OT: Lootings, Carjackings, and shootings in New Orleans

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 7:45 pm

wco81 wrote:By then, most people will have forgotten this and the heat will die down.

Exactly what the Bush Administration, with its utter lack of accountability or long-range planning for anything, is banking on.

Take care,
PK

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 7:48 pm

DivotMaker wrote:as well as what the "objective, fair, and non-partisan" media is saying.

Your words, not mine. The media is not objective, fair and non-partisan in this country.

But when the sources for a report come from the same party as the one in power, there is credibility. It would be one thing if Ted Kennedy was moaning about a smear campaign by the White House. That would reek of bullsh*t.

But when sources within Bush's own party are leaking the smear campaign, there's a certain credibility that only the most partisan Bush apologists can't see.

Hell, even Fox News is criticizing Bush and the Federal government over this disaster. That's akin to Tass criticizing the Politburo during the 1970s -- unthinkable.

There's no question that local and state government have f*cked up, too. Gov. Blanco is a joke, and Mayor Nagin isn't exactly a statesman, either.

But to absolve the Federal government from blame because "this is a local and state" situation is ridiculous in a disaster of this magnitude. No local or state infrastructure has the capability to deal with this kind of catastrophe. The Feds needed to step in more quickly.

After all, billions were spent on a Cabinet-level department to protect Americans in this kind of situation. In fact, three of the six strategic goals of the department are (bold for emphasis added by me):

Protection -- Safeguard our people and their freedoms, critical infrastructure, property and the economy of our Nation from acts of terrorism, natural disasters, or other emergencies.

Response -- Lead, manage and coordinate the national response to acts of terrorism, natural disasters, or other emergencies.

Recovery -- Lead national, state, local and private sector efforts to restore services and rebuild communities after acts of terrorism, natural disasters, or other emergencies.

Source: http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/interapp/e ... l_0413.xml

Mission accomplished, huh? No, because this Administration is so fixated on terror that it has ignored the other vital component of Homeland Security's task.

Need proof? Go to ready.gov, the Department of Homeland Security's Web site, www.ready.gov. Click on the Ready America icon. Now look at the banner atop the page. It reads:

Terrorism forces us to make a choice. Don't be afraid ... Be Ready.

Now, we don't know whether another terror attack will strike the U.S. We KNOW that hurricane season strikes the U.S. every late summer and fall. So why not be ready for that?

Oh, that's right: It's a state and local responsibility. Then why the hell include natural disasters in three of the strategic goals of the Department of Homeland Security?

It's ironic: The devastation caused by this natural disaster will be more widespread and cause more deaths than 9/11. But the Federal government was front and center in the response and recovery efforts from the terrorist attack. Yet in another disaster that resulted in destruction of property and loss of life, but on a much wider scale, suddenly it's the state and local's responsibility, even after a huge Federal agency was created to take the lead in coordination of such situations, as stated in the strategic goals above?

And when the Feds do attempt coordination, we sometimes get incredulous decisions like the one in which FEMA has asked Katrina refugees in shelters to either call a toll-free number or log on to the Internet to start the process of filing a claim for disaster assistance.

Call a toll-free number? Log onto the Web? Are you sh*tting me? Are there banks of PC terminals in the Astrodome? Are there walls of pay phones or cell phones? Do they realize that some of these people are so poor, young, old or sick that they've maybe never logged on to a PC in their lives?

What's even worse is that if someone does call the FEMA number, a claim is not opened. Instead a package containing the claim form is mailed to the address of the refugee.

Yep, there's plenty of regular mail service these days in New Orleans, Gulfport and Biloxi. I think most New Orleans residents had their mailboxes on their roofs, so Air Mail will work even if their house is underwater on contaminated soil and they won't return to New Orleans for months, right?

Source for that report: http://katrinablog.msnbc.com/2005/09/wh ... below-fold

Unbelievable.

I don't get it. Hardly any of America gets it. The White House and Federal government certainly don't get it.

Take care,
PK

blueduke · Post by **blueduke** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 9:23 pm

The BBC's take:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4216508.stm

Agree with alot of your assesment, PK. Have one question though. If Fox is comaprable to Tass, what is CBS comparable to?

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 9:44 pm

blueduke wrote:The BBC's take:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4216508.stm

Agree with alot of your assesment, PK. Have one question though. If Fox is comaprable to Tass, what is CBS comparable to?

MoveOn.org?

Fine story by the BBC. Why is it that the Beeb provides some of the most objective analysis of American affairs? Maybe because it's not part of the partisan U.S. media? Maybe because it has a decades-long tradition of good reporting, including the excellent BBC World Service radio broadcasts, which are available live on the Web?

Who knows?

Take care,
PK

blueduke · Post by **blueduke** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 9:59 pm

Fine story by the BBC. Why is it that the Beeb provides some of the most objective analysis of American affairs? Maybe because it's not part of the partisan U.S. media? Maybe because it has a decades-long tradition of good reporting, including the excellent BBC World Service radio broadcasts, which are available live on the Web?

Your asumptions are correct, imo.

MoveOn.org?

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 11:24 pm

pk500 wrote:
Fine story by the BBC. Why is it that the Beeb provides some of the most objective analysis of American affairs? Maybe because it's not part of the partisan U.S. media? Maybe because it has a decades-long tradition of good reporting, including the excellent BBC World Service radio broadcasts, which are available live on the Web?

Who knows?

Take care,
PK

Paul, the BBC has been riddled with scandals recently based in part on evidence that it fabricated information regarding the events leading up to the War in Iraq, as well as NY Times like fact-checking problems.

I agree that some European media can be enlightening when commenting on events in the US, but much of it, the Guardian, Der Spiegel etc. are as much or more slanted than the US media. Even the Economist, which is a tremendous publication, has a laissez faire bent that some on the left would certainly find objectionable. It is fairly centrist though, and I always found that and the Christian Science Monitor to be among the best publications on international events.

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 11:27 pm

At the risk of getting caught up in the maelstrom of this thread for a second time...

I think everybody needs to get out of the mindset that says that any level of government is completely blameless here. There is more than enough to go around, and many valid reasons to argue about who bears what share of the blame. But there is culpability for the scope of this disaster at every level from individual citizens on up to the President, and NO level in between is spared IMO.

sfz_T-car · Post by **sfz_T-car** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 12:05 am

I'll agree with you this time RobV. The immediate response has been a failure at all levels of government. Neither local, state or federal authorities have performed well enough to point fingers or deflect blame.

This across-the-board failure to execute is a huge disappointment even to an eternal pessimist like me. I grew up in the 70s and have always been cynical about government. I live in a city where local government is a clown college, a state with a professional body builder/amateur governor and a country with the same three branches as yours. Expectations don't run high.

But our government's inability to deliver the most basic of services has been shocking. At this point, the best to hope for would be an honest appraisal of what went wrong and a commitment to fix it. But months of spin mongering is a more likely scenario.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 2:28 am

On a lighter note, Michael Jackson, yes HIM, is supposed to gather other artists and release a song (like the gathering of musicians for "We are the World"), all proceeds for the victims of Katrina.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 2:52 am

10spro wrote:On a lighter note, Michael Jackson, yes HIM, is supposed to gather other artists and release a song (like the gathering of musicians for "We are the World"), all proceeds for the victims of Katrina.

I heard that McCauley Calkin is playing the meat flute in the band.

James_E · Post by **James_E** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 7:33 am

dbdynsty25 wrote:
10spro wrote:On a lighter note, Michael Jackson, yes HIM, is supposed to gather other artists and release a song (like the gathering of musicians for "We are the World"), all proceeds for the victims of Katrina.
I heard that McCauley Calkin is playing the meat flute in the band.

LMFAO!

Thanks db!

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 10:17 am

dbdynsty25 wrote:
10spro wrote:On a lighter note, Michael Jackson, yes HIM, is supposed to gather other artists and release a song (like the gathering of musicians for "We are the World"), all proceeds for the victims of Katrina.
I heard that McCauley Calkin is playing the meat flute in the band.

LOLOLOLOLOL!

Take care,
PK