My response to Bush's response to Hurricane Katrina
I've been following the story of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina closely the past few days.
It's rather astounding, really, how colossally the government has fucked up.
I mention Bush specifically, in the title of my entry, but believe me, he's not the only one at fault for this mess.
Prepare for more profanity and anger from me than usual, and more sources, too...I can honestly say that I'm not sure of the last time I've been so frustrated and angered by the actions (or, in this case, lack thereof) of my government.
Here's who should be blamed, and why:
1.) LOCAL AUTHORITIES: There was plenty of advance notice that the Hurricane was coming, yet the evacuation was inadequate and sloppy, and many people were either stranded or just plain forgotten about. How many lives could've been saved if they had gotten their act together?
2.) THE PEOPLE WHO DECIDED TO 'RIDE IT OUT': You live in a city that's below sea level. A massive hurricane is bearing down on you. You decide to ride it out. It's one thing if you are unable to evacuate, or have invalids, sick/dying family to care for, or whatnot, but if you're ABLE to pick up and leave, and choose not to? Congratulations, you're an idiot. Do you deserve to die? Certainly not. But develop some self-preservation, for fuck's sake!
3.) BUSH (part 1): When interviewed, the president said, "I don't think anyone could have anticipated the breach of the levees." Bullshit. http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2005/09/even-mr.html
Even Mr Bill saw it coming.
Actually, money that was supposed to have been used to repair the levees was used to fund the clusterfuck in Iraq. Just remember, when it comes to public safety, Bush is #1!
4.) SENATOR LANDRIEU (AND THE REST OF CONGRESS): Anderson Cooper hands it to her here: http://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/09/01.html#a4740
What more needs to be said? This is a time when, for all intents and purposes, we SHOULD be asking 'what went wrong? what more could've been done?' What we DON'T need is politicians slapping one another on the back, trying to cover their asses, and talking about how wonderful everybody is. It's enough to make you retch. And it's SO good to hear Congress has come back from their summer recess early to help with the crisis. Thanks for getting off your asses and doing something. Crumb bums.
5.) FEMA:
Hasn't done jack.
Guess who heads up FEMA? That's right, yet another incompetent Bush apointee. If you listen to him, you'll hear more nonsense about 'we couldn't have done anything'....which is just a shitty attempt to cover his ass. Oh, and apparently, he didn't even KNOW about the plight of the
people in the superdrome.
Read this, but I warn you, it'll infuriate you.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/03/national/nationalspecial/03fema.html
You need to register to read it...if you'd rather not...well, Bush has said that 'Brown is doing a great job.' Bush also says that 'I'm doin a great job, too. Yeehaw!'
Brown's incompetence is so blatant and horrifying it'd be funny if people weren't dying because of it. I credit Mary Landrieu (who almost makes up for her backslapping and such), and other congressmen, for saying what needs to be said 'Fire this fucking moron.'
I took these quotes from http://www.wonkette.com/
FEMA chief Brown: "We learned about that (Thursday), so I have directed that we have all available resources to get that convention center to make sure that they have the food and water and medical care that they need." [Sept. 1, 2005]
Brown: "Considering the dire circumstances that we have in New Orleans, virtually a city that has been destroyed, things are going relatively well." [Sept. 1, 2005]
Brown: "I've had no reports of unrest, if the connotation of the word unrest means that people are beginning to riot, or you know, they're banging on walls and screaming and hollering or burning tires or whatever. I've had no reports of that." [Sept. 1, 2005]
Brown: "I actually think the security is pretty darn good. There's some really bad people out there that are causing some problems, and it seems to me that every time a bad person wants to scream of cause a problem, there's somebody there with a camera to stick it in their face." [Sept. 1, 2005]
President George Bush: "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job." [Sept. 2, 2005]
And here, Soledad O'Brien lays into Brown and FEMA, as well (thanks again , Wonkette, and Slate)
As you can tell, the situation clearly is deteriorating. You've got armed bandits roving the streets. They're heavily armed. You've got people living out on the streets with absolutely no protection, no help whatsoever, no food, no water. How many armed National Guardsmen do you have on the ground right now? …
How is it possible that we're getting better intel than you're getting? …
FEMA has been on the ground for four days, going into the fifth day. Why no massive airdrop of food and water? In Banda Aceh, in Indonesia, they got food dropped two days after the tsunami struck. …
It's five days that FEMA has been on the ground. The head of police says it's been five days that FEMA has been there. The mayor, the former mayor, putting out SOS's on Tuesday morning, crying on national television, saying please send in some troops. So the idea that, yes, I understand that you're feeding people and trying to get in there now, but it's Friday. It's Friday.
6.) GOVERNMENT RED TAPE AND OTHER GARBAGE:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/katrina_national_guard
What the fuck? It's fucking anarchy down there, and those who can help are caught up in red tape? What a load of horse shit.
7.) THOSE IDIOTS WHO ARE SHOOTING AT THE EMERGENCY RESPONDERS: And all of the other morons who are causing anarchy and chaos down there by sniping at rescue workers, looting, pilaging, raping, and threatening. Hobbes called this situation 'state of nature'...society has broken down entirely, and people are going berserk. It's shameful, really.
But are you anxious to cap some looters?
Read http://www.chrisgeidner.com/blog/archive/003681.html first.
8.) BUSH (part 2): His response was disgracefully slow, his speech after the disaster was disgracefully casual, and that photo of him playing a guitar on Tuesday
(seen at http://stevegilliard.blogspot.com/2005/09/who-are-we.html)
is just a shameful reminder of how little bush cares. Read the article under the photo for a scathing condemnation of Bush and his cronies.
Bush's painfully slow response, the fact that he doesn't seem to know how to handle the situation...or to care, and his blind support of Brown and Chertoff when they were blatantly proving their dreadful incompetence...is just another painful reminder of how incompetent he is as a leader. We weren't attacked by terrorists this time...perhaps Bush has no idea what to do, if there's noone that we can bomb in response?
A great Bush quote (from Wonkette again)
"We got a lot of rebuilding to do.... the good news is and it's hard for some to see it now but out of this chaos is going to come a fantastic gulf coast... out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house -- the guy lost his entire house -- there's going to be fantastic house. I look forward to sitting on the porch. Out of New Orleans is going to come that great city again."
9.) RACIST ASSHOLES:
http://stevegilliard.blogspot.com/2005/09/charity-begins-elsewhere.html
I don't really need to say much more about this. God bless you Americans who let your bigotry get in the way of your willingness to help your fellow human beings. No, not all of the complaints and concerns are based in racist thought...but enough of them are to make it pretty damn depressing.
On another note, congratulations Wolf Blitzer, for saying
"You simply get chills every time you see these poor individuals, as Jack Cafferty just pointed out, so tragically, so many of these people, almost all of them that we see, are so poor and they are so black, and this is going to raise lots of questions for people who are watching this story unfold."
and sounding like a fucking dumbass. (Thanks again, Slate)
10.) HALLIBURTON:
According to Wonkette, 'There's a funny joke going around the internets lately that Halliburton got a contract to help rebuild in the Gulf Coast. Only it's not a joke.'
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/3335685
Oh boy...
11.) DENNIS HASTERT:
The House speaker doesn't really feel that there's much worth saving in New Orleans. Hell, let's bulldoze it all!
seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002466132_kathast02.html
What an asshole. After all, I've got mine, why should I give a shit what happens to everyone else!
KUDOS TO...
1.) THE MEDIA: For years, the bullshit of the Bush administration has slid largely under the radar. Finally, members of the media, most notably, Anderson Cooper and Soledad O'Brien. This is a disgraceful situation, and it's about time the media got fucking ANGRY:
http://www.slate.com/id/2125581/?nav=tap3
2.) NAGIN, MAYOR OF NEW ORLEANS:
Go here to listen to the Mayor of New Orlans get pissed off about the incompetent, slow response to the emergency:
http://www.atypical.net/mm/nagin.mp3
'This is ridiculous! I don't want to see nobody do no more goddamn press conferences...DO SOMETHING.'
'People are dying, they don't have homes, they don't have jobs...the city of New Orleans will never be the same.'
If you can't listen to the mp3 for some reason, you can find a transcript of the emotional interview here: http://www.wonkette.com/politics/ray-nagin/index.php
3.) BARAK OBAMA, MARY LANDRIEU, OTHER CONGRESSMEN:
http://www.suntimes.com/output/hurricane/cst-nws-daley03.html
Senator Barak Obama, infuriated by the response of the government, has promised to call for Congressional investigations into this fuckup.
From the article posted above:
"The response was achingly slow, and that, I think, is a view shared by Democrats, Republicans, wealthy and poor, black and white," the freshman senator said. "I have not met anybody who has watched this crisis evolve over the last several days who is not just furious at how poorly prepared we appeared to be."
The South Side Democrat called FEMA's slow response "baffling."
"I don't understand how you could have a situation where you've got several days' notice of an enormous hurricane building in the Gulf Coast, you know that New Orleans is 6 feet below sea level. ... The notion that you don't have good plans in place just does not make sense," Obama said.
Obama said he expects his counterparts in Louisiana, Mississippi or Alabama will call for congressional hearings, but he is ready if they do not. "It's heartbreaking and infuriating and, I think, is embarrassing to the American people.''
And although Landrieu, above, got chewed out by Anderson Cooper for being inane and pointless while people were dying, she's gotten her act together in recent days, asking the president to get off his ass and do something, and criticizing Dennis Hastert's irresponsible remarks about 'bulldozing' New Orleans. Politicians, both Republican and Democrat, are PISSED, and wondering what the hell FEMA and the Bush Administration were doing while people languished and died...and Bush's lame offering that 'the response was inadequate' isn't going to cut it this time. Shame on you, Mr. President. Shame on your, Mr. Brown, and the rest of the Bush administration.
4. ) SHEPARD SMITH AND GERALDO RIVERA:
I've never been the biggest fan of Geraldo Rivera, but if you go here to Crooks and Liars: http://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/09/02.html#a4763
and watch the emotional video, you will see Geraldo, outside of the convention center, holding a baby as he tearfully implores the government, the country, anyone who is listening, to let people out of the city.
They are living in disgusting conditions, people are dying, supplies are low, despair is high, and the federal troops have locked people in the convention center and set up armed checkpoints, preventing people from leaving.
This is America. As Geraldo said 'this is not Republicans or Democrats. This is not politics or spin. This is reality. THIS IS HUMAN SUFFERING.'
When Sean Hannity, as much of a dumbass as ever, called for perspective, Shepard Smith blew up. 'This is all the perspective you need!'
CONCLUSION:
THIS IS A NATIONAL DISGRACE. More lives could've been saved if FEMA wasn't run by a dangerously incompetent individual, if the head of the Department of Homeland Security (Chertoff) had any idea of how to handle the situation, if Bush had responded with some notion of timeliness. People are still down there, living in filth, in disgusting conditions, dying, suffering...
Words cannot express the depth of frustration and anger that I feel. The Bush administration has, impossibly, outdone itself in sheer incompetence and mishandling, and worse, Bush's attitude has been flippant and casual throughout, lacking any real qualities of leadership or gravitas.
This is the greatest in a series of disgusting blunders, and it's about damn time that officials throughout the media, throughout Congress, throughout the country, have made their voices heard, denouncing what has happened in what is supposed to be the greatest country in the world.
WRITE YOUR CONGRESSMAN AND TELL THEM HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT THIS DEBACLE. IF YOU CAN AFFORD IT, SEND MONEY TO THE RELIEF EFFORTS. IF YOU CAN HELP IN ANY WAY, PLEASE DO SO. IF YOU HELP SIMPLY BY MAKING YOUR VOICES HEARD, THEN DO SO...DO NOT STAND BY AND BE SILENT.
God bless those who have done their best to help, and hopefully, those who are still trapped down in that hell hole, will be evacuated safely in short order.
I hope this little rant has been interesting and informative. For my sources, I used Wonkette, Slate, Crooks and Liars, The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, Fox News, and Steve Gilliard, among many others. I recommend you read any of the links that you can, I'm sure you'll find them very informative...and you might find out things you hadn't known, and like me, been enraged, saddened, and frustrated by them.
It's rather astounding, really, how colossally the government has fucked up.
I mention Bush specifically, in the title of my entry, but believe me, he's not the only one at fault for this mess.
Prepare for more profanity and anger from me than usual, and more sources, too...I can honestly say that I'm not sure of the last time I've been so frustrated and angered by the actions (or, in this case, lack thereof) of my government.
Here's who should be blamed, and why:
1.) LOCAL AUTHORITIES: There was plenty of advance notice that the Hurricane was coming, yet the evacuation was inadequate and sloppy, and many people were either stranded or just plain forgotten about. How many lives could've been saved if they had gotten their act together?
2.) THE PEOPLE WHO DECIDED TO 'RIDE IT OUT': You live in a city that's below sea level. A massive hurricane is bearing down on you. You decide to ride it out. It's one thing if you are unable to evacuate, or have invalids, sick/dying family to care for, or whatnot, but if you're ABLE to pick up and leave, and choose not to? Congratulations, you're an idiot. Do you deserve to die? Certainly not. But develop some self-preservation, for fuck's sake!
3.) BUSH (part 1): When interviewed, the president said, "I don't think anyone could have anticipated the breach of the levees." Bullshit. http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2005/09/even-mr.html
Even Mr Bill saw it coming.
Actually, money that was supposed to have been used to repair the levees was used to fund the clusterfuck in Iraq. Just remember, when it comes to public safety, Bush is #1!
4.) SENATOR LANDRIEU (AND THE REST OF CONGRESS): Anderson Cooper hands it to her here: http://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/09/01.html#a4740
What more needs to be said? This is a time when, for all intents and purposes, we SHOULD be asking 'what went wrong? what more could've been done?' What we DON'T need is politicians slapping one another on the back, trying to cover their asses, and talking about how wonderful everybody is. It's enough to make you retch. And it's SO good to hear Congress has come back from their summer recess early to help with the crisis. Thanks for getting off your asses and doing something. Crumb bums.
5.) FEMA:
Hasn't done jack.
Guess who heads up FEMA? That's right, yet another incompetent Bush apointee. If you listen to him, you'll hear more nonsense about 'we couldn't have done anything'....which is just a shitty attempt to cover his ass. Oh, and apparently, he didn't even KNOW about the plight of the
people in the superdrome.
Read this, but I warn you, it'll infuriate you.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/03/national/nationalspecial/03fema.html
You need to register to read it...if you'd rather not...well, Bush has said that 'Brown is doing a great job.' Bush also says that 'I'm doin a great job, too. Yeehaw!'
Brown's incompetence is so blatant and horrifying it'd be funny if people weren't dying because of it. I credit Mary Landrieu (who almost makes up for her backslapping and such), and other congressmen, for saying what needs to be said 'Fire this fucking moron.'
I took these quotes from http://www.wonkette.com/
FEMA chief Brown: "We learned about that (Thursday), so I have directed that we have all available resources to get that convention center to make sure that they have the food and water and medical care that they need." [Sept. 1, 2005]
Brown: "Considering the dire circumstances that we have in New Orleans, virtually a city that has been destroyed, things are going relatively well." [Sept. 1, 2005]
Brown: "I've had no reports of unrest, if the connotation of the word unrest means that people are beginning to riot, or you know, they're banging on walls and screaming and hollering or burning tires or whatever. I've had no reports of that." [Sept. 1, 2005]
Brown: "I actually think the security is pretty darn good. There's some really bad people out there that are causing some problems, and it seems to me that every time a bad person wants to scream of cause a problem, there's somebody there with a camera to stick it in their face." [Sept. 1, 2005]
President George Bush: "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job." [Sept. 2, 2005]
And here, Soledad O'Brien lays into Brown and FEMA, as well (thanks again , Wonkette, and Slate)
As you can tell, the situation clearly is deteriorating. You've got armed bandits roving the streets. They're heavily armed. You've got people living out on the streets with absolutely no protection, no help whatsoever, no food, no water. How many armed National Guardsmen do you have on the ground right now? …
How is it possible that we're getting better intel than you're getting? …
FEMA has been on the ground for four days, going into the fifth day. Why no massive airdrop of food and water? In Banda Aceh, in Indonesia, they got food dropped two days after the tsunami struck. …
It's five days that FEMA has been on the ground. The head of police says it's been five days that FEMA has been there. The mayor, the former mayor, putting out SOS's on Tuesday morning, crying on national television, saying please send in some troops. So the idea that, yes, I understand that you're feeding people and trying to get in there now, but it's Friday. It's Friday.
6.) GOVERNMENT RED TAPE AND OTHER GARBAGE:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/katrina_national_guard
What the fuck? It's fucking anarchy down there, and those who can help are caught up in red tape? What a load of horse shit.
7.) THOSE IDIOTS WHO ARE SHOOTING AT THE EMERGENCY RESPONDERS: And all of the other morons who are causing anarchy and chaos down there by sniping at rescue workers, looting, pilaging, raping, and threatening. Hobbes called this situation 'state of nature'...society has broken down entirely, and people are going berserk. It's shameful, really.
But are you anxious to cap some looters?
Read http://www.chrisgeidner.com/blog/archive/003681.html first.
8.) BUSH (part 2): His response was disgracefully slow, his speech after the disaster was disgracefully casual, and that photo of him playing a guitar on Tuesday
(seen at http://stevegilliard.blogspot.com/2005/09/who-are-we.html)
is just a shameful reminder of how little bush cares. Read the article under the photo for a scathing condemnation of Bush and his cronies.
Bush's painfully slow response, the fact that he doesn't seem to know how to handle the situation...or to care, and his blind support of Brown and Chertoff when they were blatantly proving their dreadful incompetence...is just another painful reminder of how incompetent he is as a leader. We weren't attacked by terrorists this time...perhaps Bush has no idea what to do, if there's noone that we can bomb in response?
A great Bush quote (from Wonkette again)
"We got a lot of rebuilding to do.... the good news is and it's hard for some to see it now but out of this chaos is going to come a fantastic gulf coast... out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house -- the guy lost his entire house -- there's going to be fantastic house. I look forward to sitting on the porch. Out of New Orleans is going to come that great city again."
9.) RACIST ASSHOLES:
http://stevegilliard.blogspot.com/2005/09/charity-begins-elsewhere.html
I don't really need to say much more about this. God bless you Americans who let your bigotry get in the way of your willingness to help your fellow human beings. No, not all of the complaints and concerns are based in racist thought...but enough of them are to make it pretty damn depressing.
On another note, congratulations Wolf Blitzer, for saying
"You simply get chills every time you see these poor individuals, as Jack Cafferty just pointed out, so tragically, so many of these people, almost all of them that we see, are so poor and they are so black, and this is going to raise lots of questions for people who are watching this story unfold."
and sounding like a fucking dumbass. (Thanks again, Slate)
10.) HALLIBURTON:
According to Wonkette, 'There's a funny joke going around the internets lately that Halliburton got a contract to help rebuild in the Gulf Coast. Only it's not a joke.'
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/3335685
Oh boy...
11.) DENNIS HASTERT:
The House speaker doesn't really feel that there's much worth saving in New Orleans. Hell, let's bulldoze it all!
seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002466132_kathast02.html
What an asshole. After all, I've got mine, why should I give a shit what happens to everyone else!
KUDOS TO...
1.) THE MEDIA: For years, the bullshit of the Bush administration has slid largely under the radar. Finally, members of the media, most notably, Anderson Cooper and Soledad O'Brien. This is a disgraceful situation, and it's about time the media got fucking ANGRY:
http://www.slate.com/id/2125581/?nav=tap3
2.) NAGIN, MAYOR OF NEW ORLEANS:
Go here to listen to the Mayor of New Orlans get pissed off about the incompetent, slow response to the emergency:
http://www.atypical.net/mm/nagin.mp3
'This is ridiculous! I don't want to see nobody do no more goddamn press conferences...DO SOMETHING.'
'People are dying, they don't have homes, they don't have jobs...the city of New Orleans will never be the same.'
If you can't listen to the mp3 for some reason, you can find a transcript of the emotional interview here: http://www.wonkette.com/politics/ray-nagin/index.php
3.) BARAK OBAMA, MARY LANDRIEU, OTHER CONGRESSMEN:
http://www.suntimes.com/output/hurricane/cst-nws-daley03.html
Senator Barak Obama, infuriated by the response of the government, has promised to call for Congressional investigations into this fuckup.
From the article posted above:
"The response was achingly slow, and that, I think, is a view shared by Democrats, Republicans, wealthy and poor, black and white," the freshman senator said. "I have not met anybody who has watched this crisis evolve over the last several days who is not just furious at how poorly prepared we appeared to be."
The South Side Democrat called FEMA's slow response "baffling."
"I don't understand how you could have a situation where you've got several days' notice of an enormous hurricane building in the Gulf Coast, you know that New Orleans is 6 feet below sea level. ... The notion that you don't have good plans in place just does not make sense," Obama said.
Obama said he expects his counterparts in Louisiana, Mississippi or Alabama will call for congressional hearings, but he is ready if they do not. "It's heartbreaking and infuriating and, I think, is embarrassing to the American people.''
And although Landrieu, above, got chewed out by Anderson Cooper for being inane and pointless while people were dying, she's gotten her act together in recent days, asking the president to get off his ass and do something, and criticizing Dennis Hastert's irresponsible remarks about 'bulldozing' New Orleans. Politicians, both Republican and Democrat, are PISSED, and wondering what the hell FEMA and the Bush Administration were doing while people languished and died...and Bush's lame offering that 'the response was inadequate' isn't going to cut it this time. Shame on you, Mr. President. Shame on your, Mr. Brown, and the rest of the Bush administration.
4. ) SHEPARD SMITH AND GERALDO RIVERA:
I've never been the biggest fan of Geraldo Rivera, but if you go here to Crooks and Liars: http://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/09/02.html#a4763
and watch the emotional video, you will see Geraldo, outside of the convention center, holding a baby as he tearfully implores the government, the country, anyone who is listening, to let people out of the city.
They are living in disgusting conditions, people are dying, supplies are low, despair is high, and the federal troops have locked people in the convention center and set up armed checkpoints, preventing people from leaving.
This is America. As Geraldo said 'this is not Republicans or Democrats. This is not politics or spin. This is reality. THIS IS HUMAN SUFFERING.'
When Sean Hannity, as much of a dumbass as ever, called for perspective, Shepard Smith blew up. 'This is all the perspective you need!'
CONCLUSION:
THIS IS A NATIONAL DISGRACE. More lives could've been saved if FEMA wasn't run by a dangerously incompetent individual, if the head of the Department of Homeland Security (Chertoff) had any idea of how to handle the situation, if Bush had responded with some notion of timeliness. People are still down there, living in filth, in disgusting conditions, dying, suffering...
Words cannot express the depth of frustration and anger that I feel. The Bush administration has, impossibly, outdone itself in sheer incompetence and mishandling, and worse, Bush's attitude has been flippant and casual throughout, lacking any real qualities of leadership or gravitas.
This is the greatest in a series of disgusting blunders, and it's about damn time that officials throughout the media, throughout Congress, throughout the country, have made their voices heard, denouncing what has happened in what is supposed to be the greatest country in the world.
WRITE YOUR CONGRESSMAN AND TELL THEM HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT THIS DEBACLE. IF YOU CAN AFFORD IT, SEND MONEY TO THE RELIEF EFFORTS. IF YOU CAN HELP IN ANY WAY, PLEASE DO SO. IF YOU HELP SIMPLY BY MAKING YOUR VOICES HEARD, THEN DO SO...DO NOT STAND BY AND BE SILENT.
God bless those who have done their best to help, and hopefully, those who are still trapped down in that hell hole, will be evacuated safely in short order.
I hope this little rant has been interesting and informative. For my sources, I used Wonkette, Slate, Crooks and Liars, The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, Fox News, and Steve Gilliard, among many others. I recommend you read any of the links that you can, I'm sure you'll find them very informative...and you might find out things you hadn't known, and like me, been enraged, saddened, and frustrated by them.