May I respectfully say?

[Birthmark]

FUCK THE LEVEES! Even if they are repaired it will take WEEKS before the pumps help anyone. PEOPLE NEED HELP NOW! The buildings can wait or be rebuilt. Those people caught on their roofs, surrounded by poisonous water are on borrowed time. FORGET THE FUCKING LEVEES, PLEASE!

[ohio_liberal]

1. It's too late to stop the damage

They say that the water is equalized, so leave it be for now. Get those people the fuck out of there! Then we all can worry about rebuilding.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

2. ah, the simple truth.

no shit. Let's FIRST save those living.

[Dogmudgeon]

3. They can't

Many levees are weak and may crumble.

Broken levees mean that the flooding peaks all over again. It means less access to survivors. The levees are important for more reasons that property protection.

Yes, the water is subsiding a little. Lake Ponchartrain has itself subsided some three feet, and since Lake Ponchartrain is the main source of the flood waters, this is a good sign. But those levees are still required.

--p!

[Birthmark]

4. The water is as high as it can go.

Even if it rises another foot or two or three, it will matter to VERY few people compared to those who are in desperate need of rescuing right now or sooner. The levees may be rebuilt if need be, those children and parents cannot be replaced...ever.

[Pool Hall Ace]

7. Yes, I agree. Priority One should be getting choppers, boats,

buses -- whatever it takes -- to get people out of there. Although I do believe all lives are valuable, not just parents and children.

[Birthmark]

8. I agree that all lives are precious.

But the children are among those most at risk. Even if they can't get everyone off the roofs, they should at least deliver water and food to those who can't be rescued. Even that much would buy precious time. What the hell are they DOING?!

[ohio_liberal]

10. The way it stands right now

Only the strongest will survive. The sick, children, elderly still trapped in the city don't look like they're going to make it :cry:

[Birthmark]

12. It's heartbreaking

They couldn't have screwed this up more if they had tried. If you or I acted the way the Government has, we'd be charged with negligent homicide - and rightfully so!

[Pool Hall Ace]

15. I don't understand it; it seems to be taking too long.

Can any CEOs donate their corporate choppers? Are there any military choppers left in the US?

I would think it would be less risky to transport even the sickest patients rather than endanger them by leaving them in a hospital without power or water, where the medical staff cannot wash their hands, and they too are dehydrated and exhausted.

There are many generous people on craigslist and nola.com opening up their homes to the displaced, but they can't access the internet from their rooftops.

Sheesh, if we can't handle a storm that we knew was coming, imagine what a giant clusterfuck a terrorist attack would be! :grr:

[Birthmark]

16. This is just astounding.

I couldn't have imagined that even the Bush Administration could be this inept. I'm shocked.

[Dogmudgeon]

9. It's not just water height.

There are areas, especially in the French Quarter, that are still above water. Even a few feet of standing water would put thousands of people in danger.

The levee work isn't taking anything away from the other rescue efforts.

--P!

[Birthmark]

14. Bullshit.

They haven't fixed the levees, yet the Quarter is still dry. If what you say was true, then they'd be working frantically to make sure that *other* portions of the levee system are secure, not trying to fix the existing breach.

[Dogmudgeon]

17. Chill, Junior

The French Quarter is above sea level. It will stay drier longer than other parts of the city, but if adjacent levees give way, there will be enough water for flooding. And just because the floods are subsiding doesn't mean that new breaches won't make it worse again, especially in the lower sections of town.

They've also been working on the other levees. I'm not sure how frantically you want them to work, but I assume they finally have plenty of civil engineers and techs to go around. Of course, it's disgraceful enough that the Army Corps of Engineers could make it to the area before a full complement of the National Guard.

This stuff has been on TV -- the only people who seem to be completely in the dark about the levees are the Bush administration.

--p!

[corkhead]

5. they are abandoning search and rescue

so they can shoot looters. That is the priority in a "free market" society
:sarcasm:

[Birthmark]

6. The most amazing misplaced priorities I've ever seen.

[Ripley]

11. I know. what is wrong with the Mayor?

He must be feeling pressure from someone to do that? I mean he is black and not a repuke right? So this is not a race thing...

[Birthmark]

13. The mayor has no resources.

The cops are out of contact. There's nowhere to send the survivors. He has no food or water to give people. What's he supposed to do? Even the State doesn't have enough resources. This MUST be done by the Federal Government.

[mondo joe]

18. The PEOPLE have to be protected as well as rescued.

In the blog from NO that was posted here earlier today the blogger was saying it's absolute mayhem and people can't go outside without risking being robbed and/or killed.

The police are faced with having to try to restore some order to PROTECT the survivors.

[DemBones DemBones]

19. I also wonder if it is not a triage decision, that

people still in attics or on roofs are likely to be dead or near death by now, therefore they'll focus their meager resources on keeping the armed gangs from killing other survivors, breaking into the hospitals, etc.

Bush* could have done something on Monday to save the lives of most who were alive at that time. Now it's probably too late for many of them. It's sickening but all we can do is try to help the survivors.