George W Bush is a lame duck President. If there is any way that he can harness the blowback he has gotten regards the Katrina response so far, from the media, New Orleans, the Gulf Coast and America in general, it will be a miracle in the order of the Resurrection.
A New York Times editorial today, wondering whether the GOP (Republicans for the non Americans) will continue to try giving tax cuts to the rich while undercutting Medicare and Social Security. The 'national tax cut party' may be over.
A Washington Post headline - 'White House Shifts Blame'. Apparently it is the fault of the state and local governments, in possibly the poorest part of the country, that the levees broke. And I still can't understand why Bush said in a Good Morning America interview that no one could imagine the levees would break. Did he even ever read a report from FEMA, or anyone else, that said the levees were only capable of handling a strong category three?
Bush is sending another 17,000 troops into the disaster area. Oh good, send the military in - is that the only answer he or anyone in the administration has for any issue anywhere in the world? What about more rescue boats, food, medicine, supplies? No, best answer is to send in the troops. Oh, good, Bush says he won't rest until there is at least a semblance of order about the whole thing - well that would make a difference from all those early nights he had while things go from bad to worse in Iraq (but I digress).
Was watching PBS Newshour last night (is shown here on SBS) and David Brooks, who is normally pretty pro-Bush, and I respect him for his opinion, he is usually well thought out in his NYT columns, was watching Bush doing the rolled up sleeves thing in Biloxi and Mobile, and thought he could understand how Democrats usually feel when watching the guy - Brooks was just so angry at Bush.
And way to go on throwing away any positiveness from hugging grieving victims in that Washington Post picture yesterday, by basically saying that Trent Lott is as much a victim as anyone else, and that it will be good to be on the verandah of rebuilt house with Lott again. What about the people that were actually IN Biloxi at the time, and don't have access to a high paying job in Washington. Was Trent Lott either in Biloxi or in the New Orleans Superdome, or was he actually in Washington at the time? Maybe at a fundraiser, like Hastert was yesterday?
This article in Slate is saying that the media on the ground in the disaster zone is not pussyfooting around with the politicians backslapping each other, at least for the moment. Especially Anderson Cooper talking to that Louisiana senator, and she's a Democrat for goodness sake! Reminded me of New Orleans Mayor Nagin's request the other day, when he went off at the response, that they should ban any more press conferences until there was some semblance of order in the aftermath of the flooding. Dubya did three press conferences the next day.
People are still dying in the affected region. That is the most important thing - it's not as if everyone died in the hurricane and flooding itself, people are still dying because of lack of supplies. Michael Moore (surprise surprise) has a valid point when he says where are all the military helicopters, why is it still day five and the issue is so disorganised. The weather forecasters were saying the Gulf Coast would probably be hit over a week ago, when Katrina carved it's way across Florida. And yes, as New Orleans was filling up to become 'Lake George' the man himself was off fundraising in San Diego - there are even pics circulating of him playing the guitar and smiling.
This is far worse than reading My Pet Goat on the morning of September 11. For all the horror of that day it was four planes, one city borough of Manhattan and the Pentagon that were directly affected. The area of the Katrina zone is the size of fucking Britain! Am really working myself up here, and have hardly started to scratch the surface of the issue.
At least with September 11, Bush was doing inane things in Florida classrooms before he realised the enormity of the day. And even with being ferried around from Florida to Missouri to North Dakota to where ever the hell else he went that day, he was back in Washington by day's end, giving as good a speech as he has ever given. This time around he went to San Diego after the hurricane hit, took three days to decide to go back to Washington (NOT Louisiana), and gave a flyover of the shattered city of New Orleans on the way. Yeah, Scott McLellan saying to the press corps, it must be doubly devastating on the ground. Where do you start with which were the worst wrong calls this week? Doing a fly over, giving an official photo of you looking out a plane window, must be up there - although the Trent Lott one was pretty stupid as well.
I saw this story on NOLA (the New Orleans info website) yesterday, but was too exhausted to post it, but has made the ranks at Newsday - one of the Louisiana representatives in Congress in Washington wasn't able to talk to Bush about his constituents needs because he couldn't get security clearance to board Air Force One. Must have been the D next to his party affiliation. While he waited ninety minutes to try and talk with the Prez, more people died in his state - am suddenly thinking of those Live 8 ads, where they clicked the fingers every seven seconds. If I remember Melancon's press release correctly, he also had a go at the Prez for having a no fly zone to protect him, which kept some rescue helicopters grounded while Bush got the guided tour.
I was looking for a comparison between how long supplies took to get to the tsunami zone last December versus the Gulf Coast this week - apparently the first aid drops by helicopters happened within two days at Bandar Aceh. It took from memory at least four days for any sort of aid, helicopter or truck based, to get into New Orleans this week. There is just a burning sense of shame in America at the moment, that they cannot help themselves. The Administration has been flip flopping on the offers from the international community, we have enough resources ourselves springs to mind. Oh, and thanks for the Europeans for releasing some refined oil from their reserves, the important things after all. All foreign government officials are being barred from New Orleans, even the Australians, and saw a report in the Canadian press yesterday that rescue workers were trying to get down across the 49th parallel, but are being held up by red tape.
When even Fox News goes against the spin and good news stories of the relief effort, you know Bush and the Republicans are in trouble politically. Geraldo Riveira and another reporter, Shephard Smith, went off at their anchorman Sean Hannity for saying 'let's keep this in perspective' when thousands are dead, hundreds probably dying within America's borders. 'This is perspective' Smith apparently almost screamed down the line, with the hundreds of people stuck on I-10, or Riveira at the convention centre.
Oh mi god. In the after effects of Janet Jackson showing a breast, not even a nipple at the Superbowl the other year, and Monday Night Football getting in trouble for showing that actress from Desperate Housewives dropping a towel when meeting one of the footballers, rapper Kayne West goes on a bit of a tirade about how blacks are portrayed in the media as looters and that Bush doesn't care about blacks, at an actual concert for Hurricane Relief last night on NBC. Yeah, he's entitled to his opinion and all, and should be allowed to say it, freedom of speech and all.
Bad enough that the comments are censored from the West Coast recorded version of the show (was shown live on the East Coast), but then NBC come out with a snivelling lily livered apology saying 'it would be most unfortunate if the efforts of the artists and the generosity of millions of Americans are overshadowed by one person's opinion'. Umm, NBC, have you seen what is going on in the Gulf Coast, in New Orleans? Not the most appropriate of times to attack freedom of speech, I would think.
Am kind of overwhelmed by it all, am trying to read five different newspapers at once, have Rush Limbaugh open - no, I am not going to the dark side, just wondering what he thinks of the whole thing, but haven't had time because I'm reading too much other stuff. But is overwhelming, and I have to take a break.
Two thoughts to end this entry - it is only the middle of hurricane season. There could be others out there ready to hit the US. Secondly, now that we have 54,000 troops deployed on the Gulf Coast, and probably due to rise even more in the coming weeks, where are they going to find the troops to go to Iraq for the next rotation? Or even that boost of numbers that they were thinking of giving over the course of the referendum?
Ugh, have to go up for some air I think - and yes, am feeling guilty that I am here, dry, sun is shining, electricity is going and all is right on this side of the globe.
Pauly
A New York Times editorial today, wondering whether the GOP (Republicans for the non Americans) will continue to try giving tax cuts to the rich while undercutting Medicare and Social Security. The 'national tax cut party' may be over.
A Washington Post headline - 'White House Shifts Blame'. Apparently it is the fault of the state and local governments, in possibly the poorest part of the country, that the levees broke. And I still can't understand why Bush said in a Good Morning America interview that no one could imagine the levees would break. Did he even ever read a report from FEMA, or anyone else, that said the levees were only capable of handling a strong category three?
Bush is sending another 17,000 troops into the disaster area. Oh good, send the military in - is that the only answer he or anyone in the administration has for any issue anywhere in the world? What about more rescue boats, food, medicine, supplies? No, best answer is to send in the troops. Oh, good, Bush says he won't rest until there is at least a semblance of order about the whole thing - well that would make a difference from all those early nights he had while things go from bad to worse in Iraq (but I digress).
Was watching PBS Newshour last night (is shown here on SBS) and David Brooks, who is normally pretty pro-Bush, and I respect him for his opinion, he is usually well thought out in his NYT columns, was watching Bush doing the rolled up sleeves thing in Biloxi and Mobile, and thought he could understand how Democrats usually feel when watching the guy - Brooks was just so angry at Bush.
And way to go on throwing away any positiveness from hugging grieving victims in that Washington Post picture yesterday, by basically saying that Trent Lott is as much a victim as anyone else, and that it will be good to be on the verandah of rebuilt house with Lott again. What about the people that were actually IN Biloxi at the time, and don't have access to a high paying job in Washington. Was Trent Lott either in Biloxi or in the New Orleans Superdome, or was he actually in Washington at the time? Maybe at a fundraiser, like Hastert was yesterday?
This article in Slate is saying that the media on the ground in the disaster zone is not pussyfooting around with the politicians backslapping each other, at least for the moment. Especially Anderson Cooper talking to that Louisiana senator, and she's a Democrat for goodness sake! Reminded me of New Orleans Mayor Nagin's request the other day, when he went off at the response, that they should ban any more press conferences until there was some semblance of order in the aftermath of the flooding. Dubya did three press conferences the next day.
People are still dying in the affected region. That is the most important thing - it's not as if everyone died in the hurricane and flooding itself, people are still dying because of lack of supplies. Michael Moore (surprise surprise) has a valid point when he says where are all the military helicopters, why is it still day five and the issue is so disorganised. The weather forecasters were saying the Gulf Coast would probably be hit over a week ago, when Katrina carved it's way across Florida. And yes, as New Orleans was filling up to become 'Lake George' the man himself was off fundraising in San Diego - there are even pics circulating of him playing the guitar and smiling.
This is far worse than reading My Pet Goat on the morning of September 11. For all the horror of that day it was four planes, one city borough of Manhattan and the Pentagon that were directly affected. The area of the Katrina zone is the size of fucking Britain! Am really working myself up here, and have hardly started to scratch the surface of the issue.
At least with September 11, Bush was doing inane things in Florida classrooms before he realised the enormity of the day. And even with being ferried around from Florida to Missouri to North Dakota to where ever the hell else he went that day, he was back in Washington by day's end, giving as good a speech as he has ever given. This time around he went to San Diego after the hurricane hit, took three days to decide to go back to Washington (NOT Louisiana), and gave a flyover of the shattered city of New Orleans on the way. Yeah, Scott McLellan saying to the press corps, it must be doubly devastating on the ground. Where do you start with which were the worst wrong calls this week? Doing a fly over, giving an official photo of you looking out a plane window, must be up there - although the Trent Lott one was pretty stupid as well.
I saw this story on NOLA (the New Orleans info website) yesterday, but was too exhausted to post it, but has made the ranks at Newsday - one of the Louisiana representatives in Congress in Washington wasn't able to talk to Bush about his constituents needs because he couldn't get security clearance to board Air Force One. Must have been the D next to his party affiliation. While he waited ninety minutes to try and talk with the Prez, more people died in his state - am suddenly thinking of those Live 8 ads, where they clicked the fingers every seven seconds. If I remember Melancon's press release correctly, he also had a go at the Prez for having a no fly zone to protect him, which kept some rescue helicopters grounded while Bush got the guided tour.
I was looking for a comparison between how long supplies took to get to the tsunami zone last December versus the Gulf Coast this week - apparently the first aid drops by helicopters happened within two days at Bandar Aceh. It took from memory at least four days for any sort of aid, helicopter or truck based, to get into New Orleans this week. There is just a burning sense of shame in America at the moment, that they cannot help themselves. The Administration has been flip flopping on the offers from the international community, we have enough resources ourselves springs to mind. Oh, and thanks for the Europeans for releasing some refined oil from their reserves, the important things after all. All foreign government officials are being barred from New Orleans, even the Australians, and saw a report in the Canadian press yesterday that rescue workers were trying to get down across the 49th parallel, but are being held up by red tape.
When even Fox News goes against the spin and good news stories of the relief effort, you know Bush and the Republicans are in trouble politically. Geraldo Riveira and another reporter, Shephard Smith, went off at their anchorman Sean Hannity for saying 'let's keep this in perspective' when thousands are dead, hundreds probably dying within America's borders. 'This is perspective' Smith apparently almost screamed down the line, with the hundreds of people stuck on I-10, or Riveira at the convention centre.
Oh mi god. In the after effects of Janet Jackson showing a breast, not even a nipple at the Superbowl the other year, and Monday Night Football getting in trouble for showing that actress from Desperate Housewives dropping a towel when meeting one of the footballers, rapper Kayne West goes on a bit of a tirade about how blacks are portrayed in the media as looters and that Bush doesn't care about blacks, at an actual concert for Hurricane Relief last night on NBC. Yeah, he's entitled to his opinion and all, and should be allowed to say it, freedom of speech and all.
Bad enough that the comments are censored from the West Coast recorded version of the show (was shown live on the East Coast), but then NBC come out with a snivelling lily livered apology saying 'it would be most unfortunate if the efforts of the artists and the generosity of millions of Americans are overshadowed by one person's opinion'. Umm, NBC, have you seen what is going on in the Gulf Coast, in New Orleans? Not the most appropriate of times to attack freedom of speech, I would think.
Am kind of overwhelmed by it all, am trying to read five different newspapers at once, have Rush Limbaugh open - no, I am not going to the dark side, just wondering what he thinks of the whole thing, but haven't had time because I'm reading too much other stuff. But is overwhelming, and I have to take a break.
Two thoughts to end this entry - it is only the middle of hurricane season. There could be others out there ready to hit the US. Secondly, now that we have 54,000 troops deployed on the Gulf Coast, and probably due to rise even more in the coming weeks, where are they going to find the troops to go to Iraq for the next rotation? Or even that boost of numbers that they were thinking of giving over the course of the referendum?
Ugh, have to go up for some air I think - and yes, am feeling guilty that I am here, dry, sun is shining, electricity is going and all is right on this side of the globe.
Pauly
No comments:
Post a Comment