Federal response called `a national disgrace'

[sabra]

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/politics/12537562.htm

Federal response called `a national disgrace'

WASHINGTON - (KRT) - Rage and resentment reached a crescendo Thursday among victims of Hurricane Katrina who felt the federal government had abandoned them at their most desperate moment.

Bush administration officials acknowledged the anger but said they were moving as quickly as possible to mobilize thousands of troops and other personnel to the area.

Critics were in no mood for excuses, though, as New Orleans slid further into chaos - with people literally dying in the streets, snipers taking shots at relief workers and hunger spreading throughout the area.

Terry Ebbert, head of New Orleans' emergency operations, called the response from the Federal Emergency Management Agency "a national disgrace."
"FEMA has been here three days, yet there is no command and control," Ebbert said. "We can send massive amounts of aid to tsunami victims but we can't bail out the city of New Orleans."

[BillZBubb]

1. It's beyond a disgrace, it's criminal.

The Bush administration and Repug fellow travelers should have to answer for this. But they won't have to.

They've managed to make the US worse than a third world country when our citizens are in dire need.

[iamjoy]

2. I Used To Think We Were Better Than This

But, local & state officials must take some responsibility too.

When you call up the National Guard, you tell them, bring water on those trucks. Bring riot gear, if the mobs being out of hand are truly preventing them from getting in with supplies.

We must have ways to stop riots/mobs without injuring or killing people. First, try reason, announce over a megaphone that they have water and will distribute it but ask for people's calm and cooperation. If that doesn't work, they must have a way to control desperate crowds without injuring or killing them. Would stun (concussion) grenades work or are those too harsh?

[IconoclastIlene]

3. He's proud he left his vacation early!!!!

See how George cares?

[against all enemies]

44. And two days AFTER the disaster!!! I see a trend here.

[Nothing Without Hope]

54. Dick Cheney is apparently STILL on vacation!!!

Or perhaps he is in a bunker somewhere planning the invasion of Iran...

[NYC Liberal]

4. "Bush administration officials acknowledged the anger but..."

In other words: "We know what you're saying, but fuck you."

[calimary]

45. No, that would be one of those "who cares what you think?" moments.

:grr:

May they rot in Hell. After they rot in PRISON.

Visualize IMPEACHMENT!!!!!!!!
Then go DO something about it.

[llmart]

72. Secretly slap an "Impeach Bush" sticker.....

on the gas pump.

[VegasWolf]

5. Bush says not his fault, blame Clinton. nt

[belle]

28. Blame Clinton...but also run to him for help, along with Daddy.

[Voltaire99]

67. Clinton shouldn't be "putting politics aside" again...

...by appearing with Bush.

This is precisely the time to call for impeachment. And any political party worth a hill of beans would do so.

But the leash on which the Big Dawg finds himself is rather short these days; he and the other Dems seem to understand that their role is to do as Republicans tell them.

[Gelliebeans]

6. kick and nominated

[Erika]

7. Damn George Bush

[AuntiBush]

12. I'll Double That "Damn" Erika!

Really... A Nat'l disgrace -- the World is watching now!

How do they sleep at nights!?!?!?

[TygrBright]

8. Y'know, Bill Clinton is not my favorite Democrat..

...and I have a lot of unresolved "issues" with him on many subjects.

But give the man his due: If this had happened on his watch, he would have been there TUESDAY, there would have been a MAJOR National Guard and military mobilization underway by yesterday, FEMA would have gotten an emergency executive order re-routing funds, and there'd already be a major funding bill waiting for Congress when it got back.

Of course, there would also be money available to DO these things, since he wouldn't have routed gigantic tax cut givaways to his buds, the troops would be available because they wouldn't be off getting their asses blown off looking for fictitious WMDs, and the levees and other infrastructure might have been in better shape because there wouldn't have been draconian infrastructure budget cuts.

Oh, and it's just POSSIBLE that there might have been a few thousand more acres remaining of natural wetland along the coast to absorb the storm surge.

OTOH, he might have gotten another blowjob from another intern, which would be so heinous it wouldn't be worth it even to have a competent leader in charge during a national disaster. So forget I said anything...

snarkily,
Bright

[wtmusic]

11. snark is appropriate

and I agree 100%

[Lugnut]

22. Hear, hear

I couldn't agree more. I didn't agree with everything he did either but he listened to competent advisors and paid heed to scientists. He also cared what we thought and did his best in spite of the vicious attacks by those who were hell bent to take him down. Where Bill Clinton was good for America the windshield cowboy is good for nothing.

[Eloriel]

27. Yep, he was a very effective executive

Visionary too, in many ways.

And I'll also say the same: definitely not my favorite Democrat.

[SharonAnn]

30. GHWB failed with Hurricane Andrew. Clinton fixed FEMA. When

he left office it was incredibly well-funded, well-organized and well-stocked. He said "never agin" would this nation fail to respond like happened with Hurrican Andrew. It was used to respond to 9-11 and the Anthrax scare..

So, * gutted it, de-funded it, and "merged it" with Homeland Security.

Just another exaample of how the Bushes and the GOP can't govern.

[Robeson]

32. I share all of your sentiments.

[calimary]

46. What you said. And well said, too, I might add.

Visualize IMPEACHMENT!!!!!!!!
Then go DO something about it.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

62. Clinton would have had people ready to go the day BEFORE landfall,....

...not four days AFTER.

[llmart]

73. Right on!!

They spent how many millions and hours persecuting the Clintons and President Clinton kept on doing his job. This asshole in there now acts like he's doing such a wonderful thing to give up TWO WHOLE DAYS of vacation.

I hate his guts. He has ruined this wonderful country.

[Straight Shooter]

9. Compassionate conservatism has shown its true monstrous face. n/t

[aquart]

24. Can we have a picture of New Orleans

With the words "compassionate conservatism"?

Pretty please? Someone?

[bvar22]

25. The true face of Compassionate Conservatism:

The Republican Ownership Society




The Democratic Party is a BIG TENT, but there is NO ROOM for those who advance the agenda of THE RICH (Corporate Owners) at the EXPENSE of LABOR and the POOR.

[texpatriot2004]

68. Yes, here it is COMPASSIONATE CONSERVATISM at its best.

I love the picture in your post.

[boddhi]

10. disgrace is a barely adequate word

in this time when we're supposed to be prepared for emergencies - it's been almost 4 years since 9/11 - this is the best we can do? I think that, when a governor calls in the National Guard for help, the National Guard should have a list like "water, food, medical supplies, etc. " and they should be moving on the day everyone in the world can see New Orleans underwater. Then we might not have needed riot gear.

[calimary]

47. Truly. Welcome to DU!

There almost are no words...

May he rot in Hell, after he rots in JAIL.

Visualize IMPEACHMENT!!!!!
Then go DO something about it!

[against all enemies]

13. Just like Iraq - not enough security on the ground at the start.

And the same result, anarchy, fear and hopelessness.

[AlCzervik]

14. FEMA is now a shell, Bushco gutted it after 9/11

[BrklynLiberal]

15. The world is watching...in horror, no doubt.

[understandinglife]

16. Well, tonights non-performance by the US Senate confirms the disgrace.

Bush is not alone in his explicit disregard for our fellow citizens.

Faith-based puke's and poor little trent's house ......

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4566123&mesg_id=4566123


Peace.

[chomskysright]

17. This is an experiment of Malevolent Neglect re: Congress also

There's a phenomenon going on here re: lack of federal assistance in N.O. and what took place prior to 9-11. I'm using the phrase (as psychologists are prone to assign something a descriptor as a kind of short-hand) "Malevolent Neglect."

We now have 2 BIG instances of Malevolent Neglect: 9-11 and New Orleans.

Both are associated with information voluminously parlayed to Bush's administration prior to the event. This is established.

Back up: get away from the smoke: what do you see: 2 events with massive warning, should've-been-planning, finger pointing during which nothing goes into the US Cabinet and little impact on the U.S. Congress.

I keep thinking back to Stanley Milgram's experiments; to Zimbardo's prison experiment. There are big archetypal forces being examined in all of these settings: sadism and torture.

There is a social psychology experiment being played out here---either consciously or unconsciously. I think some of both, more conscious than not, with the related parties, particularly Rove I think, working the pieces onto the board and then whistling as he walks away into the dark of the night, knowing that sometime/ somewhere the levee will break, the terrorists will take over the planes, the London Muslims scrambling in their back-packs because they all of a sudden figured out what was

[understandinglife]

20. I do not have any doubt that the manipulation is considerable and ...

... premeditated and observed and analyzed.

I also know that that type of activity will result in catastrophic events.

Those who framed the Constitution, based on lessons from the enlightenment and, even more, the Iroquois Confederacy recognized the necessity for each individual to be enabled to pursue happiness without destroying another's opportunity to do the same. As imperfect as the beginnings and the past 200 + years of that experiment have been, the past five years demonstrate how vastly malignant and devastating the path of the avarice-compelled, neoconster vision is.

We need to take these past five years and establish them as case studies of what humanity must never do again on this planet.


Peace.

[xxqqqzme]

18. just heard on 'Journal',

Germany's news program, that chimpy has agreed to accept aid being offered by over TWENTY countries after first being 'reticent' to do so. Their word 'reticent'....I'm thinking they're being way 2 polite!

[slackmaster]

19. Has there ever been a comparable event against which to gauge this?

Personally I think it's much too early to judge how good or how bad of a job the federal government has done in its response to this situation.

The fact that people are suffering does not necessarily mean that government agencies have failed to do the best job they can. I have friends who are career rescue workers, firefighters, paramedics, etc. Ones who survive more than a few years in those fields have all come to realize that you can't always be there for everyone who needs you when they need you. You lose patients. You lose buildings. Accident victims die.

We don't yet understand the scope of what's going on, or how bad it's going to get. I defer to analysts and critics and historians of the future to judge if or how or how bad our governments have failed.

[iamjoy]

23. We Can't Accept Death?

I guess some Americans (like me) have a hard time accepting death. We sue doctors for malpractice and drug companies for lethal or debilitating side effects of medication. We sue for car crashes, etc. Some one must be responsible, liable.

But, we are the wealthiest, most powerful and developed nation in the world, why are our citizens dying like we are frickin Africa?

[Robeson]

35. "developed" is an arguable and relative term...

...they have known about the potential dangers awaiting New Orleans for quite some time. Yet Bush cuts funding to help avert those dangers. Thats not what a developed country does. If you want to see how to manage the ocean, look at the Netherlands. They have the maturity to know how to develop infrastructure, to protect their citizens. We - apparently - don't.

[boddhi]

33. we can't even coordinate

the buses with the fire marshall at the houston astrodome to let them know it's full, and the drivers don't have radios or cell phones - they've got less than 5000 people in there - it's 10pm and those people don't know where they're going

this is not a good sign for a country that has theoretically been preparing for a catastrophe for the past four years

[Psyop Samurai]

34. Have a nice sleep...

I have no doubt that the first responders have done everything they could. That's not at issue.

However, I don't accept this lack of understanding. I'm 1200 miles away and have never seen a hurricane, yet am confident I understand clearly the scope of what's going on. I understood it before the thing even hit land. And I DO NOT defer to analysts, critics and historians of the future.

Absence of National Guard; no food & water distribution for 3 days. That can't happen - not now, not ever.

[slackmaster]

36. How long did it take the NG to respond to Hurricane Andrew?

As I recall it was about three days before they began restoring order in parts of south Florida.

Absence of National Guard; no food & water distribution for 3 days. That can't happen - not now, not ever.

Saying it "can't" happen doesn't mean it won't. It's terribly naive to think one can demand or wish away the fact that help is not always there when you need it.

My own disaster preparations, for a major earthquake, include complete self-sufficiency for up to two weeks for just myself, or multiple days if I am blessed with opportunities to share my supplies with others.

Nobody could possibly be in a position right now to judge the response to this hurricane. Anyone who makes such a broad-brush condemnation is politicizing the issue. That's what politicians do, and that's why I hate most of them.

[Psyop Samurai]

52. I appreciate your perspective on personal preparedness...

...and being realistic about one's prospects in a disaster situation. This is something that I and many others need to hear.

As for politicizing the current tragedy, it's not something I set out to do, and I suspect that's true of most others screaming blue bloody murder. Unfortunately, there's a confluence of events here which scream malign neglect. I won't attempt to recount them all here, but sticking with just the already mentioned points:

I can't accept that much of our National Guard & their equipment are halfway across the world while local officials and responders are screaming for them.

As for the time taken for their deployment, if I am operating under faulty assumptions, then I want to be corrected. What exactly is their state of readiness, and how long does it take to get the show on the road? At what point can we expect they will be mobilized? In this case, though we could not know the full extent of it, we could clearly see a disaster before it even struck. When were they mobilized?

These are very real, practical questions, and I believe American citizens deserve to know the answers. If we were naive, then so be it. But I want the answers, simply and plainly, and I want them now.

Same for food & water drops to stranded survivors. This doesn't seem like it should be a logistical Apollo project. It doesn't seem like it should be a mystery. What does it take? Why was it not accomplished? We need to know these things now.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

65. Yes, and who was President then? Like father like son....very late.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

64. Incredible. We've been told in the months following 911....

...that Homeland Security and FEMA would be ready to respond to ANY emergency, regardless of size, and that they would respond very quickly. Arriving in force four days AFTER Katrina struck is not even close to being acceptable.

I'm sure that the people in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast will be very understanding of your point of view.

[VegasWolf]

21. Better emphasis - Federal "response" a national disgrace. nt

[grytpype]

26. The Chimp is getting no honeymoon on this.

I don't see the 9/11 Effect happening again. The public has turned on him pretty quickly this time.

[Hekate]

38. Repub caller on Randi Rhodes has seen the light...

Heard the guy this afternoon and it was pretty dramatic. He and his wife were tourists in New Orleans when the evac order came down. They had no car; there were no rental cars to be had; there were no trains; no busses; of course no planes. He considers himself lucky, though, as he finally located a cab driver willing to drive to Baton Rouge for $200 and he knows he was lucky he had the dough. He recognizes that the people in the Dome could not do what he could, and he is in no way blaming them for being victims.

The beauty part is this. He is pretty exercised at Our Dear Leader. Called him a coward a couple of times. Said he'd voted for the man twice and wished to heck he could take his votes back. Said he had never in his life imagined a disaster of this magnitude in which the government would so incredibly fail the people. He couldn't stop ranting.

And he blames George W. Bush. :evilgrin: The kool-aid has worn off.

Hekate

#Why won't the Chickenhawk cross the road?#

[AKing]

40. The media too. Even Scarborough was blasting this debacle. NT

[osaMABUSh]

29. Step back a second. Can you really believe what's going on?

This country is totally fucked.

I am actually embarassed and frightened about what my kids are seeing in America these last five years and what they will have to live through in the coming years.

[Hekate]

39. So should we all be. I live in earthquake country...

... and I can certainly see how much "help" we can expect out here after the Big One.

Like a pathetic Third World nation -- it shames us all.

Hekate

#Why won't the Chickenhawk cross the road?#

[donheld]

31. Yes it is criminal

There should be impeachments, firings, and recalls over this.

[young_at_heart]

37. Bush chose to attend a Medicare discussion......WHY?

It just sounds so callous and out of touch with reality. When I saw the picture of him with the guitar while so much misery was going on at the same time I knew that he didn't really care!

[Hekate]

41. Why? They let him read another book about a goat

He is just completely out of touch with normal humanity.

Hekate

#Why won't the Chickenhawk cross the road?#

[Riverman]

49. IMPEACH THE ENTIRE BUSH ADMINISTRATION - NOW

The lies about Iraq are sufficient ground, but the utter immoral incompetance of this mob is beyond reprehensible - it is crimminal. I have never been this angry, actually way beyond angry, outrage, righteous indignation! And, while we are at it we need to get rid of the majority of the senate and congress - what cowards - where are the democrats? If ever their was a time for their expression of moral outrage, it is now. There is no political downside for these pathetic hogs.

God save us!

[cascadiance]

50. Just inspired me to put an "Impeach Bush" bumper sticker on my car...

Did it just a few minutes ago! More of us need to do this. Soon the public will notice the W stickers changing to "Impeach W" stickers!

[llmart]

74. I'm with you.

Going to get one off the internet tonight and slap that sucker on my car ASAP.

[lonestarnot]

42. Just unfuckingbelievable! unfuckingbelievable!

Bushitler you motherfucker you are a vermin of a national disgrace you shit for brains bastard!

[truthisfreedom]

43. read this article by Sydney Blumenthal and feel your fists ball up in rage

like never before. i'm so sickened by bush and his twisted, malignant group of theives that i'm ready to fill my yard with signs.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10050.htm

"No One Can Say they Didn't See it Coming"

By Sidney Blumenthal

09/01/05 "Der Spiegel" -- -- In 2001, FEMA warned that a hurricane striking New Orleans was one of the three most likely disasters in the U.S. But the Bush administration cut New Orleans flood control funding by 44 percent to pay for the Iraq war.

Biblical in its uncontrolled rage and scope, Hurricane Katrina has left millions of Americans to scavenge for food and shelter and hundreds to thousands reportedly dead. With its main levee broken, the evacuated city of New Orleans has become part of the Gulf of Mexico. But the damage wrought by the hurricane may not entirely be the result of an act of nature.

A year ago the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed to study how New Orleans could be protected from a catastrophic hurricane, but the Bush administration ordered that the research not be undertaken. After a flood killed six people in 1995, Congress created the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, in which the Corps of Engineers strengthened and renovated levees and pumping stations. In early 2001, the Federal Emergency Management Agency issued a report stating that a hurricane striking New Orleans was one of the three most likely disasters in the U.S., including a terrorist attack on New York City. But by 2003 the federal funding for the flood control project essentially dried up as it was drained into the Iraq war. In 2004, the Bush administration cut funding requested by the New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for holding back the waters of Lake Pontchartrain by more than 80 percent. Additional cuts at the beginning of this year (for a total reduction in funding of 44.2 percent since 2001) forced the New Orleans district of the Corps to impose a hiring freeze. The Senate had debated adding funds for fixing New Orleans' levees, but it was too late.

The New Orleans Times-Picayune, which before the hurricane published a series on the federal funding problem, and whose presses are now underwater, reported online: "No one can say they didn't see it coming ... Now in the wake of one of the worst storms ever, serious questions are being asked about the lack of preparation."

MORE AT LINK

[cascadiance]

48. Where's Michael Moore! We need Fahrenheit 8/28 made now!

My Pet Goat sequence part II could be footage of him here in San Diego!

[MaineDem]

60. This from Michael Moore

Friday, September 2nd, 2005
Dear Mr. Bush:

Any idea where all our helicopters are? It's Day 5 of Hurricane Katrina and thousands remain stranded in New Orleans and need to be airlifted. Where on earth could you have misplaced all our military choppers? Do you need help finding them? I once lost my car in a Sears parking lot. Man, was that a drag.

Also, any idea where all our national guard soldiers are? We could really use them right now for the type of thing they signed up to do like helping with national disasters. How come they weren't there to begin with?

Last Thursday I was in south Florida and sat outside while the eye of Hurricane Katrina passed over my head. It was only a Category 1 then but it was pretty nasty. Eleven people died and, as of today, there were still homes without power. That night the weatherman said this storm was on its way to New Orleans. That was Thursday! Did anybody tell you? I know you didn't want to interrupt your vacation and I know how you don't like to get bad news. Plus, you had fundraisers to go to and mothers of dead soldiers to ignore and smear. You sure showed her!

I especially like how, the day after the hurricane, instead of flying to Louisiana, you flew to San Diego to party with your business peeps. Don't let people criticize you for this -- after all, the hurricane was over and what the heck could you do, put your finger in the dike?

And don't listen to those who, in the coming days, will reveal how you specifically reduced the Army Corps of Engineers' budget for New Orleans this summer for the third year in a row. You just tell them that even if you hadn't cut the money to fix those levees, there weren't going to be any Army engineers to fix them anyway because you had a much more important construction job for them -- BUILDING DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ!

On Day 3, when you finally left your vacation home, I have to say I was moved by how you had your Air Force One pilot descend from the clouds as you flew over New Orleans so you could catch a quick look of the disaster. Hey, I know you couldn't stop and grab a bullhorn and stand on some rubble and act like a commander in chief. Been there done that.

There will be those who will try to politicize this tragedy and try to use it against you. Just have your people keep pointing that out. Respond to nothing. Even those pesky scientists who predicted this would happen because the water in the Gulf of Mexico is getting hotter and hotter making a storm like this inevitable. Ignore them and all their global warming Chicken Littles. There is nothing unusual about a hurricane that was so wide it would be like having one F-4 tornado that stretched from New York to Cleveland.

No, Mr. Bush, you just stay the course. It's not your fault that 30 percent of New Orleans lives in poverty or that tens of thousands had no transportation to get out of town. C'mon, they're black! I mean, it's not like this happened to Kennebunkport. Can you imagine leaving white people on their roofs for five days? Don't make me laugh! Race has nothing -- NOTHING -- to do with this!

You hang in there, Mr. Bush. Just try to find a few of our Army helicopters and send them there. Pretend the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast are near Tikrit.

Yours,

Michael Moore
[e-mail]
www.MichaelMoore.com

P.S. That annoying mother, Cindy Sheehan, is no longer at your ranch. She and dozens of other relatives of the Iraqi War dead are now driving across the country, stopping in many cities along the way. Maybe you can catch up with them before they get to DC on September 21st.

[texpatriot2004]

51. Well it is a "National Disgrace" courtesy of the Bush Admin. n/t

[Nothing Without Hope]

53. It is passive genocide - saves the cost of bullets. n/t

[JackDragna]

55. I've worked with refugees from New Orleans..

..let me be perfectly clear: people are mad as hell about this. They know who's to blame, too.

[Massachusetts]

57. people are mad as hell about this

I HOPE SO, PEOPLE HAVE A TENDENCY TO FORGET. OUR GOVERNMENT HAS NOT BEEN REPRESENTING THE AMERICAN PEOPLE FOR TOO LONG!

[Bridget Burke]

66. This morning, my bus driver & a passenger were discussing it.

He was going to Alabama over the weekend to bring his mother back to Houston. The driver apparently also, had people in harm's way, but I didnt' hear the details. However, she began wondering why buses weren't sent to help with evacuation before the storm. And the whole bus heard her!

[teryang]

56. You don't want to disturb repukes from their golf game...

...their vacations, counting their dividend checks from Halliburton and Enron, and buying their third vacation homes.

[shayes51]

58. I wonder how many La., Miss., Ala. National Guard troops

are now in Iraq?

[shavedape]

75. 8000 from LA and MISS alone!

Nearly 8,000 Guardsmen from Mississippi and Louisiana are serving in Iraq, many in combat support units. Two of the units, Louisiana's 256th Infantry Brigade and Mississippi's 155th Armored Brigade, contain engineering and support battalions that would specialize in tasks regularly used for disaster relief.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/090105M.shtml

[Giant Robot]

59. A sign of how bad things are getting

can be seen watching CNN. The reporters that are out in the field are getting pissed off and are letting anyone official they interview know it. I forget who Anderson Cooper was interviewing yesterday, but he was giving that person no escape for this failure.

I can't imagine it. To have everything you own, your home, your city, your job, and your friends and family gone. It's like someone has stolen an entire population's past, present and future. My prayers are with them all.

[Blue_Roses]

61. It is a national disgrace

hopefully things will begin to change with the public outcry

[ElectroPrincess]

63. Yes, everything's coming up roses ...

Why a lady from NW Louisiana said, "These people are being cared for." Sure, in the more middle class North West NOT the poverty stricken "inner city."

To the Bush Administration, they rank no higher than the poor Iraqi citizen, ergo the term REFUGEE. :puke:

[rfkrfk]

69. if Gov. Blanco does not ask for help, it won't show up

the National Guard is a 'Governor's issue'.

the other Governors won't activate their troops,
until they are asked, why would they?

[Joe Chi Minh]

70. A British disaster-aid expert,

was asked on British TV, why there had been a three-day delay in coming to the aid of the Katrina's victims, when there were many helicopters available to drop food and water, at least on the major centres.

Though clearly reluctant to rock the boat, he couldn't think of an explanation.

[Megahurtz]

71. I have no words for this. n/t