Hurricane Katrina: Aftermath and Cleanup, Continued, Again

Mr. Bee · Sep 2, 2005

Andy Bennett said:

There's something I don't understand about the situation over there, (and apologies if it's been asked before), but why didn't they get the people out of New Orleans before the hurricane. I'm not talking about the people who had vehicles or the money to get themselves out - I heard the police chief fell saying "it's time to haul arse" - but what about the hundred thousand or so people who didn't have the money or intelligence to get themselves out.

There was a young British girl on TV over here who had only arrived there a day or so beforehand and hadn't been following the news. She was on holiday backpacking her way across the US and most people don't follow the news particularly when they're on holiday. In any event when someone DID happen to mention that they were all leaving because of a suspected hurricane she immediately tried to get out, only to find that all public service transport had been cancelled until further notice.

I mean, what's the point of the police chief telling people to get out if they've no way of actually doing it unless they've got a car or van or access to one.

I'm afraid it has to be said fellas that in most other developed countries the state would likely have provided some form of transport if people didn't have their own. Particularly in the situation where everyone knew that there was a possibility that these levees might be breached and the city flooded with salt water, sewage and chemicals from factories.

Obviously if people THEN don't want to go, that's their affair but this young girl said that there were many people trying at the same time as her to get out who couldn't. She said there were people with almost no money or savings who had sold what little they had in an attempt to get out who were stuck there.

I'm sorry to have to say it but, frankly, you've been made to look like some type of banana republic.
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Because the entire goddamn system, from the Federal to the State to the Local government, screwed up terribly.

Nicodemus145 · Sep 2, 2005

Mr. Bee said:

Because the entire goddamn system, from the Federal to the State to the Local government, screwed up terribly.
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and yet they continue to pat themselves on the back. Those FEMA guys I read quotes from need an ass-kicking.

Mr. Bee · Sep 2, 2005

Nicodemus145 said:

and yet they continue to pat themselves on the back. Those FEMA guys I read quotes from need an ass-kicking.
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I love how we have the reports of the snipers pinning down the firefighters and Bush saying there has been an "Acceptable response..."

If I could get one word to those firefighters and their families it would be "don't worry, everything thats happening is exactly according to plan."

You know, before their fvcking heads get blown off.

nicodemus · Sep 2, 2005

Andy Bennett said:

There's something I don't understand about the situation over there, (and apologies if it's been asked before), but why didn't they get the people out of New Orleans before the hurricane. I'm not talking about the people who had vehicles or the money to get themselves out - I heard the police chief fell saying "it's time to haul arse" - but what about the hundred thousand or so people who didn't have the money or intelligence to get themselves out.

There was a young British girl on TV over here who had only arrived there a day or so beforehand and hadn't been following the news. She was on holiday backpacking her way across the US and most people don't follow the news particularly when they're on holiday. In any event when someone DID happen to mention that they were all leaving because of a suspected hurricane she immediately tried to get out, only to find that all public service transport had been cancelled until further notice.

I mean, what's the point of the police chief telling people to get out if they've no way of actually doing it unless they've got a car or van or access to one.

I'm afraid it has to be said fellas that in most other developed countries the state would likely have provided some form of transport if people didn't have their own. Particularly in the situation where everyone knew that there was a possibility that these levees might be breached and the city flooded with salt water, sewage and chemicals from factories.

Obviously if people THEN don't want to go, that's their affair but this young girl said that there were many people trying at the same time as her to get out who couldn't. She said there were people with almost no money or savings who had sold what little they had in an attempt to get out who were stuck there.

I'm sorry to have to say it but, frankly, you've been made to look like some type of banana republic.
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She also happened to be in one of the poorest urban areas in the United States. That's no excuse, but the wealth of other US cities just isn't in New Orleans.

CG · Sep 2, 2005

Much of what is happening in New Orleans is prdeicted by the author of this book. I read it this summer. A bit fatalistic but not looking so crazy now:

Mr. Bandwagon · Sep 2, 2005

Here's a report from the front lines in New Orleans that was published yesterday in article format on a community newspaper in San Francisco called the Bayview. It was written by someone named Malik Rahim. He's an older African-American that I have known for a while now and consider to be pretty reasonable. He's an ex-con that has turned his life around and now spends his time as an organizer in the community, mentoring youngsters and such. He recently helped pass an increase in the NOLA minimum wage or something like that. Anyway...

'This is criminal': Malik Rahim reports from New Orleans

by Malik Rahim

Malik Rahim, a veteran of the Black Panther Party in New Orleans, for
decades an organizer of public housing tenants both there and in San
Francisco and a recent Green Party candidate for New Orleans City Council,
lives in the Algiers neighborhood, the only part of New Orleans that is not
flooded. They have no power, but the water is still good and the phones
work. Their neighborhood could be sheltering and feeding at least 40,000
refugees, he says, but they are allowed to help no one. What he describes is
nothing less than deliberate genocide against Black and poor people. - Ed.

New Orleans, Sept. 1, 2005 - It's criminal. From what you're hearing, the
people trapped in New Orleans are nothing but looters. We're told we should
be more "neighborly." But nobody talked about being neighborly until after
the people who could afford to leave ¢G©° left.

If you ain't got no money in America, you're on your own. People were told
to go to the Superdome, but they have no food, no water there. And before
they could get in, people had to stand in line for 4-5 hours in the rain
because everybody was being searched one by one at the entrance.

I can understand the chaos that happened after the tsunami, because they had
no warning, but here there was plenty of warning. In the three days before
the hurricane hit, we knew it was coming and everyone could have been
evacuated.

We have Amtrak here that could have carried everybody out of town. There
were enough school buses that could have evacuated 20,000 people easily, but
they just let them be flooded. My son watched 40 buses go underwater - they
just wouldn't move them, afraid they'd be stolen.

People who could afford to leave were so afraid someone would steal what
they own that they just let it all be flooded. They could have let a family
without a vehicle borrow their extra car, but instead they left it behind to
be destroyed.

There are gangs of white vigilantes near here riding around in pickup
trucks, all of them armed, and any young Black they see who they figure
doesn't belong in their community, they shoot him. I tell them, "Stop!
You're going to start a riot."

When you see all the poor people with no place to go, feeling alone and
helpless and angry, I say this is a consequence of HOPE VI. New Orleans took
all the HUD money it could get to tear down public housing, and families and
neighbors who'd relied on each other for generations were uprooted and torn
apart.

Most of the people who are going through this now had already lost touch
with the only community they'd ever known. Their community was torn down and
they were scattered. They'd already lost their real homes, the only place
where they knew everybody, and now the places they've been staying are
destroyed.

But nobody cares. They're just lawless looters ... dangerous.

The hurricane hit at the end of the month, the time when poor people are
most vulnerable. Food stamps don't buy enough but for about three weeks of
the month, and by the end of the month everyone runs out. Now they have no
way to get their food stamps or any money, so they just have to take what
they can to survive.

Many people are getting sick and very weak. From the toxic water that people
are walking through, little scratches and sores are turning into major
wounds.

People whose homes and families were not destroyed went into the city right
away with boats to bring the survivors out, but law enforcement told them
they weren't needed. They are willing and able to rescue thousands, but
they're not allowed to.

Every day countless volunteers are trying to help, but they're turned back.
Almost all the rescue that's been done has been done by volunteers anyway.

My son and his family - his wife and kids, ages 1, 5 and 8 - were flooded
out of their home when the levee broke. They had to swim out until they
found an abandoned building with two rooms above water level.

There were 21 people in those two rooms for a day and a half. A guy in a
boat who just said "I'm going to help regardless" rescued them and took
them
to Highway I-10 and dropped them there.

They sat on the freeway for about three hours, because someone said they'd
be rescued and taken to the Superdome. Finally they just started walking,
had to walk six and a half miles.

When they got to the Superdome, my son wasn't allowed in - I don't know why
- so his wife and kids wouldn't go in. They kept walking, and they happened
to run across a guy with a tow truck that they knew, and he gave them his
own personal truck.

When they got here, they had no gas, so I had to punch a hole in my gas tank
to give them some gas, and now I'm trapped. I'm getting around by bicycle.

People from Placquemine Parish were rescued on a ferry and dropped off on a
dock near here. All day they were sitting on the dock in the hot sun with no
food, no water. Many were in a daze; they've lost everything.

They were all sitting there surrounded by armed guards. We asked the guards
could we bring them water and food. My mother and all the other church
ladies were cooking for them, and we have plenty of good water.

But the guards said, "No. If you don't have enough water and food for
everybody, you can't give anything." Finally the people were hauled off on
school buses from other parishes.

You know Robert King Wilkerson (the only one of the Angola 3 political
prisoners who's been released). He's been back in New Orleans working hard,
organizing, helping people. Now nobody knows where he is. His house was
destroyed. Knowing him, I think he's out trying to save lives, but I'm
worried.

The people who could help are being shipped out. People who want to stay,
who have the skills to save lives and rebuild are being forced to go to
Houston.

It's not like New Orleans was caught off guard. This could have been
prevented.

There's military right here in New Orleans, but for three days they weren't
even mobilized. You'd think this was a Third World country.

I'm in the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans, the only part that isn't
flooded. The water is good. Our parks and schools could easily hold 40,000
people, and they're not using any of it.

This is criminal. These people are dying for no other reason than the lack
of organization.

Everything is needed, but we're still too disorganized. I'm asking people to
go ahead and gather donations and relief supplies but to hold on to them for
a few days until we have a way to put them to good use.

I'm challenging my party, the Green Party, to come down here and help us
just as soon as things are a little more organized. The Republicans and
Democrats didn't do anything to prevent this or plan for it and don't seem
to care if everyone dies.

Malik's phone is working. He welcomes calls from old friends and anyone
with questions or ideas for saving lives. To reach him, call the Bay View at
(deleted).
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Ghost · Sep 2, 2005

Spent the day talking to evacuees/refugees in the Dallas area. They're in bad shape, a lot of them have friends and relatives back there that they haven't heard from. They have the shirts on their backs. Talked to oen guy who'd taken in 30+ relatives in his house. That's the story that isn't being covered yet.

FearM9 · Sep 2, 2005

Man....someone has got to address New Orleans drug, poor education and poverty problems in the coming years.

DynamoKiev_USA · Sep 2, 2005

FearM9 said:

Man....someone has got to address New Orleans drug, poor education and poverty problems in the coming years.
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No kidding. Then that special someone might want to take a look at pretty much every other American city. But don't bet on it ever happening. America is a "great" and "blessed" nation, a land of opportunity, and the state of our Union is "strong". We can't let some desperate poor black people spoil the grand illusion.

Enganche · Sep 3, 2005

Andy Bennett said:

There's something I don't understand about the situation over there, (and apologies if it's been asked before), but why didn't they get the people out of New Orleans before the hurricane. I'm not talking about the people who had vehicles or the money to get themselves out - I heard the police chief fell saying "it's time to haul arse" - but what about the hundred thousand or so people who didn't have the money or intelligence to get themselves out.

There was a young British girl on TV over here who had only arrived there a day or so beforehand and hadn't been following the news. She was on holiday backpacking her way across the US and most people don't follow the news particularly when they're on holiday. In any event when someone DID happen to mention that they were all leaving because of a suspected hurricane she immediately tried to get out, only to find that all public service transport had been cancelled until further notice.

I mean, what's the point of the police chief telling people to get out if they've no way of actually doing it unless they've got a car or van or access to one.

I'm afraid it has to be said fellas that in most other developed countries the state would likely have provided some form of transport if people didn't have their own. Particularly in the situation where everyone knew that there was a possibility that these levees might be breached and the city flooded with salt water, sewage and chemicals from factories.

Obviously if people THEN don't want to go, that's their affair but this young girl said that there were many people trying at the same time as her to get out who couldn't. She said there were people with almost no money or savings who had sold what little they had in an attempt to get out who were stuck there.

I'm sorry to have to say it but, frankly, you've been made to look like some type of banana republic.
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Right on Andy! I was in Florida last spring and saw plenty of signs for hurricane evacuation routes and evacuation centers away from the coast. Do they have the same in Louisiana? It doesn't seem so as so many you see interviewed who had cars didn't leave because they couldn't afford a hotel room. Evidently there were not any state hurricane evacuation centers.

But no question once the mayor gave orders for the mandatory evacuation, all the city's buses (public transportation, charter and school) should have been used to move those without cars or the financial means away from the coast. The fact that they didn't is criminal.

The federal and state governments deserve a lot of blame for their delay in responding (for instance why weren't national guard troops stationed away from the coast in places like Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Birmingham, Jackson, etc.) so that they could be a few hours drive away from providing assistance? They knew a massive hurricane was headed in their direction. The feds also are majorily at fault for not providing enough money to the Corps of Engineers to shore up the levees.

But the city and county (or parish as they're called in Louisiana) officials also deserve their share of blame for not doing a better job in getting their poorer citizens evacuated out of harm's way.

Nicodemus145 · Sep 3, 2005

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

The big disconnect on New Orleans

The official version; then there's the in-the-trenches version

Friday, September 2, 2005; Posted: 5:17 p.m. EDT (21:17 GMT)

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- Diverging views of a crumbling New Orleans emerged Thursday, with statements by some federal officials in contradiction with grittier, more desperate views from the streets. By late Friday response to those stranded in the city was more visible.

But the conflicting views on Thursday came within hours, sometimes minutes of each of each other, as reflected in CNN's transcripts. The speakers include Michael Brown, chief of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, evacuee Raymond Cooper, CNN correspondents and others. Here's what they had to say:

Conditions in the Convention Center

FEMA chief Brown: We learned about that (Thursday), so I have directed that we have all available resources to get that convention center to make sure that they have the food and water and medical care that they need. (See video of Brown explaining how news reports alerted FEMA to convention center chaos. -- 2:11)
Mayor Nagin: The convention center is unsanitary and unsafe, and we are running out of supplies for the 15,000 to 20,000 people. (Hear Nagin's angry demand for soldiers. 1:04)
CNN Producer Kim Segal: It was chaos. There was nobody there, nobody in charge. And there was nobody giving even water. The children, you should see them, they're all just in tears. There are sick people. We saw... people who are dying in front of you.
Evacuee Raymond Cooper: Sir, you've got about 3,000 people here in this -- in the Convention Center right now. They're hungry. Don't have any food. We were told two-and-a-half days ago to make our way to the Superdome or the Convention Center by our mayor. And which when we got here, was no one to tell us what to do, no one to direct us, no authority figure.

Uncollected corpses

Brown: That's not been reported to me, so I'm not going to comment. Until I actually get a report from my teams that say, "We have bodies located here or there," I'm just not going to speculate.
Segal: We saw one body. A person is in a wheelchair and someone had pushed (her) off to the side and draped just like a blanket over this person in the wheelchair. And then there is another body next to that. There were others they were willing to show us. ( See CNN report, 'People are dying in front of us' -- 4:36 )
Evacuee Cooper: They had a couple of policemen out here, sir, about six or seven policemen told me directly, when I went to tell them, hey, man, you got bodies in there. You got two old ladies that just passed, just had died, people dragging the bodies into little corners. One guy -- that's how I found out. The guy had actually, hey, man, anybody sleeping over here? I'm like, no. He dragged two bodies in there. Now you just -- I just found out there was a lady and an old man, the lady went to nudge him. He's dead.

Hospital evacuations

Brown: I've just learned today that we ... are in the process of completing the evacuations of the hospitals, that those are going very well.
CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta: It's gruesome. I guess that is the best word for it. If you think about a hospital, for example, the morgue is in the basement, and the basement is completely flooded. So you can just imagine the scene down there. But when patients die in the hospital, there is no place to put them, so they're in the stairwells. It is one of the most unbelievable situations I've seen as a doctor, certainly as a journalist as well. There is no electricity. There is no water. There's over 200 patients still here remaining. ...We found our way in through a chopper and had to land at a landing strip and then take a boat. And it is exactly ... where the boat was traveling where the snipers opened fire yesterday, halting all the evacuations. ( Watch the video report of corpses stacked in stairwells -- 4:45 )
Dr. Matthew Bellew, Charity Hospital: We still have 200 patients in this hospital, many of them needing care that they just can't get. The conditions are such that it's very dangerous for the patients. Just about all the patients in our services had fevers. Our toilets are overflowing. They are filled with stool and urine. And the smell, if you can imagine, is so bad, you know, many of us had gagging and some people even threw up. It's pretty rough.(Mayor's video: Armed addicts fighting for a fix -- 1:03)

Violence and civil unrest

Brown: I've had no reports of unrest, if the connotation of the word unrest means that people are beginning to riot, or you know, they're banging on walls and screaming and hollering or burning tires or whatever. I've had no reports of that.
CNN's Chris Lawrence: From here and from talking to the police officers, they're losing control of the city. We're now standing on the roof of one of the police stations. The police officers came by and told us in very, very strong terms it wasn't safe to be out on the street. (Watch the video report on explosions and gunfire -- 2:12)

The federal response:

Brown: Considering the dire circumstances that we have in New Orleans, virtually a city that has been destroyed, things are going relatively well.
Homeland Security Director Chertoff: Now, of course, a critical element of what we're doing is the process of evacuation and securing New Orleans and other areas that are afflicted. And here the Department of Defense has performed magnificently, as has the National Guard, in bringing enormous resources and capabilities to bear in the areas that are suffering.
Crowd chanting outside the Convention Center: We want help.
Nagin: They don't have a clue what's going on down there.
Phyllis Petrich, a tourist stranded at the Ritz-Carlton: They are invisible. We have no idea where they are. We hear bits and pieces that the National Guard is around, but where? We have not seen them. We have not seen FEMA officials. We have seen no one.

Security

Brown: I actually think the security is pretty darn good. There's some really bad people out there that are causing some problems, and it seems to me that every time a bad person wants to scream of cause a problem, there's somebody there with a camera to stick it in their face. ( See Jack Cafferty's rant on the government's 'bungled' response -- 0:57)
Chertoff: In addition to local law enforcement, we have 2,800 National Guard in New Orleans as we speak today. One thousand four hundred additional National Guard military police trained soldiers will be arriving every day: 1,400 today, 1,400 tomorrow and 1,400 the next day.
Nagin: I continue to hear that troops are on the way, but we are still protecting the city with only 1,500 New Orleans police officers, an additional 300 law enforcement personnel, 250 National Guard troops, and other military personnel who are primarily focused on evacuation.
Lawrence: The police are very, very tense right now. They're literally riding around, full assault weapons, full tactical gear, in pickup trucks. Five, six, seven, eight officers. It is a very tense situation here.
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nicodemus · Sep 3, 2005

Enganche said:

The federal and state governments deserve a lot of blame for their delay in responding (for instance why weren't national guard troops stationed away from the coast in places like Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Birmingham, Jackson, etc.) so that they could be a few hours drive away from providing assistance?
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Not to defend people from dropping the ball on this one, but regarding Jackson & Birmingham...well, Alabama & Mississippi took hits too. Additionally, the I-10 bridge into New Orleans was destroyed, pretty much making it more difficult to approach from the east (at least as I understand it.)

Alberto · Sep 3, 2005

Nicodemus145 said:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/02/katrina.response/index.html
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The response by, correction, the lies by FEMA Director Brown makes me mad!

Bush came on yesterday in the am, and stated the response was unacceptable. By the time he got to the Gulf Coast the spin doctors were in control and Bush was commending everyone for a wonderful job. Sorry, but the response sucks. FEMA needs more money and Brown needs to be canned for being a goddamn liar. The Department of Homeland Security is just big********ingbrother limiting our personal freedoms while failing miserably at their job. A hospital ship is scheduled to arrive in New Orleans next Thursday. This is unacceptable.

taylor · Sep 3, 2005

As a survivor of Hurricane Hugo, I demand to impeach the federal government!

Alberto · Sep 3, 2005

nicodemus said:

Not to defend people from dropping the ball on this one, but regarding Jackson & Birmingham...well, Alabama & Mississippi took hits too. Additionally, the I-10 bridge into New Orleans was destroyed, pretty much making it more difficult to approach from the east (at least as I understand it.)
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I have issues with this statement. When Harry Connick Jr. was on Today yesterday morning he told Katie Couric he could drive from Baton Rouge to the New Orleans convention center in an hour and if he could get police protection he would bring water. The whole logistical response has been poor. Someone or actually scores of people dropped the ball. I could understand the response taking 48 hours, but 96 hours is unacceptable! Just bvecause I-10 over lake Ponchartrain is destroyed does not mean there are not alternate means of transport. Materials could have been air lifted on Tuesday into Baton Rouge and brough by truck into New Orleans.

patrickm · Sep 3, 2005

nicodemus said:

with all due respect to the people of new york, the area of destruction isn't even remotely the same. everybody's in over their head.
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the mayor is a foul mouthed clown in the martin lawrence/richard pryor mold. hardly a statesman. he's a cliche, actually. how about start blaming the city of new orleans and the state of louisiana for being so ill prepared? stop passing the buck to the feds.

taylor · Sep 3, 2005

patrickm said:

the mayor is a foul mouthed clown in the martin lawrence/richard pryor mold. hardly a statesman. he's a cliche, actually. how about start blaming the city of new orleans and the state of louisiana for being so ill prepared? stop passing the buck to the feds.
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no one respond to him. period.

nicodemus · Sep 3, 2005

Alberto said:

I have issues with this statement. When Harry Connick Jr. was on Today yesterday morning he told Katie Couric he could drive from Baton Rouge to the New Orleans convention center in an hour and if he could get police protection he would bring water. The whole logistical response has been poor. Someone or actually scores of people dropped the ball. I could understand the response taking 48 hours, but 96 hours is unacceptable! Just bvecause I-10 over lake Ponchartrain is destroyed does not mean there are not alternate means of transport. Materials could have been air lifted on Tuesday into Baton Rouge and brough by truck into New Orleans.
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Alberto, please have another look at what I wrote. I never defended the response time. I merely stated that the main approach route from the east into New Orleans was destroyed as a partial explanation to why national guardsman from Mississippi (and particularly Alabama) couldn't have responded easily. Even if they could have, the national guard of those two states were deployed to their own shorelines.

Baton Rouge is to the west and doesn't factor into deployments from MS & AL, which is what I was addressing from the original post I quoted.

Believe me, I pissed off about this and am not defending the overall response time.

Alberto · Sep 3, 2005

nicodemus said:

Alberto, please have another look at what I wrote. I never defended the response time. I merely stated that the main approach route from the east into New Orleans was destroyed as a partial explanation to why national guardsman from Mississippi (and particularly Alabama) couldn't have responded easily. Even if they could have, the national guard of those two states were deployed to their own shorelines.

Baton Rouge is to the west and doesn't factor into deployments from MS & AL, which is what I was addressing from the original post I quoted.

Believe me, I pissed off about this and am not defending the overall response time.
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Understood. I too am very frustrated and upset about this. There is a lot of explaining by all these agencies.

Enganche · Sep 3, 2005

nicodemus said:

Not to defend people from dropping the ball on this one, but regarding Jackson & Birmingham...well, Alabama & Mississippi took hits too. Additionally, the I-10 bridge into New Orleans was destroyed, pretty much making it more difficult to approach from the east (at least as I understand it.)
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I understand you nico but actually my comments regarding Jackson and Birmingham were more directed at getting those guardsmen to affected areas in Mississippi and Alabama than to the New Orleans area.

Still, as others have noted, there are ways to get into New Orleans even if it means taking a slight detour. How come Harry Connick Jr. could get into New Orleans but the national guard couldn't?

By the way as of last night, news reports from Biloxi were saying there's NO federal presence there. The only releif supplies have been from the Red Cross and other private groups, some of whom came from the Florida panhandle.

Local, State and esepcially Federal officials have plenty to answer for in this disaster.

patrickm · Sep 3, 2005

the left wing media (cnn, msnbc, which is what i have, i don't have fox news) is going out of their way not to mention the ineptitiude of the local and state authorities. they see this as a chance to denigrate bush, so they hammer away at the perceived lack of federal response, over and over. i've seen enough of al sharpton and jessee jackson (i.e., the race merchants) over the last few days to make me hate the left wing more than ever.

Speedball · Sep 3, 2005

Did anyone else catch this on MSNBC?

They were showing a Blackhawk dropping supplies to two guys waist-deep in water. The next street over, there were LAFD firemen in a rubber boat and on jetskis patrolling the flooded streets. They then panned over to a family in their bathing suits swimming in their backyard above-ground pool. They were floating around on those long, tubular, styrofoam things and happily waving up to the helicopter filming them. The water around the pool was almost as deep as the pool water.

WTF? Apparently there are people that have no intention of evacuating the city. These people need to forced out. Otherwise the National Guard will have to waste time making daily deliveries to these people.

NSlander · Sep 3, 2005

patrickm said:

the left wing media (cnn, msnbc, which is what i have, i don't have fox news) is going out of their way not to mention the ineptitiude of the local and state authorities. they see this as a chance to denigrate bush, so they hammer away at the perceived lack of federal response, over and over. i've seen enough of al sharpton and jessee jackson (i.e., the race merchants) over the last few days to make me hate the left wing more than ever.
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I'm sure would have found another reason to hate. But as a member of "the left", it's a pleasure to help.

Unsurprisingly, you are lazily and conveniently conflating accountability for the failure to sufficiently prepare for the likelihood of disaster from local government with relatively limited resources, with an inexplicably turgid response from a federal government with relatively abundant resources after a disaster already had been confirmed and bodies floating the streets.

I'm shocked.

Roel · Sep 3, 2005

I'm not surprised or shocked. Some people are just full of hate.

96Squig · Sep 3, 2005

Even though nobody seems really interested: The first German plane with supplies landed in the US a few hours ago...