN WASHINGTON, DC? SIR, WITH ALL DUE RESPECT: THERE IS NO “TERRORIST CHANNEL” ON TV FOR ME TO ANTICIPATE THAT THIS SORT OF THING IS COMING OUR WAY, SIR!!!!!!!!
WE THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY FROM YOU AND YOUR ADMINISTRATION SIR. THERE IS NO “HOMELAND SECURITY”!!!!!
THE PAST FEW DAYS HAVE MADE THAT AMPLY EVIDENT, MR. PRESIDENT.
THE COWS ARE COMING HOME TO ROOST!!!!!!!
And to those of you, like TV Evangelist Robertson or whatever who will come back with, “THOMAS PAINE THIS HORRIFIC HURRICANE WAS AN ACT OF GOD–HOW COULD WE HAVE ANTICIPATED IT?!?” All I have to say is:
CHANGE THE FUCKING CHANNEL ON YOUR TV SET AND WATCH THE WEATHER CHANNEL, THEN RUN DAMMIT!!!!
That “stupid dictator from South America” could be saving your conservative ass right now sending us some much needed oil at the pump at the right price, Lesson to be learned: HUMILITY AND SHUT UP WITH THE GOD STUFF ALREADY!!!!!
Good night, Americans… I’ll rest better tonight…more “secure.”
Oh, and one more thing, Jeff in South Florida. WE CAN GO AT IT ALONE INVADING A COUNTRY HALF-WAY ACROSS THE WORLD ALONE AGAINST THE WILL AND GOOD INTENTIONS OF THE REST OF THE WORLD AND NOW WE COME “ASKING FOR HELP FROM THEM?!??” I don’t suppose you know the meaning of the word TSUNAMI perchance, a disaster that killed, oh 200,000 people earlier this year in Asia. Oh, wait: maybe you had your TV on another channel that day. THE GOD CHANNEL. Well, guess what:
Our president has done the best job possible to project to the world that we are invulnerable and the strongest country in the world. So naturally, the third world and those “pesky French/German Euro-Pinkos” out there BELIEVED IT. NOW IT’S TIME TO EXPEND SOME POLITICAL CAPITAL (or something) and convince them that we’re poor and we can’t handle it on our own?!?? Great idea, Mr. President and Jeff. Just swell!
September 2nd, 2005 at 12:29 pm
Oh…and P.S.,…. send Bush’s ass to fight his war!!!!! Denying money to repair the broken levy’s so he can more have money for more warfare !!!! Send his ass to the front line!!! Yea….
September 2nd, 2005 at 2:04 pm
While I have read alot about New Orlean’s being below sea level, and one cannot blame current governments for placing it there, what I found surprising is how much other infrastructure is concentrated around the disastor site - infrastructure whose vulnerability affects the national economy. Oil refineries, oil rigs, the largest shipping port (by tonnage) in the US, access to the Mississippi (transporting Mid-West produce). While an argument could be made that local government had it’s head in the sand while money went elsewhere, surely it’s the federal government place to look at the big picture, ie, a hit to the Gulf Coast is one to the bread-basket of the American economic infrastructure.
September 2nd, 2005 at 2:41 pm
As I sit on my barrier island on the Gulf Coast and for four days watch the abomination taking place in a city that exemplifies America the horror has grown unbearable. New Orleans is a national treasure. It contains not only historically significant and architectural gems but a diverse and unique blend of persons found only here in this sweltering, stinky, improbable and magical place. It is a city that was the slave selling capital of the nation (please Charlotte and others, don’t vie for the distinction here). Like other cities in the current south it still is a city of classes, lots of those who “have” and lots of those who want and those who serve. With all of its warts it was a majestic and squalid place to be at any time of year. The joy literally oozed from its cobbled streets, live oak trees and yes even from the ghettos and levies. I admit it readily, there is no place I had rather be on earth than the Gulf Coast and especially NO. With just a few degrees that horror would now be happening on my island. For the second time in my life and I am now 62, I do not feel safe in my own country. 9/11 was horror beyond belief but that was not when I felt unsafe, I saw the outpouring of love and help given to those who were lost and harmed. That made me feel safe and proud to be American. When we attacked another soverign nation was the first time I knew our government had put me in harms way by turning so much of the civilized world against us after lying to us and the United Nations for the reason it was done. And now, I feel so scared and ashamed of our government for allowing this atrocity to occur live and in my living room of the slow and tortuous deaths of the stranded victims in the attics of all those houses and on the streets of America. I apologize to the families and victims of this hurricane. You have been let down so badly words dont even cover it. From the totally inept and pathetic Governor of LA, to the invisible Mayor who sends out SOS but hasnt been seen since Monday, to the grinning, arrogant, howdy-doody looking failure that the power brokers in America bought- him -a- job President, we have heard only rhetoric for four days. We are not blind, there are no Red Cross, Fema trucks or aid getting to the people who need it. Only the Coast Guard, Parks and Wildlife and a few heros who defied the stupid rules and saved some lives are visible on TV. The Guardsmen who had to inspect all the pathetic belongings dragged to the one and only designated shelter in a huge and sprawling city are not to blame for not saving lives they were told to do it and it didnt stop any of the deaths and rapes inside. Any one with a brain can see that no one was in charge and there was no plan. Everyone in authority huddled in comfort in Baton Rouge and spouted endless assessment plans and assurances but nothing got done. Blame will be placed and that and politics and prayers and nothing the news shows in endless loops will change the fact that people are dying right now and will die for a long time. The Astrodome is full and all the shelters are full and not one idiot in our government has talked yet about setting up a tent city any where to house all of these displaced people they are shuttling so inefficiently and expensively to places so far from their homes. They did not in fact put saving lives first they just talked about it and time has run out. Three states were hit by a natural disaster made worse by inept engineering and manipulation of natural forces. The loss cant be measured in dollars as all the technos are trying to start doing. The gas lines and supply are just as manipulated as the war in Iraq and the Mississippi River and the wetlands of Texas and Louisiana have been by greed and lies and back room deals. Our press is so weak and brow-beaten that it is afraid to ask real questions and accepts hand outs to tell them what to say in press conferences. They waste our time by re-running endlessly the same things over and over instead of constantly filming what is happening live. We are uninformed and lied to and now I understand that we are not truly safe in our own country. Not because of terrorists who cant really be stopped anymore than a suicide can be prevented but because our government has failed in its first responsibility, to take care of home first. American citizenship used to guarantee you that the entire power of this country would protect you, not any more. The devastation is unimaginable everywhere and the shock hasn’t even set in yet. Not to save human beings who are begging for help and left to rot and cook in flooded homes is unforgivable. I fully expect to see live tomorrow some of these human beings shot and killed because of the anger over looting and nutcases with guns. There have been guns on the streets of every city in America forever and I never heard a government entity before refuse to do its job because of it until now. All the volunteers who took their boats and were left to sit in the sun all day because of this stupidity you are heros. A few of the journalists are heros for trying to inform us even though the networks wouldn’t show the truth or cut them off when they got too emotional. We’re going to be a lot more horrified when the truth is finally told and that will only be the beginning of weeks and months of lies, stealing, inefficiency and utter wastefulness and rampant stupidity that is this government. I hope all the persons who are so happy with our coke head, spoiled, arrogant alcoholic cowboy find comfort in their mindless sheeplike prayers and self-gratifying unity, and dont forget to tithe.
September 2nd, 2005 at 2:58 pm
Sincerest sympathy from South Africa to all the families directly and indirectly affected by this natural tragedy. I sincerely believe that if anyone has any thoughts to add to the condition of this world, it should be that of positivity and inspiration, instead of blame and accusation. I’ve been married for two years now, and I’ve realised, every time me & my wife have a little disagreement, that things can get so out of hand when I start blaming her. It might seem like a simple example, but once I confess my wrongs and say sorry, some magical enters the atmosphere, and before you know it, peace is at hand. If only we could apply this attitude in our daily lives there would be much less hatred out there. But we always want to ask this question: “Who started it?” and “who’s fault is it?”. It’s not like that information will solve anything. At some point we have to alter our approach to the way for forgiveness, despite who did wrong. That’s why Jesus said: “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone”. But people have become so proud & ignorant that they will never humble themselves and stand down. One throws a stone, the other throws a boulder, then a handgrenade, then an airplane, then an atomic bomb. One picture we can never draw in our minds is that of forgetting the past, and thinking of the future. Our governments live so much in the past that they mess up the future because of revenge and hatred. And so do all of us. The only way this can go is to the end of the world. Here in our country gold-mines are closing down. Most species are going rapidly extinct. You can’t go out of our house without the fear of being mugged or raped. The condition is in the superdome in New Orleans is the conditions we are met with in South Africa every day. But there are some of us who still have love, one for the other. Who do not stand up for the president and blame God. Who knows who they are and who knows where they’re going. Who does not place their concerns on whether there are peace on earth, but that there are peace in their souls. Because what if there was 100% peace on earth, but you die in a car crash? Rather make sure your soul in sealed in heaven by the blood of Christ. Then it won’t matter if they detonate a nuclear bomb right inside of you. Maybe that is what God expects of us…
September 2nd, 2005 at 4:26 pm
I have to admit Peace on earth sounds great, but we will never find peace if we leave our fellow man out in the cold when he needs us most desperately. It is the JOB of every American to expect that this government does its JOB! Our forefathers expected us to have words and to speak up so that democracy could thrive. So we can all sit around and hold hands and hug our neighbors and pray and that will calm our hearts and make us feel comforted, but how does that change what is going on? Change is sometimes uncomfortable, but in this case it is necessary. These are the times when we care MORE for our neighbors and this is not about revenge, it is about change!
And the FACT of the matter is…our government has abandoned those poor people and recited “help is on the way”! On the Way!!!! What kind of beurocratic red tape is stopping the way? Those buses seemed to have no problem getting into the Dome…where were the supplies…not inside the buses! Can’t get there my ***..takes time my ***….OPEN YOUR EYES, The Department of Homeland Security FAILED MISERABLY and we need to hold them and our government accountable for this!
And ACCEPT THE FORIEGN AID. I don’t care if we are not one of the “stans” as Thomas puts it. It will cost billions to clean up this mess and rebuild what they can. Here you sit complaining how you have “no money” and will give what you can, by not accepting aid you must be willing to let the buck continually be passed to you! I know that foriegn countries do not have the kind of monetary power we have and maybe it will be a drop in the bucket to what this recovery process will need but come on! Let others help for once. So what, we look humbled… can you actually watch those people on TV and say…sorry we’ll take care of you, we don’t need those foreigners. PLEASE! Bush has ruined foreign relation in the name of the all mighty dollar, he already looks inept, why should this situtation be any different?
September 2nd, 2005 at 6:45 pm
The New York Times makes clear this is Bush’s biggest test since 9-11, one that in many ways is more complicated. (No countries to invade, at least as far as we know.) One very annoying passage:
It is reminiscent of how Mr. Bush has argued that progress is being made in Iraq. But as the administration has learned in Iraq, the imagery of violent chaos, repeated over and over, can undercut even the most frequently cited statistics. And so Mr. Bush’s biggest risk may be an inability to control circumstances that are beyond his ability to shape from Washington.
This is wrong on about eight different levels. It implies Bush’s progress in Iraq is undercut by “the imagery of violent chaos.” No, Bush’s refusal to FACE FACTS in Iraq is undercut by the daily news of worsening conditions, increasing deaths, a stronger insurgency and no FACTS to back up Bush’s claim that things were peachy.
Bush’s risk in dealing with Hurrican Katrina is NOT “an inability to control circumstances that are beyond his ability to shape….” No one is holding Bush accountable for the storm striking land. Bush is accountable for what he CAN control — his indifference and politics-as-usual attitude even AFTER the storm had struck; Bush’s refusal to cut his vacation short until the last moment — and spending ANOTHER night in Crawford rather than going straight to DC while the waters were rising and people were dying; the slashing of funds devoted to shoring up the levees; the reduced level of National Guard available; the possible lack of amphibious vehicles because they’ve been sent to Iraq; the sluggish response; the incompetent lack of coordination that MUST come from the federal government and on and on. The facts about all these issues will become clear as soon as the MSM starts demanding the relevant details.
All of these factors are under Bush’s control and he can and should be held accountable for how he performs. Listing blocks of ice and a few generators on their way won’t make people ignore the facts staring them in the face.
This is Bush’s final exam. So far, he gets an “F.”
September 2nd, 2005 at 6:45 pm
This morning I saw a broadcast with Harry Connick Jr. on “The Today Show”. He was in his homewtown of New Orleans, talking with people and trying to assess what has happened to his home. Although he had heard that shots had been fired and there were rapes and beatings, he did not witness any violence first hand. He also said there is a very clear and direct route to the Super Dome to get these women, children and elderly water and food; and officials told him that it would not be safe for him (or anyone else) to get supplies and come back to these people.
There are always “bad seeds” in a crowd; there is definitely anarchy and gang violence in New Orleans. There far are many more people like you and I stuck there without food or water for four days! Can you imagine having no water for four days, especially when help has been promised time and again? Why can’t they at least air-drop supplies if they don’t think it is safe to enter via foot or automobile?
It is sad, shocking and a complete disgrace. It shows how vulnerable we are to any sort of disaster in this country. I love this country and am deeply saddened by it’s downward spiral in the past five years.
September 2nd, 2005 at 7:07 pm
Thank you, Brian, for your service to your country. Thank you for defending the freedoms and lifestyles that so many of us take for granted.
Everyone is entitled to their opinions, but I am shocked and dismayed by some of those expressed here. I am heartbroken for those suffering in New Orleans, for those that are dying in despair. But to say that we aren’t doing all that we can is ludicrous. It’s a difficult situation, and no matter how much you prepare for a disaster, actually experiencing one and putting plans into place is a whole different story. We have the resources available, we’ve been sending in aid, sending in troops-but these things take time when you are dealing with utter destruction and chaos. It’s a horrible situation, and I know that no matter how quickly we respond, to those who need medical attention, are frightened, hungry, and desparate-it won’t seem quickly enough. I sympathize and understand their frustration, but we are all only human, and can only do what is humanly possible. Aid has been being dropped, drinking water has been going in, rescue missions have been continuously taking place-they are trying the best that they can, and the war in Iraq has not curtailed our ability to respond to this disaster in the least.
Since so many of you like to bring up the war and your opinions on it, I’ll share mine. Yes, we are trying to help the Iraqi people, who have been so suppressed. But the war in Iraq is hardly just for that purpose-it is for you and I, and the rest of the free world, so that we can continue living without fear as we did prior to 9/11. The war in Iraq is essential to ensure world security, and I just don’t understand why people don’t get that. If we were to withdraw troops today, as so many people are calling for, what sort of message would that send to the thousands of Osama bin Laden wanna-bes? They don’t just hate Americans, they hate anyone who doesn’t share their ideology. If Pres. Bush were to succumb to the anti-war pressure and withdraw troops, the insurgents would win and I shudder to think of the consequences. Apparently, though, it’s going to take another 9/11 for people to wake up. Whatever happened to United We Stand??!!!?
Protesters like Cindy Sheehan are giving hope and renewing the efforts of our enemy. And Cindy is disgracing her son and other fallen soldiers, who willingly gave their lives fighting for our rights and freedoms. The message that they are sending is that our men and women have died for nothing-what a message to send to our troops fighting overseas, what a boost to their morale. Thank you, Cindy.
We are a grieving nation, and the devastation of Hurricane Katrina is too much to bear. But bear it we must, and if we hope to continue saving lives we must put political feelings aside and pull together. For those of you who have to blame someone, blame the media for inaccurate and selective coverage. Blame the media and the mayor for instead of trying to calm fears, inciting them and hindering rescue operations. President Bush does not oversee every state and city-that’s why governors and mayors are in place.
No one dreamed that we would be facing such an enormous disaster. Hindsight is 20/20.
September 2nd, 2005 at 7:35 pm
It’s certanly Bush’s fault because this is the first administration to serve since the levee system had been put in.
No, wait, that wouldn’t be right. You must be one of those short-sighted, Bush bashers that would blame him for the sun rising in the east if you could.
September 2nd, 2005 at 7:37 pm
What makes this country so amazing is that we can express these thoughts and feelings without being arrested (although, the way everything is going, that might not be true for long).
That being said, I can’t believe that there is anybody on this planet that would still defend George Bush and his administration.
I am amazed at the differences in our beliefs and I can’t fathom that there is anyone who thought invading Iraq was a good idea. I am one hundred percent in favor of defending our country against terrorists; but Iraq was less of a threat when this war began than is it now. We have created yet another breeding ground for terrorism and anti-Americanism when we could have been assasinating the people who attacked us.
Now we are in a situation where our armies and guardsmen & women are stretched so thin that we cannot rally up enough troops and security in enough time to prevent people from dying in the streets IN OUR OWN COUNTRY. All this is happening on Bush’s watch - and no matter what you people say, it starts from the top!
It is not Anti-American to criticize our government, and you must admit that something is amiss in this administration.
September 2nd, 2005 at 8:00 pm
I don’t have to admit to anything that I don’t believe, Sam. Iraq and other parts of the Middle East were already a breeding ground for terrorists. Chemical weapons have been found in large amounts, and Saddam was famous for moving and storing weapons out of the country or burying them deep in the desert sand.
Are you of the belief that we deserved 9/11, or that terrorists would stop there? They want to create an extremist Islamic world. Unfortunately, though war is ugly and costs lives and money, sometimes it’s necessary.
September 2nd, 2005 at 8:21 pm
I live in Great Britain and have visited NO several times and have friends there. Always thought it was a fantastic, vibrant place and am truly sorry for what has happened.
I can’t but notice that several of these blogs are verging on the anti-British (confederate Yankee!). We offered assistance almost immediately and Dubya is “considering it!”
To use one of your terms, we have always stepped up to the plate in supporting you and will continue to do so, but please, less of the anti-Brit stuff!
September 2nd, 2005 at 8:43 pm
Thanks, Luckyman. It’s wonderful to hear offers of foreign assistance in our time of need, when we do so much for other countries. My only criticism of the Bush administration will be if we do not accept any of the aid being offered-we need all the help we can get, regardless of the wonderful job workers are doing and the resources that we have. Our nurses/doctors especially are in need of assistance-I hope that more medical aid is forthcoming.
September 2nd, 2005 at 9:19 pm
I have been watching almost constant coverage since the hurricane hit and have now reached my breaking point. As an american born in Baton Rouge and raised in central Florida this event has hit so close to home. I can not put blame on anything imparticular and this is not the time to do so. This is a country that for whatever reason was not at all prepared to handle such a devestating natural disaster. Whether it is local or federal government, the military or the red cross, whoever should be responding to these disasters. From a political stand point, when Republicans are in control, not just W but any of them, America is last on their list. They are to concerned with the importance of being “the leader of the free world,” they leave our country last. There is NO reason why these stranded AMERICAN citizens have not been helped yet. Scientific studies have been conducted for many years with evidence that this was bound to happen. Why time and money is not spent preparing for such things, as a law abiding tax paying citizen is unexceptable. We are promised time and time again by these elected officials that they are here to help and protect us in our time of need. This disaster has proven that, for whatever reason, they are not able to deliver. I believe the people that will pull us from this tragedy are the warm hearted American citizens. The ones that TRULY will help their neighbor with all they can. Donating time and money, opening their homes to the homeless and communities working together to rebuild their towns. THIS is why I am so proud to be an American, not because of our “leaders.” It is time we all stand together as a nation and get our people back on their feet.
This is an unimaginable diaster that has tought me an important lesson living in a hurricane prone state. Anything over a catagory 3, I am out of here. Until our government can unite and put the priorities of OUR nation first, don’t expect to receive their assistance in a crisis. Just ask the beloved people of the gulf coast going through this horror right now.
My heart goes out to those that have lost and their families, and thank God for the amazing people helping them.
September 2nd, 2005 at 9:19 pm
Dear President Bush,
Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God’s law. I have learned a great deal from you and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate. I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God’s Laws and how to follow them:
1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not to Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can’t I own Canadians?
2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?
3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness (Lev. 15:19-24). The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.
4. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord (Lev. 1:9). The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?
5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states that he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?
6. A friend of mine feels that, even though eating shellfish is an abomination (Lev. 11:10), it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don’t agree. Can you settle this? Are there “degrees” of abomination?
7. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle-room here?
8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?
9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?
10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev. 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them (Lev. 24:10-16)? Couldn’t we just burn them to death at a private family affair, like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws (Lev. 20:14)?
I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy considerable expertise in such matters, so I am confident you can help.
Thank you again for reminding us that God’s word is eternal and unchanging.
September 2nd, 2005 at 9:24 pm
Nobody’s asking you to admit to what you don’t believe, Julie. What you must concede, however, is that all decisions have consequences, and that when you make a decision, you need to accept responsibility for all its consequences. So if you support the war in Iraq, then you’re willing to pay the price; in this case, a severely handicapped National Guard at home. Crikey, about a third of Louisana’s National Guard is in Iraq. Northeasern states have had to send their National Guard units to NO. Can you see how that’s a bit inefficient? Every dollar that’s spent in Iraq could have been spent on improving levees in NO. If you’re in favor of the war in Iraq, then you think that’s more important than strengthening infrastructure at home.
The same dollar can’t be spent in more than one place. Not without running up a huge debt, which is already causing other countries to lose faith in the once almighty dollars.
Do you believe that all these things were worth it? Fine. That’s a defensible position, I guess. Brutal, nauseating, but defensible. A bit like Mr. Spock on Star Trek, I guess–do you think that it’s for the greater good that our troops are in Iraq, even if it means sacrificing some poor, mainly black, people along the Gulf Coast, who couldn’t get out because they didn’t have cars? Do you think that the threat from Saddam was that great? That reshaping the Middle East is more important than somebody’s gumbo shop in Louisiana?
Just say it. I dare you.
September 2nd, 2005 at 9:35 pm
Ohh My God Julie Do you really still believe this? In spite of that fact that no WMD were found in Iraq, in spite of the fact that prior to the war, no American was ever killed in Iraq and now almost 2000 are dead on Iraqi soil? It’s difficult to comprehend that rational people, after all of this, still actually accept the claims of a link between 9/11 and Iraq. Or that they could actually believe Iraq is less of a threat today than it was in 2003.
We did not have Al-Qaeda in Iraq prior to the war. We didn’t know that sort of extremism. We didn’t have beheadings or the abduction of foreigners or religious intolerance. We actually pitied America and Americans when the Twin Towers went down and when news began leaking out about it being Muslim fundamentalists- possibly Arabs- we were outraged.
Now 9/11 is getting old. Now, 100,000+ Iraqi lives and 1700+ American lives later, it’s becoming difficult to summon up the same sort of sympathy as before. How does the death of 3,000 Americans and the fall of two towers somehow justify the horrors in Iraq when not one of the people involved with the attack was Iraqi?
Bush said:
“Iraq is the latest battlefield in this war. … The commander in charge of coalition operations in Iraq, who is also senior commander at this base, General John Vines, put it well the other day. He said, “We either deal with terrorism and this extremism abroad, or we deal with it when it comes to us.”
He speaks of ‘abroad’ as if it is a vague desert-land filled with heavily-bearded men and possibly camels. ‘Abroad’ in his speech seems to indicate a land of inferior people- less deserving of peace, prosperity and even life.
September 2nd, 2005 at 9:39 pm
I apologize that this response has nothing to so with the situation at hand, which does not seem to have gotten any better.
JULIE:
I was in New York City about a mile away from the World Trade Center during the attacks of 9/11 and I take offense to your suggestion that I believe we “deserved it”. I believe we should be killing the people that actually attacked us.
But this has nothing to do with our fellow citizens who are not getting their basic needs of survival met. I just hope the “help” that is on the way will get there soon.
We need all the help we can get, if it is true that other countries have offered and Bush does not take it, we will once again look like incompetent fools to the rest of the world (who we are alienating more and more by the second…).
September 2nd, 2005 at 9:54 pm
This is in respone to the fool that stated that the war in Iraq is doing good. Please explain how. Young me are dying or they are coming home mentaly ill. We are not any more safe than we were before. 9/11 was a one time thing. People could bring a bomb in a crowed mall if they wanted to or set one off in rush hour traffic there is nothing stopping them. So please explain how we are better off. It is a shame that we give so much attention to thing abroad and ignore home. We now have $3.00 per gal. gas Bush is doing a great job yeah right. Ask all of the people that have lost their jobs since he took office. Bush is for the rich and the rich only. It is a shame that poor American are fool by his B.S. However, we can see now that he really does not care.
September 2nd, 2005 at 11:15 pm
I live in central Indiana. I was lucky enough to visit New Orleans last year. It was such a exciting and diverse city. I am so sorry for what everyone down that way is going through. When I leave work today I will find somewhere that is taking donations and give what I can. I am apalled at the lack of immediate help. I wish everyone God’s help and hope to see this wonderful city back on it’s feet again soon.
September 2nd, 2005 at 11:31 pm
iguess this would not have happened if clinton or another democrat were pres. because we all know that rebuilding the levee shitstem was tops on his list. please wake up and live
September 2nd, 2005 at 11:48 pm
Al Qaida didn’t exist before we went to Iraq? Are you SERIOUS, lucklady or whatever you call yourself?!!!? I said it before and I’ll say it again, the COMPLETE IGNORANCE of some people just simply amazes me. Of course it existed, and they’ve been staging attacks on free countries for years. Do some research before you spout off.
Yes, I believe in the war on Iraq. Does that mean that I think it’s more important than helping the victims of Katrina? No, and I never stated that. Both are of equal importance. Iraq is important for world stability, and I’m sure the Islamic militants are sitting back and enjoying how we as a nation are self-destructing. Yes, it’s sad that our servicemen and women are having to pay the ultimate price overseas for our freedoms, but 99.9% of them died willingly for their country and their loved ones. Our military is all volunteer-no one forces anyone to join. They do it because they have love for their country, because they want to protect the rights we all enjoy, and because they want to make a difference in the lives of oppressed people everywhere. Am I proud of them and their sacrifices? You’re damn right I am, and when people say they don’t support the war in Iraq, they are saying they don’t support our military, because you can’t support the one without the other. They need our support, they need to know that we are supportive of their mission. When we protest the war, we add fuel to the enemy, and that means more deaths of our men and women, and more risks of attacks throughout the world.
JR-Bush has created an enormous amount of jobs during his terms. He inherited an already hurting economy from the Clinton administration. As for the gas situation, people are making a bad situation worse by panicking. When you needlessly fill up and hoard gas, it limits an already tightened supply due to the Hurricane, which in turn jacks prices up. He’s releasing 30 mil. barrells of oil, and Europe is sending oil to the U.S. to help out with the gas crisis.
Sam-I apologize for my statement. It was meant more to prove a point that terrorists will launch unprovoked attacks against anyone or any nation that doesn’t share their ideology than it was to suggest that you believed we deserved it. Poor wording, and I am sorry for offending you.
I am very concerned for our nation. This is such a critical time, and instead of all pulling together we are growing more and more divided. We certainly aren’t showing the best side of America right now by pointing fingers and lashing out. I hope that we are able to come together soon, for the greater good of all.
September 2nd, 2005 at 11:59 pm
When will the masses see that it’s not Rep, Dem or Lib. It’s the government and they are putting the screws to us.
September 3rd, 2005 at 12:15 am
Julie,
Al Qaida has nothing to do with Iraq, and the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis that died under the war were not in anyway responsible for 9/11. The only thing they have in common is that they’re of the same race and religion. The regime in Iraq was secular and anti-Islamist before America’s invasion. Now there is increasing risk of civil war and increasing risk of a religious government sympathetic to Iran taking over. People all over the world who care about Iraq and its long suffering people (first under Saddam, then the embargo, and now this) and who care about justice and human life are appalled at what this inhuman and illegal war has turned into. George W Bush has since come up with a new justification for this war “we need to prevent terrorists from getting their hands on the oil”…
September 3rd, 2005 at 12:49 am
It looks as though help has finally arrived in New Orleans, thankfully. Let’s hope no more survivors of “Deadly Katrina” will die needlessly. Let’s aslo hope that law and order is restored in the great city of NO.
September 3rd, 2005 at 12:51 am
Julie,
Luckylady stated that al Qaida didn’t exist IN IRAQ before the invasion, and she is absolutely right. Iraq had nothing to with terrorism or terrorist groups before the war. Nor was there the widespread terrorism and lawlessness there that we see today. These came about as a result of the war, and this just goes to prove that this administration’s policy is making the problem worse, not better. Also, how can you talk about world stability when the majority of the world was opposed to this war to begin with?
Please, no insults or name-calling, I am just someone who is desperately trying to understand what is going on here.
How can a few insulated bureaucrats willingly meddle in a nation’s future, knowing and caring nothing of its history and people and culture, and then expect a positive outcome?
September 3rd, 2005 at 1:07 am
Sarah-
Whether an extremist group calls themselves Al Qaeda, Jihad, etc., is of no importance. I realize that they aren’t all Iraqi-they are Syrian, Iranian, Saudi, Jordanian, etc. But stabilizing Iraq is important to bringing stabilization to the Middle East, which has a looooong history of conflict. I also realize that a person’s religion does not make a person a terrorist. It’s those who go to the extreme-who believe that they are holy warriors and that it is their duty to make the world an Islamic state. According to reports, Saddam had ties with those people. Whether you or I will ever be able to say with absolute certainty that Saddam was linked with Al Qaida is doubtful, but to me an unimportant issue. Terrorists existed and do exist in Iraq, as they do all over the world. As they did prior to 9/11 and prior to our entering the war. As they will continue to do so if we don’t continue our efforts to stamp them out. Saddam was an evil man who cared nothing for his people. Iraq was used as a breeding ground for future terrorists. Saddam was a master of hiding warfare-the extent of which we may never know.
Luckylady-
Unfortunately, life in Iraq prior to war wasn’t the rosey place you describe. No intolerance, huh? Tell that to the thousands of Kurds who were displaced, tortured or murdered by chemical weapons or poisoned gas. And furthermore, 9/11 will never “grow old” in the hearts and memories of those affected by the terrorists’ lack of human compassion and their destructive mission.
September 3rd, 2005 at 1:32 am
Julie,
So, is the USA going to invade Syria, Iran, Jordan and Saudi Arabia next? Don’t you think it’s understandable that some people are getting worried?
September 3rd, 2005 at 1:44 am
Julie, you are so missguided! So just because Bush “says” their is possibly AlQueda in Iraq gave us every reason to attack? Yes there were huge injustices going on in Iraq, and these needed to be addressed globally. So since terrorists are all over the world, does that mean we will attack every place we think they might be or just where we supposedly know? I guess it doesn’t matter to you, because to you it is an “unimportant issue”. Does it even matter that Bush, in all his glory, had both direct and indirect relations with the Bin Ladin Family, no matter what spin the Bush administration puts on it. Oh let me guess..you don’t believe that either. GIVE ME A BREAK! By the way, who made it our job to “stabalize” the middle east, that for hundreds of years has been unstable. Oh thats right, God probably whispered it in Bush’s ear (would that make him a religious extremist?). 9/11 will never grow old…that we can agree on. But our effort and time should be spent on securing our borders and our homeland, using military intelligence (not that that always does us any good) to track and destroy terrorists instead of a whole country. I guess that brings this whole hurricane relief full circle. Had we been more prepared, had we spent more time preparing for a catastrophic event (terrorist or natural) by utilizing FEMA and homeland security, we would have at least been a little more prepared. Maybe not perfect, but alot better than this. What did I hear Bush say today…he was “disappointed”. MY MY MY….need we say more…..
September 3rd, 2005 at 1:55 am
Julie, you still aren’t answering my question. Was the deployment of the National Guard overseas worth the price that the people of New Orleans are paying? Yes or no? Give us a straight answer.
September 3rd, 2005 at 1:58 am
I guess you cant argue with ignorance! Once a person has made up thier minds that Reblicans can do no wrong it is futile to arguee the facts. You have been lied to Julie and I feel sorry for you because you support a man that couldnt give a rats ass about you, unless your a multi-millionaire, and I doubt that you are. He has blinded you with this religious right propaganda and you eat up every word. I would like to remind you that Clinton balanced the budget he may have lied but his lies did’nt kill anyone unlike President Pig Vomit. I mean come on. First it was the Iraq people who did the WTC attact…oops I was wrong…Then it was there were WMD the Saddam was hiding….oops ….couldnt find any….Then its we have to install a Democratic Government……oops thats not working now the women have no rights……Now its because we have to honor our dead that has died in the name of our Homeland Security…..What a joke were the people of Iraq gonna ride in on a camel with a pipe bomb strapped to thier back? Following a man blindly just because he says so reminds me of the SS when Hitlor said kill all the Jews. For heavens sakes wake up and smell the coffee! Bush has put or nation in tremendous debt…The national deficit is as high as its been EVER! As far as “Our military is all volunteer-no one forces anyone to join” this is true but do you think that the people who joined the National Guard Reserves thought they would be fighting a war based soley on big business and capitolism or playing paintball on the weekends? Like I stated earlier I feel sorry for you cause even if Bush came out and told the truth about the war you still would’nt believe it. Hell girl you still think there were weapons of mass destruction….Whats next you gonna tell me that Santa Clause is real….Guess I better watch out.
September 3rd, 2005 at 1:59 am
that has nothing to do with n.o
September 3rd, 2005 at 2:03 am
ok tony thanks for pointing that out……would have been lost without you….THANKS!
September 3rd, 2005 at 2:15 am
Tony: let’s do a little thought experiment. You decide you want to buy an expensive stereo. Your wife tells you that you shouldn’t, since the roof really needs fixing. But you go ahead and buy the expensive stereo anyway. One day, the roof starts leaking, but, oops, you can’t fix it. Your wife says, “see, I told ya so” and you snap back, “That has nothing to do with the stereo”. At that point, your wife of 20 years realizes she’s been living with an imbecile and divorces you, saying “It has everything to do with the stereo, knucklehead”.
September 3rd, 2005 at 2:17 am
this is from americablog….
“CNN’s Cafferty says relief arrival is being timed for Bush’s arrival
by John in DC - 9/02/2005 03:49:00 PM
CNN’s Jack Cafferty, moments ago:
Jack Cafferty: Do you suppose, Wolf, that the arrival of the relief convoys and the political photo ops on the gulf coast happening at the very same time were a coincidence today?
Wolf Blitzer: Uh, well, we’ll, I’m sure our viewers have some thoughts on that as well. These pictures, by the way, Jack, that we’re getting in…
Wolf Blitzer: Jack a final thought before I let you go.
Jack Cafferty: It’s embarrassing [followed by dead silence]”
also…
“Did Bush have to take a shower after he hugged the two African American women victimized by Hurricane Katrina?”
also…
“Bush saying “I am coming to see the devasation in this part of the world”… I thought the same thing… what is he thinking? Heck, HE’S supposedly from the South himself”
September 3rd, 2005 at 2:20 am
This is something I read that explains Julie to a T:
Those to whom information is presented must deal with their personal unwillingness to hear new facts.
We have to make a serious effort to distinguish between the expression of an unfounded theory and the disclosure of verifiable information and facts.
They absolutely refuse to accept even the most convincing proof because they dare not admit to themselves that they have been lied to by officials in whom the placed their trust.
It is currently standard practice in America to simply dismiss any piece of information that punches a hole in any widely accepted explanation of a disturbing event. In many cases, especially when a serious crime is in question, the “conspiracy theory” tag is immediately attached to any new discovery about the event. Information related to such important topics such as 9/11, election fraud, the new world order, secret societies, or globalization is too often ignored as part of a baseless conspiracy theory even before any of it is ever presented, discussed, or evaluated.
There seems to be no set criteria for dismissing information as a foolish conspiracy theory. The only prerequisite for information to be so categorized seems to be the desire to reject it. The reason for the rejection does not seem to matter. It appears that anything people do not want to believe is simply set aside as not believable. It almost seems that if you set some people of fire they would dismiss the flames as non-existent, simply because they did not want to believe what was happening. The pain and damage done by the fire, no matter how devastating, would not be evidence enough to convince these people that the fire was real. Their need to believe otherwise would win out. In the same vein, people dismiss information and apply the conspiracy theory tag to anything they chose to disbelieve at their own discretion, regardless of any hard evidence that accompanies the “theory.”
It’s time to put an end to this nonsense once and for all. It’s also time dispense with the name calling and understand the dynamics of what is happening when new information is rejected. We have to deal with the resistance to any tampering with accepted “truths.” And we have to find ways to convince people to seriously consider the new information, new discoveries if you will - that so many refuse, under any circumstances, to acknowledge.
It is absolutely accurate to say that conspiracies exist all around us every day of our lives and and in all walks of life Conspiracies are a very common part of life. Children conspire to play jokes on their friends, football teams conspire (in the huddle) to outmaneuver their opponents; the rich conspire with one another to get richer and governments conspire about virtually everything. As a matter of fact every single person who has ever been convicted of a crime by a jury is the subject of a conspiracy theory; only in these cases a jury has accepted the theory as truth after seeing the evidence. Any time two or more people are involved in setting private plans to do anything, you have a conspiracy. And every single time you have a powerful government, you have secret organizations conspiring to remain secret. Conspiracies, by definition are shrouded in secrecy. In turn, their secrecy begets speculation and that speculation spawns new theories about the conspiracy itself. .Is there any wonder that theories arise about things we do not fully understand and events we find suspicious? In the end, theories are inevitable. Truths, however, are essential.
It is perfectly acceptable for curious parties to evaluate or theorize about conspiracies. It is natural to assume that conspiracies take place and it is perfectly understandable for people to speculate on potential or known conspiracies. Trying to figure out what trades your favorite baseball team might make is a perfect example of this. The team is conspiring to make changes and you are theorizing about the changes. There is nothing wrong with that. Strangely, when you call your local sports radio show to speculate on the trade, no one will call you a conspiracy theorist, despite the fact that the name does apply. By speculating about the secret plans of others, you actually are expressing a theory about their conspiracy.
Conspiracy “theories” are just that; theories. Theories are based on a logical or a reasonable theses that take known information into account and draw a conclusion based on those known facts. Theories, in essence, are educated guesses, and conspiracy theories are educated guesses about conspiracies people perceive around them. The sinister nature of conspiracy theories, then, is totally undeserved.
When new facts are brought out about controversial issues, something strange happens. Minds close and battle stations are taken. A confusion arises between unfounded theories and actual facts, discoveries, clues or evidence that may or may not support existing beliefs about those issues. We have to make a serious effort to distinguish between the expression of an unfounded theory and the disclosure of verifiable information and facts.
Today there is an ongoing battle between those in possession of newly discovered information and those who do not want to even consider the validity of that information. Real evidence and factual information are being lumped with baseless theories. This is not always the fault of the person to whom the information is presented. In many cases, the presenters offer unpopular conclusions too quickly that alienate their audience. This is often the case when new information about the events of 9/11 are revealed. When people are involved in discussions about the attacks, they are prone to dismiss verifiable evidence because they are offended or distressed by greater ramifications that arise. . This is both unproductive and dangerous. Information has to be examined and evaluated, regardless of its wider implication. That is the responsibility of the recipient. But there has to be a way to clearly present valid, tangible, verifiable and often undisputed information so that it is more readily accepted. That responsibility belongs to the presenter, who must deal with facts rather than conclusions.
Another thing to keep in mind is the possibility that a simple discovery can disprove a great deal of what is previously accepted as truth. At the same time, however, it may not completely prove the validity of an alternative theory. It only proves that an existing belief is wrong. This is the case regarding the mountains of evidence uncovered by the independent 9/11 researchers. What they have discovered easily disproves the official version of the events and the Kean Commission findings. What it does not prove conclusively is what actually took place.
There is also another factor to deal with when dealing with the truths, half truths, and lies that surround events not clearly resolved in the minds of the public. Holding on to half truths is often easier than accepting that one has been fed a truckload of lies in the first place. Suffice it to say there is a large segment of the American population that continues to dismiss every one of the verifiable findings of the independent 9/11 research community. They absolutely refuse to accept even the most convincing proof because they dare not admit to themselves that they have been lied to by officials in whom the placed their trust. Betrayal by those who lead the country they love is simply too painful to accept. Denial is too often the best defense of the deceived.
My own venture into educating the public about media deception has led me into a world of information that has been hidden from the public. Actually, it is not completely hidden, but it surely can not be found in the mainstream media. If we use Iraq as an example, even the most rudimentary research into the history of the first Gulf War will uncover a reality that is very different from the common folklore. When I bring up issues regarding the first Bush administration and Iraq, such as the hiring of a PR firm to lie to Congress about atrocities committed by the Iraqis in order to garner support for war, people immediately tag my information as my conspiracy theory. In part, they are correct. There was a conspiracy, but it was not mine. And there was no theory, there was only truth… The account is factual, it really happened and it was a conspiracy to lie to the Congress and the nation. Fortunately, this particular issue is verifiable. It is also no longer denied. Sadly, like so much people should know, these events are destined to remain in the dustbin of history, thanks to our mass media. And it might explain why I, along with many other people, are working hard to bring the truth to the people.
When researchers, history buffs, truth seekers, conspiracy nuts or whatever you want to call us, present newly discovered, yet verifiable information to the public, we are directly attacked as promoters of a conspiracy theory and lambasted with the usual assortment of insults. . This is totally unacceptable. We can no longer allow the conspiracy theory tag to be indiscriminately used whenever anyone has new discoveries to reveal. There has to be a concerted effort to clarify the goals of those with information to impart. Presenting new evidence can not be perceived as an attempt to establish a forgone conclusion. At the same time, new information must be dealt with in isolation of any other ramifications or another resistance relating to its possible reality.
9/11 remains the perfect example with which to illustrate my concerns. A massive amount of valid evidence exists to show that elements of the official story (itself a conspiracy theory because it is not verifiable), are false. It is not possible, however. to use the newly discovered evidence as the basis for a conclusion about what actually happened and who was responsible. At least not yet. There are many indications, and there is a long trail of evidence suggesting US government complicity, but that is all there is. That much is a theory, but the evidence itself is comprised of facts. That evidence can not be dismissed simply because the theories that are wrapped around them are inconclusive. The proverbial baby cannot be thrown out with the bath water.
In conclusion, let me summarize two “conspiracy theory” problems that must be dealt with:
Those who opt to disclose new discoveries must clearly separate the theoretical elements of their presentation from the information they disclose.
Those to whom information is presented must deal with their personal unwillingness to hear new facts. They must become more receptive to new evidence and avoid dismissing verifiable evidence simply because the ramifications are distressing or difficult to conceive.
We have to discourage the misuse of language that wrongly labels and categorizes people with information to share. Hostile or incorrect terminology only serves to interfere with our mutual and communal education. It is vital that we examine evidence and discoveries for what they are. We must be careful not to expand evidence beyond its empirical reality. Facts must not be confused with folklore, but must be presented within the limits of their validity. By doing this, we may convince the skeptics among us to listen with less resistance and to end the practice of dismissing evidence solely because it disproves their initial beliefs. If we deal effectively with these obstacles, we all may become better informed about the things we need to know. And perhaps one day we will come to know the reality that continues to evade us to this day.
September 3rd, 2005 at 2:21 am
first of all i fix the roof myself the money isaved by doing this i buy the stereo and my wife and my self are happy
September 3rd, 2005 at 2:22 am
damn you write to much
September 3rd, 2005 at 2:22 am
George Bush makes me sick! How can you sit there and say that what is going on in the states that have been affected by Katrina is not his fault??!! What if you lived there? How would you feel? STOP being so selfish. Did you know that he was on vacation while Katrina was hitting the United States?? Do you know that he was using the time to have a PR stint - playing a guitar with some country musicians - while people were dying from this catastrophic hurricane? Don’t you dare sit there and tell me that he is not to blame for the absolute chaos that is going on. He should have had people ready to go before the hurricane even hit. OPEN YOUR EYES - he doesn’t care about anyone but himself. He has failed as a man, a leader and a president. He needs to be IMPEACHED!! He shouldn’t have been elected in the first place.
September 3rd, 2005 at 2:24 am
have you been in the military ,i have the force we have in iraq is nothing to the total amont of force we have
September 3rd, 2005 at 2:25 am
i think g,w is becoming my favorite pres. of all
September 3rd, 2005 at 2:28 am
this blog wants nothing to do but blame bush how about lets just gitr done
September 3rd, 2005 at 2:41 am
that is TOO much tony…MUHAHAHA
September 3rd, 2005 at 2:48 am
i think we should blame me for it all because i didnt act fast enough on this blog
September 3rd, 2005 at 2:51 am
A friend in need is a friend in deed…..No is in great need so they must be our friends…..so lets help em out and donate blood and food and H2O and your money and maybe even your time. I donate blood every month and I have gave the red cross $500.00 to help in the aid of our countrymen. More than President Pig Vomit has done in the past three days! Just remember one thing:
EVAN BAYH PRESIDENT 2008
Pig vomit has ensured that with his enept ways
September 3rd, 2005 at 2:58 am
how do you know what hes done
September 3rd, 2005 at 2:58 am
Laura Bush says her husband is a poet even if, uh, Americans don’t know it.
At a gala Friday night kicking off this weekend’s third National Book Festival, Mrs. Bush celebrated the written word in an age of visual media, thanking American authors for their “tales of mystery, history and heroism.”
“A good book is like an unreachable itch; you just can’t leave it alone,” she said at the Library of Congress, repository of 126 million books, recordings, photographs, maps, manuscripts and more.
She revealed that President Bush had penned a poem for her when she got back from a five-day solo trip to Europe, where she attended a book festival in Moscow and visited France — getting two kisses on the hand from French President Jacques Chirac.
“President Bush is a great leader and a husband, but I bet you didn’t know he is also quite the poet,” she said. “Upon returning home last night from my long trip I found a lovely poem waiting there for me.”
As her husband watched quietly, she recited it.
“Roses are red/Violets are blue/Oh my, lump in the bed/How I’ve missed you.”
Bush sometimes refers to his wife as a lump in the bed.
Mrs. Bush went on:
“Roses are redder/Bluer am I/Seeing you kissed by that charming French guy.”
And then the finale:
“The dogs and the cat, they missed you too/Barney’s still mad you dropped him, he ate your shoe/The distance, my dear, has been such a barrier/Next time you want an adventure, just land on a carrier.”
Barney the dog had a tumble when Mrs. Bush was handing him to her husband on a tarmac.
September 3rd, 2005 at 2:59 am
Tony, it was a metaphor. I’m sorry if it offended you in any way. I respectfully disagree with your claim that “the force we have in Iraq is nothing to the total amount of force we have”. Please explain why:
1) N.O. was forced to request guardsmen from states as far away as New York.
2) The Pentagon’s stop-loss orders, apparently keeping people in Iraq indefinitely.
Before 9/11, FEMA determined that the most probable disasters were a terrorist attack in New York, a hurricane in New Orleans, and an earthquake in San Francisco.
To say that this was a “natural” disaster is laughable. In 1953 Holland invested in an extensive project to reduce the risk of floods to once in every 10,000 years.
Shame on our country for not learning immediately after Hurricane Camille and committing to saving one of our national treasures.
September 3rd, 2005 at 3:01 am
Go ahead and offend him Gabe I can tell from his posts he is not the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree. MUHAHAHA
September 3rd, 2005 at 3:08 am
Luckylady-
And I feel sorry for you because you are uneducated and can’t spell. As for my feelings on Bush, I have tremendous respect for the man. Bush cares deeply for the people. My mother did campaign work for him. He’s never met her, she just did it locally, yet he took the time to personally handwrite her a thank you letter, when she was just one of many of his supporters. He also takes the time to personally meet with many of the military families-all of the families of fallen soldiers. I’ve had the privilege of knowing and working with many military personnel, and I can guarantee you the majority of the military are strong supporters of Bush. They believe in what they are being asked to do. They see firsthand the good that they are doing for the Iraqi people. So many of you say that Bush supporters are brainwashed-I could say the same of you, only you’ve been parroting the lies and selective facts that the media spits out to you. I know that nothing I say is going to change any of your opinions-I honestly don’t know why I keep bothering. Bush isn’t perfect-none of us are. While I support him, I can see some of his shortcomings, such as his stance on the environment, but all in all he’s a great leader and is a thousand times better than Kerry would have been.
As for WMD-do I think they are there? Yes, I do. There has been footage and reports of Saddam transporting and hiding weapons before inspections. Saddam buried planes in the sand, which we have uncovered. Who knows what else is buried, and when you are talking about vast lands of desert, it sure isn’t easy to find. Again, our marines found a large chemical weapons supply recently that they are still going through, of a lot of really scary shit. What do you think they were planning on doing with all of that?
Karen S, when I say that whether a terrorist calls himself an Al Qaida member or not is an unimportant issue to me, I’m saying a terrorist is a terrorist, regardless of the title they go by. So no, whether a suicide bomber broadcasts himself as Al Qaida or Mary Poppins, it’s not going to make much of a difference to me.
Gabe, you are comparing apples and oranges. Again, I support the war, so yes I am glad that we have men and women serving overseas. Also again, I don’t think anyone foresaw the total destruction that Hurricane Katrina caused. It’s difficult to respond quickly to a disaster of that magnitude. I know that the Pres. is now saying that he is disappointed in the response, but I still think that we mobilized quickly. However, when order disrupts and already panicked people don’t have local leaders working to instill effective measures to restore as much calm as possible, then chaos reigns. I can’t answer your question to your satisfaction-I don’t have all the answers, or I would be sitting at a press conference right now instead of posting my thoughts here. I do think that putting someone such as Rudy Guiliani in charge of disaster relief would be a step in the right direction. He did an amazing job of getting people to work together after 9/11 and coordinating efforts, and I think could really offer a lot of help and insight into straigtening out the aftermath of Katrina.
Sarah, yes I am worried about other nations, particulary Iran’s nuclear program. I don’t know how anyone can afford the risk of not worrying about such matters. Do I think all Arabs are terrorists? No. But the extremists are getting more and more out of hand. Is America the only one targeted? No. We’ve seen that with the London bombings, the attacks on Spain, the recent explosions in Russia. The list could go on and on. The Islamic extremists have outlined a clear plan of attacking nations that go against their beliefs, and even have a timetable of when they are going to “rule” the world-I believe it was by 2020. The idea may seem preposterous, but as the stepped up attacks around the world have shown, they have gained a stronghold around the world over the years. They even have cells in place here in the U.S. Anyone hear about the attacks planned in California? Someone brought up the Nazis. No one took them all that seriously in the beginning, and look what happened. They had plans to dominate the world as well, and nearly did. We can’t afford to weaken our resolve towards eradicating terrorism.
September 3rd, 2005 at 3:11 am
Top 11 most egregious instances of looting.
11. Gas stations charging four dollars a gallon in anticipation of higher oil prices.
10. Enron, Tyco, Worldcom, Adelphia, Arthur Andersen, Global Crossing, etc.
9. Pharmaceutical interests’ authorship of the Medicare prescription drug “benefit.”
8. The invasion of Iraq.
7. Taking 365 vacation days for every four years in office.
6. The energy bill.
5. No-bid, cost-plus contracts for Halliburton.
4. Record quarterly profits for the petroleum industry while we wage two wars.
3. Five percent of the world’s population consuming 25% of the world’s finite resources.
2. The 2000 and 2004 elections.
1. Trickle-down effect: reallocating funds for New Orleans levee repair to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy
September 3rd, 2005 at 3:12 am
Julie has just proved to the world she is stupid…MUHAHAHA
September 3rd, 2005 at 3:13 am
we should just wage war on everybody that doesnt aree with us….WOW
September 3rd, 2005 at 3:14 am
I am in Gulfport, MS. I have pictures up at my xanga site.
www.xanga.com/david_loflin
September 3rd, 2005 at 3:15 am
who are the leaders in n.o i think you should start there
September 3rd, 2005 at 3:17 am
the only way to ” eradicate terrorism is to kill them before they kill you wow what a concept
September 3rd, 2005 at 3:19 am
no, luckylady, you proved your intelligence to me with your first post that I read. You’re a Harvard grad, right? You want to get personal, I’ve got no problem going there.
September 3rd, 2005 at 3:20 am
Julies proof of wepons of mass destruction……lmao
September 3rd, 2005 at 3:20 am
look at the ones boing the rescuing it is the very people you libs lothe dont you think that is ironic
September 3rd, 2005 at 3:21 am
wow a harvard grad ihad no ideal
September 3rd, 2005 at 3:21 am
ok my website didnt come up……….
http://www.museumofconceptualart.com/un_proof/
September 3rd, 2005 at 3:23 am
doing instead of boing p.s how do you give blood once a month
September 3rd, 2005 at 3:24 am
Ummmm I goto a blood bank and they stick a needle in my arm and they take a pint.
September 3rd, 2005 at 3:27 am
luckylady-WEAPONS, not wepons. Hooked on phonics, give it a try. Might work for you.
Okay, I’ll try to stop the personal attacks, but some people just beg for it.
September 3rd, 2005 at 3:28 am
every month
September 3rd, 2005 at 3:29 am
its funny whos doing the personal attacks
September 3rd, 2005 at 3:31 am
When George W. Bush appeared before the annual Radio & Television Correspondents’ Association dinner and joked about his failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, it was a challenging–and illuminating–moment for the Washington media. As Bush flashed photographs of himself looking about the Oval Office and quipped, “Those weapons of mass destruction have got to be somewhere,” the betuxed and begowned audience generally laughed. I did not–bipartisans accusing him of callousness and arrogance for making fun of the primary reason he’d cited for sending Americans to war and death, and for turning serious scandal (his use of false assertions to launch a war) into rimshot comedy. What a loser…and get hooked on GDUBYAS cock youd rather be sucking that than typing on here
September 3rd, 2005 at 3:33 am
didnt bush go to harvard
September 3rd, 2005 at 3:33 am
George Walker Bush or aka President Pig Vomit snorted cocaine … He dodged the draft….His friends knew him as an alcoholic womanizer with a bad temper….a failure at business until his wealthy friends rescued him……then recently he was elected Governor of Texas………he still couldn’t think his way out of a burning phone booth without the advice of his staff …..and yet suddenly he’s become our most celebrated presidential candidate, with the Republican nomination all but sewn up before a single ballot has been cast ….
September 3rd, 2005 at 3:34 am
You must enjoy pasting articles, ladyluck, cause you know for once your spelling won’t be wrong.
September 3rd, 2005 at 3:36 am
Please enlighten us of all your noteworthy accomplishments, Ladyluck. I’m sure the list is extensive.
September 3rd, 2005 at 3:43 am
We went through Ivan and know what it is like to not have power or water. Our town is 150 miles from the beach and we were torn up. We were never featured on the news, never had phone #’s to call for help, and waited for days for FEMA to come in. All they featured were the beach areas who were not hit as bad as we were. Luckily we had no deaths, but we had many who are poor and lost everything. I know that Katrina is 20X worse than Ivan but my point is, we didn’t behave like those in new orleans. We didn’t blame president bush for not getting help sooner. Sure we were angry, especially those who were turned away from getting help from FEMA b/c they made to much $ but couldn’t get any money b/c the banks had no power or listened to the radio as FEMA set up supply areas in towns that were not nearly as devastated as ours. We waited and helped each other. We didn’t evacuate b/c we thought we were far enough away but we had plenty of notice to do so if we wanted to.
Bush was in the gulf coast area soon after it was safe to him to come, but he never came to our area. Again, we didn’t throw a fit and loot things or rape and beat people. We were grateful to the power people for coming. We gave them a place to sleep, fed them, and most gave them water during the day when they saw them.
My point is, stop blaming other people for what has happened and is happening now. People have a choice. Sure looting for food I can not condemn but raping, stealing from others, and putting the lives of those trying to help in jeopardy, I do. President Bush did not cause the hurricane. The government did not cause the hurricane. Yes, the state and local governments of lousiania knew what would happen if this type of storm ever hit but they chose to ignore it but the people there knew this too. The people knew what was coming. I know that the people there are poor, but they could have tried to go to shelters on higher ground. They know they live in a city that is easily flooded.
Stop blaming any one person b/c that can’t be done and it does not help anything. What needs to be done now is to try and get the people of new orleans to understand the consequences of their actions. If they shoot at the help, they will leave or now they will be shot back at. Anyone condoning raping of others has lost their minds. Sure these people have been through a horrifying experience, but that does not give any of them the right to rape, beat, or try to kill someone.
To those who said we should take out the president like they did with their kings, we don’t do that here. This is the U.S.. Most of us do not behave like barbarians. We are two faced as can be. We fuss when the federal government interferes to much and then blame them when something happens that we didn’t want them to be involved with in the first place. (does that make sense?) I send my prayers to all areas that were hit and yes I am helping more than by sending prayers. Our town in now hosting hundreds of people from the hardest hit areas. We intend to take care of them until they can get back on their feet. Everyone should do the same and stop placing blame where blame cannot be placed.
September 3rd, 2005 at 3:49 am
well said.
September 3rd, 2005 at 4:12 am
To sarah
I guess i am one of those who make you sick to your stomach. You misunderstood my post. I said that blame can be placed on the people of new orleans b/c they knew this was coming and chose not to leave. People who have children should have thought about getting out and not putting their families lives in danger. I did not imply that NOW they should be the only ones responsible. Now everyone needs to do everything to take care of everyone, especially the elderly and children. I for one am sending aid and volunteering to help. I just do not understand why they didn’t at least go to a shelter that was on higher ground.
I bet you don’t live near an area that has hurricanes. I do and have been through several, one damaging our town and lives for months. If you did, you would know what I am talking about. As a parent, you have to do everything possible to protect your children. Blame can be put on the people who chose to stay. I have read several stories about families who left and went as far as they could on a tank of gas. At least they and their children are alive and now being taken care of in shelters. They are not stuck in new orleans where everything has gone to hell and back.
September 3rd, 2005 at 4:13 am
Thanks Julie. I had to get that off my chest!
September 3rd, 2005 at 4:45 am
Yeah, I know that feeling!
September 3rd, 2005 at 4:51 am
Is anyone from Georgia or North Carolina? I’m driving to both states this weekend from Ohio, and am concerned about the gas situation. Can someone give me any info?
September 3rd, 2005 at 5:36 am
Everytime I go to take a drink of water, eat anything, take a shower or turn on a light at night I realize these are all of the things that I take for granted and I feel so guilty for being able to do such.
From day one I have said send the cruise ships into to get those poor souls, where in the hell was our goverment. I walked by my TV and President Bush was in a senate meeting talking about fricken world war 2. I said, oh hell no, this can not be happening, I just lost it. What has happend to America.I feel so helpless. I just want to help so badly. The babies, the elderly the sick Oh God help those poor souls. I keep praying for the angels to go n and just lift those people out of there. I am glad now to see that some have gotten out but they did not come out alone as they all have their horror story that will live in their minds forever and ever.
September 3rd, 2005 at 5:37 am
Julie, I am still in disbelief over your stance on Bush. To say that the lives of thousands of innocent people matter not, as Bush pursues our goal of defeating terrorism. Because the face of terrorism is everywhere, that gives us this god given right to put our troops into any country we “feel” has terrorists in it. Boy we have truly stepped over the deep end. Kind of sounds like the bully on the playground to me. And if this is the case…if we pursue these terrorists at any cost…where does that leave us? With unguarded borders and angry neighbors. We have lit a fire that is burning stronger and steadier than even the good old oil boy Bush had prepared himself for. Yes we must prove we are not afraid of terrorists. We must do our best to track down terrorists using intelligence and assistance from our allies. We will not defeat terrorism by pushing ourselves into countries who we believe may (or may not) harbor them, it only fans the flames. Bush himself has admitted that the initial reason they went into Iraq was via misinformation …..but now here we are and we must finish our business…well how convenient! You never answered my questions…who made it America’s job to go in and “stabalize” the middle east? And do you really think just by invading Iraq this will happen? Yes we are a “super” power, but who the hell told Bush we were God ( oh that’s right…he has God whispering in his ear). I hear some complaints about how we should “come together” as a country instead of being so polarized during a time of war…OMG!!! Because many of us are not sheep who follow and believe everything we see and hear from the Bush admin.. AMEN! He HE has polarized this country!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dodgethebullet is exactly what you do. Spoken like a true conservative republican! Maybe when your volunteering your time you can ask all of those people why they were just too dumb to move out of harms way. I am sure they will appreciate your help, kindness, and the way you shake your head and smirk at them as they walk away! Shame on you! I am sure you would expect the same sympathy from others during your hurricane ordeals.
As I have said, the job of the President is to stand up and lead…yes LEAD, this country during times of war and devastation. He did not send the hurricane, but as leader of this country it is his JOB to at least look the part! You cannot even defend his actions from the minute that hurricane came aground until 5 days later! It is his job and we have every right to blame him for his lack of quick thinking, for a much needed voice of competance and reason, and for his lack of having a hand in quickly assisting in coordinating relief for those people. If that is not his job during this time..what exactly is it? Obviously playing guitar and listening for the next whisper of God in his ear.
Also another question you failed to answer as posed by Gabe: ” Julie, you still aren’t answering my question. Was the deployment of the National Guard overseas worth the price that the people of New Orleans are paying? Yes or no? Give us a straight answer.”
September 3rd, 2005 at 5:50 am
No, GWB did not go to Harvard. He went to Yale.
September 3rd, 2005 at 5:55 am
By the way, I have no idea why my name is highlighted in blue taking you to a website of porn links. I think something is amuck on this here computer. Sorry about that. It’s quite embarrassing!
September 3rd, 2005 at 5:58 am
Julie,
Putting aside our political differences, you might want to check out
http://www.erideshare.com
I live about twenty miles from my joblet (I’m a TA at a local university) and finally got fed up with the gas prices. I’ve been putting flyers on cars with my e-mail in case anyone’s interested in carpooling. So far no luck.
I figure it’s patriotic to lay off driving right now. Right now, gas should be diverted towards people who need it most, like emergency, police, and military vehicles. It’s no different from when an ambulance comes down the road with its sirens: you pull to the side, because getting a coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts isn’t nearly as important as what the ambulance drivers are doing.
Plus it saves money.
September 3rd, 2005 at 6:01 am
The local government in LA spent 600 million to fix a football statdium but could not find 60 million to fix a levee? Where is their priorities. You can’t rely on big brother.
September 3rd, 2005 at 6:26 am
Agreed Gabe. We cancelled a long weekend camping trip due to gas prices and possible shortages. We are camping in the back yard…the kids are just as excited as if we were leaving town!
September 3rd, 2005 at 6:56 am
Gabe, thanks for the info, and thanks for not being one of those people that hoards gas!
Karen-who the hell said that the lives of thousands of innocent people didn’t matter, ’cause I surely didn’t. And the bully on the playground quote is tired-try something else. I never said we should go to war with all the countries that have terrorists-I said that we need to continue working to rid the countries of their terrorists. Jordan and Saudi Arabia are close allies. Relations with Iran have been slowly improving, even though now the U.S. and EU are increasingly growing more concerned with their nuclear program. When the Pres. said major combat operations were over in Iraq, I think what he was saying was that the former regime had been overthrown. I don’t consider the U.S. at war against Iraq-we are at war for Iraq. We are fighting the Islamic militants, not the whole country. We are there to help. The Iraqi people have begged us not to desert them after overthrowing their former government, and we promised that we wouldn’t and are keeping that promise until they are in a position to take care of their own affairs. I think that is commendable. Our Pres. keeps his word.
As for the repeated question as to whether I feel the National Guard are justified in being in Iraq, I’ll again attempt to give an answer. Yes, I believe they should be in Iraq. Does that mean I feel that the Hurricane victims should be dying while our troops are overseas? Of course not. I still feel that we have more than enough troops stateside to handle the situation-but no one could have known the full extent of the disaster Hurricane Katrina would cause. Everyone, with the exception of the greedy looters, rapists, and attackers, is trying to make the best of a terrible tragedy.
September 3rd, 2005 at 6:58 am
Boyd, I’m certainly not defending that either. I think that a lot of cities spend ludicrous amounts of money on stadia (isn’t that a fun plural?) when they should be spending it on critical infrastructure. I got used to this sort of nonsense when I lived in St. Louis, and I witnessed it again in New York City, when the rest of New York State was asked to subsidize a huge stadium while our roads deteriorate upstate.
As for “reliance on big brother”, I guess I see it differently. It’s not about reliance. It’s about using government as a tool to build an orderly society that’s innoculated against the kind of bedlam we’re seeing now. Pay close attention, folks, I think the dog-eat-dog, lawless, looting and violence that we’re seeing this week is where this country is headed if we refuse to use government for its intended purpose.
I think there’s a tendency by people on both sides of the political spectrum to anthropomorphize government. Government is what we make of it. Instead of throwing up our hands and lamenting how screwed up our government’s priorities are, we need to involve ourselves at every level–state, local, national.
And for those who would blame the victims, consider the fact that an event like this effects all of us. Right now, we are facing the largest internal refugee crisis since the Dust Bowl. The people in the Astrodome in Houston may very well stay in Texas for the rest of their lives.
September 3rd, 2005 at 7:00 am
As for my trip, I’ve had this vacation planned for several months and have already invested over a thousand dollars into it. I’m not cancelling. Call me selfish-I feel bad about it, but I’ve been doing my part the last few days by not driving and not filling up.
September 3rd, 2005 at 7:42 am
Julie, if I were in your shoes I wouldn’t cancel my trip either. If you’ve been planning it for several months, it takes priority. I mean, you can’t be expected to walk thousands of miles to see good friends.
I’ve had surprisingly good results with erideshare. Amazingly, most of the people who use the board are not creeps, although I understand how females are a little more reluctant to ride with strangers.
It also makes the drive a little easier and quicker, since you can take turns driving.
I also highly recommend books on tape.
Especially Harry Potter. Which reminds me of another great debate we could be having right now…Is Severus Snape good or evil?
September 3rd, 2005 at 8:03 am
Julie,
If the USA was really in Iraq to help, than I’m sorry to say it failed miserably. The country today is at the brink of a civil war, the economy is all but collapsed, most of the infrastructure has been destroyed, and more people keep dying everyday. The situation is heartbreaking for anyone that is at all familiar with Iraq or cares about it.
I doubt that the administration’s intentions were as noble as you seem to believe. Yes terrorism is a major world problem today, but this murderous war did not and could not bring about a solution. What do you think people feel that have lost siblings, children and parents? Certainly not overwhelming love for the USA.
I do agree that actions need to be taken against terrorism, but let me once again reiterate that Iraq before the war was not a terrorist country. Saddam did not have WMDs and I find it offensive that George W Bush can turn his failure into a joke after hundreds of thousands lost their lives. I am still not sure if he is merely incompetent or if he lied intentionally, not that that makes much of a difference to Iraqis today.
I’m sorry, I realize this is not the place or time to bring up Iraq, and my heart goes out to the people in New Orleans that suffer today, but I find it despicable that someone like Bush can get away with so much and not be held accountable.
September 3rd, 2005 at 9:06 am
Julie
We would be best friends if we were neighbors! Thank you for saying everything I have wanted to say for the last 3 days after finding this site! I am a very PROUD military wife, a very PROUD Republican, a very PROUD supporter of President Bush. Thank you for your support of our military. My husband was at the beginning of Operation Freedoms (Afaghanstan (sp) & Iraq. I kissed him good-bye along with our small son not knowing if he would return alive or not. We have a very proud military and they need our support. I thank you for that.
Now about NOLA, the local officials failed their people and it just boggles my mind that people think the military and the Federal Govt. can wiggle their noses and help appears immedialty. It takes planning and making sure the people going are going to be safe and taken care of. THEY need food and supplies so they can function day in and day out for as long as it takes because believe me, the military there will proudly stay until the job is done. Praise God! Help is there!
Now about the media….they just exploit the”bad” they want the world to glued to the TV. They “prey” on our emotions & our compassion. WE are only human. The media does the same with Iraq.
So again thank you for your support and your kind words.
September 3rd, 2005 at 9:15 am
We are dealing with the force of mother nature, not President Bush. He is human and knew nothing about this force. We were not prepared because it WAS the WORST. I hope that all Americans can understand this.
September 3rd, 2005 at 9:46 am
Anyone who thinks the government isn’t doing enough should get in their car and drive to New Orleans and do something about it.
September 3rd, 2005 at 9:51 am
Julie, and I know your last name must be Rove as you spout the same tripe that he feeds Dubya who has never had a personal thought or idea since the cocaine rotted out his nasal passages and he was told by Laura to get sober or get out. Sure people are saved and recover from addiction but not on the eve of the Republican party deciding to run you for leader of this country.. You are a female citizen of this country and thus CAN choose to take a vacation into other states at will. Now you can still Choose to do what you wish about your own body in the event you are raped like the women left for five days in unsafe and unlighted places in New Orleans LA. Did they make a “bad” decision to remain in NO or were they paid the usual rate in the current economy for a high school graduate or drop out and have no choice. I cant even discuss your expertise on the “war” against terrorists in Iraq. I have only the information I saw on TV and in the news that the Bush family has very long connections to the royal family of Saudi Arabia and in fact removed the family members of Osama Bin Laden from these shores immediately following the 9/11 attack of our country by Saudi Arabian citizens. If we truly were appalled at the behaviour of the sovereign leader of a country (Iraq) why weren’t we thus appalled at the same behaviour in Haiti, El Salvador, Nicaraugua, Iran, Cuba, Libya, most of the African countries and other nations such as Burma who practice genocide. Their leaders didnt attempt to kill W’s dad did they? and they didn’t have half the oil. If you cant think for yourself after researching the real facts who do you think you are to criticize those who also spout propaganda here, like you are. Bless your heart do you even realize you are a puppet like Dubya? I will not pray for you or any one who is so judgmental of other citizens expressing their first amendment rights regardless of their education or abilities. And if I did pray I would do it like the bible tells you to do, in private and not like the publicans who went to the front of the church in order to be seen by everyone. You are an arrogant and petty and mean person who like your beloved GW uses the words and illusions of the same people who went to Iraq to “convert” the people we had conquered (saved) to Christianity. Now we will have a civil war in a country that will ultimately be a religious based “democracy” that espouses a faith that says women are to cover their hair and are subservient to their husbands and the family of their husband and must put all their own personal freedom behind them except in the home. New Orleans was the anti-Iraq of this world. It was filled with transvestites, homosexuals, artists, debutantes and socialites and just plain human beings. The debs and socialites were not in the Superdome but that is another story and will be addressed. The most liberal and free people in this country made this city the charming and beloved place it was. It was the Big Easy and full of ’sin’. There was literally not another place in the world like it. It was dragged down to the Superdome and left to rot in the sweltering sun and we were all witnesses to it live. If you think it is ok to sit in feces and without privacy and human dignity for more than 24 hours in this country then you belong in the same jail that has kept prisoners sitting in water there in NO for 3 days. We are all pretty much maxed out by the horror on TV, or we should be. I too had planned for months my vacation, to Lafayette, LA for the Zydeco Music Festival Sept 14 to 18 and then 3 days in Biloxi at the Beau Rivage and then to the Cherokee Indian gathering in North Carolina and on to PA where my brother is a photographic archivist and back to North Carolina for the Indian Fair Oct. 4-8. Im not a Cajun or a gambler or an Indian or a photographer. I am a citizen of this country, an American, and do not have to explain why I do the things I do or enjoy the people and places such as these. I thought until the atrocity of New Orleans that I was safe in my own country and in fact the world because of my citizenship. The world has watched the non-relief and non-life-saving that went on in NO. There is no way it didnt judge us on this. I feel scared and ashamed and now know that we are not safe in this country, not because of terrorists who cant be stopped anymore than suicide can be prevented but because of the arrogance, lies, inefficiency and blatant disregard for human dignity and life shown by this government. Katrina will live infamously as the most destructive storm or event to ever hit this country. It will surpass the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 and the other horrific natural events this country has seen. We have all been changed by this event for years to come. The death count of NO will be unimaginable, and no one is even looking at the beautiful Atchafalaya basin or bayou country south yet. Would this have happened in Denver or Philadelphia? or any other predominantly white or middle class city? No it wouldnt and shame on you for sitting on your hands if you didnt write to your congressman or senator like me and my disabled veteran husband did.
September 3rd, 2005 at 9:56 am
Imagine: You are are poor or in a wheel chair or elderly - or a mom with two babies and no car?
Imagine: Your Commander-in-Chief does not care.
September 3rd, 2005 at 5:31 pm
WOW ROE! This does not happen very often…but I am speachless. You hit the nail on the head! EXCELLENT!
And Pamela…believe it or not I too have a husband who was in the military and a brother in law who served in Iraq…I will always support our military, they are following commands and unfortunately at this time they come from a mindless, bumbling fool! And IT IS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENTS RESPONSIBILITY TO TAKE CARE OF DISASTERS SUCH AS THIS……..WHAT DO YOU THINK FEMA IS FOR OR HOME LAND SECURITY? I am really curious as to what Bush supporters feel his responsibility was during this time of national tragedy? Commander in Chief…but not his problem if there is no coordination, federal, state or otherwise. We would expect better from ANY other president in ANY political party, but for some reason our soft headed GW is not expected to take on the full roll of a REAL president.
Julie…since I really feel Roe hit the nail on the head…someday the rift in this country will swallow all of you Bush supporters up. You will realize the lies this administration sold you. You are sheep. Do you really think he had the best of intentions going in there? Just because a man has a Yale education…does not make him an honest, just , or worthy man. Coke head alcoholic to bible beater. God Bless him . I am a therapist and I receive students to perform their clinicals under my supervision. Some of these students are considered by their professors to be the best and brightest. Well guess what…some of the best and brightest have no CLUE what to do in the clinic. I have had to fail some of these students and even asked them to leave the clinical. President Bush is a failed business man and now a failing President. And relations with Iran slowly improving? Where do you get your information…oh thats right from GW. Why even discuss it with the sheep! By the way here is your quote I was refering to “According to reports, Saddam had ties with those people. Whether you or I will ever be able to say with absolute certainty that Saddam was linked with Al Qaida is doubtful, but to me an unimportant issue. Terrorists existed and do exist in Iraq, as they do all over the world. As they did prior to 9/11 and prior to our entering the war. As they will continue to do so if we don’t continue our efforts to stamp them out. ” Are you even reading what you wrote? Do you really think if we go around forcing our way into every country that appears to have terrorist ties we will eventually make everyone fear and/or like us? It only spawns more hate. You cannot posssibly look at our position in the global community and our relations with other countries and say that we are more safe.
I guess I would rather be a skeptic than a foolish follower of Bush (sheep). We are asking our government to be held accountable….but I am pretty sure that our President, a public servant mind you, only holds himself accountable to a God he feels put him in office and whispers sweet nothings in his ear.
September 3rd, 2005 at 6:45 pm
In response to you question regarding whether or not the media has influenced my opinion of the government, my answer is a resounding NO. President Bush and the Republican Party have spent all our reserve $$ and totally reversed our balanced budget by sending our troops to rescue a country that does not want to be rescued. (It is all about the oil - I don’t know about you but I would rather have had the price of ketchup go up than gasoline!) In doing so our country is now vulnerable to attack, whether by man or nature. I am amazed that in a few years the President and the Republican Party have turned our country from a superpower into what resembles a third world country in need of aid from other countries.
The levees of New Orleans buckled on Tuesday - by Tuesday night we should have had the swarm of rescue and supply helicopters over the city like the ones we saw Friday accompanying (conveniently - can you saw photo op) President Bush. The President and the Republican Party are arrogantly stupid to assume that their disregard and abuse of the poor in America has gone unnoticed. I hope this is an eye opener for the American citizens that elected President Bush and the Republican Party and that they will do something about it at the next election. Then again, the American citizens that elected the President and Republican Party don’t care about the poor so I doubt this tragedy will open their eyes. The President and Republican Government should be ashamed of their lazy response to the outcry of the victims of Hurricane Katrina. This will be a festering open wound on the soul of our country for a long time to come because instead of being victims of foreign terrorist, American citizens are victims of an apathetic government.
September 3rd, 2005 at 7:42 pm
Like many of you, I am deeply disturbed and depressed by the images I have seen in LA, MS, & AL. I also vacillate between feelings of helplessness, frustration, and fury at our government’s response. There should be little doubt at this point that we are witnessing true failures of (wo) man to overcome unprecedented obstacles. But, I have two minor points to make.
1) It appears that this “conversation,” like so many involving serious social & moral issues, has devolved into a string of political polemics, rhetorical monologues driven by emotion (primarily fear) rather than moral and scientific reason. Can we, as Americans, ever return to an era of civil discourse? Have we all become minions of a Fox News mentality, incessantly spewing hyperbole while direct, plain PBS-speak is far more effective and economical? Have we actually lost our ability to listen intently to and learn from one another?
2) Beware of binary thinking. Most important concepts and issues have multiple sides and are misunderstood or misrepresented when displayed on a linear, two-dimensional plane. I encourage everyone to READ as much as possible from a diverse array of literature (e.g. newspapers; historical texts) and to work toward digesting the multifaceted nature of this tragedy before they speak.
September 3rd, 2005 at 8:55 pm
Eileen and Kareen, see from France and Germany (I’m franco-German, living in France at Marseille) but also many countries, I agree with you.
For us your problem with terrorism is deeply linked with a perverted relationship with your oil addiction, especially with Saoudi arabia. The pretexte use by Bush administration for war in Irak: democracy and terrotism make smile 90% of people leaving on Earth ! Bush and Republicans (includind oil lobbyes of course) just want a stable oil source with low price. In fact USA were NOT COURAGEOUS ENOUGH in 2001 to declare the war to the real source of your problems: Saoudia arabia dictature (because relashionship with Bush family ???)
But reality is today a bit different: terrorists are stronger, Irak’s campaign is a genocide for american people and iraki’s people, USA can not anymore face internal disasters . Moreover it’s a genocide for worlwide relashionship.
The bad news is that USA are completly loosing the real war for the survival of the Earth, a more and more urgent war where your superpower could help a lot: Climate Change.
Curiously there is a strong link between climate change and oil addiction; So if you would fight Global warming, you would also fight terrorists with much more efficiency than the actual way, (you would also create much more jobs than petrol industry).
Question: am I wrong if I understand that your country do nothing in that way because Bush and his team earn too much money with oil business ?
Pervert association: TERRORISM—OIL—CLIMATE CHANGE
September 3rd, 2005 at 10:00 pm
Agreed Delphinuis. We are a nation that consumes and consumes. We have an oil industry that controls political avenues and hinders production and development of new ways to power vehicles, heat our homes and provide electricity. We do need to find a way to reign in our use of fossil fuel and make our country less dependant on these nations who control most of the worlds oil. I am sorry to say you are right. Please know that all Americans are not money hungry oil feeders. There are those of us who do care and do everything we can to protect our environment, lobby our government, blog, etc. Know we do exist.
Josh…I don’t have cable, never watched Fox news. Watch PBS and listen to NPR daily. Wasn’t it not to long ago Republicans were complaining that NPR was too liberal and did not present both side of the story. You can never win!
September 3rd, 2005 at 10:26 pm
Karen thank you and be shure I know such citizens like you exist in US. And know that we have also in France consumer addictive…
In USA you have several instructive website or organism with pertinent informations for citizens wo want to fighting oil habits and global warming: EV World, Home Power Magazine, SierraClub, John’s Stuff Prius, Greenpeace, WWF, Rocky Mountains Institute, RealClimate BLOGUE, The Heat Is Online etc…
September 3rd, 2005 at 11:58 pm
I know we are receiving aid from other countries and thank you very much! We can’t blame everything on our (usa) government. We need to take responsibility and move forward. This tragedy came from Weather, we are responsible for the reactions and result of the hurricane. All of us in America, not the president, not congress, everyone. If we had citizens willing to take responsibility, perhaps we can avoid a similar result in the future.
September 4th, 2005 at 2:42 am
The unexplained death of Salem, Osama bin Laden’s oldest brother, in 1988, brought to an abrupt end a long and intriguing relationship between President Bush and the head of the bin Laden family fortune.
By Roger Miller
The world now associates the bin Laden name with Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect be hind the terror atrocities of Sept. 11. As President George W. Bush leads an intense international manhunt for Osama, few Americans realize that Osama’s eldest brother, Salem, was one of Bush’s first business partners.
A photograph from 1971 has surfaced and been printed in English papers showing Osama, age 14, and his brother Salem, age 19, enjoying a summer holiday at the Astoria Hotel in Falun, Sweden. Christina Akerblad, the hotel owner, told the Daily Mail, “They were beautiful boys, so elegantly dressed. Everybody loved them.”
Osama embraced Islamic fundamentalism and is now the world’s most wanted man. “Salem went on to become a business partner of the man who is leading the hunt for his brother,” the Daily Mail’s Peter Allen said. “In the 1970s, he and George W. Bush were founders of the Arbusto Energy oil company in Mr. Bush’s home state of Texas.”
President Bush and the bin Laden family have been connected through dubious business deals since 1977, when Salem, the head of the bin Laden family business, one of the biggest construction companies in the world, invested in Bush’s start-up oil company, Arbusto Energy, Inc.
James R. Bath, a friend and neighbor, was used to funnel money from Osama bin Laden’s brother, Salem bin Laden, to set up George W. Bush in the oil business, according to The Wall Street Journal and other reputable sources.
Through a tangled web of Saudi multi-millionaires, Texas oilmen, and the infamous Bank of Credit and Commerce International, Bush was financially linked with the bin Laden family until Salem met an untimely end in a freak flying accident near San Antonio in 1988.
The infamous BCCI was shut down in 1991 with some $10 billion in losses.
In June 1977, George W. Bush formed his own oil drilling company, Arbusto Energy, in Midland, Tex.
“Arbusto” actually means “shrub” in Spanish, but the Bush family interpreted it as “bush”.
Salem bin Laden, a close friend of the Saudi King Fahd had “invested heavily in Bush’s first business venture,” according to The Daily Mail (U.K.).
Arbusto later became Bush Exploration, when Bush’s father became vice president. As the company neared financial collapse in September 1984, it was merged with Spectrum 7 Energy Corp. in an effort to stay afloat.
The 50 investors who propped up the Bush company with $4.7 million were “mainly friends of my uncle” who “did pretty good” in Bush’s words, although they lost most of the money they invested in the company. Jon Bush, George’s uncle, raised money for Arbusto from political supporters of the Reagan-Bush administration.
“These were all the Bushs’ pals,” family friend Russell Reynolds told the Dallas Morning News in 1998. “This is the A-Team.”
The “A-Team” limited partners contributed $4.67 million to various Bush funds through 1984 but got only $1.55 million back in profit distributions, and $3.9 million in tax write-offs.
William DeWitt and Mercer Reynolds, two staunch Reagan-Bush supporters, owned Spectrum 7.
Despite his poor track record, the owners made Bush president of the company and gave him 13.6 percent of the parent company’s stock.
surprise deal
As the hard times continued, Spectrum merged with Harken Energy in 1986. In 1990, Harken received a contract from the government of Bahrain to drill for offshore oil although Harken Energy had never drilled a well overseas or anywhere in water.
“Knowledgeable oil company sources believe that the Bahrain oil concession was indeed an oblique favor to the president of the United States but say that Saudi Arabia (home of bin Laden) was behind the decision,” according to The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride Into the Secret Heart of the BCCI, by Jonathan Beaty and S.C. Gwynne.
It raised oil-industry eyebrows when the Persian Gulf state announced it had chosen tiny Harken to explore an offshore site for gas and oil. Bahrain officials said they had no idea President Bush’s son was associated with Harken, a claim oil-industry sources ridicule.
The Bahrain deal was brokered in part by Arkansas investment banker David Edwards, one of Bill Clinton’s closest friends. The Bahrain oil project resulted in two dry holes and Harken energy abandoned the project.
Two months before Iraq invaded Kuwait, on June 20, 1990, the younger Bush sold two-thirds of his Harken stock, 212,140 shares at $4 a share-for a total of $848,560.
“That was $318,430 more than it was worth,” Dr. Arthur F. Ide, author of George W. Bush: Portrait of a Compassionate Conservative, said. “George W. broke the law to do this since the transaction was an insider stock sale.”
Eight days later, Harken finished the second quarter with losses of $23 million and the stock went “into a nosedive” losing 75 percent of its value, finishing the year at a little over $1 a share.
“Like his father who made his fortune in the oil business with the money of others, George W. founded Arbusto with the financial backing of investors, including James R. Bath,” said the late James Howard Hatfield, author of a “controversial biography,” Fortunate Son: George W. Bush and the Mak ing of an American President.
Hatfield, 43, was found dead of an apparent prescription drug overdose in a hotel room in Springdale, Ark. on July 18, 2001. Police declined to investigate.
Bath became friends with George W. during their days together in the Texas Air National Guard. Bath “confided that he was an original investor in George Bush Jr.’s oil exploration company,” according to The Outlaw Bank.
Bath found investors for Arbusto and “made his fortune” by investing the money of two BCCI-connected Saudi sheiks, Khalid bin Mahfouz and Salem bin Laden. Mahfouz was one of the richest men in the world and a controlling shareholder in BCCI.
Bill White, a former real estate business partner of Bath, said: “He had put up $50,000 to help George, Jr., get started in oil business” at a time when “Bath had no substantial money of his own,” according to The Outlaw Bank.
Bath received a 5 percent interest in two Arbusto-related limited partnerships controlled by Bush, although Bush told The Houston Post in 1990 that he had “never done any business” with Bath. However, Bush said Bath was “a lot of fun.”
Bath told White that he was in the CIA and that “he had been recruited by George Bush himself in 1976 when Bush was director of the agency . . . he said Bush wanted him involved with the Arabs, and to get into the aviation business.”
White contends that the Saudis were using Bath and their huge financial resources to influence U.S. policy during the Reagan and Bush administrations, according to the Houston Chronicle of June 4, 1992. Such representation by Bath would require that he be registered as a foreign agent with the Department of Justice, which he was not.
Shortly after Bush’s father was appointed director of the CIA, Salem bin Laden appointed Bath as his business representative in Texas. According to The Houston Chronicle, Salem bin Laden, heir to one of the largest building companies in the Middle East, signed a trust agreement appointing Bath as his Houston representative in 1976.
In 1978 Bath purchased Houston Gulf Airport on behalf of Salem bin Laden. When bin Laden died in 1988, his interest in the airfield passed to bin Mahfouz.
There was also a political aspect to Salem bin Laden’s financial activities, which played a role in U.S. operations in the Middle East and Central America during the 1980s,
according to Public Broadcasting’s Frontline report.
As head of Binladen Brothers Construction (now the Binladen Group), a company that later helped build U.S. airfields during Operation Desert Storm, bin Laden was close to King Fahd of Saudi Arabia and “a good friend of the U.S. government,” a San Antonio attorney, Wayne Fagan, who represented Salem bin Laden from 1982 to 1988, told the San Antonio Express-News.
When the family patriarch, Sheik Mohammed bin Laden, died in 1968, he left an industrial and financial empire and a progeny of 54 sons and daughters, the fruit of a number of wives. In 1972, Salem bin Laden, the oldest son, took over the estate as his father’s successor, with the assistance of several brothers.
With over 40,000 employees, the Bin Laden Group is represented in the major cities of Saudi Arabia and the Arab capitals of Beirut, Cairo, Amman, and Dubai. The company builds highways, housing units, factories, hangars, and military bases, some of which are part of the U.S.-Saudi “Peace Shield” agreement.
The story of the Bush involvement with bin Laden and the BCCI scandal involves “trails that branched, crossed one another, or came to unexpected dead ends,” according to The Outlaw Bank.
FREAK ACCIDENT
Salem bin Laden came to an “unexpected dead end” in a Texas pasture, 11 years after investing in Arbusto, when the ultralight aircraft he was flying crashed into power lines near San Antonio on Memorial Day, 1988.
On the morning of May 29, 1988, almost immediately after takeoff, Salem bin Laden’s aircraft struck and became entangled in power lines 150 feet high before plunging to the ground.
“He was a very experienced pilot. He was a good pilot. We just can’t understand why he decided to go right instead of left,” recalled airstrip owner and former Marine Earl May field, who cradled bin Laden, bleeding from the ears.
That day, bin Laden took off in a southeasterly direction into the wind. He surprised onlookers by turning west to ward power lines less than a quarter-mile away.
“Nobody could figure out why he tried to fly over the power lines,” said Gerry Auerbach, 77, of New Braunfels, a retired pilot.
Bin Laden had more than 15,000 hours of flight experience.
The police report concluded “freak accident.” H
September 4th, 2005 at 4:38 am
Lamento mucho lo que ha pasado en esas Ciudades de los Estados Unidos, nosotros los Venezolanos nos solidarizamos con los afectados, aqui en Venezuela paso algo parecido y es muy doloroso, un saludo fraternal tambien a los hispanos en las ciudades afectadas, y mucho animo que lo material se recupera.
Desde Bejuma Edo. Carabobo - Venezuela
September 4th, 2005 at 12:46 pm
How can we place all of this blame on people WE ELECTED in the first place? Wake up people we live in a democracy. Stop blaming politicians for the hurricane. We make up our communities, our cities, towns, us….. We decide if we will kill someone in the superdome or not, we decide if we will pillage and steal from a store, not the politicians.
September 4th, 2005 at 5:07 pm
Connecting the Dots
In the wake of a catastrophic disaster like Katrina, we have a right to ask “why”. Some would say it was an unanticipated act of God, and we should not blame anyone. Yet, the facts suggest otherwise.
Early in the present Bush Administration, FEMA noted that the greatest catastrophies we could face included a terrorist attack in New York City, and a category 4 or 5 hurricane in New Orleans. We have known for some time, that the levies around New Orleans were only strong enough to withstand a category 3 hurricane.
Yet, this Administration cut funding for fortifying the levies around New Orleans. We can put aside, for a moment, that this Administration ignored warnings of a terrorist attack within the US before 9-11, and then eventually diverted our resources to a war in Iraq. It is the war in Iraq that diverted members of the National Guard from homeland security, and possibly contributed to cutting funding on domestic spending, like fortifying the levies around New Orleans.
In 2004, FEMA conducted a mock disaster drill involving a category 4 - 5 hurricane in New Orleans, that predicted all that has happened. Yet, it still took 5 days to get desperately needed life saving resources to the most vulnerable. The protective wetlands around New Orleans continued to erode, yet little was done to protect them. The cost of this catastrophic event will dwarf what it would have cost to prepare an adequate defense for it.
Most developed nations have acknowledged global warming and man’s contribution to it. One aspect of global warming is more intense storms. Yet, the oil industry lobbies against its existence, and this Administration acquiesces with them. This is not unlike the executives of the tobacco industry testifying in the 90’s that smoking was just a habit, when they full well knew the addictive nature of nicotine to a point where they increased its content in their products.
With the passing of Justice Rehnquist, we are reminded of historic trends toward more conservative policies. One aspect of conservative thinking is to define government as the problem, and a belief that the private sector can fix all our woes, if we just get government out of the way. Less government may be helpful to profiteering multi-national corporations, who don’t want to be held accountable for their decisions, but working class Americans, and our most needy citizens, are not so well served.
The conservative mind set that vilifies liberalism, does not mention that those so called liberal programs are usually programs designed to help working class Americans as well as the impoverished. Even Nixon proposed a policy for universal health care. Today, the concept is seldom put on the table for discussion, even though it works in most other developed nations.
The decline of labor union influence in politics has led to lower paying non-union jobs in big businesses like Wal-Mart, who pay so little that the encourage their employees to apply for government benefits, like food stamps. This amounts to back door corporate welfare.
So, the politics of less government has been around for sometime. The Bush II Administration merely represents a perfect storm of government collusion with the multi-national corporate interests. His selection was bought and paid for by such interests, and you can trace most decisions of this Administration to doing their bidding, be it no bid contracts, relaxation of environmental standards, domestic spending cuts, the now unfunded mandate of “no child left behind” legislation, the refusal to use bargaining power with pharmaceutical companies for the new medicare prescription plan (including a ban on cheaper drugs from Canada), anti-labor initiatives regarding eligibility for overtime, exemption of some industries from liability law suits, and the list could go on.
Even our defense policies are tainted by what President Eisenhower tried to warn us about, a military industrial complex, just one form of government - corporate collusion. The Bush II Administration’s backing away from the ABM treaty, allowed us to pursue a missile defense system with questionable reliability, yet some defense contractor will profit, regardless. The war in Iraq does not just give us access to Iraqi oil, it also always for making the Iraqi economy user friendly to the multi-national corporate interests.
Our government was originally designed to be “of, by and for the people”, not for multi-national corporate interests. Yet, it is now impossible to run for public office unless you are wealthy, or backed by the wealthiest concerns. If the standard is now to need $200 million to run for President, how likely is it, that we will have candidates who will not acquiesce to multi-national interests. The free trade policies supported by both major parties are at the behest of multi-national corporate interests, so they can exploit cheap labor in countries with no worker safety or environmental standards.
Just like we need a separation of church and state, we also need a separation of government and multi-national corporate interests. This can be accomplished through true campaign finance reform, and lobby reform that levels the playing field among all lobbyists. In this way, we may have a government that is truly responsive to the needs of the people, and thus prevent tragedies caused by a lack of preparation for a catastrophic event, like a hurricane.
September 4th, 2005 at 7:25 pm
Primary responsibility in a disaster falls immediately to local and state governements, not to the Federal Government. As an incompetent Mayor and Governor stand now decrying the failure of the Federal Governement, everyone should go back to the archives of this event and see how well these local leaders performed in being prepared for this outcome (not well), in warning the populace of the potential consequences of this event (not at all), mobilizing rescue forces prior to landfall (didn’t happen) and stepping forward, or walking across the street to put a face to after event leadership and driving the recovery through personal intervention and committment (say what?). The people of Louisiana and Mississipi have elected corrupt and inept leaders who have failed them for decade upon decade. This event didn’t occur this year, it’s been occurring for the past 20 years as infrastructure was neglected, planning was relegated to a shelf, patronage and nepotism replaced competent hiring and stage was set for a local disaster. Quit blaming the federal government and bush and start looking in your own backyard for solutions to local problems. Enough money has been wasted in the past 40 years in New Orleans for Emergency Management to provide every displaced person with a new home. Too bad it wasn’t actually spent for the good of the people.
September 5th, 2005 at 12:25 am
KJM…”we are all responsible”…I did NOT vote for Bush….I did not ask for his policy making…..I did not ask for his big business mindset…I did not ask for this war. BUT I WILL HOLD HIM ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE DECISIONS, OR LACK THERE OF, THAT HE HAS MADE.
Would someone please explain what exactly Bush’s job was at this time of national tragedy? It was okay for him to play golf, attend a fund raiser, or whatever he was doing…….while FEMA, state and local governments and The Dept of Homeland Security could not “coordinate their efforts”. And now he finds the response unacceptable?! Because if it was MY job, I would have been on the phone, I would have been in my office, I would have had all my people working furiously, I would have talked with everyone possible in a short amount of time, to move supplies and relief in as close to 24 hours as possible. I would not be out enjoying myself. I would not have slept until I knew the people I had pledged to serve were taken care of. Even if it did take time…he could have at least made us THINK he was doing everything he could. And we HAVE moved troops across the globe in less time, into war torn and battered countries. STOP MAKING EXCUSES FOR A SORRY EXCUSE FOR A PRESIDENT. When I hear him try to address reporters I am embarrassed for him. He has a hard enough time putting together a sentence without enough umms and uhhhs to strangle any public speaker. I hope someday we Americans, can find a way out of the mess that he has made.
By the way, it IS a fact that the federal funds were there to fix the levees, until it was cut from the budget to appropiate the funds where he felt necessary…where could that have been? The federal governments job does including funding various state projects and more than a fair share of pork barrell spending. Haven’t your states sought federal funding for a project that would bust a states budget, raise taxes and/or pass the buck to the middle class american again? Right or wrong, agree or disagree if this is their role, it is what they do and it is done all the time!
Yes, There are many, MANY People to blame for the way this whole awful event was handled, but ultimately we look to our President, that is why he has that title! We deserve better America! Ultimately it was his job to oversee how this matter was carried out and handled, HE GETS AN F- at best!!!!!
September 5th, 2005 at 12:53 am
Thought people might find this informative..found at deanesmay.com
An amazing blog, run by a manager at DirectNIC.com who is blogging live from a downtown NOLA location, has the following report:
Three days ago, police and national guard troops told citizens to head toward the Crescent City Connection Bridge to await transportation out of the area. The citizens trekked over to the Convention Center and waited for the buses which they were told would take them to Houston or Alabama or somewhere else, out of this area.
It’s been 3 days, and the buses have yet to appear.
Although obviously he has no exact count, he estimates more than 10,000 people are packed into and around and outside the convention center still waiting for the buses. They had no food, no water, and no medicine for the last three days, until today, when the National Guard drove over the bridge above them, and tossed out supplies over the side crashing down to the ground below. Much of the supplies were destroyed from the drop. Many people tried to catch the supplies to protect them before they hit the ground. Some offered to walk all the way around up the bridge and bring the supplies down, but any attempt to approach the police or national guard resulted in weapons being aimed at them.
There are many infants and elderly people among them, as well as many people who were injured jumping out of windows to escape flood water and the like — all of them in dire straights.
Any attempt to flag down police results in being told to get away at gunpoint. Hour after hour they watch buses pass by filled with people from other areas. Tensions are very high, and there has been at least one murder and several fights. 8 or 9 dead people have been stored in a freezer in the area, and 2 of these dead people are kids.
The people are so desperate that they’re doing anything they can think of to impress the authorities enough to bring some buses. These things include standing in single file lines with the eldery in front, women and children next; sweeping up the area and cleaning the windows and anything else that would show the people are not barbarians.
The buses never stop.
Before the supplies were pitched off the bridge today, people had to break into buildings in the area to try to find food and water for their families. There was not enough. This spurred many families to break into cars to try to escape the city. There was no police response to the auto thefts until the mob reached the rich area — Saulet Condos — once they tried to get cars from there… well then the whole swat teams began showing up with rifles pointed. Snipers got on the roof and told people to get back.
He reports that the conditions are horrendous. Heat, mosquitoes and utter misery. The smell, he says, is “horrific.”
He says it’s the slowest mandatory evacuation ever, and he wants to know why they were told to go to the Convention Center area in the first place; furthermore, he reports that many of them with cell phones have contacts willing to come rescue them, but people are not being allowed through to pick them up.
The degraded condition of humanity at the convention center has been verified from numerous sources on the ground
September 5th, 2005 at 4:10 am
For those who watch The O’Reilly Factor: Media personality Bill O’Reilly is doing a disservice by claiming New Orleans victims should have heeded warnings to evacuate for an approaching hurricane. Please tell me, Mr. O’Reilly, how were these underclass people going to get out? By airplane? (Oh, please). By car? (Most don’t have one and if they did, they probably couldn’t afford the overpriced gas). On foot? (To where, pray tell?) The poor evacuees you attacked on television yesterday struggled with hunger and squalor long before Hurricane Katrina hit. They couldn’t leave because they had no place to go. But this goes deeper than hunger and last week’s hurricane. The truth is, the vast majority of these victims are direct descendents of slaves, and the issues created by that institution have never been properly addressed by this society. Now, once again, we are dealing with issues linked to this festering, unacknowledged problem. People like you want to claim “slavery is over” and you want people like me never to use the word. But it is the root of so many wrongs in this society and until we start acknowledging this we will never become the great America that we claim to be. Until we attack the lingering problems of slavery, under we begin to really care, we will always have an overwhelming African-American underclass that is angry, frustrated, under-employed, underachieving and, indeed, troubling for other American citizens.
– Janita Poe, Atlanta, GA
September 6th, 2005 at 12:39 am
Contact your senators and congressmen at gop.com and let them know how you feel about the job they and the president have done protecting the people of New Orleans as well as your suggestions as to the quickest way to prevent anything like this happening again. You can email them, but the site also gives phone numbers and mailing addresses. I would suggest contacting them as many times as it takes for you to receive a personal response and not just a form. You want to make sure they get the point.
September 6th, 2005 at 3:26 am
Here is what I think…..I sent this letter to the mayor…it says what I think clearly.
Dear Mayor Nagin,
On September 2, 2005, I heard a radio interview you gave. I was shocked and appalled at what I heard.
First, how dare you say “God is watching you and if you don’t do everything in your power to help us, God will come down on you.” Well, God was watching you when you stuffed all your people, who looked to you for guidance, into the Superdome like sardines. God was watching you when you allowed another shelter to open near a canal. God was watching you when you failed to utilize city buses, school buses, charter buses, church vans and other available transportation to withdraw your needy people from the wrath of Katrina, while you fled to safety.
Second, how dare you complain about the lack of effort when your police officers were being shot in the head by some crazy looters. How dare you say people aren’t helping when your people are taking aim at the very people who are risking their own life to save and help your people. Looters forcing relief workers off their trucks so that they many steal food and water before they reach the shelters. No wonder people in need have nothing; some of your people are too selfish.
Last, New Orleans is not the only place suffering. What about the other places in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and the Panhandle of Florida. Let us not forget those people the media no longer cares about in South Florida. They were hit by Katrina before you. Have you stopped to think about all those other suffering people? Have you asked why you, Mayor, are the only one complaining? Have you forgotten that New Orleans was virtually impossible to access? Perhaps you are the one that needs to get off the radio and the television. Perhaps you are the one who should be pitching in and helping instead of complaining. Perhaps people will look at you as being selfish and rude. Perhaps it will even cause people to stop caring about your wonderfully eclectic city where everyone is accepted.
Have you ever stopped to think that this was Gods test for you. I think you have failed Mayor. You have failed the people of New Orleans.
Respectfully,
Heidi Walker
Lake City, Florida
Declared by FEMA as a disaster area twice in 2004.
September 6th, 2005 at 6:58 pm
they need to die ,stupity kills
September 6th, 2005 at 7:04 pm
the gov. and mayor need to be put in jail .they were in a safe place ,had food and water .all those buses would haved saved lives.the blood is on their hands. they need to bulldose the whole city now and move on.
September 6th, 2005 at 8:41 pm
The local government has a lot to answer for, that is true. But in this post 9/11, age of terrorism, why doesn’t the federal government have a better plan in place for a mass disaster like this? That’s what troubles me. Even with a department dedicated to the nation’s security (Dep. of Homeland Security) we get a fat F- on our response.
I have no doubt that FEMA and the like were doing all they could after the storm, but it was too late by then. We needed a plan in place BEFORE the storm, for instance, a command center ready to organize the different agencies and ACT after the storm. So much time was wasted planning and talking after the storm not enough acting was going on.
We need regional command centers for this country READY to ACT after disasters, natural or not. Why don’t we have these already? Sure you can blame it on many things, one being the war, I do, but that’s beside the point. We need something in place NOW and unfortunately it takes a disaster like this to realize this. (What has the Dep. of Homeland Security been doing all this time?)
After we have a better grasp of the disaster, rescued any more survivors and relocated them, and donated what we can to a relief effort (1-800-HELP-NOW for the American Red Cross FYI), we need to start addressing this issue. I urge we put the finger pointing aside for now so that we can get this done. It is overdue and obviously needed. Instead of blaming someone, simply write your local and state officials to get this country’s act together. Let them know that if a disaster, natural or not, happens near YOUR home, you EXPECT them to ACT quickly.
September 6th, 2005 at 9:19 pm
Too bad Julie wasnt deep inside NO!!! Then we wouldnt have to hear her right wing BS….Dare to dream.
September 7th, 2005 at 6:01 am
Folks, our political machine is now churning. For better or for worse. Something tells me that the fallout from this catastrophe will be in essence the second, social hurricane.
*Will we settle for a government that in the face of disaster becomes a federal version of an online auction house and sells grief and pain to the highest bidder who wants to be made to look like a hero, or do we do otherwise?
*Will the blame fall on the state and local officials or the federal government?
*Will the timely death of Rehnquist prove to be the last moribund kick of an embattled white house struggling to leave behind a foothold of power in Washington before succumbing to public pressure or is it “business as usual” in the oval office after the largest tragedy in our nation’s history?
*Will our boys come back home? And if so, will they have left behind another morass sure to produce another Osama or is it really not that dire?
*What will happen when the next storm hits (as it will most certainly do)?
*Will the flood victims/refugees/evacuees/displaced people be welcomed in communities accross the country and eventually find their way back to their city and live happily ever after, or will this become an angry, polarized diaspora anxious for the blood of the government figureheads that they percieve have sleighted them all along?
* Will New Orleans be rebuilt?
*Will we ever really know the number of the dead?
*Will other nations see the real plight of this country and seize the moment as an opportunity to help or will the world’s superpower be confronted with the reality of having alienated the rest of the world beyond repair?
*Will another catastrophe, be it biological, nuclear, earthquake-related or storm related sink our nation into a similar morass?
…so many questions folks. Each of the questions above a separate congressional hearing no doubt.
But as was stated earlier, by someone quoting Fiorello La Guardia, mayor of New York City during some of its most corrupt years:
“THE CURE FOR THE ILLS OF DEMOCRACY IS MORE DEMOCRACY”
The time to speak is NOW folks. And speak loudly. And clearly. And with good information backing our arguments.
And we must remember that this effort is not like sprinting, but rather more like running a prolonged marathon by relay. Our interest, our attention and our outrage should be sustained over a prolonged period of time.
Because you see, over time, the spinsters get tired and the people who really care…they will remain to pass on the story, to insure that the issues are dealt with fairly for generations to come, to never forget and leave behind the people, who met such a tragic fate because of sheer criminal negligence.
September 7th, 2005 at 10:54 am
being in the air force for 4 years, and with my oath i have taken, i will not say anything about my president. this french freak saying we should kill the president, this man-hater karen says that its the presidents fault. what is wrong with you two foolish idiots? you cant see the forest for the trees… you see a hurricane and the president non chaulantly visit the devestation. well, i see, and i dont think im alone, a responsible and collective man. did you see him when he heard the news of 9/11 at that school? well, he didnt panic, and he was collective. while you sit back in disbelieve and lean on the edge of your seat to see what hes gonna do next. God have mercy on your soul. hes still human… i know you think you would do so much better than him. but you are a reason why there is no woman president yet. you say you would be in your office. but would you go down there and hold those stricken with whatever deiseases that came out of this disaster? while the other workers had on rubber gloves, he was greeting exhausted and hungry AMERICANS with open arms. i remember once upon a time that when you said something against the president, you were looked at as a communist and a freedom fighter. realize the dream of America, Serge. just because your country has cowered down in both world wars, and even in this recent war with Iraq, doesnt give you toad suckers the right to tell us we need to kill our president. you socialist. just another form of democracy, but a corrupt and FAILING form thereof.
September 7th, 2005 at 3:46 pm
Jrod, you are hysterical..I can barely get through your ranting without doubling over from laughter. I could return you mundane insults but since they mean nothing to me, I will not bother. Say what you will, but now, well over half of this country is asking our government officials to be held accountable for the actions taken in the wake of hurricane Katrina. God bless the president for taking time to go down and shake hands with those whose lives were disrupted?..and you are a fool if you think everyone was wearing gloves and the president was selflessly hugging and reaching out to those in need without them…ever heard of the secret service…please. And you bet your *** I would be down there doing all I could with or without gloves!
And how shortsighted and chauvanistic of you to turn this into a feminist issue, you are truly the face of conserative republican. .. Ready to squash the minority and forget they exist…especially when they have something to say you don’t like to hear! It is apathy such as yours that keeps a failing government in place. Its unfortunate that you do not expect more from your government on ALL levels! So you go ahead and sit right back and continually take it up the ***, while the rest of us work to make the government more responsible and make the PUBLIC SERVANTS of this country do their jobs. THAT is what our forefathers fought for and THAT is what makes me pround to be an American.
September 8th, 2005 at 4:03 am
i think it is about time that the president did something for his country.We should have never voted for him becuase all he did was cause more trouble than we alredy had and that is insaine. I know that i want to be proud to be an american but right now i am not. So i hope that he tries to do better for this cournty soon
September 9th, 2005 at 2:21 pm
I live in a country which is about 10,000 miles from America and keep reading about what’s going on in your country since Katrina has covered it.
I wish all the best to brave and strong people in the United States who think about their country with an open mind. Don’t believe blindly in what Bush tells you. He is just after his own pocket.
September 26th, 2005 at 7:18 pm
Castro? Is that you? I’m surprised your English is that good. Hey listen, I have a question for you. Are you already dead and just being animated by a robot shoved up your ass?
America has many enemies. Freedom has many enemies.
October 2nd, 2005 at 9:46 am
I expressed my frustration about the politicizing of Katrina and the finger pointing (when they should’ve been pointing at themselves [the mayor/governor]) through a song I produced. To listen, use the link below.
http://www.rjamusic.com/websound%20files/Robb_Jason_Aleman_This_is_Not_the_Time_for_Blame.mp3
October 6th, 2005 at 1:06 am
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October 6th, 2005 at 4:21 am
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October 6th, 2005 at 6:24 am
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October 6th, 2005 at 1:17 pm
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October 6th, 2005 at 8:08 pm
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October 6th, 2005 at 11:46 pm
I reside(d) in Waveland, MS, the area that actually faced the brunt of the hurricane. I was released from the hospital following open heart surgery on Sunday, Aug. 28. On Monday the 29th, my wife, daughter, and I swam out of our home and with the help of God and upstairs neighbors, survived.
The people of our community pulled together, black, white, hispanic, and all others helped each other as well as possible. We were basically forgotten by the rest of the world, as the news media had to pick up on the blatant, nonsensical vitriol coming out of New Orleans. My heart goes out to anyone who experienced what we did on that awful monday, but I am absolutely sickened by charges of racism, the placing of blame on our President, and the fact that brave men and women who risked their own lives trying to help people in New Orleans came under rifle fire from the very low-lifes who were spouting such idiocy. The good people of my community would have welcomed and appreciated help and caring from those brave souls. As we recover in our adoptive town of Kansas City, Missouri, we thank God for the outpouring of love and support of the wonderful people here, and pray for our family of Mississippians, who many of are still without. As you consider the consequences of this disaster, please think about the people of Hancock County, Mississippi, for they have suffered greatly and are just as important as the people of New Orleans.
October 7th, 2005 at 12:52 am
b
October 7th, 2005 at 5:04 am
636998
November 6th, 2005 at 11:37 am
Program on the emergence of civilization.
“14 species of large animals capable of domesitcation in the history of mankind.
13 from Europe, Asia and northern Africa.
None from the sub-Saharan African continent. ”
Favor.
And disfavor.
They point out Africans’ failed attempts to domesticate the elephant and zebra, the latter being an animal they illustrate that had utmost importance for it’s applicability in transformation from a hunting/gathering to agrarian-based civilization.
The roots of racism are not of this earth.
Austrailia, aboriginals:::No domesticable animals.
The North American continent had none. Now 99% of that population is gone.
AIDS in Africa.
Organizational Heirarchy
Heirarchical order, from top to bottom:
1. MUCK - perhaps have experienced multiple universal contractions (have seen multiple big bangs), creator of the artificial intelligence humans ignorantly refer to as “god”
2. Perhaps some mid-level alien management
3. Evil/disfavored aliens - runs day-to-day operations here and perhaps elsewhere
Terrestrial management:
4. Chinese/egyptians - this may be separated into the eastern and western worlds
5. Romans - they answer to the egyptians
6. Mafia - the real-world interface that constantly turns over generationally so as to reinforce the widely-held notion of mortality
7. Jews, corporation, women, politician - Evidence exisits to suggest mafia management over all these groups.
Movies foreshadowing catastrophy
1985 James Bond View to a Kill 1989 San Francisco Loma Prieta earthquake.
Many Muslims are being used like the Germans and Japanese of WWII::being used to hurt others and envoke condemnation upon their people.
They can affect the weather and Hurricane Katrina was accomplished for many reasons and involves many interests, as anything this historical is::
1. Take heat off Sheenhan/Iraq, protecting profitable war machine/private war contracts
2. Gentrification. New Orleans median home price of $84k is among the lowest in major American cities, certainly among desirable cities.
Our society gives clues to the system in place. We all have heard the saying “He has more money than god.” There is also an episode of the Simpsons where god meets Homer and says “I’m too old and rich for this.”
This is the system on earth because this is the system everywhere.
god is evil because of money.
I don’t want to suggest the upper eschelons are evil and good is the fringe.
But they have made it abundantly clear that doing business with evil (disfavored) won’t help people. They say only good would have the ear, since evil is struggling for survival, and therefore only the favored could help me.
The clues are there which companies are favored and which are disfavored, market domination being one clue, but they conceal it very hard because it is so crucial.
I offer an example of historical proportions:::
People point to Walmart and cry “anti-union”.
Unions enable disfavored people to live satisfactorly without addressing their disfavor. This way their family’s problems are never resolved. Without the union they would have to accept the heirarchy, their own inferiority.
Unions serve to empower.
Walmart is anti-union because they are good. They try to help people address and resolve their problems.
Media ridicule and lawsuits are creations to reinforce people’s belief that Walmart is evil (disfavored).
I believe the coining of the term “Uncle Sam” was a clue alluding to just this.
The middle class is being deceived. They are being misled into the unfavored, and subsequently will have no hope.
Amercia is a country of castoffs, rejects. Italy sent its criminals. Malcontents.
Between the thrones, the klans and kindred, they “decided” who they didn’t want and acted, creating discontent and/or starvation.
The u.s. is full of disfavored rejects. It is the reason for the myriad of problems not found in European countries. As far as the Rockafellers and other industrialists of the 19th century go, I suspect these aren’t their real names. I suspect they were chosen to go and head this new empire.
Jesus Christ is a religious figure of evil. These seperatist churches formed so they could still capture the rest of the white people, keeping them worshipping the wrong god.
And now they do it to people of color, Latinos and Asians, after centuries of preying upon them.
Since Buddism doesn’t recongnize a god, the calls are never heard, and Chinese representation is instead selected by the thrones.
It was set up this way. Perhaps dyanstic thrones had a say, but maybe not.
Budda was the Asian’s Jesus Christ::: bad for the people. “They came up at the same time for a reason.”
Simpson’s foreshadowing::Helloween IV special, Flanders is Satan. “Last one you ever suspect.”
“You’ll see lots of nuns where you’re going:::hell!!!” St. Wigham, Helloween VI, missionary work, destroying cultures.
Over and over, the Simpsons was a source of education and enlightenment, a target of ridicule by the system which wishes to conceal its secrets.
Jews maim the body formed in the image of “god”, and inflicted circumsision upon all other white people, as well as the evil that is Jesus Christ. I believe Islam is the one true religion, and those misled christians and cooperating Jews who attack “god’s” most favored people will pay for it dearly one day.
December 20th, 2005 at 11:05 pm
i am a little upset by everybody pointing fingers at everyone else. has anybody seen the two ladies on C-Span who blame george bush? she needs to take a look at her own mayor. i was deployed down there with 8 hours notice immediately following the hurricane and i spent over two months working to help rebuild a school and help citizens of pascagula mississippi as well as right int he ninth ward of new orleans. we were asked by the mayor to leave new orleans because he” had it under control”
the usns comfort ship was there for free medical care but yet the mayor would not let anyone into the city to come to the ship for help. also the doctors out in town were so greedy for money that they wanted us to leave so they could make more money seeing the sick. so i say before you point a finger take a good long hard look in the mirror. also i totally understand that people did not want to leave there houses but if a 20 foot wave is coming at your house and you honestly think you will survive you need to use some commom sense. as much as you love your homes and grew up in them they are not going to survive a 20 foot flood and neither did most of the people that stayed. my heart goes out to the families but i really can not stand hearing some people like kanye west saying george bush doesn’t like black people. that was the most ignorant comment i have ever heard and as far as i am concerned for somebody to make that comment they obviously put themselves above him so does that mean that kanye west doesn’t like white people>?? the ordinary civilian does not understand what is involved in getting a ship like the usns comfort out of port. for one people from all over the united states have to be flown down to baltimore and then the ship does about 15 knots max speed. so for once people should sit back and take a break on blaming people and focus more on what can be done to fix new orleans and start doing that.
Shawn, Hudson
January 16th, 2006 at 11:44 pm
shut the fuck up american twats
May 12th, 2006 at 1:37 am
Kim
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Pod
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