Billions for Halliburton. Nothing for New Orleans.

[Cyrano]

Halliburton, Bechtel, Blackwater, and who knows how many other Bush/Cheney cronies are raking in untold billions from the "War on Terror." And New Orleans doesn't look much different than it did after it was struck by catastrophe almost a year and a half ago.

Tens of thousands are displaced, homeless, jobless and have lost all hope. Yet Bush, Cheney and their henchmen couldn't care less. After all, it was (mostly) black people who bore the brunt of the disaster and most black people don't vote for Republicans. So the Bush administration has turned its back on tens of thousands of American citizens, in effect telling them to go Cheney themselves.

And the corporate owned media also seems to have forgotten about them. Aside from the occasional columnist who writes an essay about NOLA, it has ceased to exist on TV and in print.

So where's the outrage? Have we used it all up and become numb? And when will the new Dem congress turn some of its attention to this great American tragedy? I know they have a lot on their plates just now, but how about helping people who don't even own plates anymore?

[BayCityProgressive]

1. Don't hold your breath

the decider will veto anything we send to him. Welcome to imperial capitalism!

[acmavm]

4. Vetos can be and have been overridden.

Screw Chimpy and his veto.

[Red Zelda]

2. Yeah, but on the football game...

on Fox, announcer Dick Stockton said that all of the region had rebounded from Katrina. I am not kidding.

[fooj]

7. He sure as shit did!

I couldn't believe my ears.

[bearfan454]

3. * doesn't give a shit about African Americans in New Orleans

or anywhere else. He has proved it time and time again.

[bdamomma]

5. what did Kanye West say, George Bush doesn't care about

Black people, or should I say he doesn't care about any people.

[lpbk2713]

6. Out of sight, out of mind.

BFEE never cared then, they don't care now, and they sure as Hell won't care any time in the future.

[RB TexLa]

8. How long will it take people to understand?

Republican president, Democrat president, it doesn't matter. The United States has never in the past, does not now, and never will care about Louisiana. We who are from Louisiana know and have long ago accepted this fact.

[rudy23]

20. Bravo! Very true. I don't see any Dem leaders taking action--protesting Lieberman's decision

not to turn over the "embarassing emails" from the White House. The Democratic leadership hasn't done anything past paying occasional lip service to our region.

It's not like New Orleans is important to the country or anything, it's just the city at the mouth of the friggin' Mississippi River!

[Initech]

9. These pricks don't care about anyone but themselves.

[porphyrian]

10. It's fucking reprehensible. We must demand justice. - n/t

[Swamp Rat]

11. YOU GODDAMN RIGHT!!!

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

[porphyrian]

14. I'm right with you. - n/t

[Swamp Rat]

12. THANK YOU!!!

:kick:

[enid602]

13. Blackwater

Remember, Blackwater had boots on ground the day after Katrina, to protect the homes of the priviledged.

[mnhtnbb]

15. What has been role of local NO government? Occasionally

I see a story that suggests that Nagin is part of the problem in
pushing the Feds to make things happen for NO. Is that true or is it just more finger pointing from the Bushies to deflect blame from themselves?

Can the local NO DU'er's answer that question?

[Cyrano]

19. Sorry, I don't know the answer. But it sure fits the thug mold of finger-pointing.

[SoCalDem]

16. The tens of thousands displaced, homless are NOT welcomed back

That was a large part of the "plan" that was cooked up once the flooding started.

There was a concerted effort to ship out as many "undesireables" as possible, under the guise of charitable care".

What better way to de-populate poor areas, than the break the families apart, scatter them all over the US (too far apart to network). They had to know that what little energy these folks had would be spent trying to reconnect with family..that would take MONTHS or longer.

the hope was that by then, they would just be
"happy where they ended up". In any case, they were NOT welcome to return to NOLA. With no attempt to restore the lower cost housing, and government services they have always relied upon,most could not return even if they wanted to..

They were not given round-trip tickets, were they?

This is all about turning Louisiana bright red..and making NOLA at least pink.

[Cyrano]

17. I believe that someday in the future, Bush turning his back on the destruction

of New Orleans, and its aftermath, will be viewed as one of the cruelest and most evil acts ever committed by any president in U.S. history. It's hard for me to use the term "evil" since I'm a devout agnostic. Yet, if that word ever had any meaning, letting an unknown number of people drown, and then ignoring the displaced and desperate survivors, has to fit the definition.

I believe the fact that no one seems to be talking about it too much anymore is because the abuses of this administration have just worn us down. Daily assaults on our freedoms, and the lack of plain human decency for six years tend to make one numb.

My biggest fear is that these slime have shown future presidents what they can get away with while the majority of people passively accept it with a "Well, what can I do about it?" attitude.

On edit: I still think that's the greatest cat picture ever.

[rudy23]

21. And just think, we could get the "embarassing emails", but Lieberman doesn't feel like it anymore

I don't know what is more outrageous. That Lieberman doesn't want to investigate this, or that no one else really seems to care anymore?

[helderheid]

18. George Bush does not care about poor people. n/t oh and K&R

[tblue37]

22. Yes, and not just in NOLA, either.

My friends in Biloxi, Mississippi lost everything, including their 8-year-old cat. They still have not been helped.

[pa28]

23. Halliburton is down 15% since the Democrats won Congress.

Too bad. :evilgrin:

Some might even be making obscene profits off their misfortune by shorting the $#(! out of HAL.

It is pathetic that we've funneled billions of dollars into Iraqi reconstruction that were wasted, unaccounted for, or even pocketed and yet that money would surely have rebuilt and protected New Orleans.

Your point just underlines that we MUST have comprehensive hearings on the subject of reconstruction fraud and audit accountability for the wasted billions in Iraq.

Halliburton must be made to reimburse the treasury for funds they cannot account for. And, no, I don't care about the impact it will have on corporate profits or Dick Cheney's golden parachute.

[lpbk2713]

25. I agree. Halliburton must be held accountable for war profiteering.

And any government officials (including Cheney) who conspired to drain the US Treasury with their greedy schemes must pay the price as well.

[crikkett]

24. what are you doing about the problem?

Turn your outrage into action and inspiration.


To paraphrase something I heard earlier today on this radio coverage of the National Conference on Media Reform in Memphis, Tennessee - http://www.kpfa.org/archives/index.php?arch=18192

"Martin Luther King Jr didn't give a speech called, 'I have a complaint.' He didn't say, 'I have something negative to say, in case you have the time to hear it.'"

He had a dream.