Bring It On!

By tos on Aug 29, 2006 | Reply

Ken,

What exactly is this supposed to mean? That this would never had happened if Bush wasn’t the president? Or if Kerry was all the residents from NO would have been evacuated in an orderly and timely fashion or they would have all been rescued in a matter of hours? Or maybe you are referencing Global Warming.

What is the point of constantly putting this in people’s faces. Let’s mourn the people of NO without making these constant references because it does nothing for anybody.

By Locomotive Breath 1901 on Aug 29, 2006 | Reply

No, Ken. Nobody wants to stay that course; i.e. Gov. Blanco’s indecision and delays; Mayor Nagin’s incompetence and poor leadership, FEMAs predictable mismanagement and red tape. All Murphy’s law award winners.

George Santayana said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Mayor Nagin was re-elected to a second term back in May, 2006 and Gov. Blanco barely survived a recall vote. These are the first responders that let the all people in N.O and louisianna down - essentially stabbing them in the back. The november elections are not the answer. The federal government is not the answer. The state and local government is closer to home, more familar and better suited to the needs of areas like N.O. to best prep, implement and respond to the people and their emergencies. Unless, like stated above, those administrations are  incompetent, indecisive and ill-prepared. Then, the people have to live with the consequences of their choices of who they voted for and where they live.

 http://locomotivebreath1901.blogspot.com/2006/08/katrina-plus-one.html

By Ann on Aug 29, 2006 | Reply

Tos’s right Ken. For godssake, why can’t you just play the game and stop reminding everyone that so many people have died/suffered under the Bush, not Kerry, administration with this damned poster campaign?

Gesh. What’s wrong with you?? It’s almost like you don’t want people to forget. Can’t you see that people like Tos would rather forget?  Can’t you see that they’d rather be distracted by say, the ‘latest (unsubstantiated) lead’ in a high profile, yet unresolved-for-over-a-decade-but-back-at-a-convenient-juncture, murder case; or by the abhorrent behaviour of a nasty polygamist; or by the ridiculous-for-a-man-of-his-age antics of Tom Cruise (I believe Janet Jackson did the honours last time, must be Toms turn now. Or is it Mel’s? Not sure.); or even by the latest football/baseball/foosball/blowball/scratchmyballs/anyball scores, etc, etc etc. Anything rather than being reminded – constantly – of, say, the latest body count (at home or aboard) or that the Bush, not Kerry, administration failed and continues to fail, millions its own citizens.  

So Ken, just stop it will you.

In future, instead of focussing on the global catastrophe that is the Bush, not Kerry, administration, why not do as every parent is told to do when faced with an unruly child and, as Tos seems to be suggesting: Focus on the good and ignore the bad. 

Go on. We can wait. We’ve waited this long. (And it can’t be that long ‘til November*). You must be able to find something. Anything. Maybe one of them helped an old lady across the road once (without it actually being a PR stunt).  Who knows. We may be pleasantly surprised. (Parental advisory: Holding your breath for long periods of time can be dangerous.)

[*It’s a little more than 90 days. Heck, you can’t even hold a suspected terrorist that long - in the UK anyway…]

By ken grandlund on Aug 29, 2006 | Reply

Ann- You are BEAUTIFUL! That is exactly the right response to tos, and quite frankly, I wasn’t willing to cramp up my fingers giving it. It’s quite obvious (to me anyhow) what exactly this poster campaign is meant to infer. I suppose that in the eyes of tos it is okay to continually whip the 9-11 wagon to drum up support for the neo-con agenda, but when the shoe is on the other foot, why, that’s just plain bad form. Well, TOO BAD! The federal government, headed by Bush, is an abject failure, and it is my job as a thinking American citizen to point that out whenever I can.

Locomotive Breath- I hear you. Personally, I also feel that the local governments fell down on the job and served their constituents poorly and would not have voted to retain their brand of leadership had I voted in La. However, the feds DO have a great deal of responsibility in maintaining public safety, especially when something of this magnitude occurs. Catastrophic disaster would overwhelm even them most apt local governments (which Louisiana clearly does not have), and the federal response under Bush and his crony filled agencies is a sham and a travesty for all Americans. And while it WILL take more than just one election cycle to fix the problems of our government(s), November is a great place to start. Too bad the voters in Louisiana and New Orleans haven’t yet figured out that those who fail so miserably should not be rewarded with more time in office.

Tos- Feel free to pull the covers back over your head until the lollypop fairy makes her next appearance.

By Dusty on Aug 29, 2006 | Reply

Aw Ann..I heart you girl!!!

Ken..could you send me the larger version for my opening page on my personal blog please? This one even beats the current one I have up.. whicch is also one of BIO’s change the course ones.

By Ann on Aug 29, 2006 | Reply

I heart you right back Dusty ;o))

Keep working on that poster Ken, I fear Tos is already turning blue (hahahhahahha!)

By steve on Aug 29, 2006 | Reply

Ken…  i think you are getting the visit from the old “lollypop” fairy with this one.  When you registered as a “liberal” outside Target before the last election did you get a straight jacket?

It boggles my mind that “you people” believe Bush could have stopped the hurricane and/or prevented all the damage incurred down there.  I think you look at the Governer and the “chocolate”mayor if ask me.

For Christ’s sake you people are Godless!!! 

By Dusty on Aug 29, 2006 | Reply

Yes we are Steve..if you listen to Trashcan Ann..like I give a rats behind what she thinks..

Bush fiddled while the city was drowning. Bush sat on his ass for days. Bush still refuses to give LA. a legitimate amount of the oil and gas revenue from the wells off their coast. They kinda need them to rebuild, not to mention that All states except LA. get huge revenues from their off and on shore rigs.. Alaska gets so much, every man,woman and child gets a check every year..and its not small. The majority of the natural gas reserves are located in the Gulf of Mexico…but hey..its only money..right? Who cares if LA gets the shaft..they been getting it for years, right?

By Lemming Herder on Aug 29, 2006 | Reply

In 42 BC, Publius Syrus said “Learn to see in another’s calamity the ills which you should avoid.”

While we do grieve for those lost in New Orleans, we damn sure shouldn’t forget or forgive what happened. What many of you do not realize is that most of the people int he 9th Ward couldn’t afford to gas up their Suburban and get a room at the Hilton to let the Hurricane blow over. Short of physically removing them there wasn’t a hell of a lot the local government could do.

The levees were the resposibility of the feds, and they blew it.

As to Kerry being President, if he had been the levees would still have blown but I think we would have had people in N’Awlins a hell of a lot sooner and I don’t think we would have had pictures of him flying over the bodies in Air Force One while heading to a political speech supporting the war in Iraq and pointing out the window at all the black folks playing in the water.

http://dontbealemming.com/2006/08/27/new-orleans–one-year-later.aspx

Posted by the Lemming Herder at Don’t Be A Lemming!

By Lemming Herder on Aug 29, 2006 | Reply

And Stay the Course is an ignorant philosophy.

Posted by the Lemming Herder at Don’t Be A Lemming!

By Dusty on Aug 29, 2006 | Reply

The city and surrounding parishes had hundreds of school and city busses to move people before the hurricane hit. Nagin is just as guilty of incompetence as Blanco and da Shrub and his minions. People should not of been dying at the Dome days after the hurricane hit. Food and water..you can drop that shit from a friggin helicopter. Med’s for the old and sick..jeebus. its not rocket science.If news crews were getting in and out..so could the government and supplies.

By ken grandlund on Aug 29, 2006 | Reply

Steve-

Get a clue. Do I claim that Bush could have stopped a hurricane? No, Never. I’m not an idiot. But every time you make such an assertion that one of us thinks something like that you sure sound like one. Bush sat around praising his good old buddy Brownie while people were struggling for their lives. He himself has taken responsibility for the inept federal response, but has done little since the disaster to streamline the federal agencies under his command to help alleviate the problems these people are still facing. You are little more than an apologist for an inept president.

By steve on Aug 30, 2006 | Reply

To my recollection “Brownie” was relieved of his duties so… who makes that decision?  Was it a bad one?  And why was he let go?  And do you think that was a show of leadership in a situation that was totally fucked to begin with?

By ken grandlund on Aug 30, 2006 | Reply

Steve- It was a bad decision to put Brown in that position to begin with. Whose decision was that? Removing him was no big sign of mental acuity. It was a no brainer. If that’s the best you can do to show leadership ability, it’s time to go to the back of the line.

By Dusty on Aug 30, 2006 | Reply

Brownie was released of his duties after the shrub told him he was doing a helluva job. His background is running the Arabian Horse Society or some crap. There WAS NO leadership Steve..from the Feds..

By Ann on Aug 30, 2006 | Reply

 
Steve - “It boggles my mind that ‘you people’ think Bush could have stopped the hurricane and/or prevented [all] the damage incurred down there” - if you still think that ‘we people’ will ever, may ever, or have ever, think, ‘thunk’ (for all the Bush fans), or even thought anything of the sort after all the time you spend on these pages then you boggle my mind – we are the ones who’ve known, and been telling everyone, including you, for ages that he’s not a God, remember? (Godless Steve?? If being Godless means being the opposite of these people, then I WANT to be Godless). And if you still think Bush and his cohorts couldn’t have handled the aftermath of Katrina a zillion times better than they bothered to and saved numerous lives in the process then, it just confirms what many of us have suspected all along about your mind: that yours must already have been totally and without exception, irrevocably and forever, well and truly Bush-boggled before you even came here!

Dusty, Ken - I don’t know why you even bother rehashing this stuff with him, over and over again, there’s nowt so blind as them that don’t want to see.

By H. Evers on Aug 30, 2006 | Reply

http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110008860

All the best

By manapp on Aug 30, 2006 | Reply

The moral to the Katrina story is that dependence on the government is dangerous to your health. Even if the poor could not afford to gas up the SUV and get out of Dodge as the good Mayor did, they still could have bought some bottled water and canned food. These items can be purchased with the aid of food stamps. The levies were built by the Feds but were maintained, or supposedly so, by the locals. New Orleans residents were first the responsibilty of themselves, second the city, third the state and last the feds. You count on your own common sense to buy water and food in the face of a known coming disaster, your local officials to assist in evacuation, the state to provide first responders immediatly after the disaster and the feds to help clean up after.  Clearly the main blame for the failure lies at the hands of local and state officials. Yet they recently re-elected Nagin and Blanco. Guess they have decided to “stay the course” in Louisianna

By tos on Aug 30, 2006 | Reply

Yep it’s all Bush’s fault and that’s it. FEMA yes I will admit was a little slow in it’s response. But lest we forget it was the responsibility of the local government to communicate what assistance they needed.

Once the rescue efforts got under way I don’t think any other country could hold a candle to the US efforts in what they did and what they are doing now. Obviously you haven’t been watching the documentaries that have been on TV this passed week describing that this was the worst natural disaster in this country’s history. And how the rebuilding efforts can go on for 10 years or more. No matter who was president,we all learned alot from this tragedy.

Hurricane Andrew took five years to rebuild. People were living in trailers and half homes for five years after that hurricane and in 2002 they still had 10 more homes to rebuild and that doesn’t compare to the devistation that was NO.

So for all of you that continue to use this tradegy for politcal reasons and see it for what it really is,I say “shame on you”. It’s about people’s lives. So while some of us really care and do what we can to help,you people continue your rants because it’s a little too little too late for playing yet another one of your “blame” games”.

By Paul Merda on Aug 30, 2006 | Reply

manapp,

I agree that looking to the Feds for anything will only get your ass dead.  I am coming around to the Conservative Philosophy that we need to give back both money and power to our State and Local governments.  What is equally disturbing to me is that Hezbollah is rebuilding Lebanon faster than the Feds can rebuild NOLA.  Goes to show that rebuilding efforts are more efficient when the locals have the money and make the decisions instead of some Washington Bureaucrat confounded by endless streams of paperwork…

By Jersey McJones on Aug 30, 2006 | Reply

What the rabbling right is missing here is simple:  No one should be surprised by the ineptitude of the poor, famously crooked, New Orleans and Louisiana government.  Everyone should be shocked by the ineptitude of the post-9/11 federal government. 

If this had been a terror strick, and was handled in this, I wonder what kind of excuses the idiots on the right would come up with for that!

JMJ  

By Tom Baker on Aug 30, 2006 | Reply

Yep canned food and water are really helpful as you float down the river that was once your street.

Here are the facts concerning the levee’s, the flaoding, and Bush’s role.
http://www.factcheck.org/article344.html
 

By manapp on Aug 30, 2006 | Reply

Yes, canned food and water would be helpful as you float down the street. Especially the water. Are you suggesting that the boat they were in wouldn’t accomodate provisions?

By ken grandlund on Aug 30, 2006 | Reply

Assuming you had a boat prepared to float down the flooded streets prior to the event, food and water in your boat would be helpful. But for the hundreds and thousands who had to flee without a boat or car or any seaworthy transportation, it’s kind of silly to think they would be carrying 5 days worth of food and water on their backs as the waters were rushing up to their necks and higher.

By Ditto on Aug 30, 2006 | Reply

“…continue to use this tradegy for politcal reasons…” 9/11 9/11 9/11!

Everybody knows Clinton was responsible for the Federal Failure/Reponse for Katrina.

By Dusty on Aug 30, 2006 | Reply

Evers, what point are you trying to make with the WSJ article? Yes, the disaster is the most expensive in history, the land mass affected is bigger than anything we have ever seen. The money, although appropriated, still for the most part is being held onto. The NOLA area hasn’t put in for building permits because Nagin’s dumb ass can’t find a plan that he will put his name too, that doesn’t piss someone off. They are on their 3rd plan so far, of course the building permits will not be issued until people have funds to rebuild and know what they are allowed to construct. 

The carpetbagging private contractors like Halliburton and their subsidies are just getting fat and rich. Several companies got some big no-bid contracts and bilked the government for millions while doing very little for the money, an example is the company hired to retrieve the bodies from houses.. Entergy a Fotune 500 company is refusing to rebuild their own infrastructure even though they have the funds..they want to sponge off the government..oh how sweet is that?

Your WSJ article is on the opinion page old man..but his numbers are correct. He just wants to blame everyone else except the government..this of course is no surprize.. 

By tos on Aug 30, 2006 | Reply

“…continue to use this tradegy for politcal reasons…” 9/11 9/11 9/11!

Ditto-

A big difference between an intentional attack on US soil and a natural disatster.

Of course Clinton wasn’t responsible for Federal Failure response to Katrina/I believe it was Hurricane Andrew’s Failures he was responsible for silly.

By tos on Aug 30, 2006 | Reply

Oh I mean Hurricane Floyd.

By H. Evers on Aug 30, 2006 | Reply

Dear Mr. Mc Jones,

Your statement; “No one should be surprised by the ineptitude of the poor, famously crooked, New Orleans and Louisiana government.”

Ah yes Mr. Mc Jones our only savior is a terribly efficient and all knowing central government.  A  Government that that can make the consequences of our personal decisions just “go away”.  That can mother us and take care of us cradle to grave.  We don’t need to worry about knowing how to make local government work why the mighty federal government will fix everything.  Golly but that sounds like a great Idea. 

We just change the wording a little and teach school a little different and no one will ever notice after a while.  How’s this sound “Government of the Governments, by the Government, for the Government” does that sound good to you?

All the best

By Jersey McJones on Aug 30, 2006 | Reply

Wow, Evers, how you could miss my point that much and twist it around that much is beyond me.  If we can’t count on the fedreal gov’t to handle major disasters, then we’re fucked.

JMJ

By H. Evers on Aug 30, 2006 | Reply

Dear Mr. Mc Jones,

Oh I don’t I missed the point at all.  And do we really want to discuss who is responsible, by law, for leading disaster mitigation? (Just a hint it is not the Federal Government)  By the way here is another interesting article to add to the discussion.

All the best.

http://www.investors.com/editorial/editorialcontent.asp?secid=1501&status=article&id=241744198481684&view=1

By Jersey McJones on Aug 30, 2006 | Reply

Evers, my fine friend, the feds run the levees, and they handle interstate disasters.  So, your argument is fucked. 

Also, like I said, no one should be surprised by the ineptitude of Louisiana local and state government.  Everone should be shocked and amazed that Bush and his “post 9/11 world” mindset would be so inept.  If this were a terror attack, Bush would have had to resign by now.

Alos, here’s the perfect country for people like you who disdain organized federal government.  Send us a postcard when you get there. 
JMJ 

By Dusty on Aug 30, 2006 | Reply

Whoa! you go Jersey..I heart you dude!

By Jersey McJones on Aug 30, 2006 | Reply

I heart you too, Dusty. 
JMJ

By tos on Aug 30, 2006 | Reply

JMJ,

Are you talking about these feds that run the levees?

http://www.bayoubuzz.com/articles.aspx?aid=5630

By Jersey McJones on Aug 30, 2006 | Reply

Sorry Tos.  The army corps are the final word on the levees.  The only authority that lords over them is the president.  So, if you want to move down the line to the locals - fine.  You’re right.  But of you look up, it’s far more disappointing. 

JMJ 

By Dusty on Aug 31, 2006 | Reply

My bud Al from deadissue.com wanted me to post his take on this post..I was telling him about it..and the rights view:

Al Swearengen says:

“That hopefully won’t be the case forever. If Bill Clinton was President, that wouldn’t have happened. For some reason we can deploy troops to go kill people…helicopters, trucks, food, water, gear…to anywhere in the world in under 24 hours, yet these people were starving, dehydrated, children without formula, milk…

The righties are trying to go with the theory of low expectations, but once we do that, we’re fucked! The truth is, AMERICA CAN HANDLE SOMETHING LIKE THIS…as long as the political will is there to make the call.

I love how righties spend so much time ripping the governor and mayor apart - - - as if either one of them could have deployed the military to save those people. The only entity that could have saved them was the federal government, and unfortunately, we elected leaders who couldn’t care less about life or death.

That is, unless it’s an embryo or a fetus…then they’ll throw down the gauntlet. Once you’re born though, you’re on your own…and if you’re a minority…”