*freep*?

g’ mornin’, ReddHedd!

Fitz?

Is FEMA now being run by a bunch of health insurance industry executives who have put it in the business of not paying claims by making you jump through hoops until you are so exhausted and frustrated and confused that you no longer know which way or which hoop is next?

Yes.

Fiance calls it “compassionate cronyism.”

OK Fresh biscuits ready for the oven! Let’s GO!

it is not surprising
it is their current policy.
when the sociopath loses the desire for one thing, it adds another. it does not matter what, as long as it has the power to do so. control is the only thing important
time for a redistribution of resources. too bad we don’t have time

My brother and his girlfriend were with us over Thanksgiving, and she described just this atrocity. She’s not “destitute”, but the rental market in N.O. has spiralled through the roof, and she’s an administrative assistant who can’t afford to pay the hyperinflated going rate. The representative from FEMA that she spoke with actually admitted that he could find no reason for her request to be denied, but that was the decision. To top it off, she’s getting $300 water bills for her flood-destroyed home (which she hasn’t been able to occupy), and the excuse given is that “service has been reestablished in your area”. The irony is abjectly cruel.

Bush could make everyone’s life in N.O. infinitely better right now with a few executive orders and a little attention, but he’s such an immature, pouting jerk that he will never do it.

Didn’t they rename FEMA, perhaps into something like EMA? (FEMA, without the F…as if!).

In any case, I’d describe the process as ‘Krapkaesque’.

Perhaps this was already pointed out, but George F. Will’s clickable name-link is broken. I guess Mr. Civility has armed himself against the rabid lambs dripping venom. By shutting off inbound responses.

feh.

Christy, I responded late to your linky request. Near the end of the last thread. “party crasher” was my snark…J-Lie joined the group’s spokesman. It is maddening that he postures with such trivia!!!! while Iraq and post-Katrina exist. Wasn’t he ranking member on Homeland Security Cttee? That’s his watch!!!! Sorry if you covered this, I’m scrambling to catch up on reading your post.

J-LIE. Once a Schmuck, always….
Can I still say that?????

I realize full well I may be biased here, and have an ax to grind (I teach in a poor rural public school). But I know without a doubt that the key to success, no matter what the ’success’ might entail, is education. Along this (and of course, in many other areas) line our government has, and is failing our children. This is at least borderline criminal. Naturally I understand that ignorance is bliss. For the government.

kiddo- are you teaching NOW?

TeddySanFran @ 9

Perhaps this was already pointed out, but George F. Will’s clickable name-link is broken. I guess Mr. Civility has armed himself against the rabid lambs dripping venom. By shutting off inbound responses.

feh.

i suspect his inbox is quite full by now. I received an autoreply from him for my email a few hours ago.

Oh, and Bob Geiger reminds us that it is day 1900 and still no Osama. In case you were wondering.

ot, sorry

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/…..-hamilton/

flat out denies the baker recomendations are going to take place

he’s telling daddy fuck off dad

“fuckem if they don’t agree with whatever the fuck I want to do”

I wonder what daddy’s gonna do now?

That it took a Federal Judge to make this clear to the Bush Administration and the FEMA Administrator who set these policies in the first place? Pathetic. That entreties to the rubber stamp Republican Congress (and Joe Lieberman, who as ranking member on the Homeland Security Committee sure did one heckuva job of raising this issue to the public when it wasn’t getting enough oversight, didn’t he?) went unnoticed, unanswered or ignored altogether? Even more pathetic.

We need to help make Lieberman’s performance on issues like this VERY important over the next two years.

rwcole @ 12

kiddo- are you teaching NOW?

Not today. School is closed due to snow.

It sickens me to see how this country can’t seem to throw enough money at the military contractors for war but can’t manage to mobilize to help our people who have been struck with a tragedy which might have been mitigated by the corps of engineers.

What a disgrace.

The performance of the administration in the Kantrina disaster is impeachable in my book.

This administration has killed so many americans for no reason at all. No respect for human life. And then there are the tens and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and Afghanis who mean absolutely nothing to these people. nothing nothing nothing. These people have no heart. They are hateful and nasty… the Bush administration.

Any other government would fall… ours marches on like it’s biz as usual. Well maybe killing IS biz as usual for them.

We need regime change and we need a constitution that does not let this stuff happen EVER!

Bush in Jordan says Malaki is “the right guy”.

Pope in Turkey says that moslems are just swell fellas and that they oughta be in the E U.

Fuckin liars.

Remember the pious pronouncements from the MSM in the aftermath of Katrina? Their solemn vows to stay on the story, open active news bureaus in the area and birddog the government?

What happened to THAT?

Oh yeah, “Katrina fatigue.” About 15 minutes later.

OklaKid

Education is one key to the puzzle. But we live under a system where the deck is stacked in favor of capital.

We need a revolution of the people.

Capitalism is the poison that runs through the veins of America.

What we are seeing now is capitalism in its glory… the rich – capital doing what they do best… exploit and get richer whilst stepping on the workers and the middle class which aspire to rise up the class ladder.

Education IS important to play the game. But we need to educate people to the evil of unfettered free market capitalism. It has destroyed america and is well on its way to destroying the planet.

The revolution cannot come soon enough.

Memo to Speaker-Elect Pelosi –

RE: First Hundred Hours Agenda –

RX: The New Orleans and Gulf Coast Emergency Recovery Act –

It’s a year and a half late, but Rubber Stamp Republicans are all-hat-no-cattle, so that is to be expected.

But now, it’s time to honor the promise that is America, and make our citizens whole.

Halliburton Unit to Pay $8 Million for Overbilling

http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..01305.html

$8,000,000 to Halliburton is like 8 cents to me. They’ll probably find a way to write most of it off as a business expense or whatever.

And where will this 8 million bucks go? Down the rabbit hole. Send this dough to N.O. Or put it into 6 mos. TCD’s and give the interest to the schools etc. in La. OMG. I’m being idealistic and naive. Again.

Insurance company procedure:
Deny the claim if possible (by whatever means is legal), and if you can’t deny the claim, cancel the policy because a claim was made. (Think of the people whose storm surge damage claims are denied becuase it’s ‘flood damage’, never mind that wind is a major part of the surge.)

It’s all a matter of protecting the dividends to the shareholders: ‘everyone knows’ that the shareholders aren’t policyholders.

Maybe insurance companies should be under the same kind of regulation as utility companies: a reasonable profit is allowed, but not more than that.

lina @ 13

TeddySanFran @ 9

Perhaps this was already pointed out, but George F. Will’s clickable name-link is broken. I guess Mr. Civility has armed himself against the rabid lambs dripping venom. By shutting off inbound responses.

feh.

i suspect his inbox is quite full by now. I received an autoreply from him for my email a few hours ago.

One can, however, click his name at the end of the WillRant, and get to an inbound email form. Perhaps.

Obviously some of the billions Bush has expended (and will continue to expend) on the useless war could have helped Katrina victims.

One thought: I remember after Katrina the debate about whether displaced victims were “refugees.” The argument was that refugees are “foreigners” displaced into another country from the home country. But the point here is precisely that Katrina victims were in fact refugees displaced from their “home” country. Katrina victims are Americans treated like foreigners by their own government. Some would even argue the victims were treated worse than foreigners. Pace: tsunami victims, and so on.

At one time, I thought this sort of thing (denial of government assistance) was just another page in the conservative “less government” book, i.e., just being cheap and not wanting “their” tax dollars to go to those who are less fortunate (and darker).

That’s much of it, but there may be something else. Could it be that conservatives see the collapse of the traditional support mechanisms, church and family, as an assault on their beliefs, and so wish to deny government assistance in order to force people to depend on those traditional sources of support?

Webb tells reporters “I wanted to slug the president”..

Well write us when ya DO slug him- until then ya sound like a 12 year old braggin about what ya WANTED to do. I’d love it if ya DID deck the fucker- but ya aren’t gettin any credit for thinkin of it.

I agree with the Judge Leon’s use of the term Kafkaesque. This term denotes mundane, yet absurd and surreal circumstances, particuarly in dealing with bureaucratic labyrinths. But, I don’t think we have to delve into the black hole of existentialism to come to grips with the federal government’s criminally negligent response to Katrina. The problem is racism. If what happened to the Big Easy had happened to Des Moines, does anyone really think the response would have been Kafkaesque?

Webb sounds like ensign Pulver in “The Cain Mutiny” savin up marbles to do somethin nasty to the captain- which of course never happened.

TeddySanFran @
9

Perhaps this was already pointed out, but George F. Will’s clickable name-link is broken. I guess Mr. Civility has armed himself against the rabid lambs dripping venom. By shutting off inbound responses.

feh.

georgewill@washpost.com

rw at 30 before you get yourself completely wound up on Webb, you might take a peek at my 157 in the prior thread and think about what I say there for a moment. Just a pause for thought. And then take a moment and contemplate why it would be that the media would want the story to be portrayed in this way — because it gives them a charicature to write about, say, as opposed to a complex individual with stronger belief in his principles than they are used to dealing with in the Beltway, perhaps?

I heard this morning that a judge has paved the way for insurance claimants to possibly collect from their insurance on ‘flood’ damage from Katrina. The judge said the definition of ‘flood damage’ was too vague. I think that’s the part the judge said was vague, it had something to do with the word ‘flood’.

I am here to offer hope, in the realm of another kind of insurance. Yesterday, in an extraordinary cave-in, my LTD insurance company re-instated its previous determination of my disability. They are cutting a check. I’ve not become homeless waiting 18 months for this check. I’ve not died. But I have gone through four “disability claims special*sts” who’ve been promoted based, at least in part, on their excellent job performance, which seems to include not paying my claim.

As I pinch myself this morning and wait by the mailbox, I wonder: is the new special*st who overrruled all her predecessors and approved payment real? If real, is she still employed there today?

“Hanging in there” wasn’t an option; it was a way of life for me. I don’t recommend it, unless you’re a fan of kafka. FEMA, and its enablers (I’m talking to YOU, RGJoe and Susan Collins) must be exposed to the sunshine. Let’s see what happens then. Soon, please!

========
Who’s Next?
========

It’s not just FEMA. I have, through my workplace, the maximum amount of medical coverage I can have. When we evacuated, they told us that medical treatment in our new place would be covered as though it was “in network”. They’re going back on that, and I’m faced with surgery expense which should have been covered.

rwcole @ 30

Webb sounds like ensign Pulver in “The Cain Mutiny” savin up marbles to do somethin nasty to the captain- which of course never happened.

Wrong movie, RW. Jack Lemmon saved up the marbles in “Mr. Roberts”.

retirn–Oops- thanks!

Redd- You’re right- if Webb had nothing to do with getting this story to the media- well then it’s a different ball game. Doesn’t seem LIKELY- but possible I suppose.

Jeff
They haven’t exactly been all that good looking after our military personnel either.
Defence Contractors, Blackwater, sruise ship lines.
Your tax dollars at play everywhere.
While pain, suffering and death ensue.
Two fronts of the same struggle of sunshine and accountability against theft.
The two areas I look to a Democratic Congress to address are Oversight and Restoration of the Consitution.

DefJef @ 18

It sickens me to see how this country can’t seem to throw enough money at the military contractors for war but can’t manage to mobilize to help our people who have been struck with a tragedy which might have been mitigated by the corps of engineers.

What a disgrace.

The performance of the administration in the Kantrina disaster is impeachable in my book.

This administration has killed so many americans for no reason at all. No respect for human life. And then there are the tens and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and Afghanis who mean absolutely nothing to these people. nothing nothing nothing. These people have no heart. They are hateful and nasty… the Bush administration.

Any other government would fall… ours marches on like it’s biz as usual. Well maybe killing IS biz as usual for them.

We need regime change and we need a constitution that does not let this stuff happen EVER!

rwcole @ 28

Webb tells reporters “I wanted to slug the president”..

Well write us when ya DO slug him- until then ya sound like a 12 year old braggin about what ya WANTED to do. I’d love it if ya DID deck the fucker- but ya aren’t gettin any credit for thinkin of it.

Watching Bush’s petulance in his conference with Maliki this morning, I was thinking along your lines re Webb’s encounter. I would feel immediateloy uncomfortable if Bush asked me a question about anyone in my family. I would probably bristle.

If I were, like Webb, a Marine, looking at that miserable piece of sh*t who cost the American taxpayer about $750,000 for his flight training while Webb’s USMC and Navy buddies were dying, asking me about my USMC son serving in territory made VERY hostile by Bush’s carelessness and endless stupidity, to not feel as Webb has described the event, would be abnormal…

I disagree about Webb’s description sounding like a 12-yo kid.

I so disagree with you rwcole about Webb on this fine balmy day in the NE!

(what global warming?)

Besides, Landrieu said the same thing about boosh after Katrina and never got compared to.. um, uh… Olive Oyl!

iowa christine @ 33

I heard this morning that a judge has paved the way for insurance claimants to possibly collect from their insurance on ‘flood’ damage from Katrina. The judge said the definition of ‘flood damage’ was too vague. I think that’s the part the judge said was vague, it had something to do with the word ‘flood’.

http://www.chron.com/disp/stor…..67511.html

“Duval found that language used by most insurance companies doesn’t differentiate between a flood caused by an act of God _ such as excessive rainfall _ and a flood caused by an act of man, which would include the levee breaches following Katrina’s landfall on Aug. 29, 2005.
…
In issuing his ruling, Duval found that the wording of exclusion clauses in policies from Hartford Insurance Co. and the State Farm Insurance Co. excluded water damage caused by failing levees. But he said that wasn’t the case with policies written by Allstate Corp., St. Paul Travelers Companies Inc. or other insurers named in the suit.”

angie- looks as if I’m a minority of one on this one–oh well..

I’ve played ball with a lot of hot dogs- and this smells like hot dog behavior- but maybe I’m wrong.

rwcole @ 30

Webb sounds like ensign Pulver in “The Cain Mutiny” savin up marbles to do somethin nasty to the captain- which of course never happened.

WTF?

re: Webb etc.

I believe (wag) that the incoming Congresscritters were briefed on the WH protocol at the upcoming reception. They were each probably assigned a Hill-based handler, who reported to National Senate Dems. If we find the unnamed source in the WaPo story (senior Democratic staff member on Capitol Hill) we’ll find the leaker of the entire story.

My experience with the WaPo is this: at an intimate seminar long ago, Publisher Lady Graham explained the code. An unnamed source for a quote will be identified, obliquely, elsewhere in the story. “Tagged,” if you will, with a clear identifier that links to a named source in the story.

Based on that information about how the Post used to source unnamed quotes, I excerpt this from the WaPo Webb tale:

“He’s not a typical politician. He really has deep convictions,” said Schumer, who headed the Senate Democrats’ campaign arm. “We saw this in the campaign. We would have disagreements. But when you made a persuasive argument, he would say, ‘You’re right.’ I am truly not worried about it. He understands the need to be part of a team.”

One senior Democratic staff member on Capitol Hill, who spoke on condition that he not be identified so he could speak freely about the new senator, said that Webb’s lack of political polish was part of his charm as a candidate but could be a problem as a senator.

“I think he’s going to be a total pain. He is going to do things his own way. That’s a good thing and a bad thing,” the staff member said. But he said that Webb’s personality may be just what the Senate needs. “You need a little of everything. Some element of that personality is helpful.”

No snips, one paragraph leading into another. It’s a Schumer staffer. Make Chuckie deny it.

========
Who’s Next?
========

georgie will is just ticked that Webb can actually write novels of substance and has a brain and has served and has a son serving.

*PS* he was right about and against the war looong before it was fashionable to admit that it’s not “going well”.

unlike will and his bootlicking buddies.

reassuring headline at Raw Story, probably already noted:

CONDI: I WILL NOT RUN FOR PRESIDENT.

I always thought that capital saw Katrina as a handy way to “develope” some real estate inot a casino disney fairytale jazz city to cash out and who cares about the slugs who lived there… How convenient for ma nature to to clean away those lay abouts so some nice white folks could come in a make a nice squeaky clean party town.

Notice the insurers looking for any way not to pay their insureds. Fast on the billing for premiums and cancellations… slow slow slow to pay out a claim after making claiments jump through hoops and hoops and hoops.

The corporate types disgust me… and their seconds in government who shill for them.

We have a government for, of and by the corporations… and the people are only a nuissance. Who needs the people? They need the capital… it’s all about capital and property.

Webb: just say no to slugs.

OK- OK- You guys have convinced me- I was bein unfair to Webb in assuming that he was the one who got this story to the press.

rwcole @ 43

angie- looks as if I’m a minority of one on this one–oh well..

I’ve played ball with a lot of hot dogs- and this smells like hot dog behavior- but maybe I’m wrong.

rwcole,

Please read this, if you haven’t already. Bilmon’s (last?) post. He’s been following James Webb as long as I have. I’ve been following his progress for 25 years…..

http://billmon.org/archives/002966.html

You don’t have to check your nuts at the door when you enter public life as a Democrat, though some make it look that way.

Hopefully Condi will be on trial in the Hague during the 08 cycle… if there is a god… she has lots of explaining to do.

rwcole @ 49

OK- OK- You guys have convinced me- I was bein unfair to Webb in assuming that he was the one who got this story to the press.

You’re a peach!

(that was easy!) :>)

DefJef @ 51

Hopefully Condi will be on trial in the Hague during the 08 cycle… if there is a god… she has lots of explaining to do.

Who could have possibly imagined that Condi would have to submit to uncomfortable questioning if she ran for office.

DefJef @ 51

Hopefully Condi will be on trial in the Hague during the 08 cycle… if there is a god… she has lots of explaining to do.

there is, but intelligence on that level (god’s) follows larger, more rational patterns than the two-year American election cycle.

By the way- What is Condi DOING? Makin the world safer?

sheesh, I go home for dinner last night and three hours later discover a 400 comment erruption of a thread. how did you all keep up in real time?

rwcole @ 56

By the way- What is Condi DOING? Makin the world safer?

She’s in Jericho this morning. Gotta be a punaise moment in that location somehow. No walls coming down soon, though.

Sandal sale in Jericho?

retirin’ in five @ 54

DefJef @ 51

Hopefully Condi will be on trial in the Hague during the 08 cycle… if there is a god… she has lots of explaining to do.

Who could have possibly imagined that Condi would have to submit to uncomfortable questioning if she ran for office.

I prefer the methods of ‘robust interogation” they seem so happy with

DefJef @ 48

I always thought that capital saw Katrina as a handy way to “develope” some real estate inot a casino disney fairytale jazz city to cash out and who cares about the slugs who lived there… How convenient for ma nature to to clean away those lay abouts so some nice white folks could come in a make a nice squeaky clean party town.

They’re trying that along the Mississippi Coast. The State immediately passed a bill that would allow for casinos to be on land. With The Point having been washed out into the Gulf, there wasn’t a whole lot left to clean up for the casinos to take over. Then there’s all those century homes along the beach that were destroyed, the property will probably be converted to cheap-assed built condos. Well, maybe, maybe not…. 3 years ago there were still ‘holes’ along the beach from Camile.

Pat_AlexVA – @42 – cool, there’s hope for some.

perris @ 15, I knew it and said so a few blogs back. The guy would rather see the whole world blown up than change his (pardon the expression) mind. Where in the Constitution does it say we must stick with a mad man no matter what?

TeddySanFran – Congratulations on finally getting your due.

I work at NOAA, which is located right next to a DC Metro station. A few months ago, there was a man asking for handouts in front of the building. He was there for several weeks. The sign he held up stated that he was a Katrina survivor who had lost everything and been cut off by FEMA. This man did not look like your average panhandler. He wore clean clothes, was always clean shaven, and was well groomed. Since he was always at this location, I concluded he was also making a political statement about global warming and reports that NOAA buries data that substantiates global warming theories. (I don’t know anything about this personally since my job is distributing real-time weather data, not research.) I gave him a buck or two every now and then and genuinely felt outraged at the way he was treated by his own country, but also felt totally helpless to do anything about it other than support Democratic candidates in the midterm election. Judge Leon deserves thanks for doing the right thing and helping our fellow countrymen who have suffered and continue to suffer after being abandoned by their government.

Off topic but this is sad and scary

Keep in mind that this is the leading candidate for Liberal Party leader.

H/T to antiwar.com

There are so many issues and problems facing the Gulf Coast and NOLA yet.

Please remember for NOLA it is different. The levees failed due to design flaws made by the Army Corps of Engineers. Had that not happened we would not have seen the catastrophic destruction of NOLA…destruction one can still see.

The new Congress must address building levees to Category 5 protection which Bush has refused to do. Business and residents must be afforded a level of safety if they are to return to NOLA. It is essential that rebuilding the levees becomes a priority to the New Congress.

Sally at 60

“….we must stick with a mad man no matter what?” Which brings us full circle to RW’s “Caine Mutiny” reference above. By the way, which member of the SS detail gets to hold Dubya’s ball bearings?

Sally @ 61

Where in the Constitution does it say we must stick with a mad man no matter what?

new congress to hold these people to account for what they have done to this country commences in
just a few very long weeks

OT– TSF– is this you?

San Francisco, Calif.: Do you find friendship makes reporting difficult for you personally? I speak of your well-documented friendship with the Secretary of State, of course, and whether you feel you can be objective when speaking about her many foreign policy failures.

Gwen Ifill: What “well-documented friendship?” I respect the Secretary of State as much as any reporter who has covered her, but rumors of our friendship (peddled pervasively, I am advised, on the web by people who have never spoken to me)are not accurate.

I am fortunate to have a lot of true friends, so I have absolutely no trouble differentiating among friends, acquaintances and professional contacts.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..00360.html

LOL the “lady” doth protest too much!

The Democrats didn’t do anything during Katrina to lessen the victimization of the residents and I’m not aware they have done anything since. Tangible aid to these folks should be top priority in the first 100 days or is this of no interest to K-Street? Has a minority ever done as little as the last Democratic minority? And, yes, I understand the meaning of “minority.”

There are a few Democrats that should be held accountable for Iraq. Certainly Condi Rice may be guilty of malfeasance or dereliction of duty on the issue of the war. But I would be grossly hypocritical if I proclaimed only Republicans are to blame for the Iraq horror. I want all elected officials in the Federal government who supported the Iraq war held accountable. Regardless of political party.

OT again, but Ifill is being particularly dense or something…

Silver Spring, Md.: I was shocked but thrilled yesterday to read of Jim Webb’s frank and pointed comments to the president yesterday at the White House social function. The public has stood by now for years haplessly watching as the media (and the rest of official Washington) genuflected and gushed in response to Mr. Bush’s chummy slap-em-on-the-back water cooler act.

George Will’s predictably prickly reaction aside, do you think the media might take Webb’s cue and actually press him on issues instead of just cherishing their newly- coined presidential nicknames with starry-eyed shivers? Thanks.

Gwen Ifill: Let me pose the question this way. If a Republican Senator who had yet to be sworn in, had walked up to President Clinton in 1994 and slapped him down (rhetorically, of course) in HIS house, at HIS reception…would you think “Bravo?” Or would you think that the senator-elect was showing disrespect for the Presidency — if not the man holding the job?

btw– loved the question.

P J Evans @
24

Insurance company procedure:
Deny the claim if possible (by whatever means is legal), and if you can’t deny the claim, cancel the policy because a claim was made. (Think of the people whose storm surge damage claims are denied becuase it’s ‘flood damage’, never mind that wind is a major part of the surge.)

It’s all a matter of protecting the dividends to the shareholders: ‘everyone knows’ that the shareholders aren’t policyholders.

Maybe insurance companies should be under the same kind of regulation as utility companies: a reasonable profit is allowed, but not more than that.

That’s exactly the way the industry was managed for decades by state insurance commissioners. The industry – through purchasing these elected and appointed offices – removed these constraints.

Yesterday (IIRC) a federal judge ordered all (save one) NO insurers to pay claims for “water damages” on policies with such coverage.

For fifteen months, the wealthy insurance megacorps have pretended that policies covering water damage didn’t apply to Katrina and the flooding of New Orleans after Katrina moved through – they said the drowned homes weren’t covered. All that water was wind damage, doncha now.

In the real world, that’s an audacious lie: “water is air”.

For the insurers, the fifteen month delay was profitable – they got the f”loat” – the interest -on the vast sums owed their policyholders.

The insurers collectively defrauded the policyholders for financial gain – if they were a bunch of cocainie dealers, their assets could be confiscated through RICO.

The sustained illegal behavior of multiple employees within each of the major insurers surely qualifies for RICO – Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organisations Act.

So the legisatlative instrument to punish the corporate behavior is there.

But the insurance megacorps get a pass – just as they do with systematic corrupt practices in health insurance.

klyde @ 65

Off topic but this is sad and scary

Keep in mind that this is the leading candidate for Liberal Party leader.

H/T to antiwar.com

Michael Ignatieff is more “all over the map” in his political views and emotion-wrought public statements than Webb ever has been. He’s brilliant. His biography of Isaiah Berlin is one of the finest bios I’ve read. He may go far in politics. I’m not sure I trust him as a politician, though. Canada is so different from the USA!

Perris @ 67, see my 70 and relate it to the Iraq war. No action by the minority and not much talk.

Of all the interviews I did with Democrats running for Congress in the last few months, one comment that Ill never forget came from Congressman Brad Miller (NC). He spoke about the sheer hatefulness of the healthcare system in our country and how the Kafkaesque nature just saps the life out of the people it should be endeavoring to help. I think Christy is pointing to the same syndrome in regard to FEMA.

kirk murphy @ 73

How about, we remove the legal requirements to purchase insurance for various things? While the intentions were good (think uninsured motorists), what those laws mostly seem to do is make the companies richer, without benefiting many of the policyholders.

it is sheer hatefulness and this hatefulness is pervasive in our country wrt to much and to many.

Gene Taylor has been working very hard on insurance issues and had a great, little seen presser on all things Katrina during the elections.

http://www.house.gov/genetaylor/

downwithtyranny @ 76

Of all the interviews I did with Democrats running for Congress in the last few months, one comment that Ill never forget came from Congressman Brad Miller (NC). He spoke about the sheer hatefulness of the healthcare system in our country and how the Kafkaesque nature just saps the life out of the people it should be endeavoring to help. I think Christy is pointing to the same syndrome in regard to FEMA.

Howie,

Seen any twins, moonies, penguins yet?

angie @ 72, not surprisingly Ifill didn’t know the full story of the Webb rejoinder but still puffed up with indignation. How laughable of Awful to suggest no one was ever disrespectful to former President Clinton. These people are truly disgusting.

Because of Katrina, New Orleans cast a bright light on an American city and the differences between the have’s and have not’s. This condition is not at all unique to New Orleans.

One of the things Ned Lamont was talking about during his campaign was that America has the most innefficient health care delivery system in the world. We spend more money for the fewest results than anyone. No hospital or doctor wants uninsured patients. The result is that the uninsured use emergency rooms as the family doctor. The States who now bear the brunt of what security net there is for the growing number of poor, give the hospitals $.30 on the dollar for their services.

The hospitals in turn raise their rates 300% to compensate the difference. The insurance companies then try the same tactics used by the states to try and pay as little as possible. As usual, who suffers? The people.

During the anniversary of Katrina, mayor of New Orleans Ray Nagin made some comments about the government not caring about New Orleans. He was on Meet the Press and Timmeh tried to make the whole thing rascist. Nagin stood by his comments and explained that this is about poor people not black vs white.

Most Americans are a paycheck or two away from being on the street. Which by definition makes most of us poor people. The dollar is dropping like a rock, the housing bubble has burst. Poverty, it’s not just for African Americans anymore.

The drunken twins are the talk of the town but they were hustled out of Argentina right after the… incident. I went to visit the scene of the crime and the whole district is still laughing about it. If the crook came forward hed be a national hero! Im still in Buenos Aires, so no penguins yet. I leave for parts unknown on Saturday.

mweehehehee

New Hampshire: re: Webb’s “smackdown”.

Please, Gwen– the President sought the Senator out, not the other way around and just an FYI– the White House is OUR house, thank you very much.

Gwen Ifill: Yes, it is our house. So everyone, including George Will, gets to have an opinion about what happens there.

“I know there’s a lot of speculation that these reports in Washington mean there’s going to be some kind of graceful exit out of Iraq,” Bush said. “We’re going to stay in Iraq to get the job done, so long as the government wants us there.”

Newsweek

Some may notice that something new has been added to the Clusterfuck statement “so long as the govt wants us there”…

Significant?

Can anyone here ever remember Clusterfuck sayin previously “We’ll stay as long as the govt. wants us there?”

Oklahoma kiddo @
23

Halliburton Unit to Pay $8 Million for Overbilling

http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..01305.html

$8,000,000 to Halliburton is like 8 cents to me. They’ll probably find a way to write most of it off as a business expense or whatever.

And where will this 8 million bucks go? Down the rabbit hole. Send this dough to N.O. Or put it into 6 mos. TCD’s and give the interest to the schools etc. in La. OMG. I’m being idealistic and naive. Again.

Under the provisions of Internal Revenue Code 162, fines are nondeductible. If, on the other hand, the amount of $ 8 million represents nonfraudulent overbilling on a contract, it might be argued (though I don’t have time at the moment to delve further into researching this topic) that the amount that was overcharged should be booked as a charge to sales/fees received, in which case it would apparently be deductible in much the same fashion as a change order on a fixed price construction contract.

What has happened or should say NOT happened in NOLA goes beyond race and class…rich and poor…have and have not.

It has impacted all…a complete neglect of the people. Recently I have been to upper middle class white Lakeview section and it is still largely a ghost town. St. Bernard Parish which was white working/middle class is in terrible shape. Only a third have returned. NOLA East the home of middle class blacks is horrible.

I think it is important to know that it is everyone and as they say “Our fate is Your Fate”

Since when do we let another country determine our troop deployment?

rwcole @ 84

“I know there’s a lot of speculation that these reports in Washington mean there’s going to be some kind of graceful exit out of Iraq,” Bush said. “We’re going to stay in Iraq to get the job done, so long as the government wants us there.”

Newsweek

Some may notice that something new has been added to the Clusterfuck statement “so long as the govt wants us there”…

Significant?

Bush is nuts. He also claimed that “We’re not going to leave gracefully.” Nobody who thinks above the level of an invertebrate thinks that, George.

I need a little Photoshop assistance. Can someone give me a hand? If so, e-mail me at ReddHedd at aol dot com. Thanks much.

Gwen Ifill: Let me pose the question this way. If a Republican Senator who had yet to be sworn in, had walked up to President Clinton in 1994 and slapped him down (rhetorically, of course) in HIS house, at HIS reception…would you think “Bravo?” Or would you think that the senator-elect was showing disrespect for the Presidency — if not the man holding the job?

President Clinton had enough intelligence and “people skills” to not trigger such an incident.

kemo @ 88

Since when do we let another country determine our troop deployment?

since we declared them a sovereign country and a burgeoning democracy with a duly elected government and a constitution…

oklahoma and every state; what you said. a fascist government has no use for educated people and as you have noticed, forced more closures than even raygun’s ravaging bullshit artists that cut funding to every program they didn’t like in american schools. these folks have an advantage though, they own the people that make all the decisions and have found out how to blame them for the actions.
quite clever, and perverse

P J Evans @ 77

kirk murphy @ 73

How about, we remove the legal requirements to purchase insurance for various things? While the intentions were good (think uninsured motorists), what those laws mostly seem to do is make the companies richer, without benefiting many of the policyholders.

PJ, I agree that some mandatory insurance policies have enriched private insurance megacorps.

We do need to rethink asssumptions, but I hope the review can be as broad as possible.

Shared risk serves a social good, but the social good doesn’t require shareholder-owned for-profit corporations. Many other structures can and do fill the same function without corporate “values” (looting).

THe most obvious example is Medicare, with no shareholders (and no demand for profit from health care). Medicare sets policies, and uses competitive practices to execute the polcices through private and public sector employees. Overhead at Medicare health plans is a few percent – overhead with the insurance megacorps approaches 20%.

[A few megacorps got Medicare to re-write rules so the megacorps have active administrative roles in a subset of Medicare plans - these plans, of course, have overheads approaching the usual rate of corporate theft. PR flacks for the insurance/financial industries compare these “corporate” Medicare plans with private insurance palns to falsely claim there is no significant difference in overhead between public and private sector health care plans.

As ever with PR flacks - and their wholly owned elected officials - they are lying for profit.

The megacorps’ goal with Medicare is the same as their goal with Social Security - invade the public sector and loot it.

For everyone who likes the non-system of health care in America, this will seem like a good idea.

But there aren’t that many billionaires in the US, and they probably aren’t on fdl this morning.]

Sally @ 70

The Democrats didn’t do anything during Katrina to lessen the victimization of the residents and I’m not aware they have done anything since. Tangible aid to these folks should be top priority in the first 100 days or is this of no interest to K-Street? Has a minority ever done as little as the last Democratic minority? And, yes, I understand the meaning of “minority.”

excuse me sally, this is an uninformed post…the fact that ANYTING got done was BECAUSE of the democrats, they did MUCH MORE then anyone could have thought they could accomplish giving the FACT that the republicans WOULD NOT ALLOW any bill authored by a democrat

SusanD @ 91

Gwen Ifill: Let me pose the question this way. If a Republican Senator who had yet to be sworn in, had walked up to President Clinton in 1994 and slapped him down (rhetorically, of course) in HIS house, at HIS reception…would you think “Bravo?” Or would you think that the senator-elect was showing disrespect for the Presidency — if not the man holding the job?

President Clinton had enough intelligence and “people skills” to not trigger such an incident.

I’ve been thinking about this since RWCole brought it up. Two people were in on the nuances of the conversation. What if Webb is actually keeping quiet about the dread he felt by the look on Bush’s face as he realized “This f*cking idiot thinks he has total control over my son and is letting me know that he’ll only be safe if I become a “team player.” Or some such thought?

Sally @ 75

Perris @ 67, see my 70 and relate it to the Iraq war. No action by the minority and not much talk.

I responded but don’t see it so here we go again

I’m sorry sally but your post is uninformed, the democrats did much more then anyone could have ever hoped or imagined, it was becuase of them anything was done at all, they pressured the majority party to act, the majority party wouldn’t even allow a democratic bill be put on the floor

, Jordan – Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said Thursday that his country’s forces would be able to assume security command by June 2007 — which could allow the United States to start withdrawing its troops.

“I cannot answer on behalf of the U.S. administration but I can tell you that from our side our forces will be ready by June 2007,” Maliki told ABC television after meeting President Bush on Thursday in Jordan.

Here is a recent LA Times article on Katrina and insurance and shared risk…it’s effects nationwide.

Again as they say in NOLA…..Our Fate is Your Fate

Pat_AlexVA @ 42

iowa christine @ 33

I heard this morning that a judge has paved the way for insurance claimants to possibly collect from their insurance on ‘flood’ damage from Katrina. The judge said the definition of ‘flood damage’ was too vague. I think that’s the part the judge said was vague, it had something to do with the word ‘flood’.

http://www.chron.com/disp/stor…..67511.html

“Duval found that language used by most insurance companies doesn’t differentiate between a flood caused by an act of God _ such as excessive rainfall _ and a flood caused by an act of man, which would include the levee breaches following Katrina’s landfall on Aug. 29, 2005.
…
In issuing his ruling, Duval found that the wording of exclusion clauses in policies from Hartford Insurance Co. and the State Farm Insurance Co. excluded water damage caused by failing levees. But he said that wasn’t the case with policies written by Allstate Corp., St. Paul Travelers Companies Inc. or other insurers named in the suit.”

Pat_AlexVA – thanks for your accurate summation. (I’d missed while I was inaccurately describing the case downthread). My goof!

June 2007–Malaki says the US can start withdrawing in June of next year–OK–take him at his word!

rwcole @
56

By the way- What is Condi DOING? Makin the world safer?

Channeling Tom Waits, “What’s she doing in there?”
http://youtube.com/watch?v=x5t603n7j04

SusanD @ 91

Gwen Ifill: Let me pose the question this way. If a Republican Senator who had yet to be sworn in, had walked up to President Clinton in 1994 and slapped him down (rhetorically, of course) in HIS house, at HIS reception…would you think “Bravo?” Or would you think that the senator-elect was showing disrespect for the Presidency — if not the man holding the job?

President Clinton had enough intelligence and “people skills” to not trigger such an incident.

Jim Webb’s son is at risk because Dumbya lied us into a needless war, and has managed same disastrously. Those are the salient points, and omitting them makes Ifil’s comparison dishonest.

scout prime @ 99

Here is a recent LA Times article on Katrina and insurance and shared risk…it’s effects nationwide.

Again as they say in NOLA…..Our Fate is Your Fate

The insurers share data about our private medical histories in their inter insurance data pool.

Who has pockets deep enough to own a health insurance corporation?

The huge holding companies that provide “financial services” – what we once quaintly called banks.

Borrowers and customers of financial services megacorps have had access to credit restricted – or cancelled – because of a history of mood disorder.

The financial megacorps – with the wealth to have any regulation they wish pushed through their vassals in Congress – thoughtfully authorized their snooping in your medical records.

The chance to punish the one-fifth of Ameircans who will have depression?

Priceless.

My stepson called again, still having enormous troubles with the VA and getting his Montgomery Bill monies. He’s supporting himself and a younger sibling (the ex’s child, not ours), only working a part-time retail job in order to go to school full-time. He switched schools at the beginning of the term; the VA, in spite of repeated attempts to provide documentation to the contrary, claims he is not in school and therefore owes them $4000.

Nor will the VA give him money for next term.

He suffers from PTSD, acquired during his tour in Iraq; the stress about money and fighting bureaucracy only makes the PTSD symptoms worse.

I have to ask, rwcole, how you think I should respond to Bush if he asked me how my stepson was.

Does matter at all how Bush asks the question, or how the press might play my response?

I think Senator-elect Jim Webb handled the situation about as well as any concerned parent might in his situation. Unfortunately, Webb is going to be terse for quite a long time about his son’s condition; this I know full well.

Compassionate conservatism, my *ss. They treat every American in the same disrepectful shoddy way, from troops to Gulf Coast residents — unless they have a silver spoon in their mouth.

I’d say Webb did pretty well in not coldc*cking Shrub. He certainly showed more respect for Shrub’s office than Shrub did for Webb’s (and anyone who thinks Webb, as a former department official, doesn’t know exactly what respect the President’s office deserves, is even dimmer than Shrub appears to be).

Rayne–Say whatever you want up to and including “go fuck yourself”..

I did not criticize Webb for refusing to answer Clusterfuck’s question–I think he should have punched him!!

I DID say that if Webb is the one who leaked the incident to the press- then he may be out looking for ink-

ifthethunderdontgetya @ 103
SusanD @ 91

Gwen Ifill: Let me pose the question this way. If a Republican Senator who had yet to be sworn in, had walked up to President Clinton in 1994 and slapped him down (rhetorically, of course) in HIS house, at HIS reception…would you think “Bravo?” Or would you think that the senator-elect was showing disrespect for the Presidency — if not the man holding the job?

President Clinton had enough intelligence and “people skills” to not trigger such an incident.

Jim Webb’s son is at risk because Dumbya lied us into a needless war, and has managed same disastrously. Those are the salient points, and omitting them makes Ifil’s comparison dishonest.

Exactly. This is the Cindy Sheehan treatment applied to Webb, but it is not working.

W did the same shit to a mother who lost a son and wanted a personal meeting with the president. She was told to wait in an empty room. W barged in and got in her face with “So I hear you wanted to talk to me?” crap. Disrespect for the office indeed.

scout prime @ 99

Here is a recent LA Times article on Katrina and insurance and shared risk…it’s effects nationwide.

Again as they say in NOLA…..Our Fate is Your Fate

At work no time to read the whole thread.

But scout is correct. The insurance issue is yet another huge roadblock to rebuilding here in NOLA. I have researched this topic. I am convinced that national regulations must be enacted to prevent these companies from cherry picking only low risk people.

This insurance nightmare is an outrage. My fiancee and I are looking for a house. As we look, the house we can afford is becoming less and less. We are looking at spending about 5 to six thousand a year on insurance alone. This figure boggles the mind. It is like having another house note or car payment. You can’t get a loan without it so what do you do. We were already having an insurance crisis before Katrina. Many elderly and poor decided to forgo the insurance because they could no longer afford it. Well you can imagine how that worked out for them when Katrina struck.

The insurance companies will sell you a policy but it covers everything except wind and hail. This is an outrage.

perris @ 95

Sally @ 70

The Democrats didn’t do anything during Katrina to lessen the victimization of the residents and I’m not aware they have done anything since. Tangible aid to these folks should be top priority in the first 100 days or is this of no interest to K-Street? Has a minority ever done as little as the last Democratic minority? And, yes, I understand the meaning of “minority.”

excuse me sally, this is an uninformed post…the fact that ANYTING got done was BECAUSE of the democrats, they did MUCH MORE then anyone could have thought they could accomplish giving the FACT that the republicans WOULD NOT ALLOW any bill authored by a democrat

There you go getting all facty and everything.

rwcole, looks like Ifill thinks Webb did it, too.

Re your response to Silver Spring: If Bill Clinton was a routinely rude and condescending as the current president, I’d be thrilled to see someone Republican or Democrat do like Jim Webb. You forget that it was Bush who injected the first rhetorical insult.

Gwen Ifill: I wasn’t there, so who knows?

I do know that apparently only two people were there…and someone managed to get the contents of a private discussion into the newspaper. Which one do you think?

blergh.

Pachacutec @
124

I’m not hearing as much from our regulars that they felt stifled in their ability to express themselves here, but I am hearing some people who say they are former readers say that. Some of them also say our regular commenters are mindless sheep. Now, I’m not trying to start a pie fight, but are the commenters here mindless sheep, or do they just have another oint of view from those who are lodging complaints?

You may think I’m being provocative, making a point, but really, I’d like to get a sense of what people think, purely form a site and culture point of view.

EPU’d from last night.

De-lurking because it’s pertinent to my recent departure.

I have been here for over a year. When I first started I tried WAY too hard to be part of FDL, and being new to blogging I was hurt that nobody ever responded to my input. My perception was that there were 10-15 regulars that loved the sounds of each other’s voices (fonts?), and that new patients were not being accepted.

About 6 months ago I whined about it in the comments. People were in general quite sympathetic, pointing out that it takes time and to not give up. One suggestion was to get myself a sweet nom-de-plume as a start. Thus became Balrog, and I think most people here like the name.

During the run-up to the election, I made every effort to find topics of interest to share. I spit out my share of snark and what I believed to be humour. I complimented people’s posts, responded to them, and tried to be of value to the discourse in every way I could.

I still rarely had response to my posts. If I dropped Grateful Dead dog-whistle stuff, the Heads would nod approvingly. LOTR stuff would usually get a tip o’ the hat. I also voiced my dislike of Late-Nite, but still contributed 50$ to T-Rex’s road trip.

Then over the last week I hit the wall. I posted maybe 10 times, again some humor but most often on policy and bad behavior by the usual Rethug suspects. Not one response.

So I gave up. I can do self-examination as well as anyone, and finally decided to give up trying. If my message and delivery aren’t what people are looking fo, then so be it.

Ironically however, I noticed many, many times that my points would show up downthread or in a subsequent post. So I must have been doing something right.

Bottom line, I love this place and was happy to contribute to the successes of Nov. 8. But my efforts to become one of the in-crowd need to end, lest my inferiority complex get too large.

Still plan to lurk, and if you see a strange name in the ‘0′ post, remember the Balrog.

xoxo

Angie- I am now a total agnostic on who leaked the story–

rwcole @ 113

Angie- I am now a total agnostic on who leaked the story–

:O

Now if we can only get Ifill to change her mind…

a devastating verdict on Tony Blair’s decision to back war in Iraq and his “totally one-sided” relationship with President Bush, a US State Department official has said that Britain’s role as a bridge between America and Europe is now “disappearing before our eyes”.

Kendall Myers, a senior State Department analyst, disclosed that for all Britain’s attempts to influence US policy in recent years, “we typically ignore them and take no notice — it’s a sad business”.

He added that he felt “a little ashamed” at Mr Bush’s treatment of the Prime Minister, who had invested so much of his political capital in standing shoulder to shoulder with America after 9/11.

Speaking at an academic forum in Washington on Tuesday night, he answered a question from The Times, saying: “It was a done deal from the beginning, it was a onesided relationship that was entered into with open eyes . . . there was nothing. There was no payback, no sense of reciprocity.”
(huffington)

OT – today is officially Ted Haggard Day

Hey did anyone else just hear a whistle?

What I can’t understand about the Bush-Webb dustup is, why isn’t anyone in the msm asking why Bush reacted as he did? Webb said he wanted his boy home. Duh, what parent wouldn’t? Why couldn’t Bush say something like, “I hope he’s home soon too.” One parent talking to another. It wouldn’t mean any change in how he’s handling Iraq, and no one would have thought it was.

No, Little Boots has to snap at Webb like he’s a puppy in need of training. How pathetic.

Balrog @ 112
Don’t disappear, please! (I don’t post because I expect answers from anyone. It’s more that there are so few other ways of being heard anymore.)

Children all across this great land will stand at attention in class and say “This is national methamphetimine awareness day and we are aware”!

Balrog, et all:

I didn’t get to post last night about Late Night because I was reading through the comments and then I had to make some calls and finally go to bed.

I love the irreverence of this blog. It love the snark. I love that most people write what I would say and often exactly how I would say it. I love the outrage in the voices here. As many have said it keeps me sane.

Balrog and others. I have been posting and reading here for along time, since it was on blogger. Well over a year. I have found in general with the increased traffic that it is almost impossible to get through a thread in a reasonable amount of time. I used to read all the comments and I used to get all sorts of cool linkeys from the comments to go see. Sometimes I still do. I find in general it is just a little overwhelming. I think the reason there are often no responses are because the threads are so long.

I am responding to you now, why? Because when I pulled up the thread, your message was at the bottom. Plain and simple. I don’t have time to read the whole thread even as much as I would like to. (Love too!) I have a job, I have responsibilities. I don’t have ten hours a day to read comments.

Sometimes, if a thread is just starting and I just got home from work I will follow the thread from the beginning. However, I quickly get behind. I am a relatively slow reader so it just takes too long. It becomes overwhelming. Then you feel kind of silly doing what I am doing now and jumping in at the end of a thread you haven’t read. So…there you go.

Love the blog, wouldn’t change a thing. I think Trex’s use of the word whore was appropriate. I currently work for a structural engineer. I use that word to describe other engineers who will say anything the client wants without regard to the truth or reality. They sell themselves in an unethical way to the highest bidder.

Peace from NOLA.

ifthethunderdontgetya @
117

Hey did anyone else just hear a whistle?

Words of wisdom, Lloyd, my man. Words of wisdom.

Balrog– I am sorry you feel hurt; I do value your voice.

angie @ 123

Balrog– I am sorry you feel hurt; I do value your voice.

Me too, your voice MAKES a difference.

Jack

There are so many horrible things that have outraged me during the Bush’s Presidential terms, that it is almost impossible to decide which situation is the most atrocious.

I think our government’s actions (and lack thereof) regarding Hurricane Katrina must top the list. The Bush administration’s handling of this catastrophe has been inhumane, immoral, unethical, and downright un-American. He ignored the warning signs, ignored the problem, then used the people every now and then for photo ops. Despicable.

The right wing media wants us to notice that “good things are happening in Iraq, like we’re building schools”. Yet, our own people suffer without adequate food, shelter, medicine and education. One must wonder how many people have truly died as a result of Katrina – whether it be directly due to drowning, or less directly due to suicide, malnutrition, lack of adequate medical care, etc. We surely know the spirits of a lot of great Americans have been terribly damaged by realizing how little our government may do to care for those in need.

This disaster could have happened to all of us, in any city. If that doesn’t frighten Americans, I don’t know what would.

angie @ 123

Balrog– I am sorry you feel hurt; I do value your voice.

I second that (probably third or forth by now). I always enjoy your comments and humor. Don’t become Lurking Balrog. If you do, the terrorists will have won!

Balrog, I value your voice here, also. I hope you continue to participate – your words here today have helped me to think more about how to welcome new posters here.

I’m quoting them over at last night’s “FDL process” thread – which is still going on. If you’d like to , I beleive your participation would be valued in that discussion, also.

Balrog, please stick around and keep contributing. I get a kick out of responses to my posts too, but sometimes it happens, sometimes not. Less now that so many more people are here and the threads move much faster. That’s ok.

Also, my daily schedule has changed recently, so I’m online less, and usually playing catch up reading the last few posts, but rarely commenting because by the time I get here, everyone else has moved on. I still appreciate the ideas, questions, snark and all around general brillance of the FDL clan. You’re part of this clan, Balrog. :)

Balrog at 112 — I think that is unfair, because I know that I personally spoke with you a number of times in the comments — either laughing about stuff with you and/or talking substance. I do remember it because I love the nick (and had even pulled a pix to go with it for a post at some future point, to be honest, because I love LOTR).

BTW, gang, I’ve gotten several offers of help — really appreciate it. :) But I think I’m probably good now. Thanks much!

Balrog & Pach 112

very similar to my own experience, except that rather than community per se, I was drawn in by Christy’s and Pach’s legal & political analyses.

i’ve mostly given up on trying to be a FDLer, & just hope I’ve been regular enuf that I don’t send out shockwaves when I do decide to post.

but the place is not the same as it was. maybe this is because of tremendous growth in traffic? but it also seems that fact-based inquiry takes up less space than it used to. and that was what attracted me in the beginning. also, there’s a definite clique-ish aspect to people’s willingness to enter into dialog.

oh well. it WAS pretty cozy by that fire before the election. but it’s still pretty useful to visit the lake on a fairly regular basis… ;->

new thread

My eighty year old father (who now lives in MS cause his house is gone in NOLA) is now on his ninth adjuster for a small business office he owns in Metairie. He keeps pluggin’ along but is REALLY frustrated.

He and my mom are part of a class actions suit against the Army Corps of Engineers. Their house was on the 17th street canal on Bellaire.

FEMA:

Oh so sad story. I was not that worried after the storm because I had heard from friends in the FL panhandle about what FEMA did for them during and after IVAN. I was thinking everything would be ok.

Well everything is not ok. Now agency barely works at all thanks to Bushco. The only thing they did right was get the emergency money out quickly. That was $2,000 at the beginning. But from what I can figure out from anecdotal evidence is they gave it quickly to those with bank accounts who asked for direct deposit. Not so much for the others. I have one friend who is a grad-student that never got hers. She didn’t give a bank account. Her landlord who lives in NY got 2,000 and he doesn’t even live here!

Can you say giving money quickly to those who already have it and might vote Rethug? I thought you could.

I think there is a concerted effort to keep out the poor. There has been no thought as to how these folks can come back.

There is big controversy now about public housing. Personally I think that it is a failed model. I also think their argument that it is their “neighborhood” and we shouldn’t tear it down is BS. I think if you are getting something from the government you have to take what you can get. Period. That used to be public housing, but that is a failed model. So what to do differently?

Well they can start by getting some of the rental stock fixed. It just hasn’t been a priority so there are no places to rent that are affordable. This keeps out the poor which our economy actually need to run our tourist industry.

It is a whole mess. I have been posting about this for ages but….

the punchline is we don’t even have working traffic lights yet!. I fully expect to be killed one day by some out of town person who doesn’t know it is a four way stop when it is blinking or when my fiancee runs it because he is talking to me instead of paying attention to the blinking light.

Peace.

Balrog @ 122

ifthethunderdontgetya @
117

Hey did anyone else just hear a whistle?

Words of wisdom, Lloyd, my man. Words of wisdom.

I’m not sure if that’s a good video or not (at work…youtube, but it certainly goes with whistle). I’m in the same sort of boat as TheOtherWA as far as reading and commenting lately.

rwcole 107 — do you understand, though, that if I’d have received the kind of treatment that Webb got from Bush, given the entire backstory, that I might have gone to the media?

Personally, I think Jim Webb would have been well within his rights not to merely say, “F*ck you”, but to dish it out, using the media if not fists.

Everything I’ve seen suggests the media picked up the incident on their own without any such eff-you push — and that George Will is his usual whiney political correctness officer self.

Balrog–

DON’T GO!!!!!

People do respond to you just not right away. Like for example I was reading along up higher in the comments and only just now saw what you wrote. I could just as easily have not seen your comment until later this afternoon.

If your ideas are entering the conversation, it means people are responding to you even if they don’t make an IMMEDIATE comment right after yours. It’s kind of an attention deficit disorder comment thread, which works great for me but is a little disorienting for others.

DON’T GO, WE NEED YOUR VOICE.

(((((Balrog)))))

Balrog @ 112

EPU’d from last night.

Still plan to lurk, and if you see a strange name in the ‘0′ post, remember the Balrog.

xoxo

Balrog! You’re one of my favorite posters…and it’s funny, but I’ve tried in the past to respond to some of what you have said, but have been ignored :( Some of it, I think, is the nature of the commenting software, and also the fact that I can’t sit and follow a thread all day. It’s difficult to have a real conversation. But I always followed your links and was interested in your viewpoint. I get ignored too, but I’m in the throes of post-Katrina and feel that much of what I have to say would be considered “whining.”

Mary McCurnin @ 133

My eighty year old father (who now lives in MS cause his house is gone in NOLA) is now on his ninth adjuster for a small business office he owns in Metairie. He keeps pluggin’ along but is REALLY frustrated.

He and my mom are part of a class actions suit against the Army Corps of Engineers. Their house was on the 17th street canal on Bellaire.

Sorry about their house. I have been to that area and we have many clients there on Bellaire. That is “ground zero” for the levee failure. I hope things get better for them soon. Mississippi is a long way from New Orleans!

Christy Hardin Smith @
129

Balrog at 112 — I think that is unfair, because I know that I personally spoke with you a number of times in the comments — either laughing about stuff with you and/or talking substance. I do remember it because I love the nick (and had even pulled a pix to go with it for a post at some future point, to be honest, because I love LOTR).

I know you did Christy, and my intent is not to point fingers. But Pach asked last night and I responded with how I feel. I had no plans to bring it up at all until his post.

That said, I sure appreciate all of the kind words since. Tears evaporate on Balrogs or I’d be forced to leave my desk…

egregious – Sorry to hear about your aunt’s declining health. My girlfriend and I are dealing with a similar situation with her father.

I wasn’t ignoring you this AM, I just had to run out the door — but i’m back now :)

rw at 115 — holy crap. Well, that’s some news, isn’t it?

Thanks twolf, I knew you weren’t neglecting me :)

Balrog–please continue to post and we will try to respond more often, now that you have explained that it’s important to you. Certainly people have made accomodations here for my being bipolar w mood swings.

Give us a chance ok??

rwcole @ 30

Webb sounds like ensign Pulver in “The Cain Mutiny” savin up marbles to do somethin nasty to the captain- which of course never happened.

Ensign Pulver was in “Mr. Roberts” not “The Cain Mutiny.” And eventually he did do something. He threw the Captain’s precious palm tree overboard after he heard about Mr. Robert’s being killed and then told the Captain he did it. Pretty good movie. A young Jack Lemon played Ensign Pulver.

rwcole @ 120

Children all across this great land will stand at attention in class and say “This is national methamphetimine awareness day and we are aware”!

Will that happen before or after the Ritalin dose?

Balrog — if you’re still here…based on the comments you’ve made about commenting, I wonder whether part of the challenge you have is based on the format of the comment threads. It’s not as immediate as chat; I generally comment believing that I won’t hear back (unless I say something extremely compelling, like an ad hominem attack on posters and commenters).

A chat format is much more immediate; if you’re using Firefox as a browser and you’ve got highspeed internet service, you could try loading something like Gabbly Chat Sidebar, would enable you to chat with folks visiting the site who also use Gabbly.

Might not be a bad tool for more of us to explore, since it would take pressure off the big threads that need more thoughtful responses when we’re really just wanting to shout-out to each other.

Whatever the case, don’t be put off.

Balrog, nice to see you are NOT gone.

From one that did care if you were around,

Imm.

Rayne @
105

My stepson called again, still having enormous troubles with the VA and getting his Montgomery Bill monies. He’s supporting himself and a younger sibling (the ex’s child, not ours), only working a part-time retail job in order to go to school full-time. He switched schools at the beginning of the term; the VA, in spite of repeated attempts to provide documentation to the contrary, claims he is not in school and therefore owes them $4000.

Nor will the VA give him money for next term.

He suffers from PTSD, acquired during his tour in Iraq; the stress about money and fighting bureaucracy only makes the PTSD symptoms worse.

I have to ask, rwcole, how you think I should respond to Bush if he asked me how my stepson was.

Does matter at all how Bush asks the question, or how the press might play my response?

I think Senator-elect Jim Webb handled the situation about as well as any concerned parent might in his situation. Unfortunately, Webb is going to be terse for quite a long time about his son’s condition; this I know full well.

Compassionate conservatism, my *ss. They treat every American in the same disrepectful shoddy way, from troops to Gulf Coast residents — unless they have a silver spoon in their mouth.

Anyone that has a problem with how Webb responded, I want to see where their “outrage” was when Cheney and Bush started the meme “voting for Democrats is voting for terrorists”.

They destroyed civility.

imm at 147 — hey! Long time no see. :)

Perris @ 97 and Klyde @ 110, I’m interested in Kllde’s “factys” on what the Democrats did Katrina-wise? And why did they stop? Or haven’t you been informed that people are still suffering from the after-effects of Katrina and receiving no help?

howdy immanentize and balrog! so good to see you both… now if mary would just drop by my day would be complete. :)

Sally @ 150

Perris @ 97 and Klyde @ 110, I’m interested in Kllde’s “factys” on what the Democrats did Katrina-wise? And why did they stop? Or haven’t you been informed that people are still suffering from the after-effects of Katrina and receiving no help?

Sally, I’m interested also. My good friend helped establish the medical clinic at Common Ground.

But i’m mystified by the assumption matrix surrounding your question.

As the Rethugs had control of both the Executive and Legislative branches of the Federal Government, how do you imagine the Dems could have exercised power over Federal agencies?

The Rethug committee chairs wouldn’t even let the Dems speak on some occasions.

selise at 151 — Mary dropped into the very long late night thread at some point this morning. Should still be near-ish the bottom.

selise—you might like to check out
http://www.firedoglake.com/200…..ent-400695

Christy Hardin Smith @ 152

selise at 151 — Mary dropped into the very long late night thread at some point this morning. Should still be near-ish the bottom.

thanks! at least i got to say “hi”. hope she sees it.

Christy Hardin Smith @ 149

imm at 147 — hey! Long time no see. :)

Christy — I just finished my brief in SCOTUS I am very tired and caught a cold running myself down.

But the brief is fine! We may be the first people ever to cite Buffy to the Justices….

MsAnnaNOLA @ 139

Mary McCurnin @ 133

My eighty year old father (who now lives in MS cause his house is gone in NOLA) is now on his ninth adjuster for a small business office he owns in Metairie. He keeps pluggin’ along but is REALLY frustrated.

He and my mom are part of a class actions suit against the Army Corps of Engineers. Their house was on the 17th street canal on Bellaire.

Sorry about their house. I have been to that area and we have many clients there on Bellaire. That is “ground zero” for the levee failure. I hope things get better for them soon. Mississippi is a long way from New Orleans!

My parents’ house in Picayune is about an hour from NOLA. But culturally it is in another galaxy. I cannot imagine how the people that ended up in Utah or Minnesota have faired. A lot of those folks were evacuated on planes not knowing where they were going. Many were separated from family members and have not been reunited since they have NO money. Many were from the ninth ward and had lived there for four or five generations. Can you imagine ending up in Mormom country against your will and with no cash?

Kirk @ 152, former Vice President Gore was able to help and he was not in office at the time. I am tired of hearing the minority Democrats were completely paralyzed the past years. People in the areas affected by Katrina were dying, for God’s sake, and people are dying in Iraq. That’s my assumption matrix. Perhaps some of you are assuming I am a troll which the record should show I am not.

Imm at 156 — awesome! I am a huge Buffy fan. So, some day, if you want to send the footnote along for a chuckle…please do so. :) You just know the clerks are going to enjoy the hell out of it. *g*

In case you are interested, my family had received some initial assistance immediately following katrina, but nothing since late last year. We got an automated message last night that our claim is being reconsidered and we will receive our decision in the next two weeks.

I was unemployed after Katrina until May 2006, and have still been unable to find full-time employment. The money we received from FEMA didn’t even begin to cover our evacuation expenses (gas, hotel, etc.) or our replacement expenses for things we lost. If it weren’t for generous family members, we would be on the street.

And we have it better than most of the evacuees.

Thanks for this post, Christy. Means a lot to see people still writing about this stuff.

Sally @ 158

Kirk @ 152, former Vice President Gore was able to help and he was not in office at the time. I am tired of hearing the minority Democrats were completely paralyzed the past years. People in the areas affected by Katrina were dying, for God’s sake, and people are dying in Iraq. That’s my assumption matrix. Perhaps some of you are assuming I am a troll which the record should show I am not.

Please describe the mechanisms you envision by which the Congressional Dems could have delivered help. The operational definiton of “help” is also unclear from your statment.

My awareness of the deaths in NOLA and Iraq is acute – hence the comments I’ve made in the last days (and months) linking to Fisk and Cockburn in the Independent.

My medic friends in NOLA have described their experience repeatedly, at length. We were discussing how to help in NOLA the night Katrina hit, and anticipating the deaths from lack of coordinated response.

These horrific deaths certainly fuel passionate outrage, as well they should. Simply describing the outrage in no way communicates the mechanisms through which Congressional Democrats could have provided assistance to NOLA (and yet did not do so).

I am not assuming yuo are a troll – if I did, I wouldn’t bother with the question.

Kirk @ 161, I assume our elected Democratic officials know how things work and who to contact in an emergency and how to cut red tape to get responsible bureaucrats to do their job when emergencies demand it. Al Gore knew how to get things done and for the life of me I don’t know why others didn’t. My definition of help was to get the Convention Center under control simply by helicoptering in security forces and essential supplies. The traditional media for once might have been outraged enough to shine a spotlight on the obstacles to help so that any Republican interference with results would have backfired. And so much more.

Now there’s no denying there has not been much progress made and people’s lives are still a shambles. Democrats may have a plan at last but I haven’t heard much about it.

And kudos to those like your friend who helped against all odds. I include our Coast Guard in this “great job, folks.”

Thanks for bringing back an oldie but goldie. I had missed the ol’ oxymoron: “compassionate conservative”. It won’t slow down their use of “loony left” but I think the party of one is the only one laughing.

Balrog sez:

Ironically however, I noticed many, many times that my points would show up downthread or in a subsequent post. So I must have been doing something right.

I am confused now. Do you mean that other commenters would “quote your comment,” and expand on it subsequently; or do you mean that other commenters or even front-pagers would run with your idea, concept, or intellectual property shared here by you but re-used and uncredited to you by others?

I am interested, really, in knowing which of these you mean, or another thing you mean unlike the two alternatives I’ve posed.

You and I have been around it here, Balrog. Others commented in Jane’s LN meta thread that they’ve avoided interacting with those they’ve been around it with (not you). I’ve chosen to avoid interacting with those I’ve gone around with here at FDL, in the interests of harmony and not-my-blogness. If you felt ignored by me, yes it was intentional. But I didn’t want you to go away. I simply didn’t interact with you — it was bristly every time between you and me. Not your fault; not mine. Just is.

Your interactions with others, as I recall, were funny (to me) and no less frequent than interactions between and among others.

Hope this helps — you do know, don’t you, that you were asked by many commenters about your departure comment after it appeared? I didn’t see your response. Did you respond to those blogfriends who inquired about your departure from FDL?

Anyway, your presence will be missed, by me at least, even if I don’t interact to your specific comments anymore. Please accept this in the well-intentioned spirit it is offered. I lack time to review this, or even preview it too much, but I hope this helps. It wasn’t meant any other way, believe me.

Rayne @ 136

rwcole 107 — do you understand, though, that if I’d have received the kind of treatment that Webb got from Bush, given the entire backstory, that I might have gone to the media?

Personally, I think Jim Webb would have been well within his rights not to merely say, “F*ck you”, but to dish it out, using the media if not fists.

Everything I’ve seen suggests the media picked up the incident on their own without any such eff-you push — and that George Will is his usual whiney political correctness officer self.

My gut tells me it was Webb’s Senate Dem staffer/minder sent by Schumer’s clique. Based on my analysis of WaPo sourcing clues, based on Mrs. Graham’s instructions.

Yeah, I’m more confused than ever. I thought Balrog was a regular as in “one of the favored.”

TeddySanFran @
164

Balrog sez:

Ironically however, I noticed many, many times that my points would show up downthread or in a subsequent post. So I must have been doing something right.

I am confused now. Do you mean that other commenters would “quote your comment,” and expand on it subsequently; or do you mean that other commenters or even front-pagers would run with your idea, concept, or intellectual property shared here by you but re-used and uncredited to you by others?

Yes. I saw it happen a lot. I’m not accusing anyone of doing it intentionally or maliciously; rather I just saw the exact point I had made earlier in subsequent comments.

You and I have been around it here, Balrog.

I remember offending you one night and feeling badly about it the next day (I did a group apology), but that’s the only kerfuffle I recall with you. Perhaps my attitude or another post or two were the culprit? Either way I’ve never felt malice toward you.

Did you respond to those blogfriends who inquired about your departure from FDL?

I didn’t until today. Figured I’d do the old count to ten thing first. Now I wish I had earlier, because I realized I that the only thing I could change was my own expectations.

Thanks for your response. It was honest and valuable to me.

balrog — backatcha!

TeddySanFran @
168

balrog — backatcha!

Gezundheidt.