DKos: URGENT FROM BOGALUSA...PEOPLE ARE F**KING DYING

[mntleo2]

I hope I have posted in the right place. The Kos posting is under 48 hours and I checked through the most recent threads and did not see it posted.

I heard on Amy Goodman yesterday that people are openly speaking of not allowing poor NO residents back into their city. KBR and Halliburton are there already and they are already setting up militarized camps and obviously already slopping at the trough. The wealthy in the city are openly disdainful of anyone but their own kind coming back, meaning only rich Republican, white, folks be allowed back ~ and our Military is there to support them. They even went so far as to hire Israeli soldiers who were adept at warfare to guard their gated communities! Wall Mart is already planning a superstore in destroyed areas. They sprayed the entire city with some kind of blue dyed bug spray that has never been used in urban areas before. There is one area Amy said, that they are already calling "Little Baghdad" because it is swarming with so many Humvee, military personnel, and weapons. Oh and I hate to say it but at the hub is the NO mayor...


This is an eye witness diary from DKOs of the "ethnic cleansing" that is continuing in Boga lusa LA:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/17/223753/006

I swear, I HATE these people! <----Cat

Cat In Seattle

[stepnw1f]

1. Sickening Isn't It?

And yet we are trying like hell to stay civil.

[billbuckhead]

2. Nagan is a Republican Bush supporter on the take

[ChowChowChow]

3. yep another CROOK and member of the Bush Crime Family

[pitohui]

24. nagin has no jurisdiction over white Washington Parish

may i respectfully request for the 1,984,396 time that DUers get the facts before accusing state & local officials of all kinds of wild-assed crimes & misdemeanors

ray nagin, mayor of new orleans, has absolutely no jurisdiction in washington parish & in some parts of that parish would likely be run out of town by the KKK if he dared to show his face there

blame ppl for what they do

don't blame them for made-up crap

no one died & made ray nagin the god almighty of louisiana

i doubt he ever stepped foot in bogalusa or washington parish in his entire life

get the facts before making serious accusations

this is sickening

i don't like nagin's business ties either but they have no relevance to fema and media abandonment of the rural areas hit by katrina

new orleans is one city in louisiana ONE CITY

bogalusa is a different city, in a different parish, w. its own elected officials

[MADem]

28. Yeah, and Nagin is a FORMER Republican who is now a DEMOCRAT

...and he had a hefty income when he worked at COX, and benefitted from the monkey tax cuts, and likely could have been a "Show Minority" in the GOP heirarchy had he so desired.

But he switched, which suggests to me that he is intelligent and has a conscience.

But most importantly, as you noted, he is NOT the MAYOR of Bogalusa!!!!

The mayor of Bogalusa is James McGhehee and he is PISSED: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/17/national/nationalspecial/17fema.html

James McGehee, the mayor of Bogalusa, a small Louisiana city near the Mississippi border, could barely contain his rage in an interview on Thursday.

"Today is 18 days past the storm, and FEMA has not even put a location for people who are displaced," he said. "They are walking around the damn streets. The system's broke."

[jobycom]

33. Evidence, please?

Not rumors. Evidence.

For the record, the OP was about a city an hour away from New Orleans where Ray Nagin has no jurisdiction or even presence.

[madokie]

4. And to think five years ago I couldn't hate, or at least I thought so

I HATE THESE SORRY BAST*RDS. feel better now. :grr:

[ElectroPrincess]

5. Why aren't our so called Democratic Representatives ...

Screaming from the highest rafters about poor people being denied the right to re-enter THEIR city AND the fact that HALLIBURTON is back on the take?!?

Why do these corporations always get the BEST DEAL?

One has to wonder WHY our *democratic representatives* don't stand up for THE PEOPLE OF NEW ORLEANS vice the arrogant, wealthy fat cats, upper middle class (investors with over $300,000 of accumulated wealth), and last but NOT least their beloved Corporations?

Our elected representatives serve CORPORATE America NOT the average working stiff. It don't matter, both Republicans and Democrats are happily feeding at the trough with their wealthy lobbyist friends and corporate contributors.

[rayofreason]

11. Look at what Donna Brazile has to say...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/16/AR2005091602167.html

Who would have thought it? Will more Democrats flip soon? Why?

[Delphinus]

15. I cannot believe she thinks

the boy king was speaking from his heart! She's under the influence of some pretty serious drugs - and pretty soon, with shit like this happening, we're all gonna need that stuff.

[PassingFair]

30. Its a drug alright, but it's not THC...

its DLC.
A deadly hallucinogenic.

[MADem]

31. She and KKKarl are very close friends

Who knows what her motivation is??? She is a political operative, and she has made some major mistakes (you can thank her for Gore's "autumn colors" clothing publicity, she was the one who gave the media that bullshit to latch onto).

I sometimes wonder if her friendship with Rove over the past few years is similar to that of competing scientists, who hate each other personally, but tolerate one another to pick up clues as to the direction of their research?

Her bread and butter is in politics. She has to pick up work to live, and her party is on the outs right now. Keeping close to the throne ensures her spots as a talking head on the TV commentary shows, and this crime family in charge is real good at freezing people out if they don't like them (e.g. hire that person, and you never get any inside scoop from the White House ever again).

Self preservation, the first law.

[populistdriven]

17. Maybe they have to put their best foot forward to at least say they tried.

:puke:

who are these people kidding? Everything KKKark Rove touches turns black, withers and dies. He sucked the life out of Baghdad, and it is New Orleans turn now.

[donsu]

6. kicking

nt

[notadmblnd]

7. if there isn't going to be poor people.....

why do they need a walmart?

[all.of.me]

13. lol - good point. then again...

there are cheap rich people. my mother is one. shops at k-mart.

[Hotler]

8. Just gets better and better !! Hollywood couldn't write this crap..n/t

[Pepperbelly]

9. Our guys are tricking them ... giving them rope and now ...

they are about to spring their trap.

Uh ... anytime now, guys.

Yoo-hoo! Where are you?

Seriously though, I kinda addressed this yesterday although not as directly. There are some interesting thoughts here though:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4802532&mesg_id=4802532

[shireen]

10. CALL CONGRESS & STATE REPS

Landrieu, Mary- (D - LA)
724 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
[phone]
Web Form: landrieu.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm

Vitter, David- (R - LA)
516 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
[phone]
Web Form: vitter.senate.gov/contact.cfm

State Senator Ben Nevers, District 12, 800-259-6690
Representative Harold Ritchie District 75, 985-730-2147

[jobycom]

12. I drove through Bogalusa, and it's bad, but where does it say "dying"?

Bogalusa and surrounding areas (Poplarville, MS, and even on up to Maddy McCall's region of Mississippi) got hit by the eye wall, which is the strongest part of the hurricane just around the eye. Those are the fiercest winds and probably a lot of tornados. This region has not been hit by a hurricane with this force in decades, so there were a lot of tall pines that had not been weeded out by previous storms. Also, lots of development in the last few decades has isolated these tall trees. Trees in a forest don't blow over as easily, because when they blow, they lean against other trees and it prevents their roots from pulling loose. Also, trees diffuse the wind, protecting trees (and houses and trailers) inside these forests. But trees along roadways and alongside property lines, and trees standing alone beside houses, uproot more easily because they catch the full force of the wind and have nothing to prop them up.

So what happened in Bogalusa, Poplarville and a lot of small towns in Mississippi and Louisiana was a massive amount of downed trees. A fifty foot pine will tomahawk right through a wooden house. These trees fell onto roadways (open spaces, not other trees to prop them), which means they fell on power lines. So everywhere I drove in the region I saw shattered power poles and downed wires. Almost none are left standing, and they will have to be restrung almost from scratch. To do this, a lot of fallen trees, very large trees, will have to be cleared out. It will take months.

That's probably why Maddy hasn't been heard from much.

The good side is there wasn't the type of destruction as in New Orleans. There wasn't toxic flooding, the water supply wasn't compromised (though without electricity people can't run their wells without generators), etc. And now that the roads are opened, people can get in and out. Not the locals--they have no gasoline. But emergency workers can.

However, these emergency workers are stretched too thin, because of the greater mess in Mississippi and New Orleans. Also, the greater attention paid to these regions, and the denser population. One general described it as triage--you save the most urgent regions first. It isn't just the federals and the NGOs doing this, but even private charities and volunteer groups aren't going to Bogalusa. One example is Michael Moore. He's in Covington, less than an hour from Bogalusa, and he's concentrating on New Orleans, as far as I can tell. (I'm not saying that's wrong, just pointing out what's happening).

On my drive to Mississippi the Friday after the storm, I heard the Parrish President for Washington Parrish--where Bogalusa is--appeal for help. His statement was that the residents weren't dying, they were self-sufficient, but that they were suffering, and no one was helping. Michael Brown, when told about their plight, supposedly said "If I haven't heard from a region I assume it's safe." This after a storm that destroyed all means of communications. The Parrish President broke down in tears at the end of this interview, and a state senator from this area echoed the message and also broke down in tears at the lack of response.

So my summary is, I guess, that I don't see in the article linked in the OP where people in Bogalusa are dying, but the situation there is very bad, very uncomfortable, and does not seem to be on the verge of being fixed. The power lines are down for a long time, and while the town itself might get up and running, the surrounding areas won't be. I did see some tanker trucks on the highways in the region (escorted by cops, for fear of hijacking), and some supply trucks, and I saw some businesses inside the towns that had lights (generators, maybe, or maybe some limited power in the cities where the lines could be replaces.) An hour from Bogalusa is a town called Amite, and it had full power and commerce. It seemed to be a command station, because there were NG trucks and power trucks everywhere in this town. So they are working on the area. But the federal response is atrociously slow and inadequate, and people are suffering because of it.

In a nation where I can hop on a plane, a train, a bus, or in a rental car and go anywhere I want without a moment's thought, and in a nation where I can walk into a buffet and eat until my stomach explodes for unde six bucks, and then throw away enough food on my plate to feed a child for a day, this should not be happening. There are logistical problems with sending food to Ethiopia or Somalia or the Congo, but there should be none getting enough relief to Bogalusa, Louisiana or McComb, Mississippi. The shame is beginning to spread beyond the federal government, and to the American people for allowing this to continue.

Sorry for the long post, but this is just all very personal to me.

[pitohui]

26. thanks this post is the real deal

what i observed also

not enough help getting to rural areas but it's the size of the disaster & also the many downed trees & for a time the gas shortages

not the machinations of ray nagin (!)

it's a federal abandonment in my humble opinion

[jobycom]

35. Thanks.

[The Backlash Cometh]

14. What is up with Nagin?

[GreenPartyVoter]

19. Maybe he's cool with having gated communities for the rich and

reservations for the poor. Maybe he thinks the restructuring would work out "very well for them".

I will wait and see what is really going on, but I had rather liked Nagin when he tore the federal gov't a new one. I hope I don't ahve to change my opinion on him, but if he turns out to be a classicist kinda guy who favors the rich, I will.

[The Backlash Cometh]

20. You and me both. nt

[sunnystarr]

21. He's a Republican who changed to the Dem party to run for office (nt)

[hiley]

23. yes to run

in Democratic City..
enough said

[pitohui]

25. nagin has no jurisdiction over washington parish that's what

i can't believe i'm reading a whole thread of ppl blaming ray nagin for the goings-on in bogalusa, louisiana

if you had any knowledge of louisiana or of bogalusa, you'd know how ridiculous this is that a black man could ride in on a white horse & save that town

ray nagin couldn't even get HIS people -- the people of orleans parish -- over one bridge into jefferson parish because of long-standing racial and class divide between jeff & orleans parish

but you think maybe he could have marched all the way to kkk-influenced washington parish & taken control THERE

how could he?

why would he?

please ppl if you have no clue at all, stop sharing your lack of clue-dom, it makes us all look like idiots

i should not have to be leaving THIS many posts pointing out that new orleans is a city, while louisiana is an entire state with MANY different towns & cities affected by this storm

[Lydia Leftcoast]

29. I don't know what's happened to DU, but people here USED TO

read threads before responding to them.

I feel your pain.

[jobycom]

32. They sure don't anymore, do they?

It used to be that most people came to DU to find out what was happening and comment on it. I've seen more people these days just tacking a post at the end of a thread and skating away, half the time leaving a post that has no idea what the OP or any of the preceding posts said.

Ah, the old days.

[AnnInLa]

16. Economic Cleansing as well

this from HuffPo on 9/13

"As we all sit in dismay watching the bodies float through the streets of New Orleans on TV, it may seem like the free market bears no real connection to this weather-driven event. And yet what we are watching is the ultimate product of our market-driven society: the eradication of the lower class - in this case poor African Americans -- by economic cleansing. While a hurricane may be the agent, Katrina is shining a spotlight on the reality of what America has become, a society that has traded in its moral principles for market principles.

The free market is not just an economic theory, it is an entire belief system based on the principle of competition, i.e. me vs. you. This system cannot survive, however, unless it is restrained by a framework of higher values based on the principle of unity, i.e. us. The tremendous success of America has always been the product of the delicate balance between these two belief systems, one emanating primarily from the world of business, and the other from the Judeo-Christian tradition. However, for diverse reasons-technological and cultural-market forces have become extraordinarily strong in recent decades, to the point where the market belief system now permeates all aspects of American life. The result is that we no longer care about “us” the way we once did, with devastating results.

<clip>

A Me Society will never build a great civilization and it is folly to promote any theory that maintains otherwise. We need to understand that the market belief system is only part of our society, and the lower part at that. Without those values that promote social unity, be they cultural, familial, religious, aesthetic, moral, or democratic, the water will continue to rise."

From Economic Cleansing in America by Paul Stiles on September 13, 2004

More at link:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-stiles (may have to type in the link)

[ninkasi]

18. This whole tragedy just keeps getting worse

It's difficult to believe that this level of incompetence could be anything but deliberate. I didn't hear the Amy Goodman show, but have a link to an interview
here...

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/09/16/1222257

The interview was with Jeremy Scahill, from DemocracyNow! He mentions that FEMA is bringing in Mexican workers from Texas to do some of the clean up work. He says...

"I was talking to him, as his head of security and after he pulled off in his S.U.V., about 30 Mexican workers came out of his hotel, and one of his security guards said that they had been brought in from Texas, and in fact another news report, about Patrick Quinn, said that he had brought in workers from Texas as well. So, we have the reality of these shelters full of people wanting work and then you see Mexican workers being brought in from Texas, and when they're done, doing this dirty work, they will be put on the back of trucks, piled into trucks and they go to wherever it is that they were staying. "

The man he was talking to is the rich owner of most of the hotel rooms in NO, and a Republican. So already, taxpayer's money is being given to house workers from another state, while residents of the city languish in shelters. Why not let them come in and have the rooms, and do their own reconstruction?

Because the big prize in this fiasco is owning New Orleans, the residents of Bogalusa, and other small towns are left to suffer and die. This continues to be a national outrage.

[Nothing Without Hope]

22. Horrible, but consistent. Read this: "The Militarization of New Orleans"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x157616
thread title: The Militarization of New Orleans

And these paramilitaries are being paid for by flood relief funds, I bet. Meanwhile, people are still dying in what can only be called a genocide.

Anybody STILL going to insist that this was all accidental, just incompetence?

[snot]

27. Don't forget to blast gov'l reps and the media with this!

http://www.congress.org

http://www.democraticunderground.com/cu/cu.php?az=blaster

[earth mom]

34. KICK!

[enough]

36. kick