This evening will be the first night of a two-part documentary that Spike Lee developed on the devastation in the Gulf Coast after Katrina, specifically about New Orleans after the levees broke. HBO will air the four hour documentary on two successive nights, and Newsweek provides a bit of background on the film as well.
I’ll be setting my TIVO.
We have tried to keep the devastation all along the Gulf Coast (from Katrina and then Rita) as a part of our continuing coverage, but the enormous magnitude of the destruction and the personal stories of loss are so enormous that we can barely hit even a tiny portion of the story. I frequently get e-mails from readers in the region, little notes letting me know how things are improving — or not — and how things have changed or, more often, how they are staying the same despite so much effort on the part of so many who live there.
Taylor featured a guest post over the weekend from a NOLA resident, who wrote the piece right after Katrina hit and the level of devastation in his city became more widely known. It’s a painful read, but one well worth it to bring back the level of shock and disgust and anger that so many people in the region were feeling long after Katrina had come and gone.
Scout Prime has a haunting story today of one family’s loss amid the floodwaters of Katrina. Scout is currently in NOLA at a blogger’s conference, and I’m going to spend time this week spotlighting her fantastic work on this issue.
George Bush and the GOP may want us all to forget — but the people of the Gulf Coast deserve much, much better. We’re going to do our best this week to remind them that in America, we are doing only as well as the least of us, and that we would do well to remember that the best of all of us consists in lifting people up, not in grinding them under through neglect and deliberate ignorance. And that we will be voting our conscience and our need for accountabiity this Fall.
We remember. We care. And we want accountability for the myriad failures that continue to this day.
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NED!
WHOADangit!Peanut!
Accountability can’t come soon enough. I get the impression people have given up and they’re just waiting for the next administation to clean things up.
Lebanon= Billions in aid…
New Orleans= Not so much….
EPU’d – Bush said today he’s freed up 110 billion for Katrina, but then later bragged that he’s earmarked 230 billion for Lebannon…
I don’t know how you do it. A kid who’s feeling bad, a Presiduncial press conference, and a new post, too?
My chapeau is off to you.
Good luck at the doc’s.
Does anyone know how much the government is spending per person to house Katrina and Rita refugees in trailer park towns? I think I read the number is about $100,000 per person. That money could go right to building new houses.
not to mention the 300 TRILLION for Iraq…
Katrina response: The new “Southern Strategy.”
hey, how would these hurricane victims register to vote? They no longer have houses. They’re in limbo. I’m sure they get their mail there. But how can they claim residence?
OldCoastie @
6
Hezbollah has a better public relief operation in Lebanon than the US has for Katrina. Ye Gods.
wish I got HBO… wonder if there will be a podcast for Spike’s movie…? I’d bet it is going to be Excellent!
well, ya know, they can’t clean up the debris in N.O. because it’s on private property… and something’s illegal about using gov’t funds on private property… seems like a decisive leader like chimpy could figure that little problem out…
Bravo, Christy. Great job on content and timing.
Hope the visit to the doctor with Peanut is only the usual frustrating one – not that I’d wish you frustration, but it’s definitely that when you pay your co-pay, sit for what could be an hour or more with a miserable child in a busy waiting room after several days of discomfort, and they tell you, Hey, it’s just a virus, it’ll run its course shortly. Have a nice day!
But then the bug is over soon, no running to the pharmacy to wait behind those poor Medicare D folks and no pink stuff to dispense for the next 7-10 days. Definitely more frustrating than the viral thing.
Lebanon is to get $230 million as opposed to New Orleans $110 billion. Beirut gets only 1/500th of Katrina-aid.
Of course, the Israelis were dropping US-made bombs on Lebanese from US-supplied planes. The Lebanese remember that. $230million sounds like blood money…
Great comment that was EPU’d:
“Hugh says
August 21st, 2006 at 8:08 am*
Bush:
No one ever suggested that Saddam Hussein was responsible for 911.
Pre-war notification to Congress sent March 18, 2003 one day before the start of the Iraq War. He states he intends
to take the necessary actions against international terrorists and terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations, or persons who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001.
So nope, never happened. In fact, there was very little talk about it.
June 15, 2003 Wesley Clark on Meet the Press:
CLARK: “There was a concerted effort during the fall of 2001, starting immediately after 9/11, to pin 9/11 and the terrorism problem on Saddam Hussein.”
RUSSERT: “By who? Who did that?”
CLARK: Well, it came from the White House, it came from people around the White House. It came from all over. I got a call on 9/11. I was on CNN, and I got a call at my home saying, ‘You got to say this is connected. This is state-sponsored terrorism. This has to be connected to Saddam Hussein.’ I said, ‘But–I’m willing to say it, but what’s your evidence?’ And I never got any evidence.””
Given the confluence with the 9-11 fifth anniversary, I’d love to see a bunch of NOLA locals with bullhorns, standing on some Katrina debris:
“Can you hear me yet?”
“Can you hear me yet?”
“Can you hear me yet?”
Maybe that would get some attention from the JBR-obsessed media.
OldCoastie @ 14
That’s only a concern if you worry about such quaint, old-fashioned ideas as “laws.” You obviously don’t understand the war we’re fighting! [sigh]
*ilson – thanks at 16 – I musta misheard it… FishGuyDave 19 – imagine! this preznitwit! worrying about laws!
Katrina Profiteers
And let’s rub some salt in the Katrina wounds, shall we . . . Equipment Stolen From Katrina Memorial from the AP:
They’ve got the National Guard there now, and still plan to get it finished on time:
Emphasis added.
Hugh–I’ve long thought that that pre-war certification could prove the pointy end of an impeachment spear…
RH–Hope all is well with the Peanut!
Katrina Promises
I wrote to Senator Mary Landrieu last night, expressing my outrage at her support of Joe Lieberman. I was polite, but I politely invited her to join the Republican party, since they’d done such a good job helping Louisiana in the last year.
1. Over the weekend, I asked for help in finding Lieberman video from the confirmation hearings Brownie went through for his initial DHSec post. angie found the video and Jaqrat found this:
LIEberman’s “Money quote� comes at 40:36 into the video:
“Mr. Brown I thank you very much – I will certainly support your nomination – I will do my best to move it through the committee – uh as soon as possible so we can have you fully and legally at work at your position….”
The quote belies current MSM coverage of Joe’s role in that hearing and in Brown’s hiring at DHSec.. We need to get that quote up on youtube ASAP.
2. I pointed out last night that the DSCC Connecticut site concludes with the four following headers:
“Lieberman touts plant as model
Sen. Joseph Lieberman told Peter Pan Electronic employees the work they are doing “is probably larger than you realize,” and that their company is a model for competing in the global marketplace. “If we pool our resources, our innovation and our willingness to work hard, this country will be full of opportunity for future generations,” he said.
Money to help improve safety communications in Waterbury
Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn, on a whistle-stop visit to police headquarters, made a formal announcement of the grant Monday. “The bottom line, it means better public safety for the citizens of Waterbury,” Lieberman said.
Lieberman stresses evacuation plan for cities
Is Hartford prepared to handle a mass evacuation? Senator Joseph Lieberman doubts it. In an interview he used Hartford as an example to point out the need for more adequate plans nationwide.
Electricity pricing plan criticized by Lieberman
Now that Connecticut has fended off a Pentagon plan to close the naval submarine base in Groton, the state must address a potentially greater threat to its economy, U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman said Tuesday.”
Whoever, working for DSCC, posted this crap should be questioned on this – thoroughly! And put into another job licking stamps on fundraising letters for Ned Lamont!
NOLA videos at CSPAN: http://www.c-span.org/journal/katrina.asp
FishGuyDave @ 19
I’m surprised he didn’t say that if the governors would agree to hand over control of the National Guard to the federal govt, all these problems would be taken care of.
Peterr @
18
From the WaPost quickie article about the Shrub’s press conference this morning:
Every day, I think I can’t stand it any longer, then tomorrow comes along. Jeebus…
DSCC CT site:
http://www.dscc.org/2006races/ct/
DSC Lieberman-Brownie hearing video at:
http://hsgac.senate.gov/hearings02.htm
scroll down to June 2002 and “The nomination of Michael D. Brown to be Deputy Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency”
anjinsan @ 11
The major “dissing” of New Orleans at floodstage and beyond by the Repugs has never been about “because they are black”, has never been about “because they are poor”, but instead has always been about “because they are Democrats”!
Disenfranchisment works wonders in winning elections, doncha know?
Last week’s New Yorker had quite a piece by Dan Baum on the various economic/political/social interests vying to rebuild the Lower Ninth Ward. (article not available online yet, apparently)
Didn’t expect to see Katrina come up while perusing Larry Johnson’s blog, but whatta ya know . . . from an entry about Israel and Lebanon yesterday:
(Emphasis added)
Now there’s a comparison that the White House will just love!
punaise @ 33
Dan Baum’s book _Smoke and Mirrors: The War on Drugs and the Politics of Failure_ is the best book on the War on Drugs there is out there! Can’t wait to read the New Yorker article.
Jon Stewart said it earlier about Hezbollah rebuilding “They may be a ragtag band of radical violent terrorists but at least they aren’t FEMA !”
Ed*ard Teller @ 35
It’s in the Aug. 21 issue.
*ilson46201 @ 36
Caught that earlier, but it sounds more like Stewart was going the other way: If Hezbollah really wanted to be good at the terrorism business, they’d act more like FEMA. Larry turned it around, and wants FEMA to act more like Hizbollah.
(It’d be nice if these two could figure out the spelling. Kind of like the Osama/Usama bin Laden confusion . . . maybe it’s a DC thing.)
Two wags, passing in the night . . .
*ilson46201 @ 36
Here you go *ilson46201: http://onegoodmove.org/1gm/1gm…..ollah.html
Oh man, I’ll never catch up today — but may I just recommend to everybody a re-scroll down the last thread asfastasyoucanread? Adie was right — you’re writing symphonies here, you first-draft off-the-top-of-your-head Mozarts!
Okay, back up to the top to catch up with this one . . .
There…I think I’m finally done tearing up, can put away the Kleenex.
That post by Scout Prime is Biblical in its sorrow. Like Job’s story with a horrific ending.
How many stories like this one are there still untold from the Gulf? It boggles my mind and devastates my soul.
It is unfathomable to me that Katrina’s horrors have been “airbrushed from the Kremlin.” It is -to me- one of the signs, writ large, as to how tragically far and precipitously this country has fallen with Bush and his brown-shirts at the helm. Two weeks after unimaginable (and unnecessary) suffering was inflicted upon US citizens by its paralyzed/inept/criminally malfeascent government, the story virtually disappeared along with an entire geo-political region of the US.
It is my hope that Katrina revealed to people -in their heart or hearts- that the Bush regime was not to be trusted with their safety. To me, this election cycle is about “trust” and perhaps, the lessons learned will percolate down to the individual as they pull the lever or push the Diebold button.
Still in all, the MSM is working overtime (in joyous conjunction with Rove, the minister of information) to ensure that we don’t contemplate Katrina and why it happened, or the catastrophe that is Iraq, or rethug corruption, or the middle-east. Nope, instead we can contemplate a ten-year old crime and discuss what the perhaps perp might be eating for breakfast.
Maddening, horrifying and spell-bindingly tragic…I give you the MSM…the agit-prop wing of the oligarchy.
err…fitz
Old Sow @ 43
If the Sow “fitz,” share it.
OT – this puts the JBR media frenzy in context.
Katrina showed in no uncertain terms Bush’s outright disregard for Americans who are not his desired demographic (campaign contributors and corporate supporters). I don’t even think this was directly racially related. Bush was out campaigning and vacationing and probably only vaguely away of the storm when they cut into his vacation and made him listen to a briefing by the Weather Service. It wasn’t that he didn’t care specifically about the people of N.O. and south Louisiana, he didn’t care at ALL. He was busy vacationing and raising money, two of his favorite things.
I’m TIVO’ing Spike Lee’s documentary, too. I hope that it brings the ongoing issue of Katrina to the forefront of people’s minds. This is a national shame and one that the people of N.O. (a city I love, I used to live in south La.) are still mired in every single day.
Despite my recent feelings about the Church, there’s still a very Catholic part of my brain which keeps conjuring up a vision of Bush being judged on his life. I firmly believe that if there is an afterlife and there is judgement, Katrina will be among the first things for which he has to answer.
Y’all keep forgetting about the US Coast Guard. They, above all others, deserve heaps and heaps of praise for their efforts after Katrina. They busted ass to help as many as they could as fast as they could. They were picking people up before the last raindrops fell.
I’ve got a full rant on this subject….
punaise @ 45
Maybe not OT. I wonder if Rove considers ANYTHING OT if it has enough sleaze traction. Not to compare you to Rove, though, punaise….
As the Katrina anniversary rolls up, watch the MSM go directly from JBR to the Shi’ite anniversary Iranian warning thingie again.
Anyway, everyone, goto punaise’s link!
just saw this over at AmericaBlog:
Great link at 8:55 punaise.
mornin’ lotus… how’s yer terlit?
iowa christine — be careful here. We do remember all the many people who have tried to help Katrina’s victims either in rescue or rebuilding, many of them not because of their roles, driven by personal values alone.
But the point of this thread is that this administration failed the people abjectly. In my opinion, this failure is so gross that it cannot be seen as less than willfull malignance.
100,000 refugees – unreturned, in one year’s time. How could any other country in the world BURY a story on a refugee movement this large, without active malignant intent???
Ed*ard Teller @ 48
it’s not OT if one imagines the caption being uttered by New Orleanais (Orlineans?) victims in lieu of the flag-draped caskets…
Speaking of “goto,” is there a Go To site which keeps track of ALL the mismanagement and fiascos concerning Katrina response from the beginning of the looming emergency to the present? Or, is it even possible to document that level of malfeasance and incompetence?
iowa christine – this thread is no critiscm of the CG… I think the Coast Guard, if nothing else, showed what a government agency CAN do… makes the rest of the effort just that much more pitiful…
lotus @
40
Hi lotus – here, briefly.
Last 36 hrs – hellish schedule, or I’d have answered your Mississippi question…
Mom’s from there, a town called Como, about 50 miles south of Memphis in Panola County. The place, where, in 1994, Mississippi showed it’s heart, finally convicting that racist MF’er Byron De La Beckwith for the assassination of Medgar Evers.
Maybe we should give the Louisiana purchase back to France, or any other regime that isn’t hopelessly corrupt and hostile to its own people.
Louisiana is a poor southern state and the victims of Katrina were mostly poor minorities. The truth is the rest of the country could give a shit about what happened to them. We’re slaughtering Afghans and Iraqis by the thousands. How many Americans are shedding tears for them? Damn few. I think those prone to xenophobia (most Americans) tend to disdain the poor, lame, sick and disadvantaged also. Katrina is something that happened to “other people”. Iraqis are other people. Gays are other people. The mentally ill are other people. The homeless are other people. In America other people can go to hell.
OldCoastie @ 55
OldCoastie,
Is your nom de blog related to USCG service? I agree with you 100% on their positive role. A Katrina book might compare and contrast the USCG’s response to that of FEMA.
For instance, the CG has suffered frequent budget cuts under Bush, but still did their job professionally. Have they been rewarded budgetarily for their competence by the Bushies? No, ’cause that doesn’t happen in Bushworld!
ET – yes, I’m former Coast Guard… and of course, at a time when port security needs are the highest, Bushco would cut the budget… I also have a gut feeling that the CG’s success during Katrina was “rewarded” by budget cuts that have a tinge of hostility attached…
the thing I was the most proud of during Katrina was that the CG made a plan, got in there and did their jobs with no screwing around… watching FEMA flounder has been one of the most frustrating experiences ever… it is so unnecessary…
punaise – I do hope Gore will take a run at the presidency… he’s got the street cred to say, “ok – here’s what we are gonna do – we will achieve energy independence within the next 3 years so we can stop this b.s. in the middle east…” my fear is that Hillary will run into a brick wall at every turn if she pisses off the oil industry…
Ok.. everyone also forgets about the Mississippi coast. I lived in Biloxi from August 1975 to August 1983. Went to high school there. Learned to drive on the runway of the base and along US90. Hung out at the arcade along the beach on Friday and Saturday nights. My family owns a time share condo along the beach, near the lighthouse. (And yes, I’m pretty sure our unit was heavily damaged.)
So, what I have to say does not mean that I’ve never been affected by a hurricane, nor personally know anyone directly affected by one. I went through the ‘easy’ side of Frederic in ‘79 and so many others I can’t remember them all.
Every June 1st all the network channels, radio stations, and print press always have PSA about what to do when a hurricane comes through. Granted Katrina was bigger than most, but…. the same rules still apply. Get your act together before hand!! It has always been ‘be prepared to be on your own for several days’. ALWAYS.
So many are blaming the Feds for their delayed responses. Where is the call to hold the people themsleves at least partially responsible, or the Mayor, or the Govenor?? I think the able bodied that chose to remain behind are just at fault as the next person. Many of the people going to the Superdome for shelter never even brought a little water and food with them. They expected someone else to provide for them.
I’ve read from some that I’m still in contact with down there that there are some that are expecting the ‘public at large’ to build them new McMansions, furnish them, and provide for them for the forseeable future. No, way dude…. A helping hand, yes. An outright handout, no.
Then there are all the other natural disasters that happen throughout the country. Noone talks about those. How fast did FEMA show up after the Northridge Earthquake?? Or during/after the Floods of ‘93?? Or after the F2 tornado that went through downtown Iowa City this past April 13th?? (Hint: on the IC tornados, feds never showed up and have denied a request for assistance. The reason stated was that there wasn’t enough damage to warrent a federal disaster designation. Current estimates are over $10M USD. The 10m may be the university alone and not the rest of the town.)
http://www.press-citizen.com/a…..ry=tornado
I have to de-lurk for this one. After Rita hit, I volunteered to deploy for 60 days relief duty (my agency is always involved in these…not FEMA, but I don’t want to name it). I arrived about 2 weeks after Rita. It was the most surreal and heartbreaking work I’ve ever done. I was mainly downtown N.O. and in Jefferson parish west bank around Kenner. After two months I was so pissed off at the administration I wanted to throttle someone. Our workers were great, everyone was putting in 12hr/day, 7 day/week. But the leadership way up the chain left much to be desired. And to see the city basically abandoned a year later makes me furious. These are our brothers, sister, mothers and fathers, our countrymen. And we let them down. Shameful.
Oh, thanks, newtonusr! I’m up and standing in salute to Como, Mississippi.
Bong, hit’s still a-waitin’ my finding a CostCo, but I think I know whar one is.
Heavy, heavy rains over the weekend caused bridges to wash out and rock and mudslides to cut road and rail links so that Southcentral Alaska (Anchorage, Matanuska-Susitna Valleys and Kenai Penninsula) off from the rest of the world.
Thank g*d FEMA isn’t involved in the repairs!
Thanks for your concern, Iowa Christine.
Christy
We all feel for you and your precious mini-ReddHedd.
Check back in when you’re able. Thanks.
Ed*ard Teller @ 66
FEMA = the grim repair
Christy
Count me among those who don’t know how you manage to do such an incredible job under pressure.
Thank you for helping keep NOLA and other Katrina victims a part of the nation’s consciousness.
Jr’s presser this a.m. was especially disgusting because he so easily dismisses suffering and privation from his own mind. He has no clue…
OldCoastie @ 62
Gore must have republicans worried, because the Hoover Institution’s Peter Schweitzer is already trying to shoot him down before things get rolling any farther in Gore’s favor. Gore Talks the Talk, But . . . was in the SF Chronicle yesterday, and appeared earlier in USA Today.
it’s simple: Gore, yes. HRC, no.
punaise@8:55 ouch
punaise@9:39 ditto to the max
Peterr 71 – thanks for the link… yup, seems they are worried! I do think this country will be in the mood for hiring a president that actually has a brain…
OT – this really belongs in the thread dealing with Dubya’s presser this morning. Kerry fires back right after Bush was finished!
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2….._0821.html
GO KERRY!
One of the big factors in the marooning of so many un-provisioned NOLAns: this happened at the end of the month, when folks just scraping along scrape even harder. Nobody was giving away bus tickets or supplies that weekend before landfall (looking at you, Ray Nagin and Kathleen Blanco), and if there you were down to your last $5 or $10, sitting in NOLA (or Bay St. Louis or Picayune or Pass Christian) —
honey, you were screwed.
Morning Firehounds.
Don’t want to get all tinfoilly on ya, but have you guys seen this video yet? I was searching for FEMA info, and whoa this came up.
Youtube has other video of Katrina flood damage and FEMA trailers and stuff too.
By expecting the Federal Government to do *all* the work after a natural disaster, whether it be clean up, rebuild, finances, food, clothing, etc is playing directly into the hands of the Republican Party’s oft stated claims that the Democratic Party wants a ‘nanny state’. Well, apparently some do.
FEMA and the feds, as a whole, could have marshalled the resources better. But, so could have the States of Louisiana and Mississippi.
FYI – I am watching a re-run of today’s Washington Journal (C-Span) and they are spending today and tomorrow broadcasting live from NO.
Very informative and descriptive.
Uh oh. “Mary Landrieux is up next.”
Forget the “informative” descriptor for the upcoming segment.
KathieinMN @ 75
Short Kerry:
“Our military has been strained by the Rumsfeld policy of going to war with too few troops, sending troops into battle with inadequate body armor, and overextending the National Guard. Faith in this Administration has been strained by exaggerations and miscalculations from the promise of ‘mission accomplished’ to Vice President Cheney’s declaration of an insurgency ‘in its last throes.’ Patience is strained because almost five years later, Osama Bin Laden is still on the loose, and gone is the promise of ‘wanted dead or alive.’ The Administration’s credibility is strained because the President’s mantra that ‘U.S. troops will stand down as Iraqis stand up’ is another misleading myth, and ’stay the course’ is a recipe for disaster when the course is broken. Budgets are strained by record deficits, while critical needs, from homeland security to Katrina rebuilding go unaddressed while each week we spend two billion dollars in Iraq.”
anjinsan @ 11
Not sure when this ends, but for our last election you could claim residency based on Pre-K residency.
Of course I will also be TVo-ing this – but I don’t like him implicitly propogating the ‘blew up the levee’s’ stuff. And as heartrending and important as this focus is, I’d also like to remind people that this un-natural disaster devastation crossed all race and class lines.
Hey all — had a second for a quick update. We’re back from the doctor. It’s viral, so no antibiotics, but lots of fluids, rest and more fluids. And we’ll keep an eye on the fever, alternating the tylenol and the motrin. Thanks everyone for the patience the last few days — hopefully for everyone’s sake, this will run its course soon.
iowa christine @63
The main issue is that the residents who went to the Superdome went on foot or by bus. They were restricted by what they could carry. Many had infants and small children. My answer is many of us could carry enough food & water to last 24-48 hrs but beyond that….. give me a brake. So pretend I am a young mother with two children under 3, I am carrying diapers, formula, clothes and holding an infant on my hip. And does anyone know if they were restricted on the amount they could carry on the buses? I know they could NOT bring their pets.
I agree that there is a level of personal responsibility but using generalities, this population was struggling with their month to month expenses but to add a level of stocking up for emergencies would be beyond their means. Every month is an emergency for them.
iowa christine – it doesn’t seem too much to ask, considering the resources and equipment owned by the Fed, that we – as a country – should at the VERY least – gone down to LA and MS and just scraped up all the debris… that the Fed (if they could find someone with the expertise) could coordinate the clean up and the return of the infrastructure – ya know – getting the water and sewer pipes laid and the power back up…
nothing “nanny state” about that – this is OUR country and these are OUR neighbors… but even that little bit hasn’t been done…
CHS,
My 3-yo threw up this morning. Waiting for the other shoe to drop, as it were.
I appreciate your position. The pediatricians don’t even want to see you unless the kid’s temp is above 103.
OT, but from the Christy’s previous thread:
As Christy reported Joe “Gotta Go” Loserman saying on Face the Nation yesterday: “He made me into a cheerleader…”
Somehow it reminds me of that movie “But I’m a Cheerleader”. LOL!
Iowa Christine is mouthing Republican talking points exactly. Why are we (me included, lol) feeding her?
punaise @ 49
Thanks goodness she’s come out against the Lieberman “party of one” maneuver. About a week ago she sounded pretty non-committal about the whole thing. I rarely agree with Brazille these days but she does represent a core constituency in the Dem party.
As a CT Dem I received an email with the following statement from the CT Dem Party…
On Thursday August 17th, State Chairwoman Nancy DiNardo released the following statement in response to a conversation she had with Senator Lieberman:
Hartford – “On Wednesday, August 9, the day after the Democratic primary, the party’s statewide and congressional candidates held a press conference at which I formally announced my full support for the entire statewide ticket, including Ned Lamont as the Democratic Party’s nominee for U.S. Senate. As the chairwoman of the state Democratic Party, I want to assure the members of my party that I not only have endorsed Lamont’s candidacy but I am committed to working to ensure his election in November.
As some may be aware, I have known Joe Lieberman for more than 30 years and I have always had the utmost respect and admiration for him. I also appreciate all that he has done for Connecticut and for the state Democratic Party. I was especially proud when he represented Connecticut on the 2000 national ticket as the Democratic vice presidential candidate.
However, in the Aug. 8 primary, state Democrats spoke loudly and clearly. More than 40 percent of them turned out to vote and they decisively chose Ned Lamont over Sen. Lieberman. It is my strong belief that Sen. Lieberman should abide by the wishes of state party members and by the democratic process.
As such, I have asked Sen. Lieberman to drop his plans to pursue his independent candidacy. He respectfully declined my request and said he intends to go ahead with it.”
punaise @ 69
That has to be delivered in a nasal tone a la Arnold Horschak from Welcome Back, Kotter.
BC
The issue about expecting the local government & officials handling all the logistics after Katrina.
Phone, cell phones, internet, Radio, Power and TV was off for days, weeks and in some places off permanently.
Emergency radio channels could not communicate between different agencies and with outsiders who came in to help.
Cell phone batteries finally died when there was no power to recharge.
That is the reason this was a Federal issue. They needed to supply satellite phones & universal communication devices.
I am my brother’s keeper…. includes the government support for disasters.
Christy,
yuor daughter deserves your full attention – we’ll just talk amongst ourselves….
Mornin’ Firedogs,
piling on with a loosely related note . . .
absolutely nothing by the WH surprised me with Katrina or it’s horrific on going aftermath
the real splash of cold water came in the days that immediately followed
Nada, zero, zip, from the Dem Leadership. kept plugging my nose and turning on Cable News expecting a statement, news conference, quilting bee, anything from them and was disappointed every time. By then, I had asked dozens of life long Texas Republicans who they’d vote for next – and all of them responded with their own variation of “Who Ya Got In Mind ?”
There came a night where I had just returned from the local redneck tavern where they had removed Chimpy’s picture from the wall (auctioning off the opportunity to shoot it for Red Cross $$$) and NOTHING outta DC
Please forgive my sounding craven or insensitive to all the suffering, but in pure political terms, this was the greatest political opportunity since the Watergate break in.
until that moment, I was mildly disappointed in them, excusing too much of their behavior as being the Party out of power – well I woke up to them being the dithering, hapless, insulated weaklings they are . . . and in light of their post 8/8 performance, they haven’t disappointed me since
op99… pretty soon she will be doing the Sean Hanity ….. “What about the buses”…. “What about the buses”…. I love the way Stephany Miller does that……sad music…..and that segment of Sean …. “What about the buses”….
punaise @ 91
And a splendid job we do of it too! *g*
katymine @ 93
And what about Poland?
A year ago Phoenix stepped up to the plate to help the Katrina evacuees.
Phoenix AZ responds to the needs of Katrina evacuees within hours
This year, we are doing a supply drive for supplies for Mosul Combat Support Hospital to show our support of the troops.
Christy — don’t worry about this thread — we are perfectly capable of playing with ourselves !
*ilson46201 @ 97
Some moderator, lol.
*ilson46201 @ 97
Ok… I think you meant play by ourselves…. but LOL
If we can’t even fix New Orleans, how in the world are we going to fix Iraq?
cosmo – chimpy has no intention of fixing Iraq… he likes the chaos too much…
You know, I believe in Spike’s right to make money, but shouldn’t this be on PBS?
iowa christine — I’m detecting another subtext. I hope I’m not.
We point to NOLA because it is the largest single example of this administration’s malignance, not because we’ve forgotten the Gulf. Are the casinos back in business? It sure sounds like it to me…which begs the question, WHY…???
Why is it that casino companies are rebuilding, but FEMA can’t find a way to get temporary housing in place for folks who might work at these casinos? Why is it that in spite of all the hoopla and money spent in the wake of 9/11, DHS is still no closer to being able to provide adequate security and reconstruction after a disaster — man-made or otherwise?
I don’t believe those 100,000 refugees are sitting around waiting for handouts; they’ve had to get on with their lives, are probably so inured to being disenfranchised that they gave up on us as much as we gave up on them.
This is NOT a zero-sum game. Just because NOLA is the topic doesn’t mean we can’t see that this administration can and will let all Americans down, in Mississippi or elsewhere.
Revisit the map where Hurricane Andrew hit and nearly wiped Homestead off the map. How did FEMA respond then, both in advance and after the storm? How did FEMA respond to the multiple hurricanes hitting Florida in 2004? (My parents’ home in FL was affected, as were the homes of many friends; I have a pretty good idea what happened.)
There’s simply more going on here and NOLA is the symbol.
Billy K @ 102
Just how many ReThugs watch PBS?
Just like real estate… it is location… location ….location..
I was visiting last September with an uncle who is a supporter of Australian prime minister and Bush sycophant John Howard. We were skirting political issues quite carefully, then he had to go and say that the local and state response to Katrina was the problem. I couldn’t hold back, so I noted how glaring the omission of the federal government was from his “analysis”. I expostulated about the scope of the devastation, and how disasters above a certain scope fall almost entirely in federal jurisdiction, and finished with “and I think we can all agree that this was a disaster that falls into the category where federal authority was necessary and primary, and the incompetence at that level is the main reason that there were so many fatalities and so much suffering”.
Needless to say, we went back to discussing less touchy subjects.
Okay, firepups, who said this?
“Victory means exit strategy, and it’s important for the president to explain to us what the exit strategy is.”
BC
Bargain Countertenor @ 105
GWB?
Bargain Countertenor @ 105
GWB, while Gov of TX?
Jeepers, did we pick up the A-list trolls this morning or what?
op99 wins …
Governor George W Bush said it, in reference to the NATO action in Kosovo…
BC
What’s my prize?
too slow…fat fingers.
:-)
Dr. Bong @ 110
Ummm… first prize is a lunch with the Preznit…
Second prize is two two lunches …
BC
I don’t want no steenkin’ “nanny” state but I sure would like FEMA to do its job. It’s the FEDERAL emergency management agency. I do not like living in a proto fascist state that tells us endlessly to be afraid and that their job is to protect americans by stripping us of our Constitutional rights and then willfully neglecting the people they purport to protect. Katrina is the biggest, most purulent zit on the face of this administration when it comes to domestic failures jest alongside 9/11. The other constellation of zits are the Medicare fiasco, the lack of healthcare, education, transportation, housing, crime, etc.
This administration is a failure and they do not care about the poor, the disenfranchised and the powerless.
end rant.
Kudos to the Coast Guard.
Billy K — you got the terms of Spike Lee’s contract with HBO???
Do you know with absolute certainty that Spike Lee is making any money off his production this evening? I would be surprised if he did anything more than cover his expenses, based on his track record.
Jeebus,
I expected it to take more than a minute …
Some enterprising young reporter ought to lay that quote on Bush now, and get a response.
Whoops, that’s right — enterprising WH reporters have been on back-order for six years now, and still no production date.
BC
Bargain Countertenor @ 112
I believe that is actually 3rd prize. 2nd prize is lunch for Darth Cheney. *g*
punaise @ 33
Here it is. I’m still working my way through it. The heartless response in the past year and the myriad self-serving attitudes portrayed are maddening.
op99 @ 95
Lord, yes, HOW COULD WE FORGET? WHO DO WE THINK WE ARE, FORGETTING POLAND?!
Poland is part of the coalition of the coerced and the bribed, isn’t it?
Maybe FEMA would work more efficiently if it annexed the Sudetenland first.
Redshift @
117
thanks for tracking that down – wonder why I couldn’t find it. There are two devastating photos in the print version.
Bargain Countertenor @ 112
I’ll donate my prize to iowa christine. :)
Some enterprising young reporter ought to lay that quote on Bush now, and get a response.
Whoops, that’s right — enterprising WH reporters have been on back-order for six years now, and still no production date.
Matterafack, BC, they closed that factory — oh, I bleeve wuz around the fall of ought-zero or the winter of ought-one — for lack of orders …
punaise @ 121
Yeah, the photos are powerful. NYer’s search seems to be kind of quirky. I’ve had articles where I knew an exact quote, and it didn’t turn them up, or put them on page 3 of the search results.
op99, you are in fine form today!
OT – but encouraging (can you say “discovery?” I knew you could.)
Federal suit brought against Auglaize County (OH) BOE by dismissed Director. Names Blackwell, seeking declaratory judgment of failure to execute statutory duties.
http://www.wapakdailynews.com/…..news02.prt
This is a convoluted tale. The preceding Director (Burklo) was ousted (read “pushed out by Blackwell’s rep”) for the relatively minor transgression noted in the story. (I’m sure our venerated SoS wouldn’t want anyone looking into that whole mainframe access thing from 2004) The Board, not realizing how important it was to cover that up, was shocked at their treatment by SoS rep. The Board remained loyal to Burklo, and tried to put her in another position at the BOE. SoS said no. This woman – Huber seems okay, but the article indicates a focus on the given reason for Burklo’s firing rather than the underlying one, and also says Burklo was keeping inactive names on the voting rolls.
should prove interesting…
new thread, and op 99 yew make me laugh
An excerpt from an email I received from friends in Biloxi:
>Casino’s seem to be rebuilding and returning to Biloxi at a fevered pace
since the law was changed allowing casinos to build 800 yards from the
waters edge where previously they had to be built on barges. All of the old
antebellum homes and businesses along the coast were completely destroyed.
Homeowners are reluctant to rebuild due to the inability to get affordable
insurance. Also supplies needed for rebuilding have gone through the roof.
Example: before the hurricane poured cement was about $38 a square foot, the
current price here is $100 per square foot. Also the price for plywood has
tripled from last year’s prices. Large former residential tracts are being
purchased by both casino and condo speculators since many previous
homeowners have given up and moved away. Private insurance has gone thru the
roof here on the Mississippi Coast with only one major company issuing new
policies. I noticed they have December dog shows scheduled for the Coast
Coliseum so guess the repairs have been almost completed but all the motels
near the coliseum were destroyed The Beach Hwy (US 90) is open now but none
of the businesses have returned. The new FEMA guidelines approved by Biloxi
and several other communities state all structures must now be 21 feet above
sea level which means rebuilt homes along or even near the beach will look
like tree houses and older people would have a problem with the steps
required. There is a serious rental home and apartment shortage here and
rent has tripled over the past year. This has caused home prices to increase
by about 40 percent however. Most of the destroyed homes and businesses have
finally been bulldozed away with only cement slabs where homes used to be.
Homeowners who lost their homes are now forced to count driveways on their
block in order to locate their old home sites since everything looks
different with entire communities destroyed. Many homeowners are still
waiting for the Grants promised by the Government before they can rebuild
but as of today not one grant has been received here by anyone. The
insurance companies refused to pay damages caused by flooding.. they only
pay for wind damage and the homeowner has to prove wind damage which is
almost an impossibility. Most of the homeowners have had unhappy experiences
with FEMA and most would like to see them run out of town. Both road rage
and crime has increased dramatically here on the coast which is being blamed
on anxiety and depression related to the hurricane. One year later we still
have folks living in tents and FEMA trailers. Most will be forced to leave
when the trailers are taken away since they cannot afford the sky high rent
and about half of the public housing was destroyed.>
They were lucky-their house can be repaired….
It was reported that the people in South Lebanon will not take “our” money to rebuild since the U.S. was an accomplice in the destruction (paraphrasing).
thanks Sally, tis nice to see principles exist SOMEWHERE on the planet.
Iowa Christine 63 and Lotus 63: The timing of Katrina was a big factor in whether people had the means to evacuate, but people also tend to forget the storms that came before. Arlene came close in June; Cindy, early July and Dennis, mid-July. Many people who had prepared early in the season had already depleted their emergency funds because of the earlier storms. Take a look at this map on NOAA and remember what an unprecedented season it was:
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/tracks/2005atl.pdf
Christy, any word on what’s ailing the peanut? The 6YO here has had an on-again, off-again fever for almost a week.
“Revisit the map where Hurricane Andrew hit and nearly wiped Homestead off the map. How did FEMA respond then, both in advance and after the storm? How did FEMA respond to the multiple hurricanes hitting Florida in 2004? (My parents’ home in FL was affected, as were the homes of many friends; I have a pretty good idea what happened.) “
Yeah, I know about Andrew. It took about a week for anyone to show up. And that was after Bush sr was shamed into doing it. As for the multiple hurricanes in Florida, the first they were slow and the rest a little better because they pulled the resources from the previous hurricane and gave it to the next one.
I’m not saying that the general population of the affected areas are completely at fault, by any means. I totally agree with giving a helping hand. The University Hospital I work for loaded up 2 semis, brought it down there and also sent a contingent of doctors and nurses. Not to mention taking in around a dozen students and providing rent free, furnished apartments and however many families moved up here to be with other family members, other semis were loaded and delivered, and numerous companies offering shelter and jobs.
I have, however, heard from friends still living in the area that many, not all, expect a complete handout. Y’all realize that the railroad was rebuilt along the coast and the repairs were completed by Christmas?? Great!! Shows someone was getting something done. But, guess what…the casinos are now bitching about it having been rebuilt and want the feds to rebuild it elsewhere.
A friend of mine has family that helped haul trailers after Katrina. They basically lost their shirts by not charging going rates for them. How did they lose so much money?? Because the people who where suposed to move into them, took a look, trashed them and told the family member that they weren’t good enough for them. They told the family member that they deserve a $250,000, deluxe, RV unit, for free. The family member was stuck with the costs, the feds refused to reimburse.
I’m ranting at the system as a whole and many attitudes that NO was the biggest disaster to ever hit the US. Well, guess what, it wasn’t and it won’t be the last either. Where were y’all when Iowa and Illinois went under in the Floods of ‘93?? The *entire* state went under and we got more help from Canada than we did from Montana. Where’s the outrage that not everything was rebuilt after that?? And the confiscation of private land (or payment of pennies on the dollar)?? Or the outrage that California wasn’t completely rebuilt after the earthquakes in ‘89 and ‘91?? Or the outrage at the outrageous rates charged for earthquake insurance?? Where was all the rage at noone was helping those that were hit by the tornados earlier this year?? From January to the beginning of May there were around 950 tornados. The average for that time frame in a normal year is 500.
I totally agree that a system to help those in need after a natural disaster needs to be improved. I totally agree that the feds may be in a better position to take care of some of the things that need to be taken care of. But, after having gone through enough natural disasters of my own, getting the people to do much of the work does a whole lot of wonders for moral than waiting for someone else to do the work. Trust me…even though you’re crying your heart out cutting down the rest of the tree that fell on your house, one feels a whole lot better having control of doing it themselves. Why were some of the locals driving around siteseeing along the beach when they could have helped their neighbor pull the tree of their house?? And then they turn around and bitch that the power’s not turned back on.
The feds could take a lesson from the US Coast Guard and the power companies. (The power companies were lining up the Saturday before landfall, just waiting for the location of landfall. The power companies came in with their own food, water, gas, and shelter.) But, will they?? Of course not. To the victor, goes the spoils.
lotus @ 76
Amen. We were fortunate enough to be able to leave…and to have a place to go. Before I left, I made sure to issue invitations to 3 elderly women on our block. Two had family who were coming to get them. The third didn’t want to leave (she’s 79). Her son, her husband and her daughter all stayed with her until (after the flood) they were made to leave. They were right on the edge of the flood zone. There was about three feet of water standing in the street…and it just barely reached their porch. When they were picked up (2 weeks into the flood stage) her daughter from Maryland came to pick her and her husband up. Her son and daughter who stayed were told to get on a bus. Destination was not part of the information they got. They ended up in El Paso, Texas where they were treated with great kindness. All of them have since made their way back to New Orleans.
Rayne @ 115
No need to get upset, I was merely asking a (fair) question.
I think it’s safe to say HBO can offer more money for any programming than PBS can. However, if Spike isn’t making any money, why wouldn’t he release the film to PBS – or some other outlet where EVERYONE can see it? I trust Spike made a great documentary, and this (Katrina) is important enough that everyone should be informed, not just those who can afford to pay $50-$100/month for cable.
Like I said, I have no problem with him earning a wage for doing this, yet I find it odd that the people Spike is documenting probably won’t be able to watch the film.
(and FWIW, I don’t have HBO either.)
Just an FYI. I’ll be in NOLA on Wednesday August 23 until August 31. So beginning Wednesday I’ll be posting at First Draft from NOLA. Hope you’ll stop by FD and Thank You Christy
OldCoastie @
55
Absolutely. I’d argue, as well, that NOAA did an exceptional job under extreme circumstances. First, with the prediction and spot-on warnings, then with the work to reopen the ports and waterways, helping to assess and contain/mitigate spills, among other things.
If you give an agency what it needs and keep the frickin cronies away, there are professionals out there who can do what needs to be done.
It makes me crazy that the Bushies treat government like the enemy or a storehouse that needs to be looted with wild abandon. In a civil society government addresses the shared concerns of the citizens. The Bushies are “me” people not “us” people.
iowa christine doesn’t seem to understand the vast scale of destruction in NOLA and the Gulf Coast. The earthquakes in California were very localized. Hundreds were effected not thousands. 80,000 homes were destroyed in New Orleans alone. A million people have not been able to return home yet. MILLION. 1,000,000. A year later.
Meanwhile, the issue involving the complete incompetence of the local and state government in Louisiana goes blissfully under the radar while the Bush-Haters focus on their target of rage.
Look, the Federal government screwed the pooch here too. No mistake about it. If people are SERIOUS about the tragedy that befell those in N.O. (and the other gulf areas – what, they aren’t worthy of Democratic sympathy too – guess “white and devastated” isn’t equally heartbreaking), they would ask why the poorest citizens of city/state were the ones left most vulnerable by its city/state officials. These officials were the FIRST line of protection for these people and they couldn’t offer anything else but, “gee, y’all better get out, but don’t expect any help to do so or any safe refuge to wait it out.”
If people choose to ignore those culprits, well, at least now we know that the anger at this situation is based on politics, rather than human compassion.
Craig @
140
There are scales of disasters. Some things local governments can handle (one or a couple of tornados, for instance). Slightly larger disasters need the interaction of the state. Disasters that drown an entire major metropolitan area are too much for any local or state government to handle, regardless of how efficient that government is.
FEMA and the federal response worked reasonably well (there were some hang ups, certainly) during the massive flooding of the Mississippi River drainage in the early 1990’s (1993, iirc). What has changed with FEMA from that point until today?
“iowa christine doesn’t seem to understand the vast scale of destruction in NOLA and the Gulf Coast. The earthquakes in California were very localized. Hundreds were effected not thousands. 80,000 homes were destroyed in New Orleans alone. A million people have not been able to return home yet. MILLION. 1,000,000. A year later.”
And you have no clue how bad the Floods of ‘93 were. The *entire* state of Iowa, more than 75% of Illinois, more than 60% of Missiouri, Minnesota, and South Dakota, more than 25% of Arkansas, Tennessee, North Dakota, and Wisconsin were under water for at least 3 solid months. The widest point of the Mississippi river is 1 mile. At the height of the floods, it was 10 miles wide. The only reason why St Louis MO didn’t go under was because Quincy and Hannible went under when their levees broke. Do you know how many towns are no longer in existance 13 years after the floods?? But, who gives a shit about a few hundred families in town x, or y, or z. So what if the farmer has to travel an extra 50 miles to sell his grain. So what if a child has to travel an extra half hour to go to school. Remember that the next time you buy some beef and wonder why it’s up to $8.00 a pound.
I know exactly how bad things are down in Biloxi. I get regular news from some of my friends. And since I know how bad things are I also know that it all can’t be fixed in a year’s time. It took Biloxi 15 years to recover from Frederic and they got the easy side of him. They were a little faster to recover from Alicia in ‘86 and she wasn’t as big as Frederic.
“FEMA and the federal response worked reasonably well (there were some hang ups, certainly) during the massive flooding of the Mississippi River drainage in the early 1990’s (1993, iirc). What has changed with FEMA from that point until today?”
Wrong. FEMA didn’t really do jack shit to help. They bought out lots of towns and farms for pennies on the dollar months after the flooding. The prisoners in the county and state jails were begging to help because the towns couldn’t get enough bodies to help shore up levees. Some areas got more help from Canada than from FEMA. The State National Guard units did more than FEMA.
Not a whole lot has changed in the way FEMA works from the Floods of ‘93, or Frederic in ‘79, to now. One policy as a result of the Floods is that when an area floods out, the feds basically declare it off limits, thereby making it impossible to get loans to rebuild and forced to sell at below market value to the State or Feds. There are 2 towns up in the NE part of the state that flooded out 2 years ago. FEMA declared them ‘off limits’, but refused to make any further decisions about the property. The property owners had to continue to make payments on property that they could not occupy and also on ‘new’ accomodations for 2 years.
But, what the hell, it’s only a couple hundred families. And you wonder why your food prices are going up???
With the scope of damage caused by Katrina it is completely unrealistic to have 100% recovery in one year. Not even 50%. 25% is probably the best you can get with the scope of what happened down there. The City and State both need to be held accountable for what they were capable of handling and they didn’t do.
Y’all are not being consistant in your condemnation of FEMA, or the Feds in general. NOLA is soo important because it’s a cultural area, but to hell with any small town along a river??? Would y’all change your mind if you knew Grant Wood paintings (or sculpture) were damaged in the Floods of ‘93 instead of just disrupting at least 10 million peoples’ lives for several months or a few years??? What happened to helping those in need?? Why does getting help depend upon the scale of damange?? Just because someone lost their home to the Floods, or an earthquake, or a tornado doesn’t make it any less traumatic than the person who lost their home to Katrina.
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