Wednesday, March 08, 2006
General Odom
Read this.
Discuss among your neighbors and friends.
Neighbors and friends. -- Sweet Sweet Sweet Sweet City Woman.
Read this.
Discuss among your neighbors and friends.
Neighbors and friends. -- Sweet Sweet Sweet Sweet City Woman.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Katrina
Note: This post has been edited because on re-reading it I realized that I was even more spastic and frothing at the mouth than usual.
I am moved to put words to my exasperation over the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Having watched the video tape that lay buried somewhere for months just begging to be seen, I am in a foul temper.
This video needs to be seen by all citizens. It represents clear evidence of the astonishing neglection by the Emperor of Incompetence, of his duty to protect the United States of America and its citizens.
The destruction wrought by Katrina cannot help but be compared to the calamitous September 11 attack. Of course these two tragic events are profoundly different. One was an act of fanatical human beings and the other was a blind force of nature. A force of nature, widely anticipated for 30 years, that killed 1300 people with 2300 still missing and quite probably dead.
That's more than the number who died on September 11th. Wall Street was open for business the following week. A significant portion of New Orleans' dwellings and businesses, to this day, contain 6 feet of murky water.
In the aftermath of the first disaster it was so important to reopen the financial center of our nation that this administration directed its EPA to hide the fact that the air in downtown Manhattan posed a grave health hazard to the public. Had the cause of the harmful air been an industrial accident rather than a terrorist attack the public would have been advised to remain indoors until the air was safe. The outgoing head of the EPA Christine Todd Whitman admitted this was true.
Instead it was decided, for us, that Americans had, had enough trauma. What was the point of giving us one more thing to worry about? The best thing to do is to restore pride in America by showing the terrorists that we could get the exchanges open quickly.
We can really spring into action when we put our minds to it. When it comes to getting the renowned heart of the nations musical heritage beating again the prevailing wisdom seems to be; good riddance to bad garbage.
It seems to me that this pre-Katrina tape should be getting much more coverage in the mainstream press. Why sit on a tape that shows that the president was inattentive when it counted?
Is it because "September 11 changed everything" and so respect for the commander in chief must dwarf all other concerns?
It seems to me that if this is the case then, to repeat a cliche, the terrorists have already won. Meaning our great nation, with its well planned checks and balances, it's 4th estate acting as a further check on power, it's presumption of innocence, it's rights to a fair trial, its shining example of hope for people struggling for human rights everywhere, has at long last perished from the earth.
That is what Bush and his Attorney General have essentially said. It's done. Representative Democracy is gone. At least until the War on Terror is won. The president is above the law, for the foreseeable future.
Keeping in mind that the passage of time from the bombing of Pearl Harbor to Hitler putting a bullet in his head was just short of 3 years and 5 months (12/7/41 to 5/1/45) while the war on Terror is now 4 years and 6 months on(9/11/2001 -- 3/3/06) I believe that my inalienable rights are going to be suspended for a while.
I am not willing to accept this usurpation of power by this callous collection of morons lying down. Are we to accept that the rule of law will be on holiday until no one, anywhere, hates us enough to die in order to harm us? Wouldn't this be necessary in order to declare victory in such a war? Clearly this war cannot and will not ever end.
Quick, which war will we win first, the drug war or the war on terror?
What should Bush have done?
Am I being unfair to a guy who had the bad luck to be president when a whole lot of shit hit the proverbial fan seemingly at once?
This line of thinking seems to be the fashionable refuge of the apologists for poor Mr. Bush of late. "Boy, I wouldn't want to be in his shoes!" they say.
So what should he have done? Well for starters, how about not insulting our intelligence by saying, or accepting his top officials saying, "I don't think anyone would have predicted the levees would fail" or "I don't think anyone predicted that someone would crash an airplane into a building" and then to bully the press into hiding the fact that not only was it predicted but people wrote it down on paper, waved it in front of his face, while gesticulating wildly and crying for him to wake the hell up and pay attention just before the twin astonishing tragedies interrupted his vacations.
I have a brother in Fort Lauderdale. His office sits within site of the ocean. As hurricanes twist towards the Florida peninsula every year I am glued to the Weather Channel like millions of others. My first thought is for the safety of my brother and his family. When he is out of danger my next thought, having watched several excellent and terrifying documentaries over the past 4 years regarding the grave danger that New Orleans would be in if struck by a strong category 3, never mind a 4 storm, is, "Man, I hope it's not their time."
What should the president have done when told that the storm was a Category 5, that the levees may fail, and that people who could not or would not get out would be put up in the Superdome 12 feet below sea level with a roof that may, or may not remain intact, have done?
Well, how about saying something like this this:
For many years you have been warned about the possibility of New Orleans being drowned by a hurricane that would be followed by a storm surge leaving 20 feet of water in the city that will remain there for 60 days. The best experts in the federal government have advised me that this very storm that we have long feared is arriving very shortly. I have been informed that there is no guarantee that New Orleans' levee system will be able to protect the city.
Your local officials have already informed you that this could be "the big one" and that there is a mandatory evacuation order in effect. I want to add my voice to this dire warning and encourage all in the mandatory evacuation zone to heed this order. It is very important for all able bodied people to evacuate the area immediately and aid others when possible to do the same. Many of your neighbors do not have access to transportation, therefore it is incumbent upon each of you to pick up passengers if your vehicle has room. Please give human beings precedence over mere belongings as you prepare to leave.
This is not a storm that should be ridden out by anyone. Although local, state and federal governments do have resources to aid those impacted by this approaching hurricane, due to the size of the storm and the enormous population in the danger zone there is a strong possibility that if you remain in your homes you will not survive long enough to be rescued.
To those outside of the immediate danger zone. Please refrain from unnecessary driving and especially the purchase of gasoline. Your cooperation will help those that need to move out of harms way to do so more quickly and safely.
When the storm has passed the rest of the nation will provide assistance to those needing it. At this time it is important to move quickly and safely out of harms way.
The nation is with you.
Instead, Bush said nothing, knew nothing, heard nothing.
Maybe he decided, as he did at ground zero, that we'd be better off not knowing.
Our independent press seconded the emotion and decided we'd be better off not knowing what a giant ass we have for a leader!
Oy.
Note: This post has been edited because on re-reading it I realized that I was even more spastic and frothing at the mouth than usual.
I am moved to put words to my exasperation over the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Having watched the video tape that lay buried somewhere for months just begging to be seen, I am in a foul temper.
This video needs to be seen by all citizens. It represents clear evidence of the astonishing neglection by the Emperor of Incompetence, of his duty to protect the United States of America and its citizens.
The destruction wrought by Katrina cannot help but be compared to the calamitous September 11 attack. Of course these two tragic events are profoundly different. One was an act of fanatical human beings and the other was a blind force of nature. A force of nature, widely anticipated for 30 years, that killed 1300 people with 2300 still missing and quite probably dead.
That's more than the number who died on September 11th. Wall Street was open for business the following week. A significant portion of New Orleans' dwellings and businesses, to this day, contain 6 feet of murky water.
In the aftermath of the first disaster it was so important to reopen the financial center of our nation that this administration directed its EPA to hide the fact that the air in downtown Manhattan posed a grave health hazard to the public. Had the cause of the harmful air been an industrial accident rather than a terrorist attack the public would have been advised to remain indoors until the air was safe. The outgoing head of the EPA Christine Todd Whitman admitted this was true.
Instead it was decided, for us, that Americans had, had enough trauma. What was the point of giving us one more thing to worry about? The best thing to do is to restore pride in America by showing the terrorists that we could get the exchanges open quickly.
We can really spring into action when we put our minds to it. When it comes to getting the renowned heart of the nations musical heritage beating again the prevailing wisdom seems to be; good riddance to bad garbage.
It seems to me that this pre-Katrina tape should be getting much more coverage in the mainstream press. Why sit on a tape that shows that the president was inattentive when it counted?
Is it because "September 11 changed everything" and so respect for the commander in chief must dwarf all other concerns?
It seems to me that if this is the case then, to repeat a cliche, the terrorists have already won. Meaning our great nation, with its well planned checks and balances, it's 4th estate acting as a further check on power, it's presumption of innocence, it's rights to a fair trial, its shining example of hope for people struggling for human rights everywhere, has at long last perished from the earth.
That is what Bush and his Attorney General have essentially said. It's done. Representative Democracy is gone. At least until the War on Terror is won. The president is above the law, for the foreseeable future.
Keeping in mind that the passage of time from the bombing of Pearl Harbor to Hitler putting a bullet in his head was just short of 3 years and 5 months (12/7/41 to 5/1/45) while the war on Terror is now 4 years and 6 months on(9/11/2001 -- 3/3/06) I believe that my inalienable rights are going to be suspended for a while.
I am not willing to accept this usurpation of power by this callous collection of morons lying down. Are we to accept that the rule of law will be on holiday until no one, anywhere, hates us enough to die in order to harm us? Wouldn't this be necessary in order to declare victory in such a war? Clearly this war cannot and will not ever end.
Quick, which war will we win first, the drug war or the war on terror?
What should Bush have done?
Am I being unfair to a guy who had the bad luck to be president when a whole lot of shit hit the proverbial fan seemingly at once?
This line of thinking seems to be the fashionable refuge of the apologists for poor Mr. Bush of late. "Boy, I wouldn't want to be in his shoes!" they say.
So what should he have done? Well for starters, how about not insulting our intelligence by saying, or accepting his top officials saying, "I don't think anyone would have predicted the levees would fail" or "I don't think anyone predicted that someone would crash an airplane into a building" and then to bully the press into hiding the fact that not only was it predicted but people wrote it down on paper, waved it in front of his face, while gesticulating wildly and crying for him to wake the hell up and pay attention just before the twin astonishing tragedies interrupted his vacations.
I have a brother in Fort Lauderdale. His office sits within site of the ocean. As hurricanes twist towards the Florida peninsula every year I am glued to the Weather Channel like millions of others. My first thought is for the safety of my brother and his family. When he is out of danger my next thought, having watched several excellent and terrifying documentaries over the past 4 years regarding the grave danger that New Orleans would be in if struck by a strong category 3, never mind a 4 storm, is, "Man, I hope it's not their time."
What should the president have done when told that the storm was a Category 5, that the levees may fail, and that people who could not or would not get out would be put up in the Superdome 12 feet below sea level with a roof that may, or may not remain intact, have done?
Well, how about saying something like this this:
For many years you have been warned about the possibility of New Orleans being drowned by a hurricane that would be followed by a storm surge leaving 20 feet of water in the city that will remain there for 60 days. The best experts in the federal government have advised me that this very storm that we have long feared is arriving very shortly. I have been informed that there is no guarantee that New Orleans' levee system will be able to protect the city.
Your local officials have already informed you that this could be "the big one" and that there is a mandatory evacuation order in effect. I want to add my voice to this dire warning and encourage all in the mandatory evacuation zone to heed this order. It is very important for all able bodied people to evacuate the area immediately and aid others when possible to do the same. Many of your neighbors do not have access to transportation, therefore it is incumbent upon each of you to pick up passengers if your vehicle has room. Please give human beings precedence over mere belongings as you prepare to leave.
This is not a storm that should be ridden out by anyone. Although local, state and federal governments do have resources to aid those impacted by this approaching hurricane, due to the size of the storm and the enormous population in the danger zone there is a strong possibility that if you remain in your homes you will not survive long enough to be rescued.
To those outside of the immediate danger zone. Please refrain from unnecessary driving and especially the purchase of gasoline. Your cooperation will help those that need to move out of harms way to do so more quickly and safely.
When the storm has passed the rest of the nation will provide assistance to those needing it. At this time it is important to move quickly and safely out of harms way.
The nation is with you.
Instead, Bush said nothing, knew nothing, heard nothing.
Maybe he decided, as he did at ground zero, that we'd be better off not knowing.
Our independent press seconded the emotion and decided we'd be better off not knowing what a giant ass we have for a leader!
Oy.
