(no subject)

[apocalypsos]

Right now on NBC, Katie Couric and Matt Lauer were talking to Chris Matthews about the statement Bush just made about New Orleans. First they ripped apart how ridiculous what he's said is, and now they're discussing with their reporter in New Orleans how ludicrous it is that reporters and Harry Connick Jr., of all people, can get into New Orleans but official help cannot. As the reporter just pointed out, they talked to ambulance drivers outside of the city and asked why they're not going in, and one said that he wasn't going in because his wife said it wasn't safe.

Chris Matthew pointed out that Bush is going to "fire some people" over this, and will probably get the blame.

God, I hope so. This is fucking ridiculous.

Condoleeza Rice supposedly went fucking shoe-shopping on Fifth Avenue the other day, for Christ's sake.

See, this is why I've been trying not to watch the news this week -- because I come out of it enraged.

Comments

[torificus.livejournal.com]

Yep. People are revolting. I keep getting up from reading my flist in disgust at the kind of asshattery going on while people are dying.

[valerie]

Oh look! Me and millions of other people just like me are single-handedly responsible for the destruction of a city!

I almost feel flattered.

[tviokh.livejournal.com]

What the religious nutjobs fail to remember is that, and I don't have exact quotes cos I'm lazy, I do believe Jehovah there stated after the whole Noah incident that he'd never destroy shit with water again.

Fire is cool.
Blood rain, flesh eating locusts, plagues, drought, and all of that is fine, but flooding is right out.

[valerie]

Oh yeah. And the sign of that promise is the rainbow.

Haven't touched a Bible since AP English many moons ago, so I might be rusty on that aspect.

[palmetto.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's the rainbow. <-- church secretary

[vampirespider.livejournal.com]

What amazes me is how people like us have managed to cause 9/11, the tsunami, the London bombings, this and assorted wars since basically, ever, and yet San Fransisco?

Still going strong.

[valerie]

I live in Rochester, NY. The city actually has one of the largest gay communities, per capita, in the country - the lack of a central area (like Chelsea, the Castro, Church St., etc.) is what causes people to not think of it.

Apart from layoffs from Kodak now and then, last time I checked we were doing just fine.

[vampirespider.livejournal.com]

Obviously, you guys just aren't gay *enough*. You need to try harder.

;)

[torificus.livejournal.com]

While you're at it, can you take out DC?

[dorei.livejournal.com]

I'd rather he not -- I live near there. We'd never be able to be evacuated -- the beltway is jammed on a good day.

[torificus.livejournal.com]

I suppose it's wishful thinking to take out only the ones who would make the world a better place by gettin' GONE?

[dorei.livejournal.com]

Yeah -- I mean, if god wasn't able to kill just the homos and the homo-supporters* in New Orleans but had to take out the whole freaking city, what makes you think he can take out the asshats in dc without losing a few innocents along the way?


*please do not assume I am against homosexuality in any way shape or form -- this phrasing was used to mimic the asshats at repentamerica, and other idiots.

[smallship1.livejournal.com]

Gods have notoriously poor aim. It's being infinitely big.

[tviokh.livejournal.com]

The idiot ought to fire himself.

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'd love to see his approval ratings if this isn't fixed in the next few days. I haven't checked what they look like in the last few days, but I imagine they're below sea level at this point -- and yes, pun intended.

[ilanalynn.livejournal.com]

Along with the rest of his administration.

[vampirespider.livejournal.com]

Pretty, pretty please?

[phillyexpat.livejournal.com]

Why the military wasn't deployed on Day One is beyond my scope.

You know if Florida had seen this sort of devastation, the response would have been quicker, thanks to Jebby.

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

Remember what it was like when Hurricane Andrew came through Florida?

Actually, you know what? Don't think about it. I keep remembering what it was like in '92, and the more I think about it, the more I get angry about the way the victims in NOLA are being treated.

[tviokh.livejournal.com]

Why the military wasn't deployed on Day One is beyond my scope.

Probably because most of them are fighting the Holy War over in Iraq. :|

[amand-r.livejournal.com]

Amen. The kinds of troops I would want --amphibious resources and special forces-- are all in Iraq. I wonder how many ACE people we even have stateside. And if there was ever a time in which we needed the Army Corps of Engineers, this would be it, IMHO.

[idadebeautreux.livejournal.com]

The Army Corps of Engineers has been warning that this disaster was coming for years. Instead of listening, Bush and the Republicans in congress voted to slash millions of dollars from the Corps' budget to divert it to the war. That money had been slated for much-needed repair, maintenance and new construction on the levees around the Mississippi River.

I'm sure the cost of the cleanup and rebuilding will be far more than just fixing the levees would have been.

http://www.alternet.org/story/24871/

[amand-r.livejournal.com]

I am totally not surprised. NPR had an NO Engineering Corps university consultant on today saying that they had pretty much done this disaster scenario in January and this was exactly what it was like. OTOH, a lot of even the corps had decided that it wasn't worth it to prepare the levees for anything over cat three, since it was so unlikely. I think this is a case of hindsight being 20/20. In addition, a lot of places where there were breaches were places that were not slated for repair under the funding plan that had been cut. They were places upon which the corps had put their seal of "okay" for Cat 3. Too bad this wasn't Cat 3.

Not really disputing what you said, just lamenting that sometimes we make the wrong decisions because of denial or even conservative projection. If we built and planned for Cat 5 hurricanes everywhere there was a threat of one, we'd be spending a whiole lot of money. Still, the levee warnings have been there for over 30 years, and it's a disaster that no one really listened.

[idadebeautreux.livejournal.com]

All good points. I just can't help thinking that having done something would have prevented at least a little of the disaster.

[amand-r.livejournal.com]

I agree with you. I think what makes this a horrible travesty is that our human spirit, the very thing that keeps us alive and happy in the face of impending death is probably what helped us ignore the worst case scenario. And this was the WCS. All we can do now I roll up our sleeves and help people put their live back into some semblance or order.

Go check out Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz tribute to NO. (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4829486) It’s fabulous, and reminds me that we will rebuild, even if it seems absolutely insane to do so.

[phillyexpat.livejournal.com]

Precisely.

You know they'd never call the Guard back from overseas. Pride goeth before a fall.

[palmetto.livejournal.com]

Okay, I really don't like my governor, but I have to defend him here--he has done well by hurricane victims in this state since getting into office, and his brother hasn't been president for all of that.

[corruptedjasper.livejournal.com]

But for how much of it has his father been an ex-president? Dynastic pull galore, yo.

[palmetto.livejournal.com]

Not so much, really. Florida itself has more pull than a lot of states because of Disney, etc. We're also a lot richer than our Southern neighbors to the north. Jeb's screwed this state over in many ways, and a lot of what he's done has been directly related to the family.

His reaction after hurricanes, I'd say, has more to do with his Miami-area residence than it does his father.

[phillyexpat.livejournal.com]

My comments were more directed at W's quickness to respond to this particular situation. He was REALLY slow on the ball compared to Florida.

[smallship1.livejournal.com]

Ah, but she was probably just keeping up morale. Putting on a brave face. Bending over a rack of overpriced Manolo Wotsisfaces to hide her tears. There's many a disaster victim will breathe easier to know that no matter what happens to the rest of America, the nation's leaders will continue to be trendily shod.

I've been avoiding the news since the Eighties,* and still enough gets through to make me sick with anger.

*I watched when Tony Blair got elected the first time, because I thought things might be different. Boy, was that a mistake.

[pie-is-good.livejournal.com]

Obviously she need $500 shoes to help out.

[idadebeautreux.livejournal.com]

She's going to donate them to the relief effort, of course.

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

Which leads to the inevitable question ... are Blahniks edible?

[idadebeautreux.livejournal.com]

Sure, but only if they're real leather from the tanned hides of flayed kittens or something.

[smallship1.livejournal.com]

Blahnik, that was it. I keep thinking it should be another word for dork, or something.

[ginnytonnick.livejournal.com]

oulangi has some great links and information about the hurricane.

[laughingrat.livejournal.com]

What's cracking my shit up, if that's really the best phrase here, is that things are so obviously ridiculous and out of control that perpetual yes-men like NBC morning show anchors are actually dealing with serious news in a serious manner and criticising the President. OMG! There may be some hope for this country after all!

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

Honestly. Did you see what Anderson Cooper said to that one politician on air? I read the transcript this morning and resolved to get near him and hug him to pieces as soon as possible.

[laughingrat.livejournal.com]

I didn't, but the main male announcer on All Things Considered (yes, I should know his name, but no, I don't) ripped the head of "Homeland Security" a new one yesterday. "So, Mr. Jackass, what's with all the thousands of people at the Convention Center, you know, starving and not having water and stuff?" "Uh, I don't know about the Convention Center." "No, really, there's thousands of people there, our reporters have interviewed a bunch of them." "I can't respond to your rumors!" "So, Mr. Homeland Security, what's with not preparing for this better since FEMA was in place and y'all knew this was likely to happen?" "I don't know! Leave me alone!" at which point, I conjecture, Mr. Homeland Security went fetal and cried for his mom.

I don't know the names of the major players, but I know enough to know they're a bunch of lowlifes.

[idadebeautreux.livejournal.com]

Do you have a link to that transcript? I'm trying to find it, but no luck. I'd love to read it!

[palmetto.livejournal.com]

Asshattery is happening all over the place. This makes me want to punch someone.

[shadowcat]

This just reminds me why I hate most people sometimes.

[silverhill.livejournal.com]

Wow. That's just appalling.

Yes, under normal circumstances, you honor reservations. Under normal circumstances, I would be pissed off if a hotel gave away my reserved room.

But these are not normal circumstances. The manager justifying it because people would be upset? WTF. If those people with reservations have an ounce of compassion, they wouldn't care if their hotel rooms were given to hurricane victims.

[adjectivegirl.livejournal.com]

My utter loathing for football fans is complete. Shut up and go paint yourself.

[leila82.livejournal.com]

Hello :) Friended you via metaquotes - I figured I read enough of your quotes there, I might as well read directly from your LJ.

Not only did Condi go shoe-shopping and buy "several thousand dollars" of shoes, but she also went to see Spamalot.

[corruptedjasper.livejournal.com]

Since when is Condi a Python fan?

[leila82.livejournal.com]

Heh, I suspect she went to see it because it was popular. I can't see her and Bush sitting up in the Oval Office at 2 a.m. watching Monty Python.

She did get boo'd by some of her fellow play-goers, apparently.

[adjectivegirl.livejournal.com]

Oh man, yeah, I'm (again as in 9/11) somewhat lucky in not having a television and being able to cherrypick what I see and where I see it from. But judging from RIGHTEOUS SEX GODS like Anderson Cooper, I think a far sweeping effect of this will be more grassroots ground up reporting, which has been utterly indelible during this ordeal. If we all believed FEMA, we would be hanging loose, trusting in the government.