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As the black sheep son of a right-wing lemming, I am often inundated by bulk emails being sent back and forth between my Dad and his Dark Side golfing buddies.
Here's a new one that was titled, "Why I only watch Fox News" in the email subject line and my response to my Dad and his cc:d lemming buddies:
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Why The Katrina Coverage Made Me Switch To Fox News!
by Lee Ellis
Sep 3, 2005
Watching both Fox and NBC after President Bush had been inspecting
the Gulf Coast and New Orleans, I was shocked at how the nets, and even some newspapers, were trying to blame the Bush Administration for the slowness in which help was reaching the damaged cities.
Obviously, Brian Williams and his news team do not know the law, nor
do they know the past history of New Orleans--a city built in a bathtub of a swamp. This is a city where the dead, for centuries, have had to be buried in above-ground structures because the water is so close to the surface of this sinking city. If coffins are put in the ground, they will rise to the surface as the underground water pushes them up. I have been to these cemeteries personally to witness this.
For decades, New Orleans has been told that the city is sinking, and
that the old levees have to be rebuilt and modernized in order to keep the city from being flooded. Local officials never finished the work, nor have pleas to Congress for additional federal help been heeded. Congress has simply never seen fit to fully complete this effort, whether controlled by Democrats or Republicans.
"Why did it take five days for Bush to help?" is the mantra
constantly voiced by all the "Talking Heads" on TV. Here are the reasons:
(1) It is against the law for any President to order troops into a
city or across state lines without a request and permission from the
Governor of that state. John Armor, a First Amendment lawyer and one of my favorite writers, told me, "Federal law prevents the President from sending in the National Guard until the Governor gives the order. It is little known, but the Commanding General of the National Guard in every state reports to the Governor, not the President, until the Governor says otherwise. U.S. military units (regular Army, not the Guard) cannot be used because of the Posse Comitatus law, until the Guard has been authorized."
According to some news sources, the Governor of Louisiana, who knew
the levees were weak, who knew that the city had been slowly sinking,
and who knew that a major # 5 hurricane was approaching her city, did
not call Washington for help.
(2) The Mayor of New Orleans did call for evacuation over a
loud-speaker, but did nothing to be sure that the police went
door-to-door, followed by transportation, to pick up all those who did not have cars or any ability to leave. There was no other leadership practiced by the mayor there, as had been in New York City during 9/11 by Mayor Giuliani.
(3) The hurricane veered east and saved New Orleans, Brian Williams announced a week ago, and all breathed a sigh of relief...until the levees broke a day or two later allowing the surrounding waters to pour into the city.
(4) It was this predicted levee failure which had been ignored for so long that doomed the local people to be held hostage in their attics or on rooftops, not the storm. It was also the failure of the local bureaucrats and local elected leaders to maintain law and order, and to have pre-arranged for complete evacuations of the city. It was only after a request went out to the President that troops could be sent in.
Can you imagine the anti-Bush media screaming that Bush had invaded Louisiana as he had done in Iraq if he had gone in before being
asked? I can just imagine The New York Times headlining, "A Repeat of Shock and Awe by Bush!"
Bill O'Reilly, on Fox News, was the only commentator I heard who
explained this. All the other network commentators seemed too willing to allow the implication inferred by the viewers, that this was all the fault of the Bush Administration.
I guess the Far Left also works in mysterious ways! Now you know
why my channel is glued to Fox News, and why I no longer listen to NBC or its aide-de-camp, MSNBC!
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And, my response to this bulk email sent by my Dad...
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And, this is why you continue to be ill informed about any and all issues involving the Bush (mis)Administration...
Inconvenient facts not discussed on the Faux Propaganda Network:
1. Building and/or working upon the NO levees is the responsibility of the Army Corp of Engineers, which comes under federal control and derives their budget from the federal coffers...not the state of Louisiana.
2. The Bush Administration was well-aware of the dangers involved in the NO levee system because they were informed by an internal study about the problem and even then decided to CUT funds to fix the problem. This is evidence of the systemic problem of conservative Republicans who view the government as the problem and continue to cut funding to provide tax cuts to the wealthiest of Americans. Big government is always criticized until circumstances like Katrina where we see that it is actually needed at times.
3. Federalizing the Louisiana National Guard (the majority of which are overseas fighting in Iraq) would have prevented their use in enforcing law and order in NO. Once the guard was federalized, they would then come under Posse Comatatus...but not before. Also, the governor requested and declared a state of emergency the evening of the hurricane, not days after as is suggested in the Faux propaganda.
There is plenty of blame to run around for the general handling of the Katrina crisis, but you will never hear the following if you only listen/watch Faux:
1. FEMA director Brown, who was congratulated by Bush days after Katrina, was a political appointee by BUSH with NO REAL PRIOR EXPERIENCE in handling disasters and was the former head of the Arabian Horse Association.
2. President Bush did not cancel his Crawford vacation until the day after Katrina hit. And, even then he travelled out WEST to give a talk on Social Security reform and on further to San Diego to give a talk at a V-day celebration. In the meantime, people were drowning and PLEADING for help from federal, state, and local officials. It was two or three days later when Bush finally got to the region...and one of his first stops? Trent Lott's house in MS? Talk about priorities...
JB
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