Watching Adm Allen and Gen Honore on teevee now ... and I feel better

[Stinky The Clown]

I could well be wrong ... but my first impression is that these are two guys who can do it and who care about people.

Now the cynical side of me sez ... that's exactly why they're there. They're likeable guys who could/will play well on teevee.

Wudda you guys think?

[elehhhhna]

1. no media allowed on recovery ops? What do i smell?

[MissMarple]

18. If they are concerned with pictures and footage of the dead, they can

limit that, but reporters should still be able to observe and report what they see.

[CottonBear]

2. What are they saying and are they in NOLA?

I like Gen. Honore. He's a LA native and seems to be an honorable man. I read Allen's bio. He seems to be well qualified.

[fooj]

3. I think that they have replaced a civilian with the military.

Now...this entire rescue and recovery becomes a MILITARY OPERATION! No media allowed anywhere. Period. No checks and balances. I'm not sure how I feel about this.

peace.

[GreenPartyVoter]

6. I think that is the problem.. I don't want people to feel good about

this becoming a military op....but at the same time we should be be glad somethign is finalyl being done.

Once again **co has us by the emotioanl shorthairs.

------------------------------------------------------
Ditch Bu$h and save the Gulf: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=106&topic_id=22507&mesg_id=22507

Then save the nation!
http://timeforachange.bluelemur.com/electionreform.htm

[Stinky The Clown]

12. Not exactly true ......

First, it is absolutely arguable that the Coast Guard (Adm Allen) is military ... and is NOT military. They started under the Treasury Dept and have never been in the armed forces (Army, Navy, AF, Marines). They have been 'militarized' from time to time, but only in cases of war. (Last surviving ship from Pearl Harbor is a CG Cutter now in Baltimore.)

They have arrest powers and patrol powers, but only on our coasts.

They're much more betwixt and between than actually military. That said, they sure do look and act like military.

Next, Honore was very clear about the media 'blackout' ...... only on recovery efforts in the still-flooded area. He's saying it is about dignity.

Right now, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. There are limits of decency. I can easily see a lot of tasteless pictures of bloated bodies. On the other hand, if facts and numbers are not forthcoming, I'll be far more concerned.

[napi21]

4. I think both of them are very capable men, who have already proven

themselves in their rise in rank in the military. The new guy, Admiral Thad Allen is used to being in command and will have no problem issuing orders and having them carried out! I don't know about Gen. Honore but he's been in NO for a while now, and seems to be able to do the job well too.

[ramapo]

5. Media blackout? No way!

I hope the MSM doesn't tolerate this.

As far as the two guys...it's nice that competent people are now in place. Unfortunately, the now dead couldn't wait.

[CottonBear]

7. Faux news refers to reporters in NOLA as "embedded" reporters

like they're in a goddamn fucking foreign war zone and not working on US soil as US citizens. :grr:

[napi21]

9. Wait a minute before you slam him. Have you ever seen a

body that has been in the water for 5-10 days? Even those that were not in the water but hae been dead for over a week, in 90+ tems is NOT something you want to see on TV!

I think they are right on this call.

[maxsolomon]

15. YOU ARE WRONG

i want every bush voter to look at those poor bloated corpses until they vomit blood. it must be recorded.

[nadinbrzezinski]

16. I have and no they are not right

they are doing this to control the reaction, just as not showing caskets.

By the way most will be buried in mass graves, and that goes without saying, but the bodies must be on the cover of Newsweek, Time, the NYT and the San Diego Union Trib... disturging yes, necessary absolutely

[Stinky The Clown]

17. Thank you

Also, if it were my mother or my wife or my kid who was pulled bloated out of the water, I'd not want their face or image on teevee.

NO WAY.

I think this is okay ... assuming other facts and info - like death numbers - are forthcoming.

By the way ... images of coffins or body bags ... I would not be opposed to those being shown.

[Wordie]

21. This is hard to talk about...but if they are unidentifiable anyway, isn't

it better that people SEE? So that we have this burned into our memories so that we don't make the same mistakes again? (Like voting the far-right-dismantle-the-federal-government-so-the-rich-can-get-richer guys into power.)

I mean, the heartbreak is already there, so maybe the loss can be given some meaning by its affect on people...if it can mobilize them to take action.

[Stinky The Clown]

22. I understand your point, but that doesn't change my feelings

That unidentifiable body **could** be my mother or brother or daughter.

Plus, the salacious shock value of the images do little to further our cause. They just shock. They'll be forgotten in a week. By all to whom they meant something.

[Wordie]

24. ...and I understand your feelings, as well. I'm just remembering that one

of the reasons that there was such an outcry, and a strong anti-war movement too, in the Vietnam war was that media DID show us those images. So we COULDN'T avoid them or feel that it was somehow far away an unconnected to us.

This may be a little different, but I bet that's part of the rationale by the Bush admin for not letting us see those images.

[Stinky The Clown]

25. I agree with you about idiot son's rationale ... and about Viet Nam

And I am foursquare in favor of showing returning coffins. Like every day. On the 6.00 newz.

And I have no issue whatever with showing trainloads of Katrina coffins.

My concern is the dead (and by new bloated or mutilated) in the condition they're found ... or as they pull the bodies from the rubble.

[Wordie]

27. To argue that people should be able to see something I don't want to see

is to be in an awkward position. I just so hope that somehow this isn't all glossed over and forgotten. That's my rationale. If I had died in NO, I wouldn't think it was objectionable for people to see, if it meant that some other life might be saved in some other emergency; if it became an impetus for positive changes. I would see it as a thing that gave my life/death meaning.

I don't think either one of us is going to see it differently; it may be just one of those type of issues. So, let's just respectfully leave it at that...

[Catrina]

28. If someone I loved died because of criminal negligence

and the only way to stop that from happening in the future was to allow pictures to be shown to the willfully blind, yes, I would ask that their faces not be shown, but the evidence needs to be seen of what this administration has done.

We tolerated the hiding of the bodies in Iraq, because the poor American people shouldn't have to deal with that. The torture pictures are being suppressed also, because god forbid, Bush supporters shouldn't have to see the results of his policies.

Even the caskets of dead soldiers have been hidden, because the infantile American public won't react until they SEE the evidence.

The wounded too, have been hidden ~

The bodies are piling up, both here and eslewhere, because the American people have been denied the right to see what their tax dollars are paying for.

Normally, I would say, no, don't show these pictures. But we know now that the majority of people in this country NEED TO SEE the bodies, or they will just go on pretending that all is well in the land of the free.

It is a cover-up, the press again being silenced. When every last Bush supporters says 'you know, I don't need to see the bodies, this was a crime and so was the war in Iraq', then I will agree, we don't need to see them.

This will continue, if the American people don't see what they have supported has done. It's that simple.

[DemsUnited]

8. Agree. Also like seeing the NO Chief of Police daily news conferences

Very competent, very reassuring, and have been that way since the beginning of the week. Didn't take the locals long at all to regroup after General Honore rolled in on Friday afternoon.

See, with SUPPORT and BACKUP from the FEDERAL GOVT, the State and City officials can get the job done.

Too damn bad it took so long.

[fooj]

11. However, the police captain said that they were using "slight force"

this morning and then came back and said "no force"...not sure what that means. he was on Oprah the other day and cried because he couldn't get into the Superdome because he didn't have enough people to help them.

[Toots]

10. Appears they have turned a National disaster into a Military Operation.

They apparently care more about protecting property than rescueing people.

[fooj]

13. Bingo.

Peace.

[political_invader]

20. I've been saying all along this is there way of softening the way

for the call of National MARTIAL LAW! this is needed for BFEE New World Order.


Peace from a BLUE State

[nadinbrzezinski]

14. Honore is a can do, Lt General that has been

involved from word go since given command of the First Army... he is the kind of guy you want when disaster strikes. They will get the job done... politics does nto matter to Honore, from what I have seen. he is everything but PC

Now to teh cynical side, he is likely a not well liked officer by the politicos in DoD, and some may be hoping he does not succeed.. think Patton

[Stinky The Clown]

19. A few others notes from the presser on teevee .......

Honore said they were proactively rescuing pets. When asked why, he said 'cuz it seemd like the right thing to do' .... people and pets boneded ... etc.

During the presser, it was pretty clear Allen's saddled with some (WH?) press flunky/media manager. At the end, from off camera, someone yelled 'last question' and Allen sorta stopped mid-answer ... then grinned sheepishly and finished his answer. He also took one more question after that. As it was being asked, it was obvious he was looking off camera at 'the voice' and kinda doing an 'eye dance' with the guy. (I took this as a 'fuck you' from Allen but I could well be wrong about that interpretation.)

[win_in_06]

23. Gen Honore' is a colorful and straight-talking General who gets

results. Well-liked in the Army by all ranks. He also happens to be black and from Louisiana.

[Roland99]

26. All that matters now for those left in N.O. is competent leaders.