You could have smelled this one a mile away.
House cancels hearings on Katrina response
The House majority leader [Tom DeLay] late Tuesday tried to deflect criticism of the federal response to Hurricane Katrina by saying “the emergency response system was set up to work from the bottom up,” then announced a short time later that House hearings examining that response had been canceled.
U.S. agency blocks photos of New Orleans dead
The U.S. government agency leading the rescue efforts after Hurricane Katrina said on Tuesday it does not want the news media to take photographs of the dead as they are recovered from the flooded New Orleans area.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, heavily criticized for its slow response to the devastation caused by the hurricane, rejected requests from journalists to accompany rescue boats as they went out to search for storm victims.
People have died and suffered because of the dithering of a Republican president, and they’ll do anything in their power to hide and cover that up.
Scum.
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I think we are finally witnessing the last days of Conservativism. It’s a failed ideology that hung on far longer than it should have.
You can’t miss it now. Conservatives don’t believe in government helping people, they believe in charity, right? But guess what, the Red Cross doesn’t build levees. The Salvation Army can’t commandeer greyhound buses and military bases to evacuate people ahead of a hurricane.
The charity approach has failed, not because it’s bad or because the people who believe in it are bad, but because it’s not the right model. What we need now is a resurrection of the Progressive value of solidarity. Charity calls for us to help people because they are “less fortunate.” Translation — inferior. Or as a more cynical person once put it, charity is the tax you pay to keep poor people at arm’s length.
But solidarity means we have to help people because they are the same as us. Under different circumstances, they could be us. Or we could be them. Solidarity says we are all in one boat and we sink or sail together.
Sadie,
“What we need now is a resurrection of the Progressive value of solidarity”
Agree. Won’t you and your friends put aside your divisive politicala genda and help us conservatives restore the deep south?
Dugger, “The tendancy of liberals is to create bodies of men and women-of all classes-detached from tradition, alienated from religion, and susceptible to mass suggestion-mob rule. And a mob will be no less a mob if it is well fed, well clothed, well housed, and well disciplined. ”
George Eliot
Wow Dugger you sure do know how to take the divisive out of politics.
Amen
And neither does Harry Reid, apparently:
What exactly would these photos accomplish? Why not let authorities identify the bodies so they can (hopefully) notify family members instead of letting them find out accidently as it gets splashed accross the screen?
I’ve had enough of disaster porn, thank you very much.
I think we are finally witnessing the last days of Conservativism. It s a failed ideology that hung on far longer than it should have.
I wish you were right. More likely, we’re seeing the last days of the United States as a world power. If anything, this disaster should remind us of Chernobyl– another disaster in which exposed the weaknesses of a failed ideology that hung on far longer than it should have. The disaster didn’t just end communism, it brought an entire state to its knees.
[...] s, because this government President Bush must be held accountable for Hurricane Katrina. After all, people have died and suffered because of the dither [...]
“And a mob will be no less a mob if it is well fed, well clothed, well housed, and well disciplined.”
Is this quote about Norway? Or maybe the Netherlands?
SaveFarris – we all know that the prohibition on the photos, just as in Iraq has nothing to do with preserving the diginity of these victims – it’s about maintaining control and manipulation of images/impressions. Kind of like those firefighters who were put on a plane just so they could accompany the Pres. – rather than working to help anyone.
The truth is often ugly and unsettling – particularly when mistakes have been made and people have paid the ultimate price. Hiding those facts in no way alleviates or ameliorates them.
I’m with you 100% on the disaster porn… but I also know that the nation, the voting public needs to see and understand AGAIN what is, and isn’t being done in their name.
Your mind-reading skills are amazing! Can I borrow them this weekend? I’m going to a poker tournament.
Funny, I’ve never seen Democrats urging our major news outlets to endlessly show the carnage of 9/11.
Agenda?
Nah, couldn’t be.
Tuco –
How about a link to the Reid quote? In the meantime, there’s plenty of blame to go around in this mess but the question is, as it should be, where does the buck stop? I happen to think it should stop with the president, the guy who nominated Brown and Chertoff, the guy who set the agenda for his administration’s budgets, the guy who, when crisis strikes, is supposed to reassure avergae Americans and light a fire under the ass of the people who work for him. Does it sound so unreasonable that the president should step up and account for his decisions and actions?
Tuco doesn’t want you to read that story, frameone. I don’t know why.
It was an LA Times article that was picked up by Yahoo News. Here’s a little bit bigger chunk of it:
See, for some reason, Tuco doesn’t want you to see that part that shows Mary Landrieu warning everyone well in advance that the levees needed to be fixed.
As far as the Reid quote goes, Tuco does indeed show you all there is to see. However, the article fails to provide any context for the quote.
Maybe Reid was signalling that he thought there was no need to upgrade the levees. Maybe he was just yammering on the way politicians do.
The quote, stripped of its context, gives us no way of knowing what he was talking about.
If the quote, as it suggests, means that Reid was unresponsive to Landrieu’s pleas, put him in the boat with the others who let this country down. But what exactly could Reid have done to get the Bush administration or the Republicans to change their budget priorities? Afterall, the conservatives were setting the agenda. As far as I know Congress repeatedly got the Army corps of engineers more money than the Bush administration had alotted in the last several budgets but that even then the amounts were a pittance compared to what was needed. So again, where does the buck stop? With Reid? Hardly.
Oliver strikes me as the kind of person that, were he living during medieval times, would probably display the heads of his enemies on pikes.
Mike,
First of all no one had to ask to see the carnage from 9/11 – we were innundated with it non stop for weeks… it helped to keep people fired up and afraid. Where was the concern for the dignity of the victims and their families then?
Second, no one is asking to see the images – what I am decrying is the news/photo blackout of the event.
Agenda… yes, the same one most of us have been begging for for the last 8 years. Honesty and most of all accountability – when you lie, when you allow bad things to happen on your watch, or simply fail to accept responsibility when they happen on your watch, then you have no business being in a position of authority, let alone responsibility.
I was outraged when Clinton lied about the whole sordid Lewinsky incident – but no one died then
I am outraged at the lies I continue to hear from members of this administration – and people have been dying because of them for years.
I don’t care what party you’re part of… if you lie you must be held accountable, that simple.
What was the context of that Reid quote? You won’t find it in that poorly written Slate article. There was nothing about levees or pumps, that’s for sure. So, what was your point?
When I hear someone describing someone or something as adequate, I hear “somehow lacking”. An adequate pitcher is not someone I would want pitching a big game, for example.
Of course, since we have no context for the quote, we will never know, will we?
The Harry Reid is responsible for the levees breaking meme is weak, by the way. Get some better material. You wanted single party rule. You’ve got it. Take some responsibility for God sakes before more innocent people die.
Reid apologist? The administration’s budget requests for levee construction and repair were woefully inadequate year after year with Congress adding additional funds but still nothing close to what was needed. So in the end, what more could Reid in the face of a a Republican administration and Republican controlled Congess? Sure Reid should be faulted, like a lot of politicians on both sides of the aisle, for making hay with public money while the sun shined without a thought to what every expert said was coming, not if but when (Gee, what else has that phrase been applied to?) But to suggest that Reid had any ultimate control over budget priorities is to completely ignore the simple fact that Republicans are in power. Which is about as obtuse as it gets. Move on to the next talking point, Tuco.
Okay, I can see now that you don’t have a sense of humor.
The Slate article was a tongue-in-cheek reply to those who apparently were saying that Reid was boring.
I don’t know the context of the quote. I guess Reid thought that New Orleans was a joke, or at least that providing Congressional pork to NO was a waste of money.
Whateve the case may be, I just find the quote incredibly ironic under the circumstances.
Where did Reid say the levees are in great shape? All I see is that he called them “adequate”.
Link?
A real one this time, not one that says that Reid once tangentially mentioned Louisiana when talking about money.
Rat, what in that Slate article indicates that he doesn’t want to shore up the levees? Why don’t you find the FULL context of those quotes? You see, we’ll actually check the links and read them. You have to have your act together here, this isn’t Hannity or O’Reilly or LGF. We aren’t going to take your BS at face value.
People have died and suffered because of the dithering of a Republican president, and they ll do anything in their power to hide and cover that up.
Yup. We all know the almost criminal lack of preparedness by state and local officials had nothing to do with it, including the Mayor of New Orleans and the Governor.
Oh that’s right. THEY’RE DEMOCRATS!! Immune from any responsibility in the mind of Oliver.
I haven’t heard any liberals absolving Blanco or Nagin. I personally think that they both deserve plenty of blame. The only people who are absolving anyone are the conservatives, who are peddling this whole “It’s okay for Bush to use firefighters for photo ops while people were dying” nonsense. The Federal government had the most resources, the most screw-ups, and is the entity that we all depend on as a nation. Absolving Bush won’t make us any safer.
Maybe not go on record saying the levees were in great shape, for a start?
JayC – there is plenty of blame to go around at all levels, though to Naggins credit he did say in an interview the other day “I accept the blame and responsibility for my actions”… We’ll never here George and company do the same.
When the President declared a state of Emergency on Sat – it became primarily Federal responsibility to handle the crisis and the response.
As for lack of local/state preparedness – Blanco, Naggin and more than a few other local and state officials in the affected states have been begging for more federal assistance that would allow them to address the potential disaster for years – what they got instead were deeper cuts, while tax cuts went to the rich and Alaska got a bridge to nowhere…
For the last time, can we stop playing politics with all this and just ask for a simple and complete accounting… and accountability all around?
Or are you too afraid to accept the consequences.
I really don’t care if you read the whole article. The reason I didn’t provide a link is that everytime I’ve made a comment with a link since Oliver changed his site design, it never gets past the “awaiting moderation” stage.
In any event, we have yet another Reid apologist claiming that the minority leader of the Senate has nothing to do with legislation being passed, or at least trying to get it passed.
Instead, he chose to declare the levees adequate. What other context could this statement be placed in? That the levees were adequate to withstand a light rain shower? Come on, don’t be obtuse.
In the meantime, here’s another delicious quote from Reid that I hope gets spread all over the blogosphere.
It’s from Slate and I’ll risk a link, but if my comment doesn’t show up I’ll post this without it:
Mike’s “agenda” is to explain that using firemen as props when they should have been saving lives is somehow Sean Penn’s fault. Bush’s poll numbers come before dead Americans, after all.
What’s funny about blaming Reid for the NO disaster? If you didn’t know the context of the quote, why did you post it, if not to mislead?
Typical con tactic, make a ridiculous accusation, and then when the point is destroyed, say “I was only joking”. Are you a college Republican?
Neocon, our president can sneeringly ask “what didn’t go right?” of the federal response to Katrina, but then also say that the federal response was “not acceptable.” And he’s at the top of the lunatic pyramid. So you can’t hold poor, bottom feeding Tuco to a higher standard of reason, really. It’s just not in their nature. Loyalty over competence, all up and down the line.
According to the results of a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll:
Pay more careful attention. When posting the Slate quote I didn’t make an accusation. I just posted the quote. I also posted a link so that everyone could read the entire piece. I didn’t mislead anyone.
And, by the way, I didn’t blame Reid for what happened in NO, just pointed out that he seemed to be as clueless as most politicians.
Are you always this much fun?
Marty, why do you hate competence?
I’m a lot of fun. I just don’t suffer fools lightly. Again, what was your point in posting the Slate article?
Yeah Oliver- Let’s show those bloated dead bodies right away so we can get more Democrats elected. Hell, Let’s weave it into the Brand Democrat logo for 2006. Republicans=Dead Bodies, right Oliver?
Ghoul! (Right out of your playbook…)
Really?
Then someone is impersonating you here, here, here, and here.
elrod – I would bet that most of the people would find you to be certifiably off the deep end. First response is not the role of FEMA, but all of you conveniently overlook that annoying little fact. Nagin’s plan was not just “flawed”, it was ignored. Nagin did not even come close to following his own evacuation plan, which could have saved countless lives, and then blames others. Blanco was concerned about a political power play so she decided to try to buy some time while considering whether or not to invite the Federal government in. It appears that the city, State, and the levee boards had been using levee funds for all sorts of things, except for the levees. Given all of the above, which are all facts, you add all of that up and blame President Bush and Mike Brown ?
Tuco,
Why is that poll encouraging for you? I, myself, primarily blame Federal agencies, putting me among the 33% plurality that holds either Bush or the Federal government accountable. I could say “Bush” instead, but I think the immediate failure is Mike Brown, and the longer Brown continues to work for Bush, the more I am willing to blame Bush personally. I also think that recent progress is more satisfactory – certainly compared to before. I think state and local agencies deserve some blame too. Blanco seems to have misallocated the National Guard. And Nagin’s evacuation plan was deeply flawed. But the primary responsibility for this is clearly the Federal government, considering the massive scale of the disaster and the terrifying possibility that 4 years of post-9/11 planning has led to this monstrosity. I bet most Americans agree with me on every point I just made.
elrod – that poll is encouraging to him because, despite all of the screaming, wailing, whining, and hollering from the liberal left attempting to blame President Bush for the results of a natural disaster, it is clear that the 13% that buy into that theory would choose to blame President Bush no matter what the problem was. This onslaught of finger pointing by the left and their friends in the media has not moved the regular Americans from their positions. I would suspect that your everyday average Joe Q Citizen would expect horrific situations during a time of a horrific crisis, and their gut instinct would not be to blame people, form a commission, or hold a hearing. They would try to help.
Phile – not so much the height of incompetence as it is proof of what Barnum said – “there’s a sucker born every minute”
Millions of people fell for the okey-doke as we say ’round these parts – they were sold a false, and empty bill of goods.
They were lied to then, just as we’ve been lied to since…
The DEMS are showing incredible incompetence in alot of things – but for you to suddenly say that it’s the DEMS own incompetence to blame for the repubs being in power is too much like the current Repub talking point of blaming the victims of the hurricane… wait, nevermind – shouldn’t be surprised.
Well, that and five supreme court judges.
Here are some words of wisdom, JD. I hope they comfort you in this terrible, gut-wrenching time of accountability.
“America, at its best, is a place where personal responsibility is valued and expected. Encouraging responsibility is not a search for scapegoats, it is a call to conscience. And though it requires sacrifice, it brings a deeper fulfillment.”
George W. Bush, Jan 20, 2001
If Bush et. al. are as evil, dumb, racist, and incompetent as today’s so-called Democrats say they are, is it not the height of incompetence that the DEMS have lost two presidential elections, and control of the congress to these people?
PS – DEMS didn’t lose the first election… and I have my doubts about the second
TomY : I do not require your comfort, nor your platitudes.
What exactly is your point? Because you have already arrived at a conclusion that President Bush should fire everybody that works for him, hire Oliver and all of his mind-numbingly disingenuous posters to go run things for him?
Nice to find out that your precious levee was not the actual culprit for all of this. Also pretty interesting reading about how the individual boards that run each of the levees were spending their money.
To add to JayC’s response:
The Bush administration attempted to federalize the La National Guard on two occasions. Blanco refused on both occasions, failed to act in a timely manner, and then began pointing fingers when the federal government couldn’t immediately bail her out of a situation she exacerbated. In addition, the La State office of Homeland Security – a subordinate of the Governor’s office – refused access to the Red Cross, which was ready to bring food, water, and hygiene aid to the Superdome, as early as the night of Monday August 30th. Scandalous.
You completely missed my point, which was to illustrate that the hard-left mainstream of the DEM Party lives in a fantasy world.
I haven t heard any liberals absolving Blanco or Nagin. I personally think that they both deserve plenty of blame.
Maybe you do. But I don’t see our host saying people died because of their actions or lack thereof. I don’t see him throwing the word ‘murder’ around the way he has with the President. In fact, I’d like to see just one liberal blog that calls out Nagin and Blanco for their horrid performances. Just one. Brad DeLong is the only one I am aware of.
When the President declared a state of Emergency on Sat – it became primarily Federal responsibility to handle the crisis and the response.
No, that is not true. FEMA is not a first response agency. It is still up to the state and local authorities to put things in motion and to coordinate with the federal agencies. By invoking the federal clauses in their declarations of emergencies, all it does is trigger the feds to start getting ready what state and local officials ask for. It does not mean they take over. Primary responsibility in the first few days still rests with state and local governments. They failed. Miserably.
As for lack of local/state preparedness – Blanco, Naggin and more than a few other local and state officials in the affected states have been begging for more federal assistance that would allow them to address the potential disaster for years – what they got instead were deeper cuts, while tax cuts went to the rich and Alaska got a bridge to nowhere&
Uhh, sorry, but that’s not going to cut it. They had a plan. They knew over a YEAR ago that the plan they had in place was not adequate. And they did nothing. And you think whining that they begged the feds for more money is a valid excuse? Those buses they were supposed to utilize, didn’t sit there because of a lack of federal funds. Their delays in ordering evactuations didn’t happen because of a lack of federal funds. Their utter failure to recognize how serious a storm this was when sending tens of thousands of people to the Superdome with only enough food for one day, ignorantly thinking they’d be going home the next day, is not because of a lack of federal funds.
I am continually amazed at my lack of shock stemming from comments like AlexCorrigan’s. It should amaze people, it should sadden people that any American would actually believe that, but unfortunately, it does not.
Republicans=Dead Bodies, right Oliver?
Actually, yes.
And Phile, speaking of lying or just plain stupidty, how’s that calendar impairment of yours doing?
Man you take one lousy day off …. well I have no hope of being able to catch up with this conversation but I will point out to Dugger that I am 100% percent behind the goal of rebuiliding the Deep South, and not because I am a Southerner (which I am, by the grace of God) but because I am an American.
But also, Dugger, baby, were you not just singing me the libertarian blues a few threads ago about “Why should some farmer in Nebraska yada yada yada?” Be a wingnut, be a neocon, be anything you want to be but could you please just be consistent?
Any other low-hanging fruit here, hmmm. Well Jay, FEMA was a first response organization until Bush reorganized it. Did you happen to know that? There are plenty of timelines floating around that cover that, kos has a good one.
“If Bush et. al. are as evil, dumb, racist, and incompetent as today s so-called Democrats say they are, is it not the height of incompetence that the DEMS have lost two presidential elections, and control of the congress to these people?”
Well, yes and no. The Republicans are also really, really, really good at lying.
Well Jay, FEMA was a first response organization until Bush reorganized it.
No, it was not and was never designed to be.
To the best of my knowledge, FEMA was never intended to be a first reponder, nor has it been called upon to do so.
Hey Sadie. I hear you. I go out on a job and am gone for two days. Lose every argument that way. “Where’s that idiot Dugger” “he’s hiding. Given up.” But sorry I don’t fit your preconceived little ideological TV dinners. Life and politics are varying shades of gray. I have always believed some help is reasonable – some government asistance. But I also believe no one has a RIGHT to that assistance because it is really the sweat equity of workers the govenment has seized. And the primary responsibility for our welfare is ourselves. If I Know a tsunami is coming and my stupid butt is sitting out on the beach watching it, why should should some poor cop or policeman risk his life for me. Why should the mayor of my town have to tax his workers even further to build a Dugger tsunami protection system or buy me a new house because I built mine in tsunami alley. Its gray. The primary reason for the catastrophe in New Orleans is not Bush, hagins or the violent Ms Landrieu, its the design and location of the city. There should be an honest and open debate about rebuilding it IMO.
Dugger