Katrina's POLITICAL aftermath (keep the political discussions HERE)

The 4th anniversary of 9/11 is due in a week or so.

Had Katrina just fizzled into the Yucatan as a tropical depression last week instead, we'd be already be seeing the massive parades of 9/11 nostalgia on TV, and see the angelic imposed Bush over those American flags as "the fighter against terrorism".

Well, um, I don't think that's going to happen this time.

Mass media might decide to tone down the New Orleans disaster coverage and focus right back into 9/11 nostalgia as usual.

But probably not. Who knows. If Gulf coast disaster isn't "boring" by then, then the focus will not be nearly as strong as it was for the previous "remember 9/11" anniversaries. U.S. mass media will flip between pro-Bush and anti-Bush depending on what is exciting viewers the most, period. U.S. mass media wants to feed more passion and hence more ratings to itself. When a major story becomes "boring", it's time to move on.

I don't think the Gulf Coast disaster news will become "boring" by 9/11/2005...

Right around 9/11/2005, we'll be seeing more accurate roundups of the death toll down there in the central Gulf coast, as the waters evaporate, recede, etc. No one knows if things will STILL get better by then, by more shit is going to be hitting more fans JUST IN TIME for 9/11/2005. It's possible that "the 4th anniversary" is going to be a secondary footnote in the news...

Not only that, in future years, future "anniversaries" on mass media will have to honor both Katrina aftermath *and* 9/11, in that order, for chronological reasons.

I think Bush's "remember 9/11" crutch/support might have finally given way... thanks to Katrina's timing.

And of course, I'm NOT trying to downplay the importance and horror of 9/11.. DUh! But I've been sick to my stomach for the past three years around this time, though, because our not-known-then-but-known-now ineptness of our government to have prevented this in SO many ways had been totally clusterfucked and warped into a big celebration and veneration of Bush. And forgive me if I'm happy at the possibility of the latter being dismantled now.. and allowing 9/11 rememberance to be what it truly should be, and not serve as a pedestal for which to support and venerate Bush.

I have more thoughts on this later. Sadly I have to go back to work.

"Yes, that's right... the man responsible for directing federal relief operations in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, sharpened his emergency management skills as the "Judges and Stewards Commissioner" for the International Arabian Horses Association... a position from which he was forced to resign in the face of mounting litigation and financial disarray."

CONVOY AFTER CONVOY... [Rich Lowry ]
...pouring into NO. It's great to see...
Posted at 02:20 PM

I SURE HOPE HE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT HE IS TALKING ABOUT [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
"My guess is that it will start at 10,000, but that is only a guess," [Louisiana Senator David] Vitter said," talking about Louisiana.
Posted at 01:53 PM

INCISIVE!

"Using our firm as a typical example reveals just how devastating the storm has been. Until today I could not locate all of my partners. Obviously we cannot perform necessary banking functions. We cannot receive mail. We cannot communicate with or visit our office. We cannot find many clients. We cannot collect fees or send bills. Consequently, there will be a significant delay in revenue collection and, as an obvious by-product, a very real threat to our ability to pay or even maintain all employees.

"Yesterday I made calls to ask for some delay on behalf of our employees, but I was turned down flat. Despite the circumstances, credit card companies insisted upon payment and, on at least two separate occasions, confirmed that accounts will continue to accrue interest and that they will charge fees for late payment. In the face of this overwhelming tragedy, which has left over one million people with uncertain futures, such a position is scandalous."

x-post

(sorry. kidding, of course.)

Well, um, I don't think that's going to happen this time.

thing is, i think the Freedom Walk is still on. maybe they'll frame it as "we must honor the dead of new orleans by continuing the fight over there"

http://www.aliens.ibt.pl/COMPANY/burke03.jpg

only the marines who'll say "i say we grease this ratfuck sonuvabitch right now. Yer DOGMEAT, pal!" are 3000+ miles away.

also, they won't get their just desserts by becoming just desserts gobbled up by monsters.

Oh, come on. The people of New Orleans brought this on themselves. You know what it's like there. Where's Jerry Fallwell? Where the FUCK is Jerry Fallwell? It's times like this when we need his wise words.

well, i was being facetious, but shit, they're the ones still holding the goddamn pro-war march after all this anyway... We're far beyond rationality, here.

as Arthur Silber wrote in one of his posts, at least when the Soviet Army had a parade, they celebrated something positive...

he also put this thing up, WHEN NEXT WEEK NEVER COMES, NOW IS THE TIME FOR POLITICS

2005: Expect the worst.

i was wondering how debt collectors would respond to this, whether they'd be willing to suspend the debts or put people's accounts on hold. not surprising that they're acting like loan sharks.

On Channel 4 news over here they just showed a clip of Bush with Trent Lott going on about how they're going to rebuild Trent Lott's house and he's looking forward to sitting on his new porch.

We were sitting there going "did he actually just say that? I guess he did"

I'm just in a big WTF about this whole thing.

The big disconnect on New Orleans

Diverging views of a crumbling New Orleans emerged Thursday. The sanitized view came from federal officials at news conferences and television appearances. But the official line was contradicted by grittier, more desperate views from the shelters and the streets.

Or investigate, apparently.

I was in Texas when I was watching all this and exclaimed 'Man that Clinton is such a classy dude' to which the person standing next to me responded 'Are you kidding?'. I forgot where I was for a second.

"No one can say they didn't see it coming"
In 2001, FEMA warned that a hurricane striking New Orleans was one of the three most likely disasters in the U.S. But the Bush administration cut New Orleans flood control funding by 44 percent to pay for the Iraq war.

Amazing prophetic article from last October in National Geographic:

It was a broiling August afternoon in New Orleans, Louisiana, the Big Easy, the City That Care Forgot. Those who ventured outside moved as if they were swimming in tupelo honey. Those inside paid silent homage to the man who invented air-conditioning as they watched TV "storm teams" warn of a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico. Nothing surprising there: Hurricanes in August are as much a part of life in this town as hangovers on Ash Wednesday.

But the next day the storm gathered steam and drew a bead on the city. As the whirling maelstrom approached the coast, more than a million people evacuated to higher ground. Some 200,000 remained, however—the car-less, the homeless, the aged and infirm, and those die-hard New Orleanians who look for any excuse to throw a party.

The storm hit Breton Sound with the fury of a nuclear warhead, pushing a deadly storm surge into Lake Pontchartrain. The water crept to the top of the massive berm that holds back the lake and then spilled over. Nearly 80 percent of New Orleans lies below sea level—more than eight feet below in places—so the water poured in. A liquid brown wall washed over the brick ranch homes of Gentilly, over the clapboard houses of the Ninth Ward, over the white-columned porches of the Garden District, until it raced through the bars and strip joints on Bourbon Street like the pale rider of the Apocalypse. As it reached 25 feet (eight meters) over parts of the city, people climbed onto roofs to escape it.

"I think it puts into question all of the Homeland Security and Northern Command planning for the last four years, because if we can't respond faster than this to an event we saw coming across the Gulf for days, then why do we think we're prepared to respond to a nuclear or biological attack?" said former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

San Andreas rolls over, burps, and says "I'm still here!"

(nothing greater than a 4.5 in this "swarm" so far)

NEWT GINGRICH OTM!

xpost holy shit donut

sorry. that just seems like it bears repeating.

Xpost

There could very well be a news item on this tonight... although this is just a car vandalization after all. News may be slow here, but not that slow.

Hahahahaha!

New slogan/tee shirt

More like, Newt Gingrich on the campaign trail. But yeah, even that tells you something.

That explains all the noise in the basement whenever I've visited.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/02/katrina.response/index.html

[insert snarky comment about holding press conferences to state how well you're handling emergencies in an age of digital cameras and blogs]