The start of an extended rant...
I spent most of my day gathering information on the relief efforts in the wake of hurricane Katrina. I was already damn mad, but as the day went on, my anger turned to rage. In this post, I will primarily link to some articles that will give you a good idea of why I am so upset.
But before that, here is a story that also sums up my feelings. I get my hair cut at a salon, partly because my stylist does a great job and partly because I find that I rather enjoy being in a place full of pretty women. This morning I went to get my hair cut, and as I was waiting, I overheard a conversation between some of the other stylists as they were watching Bush's press conference this morning. After commenting about people dying in the streets of New Orleans, one of them asked "What are we doing in Iraq when we can't even take care of this in our own country?" If this had occurred in New York or California, I would not find it very significant. However, this took place in Wichita Falls, Texas, and let me tell ya, this ain't exactly a hotbed of liberal activism.
Here are the links:
But before that, here is a story that also sums up my feelings. I get my hair cut at a salon, partly because my stylist does a great job and partly because I find that I rather enjoy being in a place full of pretty women. This morning I went to get my hair cut, and as I was waiting, I overheard a conversation between some of the other stylists as they were watching Bush's press conference this morning. After commenting about people dying in the streets of New Orleans, one of them asked "What are we doing in Iraq when we can't even take care of this in our own country?" If this had occurred in New York or California, I would not find it very significant. However, this took place in Wichita Falls, Texas, and let me tell ya, this ain't exactly a hotbed of liberal activism.
Here are the links:
- Models predicted New Orleans disaster, experts say
- A Colossal Failure of Leadership
- The big disconnect on New Orleans
- New Orleans mayor lashes out at feds
- Time to crack heads (editorial by the Washington Times)
- Did New Orleans Catastrophe Have to Happen?
- Senators call hurricane response "immense failure"
posted by WCharles @ 9/02/2005 10:44:00 PM
7 Comments:
DubyaII, your hatred of DubyaI may be getting to you. In the first article we read:
"Craig Marks who runs Blue Horizons Consulting, an emergency management training company in North Carolina, said the authorities had mishandled the evacuation, neglecting to help those without transportation to leave the city.
'They could have packed people on trains or buses and gotten them out before the hurricane struck. They had enough time and access to federal funds.'"
Who are the authorities Marks is referring to? I suspect the local authorities since he positively stated they had access to federal funds and implied they didn't bother. How is that Bush's fault? The local leadership in NO is liberal, they are the ones who did not react. IMHO, if the mayor of NO had 10% of the leadership of Guiliani from NYC in 1991, there would be less finger pointing going on now.
I read earlier this week that a right wing religious group blamed the disaster on the gays and other perceived low lifes in NO. It was God's revenge. The libs blame Bush. Two weeks ago here in NY we were hit with 60 mph winds which damaged my roof enough to have it replaced. I'm sending the bill to Bush since there are no gays that I no of in my neighborhood and someone must be held accountable.
Back to my long tones on the bass tbn - I've discovered playing trigger and pedal notes while reading the computer makes the screen shimmy. I'll read more your links as I have time.
From "Time to Crack Heads": "If looters fire on the troops, the troops should answer with suppressing fire." Oh right, that will go over real well. I can see the liberal press, such as the this same Washington Post that printed this article, throwing literary tantrums if NG troops start firing on those poor starving survivors in NO, most of which seem to be members of minority groups. I read on another blog that one liberal organization is actually encouraging the NO survivors to loot - they have the right after years of supression by the man.
Lest anyone perceive me a cold hearted conservative, yesterday I allowed a couple employees to take up a collection during working hours. They quickly raised over $300 from mostly people who earn on average $8.50 per hour and have just been hit with a $1 per gallon increase in gas cost. They gave from their hearts.
Oh WCharles, now I know why my wife insists on cutting my hair - no hair salons full of pretty women for me.
Maybe somebody will ask the central structural issue here: whose idea was it to demote a federal agency (FEMA) from cabinet-level and re-organize it, or at least philosophically realign it, according to a 'privatization' model? Does it make any sense at all, in fact, to privatize disaster management, which may be the equivalent of profiting from human misery? And if that sounds to lib-left: what about the gross incompetency in appointing to head this agency a man "whose experience in disaster management was gathered while working as an estate planning lawyer in Colorado, and while serving as counsel for the International Arabian Horse Association legal department"? How un-conservative is to think that deploying your blood and treasure at home is preferable to sending it overseas?. In electing Bush, the country gained nothing and lost a great commisioner of baseball; he has just the right mental narrowness and the attentuated intellectual focus required by such a position, where the moral stakes are always clear and where nobody dies.
As a displaced Brit, I have been observing my newly-adopted country with a mixture of disgust and amazement. Corrupt it may be, enviromentally-challenged it most certainly is, but no city deserves to go through what N. O. has gone through. It is like watching a terminally ill relative slip away.
We have the government we deserve - and may God help us, because they won't.
Wow! I'm gone for one day, and I've got comments from people other than Ray!
I was in Dallas yesterday and did not get back here to The Falls until 2:15 this morning. Fatigue and sinus problems have had me lethargic most of the day, but now I am motivated to get back to ranting.
Before doing so, here are a few things to keep in mind. First, the articles I listed will "give you a good idea of why I am so upset." That does not mean I agree with everything expressed therein. Second, for those of us who might not agree with Ray should maintain a sense of decorum--not to say that has not happened so far. In previous posts (Pat Robertson: Assassin for God and A follow-up on Pat Robertson), Ray and I have revealed our differences and carried on some civil discourse. After all, we share the bond of the bass trombone. And lastly, Ray, I am single, so that explains why I am able to go to a salon with lots of pretty women. ;-)
Sorry for the grammatical error. The sentence should start out "Second, those of us who might not agree..."
We're even, I had a spelling error in the penultimate paragraph of my first post on this thread. Good comments so far, but I do feel like a troll since I tend to side with the majority on a conservative blog I visit often. And I can't say I disagree with Barbarese saying Bush would make a good Commissioner of Baseball. I'll explain more in a reply to your newest thread. But, I'm missing too much of the stock car race and that is more important right now.
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