It's weird, but I haven't felt this hopeless since 9-11

[Rabrrrrrr]

And that hopelessness was different, of course, but wow - I really feel like this is the end of America as we knew her, and a time when the government is gonna let the oil industry gouge us on prices all they want.

Fuck, at least on 9-11 local governments stepped in within hours to stop the fuel price gouging going on.

Now, gas stations that I'm sure haven't had delivery for a week, and so are using gas they paid a certain price for, have skyrocketed their prices, and the gov. doesn't seem to give a goddamn.

And it's not even just the gas prices, it's the whole fiddling while rome burns, the whole government not giving a shit, the whole bit about Americans not seeming to give a goddamn about what our fake evil fuck president is up to.

Either we go to hell, or if we get back on track, it's gonna be a violent (possibly physical, but more likely economic and social) realignment.

[Arugula Latte]

1. We've fallen through the rabbit hole.

I never thought this country could tumble so hard, so fast.

I'm with you -- we're in for dark days.

[DS1]

2. Yeah

I read some comments by the Mayor that was posted as an anti-Bush rant here, and parsed it completely differently than the original intent of the post.

It was posted that he was going off on how pissed off he was that all the emergency plans he had down were overruled by beaurocracy and that his resources went to helping people instead of further damage control, which he said cost the city another month's worth of rebuilding. Then he went on railing about how that was going to affect the oil industry severly, and he pointed out where the U.S. depends on LA oil.

This could be taken two ways

Oil supply, not blood supply
Oil is more important to our economy than the last 200 or so people trapped on roofs.

Either way it sucks, but both ways I parsed it, it was a local government official touting money over lives.

[bliss_eternal]

8. I heard that, too--friggin' idiot.

Then there was the govt. official that was all bent out of shape about the looting and lawlessness that is occuring. I'm not trying to make light of that situation, but I tend to wonder where the priority lays right now.

Rescue more people, and take stock of who's alive and how to get them to safety, or watching footage and deciding who that person is, that is stealing from Walmart?

[Rabrrrrrr]

10. And the looting is utterly irrelevant at this point

Everything in those stores is fucked anyway, due to flooding and other damage. Pretty much every store is gonna have to cleared out and everything thrown away, anyway.

Let the fuckers loot.

Shit, they might even have to raze huge sections of town after it's sat in water for 2 months.

[DS1]

12. I wouldn't even go that far

in the sense of 'let the fuckers loot'

There are probably lots of dads out there fighting it out for what's left, kinda reminds me of Fallujah after our forces decimated the place, and shot everything that floated and moved at the same time.

Granted, there are some 'fuckers' out there, no doubt there's a powergrab going on, jesus it makes me think of the shantytown in Mad Max Three. Sometimes the will to survive is enough to kill another.

What's TRULY shocking, in my mind, is how fucking FAST this all came about. It wasn't a matter of shortages lasting over months and driving people into starvation. It was 'the next day'. The people killing others over food right now are hungry, but they aren't ~that~ hungry. I know that sounds highly uncompassionate, but I'm not a conservative, nor am I a Christian. :shrug:

[bliss_eternal]

13. Yes, exactly!

I just wanted to hit the woman on tv going on and on ad nauseum about how everyone would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law for looting. Saying they have them all on tape.

Yeah--good luck finding them lady. It's not like they have a house to take the loot back to. :wtf:

Where are these people's priorities? Just because they aren't in the situation personally that gives them the right to pass judgement on what is going on?

[pitohui]

29. let the looters loot YOUR house

as i said on another thread, i got an email from a friend who saw his street of RESIDENTIAL HOMES being looted on the news

no

shoot the damn looters on sight

because of looters, ppl can't evacuate for fear of losing everything

ppl who don't evacuate die

you cannot both argue that we don't effectively evacuate the city & come back and say, let the looters loot

if you want ppl to evacuate, you MUST provide gov't resources such as National Guard to secure their homes

period

end of sentence

the attitude of "let the looters loot" kills ppl

[Rabrrrrrr]

31. Look, the truth is, that anything that looters are gonna loot,

is probably gonna be destroyed anyway.

Granted, some things, like people's silver, jewelry, stuff that can't be damaged by being waterlogged, ISN'T fucked.

But, considering the police-hours that would be needed to patrol and police EEVRYWHERE, in the name of humanity, we need to say "fuck the stuff, most of it's ruined or de facto fucked anyway, let's concentrate on saving people".

If I were in charge, I would make the decision to ignore looting, and have my police and emergency personnel spend their resources saving lives, evacuating people, and otherwise trying to do our best to save as many lives as possible.

Stuff is just stuff. Fuck it.

[pitohui]

26. ok nagin's freakin out a little

sadly he is more of a business mayor

maybe it would be better to have marc morial or another mayor but we got the mayor we got

he's gotten a little freaked & i don't think the comment abt thousands of dead was helpful

but i wonder if i would have been any more articulate in such a disaster

he has actually done a fine job considering the VERY limited resources to hand & the undermining caused by the federal gov't

[greekspeak]

3. I feel more helpless

And hopeless. I feel like the bad s*it is just starting, like we are only getting a taste of what's to come. I am wondering right now how longer it will be until America reverts to full blown feudalism...a nation full of peasents at the mercy of a few rich landowners and money holders.

Bankrupt bankrupcy reform. Fuel prices nobody can afford. Credit slavery. Disempowering of unions. Removal of jobs overseas. Desensitization to the plight of others-the poor, minorities, non-fundivangelical Christianity. Praise and jubilation of ignorance and bigotry, and hatred of learning and progress. Removing women's control over their own bodies. They want a bunch of impovershed sheep who bask in their poverty and work like slaves for a few rich people.

[mzteris]

4. I feel worse...

........ I feel hopeless.

Back then we didn't KNOW what an absolute screwup bushco was.

Back then we weren't hated by the world - they were rushing to help.

Back then, people in the affected area pulled together instead of entering into armed battle against each other for a loaf of bread, water, and gas (or Rolexes and TV's).

Back then, the country was still doing pretty okay economically.

Back then we hadn't had FEMA eviscerated.

Back then we had our National Guard units here and ready to help in a NATIONAL EMERGENCY - instead of being sacrificed at the altar of buscho.

Back then - I had hope for a better day tomorrow.

[GOPisEvil]

5. You know why? Because this country is a rudderless ship.

In times of crisis, we look to the President to show us some damn leadership. Instead we get golf outings, guitar strumming and a near-total lack of federal response. People think no one's at the helm of the ship and they're scared. It's like we're on the Titanic after the iceberg strike and the Captain is is getting drunk in the bar.

[Rabrrrrrr]

6. Yeah, I think that's it - 9-11 was about being attacked from the outside

(well, with the help of the assholes on the inside, but still, it was an outside attack). Now, it's an intentional attack from within.

As I've thought of this since posting this thread, that's the thought that came to me - I'm hopeless, because it's our own people attacking us now.

It's one thing when dad is defending you from the neighbors. But when you realize your only hope is that a neighbor will come protect you from your dad ...that's a whole 'nother story.

[Liberalynn]

7. This sums it all up

for me too GOPisEvil. You've said it brilliantly. It's what's making me feel uneasy. Thanks for putting it into words.

[Gormy Cuss]

9. GOPisEvilisInsightful

Your new user name. That is exactly the feeling. We need a leader, and we haven't got one.

Since the Captain's drunk, I think it might be better if I'm drunk before I hit the icy North Atlantic. We are in for some very rough times nationally and the poor people who can't go home are going to need an extraordinary amount of help.

[no name no slogan]

11. Spot on as always, mi amigo

Nero's busy serenading us when he should be busy LEADING us. It's like a total power vacuum at the top-- nothing's happening, nobody knows who's in charge, and the response from the Feds is too little, too late.

Some of those scenes today could have come straight out of someplace like Somalia, where there's NO central government. Times like this make me weep for our country :cry:

But still, we can't give up hope. Right now, it's the only thing we have left.

[DS1]

14. They've been left to die

I wouldn't be surprised to hear about a military quarantine set up around NO. I doubt it will happen, but it wouldn't surprise me.

The benefits are there, however. Give all the oil rebuilding contracts to Betchel/Halliburton. Rebuild for free, aside from 10% of all oil profits from NO ports.

Racket in the highest degree.

War is a racket, might as well oil to the list.

[GOPisEvil]

15. Damn...that's bringing Iraq home the hard way.

[DS1]

21. I call em as I see em

:shrug:

and in these guys, I see the worst

The one advantage of being a vicious bastard is understanding the workings of other vicious bastards.

Of course, I've got an equal amount of :grouphug: and :hug: to balance it out, but I can think like the most venomous, evil, sick, soulless person you've ever met. Not that I'm planning to carry out any of those ideas, of course :hi:

[GOPisEvil]

27. Every time I think they've gone too far, they keep going.

Of course, since no one really calls them on anything, what's to stop them?

Sigh...

Edit - stupid typos

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

22. You don't think they are studying the conditions in the

SuperDome closely do you?
Like how to turn stadia into Super-Max prisons.

This is all too convient for them, a full-scale rehersal of martial law.

[Rabrrrrrr]

32. Totally! DS1 said it just above, that he can think like a vicious bastard.

I, too, can think like a vicious bastard. In fact, DS1 and I should be put in charge of fending off attacks by sick fucks, because we understand them. :-) Also, the fact that I can think like a vicious bastard - and also a sick fuck - is one reason I was so utterly terrified after 9-11 (and remember, I lived in NYC and lost my office that day), because I knew what *I* would do if I were in charge of terrorizing a city. Thankfully, al qaeda isn't creative enough to do what I would have done.

Anyway, yeah, totally, the superdome scenario is, I bet, generating reems and reems of data that will be studied for future use by the fascist fucks who want to control this country.

They'll let the people in the dome leave when they have enough data, so they know how better to constuct and manage "Worker Housing" after the country falls apart.

[DS1]

38. It's more than that

The "Superdome" was rated to 130 mph winds, with gusts so much more, but it had never been tested. I posted earlier that the people inside were going to be guineia pigs. They lived, now they are kicked the fuck out.

Why not let those people, and more people, stay inside the Superdome and get aid in a concentrated area? Does this not make sense?

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

40. well, they have no water, power or air

in there... it is getting pretty gross.

imagine 25k + people in there camped out in pitch darkness with a horrendous smell and 100 degree days

and don't forget how long it takes to get a bowel system ready to eat MRE's...

Hell approximated.

[fluffernutter]

16. you couldn't be more right.

did you hear that drunken slurred speech of his? good lord, we're in deep trouble.

[blondeatlast]

37. So very true. I'm shielding my kid from the news now because I can't

be convinced it'll be okay.

Eisenhower; hell, Reagan, even--would have stepped up and done what was necessary.

The captain is drunk at the bar--perfect analogy.

God help my son; I really don't know if things will be okay (and my parents survived the depression).

I've never been this frightened.

[fluffernutter]

17. you're right, Rabrrrrrr

I haven't felt like this since then either.

[LynzM]

18. I hear ya, dude.

I was just going to post about feeling somewhat pre-apocalyptic right now. Like I'm just waiting for a giant fucking shoe to drop, and it's going to suck. I wasn't living in the country during 9/11 and the aftermath, so I can't compare, but this feels damn scary. "Isn't going to have a major effect on the economy" my ass. We'll see. I feel so helpless for those who are stuck homeless, no food, no water, no vehicles, in debt, with NOTHING. How do you even look that in the eye and know where to start?

How do we host a family that needs a home?

[NNadir]

19. Me too. I shutter for my country and my planet.

[Reverend_Smitty]

20. I in some way feel that this is worse than 9/11

It could be that I really have zero confidence in my government, at least back then I had a shred. It could also be that this was an act of mother nature, we saw it coming and we were powerless at least we had a chance to stop the terrorists. Or it could be that I've been watching coverage of the destruction of whole cities for the past 48 hours and am powerless to help which is really damaging my mental health.

Whatever it is the first Red Cross stand I come by on campus tomorrow (I'm sure there will be some since it is the first day of class), you bet your ass I will giving some blood and some money.

[ofrfxsk]

23. I feel the same way. Just odd and lost and surreal

Coldplay's Rush of Blood to the Head keeps running through my mind. Sue me.

He said I知 gonna buy this place and burn it down
I知 gonna put it six feet underground
He said I知 gonna buy this place and watch it fall
Stand here beside me baby in the crumbling walls
Oh I知 gonna buy this place and start a fire
Stand here until I fill all your hearts desires
Because I知 gonna buy this place and see it burn
Do back the things it did to you in return
Ah,ah,ah
He said oh I知 gonna buy a gun and start a war
If you can tell me something worth fighting for
Oh and I知 gonna buy this place, that痴 what I said
Blame it upon a rush of blood to the head

And honey
All the movements you池e starting to make
See me crumble and fall on my face
And I know the mistakes that I made
See it all disappear without a trace
And they call as they beckon you on
They say start as you mean to go on
Start as you mean to go on

He said I知 gonna buy this place and see it go
Stand here beside me baby watch the orange glow
Some値l laugh and some just sit and cry
But you just sit down there and you wonder why
So I知 gonna buy a gun and start a war
If you can tell me something worth fighting for
I知 gonna buy this place, that痴 what I said
Blame it upon a rush of blood to the head

And honey
All the movements you池e starting to make
See me crumble and fall on my face
And I know the mistakes that I made
See it all disappear without a trace
And they call as they beckon you on
They said start as you mean to go on
As you mean to go on, as you mean to go on

So meet me by the bridge, meet me by the lane
When am I going to see that pretty face again
Meet me on the road, meet me where I said
Blame it all upon
A rush of blood to the head

[pitohui]

24. don't don't don't give in to that feeling

yes, there are reports of gouging

yes, there are gas shortages, we drove 150 miles yesterday to buy gas

but

what you don't see is the families offering homes even to estranged family members or family members they haven't seen in years, the co-workers or even the boss (!) offering shelter or other assistance, even strangers offering what small help they can give

this is a once in a lifetime, maybe even a 500 yr event

if we can do this, we can do ANYTHING

and by the way, the local and state gov'ts have been doing a wonderful job considering their derisory budgets

[samplegirl]

25. I know the feeling

the more i read the more i watch...the more depressed i get.

[saged52]

28. I completely agree

I'm thankful you put into words what I have been feeling. I have only visited that incredible city of New Orleans once - but I am selfishly feeling that this administration single-handedly took this wonderful city away from me. I felt like the whole scenario was going by in slow motion - a scenario of ineptness. I still don't know whether to throw my beer bottle at the TV or just sit and sob - or both.

[pitohui]

30. hey we'll come back better stronger faster

fuck bushco

the city will be back

[saged52]

33. pitohui - I sure hope so!

Because I do love it down there! That city and the people crept eerily into my heart and soul. I needed to hear your spirit!

[peacebuzzard]

36. Good to see your post.

I have been asking about you.

[sundog]

34. i feel worse than 9/11

that much i know

[alarimer]

35. Me neither

I have had this bleak feeling for months. At first I just thought it was stress over things and the state of the world but I think now that I just have no hope for the future. none. Everything is going to hell in a handbasket and nobody seems to give a damn. Except us I suppose. All those oblivious drivers bitching about the price of gas yet driving everywhere by themselves. Well, hell I do that too. So I feel guilty too. It has gotten so I don even want to see the future. I'd prefer to be hit by a truck right now so as not to witness the coming horror.

[Rabrrrrrr]

41. And we have a ship's captain whe keeps ramming the ship into icebergs

and shoals and other obstacles, and other times leaving the wheel and letting the ship run into things totally unsteered, knocking off lifeboats and wrecking the keel and snapping off handrails and puncturing the hull and bending the rutter and knocking people overboard, and and every time it happens he just gives us a drunklen giggle, blames it on something or someone else, or says "whoops! thank God that doesn't affect MY portfolio!", or spins the situation to tell us that, actually, a big rip in the hull is exactly what the country needs right now because it's a GOOD thing, but never once bothering to replace a lifeboat, or fix a puncture, or even take it as a lesson to pay more attention and keep us in the center of the channel where it's safer.

[GOPBasher]

39. That's how I'm feeling, too. n/t