Bush administration officials have been putting out the word that Gov. Kathleen Sebelius was two days late getting to Greensburg after the tornado struck because she was attending a jazz festival in New Orleans, columnist Robert Novak reported. But that’s not the real story, said Nicole Corcoran, the governor’s press secretary.
Yes, Sebelius was in New Orleans with her family when the tornado hit that Friday evening. But she was notified that night about the tornado, and she and her staff in Kansas immediately began trying to assess the damage. When the scope of the disaster became clear, they began making arrangements for her return.
Sebelius didn’t attend any of the jazz festival and left her family in New Orleans, flying back Saturday afternoon using a plane arranged by Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco. Sebelius didn’t go to Greensburg until Sunday, Corcoran said, because Kansas National Guard Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting told her it would be best to wait until then. That way she wouldn’t disrupt ongoing rescue efforts.
You can’t control where you are when an emergency hits, Corcoran noted. And she said that Sebelius wouldn’t have gone to Greensburg any sooner if she had been in Topeka when the storm struck.
"We absolutely did the right thing," Corcoran said.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
327 Comments
Doing the right thing is injecting politics into a natural disaster?
Who benefited from Sebelius’ comments about the National Guard equipment? The victims of Greensburg did not benefit since their Kansas neighbors were already taking care of them. Sebelius was the big “winner” of her political comments. But during a disaster we need leadership, not a politician.
I don’t know, KS Meadowbark. But You did seem to enjoy the politicisation as well, noting Your earlier post:
“Bob Novak finds where Gov. Sebelius was during Greensburg tornado: Jazz Festival in New Orleans!
Why isn’t this story reported by the Kansas press? The Robert Novak column in yesterday’s New York Post says this:
http://www.nypost.com/seven/05262007/postopinion/opedcolumnists/trade_trouble_nags_nancy_opedcolumnists_robert_d__novak.htm
“Bush administration officials, stung by complaints from Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius that National Guard heavy equipment needed by tornado-stricken Greensburg, Kan., is in Iraq, are putting out word that she was two days late at the disaster scene because she was attending a jazz festival in New Orleans.”
“Sebelius’ office told this column that she was out of the state with her family to attend the New Orleans Jazzfest 2007 on May 4, when the tornado hit Kansas. She returned on a plane loaned by Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco. Sebelius would be a top vice-presidential possibility if anyone other than Sen. Hillary Clinton is the Democratic nominee for president.”
Three other political web sites are reporting Novak’s story:• RealClearPolitics, http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/05/challenging_nancy.html
• TownHall, http://www.townhall.com/columnists/RobertDNovak/2007/05/26/challenging_nancy and
• HumanEvents http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=20879
and some versions had this additional paragraph:
“Sebelius was featured on cable TV, radio talk shows and the Internet when she merged the Iraqi war with the Kansas tornado. A daughter of former Ohio Gov. John Gilligan, she would be a leading vice-presidential possibility if anybody other than Sen. Hillary Clinton is the Democratic nominee for president.”
I cannot find any pictures of Sebelius in this picture gallery of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festval 2007, but the pictures are mostly the musicians. http://www.nojazzfest.com/index.php?http%3A//www.nojazzfest.com/gallery/photos.php%3Fdirectory%3D2007/5_4-6%26thumbs%3Dtrue
I don’t recall the Kansas press reporting this other Sebelius connection to Louisiana Gov. Blanco: Sebelius was the keynote speaker (see http://www.bestofneworleans.com/dispatch/2007-03-06/news_scut.php ) at the Louisiana Center for Women and Government’s Hall of Fame (see http://www.nicholls.edu/lcwg/ ) on March 10. The Hall of Fame ceremony was the crowning event of the second annual meeting of Louisiana’s Women Leaders, founded by Gov. Kathleen Blanco.
Who benefited from Sebelius’ comments about the National Guard equipment? The victims of Greensburg did not benefit since their Kansas neighbors were taking care of them. Sebelius was the big winner of her political comments. But during a disaster we need leadership, not a politician.
Sebelius’ next political event involving “Jazz” was the fund raising event for Planned Parenthood at the American Jazz Museum in Kansas City, MO on May 15. http://dustofthetime.blogspot.com/2007/05/gov-sebelius-at-planned-parenthood.html
Posted by: KansasMeadowlark | May 27, 2007 at 01:45 AM”
Will we hear apologies from Meadowlark on spreading right wing propaganda that’s proven to be lies?
http://blogs.kansas.com/weblog/2007/05/open_thread_26.html
I’m thinking no. Conservatives don’t have a good track record when it comes to honesty.
I regret that Novak didn’t quite have his facts right, but that should not detract from legitimate criticsm of Sebelius’ shameful politicization of the Greensburg tornado.
I regret there were inaccuracies in my original posting but that doesn’t mean they were intentional lies. There’s still more truth in the original posting than inaccuracies. Except for “listen to jazz” the original posting is mostly correct.
So how did Sebelius’ comments help the victims in Greensburg?
Regret, but no apologies, and yet more spin and finger pointing. *sigh*
The same night the tornado wiped out Greensburg, creeks were flooding in central Kansas and Topeka and severe thunderstorms swept through Southeast Kansas.
Had the flood waters not receded, and had the Southeast Kansas storms been a tad more severe, the Governor would have faced a Perfect Storm that would have shown the decimation of KNG resources. In fact, all night Friday and all day Saturday she was dealing with a potential crisis.
Kathleen Sebelius did not “raise” the issue. A reporter asked her specifically if Friday Night in Greensburg, Hutchinson, Topeka, Iola, and Parsons, etc. constituted a “Perfect Storm” relevant to issues of National Guard resources (as she had mentioned several times before) she’d feared.
Novak and “Kansas Meadowlark” hope people don’t remember the context of events and conjure up images that the Governor was partying in New Orleans right up to and almost including whole-cloth made-up accusations that she was showing her tits for glass bead necklaces on Bourbon Street.
And on 9/11, Bush went into hiding all day instead of returning to Washington to lead our country after the worst attack on the homeland in history.
Did it take all day to finish reading “My Pet Goat”?
“Did it take all day to finish reading “My Pet Goat”?”
Of course not; he had to digest it as well.
(Archie) Bunker mentality…
“Long time poster” makes a good point. When 9/11 happened, Bush was paralyzed with fear. Cheney disappeared for weeks into the bowels of SAC’s buried mountain headquarters, or maybe he was hiding out at the (”undisclosed location”) Mustang Ranch, disguised in a false beard.
Sibelius came back from New Orleans post haste, but the nitwits from the Far Right Wing Noise Machine are still out there banging on their tin pots claiming she didn’t.
Eagle is vigorously trying to defend sebelius but letting slader about bush pass as fact.Majority of americans approved of the iraq war when it started. Now why blame bush when there are no national guards? I think sebelius wants the vice president ticket even if the comments did not help Greensburg.
I don’t know if I believe Sebelius, but I know I don’t believe Novak on anything. The man is a pathetic shill who should be in jail right now for his attempt to undermine the CIA.
“Had the flood waters not receded, and had the Southeast Kansas storms been a tad more severe, the Governor would have faced a Perfect Storm that would have shown the decimation of KNG resources.” Posted by: Long Time Poster, First Time Lurker | May 31, 2007 at 04:17 AM
Duh!
If a major portion of the State was hard hit, even if the were fully outfitted and manned, they couldn’t have gotten the job done.
If you’re going to paint a dismal scenario at least test it under all conditions.
…and ditto delsol for meadowpoop for passing the lies on as fact. No fact checking meadowpoop? No ablility to discern truth from fiction, just pass along whatever the “big boys” tell ya?
Meadowlark must indeed be the wingnut on call each day. Deputized by the reich wing liars like oliely.
Here’s a little clue meadow. NOT fact checking but just passing on the lies destroys what little credibility you may have once had. Why should we believe your NEXT post?
‘Cause you KNOW there WILL be another dump from meadowlark. And it WILL be either about sebelius or abortion.
Yawn.
XXX,Only a complete idiot would expect the president to go to the hottest target in America during a terrorist attack. The whole point of Air Force One is to have a flying Tac office for the president. He can do everything from AF1 that he can do in the white house. C’mon X, I expected more from you than that. Have a cup of coffee or three. Things will get better.
“Now why blame bush when there are no national guards?”
Hee hee hee hee. So, do we have a wingnut winner?
Are you really ready to concede that there “are no national guards” in kansas where they are needed? Not ENOUGH “national guards” to deal with emergencies?
Yep. A wingnut winner, even though I’m sure that’s not what he meant… Hell, even a stopped clock is right twice a day.
Unless you are meadowlark of course. He gets up EVERYDAY on the wingnut side of the bed…
The Katrina situation is entirely different, it covers a huge area, not just New Orleans. It was the tidal surge that caused most of the damage.
And besides, who would have guessed that a city built below sea level would have problems in a Cat 5 hurricane. (rolls eyes.)
New Orleans. Huh, yup. All Bush’s fault. Don’t even stop to think about all the people that WOULDN’T have been in harm’s way if the fu@k up of a mayor had two brain cells to rub together. How about that governor? Yup just blame Bush. The overwhelmed FEMA? During the most devastating natural disaster in recent history? Yeah, Bush’s fault.
Don’t think about the fine folks in Colorado. You remember them? They pulled THEMSELVES up before they asked for assistance. How about the fine folks of YOUR state? THEY pulled themselves up. Neighbors helping neighbors. Families instantly extended to anyone in need.
And then there are the fine folks of New Orleans. Looting, robbing, killing. Neighbor vs. neighbor. Yup, but lets’ all pile on Bush.
Y’all’s governor did what she was supposed to do. She got her poop in a group, her disaster relief teams got their poop in a group and got things under control.
By y’all’s own standard, Bush did one hell of a job taking care of Colorado and Kansas. Don’t you even think for a second about giving ANY credit to the fine citizens or your local and state gov’t. If y’all want to blame Bush for everything negative, then by God he gets credit for the things that go right too.
::sniffs at solly::
Yep, wingnut fear. I recognize that smell now every day.
Uh solly, in your “defense of bush” rant, you forgot a few things.
The entire REGION was devastated in Katrina. There were no neighbors to help. Everyone needed help.
I seem to remember some SOLDIERS who were arrested for looting in greensburg. I dont think the people of kansas were sainted. Seems like we had our own looting on a smaller scale in a smaller town in a smaller disaster.
Solly’s point? The “fine” white folks in greensburg are of much better character than the “fine” folks of N.O.
Uh, solly, they ALL asked for assistance from the feds. The feds were able to respond in smaller disasters. FEMA was not ready for the disaster in N.O. Even WALMART was more prepared to help than fema.
You think maybe fema and bushco LEARNED a thing or two about public blowback when they fail? You think maybe THAT is why they responded better to kansas? They KNEW what would happen if dear leader was photographed playing air guitar or ready kiddie books during another disaster?
SO… in kansas, everything went fine because of bushco but in Louisianna, it didnt go fine because of Blanco and Nagin?
That is so convoluted and exhibits so much loyalty to party that I am torn between laughter and outrage.
I think I’ll go with laughter for $100 Alex….
“The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”
Howard Dean probably instructed her not to go to Greensburg on Saturday.
Funny how the congressional delegation cared enough about the situation to be there on Satureday.
Sebelius knew there’d be more cameras (and a podium) there on Sunday.
(makes Howard Dean scream - eeeeyahh!)
heheheheheheh. Still laughing.
Having been through both hurricanes and tornados, I can tell you that the thing us tornado folks dont understand is the flooding and then the massive amounts of water that follow with a hurricane.
So people in Greensburg could go out the NEXT DAY and start working. With the help of their neighbors. On the gulf coast, no such luck. The flood waters had to retreat before any work could be done.
And with the levees breached, more water kept pouring in, and it was WEEKS before any real clean up could take place. And bushco didnt know that? FEMA didnt prepare appropriately?
Comparing N.O. and Greensburg is just comparing apples and oranges.
“Howard Dean probably instructed her not to go to Greensburg on Saturday.”
OMG, first meadow poop is spreading lies that have been PROVEN to be reich wing lies.
Then roscoe perpetuates the proven lie about howard dean telling governor leadership what to do.
Is that all ya got boys? Lies, lies, and more lies?
no wonder republican is a republican.
The party of lies.
So… I guess we’ll just ASSUME your posts are lies and then we’ll be surprised when you actually post something with truth?
Seems like the appropriate way to treat fact challenged posters.
I am tired of the NO disaster being created by its citizens.And then there are the fine folks of New Orleans. Looting, robbing, killing. Neighbor vs. neighbor. Yup, but lets’ all pile on Bush.Posted by: SolDevVB | May 31, 2007 at 07:49 AM
The stories of killing people were highly exaggerated. This has been proven. The label of “looting” was dependent on skin color. Remember the picture of the white couple walking through the water and the caption reading..”finding must needed supplies” and the black people walking through the water with the the same type of supplies , and the caption reading “looters”.
Please back up your posts that claim that NO was a Killing field as you describe. Or don’t say it anymore. Lets not cite the political slogan that gets attributed to a news story.
Go back and read Farmie, or are you purposefully referring to what I said incorrectly. Fine white folks? Where did THAT come from???
By the way, have you sent your thank you card to Bush yet for doing such a fine job cleaning up your state?
Mike,Do your own research. Check the crime rate in Houston before and after the NO victims were displaced there. Read the news stories about what went on in the Silver dome.
Well solly, skin color is the only difference I see in the PEOPLE of N.O. and the PEOPLE of Kansas. Both were true VICTIMS of a weather disaster.
But judging them on their response to the disaster, given the difference in nature, scale, and severity, is not fair to either group of PEOPLE.
Why is it so damn hard to admit that bushco blew it with Katrina? And be sure to give them MEGA applause for responding to a smaller tragedy.
And if it was blanco’s fault in Louisiana, then doesnt sebelius get credit for the state’s performance in kansas?
Consistancy. It’s not just for breakfast anymore…
And since BUSH didnt clean up our state, why would I thank him?
Uh solly, I think if you packed that many humans, with nothing to lose, in a place like either the convention center or the dome, in either city, they would behave badly.
If you put kansans in the same situation, I think they would react the same way. But dont compare the two. Apples and oranges and all…
First of all Sol….the claims you make indicate you are referring to NO right after the storm. Second, you should check your facts as the Silverdome is in Michigan, and the Superdome is in NO. Seems to me that you might be slightly confused on this topic. Keep that in mind before you make points that you can’t back up. Or simply refuse to back up.
ATTN EVERYONE! THE PEOPLE THAT DIED IN THE SUPERDOME AFTER KATRINA WERE ALL RELATED TO NATURAL CAUSES. PEOPLE WERE NOT KILLING EACH OTHER RANDOMLY IN THE SUPERDOME. HOW MANY TIMES DO YOU HAVE TO HEAR IT. NOT ONE CASE WAS BROUGHT DUE TO ANY VIOLENCE IN THE SUPERDOME.
Reports out of New Orleans on September 1 stated that victims of Hurricane Katrina were being raped and beaten and that fights and fires were out of control, leaving corpses laying in the open as the city descended into anarchy.
en.wikinews.org/wiki/Crime_in_New_Orleans_sharply_increases_after_Hurricane_Katrina
Police said a woman was stabbed to death Tuesday night — the first such incident in 90 days, a record in this city.Since Hurricane Katrina forced most of the residents to relocate, police say, the daily shootings and killings have stopped.”This was the most lethal criminal underclass in the United States,” said Dr. Peter Scharf, director of the University of New Orleans Center for Society, Law and Justice. “We were heading for a murder rate of 72 per 100,000. New York City is at seven.”abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=1320056
This may come as a shock, but New Orleans has some problems. Chief among them: erratic crime, rising sea levels, and a thoroughly unhinged jackass of a mayor who was elected by wealthy Uptowners and bussed-in, destitute evacuees–neither of whom have to deal with his shit because the former can always jet off to Gstaad and the latter still live in Houston.neworleans.metblogs.com/
On Aug. 29, 2005, New Orleans was on track to finish the year as the deadliest city in America, again. Crime had become atomized here–it was part of the culture, the air, the dark humor of the place. Under normal circumstances, criminologists believe, there are two ways to stop a cycle of gang violence: either dismantle the gangs or disrupt their business. In New Orleans, both happened overnight. Hurricane Katrinatime.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1194016,00.html
Crime has returned to New Orleans with a vengeance. Younger criminals, fighting turf and drug wars, are more violent than before. Police lack equipment to catch them. And arrests often achieve little due to an overtaxed criminal justice system.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5640177
Try again Mike, these stories are before, durring and after.
Yup, dicredit everything I say because I got the names of the domes confused.
Nice try fella.
Both sources said no one had been murdered inside the stadium.seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002520986_katmyth26.html
Bully Mike, score one for you. You are entirely correct on the Superdome. As per the rest….
NEW ORLEANS — On Sept. 1, with desperate Hurricane Katrina evacuees crammed into the convention center, Police Chief Eddie Compass reported: “We have individuals who are getting raped; we have individuals who are getting beaten.”
Five days later, he told Oprah Winfrey that babies were being raped. On the same show, Mayor Ray Nagin warned: “They have people standing out there, have been in that frickin’ Superdome for five days watching dead bodies, watching hooligans killing people, raping people.”
The ugliest reports — children with slit throats, women dragged off and raped, corpses piling up in the basement — soon became a searing image of post-Katrina New Orleans.
The stories were told by residents trapped inside the Superdome and convention center and were repeated by public officials. Many news organizations, including The Associated Press, carried the witness accounts and official pronouncements, and in some cases later repeated the claims as fact, without attribution.http://www.ww4report.com/node/1131
During the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the entire nation (including myself) was stunned by reports of savage violence inside the flooded city, especially the stories of rape, assault, and murder that were reportedly occurring at the convention center. The horrific stories, repeated by officials such as as New Orleans Mayor Nagin, soon dove-tailed into condemnation of the “sluggish” federal response, led by President Bush. Well, lo and behold, it appears that almost all of these stories were simply untrue.
In a story for the Associated Press, reporter Michelle Roberts details how major news organizations simply took rumors at face value, spinning reckless accounts of mass rape and murder. These accounts quickly began to drive the policy debate, as they were repeated by officials and pundits alike. Mayor Nagin, reacting to today’s AP report, sought again to avoid the blame, suggesting through a spokeswoman that he was too “trusting” of rumor spewing officials.
As reports of the media’s despicable hysteria begin to leak out, one wonders if an investigation into their role in spreading panic is more justified than an inquiry into the federal government’s response.http://moonbatcentral.com/wordpress/?p=1420
Seattle Timeshttp://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002520986_katmyth26.html
And from the most credible news organiztion in the world FOX NEWShey have no official reports of rape and no eyewitnesses to sexual assault. The state Department of Health and Hospitals counted 10 dead at the Superdome (search) and four at the convention center. Only two of those are believed to have been murdered.
One of those victims — found at the Superdome — appears to have been killed elsewhere before being brought to the stadium, said Bob Johannessen, the agency spokesman.
“It was a chaotic time for the city. Now that we’ve had a chance to reflect back on that situation, we’re able to say right now that things were not the way they appeared,” said police Capt. Marlon Defillo.
Sally Forman, a spokeswoman for Nagin, said the mayor was relying on others for his information about conditions at the evacuation sites. “He was listening to officials, trusting that information they were providing was accurate,” she said.
To be sure, conditions at both sites were chaotic. Water was rising around the Superdome, home to 20,000 evacuees. Toilets were backing up, garbage was rotting, fights were breaking out. Food was in short supply at the convention center, where about 19,000 people took shelter from the rising waters. The temperature was climbing. The elderly and very young were desperate for food, water and medicine.
Police said they saw muzzle flashes at the convention center, and a National Guard member was shot in the leg when an evacuee tried to take his gun.
A week after the floodwaters poured into the city, an Arkansas National Guardsman told The Times-Picayune of New Orleans that soldiers had discovered 30 to 40 bodies inside a freezer in the convention center’s food area. Guardsman Mikel Brooks told the newspaper that some of the dead appeared to have met violent ends, including “a 7-year-old with her throat cut.”
When the convention center was swept, however, no such pile of bodies was found.
Lt. Col. Jacques Thibodeaux of the Louisiana National Guard said reports of violence at the Superdome and the convention center were overblown. He was head of security at the Superdome and led the 1,000 military police and infantrymen who went in to secure the center on Sept. 2.
“The incidents were highly exaggerated” — the result of fear and hopelessness, he said. “For the amount of the people in the situation, it was a very stable environment.”
Thibodeaux said his guard unit received no reports of rape.
Bill Waldron, a homicide detective from Florida in New Orleans for a murder trial, was stuck in the convention center until Sept. 1. He said he saw a couple of fights between young men, but “no murders, no rapes.” He said that he did see people dying, but that those deaths were most likely a result of the heat and lack of water.
“People were wanting just some type of authority to come in and say, `Hey, this is what’s going to happen,”‘ Waldron said. “People were scared.”
New Orleans District Attorney Eddie Jordan said officials at the morgue in St. Gabriel have identified four apparent homicide victims from the city. All were shot and all were adults. Police arrested one person on suspicion of attempted sexual assault but received no official reports of rape.
Yeah not only did you get the name of the dome wrong…….the rest of your post was bs too.
Yeah Mike, they must be getting desperate. Between roscoe and meadowpoop, the resident lie mongers, and solly blindly striking out at anything that moves…
…truth seems to be the major casualty.
They just want to spew rhetoric that they have heard. Facts don’t matter. Remember they are people of faith. And faith does not require fact.
And now enjoy the silence.
Give Sebelius a break, sheesh. She did her job. As far as comparisons with NO, Nagin and the governor did not do their job, but they also had a much bigger job to do.And the city had a far higher percentage of people who were dependent on the government to take care of them. The government failed (as it usually does). A prime reason to NOT depend on the government.
Two veteran photojournalists - NPPA member Rick Wilking of Reuters and Getty’s Mark Wilson - were robbed of cameras and computer equipment today while on assignment in a neighborhood in New Orleans, and a photojournalist and a reporter were confronted at gunpoint and slammed against a wall by police following a shoot-out between looters and cops that left at least one person dead.nppa.org/news_and_events/news/2005/09/hurricane2.html
So home he went, about two months after the storm, to his old turf, and his old career.
Months later, Duplessis was dead. He was found fatally shot Aug. 4 on the steps of a trailer in the working-class neighborhood of Gentilly. It made for a minor post-Katrina story, but a depressingly common one in a city with a homicide rate that was the highest in the nation in the last six months, and about 15 times the national average.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-murder15feb15,0,3218523.story?track=tottext
Updated: 7:47 p.m. ET Sept 4, 2005NEW ORLEANS - Police shot and killed at least five people Sunday after gunmen opened fire on a group of contractors traveling across a bridge on their way to make repairs, authorities said.Deputy Police Chief W.J. Riley said police shot at eight people carrying guns, killing five or six.msnbc.msn.com/id/9208195/
Reporter Tim Harper and photographer Lucas Oleniuk of the Canadian Toronto Star daily were the victims of police violence while covering a clash between police and looters. The police threatened them several times at gunpoint and, when they realised Oleniuk had photographed them hitting looters, they hurled him to the ground, grabbed his two cameras and removed memory cards containing around 350 pictures. His press card was also torn from him. When he asked for his pictures back, the police insulted him and threatened to hit him.
rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=14894
The gangland-style killings of five teenagers in New Orleans over the weekend punctuated a troubling trend in the hurricane-ravaged city: Murder is returning to normal faster than other facets of city life.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-06-18-new-orleans-murder_x.htm
Drummer Dinerral Shavers was shot and killed just after Christmas while driving with his wife and child in New Orleans. So his group — the Hot 8 Brass Band — played a jazz funeral in New Orleans Saturday. It’s the third time in its 10-year history the band has played a funeral for one of its own members.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6735417
New Orleans still drowning in crimeTo recover from Katrina, city must stop the violence, says NICOLE GELINAS02:49 PM CDT on Sunday, May 13, 2007You don’t have to go to Baghdad to see what happens when government loses its monopoly on force; just visit New Orleans.More than a year and a half after Katrina hit in late August 2005, violent crime – already a grave problem long before the storm – pervades the city, endangering its recovery by driving some good people away and keeping others from returning.dcontent/dws/dn/opinion/points/stories/DN-gelinas_13edi.ART.State.Edition1.4310bb0.html
Mike & Farmie,Took a while to sort through the hundreds of thousands of hits when you -use the google- with New Orleans and violence in the search bar.
I guess the ‘truth’ and ‘facts’ for Mike & Farmie are where they choose to look – and stop looking.
Still enjoying the silence? Most violent city in America?
Your attempt to convolute the facts is inept at best. You make statements that immediately after the hurricane people were robbing, looting, killing, and raping others. When the fact is all of those stories were exaggerated. You then try to back up those facts with incidents that happened long after the city was evacuated. Am I debating whether NO was violent and currupt prior to Katrina? No I am not. But let’s not convolute the facts that most of the deaths were heat and water related. NO was not quite the war zone that you would like us to believe.
Farmie the thing you are overlooking in your search for the real truth: Having lived through both hurricaines and tornados as you said you have you know the major difference. The mayor of NO and the Gov. of LA. has days of warning and did NOTHING to get their people out of harms way. The people of Greensbury had minutes.
That smell must be coming from you as I have said before. Better have your eyes checked also. I think you have a problem with perception.
NO has been and is now one of the most if not the most crime ridden city in the US. Just ask Huston about the citizens they imported.
I saw this with my own eyes in 1978. Their own Chamber of Commerce had to warn us tourists to stay away from the ‘projects’. Goverment housing at it’s best. Even the NO law enforcement would not go in there.
When comparing the two - at least be honest about the circumstances. Liberals - honesty - in the same sentence. Sorry about that!
OK Mike, let’s take the stories of post Katrina out of the picture. Let’s take a look at the city before and after Katrina. Most Violent City in America. War zone? 15 times the average murder rate? The drastic rise in crime rates of the cities Katrina victims mobilized to?
Katrina hits and the city sings kumbaya. Do you seriously believe that?
Not to mention the Police Officers who failed to respond and quit and those who joined in the looting…
OMG germie, that is TOO funny.
1978? hehehehe. Thirty years ago? heheheheh. Yes, PLEASE use that as an example of N.O. today…
I think MOST large cities would advise you to stay away from crime ridden areas. I notice they didnt say stay away from the WHOLE city, just a high crime area.
Wanna bet they do the same thing in Kansas City? Would you advise tourists to avoid the crime ridden areas of Wichita?
I spent a LOT of time in N.O. when I lived in southeast Texas. I dont think anyone here, least of all Mike or I, is debating that N.O. is crime ridden. Please post where either of us said that.
No, you and solly just want to distract from the MASSIVE failure of bush’s fema by using the bright and shiney object of crime. Which existed before and after the hurricane. Just like in other cities.
And bushco was LESS prepared for the aftermath of the hurricane than Walmart. Hell, fema folks ever turned away Walmart trucks with water. Nice job.
Spin it however you want, blame the victims, whatever. Bushco’s FEMA blew it before, during and after Katrina.
I know that is hard for you to admit, that dear leader and his merry band of cronies are not perfect. In fact, they let a major American city go unreconstructed. For how many years?
NOW do you want to talk about truth?
Or do you just want to continue avoiding it?
Please, keep posting the spin. Everytime you post germie, a DEMOCRATIC angel gets it’s wings.
Not to mention that the rest of us get a good belly laugh from your nonsense.
hmmmmm…..
“Not to mention the Police Officers who failed to respond and quit and those who joined in the looting…”
WOuld that also include the SOLDIERS in Greensburg who were arrested for looting?
The original post is post Greensburg tornado and post NO Katrina. I am not debating that NO was a safe and peaceful city prior to Katrina. My point to you is the immediate aftermath(the 5 days waiting for FEMA to show up) was not a killing, raping, and otherwise pilaging that was exaggerated, that you chose to repeat as fact. It was proven that the stories of piled up bodies, children being killed, rapes of women were highly exaggerated. Let’s not twist the facts. I know it is hard, but let’s try…shall we?
Solly, you keep harping about N.O.’s crime rate. Mike and I are not disputing that.
It STILL doesnt excuse bushco and their cronies deposited at fema for their AWFUL response to the tragedy…
… and Mike, pointing out the errors of THEIR stories does not excuse the crimes that were indeed committed.
But DONT act like the crime in N.O. had the pussy bushco minions afraid to go to Louisiana.
If THAT is the case? No wonder the iraq war is such a failure…
The story here is a good one and needs to get out–
Bush officials are the puppet masters of a right-wing noise machine.
When Sebelius complained about Kansas Nat. Guard in Iraq, an e-mail quickly circulated picked up by the national press that DNC Chairman Howard Dean had told her to say that.
That was a damned LIE made up out of whole cloth.
Now, she was “jazzing it up for two days in New Orleans” according to Bob Novak, the same Bob Novak that outed Valerie Plame, the same COVERT CIA agent that the right-wing LIED was not covert until recently released court documents proved she really was covert.
It’s a pattern of behavior–smear and jeer against any and all public voices against Bush Co.
And never a moment’s regret about the lies or the spreading of those lies . . . the ends justify the means, might makes right.
…and they would have trashed ANYONE who took Cindy Sheehan’s position.
“It’s a pattern of behavior–smear and jeer against any and all public voices against Bush Co.”
Yep, it’s a pattern. Just look at what happens here. It’s “dear leader uber alles”.
hee hee hee hee
Maybe this is why the hard core 28 percenters like germie, paulie, and solly have their panties in a knot?
It’s hard to be a republican pimp these days….
“Rasmussen: Number of Republicans in U.S. reaches all-time new low”
http://www.rasmussenresearch.com/2007/April%20Dailies/P...
Since Dems lead among independents, if independents become a bigger voting bloc than Republicans, they’re toast.
I maintain that I started the DNC rumor in a post here. My thinking was that it was probably true since the guv wasn’t stupid or dishonest enough to say what she did about the Kansas guard without prompting.
I suppose it’s possible that she is.
I’m only kidding about starting the rumor, although I did post about it a day before the claims began.
Outlander–
That’s so stupid on so many levels.
But it does show a breathtaking level of narcassism . . .
I had no doubt that you wouldn’t get anything tongue in cheek, Capn. That’s why I wrote the clarifier.
OMG, now outlander is taking pride in being the FIRST to post a lie?
Is that what’s called honor among thieves?
Good grief! Thanks for that oh so christian example of how to respond to the “thou shalt not lie” commandment.
Just say “well, I broke it first”…
Jesus WEPT!
Not a lie. Speculation. And quite possibly true. i don’t like to think of our governor as dishonest. I would rather think of her as a pawn.
Howard Dean wept!
heheheheheheh.
I see. The FIRST to post lies wins?
And nowhere do I see outlander acknowledging that he posted a lie and apologizing for it.
Proves that being a con means you never have to say you are sorry.
Proves that lies are just another day at the office for the religious reich.
Proves that you cant take a damn thing they post as truth. If THEY refuse to fact check, why are they pissed if we fact check FOR them?
Proves that it is ok to lie if you are just repeating the right wing noise in the mighty wurlitzer of perpetual lies?
Oh, but it’s all a joke….
Funny, I didnt see any smilies posted along with lies.
So if I “speculate” that bush was found with both a live boy and a dead girl in his bed, it would be ok to post it here as TRUTH?
I mean, it could be “quite possibly true.”
And NO WHERE did you post that it was speculation. You and meadowpoop, the other religious liar here, BOTH repeated it as TRUTH, not speculation.
And even now, when BOTH the Howard Dean and Jazzfest rumors have been PROVEN to be untrue, you want to spin them as “speculation. And quite possibly true”?
Good GREIF outie. Thanks for giving us some insight into your moral relativism. Hell, even values boy says if you are a genetic liar you should make better choices.
A christian like outie spreading and re-spreading lies as truth. Knowingly. Say it isnt so….
Hey, there is a rumor and speculation that laura left the shrub and he is taking up with condi.
It could be quite possibly true. Should I post it as such?
Oh, and the 9/11 conspiracy theories? Just rumor and speculation, but they are quite possibly true.
Who would have imagined that outie would treat the truth the same as rosie?
hehehehehehehehehehhehehe……
OMG. Outie and meadowpoop. The very definition of how, in republican world, truthiness always trumps truth….
“Some sections of New Orleans-area levees had been poorly constructed because of poor planning and botched contract work.12 State and local agencies had failed to plan adequately for the transportation, housing, and security that would be needed during an extended crisis. Once the hurricane bore down on New Orleans, local officials waited too long to issue an evacuation order that failed to account for the poorest residents…Though fema could have used an infusion of experienced professionals, simply repeating the Witt recipe for reorganization would not have addressed the challenges of the twenty-first century…Witt initially had refused to take on more responsibility for terrorism preparedness because he thought the threat was too unpredictable for the agency to be able to address effectively. After 9–11, the country had no choice but to consider terrorism.
The media broadcast images of fema agents rushing to disaster sites and fema relief workers helping communities rebuild, all of which reinforced the public’s belief that the federal government owed the disaster-stricken public. Stories of federal relief were far more widespread than stories of investors and local governments choosing to invest in hurricane- or flood-prone areas, gambling that the federal government would bear the cost of rebuilding.
The Katrina disaster exposed the disconnect between preparation and response. Though the possibility of a catastrophic hurricane and flood was a staple of local lore and expert reports, New Orleans failed to plan for Katrina with the urgency and specificity that the response required.16 Plans were made but never thoroughly rehearsed. To take one example, the National Response Plan, adopted in December 2004 with great fanfare, gives the dhs broad authority during a catastrophe to deploy “key essential resources” such as medical and search and rescue teams, shelters, and supplies even without a request from state authorities. In the event of a catastrophe on the scale of Katrina, the plan notes, “A detailed and credible common operating picture may not be achievable for 24 to 48 hours (or longer) after the incident. As a result, response activities must begin without the benefit of a detailed or complete situation and critical needs assessment.”17 The secretary of homeland security possesses the legal authority to bypass normal disaster procedures to begin rescue missions and to deliver aid. The Katrina response, however, did not follow the spirit of the plan. Despite federal authority to deliver resources soon after or even before a disaster, federal officials complained that they were slowed because state and local leaders did not request resources soon enough. At each level of government, leaders failed to hash out their differences beforehand. As a result, officials ran into communications roadblocks that should have been uncovered before the disaster struck. “
hoover.org/publications/policyreview/3402076.html
Sebelius was not where she should have been. If it were Overland Park or somewhere in northeast Kansas, she would of been back right away. What can you expect from a non-Kansan.
Jeebus steve. I’m going to take the post as a joke.
‘Cause if BUSH had been where he was supposed to be, instead of in California playing air guitar…
…the disaster would have been better managed?
I must have missed the law that says no governor may leave the state just in case there is a disaster. And she had no warning for Greensburg.
And bush? And his warnings about Katrina? Eh… not so much….
Even if she showed up 10 min. after the tornados, what good would that have done? Sebelius showing her face in the city is only a feel good for the citizens. Her job was done. There was a disaster recovery plan in effect, and by all accounts, well executed. She could have been on the damn moon. The plan was in place and was executed. What is the big damn deal?
She didn’t sit on her hands and bitch to the white house for help. She actually helped her state. The state actually took responsibility immediately and went to work. Would y’all (who are complaining about her whereabouts) be happier if she showed up 10 min latter and just sat on her hands screaming for federal aid? For the federal gov’t to clean everything up?
Republicans are such liars. They would have one believe that the Gov. was in NO, taking calls from the DNC on talking points about Greensburg. They spread the lies, and don’t even have the decency to retract them, once their caught lying.
Yup, kfg. If you say that the following was a lie then I’m guilty. Personally though, I think you are full of it, as usual.
Speculating in a post that the DNC was just looking for a chance to use the governors’ complaints about the National Guard levels. That they saw it a chance to use this disaster for political purposes this disaster, and perhaps called the governor to remind her.
Reasonable. Of course. As I said before, I would rather think that the guv was a pawn, than to think she was dishonest.
Oh, and kfg, did you bother to read the referenced post before accusing me of lying? Of course not.
Outlander, really patiently now…
You posted a lie. I have no way of knowing if you did it deliberately, but at the very least, you didnt fact check the wingnut spin machine.
And when confronted with the lie? You said it was “speculation. Quite possibly true”.
So even though you KNOW it’s a lie, I have only seen you weakly defend and excuse your posting of a lie.
How is that NOT violating the “thou shalt not LIE” commandment?
Spin away. But if I were you, I’d observe the first rule of holes…
I saw no reference in your post outie. Just a defense of your admitted “truthiness”. No links, no post to reference.
And your truthiness still stands. Still want to defend it? I’m sure terry fox could tell you how best to spin a lie…
Is your previous post a 180 degree turn Sol? Are you now stating that our governor did the right thing? If so, I applaud your courage to admit a wrong. Congrats and welcome back to reality.
Maybe if the governor’s plane hadn’t been in Iraq she could have returned earlier! Gee, that comment sounds as stupid as she does!
Why would anyone, anywhere, buy into a rumor being started by Robert Novak?
to quote the Chimp Himself: “Rarely is the question asked–is our children learning?”
Well, is they?
Good lord. There is absolutely nothing too dirty, too deceitful, too bottom-of-the-deck for this Administration and its lackies. Nothing.
Chuckle. I’d give you the same advice kfg. Oh, and to get real.
Grrl, if you took all the times that anyone (pick anyone) here had speculated about motivations (which is what I did) and called it a lie, well, let’s just say it illustrates the absurdity of what you’re selling.
How many times has President Bush been accused of lying with no direct evidence? Lying about lying or speculation?
Enough of this stupid and foolish argument.
Mike, try re-reading my post. Where have I said anything negative about your local and state gov’t.
My gripe is the freakin hand out monkies that want to blame Bush for NO. It was the Fu@k up mayor and governor. I actually used YOUR governor to expose that.
Nice try though.
“As I said before, I would rather think that the guv was a pawn, than to think she was dishonest.”
False dilemma, outlander, and you know it.
She was neither a pawn nor dishonest, unless you’re going to say that the other 49 GOVERNORS who signed a letter complaining about their state’s National Guard getting pulled away to Iraq were also “pawns or dishonest.”
The dishonest pawn goes by the name of outlander.
Talk about a false, disingenuous argument, Capn. (lying?) The fact that the governors complained has nothing to do with this particular situation (Greensburg)!
In fact, it is evidence that would support the later contrived political use of the complaints.
Whaddaya know, ANOTHER governor taking responsibility and action in the face of a crisis.
Gov. Perry Activates State Resources in Advance of Severe StormsAUSTIN - Gov. Rick Perry today authorized the activation of search and rescue teams and equipment for deployment in advance of severe storms expected across Texas
Sure beats the hell out of waiting for someone else to wipe your butt eh Nagin, but then again, you might have to be responsible and actually do some work.
“Good GREIF outie. Thanks for giving us some insight into your moral relativism. Hell, even values boy says if you are a genetic liar you should make better choices.
“A christian like outie spreading and re-spreading lies as truth. Knowingly. Say it isnt so….”
This is disturbing. I used to think that outlander was not deliberately spreading falsehoods, but rather that he believed his delusions. With this admission he has put himself in the troll category along with Republitroll. I suggest ignoring what he writes, consider it graffiti, and walk on by without comment…
See where Willy Wonka Nagin is blaming Blanco and Bush for all of New Orleans’ woes? Once again, the black man can’t help himself and has to transfer the blame to everyone else!
And as for $ebeliu$, she played the political card by blaming Bush for not having enough equipment in Greensburg. If you want to ruin a state, go back to Ohio!
And STILL outlander wont admit he lied, and then spread that lie again by downgrading it to “speculation”?
I’m tellin’ ya. Being a con means never having to say you are sorry.
Liberal Democrats never lie except when they talk, type, write or generally communicate.
Of course it is easier for them as they use both sides of their mouth and use eraser pens.
TillerHaterHave you not seen the video of the Director of the National Hurricane center warning Prez Shrub of the impending storm? And by your name I am assuming you are part of Operation Rescue. Is that a safe assumption?
“Have you not seen the video of the Director of the National Hurricane center warning Prez Shrub of the impending storm? ”
And Nagin and Blanco had no warning. Why didn’t they evacuate the city and AVOID the casualties?
Ok Steven. Let’s hear it. Why did you say that I am “deliberately spreading falshoods” (lying)? I expect childish partisan crap from kfg, but not you. Just when you think you respect someone. Oh well.
As a matter of fact, Steven, don’t bother to reply.
Nagin issued an evacuation order, Solly. So what was it Nagin and Blanco were supposed to do? Forcibly remove people from their homes? Send them all marching North? Do you have any idea what it takes to evacuate a city of 500,000? Obviously not. Could Nagin and Blanco have done more? Perhaps, but I seriously doubt it. When an area faces a disaster of this magnitude, a federal response is required and relied upon. Bush sat on his ass and did nothing. FEMA’s response was utterly incompetent. Quit trying to shift blame, Solly — you have no idea what you’re talking about.
“I maintain that I started the DNC rumor in a post here. My thinking was that it was probably true since the guv wasn’t stupid or dishonest enough to say what she did about the Kansas guard without prompting.
“I suppose it’s possible that she is.
“Posted by: outlander | May 31, 2007 at 10:09 AM
“I’m only kidding about starting the rumor, although I did post about it a day before the claims began.
“Posted by: outlander | May 31, 2007 at 10:13 AM”
Even though you are not interested in my response, since I am calling for pretty significant action against you, I figure you deserve a response.
I used to think that you deliberately posted falsehoods to serve a narrow minded ideological agenda. When I met you at the Eagle sponsored meet-up, I concluded that you were sincere, but just a victim of impoverished ideology - hence the “believing your delusions” remark. Your behavior today suggests you post deliberate provocative remarks in the interest of who knows what; much like Republitroll. Thus, my suggestion of considering your postings as graffiti.
Thank you.
If ANY of you trusts one word coming out of this administration about ANYTHING, then you are a fool. How many times do you have to be lied to till you get it? The Bush Administration is all about covering its own collective butt while destroying the reputation of anyone who disagrees with them or calls them out on their lies and distortions. How pathetic that these are the people running this once respected and great country.
Uber,Just how many busses were destroyed instead of saved (and full of saved people) by water? Could they have done more, perhaps? Uhm, the city was the mayor and governor’s responsibility. They should be the first ones hung out to dry. But hand out monkeys would rather jump on the Bush band wagon.
Houston did a pretty good job of evacuating 1,953,631 people. I guess it is asking too much to evacuate ¼ of that number. Those that didn’t want to leave were handed permanent markers. They were asked to write their SSN on several parts of their body so that when the corpse was found, the parts could be identified. Most folks complied and packed out.
FEMA is built to SUPPORT the state infrastructure. The state has the responsibility for its own people. Or are you of the socialist mindset that the gov’t should be running your life.
“Liberal Democrats never lie except when they talk, type, write or generally communicate.”
Wouldn’t you know, Repuke is crying “Liar”. What a hypocrite! The worst liar and name stealer on the blog. What a worthless POS.
Sometimes I think it has to be a partisan blindness or thickness that makes people see things that aren’t there.
OK Steve, how do you take what you quoted and get that I lied or deliberately started a false rumor?
My thought, as expressed was that my idea may have got someone to thinking, since my speculation was posted May 9th and this all started May 10th. We were all wondering at that time why Sebelius made that questionable, partisan comment when rescue and recovery efforts were all going so well.
Go back to May 9th and actually read my entry. Then get yourself oriented in time and follow the comments down the line. If you still think the same, well so be it. I would be surprised, but then I was surprised before.
SolDevVB,
“Houston did a pretty good job of evacuating 1,953,631 people.”
Gridlock and traffic standing still does NOT = a “pretty good job”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_rita“By late Thursday morning, the contraflow lanes had been ordered after it was determined that the state’s highway system had become gridlocked. The Texas Department of Transportation was unprepared to execute such a large-scale evacuation.”
Ah, one of the fisters broke their vow of silence and trolled under a different name.
–Which proves my point!
http://blogs.kansas.com/weblog/2007/05/open_thread_28.html#comment-71041282
Bush did not go into hiding. He was reading a book to children and handled it just as a leader should. Without putting fear into the childrens minds. He calmly completed and then excused himself and did what I would hope any great leader would do. He thought things through……he stayed away from the media until the situation was assesed and then made his comments. It is so easy for all you left wing idiots to sit around and judge how the president handled 9/11. Have you people once every put yourself in the shoes of the president? Have you been in so many situations like that, you know exactly what to do and how to react? I swear, all of you arm chair politicians should go hang out with Chavez for about a year and come back appreciating what we have in the U.S.
Sebelious politicized the Greensburg situation. That is all there is to it. Getting her little pop shot in was more important than just handling the situation. Typical for the left. Constantly on the look out for who to point a finger at next.
Gee cosmos, seems to have been quite a bit better than NO.
Holy crap man, Houston evacuated just south of 2 million people – 2 MILLION PEOPLE – Opened up both directions of the highway to outbound traffic, and you are complaining about traffic jams. Get in freakin touch with reality.
The problem with NO was there WAS no traffic jam. The local administration FAILED to evacuate its people. You are unbelievable cosmos.
I think jared and solly have themselves worked up enough for us to call the Waaaaaaambulance for them today.
As far as Katrina…….there is no possible way that any government would be prepared for that situation. I don’t care how many drills you run…..how many repairs are done on the levy’s…it doesn’t matter. Nothing could possibly prepare us for a disaster of the size. The warning were put out just as they are every time a hurricane is heading our way and 90% of the people who stayed were capable of leaving. It had nothing to do with the color of skin. People chose not to leave. There were days of warning. If people did not have the money to leave they could have found a way out. For crying out loud they had 4 days warning. If I truely felt threatened my butt would be walking out. But in reality…..who would have thought that there would be that much distruction? There is no one to blame. Not global warming. Not republicans or democrats. Not the black man or the white man. It was a natural disaster that would have been impossible to prepare for. It is easy for everyone to look back after the fact and have all these things to point out that were done wrong. That’s easy! A monkey can do that. Be put in the situation and see how muh better you do.
Walk on by . . . walk on by . . .
Now for something interesting:
Judge says letters about convicted ex-Cheney aide will be released in CIA leak case© AP
2007-05-31 17:57:47 -
WASHINGTON (AP) - A federal judge said Thursday he will release more than 150 letters he received regarding next week’s sentencing of I. Lewis Libby, former chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney who was convicted in the CIA leak case.
Libby, convicted in March of perjury and obstruction of justice, had asked thatthe letters not be released. Attorneys for several news organizations argued that the law required that the letters be made public.
U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton agreed, citing a need for transparency.
“The court has received more than 150 sentencing letters in this case, some urging leniency for the defendant and some expressing opprobrium at the defendant’s actions and calling for the imposition of a substantial prison sentence,” Walton wrote.
http://www.pr-inside.com/judge-says-letters-about-convicted-ex-cheney-r140161.htm
Well . . . that should be interesting. Who wrote on Libby’s behalf and why?
Solly, my girlfriend lives in NORTH Houston and she did not evacuate because the roads were so crowded it took HOURS just to get five miles from home.
And all those folks stranded on those highways? They were worried about being caught when the hurricane arrived. Out on the highway in a car with no way to move.
It was a nightmare. My sweetie decided just to take her chances where she was rather than die on the highway with her pets and ill friend.
I was furious that she didnt evacuate, and fortunately for all of us, she and her brood were ok.
But it could have been veeeeery different with just a shift in the gulf. Dont let anyone fool you. The “evacuation” was a disaster.
And Perry is still clinging to that strategy. Do you know if they summoned every ambulance in Texas, it wouldnt be enough to evacuate all the patients at the medical school hospital in Galveston?
Houston evacuates 2,000,000. NO can’t get 500,000 out. But blame Bush. Wait, then praise Bush for getting Houston squared away.
Waaaambulance? Did you hurt yourself farmie? Got a little skinned knee there honey? Or is it your hind end hurting because you can’t blame Bush for everything and get away with it?
ksfarmgrrl…..
Your response is typical. Go drink your kool aide and get your fingers ready to point the blame.
I’ll give my life to someone who could succesfully evacuate 2 million people in 2 days without mass confusion. What the hell are you people smoking? Most parents can’t heard 3 kids without mass confusion and people are sitting around complaining and concerned about N.O. and Houston and how much chaos there was. Of course there was chaos. If it happened once a month there would still be chaos. Management of disaster will never be smooth.
SolDevVB explained himself completely when he referred to the citizens of New Orleans as “monkies” (sic)
“My gripe is the freakin hand out monkies that want to blame Bush for NO. It was the Fu@k up mayor and governor. I actually used YOUR governor to expose that.
Nice try though.
Posted by: SolDevVB | May 31, 2007 at 10:55 AM”
In normal society, that insult is considered the worst racial epithet.
And to remind some folks, the poster known as is on ignore until further notice.
SolDevVB,
* You cannot force people to evacuate.* People were more willing to evacuate after Katrina’s impact.* The Houston evacuation plan FAILED — until the TX DOT spent 8 to 10 hours to setup contraflow lanes.* Fortunately, there was more time to evacuate for Rita than Katrina.
“My gripe is the freakin hand out *monkeys* that want to blame Bush for NO”
Now WS, before you make yourself look anymore foolish, let’s look at the way you lie about a person’s post, even when you paste it within your post.
Now, did I say the people from NO blamed ANYONE? Please paste that piece specifically. If you put your glasses back on, it says the people who want to blame Bush.
Have you had your prescription (yeah that would be both for your glasses AND your medication) checked recently?
So, are you a liar? Are you ignorant? Or can you just not comprehend?
Cosmos,
From a previous post, the civil servants sent to evacuate the city gave people who wanted to stay permanent markers and asked them to put their SSN on as many body parts as they could. They explained that when their corpse was found, the SSN would help identifying the pieces. It was effective.
Did they get everyone out? Nope, but I bet they got a hell of a lot more out than did NO.
Was the plan flawless? Could it be called a failure? Some would, some wouldn’t. It took TDOT too long to get the highways squared away, but by God they were out there trying. More than can be said for the NO infrastructure?
Now, Houston is on the gulf coast and should have pretty good evacuation plans. NO is a freakin BOWL BELOW SEA LEVEL. Don’t you think they REALLY should have had their poop in a group?
“Now WS, before you make yourself look anymore foolish, let’s look at the way you lie about a person’s post, even when you paste it within your post.”
Mr. DevVB - I was commenting on your reference to the mostly black people of New Orleans was “monkies.” (sic)
That was my point - it is considered to be a highly racist comment to make such a reference. I was commenting on that point. I noticed that you did not refer to other people in such terms.
Thank you for asking about my prescriptions. I do not wear glasses while using the computer and my medication is up to date.
I think perhaps you might be well served with a bit of penance for your racial remarks, Mr. DevVB.
A good Christian would realize that a sin can only be forgiven is the sinner repents.
Take a breath, Sollie.
The hurricane per se killed hardly anyone in New Orleans.
The emergancy workers were high fiving themselves on Sunday morning thinking they had dodged a bullet.
What killed people was the flooding when the levees gave way much later.
They gave way because they weren’t maintained properly by the Army Corps.
And they weren’t maintained because of Bush and Republican funding cuts.
The Republican government could have prevented the massive destruction in New Orleans if they had wanted to.
They didn’t want to.
Evacuations are a moot point. No one would have had to evacuate if the government–federal government–had done its job.
But the party of personal responsibility only makes OTHER people be responsible . . .
kathleen sebelius didn’t get back to kansas from new orleans until 10pm on saturday night.
she was informed of the tornado’s destruction friday night.
pat roberts, tiahrt and moran were in Greensburg before noon on Saturday.
sebelius didn’t get there until 245.
what gives?why was she still in New Orleans? at the very least she should have come back to the state.
but no, she didn’t, she remained in New Orleans while people suffered.
she could have gotten the disaster declarations ready.
but no, she didn’t, she remained out of state on “vacation”
it took her longer to make executive orders helping greensburg than it did for her to make executive orders helping New Orleans during Katrina.
why?
why so long?
And they weren’t maintained because of Bush and Republican funding cuts.
Another shot at Bush!!! They knew about the levy’s for years. They knew about it when Clinton was president. So why is it Bush’s fault? Oh, that’s right because he is to blame for everything. I believe there were more funding cuts during Clinton’s tenure.
I guess you failed to read the article, Captain Pointy.
Typical right winger - facts optional.
“I believe there were more funding cuts during Clinton’s tenure.”
Provide some back up, Jared, because that is false.
“But the party of personal responsibility only makes OTHER people be responsible . . . ”
UMMM??? Didn’t you just make Bush and the Republican party responsible? when you said……
“They gave way because they weren’t maintained properly by the Army Corps.
And they weren’t maintained because of Bush and Republican funding cuts.”
Here ya go…..New York Time 1993
NATIONAL DESKCorps of Engineers Looking Warily for New RoleBy JON NORDHEIMERThe Army Corps of Engineers, once the well-oiled machine that could be counted on to move earth and perhaps even a piece of heaven with the right Congressional appropriation, is agonizing in the opening days of the Clinton Administration over reorganization, lean budgets and belt-tightening. Appropriations for the Corps have dried up faster than a dammed wetland in the last few years as Federal budget deficits and military cutbacks reduced money for massive engineering projects to a trickle.
February 28, 1993 U.S. News
WS, you are a hand out monkey. Are you offended?
Specifics, Jared, specifics. There are literally hundreds of waterworks projects. You said that Clinton cut funding for the levees for New Orleans.
By the way, the budget for the Army Corps of Engineers in February 1993 would have been the George Herbert Walker Bush budget.
Bill Clinton only took office in January 1993 and his first budget started in October 1993.
But nice try…..
And this my friend is from the office of President Bush in his 2004 Army Corp. Budget.
“Louisiana Coast. Over the past 75 years, more than one million acres of the Louisiana coastal plain have submerged into the Gulf of Mexico. Another third of a million acres could be lost by 2050. This wetlands loss results from human intervention and natural processes, including: 1) efforts by the Corps to maintain a commercial navigation channel from the Gulf of Mexico to New Orleans and farther up the Mississippi River and to provide flood and storm damage reduction to communities in the Louisiana coastal plain; 2) oil and gas development, including thousands of miles of canals built by private interests for exploration and production; and 3) natural subsidence and erosion of the lands where the Mississippi delta meets the Gulf of Mexico. The affected area supports a complex coastal wetlands and barrier island ecosystem, an environmental resource of national significance. Further measures are needed to help protect and rebuild this ecosystem. The Corps is currently working with the State of Louisiana to address the State’s coastal problems.”
“WS, you are a hand out monkey. Are you offended?”
I am not gay, Mr. DevVB, but I would be offended if you call a gay man a “faggot.” I am not a woman, but I would be offended if you called a woman a “ho.”
I don’t like people referring to a mostly black population as “monkies.” (sic)
Are you a racist, Mr. DevVB?
Mostly black population? The liberals in America are mostly black? The Bush Bashers and Government hand holders are mostly black?
Sounds to me like you might be a little racist WS. Wow, who knew?
The levees failed, below specs, because of design flaws.
‘Army Corps Admits Flaws in New Orleans’http://www.levees.org/research/sources/nytimes1.htm
More:
“February 8, 2000
For the metropolitan New Orleans area, Clinton’s budget was seen as a mixed bag by local lawmakers and government officials. For instance, while Clinton called for $1.5 billion to be spent at Avondale Industries to continue building LPD-17 landing craft, his budget calls for significantly less than what Congress appropriated last year for Lake Pontchartrain and vicinity hurricane protection and for West Bank flood control projects.”
Farmie I just got back and read you ridiculous answer to my post. Now it’s a stretch but try to enlarge your thinking compacity. It might help. Never can tell.
In 1978 when I first went to NO they had such a bad crime problem that the group I was with were warned away from the projects. These same projects were the source of many many complaints about how they were left to starve and die with no food and water. Eventhough most were able bodied enough to walk out they were waiting for the feds to come in and get them.
Fast forward to Katrina. Nagin, Blanco and other city and state officials set on their hands while the storm came closer and finally overcame New Orleans. Now paint the picture and tell me why Bush is responsible. I blame him for a lot of things, I am not in his corner in the immigration debacle, would like to see more action on the Iraq front, but did he fail NO, absolutely not. Years of a democratic reign in LA starting with Huey Long set that one up.
Pull your head out and quit trying to blame the woes of the world on Bush.
As for rebuilding NO, when the money that has been sent there over the years to maintain and repair the levees is found (what did happen to it?) and the repairs are made, then rebuild it, until then why waste money building homes in a fishbowl.
This is during Clinton’s Admin. Please recall the Republican majority and the fact that the republican lead congress consistently budgeted more than Clinton proposed when dealing with flood control in LA
“July 22, 1999
In passing a $20.2 billion spending bill this week for water and energy projects, the House Appropriations Committee approved some significant increases in financing for several New Orleans area flood control and navigational projects.
The spending bill is expected on the House floor within the next two weeks.
For the New Orleans District of the Army Corps of Engineers, the panel allocated $106 million for construction projects, about $16 million more than proposed by President Clinton.
The bill would provide $47 million for “southeast Louisiana flood control projects,” $16 million for “Lake Pontchartrain and vicinity hurricane protection,” $15.9 million for the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal Lock on the Industrial Canal in