Rove was way too busy with his Evil Racist Hurricane Machine©. The buses must have been disabled by zionists.

You think that's bad, the mayor didn't even bother to read his own website, where an evacuation plan was posted.

As Andrea points out on her wonderfully screed-filled blog (that's a compliment), "One of the things it would have told him was to give an evacuation order 72 hours before landfall, not a day and a half."

This guy dropped the ball, and yet the media is giving him a pass because they love his profanity-laced tirades against the Bush administration.

Watching this I have been as mad as anyone at the Mayor, Gov and our President. Now that I am seeing more of the relief come in it is becoming more obvious what has occurred. Alabama and Mississippi were prepared and have responded as well as could be expected based on the amount of damage. Louisiana did not prepare, did not evacuate, did not step up and have its elected officials show leadership and reach out for Federal help when it was initially available. Any one that followed this and knows about disaster preparedness knows that President Bush declared a Natural Diaster days prior to the storm making landfall. The Governor did not reach out and ask for the available help until days after the storm.

With all the help we see being given by the great state of Texas could anyone with half a brain not figure out that President Bush has (behind the scenes) made sure that his home state stepped up and demonstrated all the qualities that Louisiania officials have failed to show.

The Mayor, Governor and State Director of Homeland Security should be removed from office effective today and some thought should be given to criminal proceedings.

My question is how many of these people chose to stay vs. how many had no choice. The amount of sympathy I have for the latter greatly outweighs that which I have for the former. For that matter, the people choosing to stay not only caused problems for themselves, but they also overtaxed the relief efforts and caused damage to the group that was legitimately trapped there.

But how many people were legitimately trapped? I'm not asking this rhetorically; I would really like to have some idea of what the breakdown is.

I got into a debate about this with someone who felt the vast majority of people there "had no way to get out". I don't know if that's true or not. If it is, it is horrible. But I must admit I find that almost inconceivable. They had no friends, no family, not enough money for a bus ticket, no charity group willing to help, etc.? They called the Red Cross and were told too bad? They called the police and they told them they knew of nobody willing to help?

What especially makes me doubt this is before the storm hit I don't recall seeing any news stories asserting that there were multitudes of people who wanted to evacuate but had no way out. I would have thought that a hurricane bearing down on such a group would have been huge news ("Thousands Could Die due to Insufficient Evacuation Facilities"). On the other hand, I did see a number of "residents defiant, vowing to stay" type of stories.

Why does this matter? Because the complaint is that this disaster was not dealt with effectively. I'm sure it's true that many things could have been done better. However, part of dealing with the disaster was the mandatory evacuation. If this step was essentially sabotaged by massive amounts of people refusing to leave, then those people contributed to the problem.

As for the idle buses, if in fact there was a giant group that was trapped and these buses sat there doing nothing, then the mayor's complaint about the feds not doing enough rings extremely hollow.

Dave, criminal proceedings exceed my wildest dreams. I'd be satisfied if anyone in the press questioned the performance of the mayor or the governor in any way. BBC, in an article that nearly made my spleen explode, called Nagin "genuinely heroic."

Ow. My spleen.

I got so incensed at the jounalistic hit piece that NBC calls the "Nightly News" that for the first time in my life I've written a letter (email) to a TV network. In the entire newscast last night not one mention was made of the culpability of Nagin and Blanco. Everything was 'Bush' this, 'Bush Administration' that. If they would have shown a full body shot of Brian Williams there's no doubt in my mind he would have been sporting the chubby of chubbies. Well, every dog has thre day and with the alternative media I'm hoping their journalistic negligence gets exposed like Dan Rather's fake memos. I'm not holding my breath though.

I think this is going to be another test case in the war of blogs vs. MSM. Will enough information from the blogs about Nagin and Blanco get out to counter the picture the MSM is trying to paint?

The City of New Orleans will utilize all available resources to quickly and safely evacuate threatened areas.

"All available resources" apparently didn't include ~500 city buses and school buses sitting under water right now.

What an effing, there is no way to say this kindly, MORON

Dave said:
The Mayor, Governor and State Director of Homeland Security should be removed from office effective today and some thought should be given to criminal proceedings.

You got that right! A rail, some tar and a sack full of feathers would be too good for these incompetents. Their whining and crying (literally!) have done nothing to correct the conditions their inaction has created.

I have to admit to a slight amount of burn-out. Geraldo is so out of control and melodramatic that it makes you wonder if the event is about NO or himself. Then there are the people who made no effort to get themselves out of harms way, but are now saying that the MRE's are not hot. Also blaming the rapes, lootings, etc. on the "fact" that Bush let them down. The chances of any of them ever feeling that their mayor or gov let them down are slim. It is possibly why Jesse is working so hard to deflect the blame to Bush. The mayor may have been a product of affirmative action. Not to mention the completely different situation and reactions in the neighboring Republican governed states.

This travesty just gets worse and worse for the people taking none of the blame:

The mayor called the ("mandatory" evacuation) order unprecedented and said anyone who could leave the city should. He exempted hotels from the evacuation order because airlines had already cancelled all flights.

Gov. Kathleen Blanco, standing beside the mayor at a news conference, said President Bush called and personally appealed for a mandatory evacuation for the low-lying city, which is prone to flooding.

Step #1: Get satellite phones. There is no excuse for emergency officials to not be able to communicate with each other.

Step#2: Educate the public. The roads are blocked, the rivers and flooded areas unnavigatable. Do not expect someone to just ride up in a boat and save your ass. Helicoptors performed over 5,000 rescues. Be prepared to wait your turn, or better yet, don't need to be rescued.

Step#3: Tell the public what is being done [b]before[/b] the disaster, such as, we have the Guard on stand by, the Coast Guard, etc. They will do this , when that occurs. Whatever. You will be expected to look out for yourself. The government can't do it for you.

Step#4: Again, you are ultimately responsible for you own welfare. There is no excuse for not being able to go it alone for 4 days. You must have X provisions and X amt. of water on hand. You must have your necessary medications and identification with you. Take this with you to the sheltar. If you decide to ride it out in your own home, you better be prepared to escape rising water. This means, access to your roof and being able to escape with your provisions, meds, etc.

Step#5: Get up! The convention center is a very short walk to the French Quarter. If you are so damn hungry or need water walk there and ask Geraldo to buy you a meal.

The behavior of the televised media has been so disgusting that I finally tuned them out .
They are clearly willing to do anything to either A) advance a political agenda or B) shill for the ad dollars with over the top craziness (see Jerry Rivers).
Even if this isn't the case, the impression leaves no other feeling.
PS-Anyone with a sense of politcal history could have predicted total chaos for the most corrrupt, dangerous city south of the Mason-Dixon line.
PPS- 5 of my friend narrowly escaped with their lives in NO a few years back because they took the wrong bus at night and the driver basically set them up to be robbed and murdered by telling them to get off in a bad part of town because he was "off shift". They ran to a fire station ahead of a mob . That's New Orleans.

Damn it to hell.

Why do I live in a place where I'm represented in Washington by the whiniest f'in morons in Congress?

Megan, I believe you once described Snowe as a 'sour old bitch.' You'll love this quote:

Relief efforts brought criticism on Friday from members of the Maine delegation, including U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe. "As the wealthiest nation on earth, it is simply inconceivable that four days hence we have failed to muster a response commensurate with this humanitarian catastrophe," she said.

So the answer, of course, is to pull the FEMA folks out of the field and hold hearings in Washington.

I hate them all.

Slubs, you haven't AIMed me in days. :(

If I was in NO and looting is condoned, I would go over to Cokie Robert's place and fix me a sandwich and a drink. Maybe, take a nap, too.

looks like louisiana evac plan not followed.

http://www.subpariq.blogspot.com/

Sorry, Megan. Family in town for the weekend, which makes my internet time limited.

"205 schoolbuses, owned and operated by the city of New Orleans (and not the federal government) sat idle as the ocean swept into the city, and still sit in three foot deep water."

Actually, it was Lake Pontchartrain and not the ocean. In Mississippi and Alabama, which took the biggest hits, the storm surge from the ocean was the big issue. In New Orleans, the big issue was the levee breaks that drained the floodwaters of Lake Pontchartrain into the city, a foreseen problem (the levees were designed to handle a Cat 3 hurricane) that local and state officials were totally unprepared for.

When evaluating the catastrophe of New Orleans, you have to remember that FEMA and the National Guard are not set up to be first responders. The first responder task is assigned to local and state authorities, who were totally inadequate when confronted with Hurricane Katrina.

Problems:
Mayor and Governor incompetent.
People refuse to evacuate.
Thugs exist among the people who refuse to evacuate.
Hurriane comes; all hell breaks loose next day, along with levees.
Mayor and Governor still incompetent.
Thugs start doing their thing.
MSM begins to blame Bush; incompetent Mayor joins refrain.
Mayor and Governor still incompetent.
Hell in the city.
President arrives; so does National Guard.
Mayor and Governor remain incompetent.
New Orleans evacuated; no one for Mayor to govern.
Nagin finishes his term; no one notices him leave. Ditto Blanco.

Wake up all of you. The White House are just the code words for complete POWER and WEALTH for whichever political party is in office at the time.Their all a bunch of corrupt A--Holes.

The frickin meme is taking hold, though. The storyline is being written - Blanco and Nagin are heros - the fault is with the federal government.And it's true: eventually, help did come. But how many times did Gov. Kathleen Blanco have to say that the situation was desperate? How many times did Mayor Ray Nagin have to call for aid? Why did America ask a city cherished by millions and excoriated by some, but ignored by no one, to fight for its own life for so long? That's my question.

I know that New Orleans will win its fight in the end. I was born in the city and lived there for many years. It shaped who and what I am. Never have I experienced a place where people knew more about love, about family, about loyalty and about getting along than the people of New Orleans. It is perhaps their very gentleness that gives them their endurance.

They will rebuild as they have after storms of the past; and they will stay in New Orleans because it is where they have always lived, where their mothers and their fathers lived, where their churches were built by their ancestors, where their family graves carry names that go back 200 years. They will stay in New Orleans where they can enjoy a sweetness of family life that other communities lost long ago.

But to my country I want to say this: During this crisis you failed us. You looked down on us; you dismissed our victims; you dismissed us. You want our Jazz Fest, you want our Mardi Gras, you want our cooking and our music. Then when you saw us in real trouble, when you saw a tiny minority preying on the weak among us, you called us "Sin City," and turned your backs.

Well, we are a lot more than all that. And though we may seem the most exotic, the most atmospheric and, at times, the most downtrodden part of this land, we are still part of it. We are Americans. We are you.

I see her editorializing is as overwritten as her other books. Okay, this is going to get ranty for a second.

We ignored your city? Have you looked at a newspaper or a website lately? Have you seen the amount of money we've raised for the Red Cross and other agencies? Have you bothered to look past your anger and elitism to see what the country is actually doing for your city?

Nagin and Blanco failed. They f**ked up huge and are using the public sympathy caused by the pictures of dead bodies and suffering of their citizens (which their decisions helped cause) to shift blame to the federal government.

This makes me f**king sick, but I think Bush is going to take a political hit for this, thanks to the complacency of the media, who are all too happy to turn the suffering of others into a sick f**king form of entertainment.

I'm not a pessimist about America, but I don't see how we can continue with this split for much longer.

Forgot to mention who emoted the piece quoted above: Anne Rice.

Slublog:

Heh. As soon as you mentioned her overwritten books, I knew it was Anne Rice.

That's pretty funny.

I've always thought she was just a pornographer with a taste for the dark. Interview with a Vampire was good. Everything else I've read was pretty bad.

Interview with a Vampire was good. Everything else I've read was pretty bad.

Yup! After Interview with a Vampire, she just beat it to death.

Here We Go - The Bush Blame Game is Official

Senate Democrats voice concerns
Reid, Landrieu cite "serious problems" with initial fed response
By Kathie O'Donnell, MarketWatch

BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- Two Democratic U.S. Senators expressed concern Saturday about the "serious problems and chaos" that have marked the Federal government's initial response to Hurricane Katrina, and urged President George W. Bush to do everything possible to help its victims.

"We are concerned that rescue and recovery efforts appear to remain chaotic and that many victims remain hungry and without adequate shelter nearly a week after the hurricane struck," Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana said in a letter to the President.......

........."We urge you to use your existing authority to ensure that all victims have at least enough food to survive, and to immediately identify military bases and other federal facilities that can house these victims on a temporary basis," the letter said.......

It would seem Landrieu was pleased earlier in the week?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 28, 2005 http://landrieu.senate.gov/releases/05/2005829A34.html
Sen. Landrieu Statement on Hurrican Katrina

WASHINGTON -- United States Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., issued the following statement from the Hurricane Command Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

"I would like to commend both Governor Blanco and all of the local leaders who have done a tremendous job helping the people of Louisiana prepare for Hurricane Katrina.......

As a matter of the Senate record, Landrieu has been speaking about this problem for years:

HURRICANES -- (Senate - September 15, 2004)
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?r108:4:./temp/~r108xOjrKx:e27721:
…… On Tuesday, though, most local officials were thinking more about the potential danger than the potential opportunity. If Ivan does pound New Orleans tidal surges could leave the city underwater for months, since its pumps can remove only about an inch every hour, creating a ``toxic soup'' of chemicals, rodents, poisons and snakes.
The local officials said they could not order a mandatory evacuation in a city as poor as New Orleans in which more than 100,000 residents have no cars, but they urged people to find some way to escape. ``If you want to take a chance buy a lottery ticket,'' said Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard. ``Don't take a chance on this hurricane .''
New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin seemed flustered as he pleaded with his constituents to flee, at one point suggesting that they take shelter in area hospitals. Visitors were also urged to find somewhere else to go--including 10,000 conventioneers in town for the annual meeting of the National Safety Council
``This is not a drill,'' Nagin said. ``This is the real deal.''
But the logistics of exit are quite formidable in the Big Easy. In 1998, as more than 300,000 people fled Hurricane Georges, Interstate 10 turned into a parking lot. Similar miles-long snarls unfolded Tuesday. Flights were canceled and the airport prepared to close. The town that gave the world ``A Streetcar Named Desire'' idled its streetcars.
TROPICAL STORM ISIDORE -- (Senate - September 30, 2002)
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?r107:2:./temp/~r1072t6hqH::
Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I come to the floor today regarding Tropical Storm Isidore, which made landfall last Wednesday just south of New Orleans and dumped nearly 25 inches of rain in 24 hours. This massive and destructive storm brought winds of 60 miles per hour to Southeast Louisiana and a storm surge of up to 6 feet.
I was able to see the flooding first-hand when I traveled to Louisiana on Thursday with the FEMA Director, Joe Allbaugh, to survey the damage.
I was relieved and grateful to learn that on Friday, the President declared a Federal disaster for the area. This declaration triggered the release of Federal funds to bring much-needed recovery assistance to the towns, communities, businesses, and citizens that suffered great loss. I would like to thank President Bush and FEMA Director Joe Allbaugh for their support of Louisiana's recovery efforts.
Although the final cost of Tropical Storm Isidore is still being determined, Louisianans know all too well the damage a storm on this particular path can bring. Had this storm reached the level of strength earlier predicted, it would have been a category 3 hurricane, packing winds of 130 miles per hour and a storm surge of up to 12 feet.
As nearly all of New Orleans area rests below sea level, a hurricane of that magnitude alone on the path that Tropical Storm Isidore has taken would devastate southeast Louisiana…………
HURRICANE ISADORE, WETLANDS, AND IRAQ RESOLUTION -- (Senate - October 02, 2002)
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?r107:1:./temp/~r1072t6hqH::
There is nothing we can do about keeping hurricanes from coming ashore. We cannot prevent them. People say: Senator, can't you do something? I say: If I could pass a resolution, I would. But, of course, there is nothing we can do about that. But we can be more prepared than we are.
While we are making progress, we have a long way to go. So whether it is at the energy conference, where I hope we will have a positive outcome, or in the new transportation bill where we can talk about the highways and evacuation routes in south Louisiana and the Gulf South need our attention. Not only do they serve as economic highways that are really necessary for commerce to flourish, but, as you know, when the hurricanes come, it is the only way for people to flee the storm. We don't have trains, as people do in the Northeast, to get out of harm's way. All we have in Louisiana are highways dangerously crowded with automobiles and pickup trucks. We need to make sure people can get north to higher ground. Hundreds of thousands of people in my state are jamming the highways to escape Lili and head for higher ground in north Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Texas. Hotel rooms are scarce, and people will have trouble finding safe-haven from Lili…..

I mean, Tolkien managed to expand upon The Hobbit so that you got an ever-enlarging experience with the Lord of the Rings trilogy. And then he quit. I kept reading Anne Rice, thinking she was on the brink of pulling this off, and finally I quit on her.

Just heard that the National Guard responded to this emergency in less time then any other emergency.

You did better than me. I think I made it through The Vampire Lestat and part of the one where Lestat switches places with a guy before just giving up. On the recommendation of a Rice-loving freak in college, I tried to read Ramses the Damned, but it read more like a romance novel than a horror book.

When it comes to good old fashioned horror, give me Stephen King any day.

Just heard that the National Guard responded to this emergency in less time then any other emergency.

Heard from...?

Care to give any, you know, facts to back up your assertions, or are you just another frickin' seagull?

Actually, I think Annie is just pissed that we seem to have forgotten her and her lousy (except for Interview), purple-prose-ridden, ten-ton tomes.

Harry Connick Jr., on the other hand, was on Larry King attempting to counter the media's pushing of the memes (ugh, I hate that word, but I'm too tired to think of another) that 1) everyone left in New Orleans is a gang-banger looter crackhead with a gun, and that 2) white New Orleanians (Orleanites? Orleanos?) hate black New Orleanese. "These are my people, they have my same accent." It was sweet. I think I will buy one of his cds.

I also got a favorable impression from Michael Jordan, who Larry King also was interviewing tonight. Jordan's doing some charity thing for the survivors, of course, and he managed to pointedly criticize local and state government without naming any names (and instead of singling out Neglectful DaddyBush Who Abandoned Us). He also compared the chaos of New Orleans with the efficiency in New York after 9/11, and praised Giuliani. Not-so-hidden subtext: New Orleans needs a Giuliani.

The reporters on MSNBC and CNN I just wanted to bitchslap ("where is the federal government? They failed!" no word of criticism against the state or local government, of course) but that's nothing new. As for Fox -- well, they are marginally better, but they also pull that camera-up-the-tear-ducts crap, and then there's Geraldo.

If only they had started those school buses, 205! They could have evacuated New Orleans in hours...saved the day! What were they thinking? Stuck in a cat 4 hurricane when they coulda been running out with bus keys! Only demos lack the sense that your average Jethro with a set of jumper cables, a screwdriver and a 72 Dodge pickup has. Gosh.

The photos of those buses sunk in toxic floodwater will be the death knell of the democratic party!

The left must hang its head in shame today. The school buses of doom.
But for the

If only they had started those school buses, 205! They could have evacuated New Orleans in hours...saved the day! What were they thinking? Stuck in a cat 4 hurricane when they coulda been running out with bus keys! Only demos lack the sense that your average Jethro with a set of jumper cables, a screwdriver and a 72 Dodge pickup has. Gosh.

The photos of those buses sunk in toxic floodwater will be the death knell of the democratic party!

The left must hang its head in shame today. The school buses of doom.

Here we go again...

"When it comes to good old fashioned horror, give me Stephen King any day."

Amen to that. I know some people are upset with the Dark Tower series but I thought him inserting himself as the Deux ex Machina was great. And I didn't see the ending coming. This stuff going on in N.O. reminds me of The Stand; the best apocalyptic novel ever. A close second though is Swan Song by Robert McCammon

The Stand is one of my top-five favorite books. Oustanding story, well-told.

Pet Semetary, for some reason, scared the living crap out of me more than most other books have.

Pet Semetary was mucho scary but I think 'It' was the most disturbing for me. I really liked the two novels he did with Peter Straub; The Talisman and Black House (set in WI, yeah!).

It was really good. It's weird reading the book, since I live in Bangor, which the city of Derry is modeled upon.

The Standpipe water tower that rolls down the hill at the end of the book? The house my wife and I purchased is a few hundred yards away. Hope it never decides to explode.

One of these days, I should go through Bangor and take pictures of the places like "The Barrens," the hospital, the downtown and the Standpipe.

Oh goody! Book reviews!

I never read another Stephen King book after Pet Sematary. It was so creepy and full of the unimaginable horror of my nighmares (the scene of the little boy running from his dad and being run over will be forever imprinted in my brain) that I swore to never read him again.

My son though, has read everything ever written by Stephen King.

I never read another Stephen King book after Pet Sematary. It was so creepy and full of the unimaginable horror of my nighmares (the scene of the little boy running from his dad and being run over will be forever imprinted in my brain) that I swore to never read him again.

Oh, man. That part scared me so badly.

To be honest, though, I don't know what scared me so badly about the book. It just gave me the willies, and I only read it once.

You might like The Talisman, RWS. Its actually a fantasy/adventure as opposed to a horror novel.

Another not-scary book is Eyes of the Dragon. More fantasy/action than horror.

I've always been of the opinion that had Stephen King picked another genre to write in he would be considered the greatest author of the 20th century. *Nobody* develops characters in a novel better then him.

I've always been of the opinion that had Stephen King picked another genre to write in he would be considered the greatest author of the 20th century. *Nobody* develops characters in a novel better then him.

Completely agree. And his dialogue is outstanding.

Did you see the news? Rehnquist just died.

Yes. Just heard it. Couldn't figure where to post it so people would read it. Someone go wake up ace.

Pet Semetary, for some reason, scared the living crap out of me more than most other books have.

Me too!. Pet Sematary is actually the only book I have ever read that gave me nightmares that woke me up. I read it when my son, Andrew, was the same age as the little boy who gets run down by the truck and gets buried in the pet sematary. Really creeped me out.

FYI, the only movie that ever disturbed my sleep was Play Misty For Me, directed by Clint Eastwood. The show didn't really bother me that much, but it really bothered the future Mrs. Michael, who got up at about 2 a.m. to hurl chunks into the white wishing well. Thus, vastly reducing my chances of getting sex the next morning. Thanks a lot, Clint.

Heh. Nice.

I never did see that movie.

You want horror - REAL horror - the kind of horror that will make you crap your pants in fear?
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Elect Ray Nagin as your mayor.

Weird, I just started re-reading The Stand.

King says Pet Semetary was the only book that scared him while and after writing it, and the only one he wishes he hadn't written for that reason (as opposed to the several crappy books he disowns as a group without ever referring to them by name, but we know which ones he means. You're gonna get some clunkers if you write 50 books ...)

S.K. clunkers imho; Gerald's Game, Dolores Claiborne, From a Buick 8

Tommyknockers is what turned me off to King. The guy needs an editor willing to tell him to cut a couple hundred pages when he needs too. After that I gave up. His short stories and many of his novels are first rate, but I've spent too much time plodding through that and a couple other pieces of crap to go back to reading him.

The Stand is still one of my favorite novels, I've read it 3 times.

Tommyknockers sucks. Could have been a pretty good short story, but man did he overdo it.

He does admit he was on drugs at the time, so many that explains it.

If the mayor of New Orleans screwed up then it was up to his Governor to acknowledge this and step up.

If the Governor of Lousiana screwed up then it was up to the President to step up.

Or SOMEBODY.

Congress had to be told to interrupt their vacation weekend to get in there and sign off on some very important things.

I admired the fact Bush put his foot down with them. I wish like hell he'd done more of that tho.

It all goes to the top. Or at least that's how it seems to work in the business world?

As you guys want to keep yelling partisan junk anybody out there tell me they feel very safe with our Homeland Security right now. Because that is who you are watching run this.

I agree with the guy that said they were ALL crap.

p.s.

The main stream media you're trying to also attack right now for their one sided coverage on all the bad??

WHAT ELSE ARE THEY SUPPOSED TO BE FLIPPING COVERING?

Nobody was doing anything. They reported EXACTLY like they did on 9-11.

THAT is the difference between how 9-11 was handled and how this one has been handled.

It's a shame Rudy wasn't there.

At the very least the mayor of New Orleans seemed to be concerned with more than photo ops at the time. I'd imagine I would have wanted to cuss too. Gosh, maybe he even cared if people died.

Fleeing town, cussing the feds and finger-pointing did nothing to evacuate his city, mom. He was the only one in the position to do that, and he didn't even try. The rest is his mess continuing to roll downhill.

I haven't seen anybody here criticize the media for concentrating on bad news. The problem is misinformation, mis-assignment of blame and trying to score partisan political points while bodies still float uncounted in the streets.

At the very least the mayor of New Orleans seemed to be concerned with more than photo ops at the time. I'd imagine I would have wanted to cuss too. Gosh, maybe he even cared if people died.

He didn't care enough to keep it from happening. Just using the buses to evacuate a few of the poor people that were stuck there would have shown some small amount of concern, but he was too busy hauling ass out of town, saving his own skin. Luckily for him, there's plenty of useful idiots out there that think crying and finger pointing are the same as caring.

The main stream media you're trying to also attack right now for their one sided coverage on all the bad??

WHAT ELSE ARE THEY SUPPOSED TO BE FLIPPING COVERING?

Good Lord, are you even folowing this thread?

I'm sorry Digitalbrownshirt - I thought it was O.K. to come in and go thru and then if you want to go back up to something that was being talked about it would be o.k. to bring the topic back to that.

Brewfan wrote a letter to NBC. He/She never has in their life.

Slublog says "will enough info from the blogs get to counter the picture the MSM is trying to paint?"

I'm not arguing there aren't issues with the MSM. I agree. One COULD be gone are the days of mom and pop and the fact that the current administration, I believe, has allowed Rupert to own even more Fox stations (just an example). This isn't good for what you want to see change. I'm guessing this will continue to mean more tailored left and right stations and prints. Do you guys want that either?

Digital you write that the mayor didn't care enough to get a better evac plan going. Maybe what I'm trying to say is that I'm irritated that "to me" the President didn't seem to care enough either that the mayor might not have done his job right. It "feels" like you guys cut more slack federally than state. That your reasoning appears to want to cover the top dog. And, if you're more "right" on issues aren't you the one's wanting it all to be more state government anyway? It's not working well on this one? We have a problem here.

I've seen people critisize the liberals for fussing that they want to know the President cares and then they critisize the photo op thing. On here.

When he was filmed by the MSM as he first started his tour it was like something out of the Twilight Zone to me at that point. I watched some of the most unbelievable footage I've ever seen. Mostly I wanted to go down there and smack a couple of governors who seemed to want to do nothing more than suck up and what they said was absurd. I don't know their parties and don't care. That the federal government just couldn't have been more fantastic. Come on - all of us at this point knew there were problems and it was stretching that far up.

As I watched -the president in no way managed to make me feel any better. Is this the MSM's fault? I kind of think this isn't one of Bush's better strongpoints. Show me where Bush looked any more concerned than the mayor of New Orleans. He seemed further away than the mayor. I didn't get to vote for the Mayor of New Orleans. I was only involved in that national election. I expect my national guy to care and act like it. It's the right thing to do.

Here's another example on here. The one that wrote just knowing that Bush had to have made some phone calls to Texas and that's why they have responded like they did.

HUH?? Does she know Bush personally or a relative of his? She got equipment to listen in on calls out of the WH?

As the politicians (all of them!) try to posture so do we voters. I hear nobody (yet - there are ALWAYS idiots and it will come!) trying to yell "I told ya so!" I may have missed it, so feel free to point it out. But I do feel like I'm reading you guys automatically scrambling to assume that there is no way that the government might not have screwed something up.

I'd like to think we'll all learn something from all this and that it will turn into more than this normal division in our nation that needs to tone down a bit.

Before the Bird Flu hits.

WHAT ELSE ARE THEY SUPPOSED TO BE FLIPPING COVERING?

It took INCREDIBLE "moral courage" for the media to temporarily abandon the CINDY SAGA to cover something as paltry as the worst hurricane in US history.

Ow, mom! Shorter rants, and I'll read the whole thing. This is a blog comments section, not a term paper. Any attempt to respond to a laundry list like that in a format like this quickly dissolves into an indigestible word stew.

Near as I can figure it, you think the mayor of New Orleans looks sadder than the president, so he wins?

Tony,

There is not a huge conspiracy by all media to change the entire basic fiber of the nation. This has been used to take the focus off of anybody taking responsibility for anything. If you continue to think this things will only get worse. Both sides are feeding us this garbage (or like garbage) so they can run get their own agenda's thru.

OR - maybe Cindy Sheehan is right and the President DID cause this hurricane?? With his environmental policies. BOY - that went fast! In five years we ruined a big city. What about Clinton in the prior 8?

I think by now most people are watching a grieving mother have a total go to pieces. In the end the public is smarter than all of this.

How many of you one here - I'm guessing you are all strong republican's?? - HONESTLY think God sent this cauz of SIN down there in that party city?

Remember that everything that comes out of far left isn't every liberal's opinion either.

Reasonable. Compromise.

I'm guessing this will continue to mean more tailored left and right stations and prints. Do you guys want that either?

Actually, yes, that would be preferable to what we have now. At present, the media has a patina of "objectivity" barely covering their biases.

Make mine libertarian. And I, personally, am touched by his noodly appendage. (For real. 'Sketties for lunch).

SWeaseal,

Nobody is going to win if we don't examine "it" and quit trying to try to save either our own ego's, jobs, political affilliation, etc? I say they ALL messed up. I would love to see one step up, take the blame and apologize. I doubt we'll see much of that.

I know I wrote too much. Sorry. Did you catch that Bird Flu comment? I had the luck of residing in Toronto during SARS and I'm telling you - the bird flu thing is coming. SARS was CREEPY and the government was so worried about their tourism dollar they were trying to cover it up.

We need to think about the next one. More than what party rules.

Slublog,

It wouldn't work. Then the left will ONLY watch left news and the same will go for the right.

Do you chat on left blogs too?

It won't fix it.

Tho I'm not sure there's such a thing really as unbiased anything.

Works in England.

New Orleans Mayor and Govenor should resign!!! It is their responsiblity to have a disaster plan and follow it, and to get the National Guard in! They did nothing!! It was not until Bush got in there and got into action and we saw one of the guickest disaster reponses in history!! Reverend Jackass needs to stay out of it, too! I didn't see him doing shit but bitchin about racism. Hell, the Mayor is Black and he basicly killed thousands of New Orleans citizens.

They have this in England? I'm honestly asking. News to me.

Not that EASY tho! lol They have a different form of government too if you'll think about it.

Yup. The Sun is a more conservative paper, for example. The Guardian, a more leftist one. The news content is about the same in both, but they are clear about their political stances, so you know where the biases exist.

True, their government is parlimentary one, but I don't think that makes a difference in the types of media they have.

Jill

The quickest disaster response in history? Are you kidding me??

I totally agree with the Rev. remark. They like to posture too. It will stir stuff up and more bad will happen. It wasn't black.

I agree right now on the Gov. and Mayor resigning too. I guess as things start becomming known it will be a better time tho to make sure we know all that we're talking about. Remains to be seen on some of it?

I will never understand this obsession with wanting to force politicians to admit they were wrong and apologize, especially the constant insistence that Bush do so. Number one, I can't think of any leader who made a habit of this practice (except Clinton, but he generally apologized for things he didn't do, like slavery). People who claw their way to high positions of leadership don't tend to be the weepy sort. And, number two, "sorry" does nothing to fix what went wrong. It's mere political theater to delight the opposition.

And I'm a fan (if that's the word) of the 1918 'Flu Pandemic. I've been braced for this one for a long time. You know what's going to happen? Lots and lots of people are going to die. No matter how well we plan. We're bound to have the wrong flavor of vaccine in the wrong amount in the wrong places. Because it's never going to be politically viable to have too much of every kind everywhere. It would cost a fortune and, year after year after year, be pointless. And because natural disasters never unfold neatly, as planned.

And yes, mom, the feds got there the fastest they ever have. Aid at that level is a great, slow, lumbering beast. Marvelously effective, but not the swiftest to assemble. That's why no-one is supposed to count on them for first responders.

The quickest disaster response in history? Are you kidding me??

In some ways, yes it was. The federal government is a huge lumbering organization. The fact that it's been able to move in, provide relief supplies and evacuate a good number of the people in the city is amazing.

It's easy to get frustated with the federal government in this case, but they don't really deserve as much blame as they are getting.

Except Michael Brown. He should be fired.

Oh, and I just saw Celine Dion on CNN. She's even less interesting when talking than when singing, and that's saying something.

Heh. "Lumbering" is such a cool word.

Lumbering. Makes me think of "slouching toward Bethlehem." In fact, this whole week has made me think of that.

I saw Celine, too. You know what she learned from this experience? Little girls need underpants.

A lesson we can all take away from this.

Gee, I wonder if CNN replayed her comments because she just happened to mention the Iraq war and how easy it was to 'send planes to destroy lives' yet we 'couldn't rescue people.'

This meme is going to be annoying.

Almost as annoying as that hysterical bitch Andrew Sullivan has gotten. Time to raise the freak out advisory.

I don't get how you guys can be so assured the feds are blameless in any of this. What is it you know that makes you so sure they have done everything just fantastic? Beyond your tendancy to defend Bush to the death?

The flu? I totally agree with many will die, etc. Only right now I'm damn concerned about what's in place for those that survive. It would cover an area far bigger than the south coastline.

Slu, Michael Brown is FEMA isn't he? He said something really stupid, but I'm not sure it's all his fault either. They had sucked some life out of FEMA. Bad congressional decision. That's why I said it's more Homeland Security.

Not that today I wouldn't enjoy firing everybody in government involved. I know, that's stupid.

I don't get how you guys can be so assured the feds are blameless in any of this. What is it you know that makes you so sure they have done everything just fantastic? Beyond your tendancy to defend Bush to the death?

Please stop misrepresenting our words. None of us have said the federal government's response has been perfect, or that the feds are blameless.

We're just saying that if one takes an objective, rather than an emotional, look at what happened, the problem is not as simple as the media is trying to make it out to be - i.e. - the president is all to blame.

Oh, mom, I'm sure the feds made mistakes. They always do, they always will. I'm pretty certain far greater mistakes were made lower down, but even that is only interesting to me at this moment as a counterpoint to the media's caterwauling.

We haven't rescued the living. We haven't counted the dead. Fixing blame is something that comes later, and then only so we can (maybe) respond better next time.

Care to give any, you know, facts to back up your assertions, or are you just another frickin' seagull?
I heard it on the radio while listening to the news. If you want verificatiion, look it up yourself, asshole.

man, things are gearing up all around me. hundreds of communities across Texas are getting long-term living facilities ready for storm refugees. My home town (pop. 57,000) is working on the convention center and a recently closed grocery store - planning on housing about 400. I've been up there this morning working with others - there are dozens of people that have been at it for 3 days.

this is happening in medium and small towns all around me. It isn't just the Astrodome. I saw Fox report up to 200,000 in Texas alone... b ut I saw where other states as far away as Massachusetts will also provide for Katrina victims.

I guess I would rather focus on what I'm seeing right now than Nagin's stupid rants. He blew it, and doesn't have the wherewithall to help anybody do anything right now, so I don't feel like wasting time giving him an attention.

I heard it on the radio while listening to the news. If you want verificatiion, look it up yourself, asshole.

In case you haven't noticed, moron, you're on a website. Here, verification is provided via hyperlinks to actual websites that contain facts.

I've been reading a lot of the news - MSNBC, CNN, Fox, the Washington Post, the NY Times, and I haven't seen that pointed out.

So I'll just assume since you're defensive and anonymous, that you're making it up.

That's pretty cool, Dave.

What a load of malarkey who are these idiots trying to kid anyway? i gues their only usibg a very small part of the walnut sized brains

Mike Brown is anothe Hack Loi-Yah who got FEMA as a patronage plum for his fundraising work.

There are certain agencies where a Loi-Yah or fatcat Republican businessman with no experience does not belong. FEMA is one of them.

There are signs that FEMA has suffered, declining from the Clinton years when they were getting really good, losing funding to Bush's benefactors getting their pork. Signs that FEMA management was told post 9/11 that their main focus was to be "evildoer" attacks, not disasters.

Well, it's a little early to begin the investigations, so what was wrong with FEMA will have to join the inquiries into what is wrong with the black underclass, NOLA government leaders, their police dept, etc., later on.

But Mike Brown blew his credibility with the idiotic sort of happy talk in the face of reality that the Pentagon spinmeisters have been known to dish on "how good Iraq is going" for the last 2 years.

Chertoff should "reluctantly" accept his resignation and put a seasoned retired military commander with a superb record of moving people in an emergency, proven logistics ability, and leadership talent at the top of FEMA. If a Mike Brown has a place, he should be working the K-street feeding trough that Republican lawyers, Congress reps, and contractors are slurping tax dollars and Chinese IOUs out of, working as a FEMA lobbyist.

All said, I think of Bobby Jindal's narrow loss to Blanco....how Jindal made his reputation in ability to step into a crisis and fix things..

But perhaps not as much as Louisiana voters are.

In case you haven't noticed, moron, you're on a website. Here, verification is provided via hyperlinks to actual websites that contain facts.

Look asshole, keep it up and I will follow every post you make and demand hyperlinks to actual websites for *every* assertion of fact you make.

I've been reading a lot of the news - MSNBC, CNN, Fox, the Washington Post, the NY Times, and I haven't seen that pointed out.

Who gives a shit what you have seen or not seen? As if that were even relevant.

So I'll just assume since you're defensive and anonymous, that you're making it up.

Nah, not defensive. Just not going to kiss some prick's ass, who couldn't merely ask for a link but instead had to act like an asshole.

Look asshole, keep it up and I will follow every post you make and demand hyperlinks to actual websites for *every* assertion of fact you make.

Twitchy little bugger, ain't 'cha? I just don't think it's too much to ask to provide evidence for your assertions.

Nah, not defensive. Just not going to kiss some prick's ass, who couldn't merely ask for a link but instead had to act like an asshole.

You're right. I probably shouldn't have been sarcastic, but I was in a bad mood and unsubstantiated facts by anonymous posters make me grumpy.

I am sorry to hear I won't get my ass kissed, though. That's a bummer.

Anybody wonder why it's Texas, and uniquely Texas, that's stepping up in a time of crisis?

Not me. I used to live there.

Remember the Alamo.

Hey, I remember the Alamo.

We got our ASS kicked there. Serious.

just kidding. actually I'm not a native Texan but I got here as quick as I could.

If you haven't been following the news -- FYI, the NOPD is AWOL. Order is being imposed on the streets of New Orleans by the Texas National Gaurd.

Here's another legendary Texas saying:

"One Ranger, one riot."

Hey, I remember the Alamo.

We got our ASS kicked there. Serious.

Not actually. A couple of hundred guys with rifled barrels held off the army of Santa Anna -- the self-styled Napoleon of the New World -- for a critical amount of time, while Sam Houston was desperately trying to muster an army.

They all died. And they were from all over the world. There is a room at the Alamo where they show the flags of the home country or state of everyone who died at the Alamo. It's impressive, and moving. People from England, Germany, Scotland, Mexico, Kentucky (Crockett) and so on. They all willingly died for an idea.

Sam Houston raised his army, the forces of Santa Anna were slaughtered at the Battle of San Jacinto, and Santa Anna himself was captured, hiding in the uniform of an ordinary soldier.

The general rule is: Don't mess with Texas.

Yes, yes, I'm with you. I was thinking more tactical. "They all died" is a euphemism for "getting your ASS kicked, serious".

No question Sam got an army and a motivated one.

The cost is too great. See I'm joining the left

Chertoff should "reluctantly" accept his resignation and put a seasoned retired military commander with a superb record of moving people in an emergency, proven logistics ability, and leadership talent at the top of FEMA. If a Mike Brown has a place, he should be working the K-street feeding trough that Republican lawyers, Congress reps, and contractors are slurping tax dollars and Chinese IOUs out of, working as a FEMA lobbyist.

I can't believe I'm even partially agreeing with Cedarford, but I think that it is time for Brown to go. It's not so much FEMA's actual performance as his total disconnect from reality at press conferences. I'm not so sure about apppointing a former General, however - it always seems like a good idea, but often times they don't play so well with non-military folks, and FEMA really is a "herding cats" kind of job where you have to cajole along with commanding. Maybe someone with a broader experience - I don't really have any one in mind and would be interested to hear suggestions.

I have also read that one of the reasons that FEMA was cut back is that it had gown into another Federal pork monster - growing beyond its bounds as a disaster relief and management agency. As for putting it under DHS, it kind of cuts two ways - on the one hand, since DHS' primary focus is terrorism, it is likely that the focus on natural disasters at FEMA was weakened - the flipside is that, following a major terrorist strike (nuclear or comparable) do we really want 2 seperate cabinet level departments duking it out for who gets to do what?

One thing is certain - John Kerry is on his knees thanking [insert your diety of choice here] that he didn't win the Nov election right now. Because not a single thing would have happened differently about Katrina had he been elected.

What amazes me is that some people think increased disaster magnitude somehow can magically manifest faster response times. This is simply not the case - particularly in light of the abject local leadership failures.

It is sad to say but probably over 90% of the ones who chose to stay in N.O. were bottom feeders who more than likely have never worked a day in their life.They are been conditioned through the years to expect the government to provide for every need they have.They are encouraged to work the system by having as many kids as they can because every kid will bring a raise in monthly benefits and this scenario has been going on for the last 40 years.

The ones who could have left should have left making it far less of a challenge to rescue the ones who truly could not leave.In effect the people themselves along with an incompetent elected mayor have brought about the problems that they have been facing.It is simply the nature of the welfare system for those recipients to sit and wait for someone else to do what they should have done themselves.THEY SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN THE HELL OUT OF NEW ORLEANS.

I dont want to hear that they could not get out or that they had no place to go,hell they sure as hell were able to destroy the Superdome and the Convention Center along with the rest of the city.Loot everything in sight,rape and murder their own people.Hell yes if they were able to do all of this in the aftermath then they sure as hell could have gotten out when the getting out was good.

But no they only say they had nowhere to go which is what they have now and that is nowhere to go.Now they will sit in shelters and bitch and complain about how no one is doing this or no one is doing that and it will never dawn on any of them that perhaps the only place they need to look for help is in a mirror.

In the coming days and weeks they will be housed and fed and provided for by the very people who they have critcized for not getting them out sooner.While they are receiving all of this help pro bono they will ask where their monthly check and other freebies are since they are entitled to all of the freebies that make up their way of life.They will be on TV screens on the news saying "I have not gotten MY check,why are they not giving us our checks" as if they have earned a damn check but somehow feel entitled to a check to go along with the freebies they are now receiving.

A horrible scene is unfolding in shelters everywhere where grown able bodied men are lounging around on cots playing cards while volunteers are moving supplies in and distributing them to these worthless men who will not even help themselves.These same men should be forced to be the first ones to go back to N.O. nad start the clean up,but they wont be forced to do that as it has been reported that $62 million has been allocated to hire the refugees to go back in and clean up their own city.WHAT pay them to clean up their own city while they continue to already be provided for????BULLSHIT no work,no eat and if they dont want to work for the keep they are now receiving let them starve...

The Bush bashing will continue because that is the main media's job for the liberals. But when hearing start and all the facts come out you will see that new Orleans is one corrupt city and state. If the republicans have the guts to ask the tough questions the main media will have to cover and report the story.

"I'm guessing you are all strong republican's"

Then you're guessing (and punctuating) incorrectly.

If the republicans have the guts to ask the tough questions the main media will have to cover and report the story.

If that happens the media will BURY THE STORY about the investigation and keep pitching what they're going with now.

Let me see if i can understand this ,250 buses at 40 each presumming they were all operational , and 364 buses with 40 people on each bus ,A 17 hour drive to Houston with no chance to return . Do the math . not a very thought out plan although the federal government knew from the P.A.M report exactly what was going to happen . This is begining to sound like a ( Blame the victim ) scenario , ( she was raped because of the clothes she wears . As a white conservative christian , I find this whole situation irritating . This NEW conservative attitude of folks , makes me want to wear a bag over my head next time i vote. So much for compassionate conservatism.

500+ buses. And they DON'T need to get to Houston, they just need to get to high ground out of the way of the storm.

500*50 = 25,000/trip.

Get there ( wherever ) and what ? wait ? yes help is on the way , dont get hungry or thirsty.

Get there ( wherever ) and what ? wait ? yes help is on the way , dont get hungry or thirsty.

Dear moron James,

Most normal people, if given the choice of temporary hunger/thirst or FUCKING DEATH IN A HURRICANE, will quite rationally choose the former.

You obviously prioritize comfort over staying alive, as is your moonbat perogative of course.

I like people like you - when the shit really hits the fan, you select yourselves out of corporeal existense quickly leaving more for me.

Your intelect amazes me . so does your language , I doubt you cared at all about ( those people ) . All you are concerned with is those you voted for . This is no time to point fingers , it was thier fault .

I found this site while researching my own area about storms ( Houston ) . I was very interested in the first staement you made ACE . Here is what i had just read about Galveston , ( If you live in Galveston County, please take a moment to consider a stark truth: It could have happened here. Chances are, it will happen here someday. Would we be ready?

Officials most familiar with the situation say the answer to that question, as of Friday morning, Sept. 2, 2005, is no.

If a Category 4 or 5 hurricane scored a direct hit on Galveston and southern Galveston County, the loss of life and the loss of property and commerce would be catastrophic.

A 25-foot wall of water like the one that struck Biloxi would flood the county to Friendswood, moving up Galveston Bay, flooding other communities to the north.

Evacuation of the million or so people who live in flood-prone areas south of Houston would be even more difficult than the evacuation for Katrina.

Why? The area is served by just one interstate highway, compared to five in the New Orleans area. In addition, those million people would have to struggle through the world’s largest roadblock — Houston, and its 4 million people.

We are proud of the rapid residential development on the Galveston County mainland. That explosion of new residents would only make escape more difficult.

If an evacuation were not called — and universally heeded — very early on, it is likely many people would die in their cars as the waters rose.

It is likely that all of Galveston Island would be under water, mostly destroyed by wind and the scouring action of the water.

It is likely that virtually every structure between Galveston and League City would be destroyed — or nearly so.

It is likely that people with special needs — the old, sick and poor — would die disproportionately because very little provision has been made to evacuate those people, just as was the case in New Orleans.

You may think this is being written to frighten you. You’re exactly right. ) MAkes one think , doesn't it ACE ?

But would it be Bush's fault?

Officials most familiar with the situation say the answer to that question, as of Friday morning, Sept. 2, 2005, is no.

So why are you complaining on a conservative blog? If the answer is no, go ask your local government why they aren't prepared, and pressure them to come up with a plan.

You know, think globally, act locally, right?

Ditto Bob , i live in houston also ( Katy ) and this is what i read ..-But some coastal residents are worried about what will happen when hundreds of thousands of people head inland.
If they start sending hundreds of thousands of people up Interstate 45 to Huntsville, as they're telling people in Galveston to do, I just don't know where they are going to go," Oehlers said. "I guess they'll eventually end up there with y'all in Dallas and Fort Worth like New Orleans residents did last year when they fled Hurricane Ivan."
And one Gulf Coast county judge is less than thrilled about being the one with the responsibility to order an evacuation.
"I think it makes it tough on county judges," Chambers County Judge Jimmy Sylvia said.
"If it can save lives, I guess it's a good thing, but I'm sure going to lean on my emergency management people before making that call," Sylvia said.
One concern results from the length of time since a major hurricane has hit a populated section of the Texas coast. Hurricane Claudette, a weak Category 1 storm, made landfall near Port O'Connor in July 2003. Hurricane Bret, which made landfall in 1999 in a lightly populated region between Corpus Christi and Brownsville, is the only major hurricane to strike Texas in the last 20 years.
"Most of our staff hasn't been through one, and we've got 10,000 to 15,000 [people] on our side of the barrier islands -- not including Port Aransas -- to worry about," said Richard Hooks, the interim emergency management director for Corpus Christi.
"Many of these people are retirees and people from out of state who have no idea what a hurricane can do," Hooks said.

So why are you complaining on a conservative blog? If the answer is no, go ask your local government why they aren't prepared, and pressure them to come up with a plan. I really was not complaining . I was saying some who think they are prepared .are not really prepared . i voyted for both Bush Sr . and W . The mayor of New Orleans just said "Mayor Ray Nagin, under mounting pressure to rescind his decision to let people in, defended the move and complained that the federal official in charge in New Orleans, Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad Allen, had made himself "the new crowned federal mayor of New Orleans." This is not very smart of him is it ?? sometime when you are looking for truth , you must look deep .the mayor of New Orleans , not the govenor of Louisiana put Brown as the head of FEMA . I am proud of President Bush for firing him .Now having said that let me say , you can get back to bashing democrates , and the poor and feeble who were unable to escape this killer storm, or whatever this blog is for . God Bless the USA

We really need a better class of troll.

Line breaks, people.

Line.

Breaks.

Oh, and coherence.

Is that too much to ask?

They don't make trolls the way they used to, that's for sure. Back in the day you could at least understand what they were saying. Now, its getting hard to fire back because its like you're having a flame war with 4th graders. Sheesh.

Elitism is a belief or attitude that an elite — a selected group of persons whose personal abilities, specialized training or other attributes place them at the top of any field (see below) — are the people whose views on a matter are to be taken most seriously, or who are alone fit to govern. Thus elitism sees an elite as occupying a special position of authority or privilege in a group, set apart from the majority of people who do not match up with their abilities or attributes. Thus this selected elite is treated with favouritism. Members of an inherited elite are aristocrats.

Have a nice life 8 = ) see you at the voting booth

Thus elitism sees an elite as occupying a special position of authority or privilege in a group, set apart from the majority of people who do not match up with their abilities or attributes. Thus this selected elite is treated with favouritism. Members of an inherited elite are aristocrats.

Woo hoo! We get to run things!

Or do we?

I'm not sure I understand.

I'm not sure I understand.

I think he's saying he'd prefer to keep electing gross incompetents like Nagin and Blanco because they're not "elites".

Let's see . What incompetent Hired Brown ?? ( I can almost hear the Jeopordy theme playing ) Give up ?

Ah.

I figured that aristocrat line meant he was telling a dirty joke.