"Castro does a better job than these asses" - email from Katrina volunteer

[WilliamPitt]

Got this from a truthout reader:

===

I have 180 refugees in a Pentecostal summer camp ground here in Alma. My
little Presbyterian church has be tasked with helping feed these people. My
minister was told it would be all volunteer.

I said that's a bag of crap, I'm calling FEMA. Here is where the circle jerk
begins. I called Dallas Fema whom is in charge of Arkansas to see if there
were any federal funds to purchase food, transportation, internet access,
clothing and necessities. They sent me to the D.C. office of Mass Care Housing and
Human Services. The DC office said call the Red Cross, they could get you money
quicker as it would take FEMA about 6 weeks to process the request.

The Red Cross in Little Rock said "they always do that." They sent me to the
Governors office who was organizing housing. They said basically "Take a
number." I did.

My number is 1,352.

I imagine they are serving #3.

This is a chinese fire drill, cluster fuck, or whatever you want to call it.
No one is in charge, no one knows what the hell is going on. I know I will be
fixing "air omelets" in the morning if I can organize some eggs somewhere.

Castro does a better job than these asses.

[KG]

1. oh, the advantages of living in a collective society.

[H2O Man]

2. Castro offered doctors and medicine.

Of course, the Bush administration isn't about to accept it. They don't want to have Fidel look good at what they consider to be "their expense." What is sad is that it isn't their expense at all; it is human beings who will suffer and die unnecessarily, because of the false pride of some cold-hearted fools in Washington DC.

Bush & Co. pride themselves in their self-righteous sense of being Christians. Yet Jesus taught an important lesson that can be applied to this situation, in the story of the "good Samaritan." Anyone familiar with that road to Jericho that Jesus used as the setting knows it was a scarey place to travel. The Samaritan in the story sees a wounded man, who is as foreign from him as Bush is to Castro. The Samariitan did not know if he was being set-up to be robbed, or if he would be at risk from any other passer-by.

But his sense of humanity caused him to take a risk to provide emergency help to a man who was, by definition, his enemy.

Who took the risk in today's case? I believe it was Fidel Castro. I think he was risking being "attacked," but he stopped to help the injured people.

And our president shunned the help, even though people will suffer and die so that he can maintain his sense of self-righteous pride.

[Misunderestimator]

3. If we had any sense we would model our response on Castro's.

But we don't have any sense. Dammit.

[hlthe2b]

4. Say what you will... Castro does at least care about his people...

[Nikki Stone 1]

5. Will, is there any truth to the rumor that FEMA has outsourced functions

to Kellogg, Brown & Root?

A caller on Air America said he "heard this" somewhere.

If the military forces being sent are private (ie mercenaries), it might explain why some of the hurricane victims are being treated like prisoners and not people.

[KoKo]

6. kick..

[Just Me]

7. Well, ahem, he CARES about serving his people rather than himself.

The Republican-backed BushCo/neoCONsters are focused upon empowering and profitting themselves. They have NO commitment to empowering their own people,...OBVIOUSLY,...since they feel damned comfortable in deceiving Americans in order to accomplish and profit themselves.