Thanks to Salon's Tim Grieve for the following tally of, as White House press secretary Scott McClellan put it, "instances" and "individual situations" where "the legal process" will need to proceed. Here are some, you know, isolated incidents in the otherwise rosy and sweet-smelling land of sunshine and lollipops that is the reign of George W Bush:
Tom DeLay: The House majority leader was indicted today on a felony charge that he conspired to launder corporate campaign contributions through the national Republican Party in Washington and back to legislative candidates in Texas.
Bill Frist: The Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission are both investigating the Senate majority leader's sale of shares in his family's healthcare business just before the stock's value plummeted in June.
Jack Abramoff: The Republican super-lobbyist, known to have bragged about his contacts with Karl Rove, was indicted in Florida last month along with his business partner on wire fraud and conspiracy fraud charges related to their purchase of a fleet of gambling boats. This week, three men were arrested -- including two who received payments from Abramoff's business partner -- in the Mafia-style killing of the man from whom Abramoff and his partner purchased the gambling boats.
David Safavian: The president's chief procurement officer stepped down two weeks ago and was arrested last week on charges of lying to investigators and obstructing a separate federal investigation into Abramoff's dealings in Washington. Some Republicans who received campaign contributions from Safavian are divesting themselves of his money now.
Timothy Flanigan: The president's nominee to serve as deputy attorney general has announced that he will have to recuse himself from the Abramoff investigation if he is confirmed because he hired Abramoff to help the company where he works -- scandal-ridden Tyco International Ltd. -- lobby DeLay and Rove on tax issues.
Michael Brown: The president's FEMA director resigned earlier this month amid complaints about his handling of Hurricane Katrina and charges that he and other FEMA officials got their jobs based on political connections and cronyism rather than competence or qualifications.
Bob Taft: The Republican governor of Ohio pleaded guilty last month to criminal charges based on his failure to report gifts as required by state law, among them golfing trips paid for by Tom Noe, a major Republican fundraiser who is the subject of his own scandal regarding the state's investment in $50 million in rare coins, some of which have mysteriously gone missing.
Randy "Duke" Cunningham: A federal grand jury in San Diego is investigating allegations that the veteran Republican congressman received financial favors from a defense contractor who allegedly bought Cunningham's house at an inflated price and let him live for free on the contractor's 42-foot yacht.
Ernie Fletcher: The Republican governor of Kentucky has refused to answer questions from a grand jury investigating whether his administration based hiring decisions on political considerations rather than merit. Fletcher has pardoned nine people in the probe -- including the chairman of Kentucky's Republican party -- and fired members of his staff.
George Ryan: Federal prosecutors made their opening statements this week in the criminal trial of the former Republican governor of Illinois. Ryan and a friend, Chicago insurance adjuster Lawrence Warner, are charged with racketeering conspiracy, mail fraud, tax fraud and lying to federal agents.
And then there's Karl Rove and Scooter Libby. The grand jury investigating the outing of Valerie Plame is scheduled to complete its work in late October. While neither Rove nor Libby is apparently a "target" of the investigation -- and while the "corruption" in Plamegate is moral rather than financial -- both men are known to have played a role in revealing or confirming Plame's identity in conversations with reporters, which may be a crime under federal law.
Wow. I guess that's what people get for voting their "moral values."
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Yes, Brownie, we DID NEED you to be a superhero
Although he bust out of the chute buckin' and blamin', former FEMA idiot-in-charge (and now, unbelievably, paid FEMA consultant) Michael Brown got quite a spanking at yesterday's House Select Committee on Hurricane Katrina, much to my and many others' surprise. I still think he needs a few sessions behind the woodshed with some angry, storm-toughened survivors bearing the crowbars they had to use to claw their way out of attics only to stew on their rooftops for days on end -- but yesterday's five-hour interrogation was a good start. Some highlights (from the Washington Post):
"My biggest mistake was not recognizing by Saturday [two days before the storm hit] that Louisiana was dysfunctional," Brown asserted. Duh, Mike -- the place is crawling with Democrats, couldn't you have figured that one out? Seriously, though, Brown labeling anyone else "dysfunctional" is just further proof that the inmates have taken over the asylum that we call "government."
When Brown argued that the White House "was fully engaged . . . behind the scenes," Chairman Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.) interjected: "They had to be behind the scenes, because I think we didn't see anything out front."
When Rep. Christopher Shays, a Connecticut Republican, pressed him about his performance, a petulant Brown complained: "So I guess you want me to be this superhero." Well, yes. That would have been a good start, especially for the people dying for lack of water and other basic essentials. Speaking of which...
When Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-La.) complained about the lack of ice in New Orleans, Brown replied: "I think it's wrong for the federal government to be in the ice business, providing ice so I can keep my beer and Diet Coke cool." Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.), incredulous, asked, "How about the need to keep bodies from rotting in the sun?" And, Brownie, you weren't there, remember? You were sipping your beer and Diet Coke up there in DC, playing Nintendo War of the Worlds or whatever you must have been doing to have been so completely clueless and ineffectual.
God, the man's blockheaded inability to SEE that something REALLY BAD happened there is absolutely dumbfounding, not to mention offensive. And we're still paying him his fat FEMA salary, and he's still being clueless and defensive, and the big wheel keeps spinning round...
"My biggest mistake was not recognizing by Saturday [two days before the storm hit] that Louisiana was dysfunctional," Brown asserted. Duh, Mike -- the place is crawling with Democrats, couldn't you have figured that one out? Seriously, though, Brown labeling anyone else "dysfunctional" is just further proof that the inmates have taken over the asylum that we call "government."
When Brown argued that the White House "was fully engaged . . . behind the scenes," Chairman Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.) interjected: "They had to be behind the scenes, because I think we didn't see anything out front."
When Rep. Christopher Shays, a Connecticut Republican, pressed him about his performance, a petulant Brown complained: "So I guess you want me to be this superhero." Well, yes. That would have been a good start, especially for the people dying for lack of water and other basic essentials. Speaking of which...
When Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-La.) complained about the lack of ice in New Orleans, Brown replied: "I think it's wrong for the federal government to be in the ice business, providing ice so I can keep my beer and Diet Coke cool." Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.), incredulous, asked, "How about the need to keep bodies from rotting in the sun?" And, Brownie, you weren't there, remember? You were sipping your beer and Diet Coke up there in DC, playing Nintendo War of the Worlds or whatever you must have been doing to have been so completely clueless and ineffectual.
God, the man's blockheaded inability to SEE that something REALLY BAD happened there is absolutely dumbfounding, not to mention offensive. And we're still paying him his fat FEMA salary, and he's still being clueless and defensive, and the big wheel keeps spinning round...
Saturday, September 24, 2005
"They're trying to wash us away...."
As many feared, the rains and storm surge from Hurricane Rita are flooding New Orleans again:
In New Orleans, water poured through gaps in the Industrial Canal levee, which engineers had tried to repair after Katrina's floodwaters left 80 percent of the city under water. The rushing water spilled east into St. Bernard Parish, where ducks swam down Judge Perez Drive.
The storm surge was both stronger and earlier than expected, apparently coming through waterways southeast of the city, said Col. Richard Wagenaar, the Army Corps of Engineers' district chief in New Orleans. Water poured over piles of gravel and sandbags in the damaged Industrial Canal levee despite efforts to build it up.
"We believed the 8-foot elevation was sufficient" to protect the Ninth Ward, Wagenaar said. (from CNN.com/AP)
Eight feet of gravel and sandbags. To repair a broken levee that should have been properly repaired and maintained a long damn time ago. The madness of King George and his court:
In 2001, the Federal Emergency Management Agency cited a hurricane strike on New Orleans as one of the three most likely U.S. disasters. Nevertheless, by 2004 the Bush administration had cut funding to the corps' New Orleans district by more than 80 percent.... Earlier this year, the Louisiana congressional delegation got Congress to provide about $60 million for ?ood protection for the city. But the Bush administration reduced that ?gure to $10.4 million.... While the Bush administration was cutting funding to strengthen protective dikes and levees, the state's bipartisan congressional delegation was also working to secure money for the restoration of its coastal wetlands to buffer the impacts of storm surges. Louisiana officials estimated this effort could cost $14 billion, but the lawmakers managed to secure only a tiny fraction -- $570 million over four years, according to The Times-Picayune. The requested multiyear, $14 billion, appropriation was all but erased from the administration's energy bill....
So in order to save in the short term for disaster prevention, the administration's lack of planning has yielded what will likely top $100 billion in damages -- and most of it uninsured. (from Alternet)
At least they finally managed to get the people out of there. Or so I assume, given that the media are reporting on ducks rather than bodies swimming down New Orleans' thoroughfares. I can't imagine Karl Rove giving the order to stifle the real story.
In New Orleans, water poured through gaps in the Industrial Canal levee, which engineers had tried to repair after Katrina's floodwaters left 80 percent of the city under water. The rushing water spilled east into St. Bernard Parish, where ducks swam down Judge Perez Drive.
The storm surge was both stronger and earlier than expected, apparently coming through waterways southeast of the city, said Col. Richard Wagenaar, the Army Corps of Engineers' district chief in New Orleans. Water poured over piles of gravel and sandbags in the damaged Industrial Canal levee despite efforts to build it up.
"We believed the 8-foot elevation was sufficient" to protect the Ninth Ward, Wagenaar said. (from CNN.com/AP)
Eight feet of gravel and sandbags. To repair a broken levee that should have been properly repaired and maintained a long damn time ago. The madness of King George and his court:
In 2001, the Federal Emergency Management Agency cited a hurricane strike on New Orleans as one of the three most likely U.S. disasters. Nevertheless, by 2004 the Bush administration had cut funding to the corps' New Orleans district by more than 80 percent.... Earlier this year, the Louisiana congressional delegation got Congress to provide about $60 million for ?ood protection for the city. But the Bush administration reduced that ?gure to $10.4 million.... While the Bush administration was cutting funding to strengthen protective dikes and levees, the state's bipartisan congressional delegation was also working to secure money for the restoration of its coastal wetlands to buffer the impacts of storm surges. Louisiana officials estimated this effort could cost $14 billion, but the lawmakers managed to secure only a tiny fraction -- $570 million over four years, according to The Times-Picayune. The requested multiyear, $14 billion, appropriation was all but erased from the administration's energy bill....
So in order to save in the short term for disaster prevention, the administration's lack of planning has yielded what will likely top $100 billion in damages -- and most of it uninsured. (from Alternet)
At least they finally managed to get the people out of there. Or so I assume, given that the media are reporting on ducks rather than bodies swimming down New Orleans' thoroughfares. I can't imagine Karl Rove giving the order to stifle the real story.
Friday, September 23, 2005
A story
The following account, written by a woman who is hosting a Hurricane Katrina evacuee from New Orleans, comes from a recent MoveOn.org email that's soliciting donations to help Katrina survivors organize and get some real action in Washington. I feel compelled and even honored to share it here:
The stories my evacuee tells are ten times worse than the reports in the media. A dental technician, she is divorced with two kids and lived in the lower 9th ward (one block from the levee break.) She spent a week at the Superdome and viewed first hand the most horrifying events a person could experience... She made a deal with a man who seemed nice that they would sleep in shifts and watch over each other so their shoes wouldn't be stolen as they slept.
Everyone in the Superdome knew the National Guard was unarmed and could not maintain order. After the shooting of a National Guard, they pulled out. One Guardsman she befriended gave her his knife and told her to hide. She didn't drink the water but thought that brushing her teeth with it would be ok...it wasn't. Because of the poison water she was violently ill for 2 days with no hydration or medical care. The unarmed National Guard trucks only had one driver in most cases and were routinely hijacked by armed looters who then sold the water ($2) and MREs on the streets.
1200 buses each holding 50-55 people were bused to various locations. They announced that they were taking women, children and the elderly first. Men rioted and grabbed children and the elderly and pushed their way on to the buses claiming 'this is my child and we have to stay together.' This may be one of the reasons that so many people were separated. She was then taken to Houston where they waited outside in hot crowded buses while a near riot occurred in the Houston Astrodome.
Next she was bused to Baton Rouge. She walked out of Baton Rouge on a highway where some kind men in a pickup truck stopped and asked her if she was fleeing the hurricane. She said 'yes' and told them where she had been. They offered to take her to bus station, buy her a ticket anywhere she wanted to go and bought her a change of clothing. She went north into Alabama where the sister of her best friend lived. From there she went on the internet to find temporary housing in ATL. My notice was on the MoveOn.Org website. She cross-referenced it with job offers and decided that Marietta, an Atlanta suburb was safe, had some transportation and the hiring market was good. We talked on the phone and my brother and I went to Alabama to pick her up. As we drove back, we listened in horror as she told us her stories. Then, exhausted, she fell asleep in the car while still talking.
As she got settled in, I told her that, 'if it was me, first thing I'd do is sit down and have a good cry.' She said that, 'she had been crying for two solid weeks and she couldn't cry any more.' ...She had to swim in 20' deep water to reach safety where even worse things were waiting for her.
I have a spare bedroom, spare full bath and closet. Small closet was not a problem because she only had one little plastic bag of clothes. The next morning, she asked if we could get her a paper so she could start looking for a job. She sat down at the computer on Sunday and did her resume, then she faxed it to dental practices that were advertising on the same day (thanks to a neighbor downstairs with a fax.) Another neighbor contributed some clothing. By email I rounded up everybody I know who, in turn, put together all their resources. In a week, we've come up with clothes, money, 2 shopping trips, gift certificates, some books to read and furniture...
Through this experience I have come to believe that the news media is underestimating the horror and number of dead. The reality is at least 10 times worse than what we have been led to believe. She personally viewed many dead bodies floating in the water and even more animals. I don't have a lot of money to give to the Red Cross, but I can help put one person back on their feet. If every person assumed responsibility for one of the evacuees, this would be over a lot faster.
The government at every level and the aid agencies have been proven to be giant lumbering elephants that are incapable of reacting quickly in a crisis. I personally have never been so angry with an American President as I am at this time. I will never get the image out of my head of Pres. Bush FLYING OVER THE DAMAGE and not stopping to see firsthand how our neighbors on the Guld Coast are suffering. I am flabbergasted by the callous ineptitude of the President, FEMA and all levels of government involved in this disaster. Every terrorist in the world now knows how weak were are and how slow we are to react. God save us from ourselves.
–Ellen, Marietta, Georgia
The stories my evacuee tells are ten times worse than the reports in the media. A dental technician, she is divorced with two kids and lived in the lower 9th ward (one block from the levee break.) She spent a week at the Superdome and viewed first hand the most horrifying events a person could experience... She made a deal with a man who seemed nice that they would sleep in shifts and watch over each other so their shoes wouldn't be stolen as they slept.
Everyone in the Superdome knew the National Guard was unarmed and could not maintain order. After the shooting of a National Guard, they pulled out. One Guardsman she befriended gave her his knife and told her to hide. She didn't drink the water but thought that brushing her teeth with it would be ok...it wasn't. Because of the poison water she was violently ill for 2 days with no hydration or medical care. The unarmed National Guard trucks only had one driver in most cases and were routinely hijacked by armed looters who then sold the water ($2) and MREs on the streets.
1200 buses each holding 50-55 people were bused to various locations. They announced that they were taking women, children and the elderly first. Men rioted and grabbed children and the elderly and pushed their way on to the buses claiming 'this is my child and we have to stay together.' This may be one of the reasons that so many people were separated. She was then taken to Houston where they waited outside in hot crowded buses while a near riot occurred in the Houston Astrodome.
Next she was bused to Baton Rouge. She walked out of Baton Rouge on a highway where some kind men in a pickup truck stopped and asked her if she was fleeing the hurricane. She said 'yes' and told them where she had been. They offered to take her to bus station, buy her a ticket anywhere she wanted to go and bought her a change of clothing. She went north into Alabama where the sister of her best friend lived. From there she went on the internet to find temporary housing in ATL. My notice was on the MoveOn.Org website. She cross-referenced it with job offers and decided that Marietta, an Atlanta suburb was safe, had some transportation and the hiring market was good. We talked on the phone and my brother and I went to Alabama to pick her up. As we drove back, we listened in horror as she told us her stories. Then, exhausted, she fell asleep in the car while still talking.
As she got settled in, I told her that, 'if it was me, first thing I'd do is sit down and have a good cry.' She said that, 'she had been crying for two solid weeks and she couldn't cry any more.' ...She had to swim in 20' deep water to reach safety where even worse things were waiting for her.
I have a spare bedroom, spare full bath and closet. Small closet was not a problem because she only had one little plastic bag of clothes. The next morning, she asked if we could get her a paper so she could start looking for a job. She sat down at the computer on Sunday and did her resume, then she faxed it to dental practices that were advertising on the same day (thanks to a neighbor downstairs with a fax.) Another neighbor contributed some clothing. By email I rounded up everybody I know who, in turn, put together all their resources. In a week, we've come up with clothes, money, 2 shopping trips, gift certificates, some books to read and furniture...
Through this experience I have come to believe that the news media is underestimating the horror and number of dead. The reality is at least 10 times worse than what we have been led to believe. She personally viewed many dead bodies floating in the water and even more animals. I don't have a lot of money to give to the Red Cross, but I can help put one person back on their feet. If every person assumed responsibility for one of the evacuees, this would be over a lot faster.
The government at every level and the aid agencies have been proven to be giant lumbering elephants that are incapable of reacting quickly in a crisis. I personally have never been so angry with an American President as I am at this time. I will never get the image out of my head of Pres. Bush FLYING OVER THE DAMAGE and not stopping to see firsthand how our neighbors on the Guld Coast are suffering. I am flabbergasted by the callous ineptitude of the President, FEMA and all levels of government involved in this disaster. Every terrorist in the world now knows how weak were are and how slow we are to react. God save us from ourselves.
–Ellen, Marietta, Georgia
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Here comes Rita ... (some new pix, too)
Talk about kicking them when they're down -- people who finally made it to Houston two weeks ago have to move again, because here comes Hurricane Rita -- a category 4, soon to be a category 5. Good Lord, please spare them.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is trying very hard to look like he's on top of things, and urged residents in the potentially affected areas to evacuate.
"The lesson is that when the storm hits, the best place to be is to be out of the path of the storm," he told ABC's "Good Morning America." "There's plenty of [advance] notice about Rita."
You know, Michael, there was plenty of advance notice about Katrina, too. Nice to see you guys finally woke the f*$% up.
In other news, Miss Maggie fell asleep for a while, so I got to do up some recent pictures. First, my little couch potatoes (I rarely get pictures of them together, sitting peacefully rather than mauling each other):
Laz and Maggie had a great time at my parents' party here last month -- Maggie looks kind of dazed after some major sandbox and swingset play with bigger kids, two purloined cupcakes, and no nap:
And here's the little guy on his very first day of school ever:
I have more in the camera but have to go pick Laz up from school, so they'll have to wait till God knows when. Maybe Maggie will nap again tomorrow morning....
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is trying very hard to look like he's on top of things, and urged residents in the potentially affected areas to evacuate.
"The lesson is that when the storm hits, the best place to be is to be out of the path of the storm," he told ABC's "Good Morning America." "There's plenty of [advance] notice about Rita."
You know, Michael, there was plenty of advance notice about Katrina, too. Nice to see you guys finally woke the f*$% up.
In other news, Miss Maggie fell asleep for a while, so I got to do up some recent pictures. First, my little couch potatoes (I rarely get pictures of them together, sitting peacefully rather than mauling each other):
Laz and Maggie had a great time at my parents' party here last month -- Maggie looks kind of dazed after some major sandbox and swingset play with bigger kids, two purloined cupcakes, and no nap:
And here's the little guy on his very first day of school ever:
I have more in the camera but have to go pick Laz up from school, so they'll have to wait till God knows when. Maybe Maggie will nap again tomorrow morning....
My -- uh, Our -- new ride
I know, I know -- it's big. And it's an SUV -- a 4Runner, not too big but not my usual modest ride. But. I love it and can't believe how fortunate I am to be able to replace my officially dead old Corolla right away, with something we need and want. I've already taken it down a few of the many dirt roads around here, and on Friday we're planning a jaunt that will make good use of the high clearance and real 4WD. There's a warm spring out past Dusty, going up into the western foothills of the Magdalena mountains, and the only road there is rocky and rutted and likely half-washed-out from the heavy rains we got a few weeks back. I've been wanting to go back there all summer -- I think we were last there two years ago -- both to bathe in the waters and to see the red and blue dragonflies who live there, and now we finally can. Here's a pic of Lazarus in the little pool there, in August 2003:
We're hoping to go with some cool people -- gasp! potential real friends at last! -- who have a son just a year older than Lazarus and two older kids.
I have pix of the kids, the store renovations, and other stuff to put up, when I get some real computer time.... Later, y'all.
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
The kindness of strangers
It warms my heart to hear and read stories of people's generosity during hard times, and the photo above, showing just one day's shipments of quilts to Hurricane Katrina evacuees in Houston, made my day. Quilts Inc. now reports that "Due to the overwhelmingly positive response from quilters worldwide, the Quilters Comfort America project has received more than enough quilts to place with evacuees. If you were planning on sending us a quilt but have not yet, we urge you to find use for it to help those within your own community. Thank you for your efforts."
I just dug my stash of flannels out of the shed, so I'll start planning and cutting some flannel crib and single-bed quilts to donate for kids around here. Still gotta finish Maggie's flannel quilt... I'm just not in sewing mode. But I'm knitting, finally! Sure enough, as soon as the nights started getting nippy, out came the yarn and the needles. I have two projects going now, one a basic garter-stitch pullover for Lazarus using some sturdy golden-yellow wool a friend gave me last fall, the other a fancy cable pullover for Maggie using some gorgeous turquoise wool/alpaca/soy silk from the local mill. I always have to have two projects going so that I have an easy one (for TV and tired times) and a challenging one (to hold my interest and make me feel like less of a hack). I have two more projects planned (a cardigan for each kid) and three after that (yarn on hand but patterns not selected). The days get shorter, the sun sets earlier, the gardens are as good as they're gonna get this year, so it's time to change my evening routines.... I'm watching TV again, and am becoming a Daily Show regular. Antonio usually works pretty late over at the store after dinner, so once I get the kids to bed, I get some alone time.
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
And now, a word from the First Mother
"...so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them." --Barbara Bush, speaking about Hurricane Katrina evacuees in Houston
Wow. It never occurred to me to think of the hurricane evacuees as fortunate -- here I was being all sad and gloomy that so many people lost their homes, their livelihoods, friends and family and neighbors and pets and treasured heirlooms and then had to endure days of desperate fear, hunger, thirst, sleeplessness, filth and absolute neglect... thanks for the perspective, Bar. And you people sleeping on cots, chin up -- see how lucky you are? I mean, what luxury accommodations. You have it so good now that Bar won't have to feel guilty about not opening up the Kennebunkport palace to evacuees for the next few months. So y'all be grateful, m'kay?
Any of that cake left over from last Monday?
Wow. It never occurred to me to think of the hurricane evacuees as fortunate -- here I was being all sad and gloomy that so many people lost their homes, their livelihoods, friends and family and neighbors and pets and treasured heirlooms and then had to endure days of desperate fear, hunger, thirst, sleeplessness, filth and absolute neglect... thanks for the perspective, Bar. And you people sleeping on cots, chin up -- see how lucky you are? I mean, what luxury accommodations. You have it so good now that Bar won't have to feel guilty about not opening up the Kennebunkport palace to evacuees for the next few months. So y'all be grateful, m'kay?
Any of that cake left over from last Monday?
Sunday, September 04, 2005
Memo to Michael and Michael: Shut the fuck up and get outta town
to: Michael Brown and Michael Chertoff
from: disgruntled taxpayers
Resign now and spare us your self-righteous handwringing lies -- we don't want to see your deer-in-the-headlight stares or listen to your stammering excuses anymore. What you and your cronies have wrought in NOLA is beyond disgraceful, and when The Big Guy Upstairs is done kicking Bad Billy's ass he'll be buffing his boots for your sorry asses. Shame on you.
from: disgruntled taxpayers
Resign now and spare us your self-righteous handwringing lies -- we don't want to see your deer-in-the-headlight stares or listen to your stammering excuses anymore. What you and your cronies have wrought in NOLA is beyond disgraceful, and when The Big Guy Upstairs is done kicking Bad Billy's ass he'll be buffing his boots for your sorry asses. Shame on you.
Friday, September 02, 2005
The times, are they a-changin'?
I'm actually gaining respect for CNN -- or, rather, for some of its field reporters and even a few "big-name" people there (though Larry King ISN'T one of them) -- since they're actively and vocally disputing the Feds' views of what's going on in New Orleans. This article on their Web site seems downright ballsy, given the past few years of media meekness in the face of the Bush administration's outrageous ineptitude and criminal activity. I almost cheered this afternoon as CNN's Soledad O'Brien sweetly yet doggedly cornered FEMA Chief Nitwit Michael Brown as he tried to insist that things were going well. "It's FRIDAY," she repeated several times. He got really red-faced and, good Bush crony that he is, held fast to his version of the truth and came out looking like an ass.
Jack Cafferty remains outspoken in his disdain and outrage over the Feds' "bungling" of this whole thing, and Last night Anderson Cooper ranted at Louisiana senator Mary Landrieu, "Excuse me, Senator, I'm sorry for interrupting. I haven't heard that [about the sanate approving $10 billion for relief efforts], because, for the last four days, I've been seeing dead bodies in the streets here in Mississippi. And to listen to politicians thanking each other and complimenting each other, you know, I got to tell you, there are a lot of people here who are very upset, and very angry, and very frustrated.
"And when they hear politicians slap -- you know, thanking one another, it just, you know, it kind of cuts them the wrong way right now, because literally there was a body on the streets of this town yesterday being eaten by rats because this woman had been laying in the street for 48 hours. And there's not enough facilities to take her up.
"Do you get the anger that is out here?"
At least CNN finally gets it. I know, they're a far cry from Democracy Now! or Alternet or Daily Kos (my new fave read), but they're not right-wing stoolies anymore, either.
Oh, King George is wrapping up his Gulf visit -- flying out of the N.O. airport on his way back to DC. God, dude, it's Friday. Thanks for showing up. Oh, and tell Condi we love her new shoes. Really stylish. Y'all come back now, hear?
Jack Cafferty remains outspoken in his disdain and outrage over the Feds' "bungling" of this whole thing, and Last night Anderson Cooper ranted at Louisiana senator Mary Landrieu, "Excuse me, Senator, I'm sorry for interrupting. I haven't heard that [about the sanate approving $10 billion for relief efforts], because, for the last four days, I've been seeing dead bodies in the streets here in Mississippi. And to listen to politicians thanking each other and complimenting each other, you know, I got to tell you, there are a lot of people here who are very upset, and very angry, and very frustrated.
"And when they hear politicians slap -- you know, thanking one another, it just, you know, it kind of cuts them the wrong way right now, because literally there was a body on the streets of this town yesterday being eaten by rats because this woman had been laying in the street for 48 hours. And there's not enough facilities to take her up.
"Do you get the anger that is out here?"
At least CNN finally gets it. I know, they're a far cry from Democracy Now! or Alternet or Daily Kos (my new fave read), but they're not right-wing stoolies anymore, either.
Oh, King George is wrapping up his Gulf visit -- flying out of the N.O. airport on his way back to DC. God, dude, it's Friday. Thanks for showing up. Oh, and tell Condi we love her new shoes. Really stylish. Y'all come back now, hear?
Thursday, September 01, 2005
A memo to King George
Yo, George. Yeah, you. Your vacation is over -- it should have been over on Sunday night, before Katrina came calling. Forget about bike rides, Cindy, gas prices -- be a man, step up to the plate with something other than platitudes, and do something useful for once.
Yes, more people should have evacuated if at all possible, though many had no cars or other ways out, or were incapacitated, and wow, who would have figured on that? Didn't any of the region's supposedly well-informed and trained public officials figure on trouble when they hastily decided to put these "everyone elses" in the Superdome? And where the hell were the Feds, with all their brainpower and resources? (Well, we know where George was.) Especially since one of the main concerns for New Orleans was that the levees would break and the city would flood? And water and electricity usually do go out when a hurricane passes through town -- lots of known variables here, and still no workable advance solutions. That's just wrong.
Well, it's easy to see in hindsight that the chaos in New Orleans might well have been prevented. But. We elect, hire, and pay for our public officials to have foresight. Oh, look, here comes a Category-5 hurricane that wrought havoc as a Cat-1 in Florida and now is knocking out oil rigs and drawing a bead on the Big Easy. Let's put our heads together and figure out a plan. (They should have had a plan before. But the storm still gave them fair warning.)
What a horrible situation for those thousands upon thousands of people stranded in the heat, the filth, the hunger and searing thirst, the chaos. And I just don't think it had to come to this.
Edited to add links to:
Ways to help:
American Red Cross
American Friends Service Committee
Liberal Blogosphere
The Humane Society
*Alert*: FEMA and some news outlets are directing potential donors to "Operation Blessing" -- which is chaired by Pat Robertson. You know, the guy who said we should assassinate Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. Do what you want, but...
Pointed commentary:
Yes, more people should have evacuated if at all possible, though many had no cars or other ways out, or were incapacitated, and wow, who would have figured on that? Didn't any of the region's supposedly well-informed and trained public officials figure on trouble when they hastily decided to put these "everyone elses" in the Superdome? And where the hell were the Feds, with all their brainpower and resources? (Well, we know where George was.) Especially since one of the main concerns for New Orleans was that the levees would break and the city would flood? And water and electricity usually do go out when a hurricane passes through town -- lots of known variables here, and still no workable advance solutions. That's just wrong.
Well, it's easy to see in hindsight that the chaos in New Orleans might well have been prevented. But. We elect, hire, and pay for our public officials to have foresight. Oh, look, here comes a Category-5 hurricane that wrought havoc as a Cat-1 in Florida and now is knocking out oil rigs and drawing a bead on the Big Easy. Let's put our heads together and figure out a plan. (They should have had a plan before. But the storm still gave them fair warning.)
What a horrible situation for those thousands upon thousands of people stranded in the heat, the filth, the hunger and searing thirst, the chaos. And I just don't think it had to come to this.
Edited to add links to:
Ways to help:
American Red Cross
American Friends Service Committee
Liberal Blogosphere
The Humane Society
*Alert*: FEMA and some news outlets are directing potential donors to "Operation Blessing" -- which is chaired by Pat Robertson. You know, the guy who said we should assassinate Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. Do what you want, but...
Pointed commentary:
"Look, I've seen the conservatives and the Sensible Liberals saying that this disaster shouldn't be politicized. In other words, we shouldn't talk about the decisions that were made beforehand regarding the levee system, and we shouldn't discuss the ways in which the commitment of funds and manpower to Iraq will affect recovery efforts, and we shouldn't discuss Bush's bizarre decision to spend a day giving canned stump speeches before heading back to D.C., and we shouldn't discuss the decisions that will be made in the days ahead--and I say, bullshit. Bush is clearly operating under no such constraint--he's obviously anticipating the criticism and trying to deflect it." -Tom Tomorrow, "This Modern World" (the blog)
"George W. Bush gave one of the worst speeches of his life yesterday, especially given the level of national distress and the need for words of consolation and wisdom. In what seems to be a ritual in this administration, the president appeared a day later than he was needed. He then read an address of a quality more appropriate for an Arbor Day celebration: a long laundry list of pounds of ice, generators and blankets delivered to the stricken Gulf Coast. He advised the public that anybody who wanted to help should send cash, grinned, and promised that everything would work out in the end.... And nothing about the president's demeanor yesterday - which seemed casual to the point of carelessness - suggested that he understood the depth of the current crisis." -"Waiting for a Leader," The New York Times
"If you condensed every single official duty of the President of the United States into a list of perhaps four or five things, taking responsibility and management of his or her own citizens' welfare would be one of them. And on that topic the President has... totally failed at this." -August J. Pollak
"I'm 62, I remember the riots in Watts, I remember the earthquake in San Francisco, I remember a lot of things--I have never, ever seen anything as badly bungled and poorly handled as this situation in New Orleans. Where the hell is the water for these people? Why can't sandwiches be dropped to those people in that Superdome down there? This is Thursday! This is Thursday! This storm happened five days ago. It's a disgrace, and don't think the world isn't watching. This is the government the taxpayers are paying for and it's fallen right flat on its face, in the way its handled this thing." -veteran newsman Jack Cafferty speaking on CNN (transcribed here among other places)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
