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

The President today declared an emergency exists in the State of Louisiana and ordered Federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts in the parishes located in the path of Hurricane Katrina beginning on August 26, 2005, and continuing.

You saying I don't? ;-)

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.

An agency spokeswoman said space was needed on the rescue boats and that "the recovery of the victims is being treated with dignity and the utmost respect."

"We have requested that no photographs of the deceased be made by the media," the spokeswoman said in an e-mailed response to a Reuters inquiry.

The Bush administration also has prevented the news media from photographing flag-draped caskets of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq, which has sparked criticism that the government is trying to block images that put the war in a bad light.

The White House is under fire for its handling of the relief effort, which many officials have charged was slow and bureacratic, contributing to the death and mayhem in New Orleans after the storm struck on Aug. 29. (Additional reporting by Deborah Charles)

© Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved.

IT GONNA RAIN!

Literally.

http://sigmund.biz/0904/index0006.html

http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/09/07/katrina.congress/index.html

Also after meeting with Bush on Wednesday, Frist placed the blame for the slow response on all levels of government but warned against citing specific individuals.

[...]

In a response to Pelosi, Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman faulted the Democratic leadership for using devise language during a time of national crisis.

"While countless Americans are pulling together to lend a helping hand, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are pointing fingers in a shameless effort to tear us apart," Mehlman said in a written statement.

he might be on the down-low for a coupla days.

however, frist & hastert are vocal as ever.

You can't really defend his performance after the hurricane though. Waiting so long to visit the area, and seeming (even for him) mindblowingly disinterested.

I've been tuning into some conservative talk radio lately, for pure entertainment reasons. It is so rediculous the nonsense that comes out of the mouths of rush, hannity, glen beck, and especially Michael Savage. It's truly very scary, cause the people that listen to these guys vote.

I honestly heard some woman call into one of the shows and suggest that, like she and her husband, the victims in new orleans should have bought an "inexpensive R.V." that way they could have just chilled out, away from the city. rediculous

The police told us that we could not stay. Regardless, we began to settle in and set up camp. In short order, the police commander came across the street to address our group. He told us he had a solution: we should walk to the Pontchartrain Expressway and cross the greater New Orleans Bridge where the police had buses lined up to take us out of the City. The crowed cheered and began to move. We called everyone back and explained to the commander that there had been lots of misinformation and wrong information and was he sure that there were buses waiting for us. The commander turned to the crowd and stated emphatically, "I swear to you that the buses are there..."

"We marched the 2-3 miles to the freeway and up the steep incline to the Bridge. It now began to pour down rain, but it did not dampen our enthusiasm.

As we approached the bridge, armed Gretna sheriffs formed a line across the foot of the bridge. Before we were close enough to speak, they began firing their weapons over our heads. This sent the crowd fleeing in various directions. As the crowd scattered and dissipated, a few of us inched forward and managed to engage some of the sheriffs in conversation. We told them of our conversation with the police commander and of the commander's assurances. The sheriffs informed us there were no buses waiting. The commander had lied to us to get us to move.

We questioned why we couldn't cross the bridge anyway, especially as there was little traffic on the 6-lane highway. They responded that the West Bank was not going to become New Orleans and there would be no Superdomes in their City. These were code words for if you are poor and black, you are not crossing the Mississippi River and you were not getting out of New Orleans..."

Officials were being asked what they were going to do about all those families living up on the freeway? The officials responded they were going to take care of us. Some of us got a sinking feeling. "Taking care of us" had an ominous tone to it.

Unfortunately, our sinking feeling (along with the sinking City) was correct. Just as dusk set in, a Gretna Sheriff showed up, jumped out of his patrol vehicle, aimed his gun at our faces, screaming, "Get off the fucking freeway". A helicopter arrived and used the wind from its blades to blow away our flimsy structures. As we retreated, the sheriff loaded up his truck with our food and water.

Once again, at gunpoint, we were forced off the freeway.

note: first use of "In the post-Katrina world," i've seen.

if that flowchart doesn't load, see it here

1. One to deny that a light bulb needs to be changed.

2. One to attack the patriotism of anyone who says the light bulb needs to
be changed.

3. One to blame Clinton for burning out the light bulb.

4. One to tell the nations of the world that they are either responsible for
changing the light bulb or for darkness.

5. One to give a billion dollar no-bid contract to Halliburton for the new
light bulb.

6. One to arrange a photograph of Bush, dressed as a janitor, standing on a
stepladder under the banner: Lightbulb Change Accomplished.

7. One administration insider to resign and write a book documenting in
detail how Bush was literally inthe dark.

8. One to viciously slime #7.

9. One surrogate to campaign on TV and at rallies on how George Bush has had
a strong light bulb changing policy all along.

10. And finally one to confuse Americans about the difference between
screwing a light bulb and screwing the country.

also, with the $51.8B emergency relief bill currently being batted about in Congress, guess which federal agency would get control of most of the money? (hint: they've been in the news a bit lately)

Also, the $10.5B approved on friday will probably run out by tonight.

Such fun times we live in.

Reform Bankruptcy "Reform"

XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX THU SEPT 08, 2005 08:02:33 ET XXXXX

CNN PRESIDENT HOLIDAYS IN NANTUCKET DURING NETWORK HURRICANE COVERAGE

CNN President Jonathan Klein spent last week on a posh island off Massachusetts while his network was down in the muck, covering Hurricane Katrina, the NEW YORK DAILY NEWS reports.

Reporter Lloyd Grove quotes a CNN rep: "Coverage plans for the hurricane were set before he left, and Jon was in constant contact with his deputies and CNN the entire time."

Klein has held the title of CNN president since November 2004.

Klein's holiday in Nantucket did not apparently hurt CNN in the ratings; the all-news network saw audience levels reach the highest levels in years, with host Aaron Brown even topping FOXNEWS one night last week in the demo.

Despite the rare Brown demo win, FOXNEWS still commands a wide lead over its competition.

WRONG PRESIDENT, STUPID: http://drudgereport.com/flash3jk.htm

You're on your own, Britain's victims told

British families trapped in New Orleans last night claimed that US authorities had refused to evacuate them as Hurricane Katrina approached the city.

Although assistance was offered to US residents, British nationals were told they would have to fend for themselves. According to those who remain stranded in the stricken city, police had visited hotels and guest houses on the eve of the hurricane offering to evacuate Americans, but not Britons.

The order meant UK holidaymakers without cars were left helpless in the face of the hurricane. Some have been trapped in hotels and guest houses since the hurricane struck at 7am local time last Monday.

One family from Liverpool, trapped in a flooded section of the city, told relatives yesterday of their bewilderment when they realised US citizens would be offered preferential treatment.

Gerrard Scott, 35, spoke to his brother Peter from the Ramada Hotel in New Orleans where he has been stranded without assistance with wife, Sandra, 38, and seven-year-old son Ronan for the past six days. 'Those that didn't fit their criteria were told to help themselves. The police said they were evacuating Americans, and took away the majority.

'The British who were left all thought the police would come back, but nobody has. They have just been left,' said Peter Scott last night. Among the 30 or so people still inside the Ramada Hotel is a woman recovering from breast cancer who had been confined to a hotel room by herself because of fears over her immune system.

oh here it is. Remember, this is Bob "Karl Rove's best buddy/valeria plame non-friend" Novak:

Political deafness mixed with lawyerly evasion was shown on ''Meet the Press'' when Chertoff claimed the breaking of the New Orleans levees ''really caught everybody by surprise.'' Russert cited repeated forecasts of this disaster by the New Orleans Times-Picayune, but Chertoff insisted he did not say what he had just said...

and so on from there. He'll probably spin this all later as just an "anti-lawyer"(goes along with the "tort reform" bullshit) later on, but still, he still said what he said.

"The power elite of New Orleans -- whether they are still in the city or have moved temporarily to enclaves such as Destin, Fla., and Vail, Colo. -- insist the remade city won't simply restore the old order. New Orleans before the flood was burdened by a teeming underclass, substandard schools and a high crime rate. The city has few corporate headquarters.

"The new city must be something very different, Mr. Reiss says, with better services and fewer poor people. "Those who want to see this city rebuilt want to see it done in a completely different way: demographically, geographically and politically," he says. "I'm not just speaking for myself here. The way we've been living is not going to happen again, or we're out."

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/WSJ_White_rich_escape_New_Orleans_chaos_dont_want_blacks_poor__0908.html

and now Texas Gov. Rick Perry is doing quite a bit of self-promotin' himself.