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

Katrina's POLITICAL aftermath (keep the political discussions HERE) (666 new answers)

(This makes me think of Hillel, but the echo seems subtle enough that I wonder if it's intentional.)

man, Interdictor got covered over there, too. One of the popular topics of discussion on SA(where he was a poster, and where I lurk), the "what would you do if zombies attacked/post-apoc/Mad Max scenario" thing is a popular topic of discussion. if you're a survivalist and you're suddenly presented with a very real chance to go play, yer gunna take it.

in related news, Lowtax is now fighting with PayPal to release the $28K he raised for relief efforts. They locked the account yesterday for "suspicious behavior."

Alex Swann, spokesman for McLellan, said when the deputy minister invited the vice-president last year she asked not simply to visit Canada but Alberta and the oilsands.

“So energy is going to be the focus of the discussion of the whole visit.

Does he ever have anything on his mind other than oil? oh, yeah -- scaring people with the spectre of another terrorist attack. given that the gov't has proven to be utterly unprepared, incompetant and blind to the facts, i suppose he's right on that account, though.

A proposal to detach the Federal Emergency Management Administration from Homeland Security is to be introduced this week in Congress. Some critics say that the Homeland Security takeover of FEMA added a harmful layer of bureaucracy.

Others have questioned the FEMA leadership of Michael Brown, whose background in law, finance and public service includes no prior emergency-management experience.

I do hope that they split out FEMA. The DHS seems -at least right now- to be an oversized, bumbling beauracracy. I fly a LOT (30,000 miles so far just since January), and so my primary contact with them is with the TSA at the airports. I'm so unimpressed with the mess that they have made out of airport screening, that I can't imagine that they're any more competent on more complicated problems. Airport screening should be simple- you're dealing with a lot of people and luggage, but it's not rocket science. But I read a lot of stories of knives and guns getting through, and there was the episode earlier this summer where they lost some explosives used in an exercise- they were inserted into an actual passenger's luggage, and the screener didn't catch them, so they went all the way to europe (and I beleive were never found). If they can't handle that kind of work, why are we expecting them to be able to handle something crazy complex like disaster recovery efforts?

http://nytimes.com/2005/09/04/national/nationalspecial/04cnd-bush.html

according to a banner ad on the CNN frontpage, El Doofus' father(guy who fucked up with FEMA 13 years ago) is on Larry King tomorrow to discuss relief efforts.

And I think back to election 2000 with Al Gore, a mostly "serious" person (except for that beard thing) running for Class President against Bluto fucking Blutarsky. I don't mean serious = correct, necessarily, but you know, someone with some kind of idea of how things work. And I kept right on thinking, "OK, I know the GOP can do better than this guy, and who in their right mind would vote for this clown over the Gore"? It's like my very own Pauline Kael moment, and it's immortal now because it's on the interwebs.

Anyway, "Brownie" was always my favorite character from Animal House, the way he got under Dean Wormer's skin.

(from a summary at Sojo.net)

Last week the Bush Administration derailed efforts to address global poverty at the upcoming United Nations World Summit in New York City Sept. 14-16. U.S. ambassador to the UN John Bolton called for drastic changes to the summit's draft agreement. His more than 750 amendments significantly reduce the focus on global poverty and delete every single reference to the Millennium Development Goals (which, among other things, provide a blueprint to cut extreme global poverty in half by 2015).

and from the WaPo article:

The United States has only recently introduced more than 750 amendments that would eliminate new pledges of foreign aid to impoverished nations, scrap provisions that call for action to halt climate change and urge nuclear powers to make greater progress in dismantling their nuclear arms. At the same time, the administration is urging members of the United Nations to strengthen language in the 29-page document that would underscore the importance of taking tougher action against terrorism, promoting human rights and democracy, and halting the spread of the world's deadliest weapons...

[...]

The U.S. amendments call for striking any mention of the Millennium Development Goals, and the administration has publicly complained that the document's section on poverty is too long. Instead, the United States has sought to underscore the importance of the Monterrey Consensus, a 2002 summit in Mexico that focused on free-market reforms, and required governments to improve accountability in exchange for aid and debt relief...

Boost energy efficiency
Improving the fuel economy of the cars and trucks Americans drive to 40 mpg would save 6 million barrels of oil a day, many times more than is being lost because of Katrina. Indeed, all these policies are simple, if not easy, and most have been suggested for years. In the end, Katrina could be a wake-up call for pols to finally stop posturing and get serious about the nation's energy vulnerabilities. If they don't, cataclysms like Katrina could happen again.

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/sep2005/nf2005091_2860_db094.htm

(I saw that because David Corn linked to it.)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/katrina/story/0,16441,1561909,00.html

I had been looking forward to going out dancing tonight but I've had a headache lodged in my right temple throughout most of the day, oddly localized like that.

Where was that quote from, Ian?

-- Tim Ellison (thefriendlyfriendlybubbl...), September 4th, 2005 2:24 PM.

Seriously, a U.S. senator really just said that she was going to punch Bush?

She said that while flying in a helicopter over New Orleans with George Stephanopolous (sp?) for This Week on ABC.

"If the CIA slips me something and next week you don't see me, you'll all know what happened."- Mayor Ray Nagin

-- Fritz Wollner (fritzwollner5...), September 4th, 2005 3:05 PM.

I'm willing to bet that he's already received a death threat.

http://images.chron.com/content/news/photos/05/09/01/katrina_renegadebus.jpg

Now we know. Video of Celine wigging out on Larry King's show.

http://www.livejournal.com/userpic/34583447/8201593

Donald Rumsfeld: "We're not, uh... we won't be involved with that. We'll be leaving that up to local law enforcement and uh... to delegate that."

Rumsfeld then goes on to save face by listing what the Defense Dept. will be involved with, which includes everything BUT defense. Is this just a lame strategy to cover up the fact that everyone's over in Iraq?

Louisiana officials are getting stretched too thin and need help, she said. "I like to hire the smartest people in the country," she added.

the local radio just said she also refused to turn over control of the Natl Guard to FEMA, but there's no confirmation of that.

nytimes.com also mentioned that, but I don't remember which article it was.

As this guy writes:

Because, as well all know, the buck stops with the FEMA director and not the head of Homeland Security (his boss) or George Bush (HIS boss).

"We had the USS Bataan sailing almost behind the hurricane so once the hurricane made landfall, its search and rescue helicopters could be available almost immediately So, we had things ready.

"The only caveat is: we have to wait until the president authorizes us to do so. The laws of the United States say that the military can't just act in this fashion; we have to wait for the president to give us permission."

BUSH'S OWN PLAN: The 2004 National Response Plan explicitly states that, at times of

any natural or manmade incident, including terrorism, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the population, infrastructure, environment, economy, national morale, and/or government functions,

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

(The National Review)
September 03, 2005, 4:54 p.m.
New Orleans 2008

The wind had barely stopped blowing before Katrina and the storm's aftermath had become the latest front in the nation's political/cultural war. Bush critics are already undermining their own cause with overreaching, as they denounce the president as a racist for his alleged unconcern about the suffering of so many black people in New Orleans. But an administration whose FEMA director knew less about on-the-ground conditions in the stricken city this week than the average TV viewer has a real vulnerability.

It will only address that vulnerability with a performance in coming days and weeks that is more in keeping with the GOP's image as the "daddy party," the party of competence, the party that can be trusted in times of crisis. That is the main thing. But symbolism will matter too. No single step would go further to dramatize the GOP's commitment to rebuilding New Orleans than announcing now that the party's 2008 convention will be held in the recovering city. Such a move would signal the party's confidence in the Big Easy's renewal, and put it at the forefront of what should be similar commitments from private actors to do their part to help New Orleans come back.

Critics will call it a transparent attempt to burnish the party's image after the Bush administration "failed" with the initial relief effort. The gesture would, however, reflect the genuine sentiment of Republicans who, like all Americans, want to help a city facing such a bleak future. We heard similar complaints — easily brushed off — about the Republicans' coming to New York for last year's convention.

No doubt there will be logistical problems. There were logistical problems putting on big events in New Orleans even in the best of times. But the Republicans held their convention there in 1988, and should return 20 years later. They will go to a city that then will, no doubt, still be scarred by the catastrophe of the last week, but back on its feet, and a perfect venue for a testament to the American spirit.

http://www.nationalreview.com/editorial/editors200509031654.asp

i imagine that there were similar conversations in the kremlin circa chernobyl.