Savage Distortion

Ted's continuing quest to show reveal the administration....

Millions of dollars spent by the Republicans on our old friend Ken. An IMPEACHMENT.

But the Executive Branch's response to a national disaster... off limits.

On thing is becoming abundantly clear. The Republicans simply cannot be trusted with the nation's homeland security.

I'm sure there will be those that will defend this. I'm interested to hear their comments.
 

From the same article:

"Other members of the committees said the executive branch communications were essential because it had become apparent that one of the most significant failures was the apparent lack of complete engagement by the White House and the federal government in the days immediately before and after the storm."

Perhaps the Administration is trying to hide the fact that they didn't actually get around to doing anything about it...
 

The silence from the Right is deafening on this one....
 

That's because very few Iraqi's were killed or tortured by the hurricane.
 

Well, I gotta agree with Tony. He did screw up.

Saying he's trying to "keep his ineffectiveness under wraps" is pretty tame. What the Executive Branch is doing is to try and cover it up.

That's criminal.

Again, there's a lot more $ to be made in Iraq than was to be made as the Hurricane slammed the Gulf Coast.

But the rebuilding... you can be sure there'll be plenty of Bush cronies around for that.
 

Thanks alot Chrispy. I had comfortably forgotten about the whole Halliburton tie in to this story and therefore did not feel compelled to comment. Now I'm mad and sick and have nowhere to direct my anger but here. Maybe this will be Bush's Rwanda. He plainly did not respond effectively because there were no national interests at stake in the ninth ward of New Orleans. More and more I get the feeling that man hasn't a shred of compassion. Even when he screws up he doesn't have the sense to pretend he has compassion. At least Clinton could pump out a few tears when appropriate. And then to turn around and hand over the reconstruction effort to Halliburton and friends, and drop the minimum wage to increase profits at the expense of folks who are the most vulnerable and in need of protection from exploitation. Who needs a minimum wage more then the citizens of Louisiana? Frankly, it's the lack of prevention of the disaster that angers me more than the shitty response. The fishbowl theory has been kicking around for fifty years. We are lucky it wasn't worse. But when a country is spending the kind of money we are in Iraq, regular maintenance projects, like strengthening of levies in order to avert disaster, take a backseat. Not impressing on people the importance of getting out, and not providing the means to do so, was IMHO the greater failure. That they are trying to block a proper investigation of the matter is of no surprise to me. It's just not that important to them if a couple of thousand residents of a "chocolate city" perish. Unfortunately, that feeling is widespread among those who never appreciated the advantages they've been given. I was on vacation in Puerto Rico a few weeks after the hurricane. We met a large group of very wealthy Atlantans (no reflection on Tony Alva, or the great city of Atlanta) One of them actually said to my friend, "I feel really bad for the animals... the pets... they had no choice, they had no way of getting out." Another woman from the same group criticized my friend for tipping to much... forgetting that Puerto Rico is, infact, part of the US and not Europe, where waiters and bartenders don't have to pay their own health costs. Meanwhile, this group had a combined income that could support a small country. Why is it that some people feel entitled to a $200,00.00 bonus each year for all the "hard work" they put in, but they have trouble parting with a 20% tip?
 

It really never ends with Bush & Co. I also don't believe he cares about anyone but himself and his friends, but hey - not really a surprise.

When stuff like this happens, the response of the Right always seems to be to say things like "yeah, but... Democrats like raising taxes and giving handouts to the poor! Plus they're soft on defense!"

There's a change coming, although we may not live to see it. This country's not very old, and was built on a revolution, and once the average person gets fed up with the rich trampling things like the Bill of Rights (not to mention the growing disparity between the haves and the have nots) the shit's gonna hit the fan.
 

One Atlanta native I know actually told me that part of him was glad that New Orleans had been wiped off the map, that it was an ugly town anyway.

Incomprehensible.
 

If I was going to call you out, I'd do so.
 

My intent was not to indict. The person who made this comment is somebody I work with, and undoubtedly will work with again. I do a lot of gigs in Atlanta, and many of the people I work with across the country are based there. I was following up to Clarkie's comment, which is to say that it's not only our administration who don't give a rat's ass about the people who lived there.