Jindal's "government bureaucrats stopped Katrina rescue boats" yarn...what's the REAL story?

[Ken Burch]

Louisiana DUers, y'all were there...what actually went down?

I'm assuming it wasn't anything like Blinkless Bobby said.

[truebrit71]

1. Hey! Gunga Dim...that would be REPUBLICAN bureacrats fucking up after Katrina...

...and yes, we have already figured out that you use Katrina like Lt AWOL used 9/11....that makes you LAME...

[SpiralHawk]

12. Exactly. Jindal delivered a scathing indictment of Republiconism

not of Government or Americanism.

EVERYTHING he said pointed back at how crappy and disaterous and corrupt the Republicons were for the 8 years they were able to steal and control America.

[Trocadero]

2. No one could have predicted the levees would fail! Especially not the GOP

thanks for reminding the nation!

[Baikonour]

3. We should really be questioning WHY he brought up Katrina in the first place.

Rachel's reaction to his "speech" was the only reasonable reaction one could have.

[Monk06]

9. His odd apologia for Katrina is an instance of what Sartre terms 'bad faith'

and what Marx called false consciousness.

Here is a brief overview of these two concepts.
Sartre's analysis is very pertinent to the socalled
Katrina tragedy.

http://books.google.com/books?id=IKALAqsMbeAC&pg=PA136&lpg=PA136&dq=marx+bad+faith&source=bl&ots=K6V0ZIee0v&sig=AvXlus1EvaNrWOMd-IKd6q69AWg&hl=en&ei=JT2lSZ-ZEJmktQPg4ZmiAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result

[Why Syzygy]

4. LOL! So, the government should have stayed home altogether?

What's the point of his whiny assed cry baby screed?

[kickysnana]

5. Homeland Security stopped the boats until Gore flew in. n/t

[Renaissance Man]

6. The Real Story

As a native of Louisiana, and someone who was in Louisiana at the time Hurricane Katrina occurred, I can honestly say that the Hurricane Katrina fuck-up was largely a Republican effort.

I remember Mayor Nagin literally cursing like a sailor on the radio saying, "Someone had better get their asses down here. People are drowning, people are dying, etc."

The problem with the response from Hurricane Katrina was that you had someone that was totally inept leading FEMA. People were warned that the levees could be topped and breached, and instead of "Brownie" realizing that this meant that communications could be compromised (if they were also flooded), or lighting a fire under the Army Corps of Engineers' ass to shore up the levees, he'd rather wait it out and allow the levees to breach and flood the city.

Well, the levees did breach and Murphy's law was in full effect. Republicans didn't do anything to assist in deploying the coast guard to help save lives with the rescue boats. The Coast Guard pretty much self-activated and compelled as much assistance as they could in rescuing people.

The sheriff of Jefferson Parish (yes, a rabid racist Asian, no less who has in the past used African-American charicatures as target practice for his officers) blocked people who were stuck at the Convention Center (with guns) from crossing the Crescent City Connection so that they could get the hell out of New Orleans on foot.

Meanwhile, George Bush and John McCain were having cake in Arizona and Condi was shopping for shoes at Ferragamo.

[Hekate]

7. Kicking this for a walk down memory lane. An important walk. I seem to recall Blackwater in the mix

... as well.
:scared:


Hekate

[tanyev]

11. Oh, yeah, they were there immediately. With plenty of guns and ammo.

If only they'd put as much effort into bringing food and water.


The men from Blackwater USA arrived in New Orleans right after Katrina hit. The company known for its private security work guarding senior US diplomats in Iraq beat the federal government and most aid organizations to the scene in another devastated Gulf. About 150 heavily armed Blackwater troops dressed in full battle gear spread out into the chaos of New Orleans. Officially, the company boasted of its forces "join the hurricane relief effort." But its men on the ground told a different story.

In an hourlong conversation I had with four Blackwater men, they characterized their work in New Orleans as "securing neighborhoods" and "confronting criminals." They all carried automatic assault weapons and had guns strapped to their legs. Their flak jackets were covered with pouches for extra ammunition.


http://www.thenation.com/doc/20051010/scahill

[MagickMuffin]

8. All I can say about it Bobby, he WAS a part of the government, as well as the Sheriff

For Jindal to accuse "government bureaucrats stopped Katrina rescue boats" and NOT acknowledge that it was HIS party who stopped them is only portraying a small portion of the BIG picture.

It WAS his party who were INEPT, it WAS his party who did NOTHING while people were stranded, it WAS his party who didn't CARE. It WAS his party who held the Majority during Hurricane Katrina.

Funny how he decided to mention Katrina when it IS his party who neglected the victims of Katrina. I guess he wants us to believe it was the Democrats fault.

EPIC FAIL!

[buzzycrumbhunger]

10. The real story is that he was LYING

Pure and simple, he stood there calling the Dems in DC "corrupt" in the same breath he told this farcical tale. According to analysis on DKOS, the jackass wasn't even IN NOLA, but in Baton Rouge until at least 2 days afterwards and merely did a flyover then. There were boats, there was a very popular sheriff, but not in the same story, and in all the interviews he did in the couple years after the storm, he didn't tell this story once. I guess now that Sheriff Lee is dead, it frees him up to get creative with the facts.

Sad enough the Repugs can't come up with anything new to contribute, but their opposition seems to be bolstered with nothing but lies. If these boobs are hoping to wrest control back from the Dems in this lifetime, they need to try appealing to someone outside that 10% of the population who are gullible enough to buy such a load of horseshit without a simple fact check.

Damn. I'm going to have to remember to watch SNL this week. If this guy isn't their opening skit, they're missing a golden opportunity for effortless comedy.