The People on The Freeway Overpass Are Breaking My Heart!

[leftchick]

all of those babies and little children, a dead husband, a nine month pregnant woman, old people with dementia who don't know what is going on and the dead man at the bottom who jumped because he could not take it anymore. The Superdome is being evacuated and flying right over them. People screaming where is the help? Good Question....

AND THE FUCKING RAT SHIT BASTARD IN THE WH** IS KILLING THEM ALL!!!!

Homeland Security is a FUCKING FAILURE! They are keeping our normal recovery efforts from happening with their bullshit bureaucracy.















Stranded New Orleans residents watch as a helicopter evacuates others near the Superdome sports stadium August 31, 2005. Authorities have begun evacuating thousands from the damaged Superdome where living conditions have worsened since Hurricane Katrina struck on August 29, 2005. REUTERS/Jason Reed

Edit to add Nero**:

[Sequoia]

1. Same here. Just walking, but to where?

[CottonBear]

20. West. Over the only highway left that's not destroyed.

They waded through dead bodies in the water to get to the bridges and highways. Now I just saw buses going into NO I think. I'm not sure. It must be the evacuation buses.

See video of the rescues here:
http://www.khou.com/perl/common/video/wmPlayer.pl?title=beloint_khou&props=livenoad

[leftchick]

2. kick for these poor people

:(

[donheld]

3. Bless the beasts and the Children

Give them shelter from the storm, keep them safe keep them warm.

[leftchick]

4. More devastating photos

Look at the babies! This will be in my mind for the rest of my life.

[SammyWinstonJack]

16. Those poor babies!

:cry: Laura Bush is a monster! Does she have no empathy? bush is no FDR and Laura is certainly no Eleanor. :cry:

[FreedomAngel82]

48. It is heartbreaking

and how dare George freakin Bush compare himself to FDR!!! FDR got this country though the depression. What has Bush done? Caused a depression!

[leftchick]

52. ah BSN...

I feel just like you. My heart is aching for these babies and people. And the aristocrates occupying the WH HAVE NO Empathy and NO SHAME!

:cry:

:cry:

:cry:

[candy]

5. How on earth can you blame Bush,or any sitting president,

for a natural disaster of this magnitude?

It's only been 3 days and the early reports said that New Orleans missed the worst of it.

[1932]

11. If better levees would have stopped this and if the money for

better levees went to Iraq instead, who would you blame?

[Egalitariat]

44. How is the Federal Gov't responsible for levees in a city in Louisiana?***

nm

[Beaverhausen]

51. read the article at this link

http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001051313

don't miss this part:

New Orleans had long known it was highly vulnerable to flooding and a direct hit from a hurricane. In fact, the federal government has been working with state and local officials in the region since the late 1960s on major hurricane and flood relief efforts. When flooding from a massive rainstorm in May 1995 killed six people, Congress authorized the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, or SELA.

Over the next 10 years, the Army Corps of Engineers, tasked with carrying out SELA, spent $430 million on shoring up levees and building pumping stations, with $50 million in local aid. But at least $250 million in crucial projects remained, even as hurricane activity in the Atlantic Basin increased dramatically and the levees surrounding New Orleans continued to subside.


Yet after 2003, the flow of federal dollars toward SELA dropped to a trickle. The Corps never tried to hide the fact that the spending pressures of the war in Iraq, as well as homeland security -- coming at the same time as federal tax cuts -- was the reason for the strain. At least nine articles in the Times-Picayune from 2004 and 2005 specifically cite the cost of Iraq as a reason for the lack of hurricane- and flood-control dollars.


-snip-

In early 2004, as the cost of the conflict in Iraq soared, President Bush proposed spending less than 20 percent of what the Corps said was needed for Lake Pontchartrain, according to a Feb. 16, 2004, article, in New Orleans CityBusiness.

On June 8, 2004, Walter Maestri, emergency management chief for Jefferson Parish, Louisiana; told the Times-Picayune: "It appears that the money has been moved in the president's budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that's the price we pay. Nobody locally is happy that the levees can't be finished, and we are doing everything we can to make the case that this is a security issue for us."

[leftchick]

55. thank you for the link

it worries me that a lot of DUers don't already know this. bush gutted funding by the millions in many states for his war and tax cuts. WTF? Where do they think it came from? The budget surplus?

:crazy:

[Beaverhausen]

60. Yeah, we had to divert the money to go destroy Iraq

:mad:

[Alpharetta]

79. It's like he was playing a Civilization computer game, playing to lose

My son plays Civilization which is a PC simulation game where you manage a culture. Starve infrastructure and spend on armies, you're taking a big gamble and will probably lose.

Someone should buy Bush a copy.

[leftchick]

82. God that is scary

I am guessing that bush has played that game for quite a while now. He likes to play computer games. It beats hard work.

:(

[chascarrillo]

103. Because Louisiana is part of the United States

Last time I checked, anyways. Might want to get a map more current than 1802.

[MADem]

129. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS, which serves under a federal

cabinet official known as SECDEF Rumsfeld.

There is a national security component to those levees, you see. They protect our energy resources, as well as a number of military facilities in the area. See their (not updated) website here: http://www.mvn.usace.army.mil/

Our Mission
The New Orleans District, through partnering, provides for navigation, flood and hurricane protection, environmental stewardship, and other water resource needs to benefit the people of southern Louisiana and the nation.

[mountebank]

14. If 5,000 died (a conservative estimate) then this is worse than 9/11.

So it's no real consolation to those who died and their families that NO "missed the worst of it."

Haven't you been wondering like the rest of the country where the hell is the disaster relief? Where are the boats, helicopters, the National Guard? Bush spent 2 days strumming a guitar and mugging it up with John McCain instead of declaring an emergency and dispatching the full resources of our government to help these people. Does it seem to you that he did all he could?

[muwriter]

85. I'd say 5,000 might have died in Biloxi alone. That looked like a tsunami

[redacted]

92. Is this 5,000 number real? or are we just kicking it around? NT

[pitohui]

97. we're kicking it around, have faith

i refuse to accept that 5,ooo ppl died in biloxi

just can't accept it right now

ppl did evacuate this area, ppl do remember camille

we need to stop scaring ourselves

bush is a bad guy, no doubt abt it, but ppl have turned out to be amazingly resourceful & strong

there are too many ppl i will never see again in biloxi, but it's the lack of jobs that will scatter them

i don't, can't believe this many died

if bush wants to be fdr, let him start a wpa to rebuild our coast, i doubt he has the courage to withstand yells of "socialism," yeah, others have lost homes, maybe even loved ones, but he can't even withstand being called a name or asked a question

i'm done with the chimperor

[wndycty]

15. You can't blame him for a natural disaster. . .you can't, however. . .

. . .the fact that this man has not taken any action as of yet. On Monday as this shit is going down, and there were warnings, this MF is literally eating cake. And then when the city is flooding yesterday he is doing photo-ops with a guitar. More importantly valuable resources that could be used to help the recovery are in FUCKING IRAQ fighting a bullshit war.

[rodeodance]

25. I agree.

[leftchick]

31. AND>.. because HS is now the head of ALL relief in the US

they have to get direction from the the president**. The aWol** fucking asshole!

[Nothing Without Hope]

122. It's even worse than it looks - work through this thread and you'll see

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4523783
Thread title: CNN/New Orleans:"Mayor blasts failure to patch levee breeches" and that's { only the beginning:}
Nothing Without Hope GD Forum Wed Aug-31-05 09:49 AM

And now the Feds have actually forbidden the Canadians to help the suffering people in the South.

[leftchick]

18. perhaps you missed the threads

about how he killed Clinton's disaster mitigation plans in 2001? Or how he gutted funding for levee protection in NO and diverted the funding to his war and homeland security. And also consider there should have been NG in the State to react immediately. There weren't any around to help evacuate, they happen to be protecting oil in the ME right now.

Perhaps the levee would not have burst if the repairs NO needed had been done. Something to ponder.

[Lars39]

21. .

[wildflower]

27. As Rachel Maddow put it:

The hurricane was a natural disaster. The flooding that followed it, however, was manmade, she would argue. And that flooding was due at least in part to federal budget cuts that kept the levees from being finished. The levee budget was cut because of (a) federal tax cuts and (b) money that was diverted to the war in Iraq.

-wildflower

[SacredCow]

41. True that the levee's were not finished, but...

but it goes beyond Bush's presidency, and even Clinton's presidency- It goes back to before I was even born (and I'm 34, BTW). My dad, who is 73, remembers hearing as a child that New Orleans would be doomed if a bad hurricane ever hit them head on, unless proper levees were constructed and maintained. And since then, through democrat and republican reign, it's been ignored and brushed aside.

Personally, I think there will be plenty enough time to point fingers and argue in the not so distant future. But for now, I'm generally trying to stay away from that mindset and do what I can to help the hundreds of thousands of displaced souls.

[leftchick]

61. then consider this

where is the LA NG? It certainly would have helped to have the NG evacuating people before the hurricane. They always used to before they were sent off to foreign countries to fight for oil.

Also remember w** KILLED Clinton's disater mitigation plan in 2001 which could have saved many many lives had it still existed.

[SacredCow]

117. No arguements from me on either point.

The LA NG is over fighting a pointless war. And the disaster plan tanked (along with all of the other plans that preceded it)....

[Alpharetta]

80. The flooding was a victory for developers who poo pooed wetlands

they pretended environmental concerns were knee-jerk tree huggers who just didn't like developers.

they covered their ears when the environmentalists predicted a loss of wetlands would make flooding worse.

[Joey Liberal]

29. The republicans would have blamed Clinton, Gore and Kerry

for a natural disaster of this magnitude?

It's only been 3 days and the early reports said that New Orleans missed the worst of it.
=========
Perhaps if Bush hadn't been playing Golf while he knew about the pending hurricane, people wouldn't still be stranded like lost animals. Bush cares only about oil. He's the worst President ever.

[FreedomAngel82]

49. How can you blame Bush??

How about cutting the funding that could've saved people! How about coming to help right away instead of three days later?!

[BronxBoy]

50. Hey ....CANDY!!!!!!!!!!!

Why isn't there food and water on that pavement right now??????????

F**k Bush. I want to respect DU rules and not tell you what I really thing of your asinine comments.

I'm Black and the thought of so, so many Black folks being left out to dry makes it really difficult to deal with people like you.

You're being sarcastic right?

edited for spelling

edited for spelling: again

[leftchick]

71. that is what kills me

you would not see white folks stranded like this. I am so ashamed of ameriKa. :(

[pitohui]

98. white folks are stranded too

trust me on this

[leftchick]

100. I have no doubt

but the TV video I have seen shows the vast number stranded in NO are black.

[huskerlaw]

53. Lack of National Guard deployment for one

a competent president would have noticed that a huge hurricane was sitting in the Gulf of Mexico for four days and, realizing that the National Guard numbers were depleted in the gulf region (and everywhere), used those 4 days to mobilize units from surrounding areas. There should have been thousands of National Guard troops sitting just out of harms way, ready to go in and save those people.

In this situation, every helicopter, boat, or rescuer that isn't available or was delayed is causing more deaths. That is why I blame Bush.

[txindy]

83. Very true. And a Naval hospital ship wouldn't sit in Baltimore

That ship won't even set sail until the weekend. WHY?!

[Pacifist Patriot]

65. Read this and get back to us on that.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4528908

[leftchick]

72. thanks for the link

I did not think I had to expound on the bush** atrocities at this point.

:)

[AgadorSparticus]

75. no one is blaming b*sh FOR the disaster--but in how he is HANDLING

the disaster. people are dying left and right in droves and he is fundraising. you can't be a twisted enough pretzel to find rationalization for this blatantly offensive behavior.

NO missed the worst of it? tell that to the floating dead bodies and hundreds, if not thousands of people without food or water.

what can he DO? for starters, get up off his ass and PRETEND like he gives a damn. At the very least, offer some emotional support for the poor victims. Put in an appearance and pretend like he's a LEADER.

His hollow words of condolences on TV means shit to people who have no electricity. How hard is it for him to effing be there??? Even his dumbass brother Jeb was in a helicopter assessing the damages to Florida and passing out bottles of water to its victims. This fuckface is FUNDRAISING, for christ sakes and you are defending this behavior. I'm not sure what's worse....

[blue neen]

81. Please clue us all in on what drug you are taking

that would make you so delusional. The rest of us would NOT like to face the truth, either, about what this country has become...all under George W. Bush's "reign of terror."

[tlsmith1963]

87. No Funding, No Funding, No Funding!

Got it? *That's* why we are blaming Bush!

Tammy

[grace0418]

90. Are you EFFING kidding me, Candy?

Only been three days? You try living on your roof or a highway over pass in the blistering heat and you tell me again that it's "only" been three days.

A hurricane can't be avoided, true, but preparations can be made. In advance. Not three days too late. Bush knew this hurricane was coming and did NOTHING. NADA.

Okay fine, even if he suddenly became a human with an ounce of compassion upon finding out Katrina was coming and said "Gee I'm so sorry I diverted funds away from the rebuilding of these levees. What can I do to help?", obviously not much could have been done about the levees. BUT he could've mobilized National Guard units back from his illegal war (who should never be there in the first place but for his arrogance). He could've coordinated rescue efforts IN ADVANCE and made sure that those too poor to get out of the city (no cars, no money for the bus) had ways to get out. He could've done something...ANYTHING. HIS FUCKING JOB, for starters.

But he chose to stay on vacation, continue ignoring Cindy Sheehan, attend official functions to eat cake, play the guitar for his adoring fans. Then, days later he reluctantly cuts his umpteenth vacation short and finally "tours" the area in his cushy airplane. And even then the only reason he cut his vacation short was because there was a negative "perception" of him staying on vacation. Perception my ass. It's fucking unprofessional, undignified, and unbelievably fucking SHITTY to stay on vacation while NO drowns. That's not perception, that's the fucking truth.

So no, nobody blames him for Katrina. We do, however, blame him for being a SHORT-SIGHTED, SELFISH, ARROGANT, GREEDY, INCOMPETENT, IGNORANT, CALLOUS, LAZY-ASS MOTHER-FUCKER who doesn't give a shit about this country or anyone in it. I think I can say with some confidence that almost any other president we've ever had in this country would've handled the aftermath of this disaster better than he has. He should've been in New Orleans three HOURS after the hurricane, not three days.

And that, Candy, is why we blame Bush.

[Laurab]

109. Indeed - you nailed it!

just when I think I can't hate the fucker anymore, I find I seem to have no limit of hate where he's concerned. What a pitiful excuse for a chimp - I can't even call him a human being because he's not one.

[grace0418]

115. Oh I KNOW.

I've never felt such visceral loathing for anyone. I'm a pacifist, I'm a super lefty. I give most people the benefit of the doubt. You know, walk a mile in their shoes and all that. But he is just beyond all attempts at understanding. He is vile.

[leftchick]

110. Best Post In This Thread About The dumbass**

Great going grace

:yourock:

[grace0418]

114. Thanks. I was hoping that I'd feel a little better after

writing that but I'm still just as angry. God, what worthless piece of shit he is.

[Pacifist Patriot]

128. Bravo! (m)

When I think of what Bush and corporate America is doing, I'm beyond galled after twenty-four hours of working with people scraping up donations they can barely afford to send to refugees who have nothing. Joe Q. Citizen is proportionately carrying the major bulk of the burden. Especially when you consider our taxes (which we should rightly be paying!) are also financing the government's actions. We the people care far more for strangers than some of our elected officials care for their constituents. It's disgraceful.

[really annoyed]

94. You have got to be kidding me!

"It's only been 3 days and the early reports said that New Orleans missed the worst of it."

Have you not been watching television or reading the news lately? I can't believe you would make such an ignorant statement.

[TankLV]

102. Easly - because of his criminal actions and ineptitude, the situation

was made worse.

He cut the funding for levy reconstruction IN HALF - BECAUSE OF HIS ILLEGAL WAR OF CHOICE BASED ON LIES!

Fucking Candy Ass!

Get a fucking clue!

[expatriate]

111. What planet do you live on, mate?

Believe you me, I've lived a goodly portion of my 45 years in hurricane country, and I have never, ever seen such a fucked up mess as this has been. And it's due to federal cutbacks so that there could be tax cuts and wars in Afghanistan and Iraq! You know, so we could have "shock and awe", while the funding to keep the Lake Ponchartrain levees maintained was slashed by 80%.

In the past, even in the damn Nixon administration, National Guard was on the ground BEFORE a hurricane made landfall. The moment they could, they would be out on the streets. I remember seeing helicopters full of Guardsmen coming into the devastated areas after Hurricane Camille, while the wind was still so strong that they would get out and throw up from the buffeting they received in the air.

New Orleans sat there with nothing but local emergency rescue and volunteers for THREE DAMN DAYS while George Bush ran around enjoying his bloody vacation - and you ask what the big deal is? Have you SEEN what's happening in a major US city?

Oh never mind. Why am I trying to talk to someone who would even ask such a question at this point in time?

[Kool Kitty]

118. Of course you can't blame him for the hurricane.

The lack of immediate response and lack of leadership, hell yes-I blame him for that.

[Historic NY]

119. Perhaps you should read this.......

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001051313

[Binka]

124. Good Fucking Gawd I Would Get Banned If I Said What I Think About You

@$# !*% A *((&^%$##@ $#@%! It's a good thing you can't read that sweetie. Your tiny little head might explode. Keep defending your fucking leader honey.:wtf: :wtf: :wtf:

Shameful MF shameful!

[CottonBear]

6. This is more tragic than we could have ever imagined.

Link to video of the poor and old and sick and young: it's awful and heartbreaking. :cry:
http://www.khou.com/perl/common/video/wmPlayer.pl?title=beloint_khou&props=livenoad

[leftchick]

77. Thank you CottonBear

do I dare watch? I have cried so many tears today. I keep thinking of those babies. They are haunting me.

[BlueJac]

7. National Guard should be all over that...

Damn what does it take.........maybe a brain.

[Individualist]

10. They should have been all over it yesterday

while Bloody George was playing his guitar. This is inexcusable, unforgivable!

[rodeodance]

22. Not enough Guard have been deployed to LA!!

[Individualist]

32. Not enough Guard,

not enough food and water (if any), not enough any damn thing. Telling these desperate people "It's on the way" is an insult. It should have been on the way starting Monday afternoon.

[BlueJac]

34. Absolutely

Fema..........fools everywhere meaningless action

[leftchick]

39. The GUARD should have been there on Saturday

I lived through a hurricane 20 years ago. Back then and even before HS the NG came and helped to evacuate people. They are understaffed and out of the contry.

[Birthmark]

8. Tomorrow they'll probably start dying...

...if they haven't had water for three days. Are they at least getting water? If not, then we better figure out how to get water to them - and those on the rooftops - of tomorrow and the following days are going to see many, many more deaths.

[Ms. Clio]

33. they will surely try to drink the floodwaters before they perish of thirst

the consequences of that will only be more horrific.

There will be many many bodies found in attics and other final shelters, I think, if they don't start getting people out NOW. I am just petrified with horror, watching this unfold.

[Birthmark]

35. I'm horrified, too.

I cannot believe that our government has failed on this scale. They haven't yet. But they are cutting this extremely close.

[Ms. Clio]

43. Help is supposed to be on the way --- Hospital ships and water treatment

the National Guard--they just have to get their act together on this, people's lives are at stake.

[Birthmark]

47. They must be there by tomorrow

[leftchick]

74. The Hospital ship Comfort is coming from Baltimore

It left today and won't arrive for several days. :(

[Ms. Clio]

76. That is definitely not good news :(

Does anyone actually know how many people might have stayed in the city? I heard that only 300,000 evacuated before the storm hit?

[leftchick]

88. I have heard 100,000 could not leave

good God that is hard to comprehend. :cry:

[Ms. Clio]

93. Yes it is---please please let them get help soon

I heard earlier that there were 30,000 at the Superdome. That means a lot of people could still be out there, then.

I am simply overwhelmed with grief right now.

[TankLV]

108. Yes - no money, 40 dollars to fill up a car - or not even able to afford a

crappy car could do that to one!

I cannot even "enjoy" or "appreciate" the safety of myself and loved ones while others suffer!

I have this horrible sense of foreboding.

[peacebuzzard]

68. I can't believe they have gone this long w/o decent food, clean water, dry

clothes, cots and/or blankets, toilets, showers, abundant health care. They should have called the guard in full force from all the nearby states and stocked those planes and helicopters to land wherever they could. Hell they can land copters on the other side of the world and not here???
Where were the pontoon boats or swift boats to patrol those waters for casualties?

How long does it take to react to an emergency???? 3 days????

3 days is way too long for stateside..... ????

I know for Hurricane Andrew in Miami it took a long response time, but people in this flood were and are still in critical danger. Time is critical when it comes to floods.

This is inexcusable

[leftchick]

69. I saw the nine month pregnant lady with a cup

I saw nothing in anyone elses hands. She was afraid she was going into labor too. This was on CBS news.

:(

[blue neen]

78. But Bush is the "Culture of Life" president!

I'm sure he'll swoop right in there and take care of her himself! He's such a f*cking genius he could probably deliver her baby with one golf club tied behind his back. :mad:

I didn't think it was possible to hate him more than I did before, but I do. Oh, I do.

[leftchick]

89. the culture of life only pertains to embryos

and a fetus. Her's is an almost born baby and black. No culture of life for that in his version.

:argh:

[Francine Frensky]

127. This is all thanks to a bungled response from Hmlnd Security

they took over from the governor on Monday, and it seems that they have been doing a horrible job since day one.

How do you not have a plan for this???? Or was the plan really really bad???

[kbm8795]

9. How difficult would it be to drop food and water to these

people? Would it be that impossible to do? ? ?

[KansDem]

19. Judging from the second photo--the one with the helicopter...

It shouldn't be difficult at all. But then, look who is providing the "leadership" during these times...

[leftchick]

45. It was awful

The CBS video show the choppers getting people from the Superdome and flying right over these poor people.

[BronxBoy]

58. I want to know the same thing

[wildeyed]

101. My exact question.

Just give those people some water. Drop it out of a helicopter or something. All those babies, elderly, pregnant. Somebody help them. Please.

[Historic NY]

121. We dumped hundreds of MRE's in Afganastan........

they must do something and do it quick here. Helicopters are the answer but there does not seem to be enough. They need some of the big mothers that can do heavy lifting. I fear the death count is going to rise quickly just from the conditions these people are presently forced to live in. This is absolutely the worst response I've seen in my lifetime to a national emergency. Pitifull.....those ships should have been steaming 3 days ago and anything else in the inventory should have been pre-positioned just in case. I am heartsick over this lack of leadership by my government.

[seabeyond]

12. these people should be easy enough. why, WHY havent

they taken care of these people, surely they have at least dropped them some food and water. i cant watch news right now. this one wowo. what is it about

[CottonBear]

13. MY god. They waded through dead bodies to the hwy and then slept there

while waiting for help. Old people being pushed and carried by their friends and family. They are walking west out of NO.
:cry:

[Solly Mack]

17. One woman on the overpass, 88, and very sick - the "Wildlife Office"

got her out on a truck finally...but they didn't know where they would take her as all the hospitals were unreachable. There were NO supplies at this overpass. NONE.

I wonder if she's still alive. I wonder how the rest are faring.

My country is letting her citizens die because of greed and lack of planning.

[leftchick]

23. I saw the mom with twin infants shielding them fro the sun

they were tiny. She was so angry and turned and said she was going
"home"! Tragic does not cover it. I have not been this horrified since Sept.11.

[rodeodance]

24. thanks, i needed to know someone was taken care of finally.

[Solly Mack]

26. that's just it, I don't know that she got care

I just know she got trucked away

I fear only to die.


The news really is like watching a third world country "save the children" video.

[wildeyed]

104. Take away our playstations and we are a third world nation.

Jeeze, I thought those were just snappy song lyrics. But I guess in GWB's America, they get truer by the day.

[SaveAmerica]

37. Was she very very pale with short white hair, and was laying down?

I saw someone like that and you could see she was on the verge of dehydration, something in her eyes haunted me. I feel so completely helpless way over here, when I wish there was something I could do to get them to safety.

[Solly Mack]

38. Yes! That's her. I can't get her face out of my head

[SaveAmerica]

40. Me either, I fear that the look in her eyes was the realization that

her end was near. It's horrible.

[leftchick]

28. The Babies, the babies....

Daryl Thompson holds his daughter Dejanae, 3-months, as they wait with other displaced residents on a highway in the hopes of catching a ride out of town, two days after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, Louisiana. Rescuers struggled to reach stranded survivors of Hurricane Katrina as floodwaters and looting wreaked further havoc along the US Gulf coast with hundreds feared dead.(AFP/Getty Images/Mario Tama)

:cry:

[Bouncy Ball]

56. That picture makes me cry.

The babies.

[leftchick]

99. me too BB

they will haunt me. I keep seeing the angry Mom walking away with her twin infants on CBS. I will forever wonder if they lived.

:cry:

[CottonBear]

30. This woman had to float her husband's dead body on a door to hospital:

In New Orleans, Evelyn Turner wept Tuesday as she waited for someone to collect the body of her common law husband, The Associated Press reported.

Xavier Bowie, a truck driver, had lung cancer and couldn't evacuate. He died when he ran out of oxygen Tuesday, according to the AP.

Turner wrapped his body and kept a tearful vigil, the AP said, in a devastated city so overwhelmed that rescuers are pushing aside the dead to tend to the living.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/08/31/katrina.people/index.html

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

64. This must be the one Randi was talking

about today. This is so tragic. These are the disturbing images, not the looting - which a reporter on NPR called the most disturbing images

[leftchick]

113. I saw her on CNN

Heartbreaking does not even describe my feelings.

:cry:

[leftchick]

36. Another baby

God help these poor people.... :cry:

[Bouncy Ball]

59. Beautiful baby.

Please be ok.

[leftchick]

62. they break my heart

the CBS news showed a mom with twins about 2 mos in a carrier sweltering in the heat.

:cry:

[phylny]

84. I remember when I lived in the midwest and we always had tornado

watches. I hated them, was terrified of that weather, but I always thought, "At least I'm breastfeeding the baby - at least the baby will get food if we get trapped."

Poor things.

[Pithlet]

42. This is just so awful.

Worse than I could have imagined.

[FreedomAngel82]

46. It is so horrible

In that last photo Bush looks like he's trying to hide a smile. Ugh!

[DS1]

54. I hereby submit that rename it Hurricane George

It would be more fitting.

Fucked up infrastructure, Federal/DOD agents patrolling and whipping by people needing help, looting, oil industry all fucked up.

Yep, Hurricane George.

[Beaverhausen]

57. one more vote gets this on the greatest page

[BronxBoy]

63. Done

[roguevalley]

67. the animals, the children and the old will go first along with the sick.

the rest will never be normal again. God bless them all.

[leftchick]

95. the babies and the animals break my heart

Well they all do. I have heard no news on animal rescue either. I imagine they are not on the list of priorities. I don't even want to think about how bad it is going to get.

[fooj]

66. This is beyond heartbreaking. I am beside myself.

:cry:

[ObaMania]

70. This is a wake up call to all in LA re:

Who's really looking out for you?

Did anyone listen to the pathetic speech given by * today? The MF'er is really making it sound like they are taking care of this crisis, but if you listen real closely, the cock is trying to get the already raped 'muricans to step up to the plate and help foot the bill.

I'd be interested to see who gets the $$ for the water and MRE's that are being supplied.

I'd also be very interested to see if LA residents still think highly of this prick when this is all over.

I have nothing but disgust and contempt for this piece of shit and if LA winds up kissing his ass I'll know that there is no fucking hope left for this country.

[leftchick]

73. How are they going to sleep tonight?

in the dark without anything

Like the folks here. I hope they were rescued today...

[earth mom]

86. They showed the people on the overpass on the news

tonight and it was heartbreaking! Why hasn't anyone dropped water and food to them???!!! How hard would it be???!!! I think the story I saw is going to piss a LOT of people off around the country. This might be just the catalyst that's been needed to impeach! Bye Bye Bushie! :grr:

And those babies will haunt me too...

[leftchick]

96. The helos were flying right over them!

This is the most fucked up "recovery" in the history of the USA and asshat is to blame.

[0007]

91. The whole situation is bad. I hope these prisoners don't get loose.

Aerial photos from New Orleans Orleans Parish prisoners are held on a highway overpass in New Orleans Tuesday.

[wli]

107. I suspect they will, and they will behave surprisingly honorably.

This country's been locking up people for dimebags and dope dealing out of desperation. They're not necessarily going to go haywire if allowed to roam free.

[0007]

112. Your probably right!

[leesa]

105. Homeland Security was never intended to provide homeland security

It was designed to destroy individual rights and to make money.

[Pallas180]

123. Lightbulb. Homeland Security is all a front like a fake movie set

that puts up the front of the building with nothing behind it.
A smoke and mirrors to make citizens think the government was actually going to protect them .

That they would go so far in their PR crap is unbelievable.

AND get caught with their pants down.

All cheerleading. He thought that would make him a great president.

[Canadian Socialist]

106. In the first picture

the "thousand yard stare" is so apparent in that gentleman's eyes. He has seen things that I hope I never see or experience. So very very sad.

[leftchick]

116. I agree he has it

unlike the fucking idiot in the last photo with the coke/JD stare.

:(

[mnhtnbb]

120. Not enough naps

Obviously, that woman, that Cindy woman, destroyed Bush's vacation so that he didn't get enough naps. Without those naps, he couldn't make crisp decisions.

If she would have just left him alone, he'd have had his much needed rest for all the work he has to do. Like figuring out he should be attending to the business of the country instead of playing golf, yucking it up for the MSM, and playing guitar.

It's that Cindy woman's fault, don't you know?

[LittleWoman]

125. America under Bush

is like a woman married to a genial drunk. He cashes his pay check at the corner bar and treats all his drinking buddies with the money the wife needs to pay rent, buy food and shoes for the kids and pay the doctor bills. I spent all day yesterday raging against * and then I got home from work only to watch his bs speech. The final straw was seeing the people on the overpass on the CBS news. My anger and sorrow are overwhelming. We need to get our country back.

[leftchick]

126. excellent analogy LittleWoman!

perfect!

and a late welcome to DU!

:)