Katrina And A Website

d r i f t g l a s s: Sunday Morning Comin' Down:

...For example, consider how something as simple and entertaining as holding the heads of our Elite Beltway Media underwater for one hour could clearly demonstrate in a way understandable even to laymen with no scientific training --


-- the difference between "Hurricane Katrina" and "a glitchy website..."

About The Elites

Katrina Shooting Charges Quashed

Asheville Citizen Times "Charges dropped in post-Katrina bridge shooting": "NEW ORLEANS – A judge threw out murder and attempted murder charges Wednesday against seven New Orleans police officers accused of gunning down two men on a bridge in the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

In quashing the indictments, District Judge Raymond Bigelow agreed with defense arguments that prosecutors violated state law by divulging secret grand jury testimony to a police officer who was a witness in the case..."

Katrina Woes

Facing South: Katrina trailer contractor failed to act on known health risks: "Gulf Stream Coach -- the politically connected company handed a $500 million federal contract to manufacture trailers for Hurricane Katrina victims -- knew its product was contaminated with dangerous levels of cancer-causing formaldehyde in early 2006.

But it failed to notify residents or take any action to protect them..."

Katrina and the Candidates

From: Sugar N Spice: Tavis Smiley Weighs in Obama's Absence From MLK Ceremon

 

...I've listed a number of instances here at Sugar N Spice in which Obama, when he should have been the one, if anybody, standing up for the issues of minorities, was tucking his tail and running. Back in 2005, in a statement on his U.S. Senate webpage, he states that the "ineptitude was colorblind" in the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. Obviously in an attempt to not seem too concerned with pointing out blatant racism--hoping to keep his white supporters happy. I'm sorry. I know that there were a lot of poor white folks left out there. Bless them, I know they were there, but the majority of the faces we saw festering in their own waste and stink were people of color, and as much as I'm glad I live in this country as opposed to someplace in the Third World, if the racial makeup of those stranded out there when the storm ended was different, they wouldn't have been left out there for so long. That's a tough pill to swallow for some, but it's the reality. Hillary even offered an apology stating:

 

I've said it publicly, and I say it privately: I apologize, and I am embarrassed that our government so mistreated our fellow citizens ... It was a national disgrace

 

But, Obama said the ineptitude was colorblind. He failed to show up to Tavis Smiley's State of the Black Union event, but Hillary was there--despite the fact that so many of my people have turned their backs on her--and yet. And, yet...African-Americans keep on making excuses for him. I'm disappointed that Dr. Cornel West is supporting him, but I am glad that he was at least man enough to publicly scold him and not offer some hat in hand excuse for his failure to show up...

 

I've also said it before and I will say it again-- our response to Katrina has been pathetic, though on a personal level many people of all shapes, sizes, and colors responded admirably. I was outraged by the Federal response and I was further outraged and embarrassed by the actions of certain groups of whites who were quite obviously trying to keep black Americans out of their "territory." I really felt ashamed that day. But given all that, Sugar does have a point about Obama's less than stellar performance on civil rights issues.

 

Obama In N.O.

Harry Shearer: What Obama Brought to New Orleans - Politics on The Huffington Post: "...He referred to 'Katrina battering the levees.' Does he know (or care) that those levees gave way under surge conditions far less than they were advertised to withstand? (NOTE: Though Katrina was a Cat 5 storm when it made landfall in Mississippi, it was a strong Cat 1 or weak Cat 2 by the time it passed New Orleans) And that the Corps that 'knowingly' (according to federal judge Stanwood Duval) built insufficient protection into that system continues to do its work without independent peer review? If so, he gave no indication in today's speech (that I can find so far).

I know commenters will say, 'lighten up, he came to your town, he put it in the spotlight, he showed he cared.' Here's my response: if a physician comes to your house, has a great bedside manner, and shows deep compassion, but misdiagnoses your condition and therefore misprescribes, are you supposed to be grateful?"

State Farm Mob

State Farm hit with RICO charges over Katrina payments - AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth: "Instead of focusing on helping GOP campaign contributors win fat contracts in the devastated area, the administration should have been thinking of the individuals who were impacted. The reports about State Farm and their post-Katrina actions are sickening and should be met with a forceful response. When the GOP complains about frivolous lawsuits - and of course, that happens - they always overlook alleged situations such as this. It will be interesting to see how State Farm responds to be charged under federal racketeering laws, just like mobsters. If the shoe fits..."

The shoe fits just right. "One man with a briefcase can steal more than a hundred men with guns" --Don Corleone, Mario Puzo's The Godfather.

A Katrina "Do-Tell"

Brown: Party politics played role in Katrina response - CNN.com: "NEW YORK (AP) -- Party politics played a role in decisions over whether to take federal control of Louisiana and other areas affected by Hurricane Katrina, former FEMA director Michael Brown said Friday.

Some in the White House suggested only Louisiana should be federalized because it was run by a Democrat, Gov. Kathleen Blanco, Brown told a group of graduate students at a lecture on politics and emergency management at Metropolitan College of New York.

Brown said he had recommended to President Bush that all 90,000 square miles along the Gulf Coast affected by the hurricane be federalized, making the federal government in charge of all agencies responding to the disaster.

'Unbeknownst to me, certain people in the White House were thinking we had to federalize Louisiana because she's a white, female Democratic governor and we have a chance to rub her nose in it,' he said..."

Lieberweaseling, Part II

Crooks and Liars » Action Alert on Katrina: Lieberman and Landrieu need to know: "We are all aware of Holy Joe's Iraq war stance, but this latest flip/flop is really deplorable.

Sen. Joe Lieberman, the only Democrat to endorse President Bush’s new plan for Iraq, has quietly backed away from his pre-election demands that the White House turn over potentially embarrassing documents relating to its handling of the Hurricane Katrina disaster in New Orleans. Senator Joe Lieberman has just taken the very surprising step of revealing to Newsweek that he will not use his chairmanship on the Homeland Security committee to aggressively probe the government's catastrophic failings in the wake of Hurricane Katrina..."

Com'on, Joe. This stance is just immoral.

Cows Before People?

From a comment thread at Huffington Post:

"Somewhat off subject but am I the only one noticing the National Guard is getting food to snowbound Colorado CATTLE sooner than they got food to Katrina victims at the Superdome?

By: underbear1 on January 03, 2007 at 10:50am "

A fine question, and a fine point. I can think of several reasons why the cows got fed first, but nothing excuses what happened during Katrina. Nothing.