When all is said and done, history is not going to be kind to the Democrats regarding this disaster.

I agree.

Hugh Hewitt is saying the same thing over at his site.

These guys are in serious danger of overplaying their hand, if they haven't already.

I need to find me a shyster with the brass to file a class action suit in the name of the rest of the lower 48 against LA for incompetent citizenry....

What's that chipmunk Edwards up to these days?

Edwards?

Joining the blame game of course.

Accompanying the story is a picture of Edwards in full Concerned™ mode. Reminded me that during the election, I disliked Kerry but f'in hated John Edwards.

It gets worse. It seems that the Sierra Club and a coalition of other enviro-wackjobs successfully sued to stop improvement of the levies that failed last week. This occurred in 1996. Their argument being that temporarily stopping flood waters interferes with the ecosystem's ability to replenish itself naturally.

I guess it's feelin mighty peppy right now.

Hastert @ press conference on Fox.

Sure, the people that want to blame Bush are blaming Bush.

It does not appear to be perduading anybody else.

So their strategy eludes me. It almost makes me think, it isn't really a strategy, it's stupidity.

Landrieu hasn't changed the info on her web site yet.

Edwin Edwards is in federal prison in Oakdale, LA.

Reid on now. Blah.

Reid: Katrina Emergency Relief Act supposed to "bypass FEMA"

Proposing "something like the Tennessee Valley Authority" and saying the new authority he wants to set up will become "self-funding." [blank look]

Self-funding?

Have the Democrats ever done anything like that before, or does 'self-funding' to them mean it will have the power to tax people?

Houston Astrodome locked down for crowd control; Red Cross handing out debit cards starting at $400 per person, increasing based on # of dependents. FEMA promising $2000 per family. Um, I'm not real sure how great an idea this is, guys. I wrote that check for rescue and aid work, not handouts.

Self-funding = Pelosi's hands in your pockets

Which is so gross on so many levels.

Really, "self-funding?" I mean which universe would this be in again?

Self funding means we are going to pay for it ourselves. Meaning you and me. Or us. And them. And after all, we're only ordinary men.

You know, before this disaster and the liberal response, I was trying to control my disdain for our liberal friends - trying to see that we only disagreed, and we didn't need to be disagreeable about it.

Calm.

It's getting a lot harder to do that now.

I have to admit I was hoping for a more 9/11-like reaction myself. You know, coming together, all that shit. Naive of me, I know.

Dr Krauthammer's theory pretty much establishes that that ain't happening again.

Well, he turned out to be right.

These people need therapy.

Remember this? :D

The Boca Raton News reported last week that more than 30 distraught Kerry supporters in South Florida contacted the non-profit AHA following their candidate’s Nov. 3 concession to President Bush. AHA officials have diagnosed the disorder as Post Election Selection Trauma (PEST) and have scheduled the first of several free group therapy sessions for just after Thanksgiving.

I loved the fact that they called it PEST. "Heh. Indeed."

I remember that story.

I also remember thinking what a bunch of whining crybabies I thought those people were.

This one lieutenant colonel just gave a hilarious interview on MSNBC. :) Some polished, poised, made-up, picture-perfect blonde was asking him the usual touchy-feely questions and the way he responded was funny as hell.

PPMUPPB: "So Colonel, can you give us an idea of how these people, these people who have lost everything they've ever known or had, how they react when you show up and bring them the basic necessities of life?"

LTCOL: "My men don't come in contact with them."

PPMUPPB: "Oh. Uh, Colonel, how large an area do you cover?"

LTCOL: "Approximately 300 by 600 meters right back of here."

PPMUPPB: "Um, Colonel, have you been running into problems with the distribution, the arrangements, the deployment of supplies..."

LTCOL: "My men are accomplishing their mission, ma'am."

PPMUPPB: "Of course... uh, Colonel, do you know how long you'll be expected to stay in the area and -"

LTCOL: "We've been given no endpoint, ma'am. We'll stay as long as it takes to complete our mission. Thank you, ma'am."

PPMUPPB: "Oh! Thank you, Colonel."

Oh, great.

Michael Moore wants to make a movie about this.

@#$%$%&*!!!!!!!!!!

A little bit further down in your link, though, Slubs:

When asked what he thinks of the rumored possibility that Colin Farrell will play him in a movie, Osbourne responded, “Who the [bleep] is Colin Farrell?”

Heehee.

Slublog, I hope he does. The details that have already surfaced from the superheated debate will be well known to most Americans by the time he gets it out. The reaction from those in the political middle will be even more negative.

The more moveon, Moore, ACT, Media Matters and KOSmonauts and Soros keep screeching, the more isolated they become. Hell they're already at the point where no topic can be covered without starting the amps at 11.

There is that, but is there no sense of shame for that asshole? He's such a vulture.

I hope he completely misrepresents people and gets successfully sued again.
Thats always funny.

but is there no sense of shame for that asshole?

is this a trick question?

apparently the Dems have polled it through now and see some advantage in piling on. that's an interesting turn, and one that challenges my earlier assertion.

Whoa, does this mean Sidney Blumenthal was making dishonest accusations against his political enemies in his columns in European newspapers last week? The ones where he claimed that Bush diverted monies that could have saved New Orleans to fund the liberation of Iraq?

They polled it? Really?

I personally don't see where they could find advantage on this one, regardless of what a poll says. The ground under them has changed with the revelations about the local government's response.

Moonbat, according to reliable sources, like Eric Alterman, that's pretty much true.

Slub, when you see presidential contenders piling on, especially after being quiet for a week, they polled it.

True. But it seems to me that the storyline is changing, and they may find themselves with little to stand on when people realize the extent to which the local government failed in this case.

Personally, I think Edwards is jumping on because he's aggressively stupid.

"Aggressively stupid" is going to be my favorite phrase for the day.

From the Red Cross website:

Hurricane Katrina: Why is the Red Cross not in New Orleans?

* Acess to New Orleans is controlled by the National Guard and local authorities and while we are in constant contact with them, we simply cannot enter New Orleans against their orders.

* The state Homeland Security Department had requested--and continues to request--that the American Red Cross not come back into New Orleans following the hurricane. Our presence would keep people from evacuating and encourage others to come into the city.

* The Red Cross has been meeting the needs of thousands of New Orleans residents in some 90 shelters throughout the state of Louisiana and elsewhere since before landfall. All told, the Red Cross is today operating 149 shelters for almost 93,000 residents.

* The Red Cross shares the nation’s anguish over the worsening situation inside the city. We will continue to work under the direction of the military, state and local authorities and to focus all our efforts on our lifesaving mission of feeding and sheltering.

* The Red Cross does not conduct search and rescue operations. We are an organization of civilian volunteers and cannot get relief aid into any location until the local authorities say it is safe and provide us with security and access.

* The original plan was to evacuate all the residents of New Orleans to safe places outside the city. With the hurricane bearing down, the city government decided to open a shelter of last resort in the Superdome downtown. We applaud this decision and believe it saved a significant number of lives.

* As the remaining people are evacuated from New Orleans, the most appropriate role for the Red Cross is to provide a safe place for people to stay and to see that their emergency needs are met. We are fully staffed and equipped to handle these individuals once they are evacuated.

VP Cheney's giving a pretty good pep talk right now.

I think someone just tried to heckle him or something. Must've been controlled pretty quickly; he only got a couple of shouts off.

Heh, he was asked a touchy-feely question about what he's learned on his tour and he responded with a wonky but pleasant discussion about flood insurance. Classic Cheney.

Cheney - not a touchy-feely sort of guy.

No, he's not, but he always gets the tone right. It's never dry or off-putting coming from him; he just sounds like the Dad of the nation.

I would so vote for that man, if he ran. Don't care about his heart.

Ditto.

Whenever I see Breck girl, John Edwards, I can't help but remember my old man growling that he just doesn't like that "sneaky little shithead."

Pretty much decribes him perfectly.

* The state Homeland Security Department had requested--and continues to request--that the American Red Cross not come back into New Orleans following the hurricane. Our presence would keep people from evacuating and encourage others to come into the city.

Just want to reiterate that it was the Louisiana Homeland Security Dept(controlled by the governor) and not the Fed HSD that would not allow access to the Red Cross.

I propose that if the Red Cross would have been given access we would not be having this degree of discussion on the failures of the governments responses. The images of the Superdome was the fuel that has driven this meme.

Giuliani/Jindal.

You heard it here second.

Unfucking-believeable

A Must read. (via Instapundit)

The more I read about stuff like this, the more I get pissed off with the blame Bush crowd.

Stories like this just shows how crap the local government handled the situation, resulting in a huge crisis handed to FEMA who is now being criticized because things aren't all rosy.

Huh. Fox just showed the top 5 international donors in the wake of Katrina:

Kuwait $400m cash, $100m oil

Then Qatar, UAE, Korea, and Australia. Also:

Iraq $1m cash
Afghanistan $100k cash

Europeans mostly in kind.

I appreciate the the manpower and supplies donated by other countries but we should say thanks but no thanks to any financial aid. To me its like Bill Gate's neighbors giving him money after his house burns down.

Ring: "Unfucking-believeable" sums up my reaction. I'd wait for rock-solid proof on this one; I'm REALLY skeptical about some of those claims.

"To me its like Bill Gate's neighbors giving him money after his house burns down."

Dman - sure, and given the billions already being promised by Congress it's just a drop in an awfully big bucket, but it's a nice gesture. We should accept it in the spirit in which it was (hopefully) offered.

Anybody listening to Rush Limbaugh??

He is hammering Landrieau and company. Basically all the stuff bloggers have been uncovering all week.

Scathing direct hits.

[sigh] Auntie Mary, get OFF the damn party line. I thought you knew better than this.

President Bush was on TV just now. We're counting up quite a few national days of prayer and remembrance in September.

Megan :

Yeah, I looked at some of the sceptics posting in comments on the original post. While the background of the writers seem fairly questionable, this isn't the only case where the strategy seemed to be to get people moving out, no matter how you do it.
This is regardless of the fact that these people had no means to get out, or nowhere to go to. It seemed like the local govt wanted the people dying in the streets rather than holed up in the official shelters without food, water and supervision.

We should accept it in the spirit in which it was (hopefully) offered.

I agree, Megan. This is going to get really expensive once we start hiring all the grief counselors and lawyers that will be needed to recover from this disaster.

Ring, read further down; some of the holes poked in that story make it look awfully doubtful. Just on the face of it I wouldn't buy it, but everything else that was pointed out makes it look completely untenable.

Hey, look! The media's found new Bush-bashing victims to highlight!

Hooray for them!

Seriously, though. I understand people being angry and directing that anger at the president. He's the most visible figure in the government.

But it's been just such a constant litany of angry faces and bitter comments highlighted by our hairsprayed masters. It's wearing me down.

Pelosi's on CNN now. Even the news anchor is arguing with her, feeling somewhat baffled by her nonsense.

"You really think that replacing Michael Brown at FEMA is going to alter the whole dynamic?!"

Cheney gets the bird:

http://thinkprogress.org/2005/09/08/cheney-runs-into-trouble-with-the-locals/

Another must-read:

Three State Officials Indicted for Obstructing Federal Audit:

Shreveport, Louisiana . . . A federal grand jury has returned two separate indictments charging three members of the State Military Department with offenses related to the obstruction of an audit of the use of federal funds for flood mitigation activities throughout Louisiana, United States Attorney Donald W. Washington announced today.

Two of the individuals charged, MICHAEL C. APPE, 51, of Mandeville, Louisiana, and MICHAEL L. BROWN, 61, of St. Francisville, Louisiana, are senior employees of the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. Both APPE and BROWN are charged with conspiracy to obstruct a federal audit; BROWN is additionally charged with making a false statement.

The Hazardous Mitigation Grant Program is administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and is designed to fund mitigation projects to prevent future flood losses or flood claims made upon the National Flood Insurance Program. BROWN was responsible for overall management the program in Louisiana; APPE was responsible for managing employees who perform fiscal transactions regarding these funds.

The indictment alleges that during an audit of the program being conducted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security-Office of Inspector General, a State Military Department employee realized that $175,000 in expenditures of federal monies was improper in that the money was not used for purposes authorized by the federal program and would therefore have to be re-paid to the federal government. This employee notified APPE, who in turn directed the employee to provide false documents to the federal auditors.

Interesting.

Last story via The Corner, BTW.

Pelosi brings the funny:

"Let's look at this in an objective, nonpartisan way..."

Can't wait, Representative... oh God, now she's saying she wants the 9/11 commission to "continue its work" and "become the Katrina Commission." Yeah, that's JUST what we f'n need.

Sen. Mary Landrieu: Diverted Levee Money THROUGH the War in Iraq

Can't wait, Representative... oh God, now she's saying she wants the 9/11 commission to "continue its work" and "become the Katrina Commission." Yeah, that's JUST what we f'n need.

Criminy. That woman is completely out of her frickin' mind.

"Giuliani/Jindal"

And who do you think the Republican nominees are going to be?

"And who do you think the Republican nominees are going to be?"

Hah! Nice one, Brew.

Heads up - Berger sentenced to $50k fine, 2 years probation, 100 hours community service.

Huh. Breaching nat'l security just became a misdemeanor.

Breaching nat'l security just became a misdemeanor.

Get my lawyers on the phone.

Can anyone list specifics or point me in the direction to information of what Mike Brown did wrong as the head of FEMA which I guess is the same as asking specifically what FEMA did wrong? I know the critics both left and right are calling for his resignation but I have yet to see the specifics of the charges only generalities, ie; FEMA did not respond sufficiently. I would like to make an informed decision before either defending or lambasting a person.

Far as I can tell, Brown's major sin is much the same as what Dennis Miller described for Adm. Stockdale when he was Ross Perot's running mate. "He looked bad on television." That failing overwhelms all other virtues a person might possess.

That is the most terrible thing a public official can do anymore, at least if the press is already intent on hating you by association with a Republican administration.

I can understand the frustration of the NO residents themselves but the irrationality by people who are not suffering is loathsome. For instance, Jon Stewart on 'The Daily Show' tried to equate Katrina as representing the same setback for Bush as Monica LEwinsky did for Clinton. As if Bush chose to have Katrina happen.

The sad fact is that the local authorites in LA failed horribly. The federal agencies by all appearances performed exactly as intended and had aircraft performing surveys of the region within hours of the hurricane's passing. You cannot just load up the the trucks and cargo planes, then send them out with no plan for what routes are open, where they will stage operations, and a myriad other factors.

If the LA authorities had held up their end the arrival of federal aid at the time predicted in emergency plans would have been completely normal. The federal aid only seemed late because all else was lacking.

epobirs,

never tell a hurricane to "blow me".

Dave, Dave, Dave....

You are so naive, my little Texas friend. You really think Michael Moore would make an accurate documentary of Katrina. Name 1, just 1 of his so called documentaries that actually presented the truth.

As for FEMA and Brown..I am not going to repeat what everyone has been saying for over a week now, but I would like to point out that before hurricane Katrina hit NO, it hit FLORIDA - 3 people died and over a million were without electricity. Parts of Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties were evacuated. Not only is no one complaining about the performance of FEMA in FL, but they are not taking into consideration the enourmous size of this storm and the damage it did prior to hitting NO.

Given the circumstances, I think FEMA is doing a good job. Can we reasonably expect better, given what they have had to work with?

Many people find my naivete refreshing.

Dave,

Can I interest you in a warehouse full of amadillo flavor Ex-Lax? I assure you, this stuff will sell like hotcakes. I also have several truckloads of the chocolate covered cotton balls left.

Tony,

them armadillos are mighty tasty, and you know it.