In response...
to douchebags like Kanye West last night, going on a nationally televised ===>fundraiser<=== and saying "Bush doesn't care about black people".
Ohhhhh, how smart Kanye! Way to unite America!! Bravo!! And way to alienate a good portion of people that did vote for Bush, by telling them the guy they voted for, hates black people. Moron! Use your head man. I'm sure Bush's Secretary of State Condi Rice didn't get the memo from Kanye, that Bush hates blacks. Otherwise, maybe she'd be embarassed to serve under Bush. Oh wait, she's black too, but she has money, so......I guess she doesn't 'really' count right? BS. (rolls eyes)
Ugh. Bush doesn't care about poor people? Why is that? Is it because he just (5:21 am this morning) signed into law a 10 billion dollar aid package? Which ultimately is a down payment on the 100 billion it's going to take to rebuild New Orleans? He doesn't care?
Is it because people weren't on the ground fast enough?
Let's bring some actual facts into this discussion, shall we.
The real reason this assistance for these people was delayed was from a variety of reasons. One huge one was there was nobody in charge. Who should have been? That's easy, the Governor of Louisiana, and the mayor of the city(NO). Instead, they're busy going on the radio bad mouthing each other saying 'neener neener' instead of getting a command center going, getting things together. The water/flooding obviously complicated matters, but there was no protocol that they had in case of a disaster like this. Not having a plan always comes back to hurt you.
Fact: The governor of LA only had 6,000 national guard on standbye before this hurricane hit the shores. Could have easily had 10 to 20 thousand. Or more. You've got a city of half a million, and you only ask for 6,000? She just didn't ask for more. Her bad.
Fact: They knew it was going to be a category 5 hurricane 2 days before it even hit New Orleans. That's why they held a press conference and ordered everybody out of the city.
Fact: Bush declared the state of LA a disaster area 2 days before the hurricane even touched ground! 2 days! Why did he do this? Because the feds knew it was going to be rough. At that point, that's all they can do. Declaring it a disaster area opens up the funds and basically tells the state level 'we're here to help you, let us know what you need'. Well?........somebody dropped the ball. The reason this whole thing f'ed up is because they screwed up on the local and state level.
You can criticize federal (Bush) relief efforts all you want, and you can hear people saying "we need 500 buses right now!" and then complain that they're not there, and say nobody cares. But the truth is, they should have had those buses on standby before the storm ever hit New Orleans.........not after the fact. And by they, that means the state level. There should have been protocols in place for these types of natural disasters. That's the wise thing. It's hard to compare this to 9/11 because 9/11 was a terrorist attack and not a natural disaster. Plus NYC still had it's resources available to it. However, one stark contrast that can't be argued is that Rudy had a plan, and he executed that plan. And it worked. The state of Louisiana and the Mayor of New Orleans did not.
Here is an example of the mayor of NO complaining.
Quote:
"Someone needs to get their ass on a plane and ===>get down here and figure it out<===," he said, calling on President Bush to be more responsive to the crisis that's taken hold of his city. "Excuse my French, everybody in America, but I am pissed. They are feeding the people a line of bull, and they are spinning and people are dying. They don't have homes. They don't have jobs. The city of New Orleans will never be the same."
He just outright admitted it. By asking somebody else to come in and 'figure it out', he's admitting they didn't have any plan in place. Him or the Governor of Louisiana. Our government has become so federalized that some people do not even realize or have forgotten, that states still have power and responsibility as well, and they should be exercising said power and responsibility, instead of pointing fingers and asking the feds to 'come figure it out'.
It is intellectually lazy to just say "Bush doesn't care about black people" or say "Bush doesn't care about poor people.", for the reasons I just laid out.
From a recent bush bashing column that can be found here:
http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,372715,00.html
"Of course, it's unfair to blame the president for an act of nature like Katrina. And yet it's irrefutable that this administration's backward policies and politics made this disaster worse than it had to be,"
Irrefutable? I'm starting to think that some journalist use such words like 'irrefutable' because they know they don't have any actual proof, but those words sound powerful and convincing........so they must be true. The only thing that made this disaster worse than it had to be was the complete lack in planning by state and local officials. The feds stepped in when they realized the governor and mayor had no clue what they were doing.
More from the same column:
"What I'd really like is to see him head today for the Superdome, bring his dad, and Bill Clinton, and John Kerry and Howard Dean -- any Democrat or Republican who cares, really -- and go to work, feeding and comforting the refugees and finding out what they need."
He's the commander in chief, not the head of the soup kitchen. That's our job, the every day citizen, to be directly helping the poor and needy. The President is there to protect us, that is his job. Not to make us 'feel' like he's our best friend.
More from that column:
"Americans want to help their neighbors -- even when those neighbors are people they don't know, who are poor and have different colored skin."
You see, there is a divide in this nation, because of language exactly like this. It doesn't have to be about race, but some people, such as this columnist, make it about race. And sure Americans do want to help their neighbors, but that certainly doesn't mean all Americans do. These situations bring out the best and the worst in people. The case in New Orleans is a crystal clear picture of what the unredeemed in mankind will do when opportunity arises. I am not speaking of those that were taking water and food. That is not looting. I would have taken water and food. Looting is stealing vehicles, plasma TV's and the latest pair of Nike shoes. If there is ever a case that points so clearly to the sin nature of mankind, that is it inherently evil and not good, it is this minority group in New Orleans that consciously chose to take advantage of a horrible situation, instead of band together and help each other out. Did you guys hear of the story of a brother who shot his own sister dead, over a bag of ice? That's just one example.
Back to the quote. To give this columnists quotes about race credibility is to say Bush's vacation during the hurricane went something like this:
(daily briefing)
Bush aide: "Uh Mr. President, there is a category 5 hurricane heading towards New Orleans."
Bush: "What's the % of black people in New Orleans?"
Bush aide: (checks stats)..."That would be 68% Mr. President."
Bush: "Well, since they're mostly black, let's just let em go at it on their own. Had they been white, maybe I'd care, but....they're not. So I won't. (cheesy Bush laugh)"
And lastly from that column:
"The death toll from Katrina is likely to be higher than 9/11, but most of its victims will be black and poor, and I doubt we'll wage a war on poverty and neglect to match the war on terror launched after al-Qaida struck"
I'm a realist. I'm also a Christian. Being a christian, that tells me to make sure it's a priority to help people that are in need. That's granted.
Being a realist, that tells me that, unless we are going to change to a socialist/communist country, there will always be poor people, regardless of how hard we try to 'wage a war on poverty' or 'terror' for that matter.
You can try to contain it as much as possible by handing out government dollars, but the solution cannot be waged and won by the government. It has to be waged heart by heart, in every American heart. Helping our own neighbors. And even then, since we're not all believers, and even the ones who are believers are not all helping out......not everybody is going to be covered. Jesus spoke of the poor often, as I'm sure He knew they would always be around. The government can do what it can, but we as a nation have become far too reliant upon it for our needs and happiness.
John F Kennedy:
"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."
This great quote summarizes how things should be, and points so sharply at exactly how things currently are not. Kennedy's quote doesn't mean the government can't help us, but it does mean that we shouldn't be looking to it to see 'what can i get, what can i get?". Instead the focus of the quote is on service from our part. If we all as individuals did what Kennedy proposed in the second half of that sentence, nobody in America would be for wanting.
Certainly can't accuse me of not having an opinion can ya? ;)
Ohhhhh, how smart Kanye! Way to unite America!! Bravo!! And way to alienate a good portion of people that did vote for Bush, by telling them the guy they voted for, hates black people. Moron! Use your head man. I'm sure Bush's Secretary of State Condi Rice didn't get the memo from Kanye, that Bush hates blacks. Otherwise, maybe she'd be embarassed to serve under Bush. Oh wait, she's black too, but she has money, so......I guess she doesn't 'really' count right? BS. (rolls eyes)
Ugh. Bush doesn't care about poor people? Why is that? Is it because he just (5:21 am this morning) signed into law a 10 billion dollar aid package? Which ultimately is a down payment on the 100 billion it's going to take to rebuild New Orleans? He doesn't care?
Is it because people weren't on the ground fast enough?
Let's bring some actual facts into this discussion, shall we.
The real reason this assistance for these people was delayed was from a variety of reasons. One huge one was there was nobody in charge. Who should have been? That's easy, the Governor of Louisiana, and the mayor of the city(NO). Instead, they're busy going on the radio bad mouthing each other saying 'neener neener' instead of getting a command center going, getting things together. The water/flooding obviously complicated matters, but there was no protocol that they had in case of a disaster like this. Not having a plan always comes back to hurt you.
Fact: The governor of LA only had 6,000 national guard on standbye before this hurricane hit the shores. Could have easily had 10 to 20 thousand. Or more. You've got a city of half a million, and you only ask for 6,000? She just didn't ask for more. Her bad.
Fact: They knew it was going to be a category 5 hurricane 2 days before it even hit New Orleans. That's why they held a press conference and ordered everybody out of the city.
Fact: Bush declared the state of LA a disaster area 2 days before the hurricane even touched ground! 2 days! Why did he do this? Because the feds knew it was going to be rough. At that point, that's all they can do. Declaring it a disaster area opens up the funds and basically tells the state level 'we're here to help you, let us know what you need'. Well?........somebody dropped the ball. The reason this whole thing f'ed up is because they screwed up on the local and state level.
You can criticize federal (Bush) relief efforts all you want, and you can hear people saying "we need 500 buses right now!" and then complain that they're not there, and say nobody cares. But the truth is, they should have had those buses on standby before the storm ever hit New Orleans.........not after the fact. And by they, that means the state level. There should have been protocols in place for these types of natural disasters. That's the wise thing. It's hard to compare this to 9/11 because 9/11 was a terrorist attack and not a natural disaster. Plus NYC still had it's resources available to it. However, one stark contrast that can't be argued is that Rudy had a plan, and he executed that plan. And it worked. The state of Louisiana and the Mayor of New Orleans did not.
Here is an example of the mayor of NO complaining.
Quote:
"Someone needs to get their ass on a plane and ===>get down here and figure it out<===," he said, calling on President Bush to be more responsive to the crisis that's taken hold of his city. "Excuse my French, everybody in America, but I am pissed. They are feeding the people a line of bull, and they are spinning and people are dying. They don't have homes. They don't have jobs. The city of New Orleans will never be the same."
He just outright admitted it. By asking somebody else to come in and 'figure it out', he's admitting they didn't have any plan in place. Him or the Governor of Louisiana. Our government has become so federalized that some people do not even realize or have forgotten, that states still have power and responsibility as well, and they should be exercising said power and responsibility, instead of pointing fingers and asking the feds to 'come figure it out'.
It is intellectually lazy to just say "Bush doesn't care about black people" or say "Bush doesn't care about poor people.", for the reasons I just laid out.
From a recent bush bashing column that can be found here:
http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,372715,00.html
"Of course, it's unfair to blame the president for an act of nature like Katrina. And yet it's irrefutable that this administration's backward policies and politics made this disaster worse than it had to be,"
Irrefutable? I'm starting to think that some journalist use such words like 'irrefutable' because they know they don't have any actual proof, but those words sound powerful and convincing........so they must be true. The only thing that made this disaster worse than it had to be was the complete lack in planning by state and local officials. The feds stepped in when they realized the governor and mayor had no clue what they were doing.
More from the same column:
"What I'd really like is to see him head today for the Superdome, bring his dad, and Bill Clinton, and John Kerry and Howard Dean -- any Democrat or Republican who cares, really -- and go to work, feeding and comforting the refugees and finding out what they need."
He's the commander in chief, not the head of the soup kitchen. That's our job, the every day citizen, to be directly helping the poor and needy. The President is there to protect us, that is his job. Not to make us 'feel' like he's our best friend.
More from that column:
"Americans want to help their neighbors -- even when those neighbors are people they don't know, who are poor and have different colored skin."
You see, there is a divide in this nation, because of language exactly like this. It doesn't have to be about race, but some people, such as this columnist, make it about race. And sure Americans do want to help their neighbors, but that certainly doesn't mean all Americans do. These situations bring out the best and the worst in people. The case in New Orleans is a crystal clear picture of what the unredeemed in mankind will do when opportunity arises. I am not speaking of those that were taking water and food. That is not looting. I would have taken water and food. Looting is stealing vehicles, plasma TV's and the latest pair of Nike shoes. If there is ever a case that points so clearly to the sin nature of mankind, that is it inherently evil and not good, it is this minority group in New Orleans that consciously chose to take advantage of a horrible situation, instead of band together and help each other out. Did you guys hear of the story of a brother who shot his own sister dead, over a bag of ice? That's just one example.
Back to the quote. To give this columnists quotes about race credibility is to say Bush's vacation during the hurricane went something like this:
(daily briefing)
Bush aide: "Uh Mr. President, there is a category 5 hurricane heading towards New Orleans."
Bush: "What's the % of black people in New Orleans?"
Bush aide: (checks stats)..."That would be 68% Mr. President."
Bush: "Well, since they're mostly black, let's just let em go at it on their own. Had they been white, maybe I'd care, but....they're not. So I won't. (cheesy Bush laugh)"
And lastly from that column:
"The death toll from Katrina is likely to be higher than 9/11, but most of its victims will be black and poor, and I doubt we'll wage a war on poverty and neglect to match the war on terror launched after al-Qaida struck"
I'm a realist. I'm also a Christian. Being a christian, that tells me to make sure it's a priority to help people that are in need. That's granted.
Being a realist, that tells me that, unless we are going to change to a socialist/communist country, there will always be poor people, regardless of how hard we try to 'wage a war on poverty' or 'terror' for that matter.
You can try to contain it as much as possible by handing out government dollars, but the solution cannot be waged and won by the government. It has to be waged heart by heart, in every American heart. Helping our own neighbors. And even then, since we're not all believers, and even the ones who are believers are not all helping out......not everybody is going to be covered. Jesus spoke of the poor often, as I'm sure He knew they would always be around. The government can do what it can, but we as a nation have become far too reliant upon it for our needs and happiness.
John F Kennedy:
"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."
This great quote summarizes how things should be, and points so sharply at exactly how things currently are not. Kennedy's quote doesn't mean the government can't help us, but it does mean that we shouldn't be looking to it to see 'what can i get, what can i get?". Instead the focus of the quote is on service from our part. If we all as individuals did what Kennedy proposed in the second half of that sentence, nobody in America would be for wanting.
Certainly can't accuse me of not having an opinion can ya? ;)