Just saw the below photo (in the previous post) on the Washington Post website - the first time I think I have ever seen President Bush actually emotional on the sad or upset scale of things. He usually appears defiant or stubborn or determined or something when things go wrong. Unrelated issue, but if only he could show the same sort of emotion in public about the American war dead.
After Congress authorised the ten billion dollar initial aid package to the Gulf Coast, House Speaker Dennis Hastert gave an interview in which he wondered if New Orleans should be rebuilt, and most of it could be bulldozed. You have got to wonder about what is going through that guy's head, also saying that they rebuild Los Angeles and San Francisco after earthquakes and that is just stubborn. Putting aside the strategic factor that New Orleans is at the head of a river basin which covers most of the USA east of the Rockies. Wasn't Washington built on a swamp, and in some ways still is? And how many Gulf Coast refugees are you going to take in Mr Hastert if their own city isn't going to be rebuilt? And why not New Orleans, how about Biloxi and Gulfport and Mobile as well? Oh, Republican states, good oh then :)
Meanwhile, Hastert's erstwhile boss, President Bush (god, American politics can be confusing) has stated that all the Gulf Coast will be rebuilt, and, even though he did a one day flying visit today, literally as well as figuratively over New Orleans, he will be thinking and planning for the region lots when he is back in Washington. My issue with this story however is that Bush said that he will not think about bringing troops and equipment back home from Iraq for recovery and so on because 'We've got plenty of resources to do both [Iraq and the Gulf Coast]'. Not advocating pulling out of Iraq at this stage because it's a job only partially completed, but to say the US has plenty of resources to do both when the 'other' you are talking about was an unnecessary war of choice, hmmph.
That said, he does look suitably Clintonian 'I feel your pain' presidential in the picture below.
Just this time last week, according to the New Orleans Times Picayune, the city's mayor, Ray Nagin, was signing off a skyscraper deal with Donald Trump. This week he is evacuating the city, or at least trying to, and giving voice to the emotion of his shattered city, giving federal agencies a blast at the delay in getting troops and supplies in.
I was watching the news the other day, seeing people walking along Interstate 10 to (I'm guessing) Baton Rouge, and thought of the movie War of the Worlds, and the refugees fleeing New York. It is telling that I thought of a movie when I saw the news coverage. No bright moments with actors jumping on couches to promote the movie though.
Geez, just looking further into the New Orleans information website, which has the newspaper on it as well, and they had 72 million pages viewed from it in four days. I'm guessing their internet lines are still fine - the 'newspaper' had three days of online editions only.
Bush has also warned that over this US Labour Day weekend, there could very likely be petrol rationing, and am just reading a blog from a New Orleans refugee (currently in Florida), and he is saying that a lot of the petrol stations in his part of the world have run out of supplies. Oh, it's one of those group blog things, and all New Orleans people - interesting what you find when you google 'Dennis Hastert New Orleans'.
Ah, here is the actual article that linked through google - titled 'Dennis Hastert, please sit down and shut the fuck up'. Succinct, I like it. Lots of good, outraged comments as well - with my previous point of major river system, major port echoed quite a bit. Also the whole thing of saying something that stupid while there are still uncounted dead in the South. And isn't Dennis under investigation for taking bribes or something? Ooh, let's start a rumour.
So much coverage, so little time to read everything...
Pauly
After Congress authorised the ten billion dollar initial aid package to the Gulf Coast, House Speaker Dennis Hastert gave an interview in which he wondered if New Orleans should be rebuilt, and most of it could be bulldozed. You have got to wonder about what is going through that guy's head, also saying that they rebuild Los Angeles and San Francisco after earthquakes and that is just stubborn. Putting aside the strategic factor that New Orleans is at the head of a river basin which covers most of the USA east of the Rockies. Wasn't Washington built on a swamp, and in some ways still is? And how many Gulf Coast refugees are you going to take in Mr Hastert if their own city isn't going to be rebuilt? And why not New Orleans, how about Biloxi and Gulfport and Mobile as well? Oh, Republican states, good oh then :)
Meanwhile, Hastert's erstwhile boss, President Bush (god, American politics can be confusing) has stated that all the Gulf Coast will be rebuilt, and, even though he did a one day flying visit today, literally as well as figuratively over New Orleans, he will be thinking and planning for the region lots when he is back in Washington. My issue with this story however is that Bush said that he will not think about bringing troops and equipment back home from Iraq for recovery and so on because 'We've got plenty of resources to do both [Iraq and the Gulf Coast]'. Not advocating pulling out of Iraq at this stage because it's a job only partially completed, but to say the US has plenty of resources to do both when the 'other' you are talking about was an unnecessary war of choice, hmmph.
That said, he does look suitably Clintonian 'I feel your pain' presidential in the picture below.
Just this time last week, according to the New Orleans Times Picayune, the city's mayor, Ray Nagin, was signing off a skyscraper deal with Donald Trump. This week he is evacuating the city, or at least trying to, and giving voice to the emotion of his shattered city, giving federal agencies a blast at the delay in getting troops and supplies in.
I was watching the news the other day, seeing people walking along Interstate 10 to (I'm guessing) Baton Rouge, and thought of the movie War of the Worlds, and the refugees fleeing New York. It is telling that I thought of a movie when I saw the news coverage. No bright moments with actors jumping on couches to promote the movie though.
Geez, just looking further into the New Orleans information website, which has the newspaper on it as well, and they had 72 million pages viewed from it in four days. I'm guessing their internet lines are still fine - the 'newspaper' had three days of online editions only.
Bush has also warned that over this US Labour Day weekend, there could very likely be petrol rationing, and am just reading a blog from a New Orleans refugee (currently in Florida), and he is saying that a lot of the petrol stations in his part of the world have run out of supplies. Oh, it's one of those group blog things, and all New Orleans people - interesting what you find when you google 'Dennis Hastert New Orleans'.
Ah, here is the actual article that linked through google - titled 'Dennis Hastert, please sit down and shut the fuck up'. Succinct, I like it. Lots of good, outraged comments as well - with my previous point of major river system, major port echoed quite a bit. Also the whole thing of saying something that stupid while there are still uncounted dead in the South. And isn't Dennis under investigation for taking bribes or something? Ooh, let's start a rumour.
So much coverage, so little time to read everything...
Pauly
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