FOX News, FEMA and George Bush are right...

Why didn't these rich assholes just get in their car and drive themselves out of town when they were asked to? It's clear they stayed to simply embarrass the president.



(Source: Stern) Read More......

Ooops, open thread

Forgot to do one for a while now, oops. Going to watch Daily Show now on TiVO. Read More......

Why does Atrios hate America?

Oh the humanity... Read More......

Dems blasting Bush over hurricane relief

Now THAT'S my party.

Of course, AP still gets the story wrong:

Bush cut short his vacation by two days last week to return to Washington.

Uh, that's a nice way of saying that Bush didn't cancel his vacation until the 3d day AFTER the hurricane had struck. Very cute spinning as Bush, the valiant, canceled his vacation early. Technically AP is correct, but in writing being technically correct isn't the goal - it's to write clearly in a way that your readers understand the facts. That sentence is 100% misleading and AP should know it. Read More......

The growing influence of liberal blogs

MyDD just finished a study on blog traffic during the Hurricane and, interestingly, when looking at the 100 most trafficked blogs and netroots sites, the liberal sites had traffic increases of 34% while the conservatives had traffic increases of only 8%.

One factoid I particularly liked:

All six of these blogs (Dailykos, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, Eschaton, Crooks and Liars and Americablog) now have more traffic than Instapundit, which remains the highest trafficked conservative blog

Read More......

US Customs tells employees to stop helping FEMA

Yeah, we wouldn't want to break Bush's perfect record of killing so many people. Read More......

Maria Shriver, where the fuck are you?

UPDATE: It's confirmed. Arnold will veto the gay marriage bill, just as he vetoed a second gay civil rights bill moments ago. Arnold is in the purse of anti-gay bigots like Lou Sheldon. God help Maria's soul, if she still has one.
-------------

The latest info we're getting is that Arnold is going to veto the gay marriage bill, though this is unconfirmed. You know, Maria Shriver really needs to put up or shut up. She's a Kennedy and she's living with a man who is going to veto a major civil rights bill. She ain't no Kennedy in my book.

Then there's this from Arnold's spokesman:

The Republican governor, a moderate on social issues, has repeatedly said that while he has no problem with gays winning the right to wed, he thinks the hot-button issue should be decided in the courts or at the ballot box.

So Arnold prefers that activist judges decide what to do on gay marriage and not the people via their legislatures? What the hell is that about? Not to mention, the court case is on a technical legal matter, does the state constitution include gay marriage per se. When the legislature acts and passes legislation, that's a totally different issue. What a total wimp.

Maria Shriver, it's stand up or shut up time. Are you a Kennedy or a bigot? Read More......

They won't let people take their pets on the buses out of New Orleans

Jesus Christ, you have got to be kidding me. We don't have enough buses to actually transport people and their pets? Come on. It's not as if the hurricane is an hour away from hitting and it's either the dog's life or the old lady, each vying for the last spot on the bus. This is ridiculous. We're now killing people's pets - people who were abandoned by the Bush administration for a week. Does the inhumanity of this administration ever cease?

Watch this video. WATCH this video. It will make you cry, but there's some happy stuff in the video too. Read More......

Pelosi calls Bush "oblivious, in denial, dangerous"

And she's right. Read More......

That's Mr. Daffy Duck, to you

Seems the Disney characters are really bent out of shape about gay marriage:

Read More......

FOX's Rupert Murdoch and the Saudis...

Well, well, well... there's no accounting for taste, on either side. Read More......

Call Arnold and tell him to sign the marriage equality bill - we're talking gay couples being allowed to marry in CA, folks

This is historic. Please call Arnold. I know, I don't care if you like him or not, he needs to feel the heat, call him.

Equality California
MORE PHONE NUMBERS FOR THE GOVERNOR!

September 7, 2005

We've just heard that the Governor's Capitol office phone lines are jammed with your calls. Below are more phone numbers to contact the Governor in his district offices.

Also, we're working to get tens of thousands of signatures on a petition to the Governor that we can deliver NEXT WEEK! Please do everything you can to get your friends and family to sign our petition to the Governor on AB 849 by forwarding this email to EVERYONE YOU KNOW! Please click here (http://www.eqca.org/)to sign the petetion to the Governor.

As a California voter, you are an important voice and a powerful influence. Again, when calling, urge the Governor to sign AB 849 into law.

Fresno Office Phone: 559-445-5295
Los Angeles Office Phone: 213-897-0322
Riverside Office Phone: 951-680-6860
San Diego Office Phone: 619-525-4641
San Francisco Office Phone: 415-703-2218

Thank you all of your recent support! This historic victory would not have been possible without your calls, your emails and your donations. Please keep it up!

Best,
Steve Hansen

Legislative Director
Equality California

PS -We need your help! Please make a donation to Equality California. We are going to do everything we can to convince the Governor to sign this bill. This will include collecting signatures, placing ads in newspapers and buying air time for commercials. All of this is very helpful but also very expensive. Click here (http://www.eqca.org/50000foreqca) to donate now.

Read More......

More from Joe on FEMA censorship

Government censorship in America. Of course, George Bush doesn't want you to see the reality in the Gulf States. Fortunately, the media isn't taking it kindly to FEMA's request not to take pictures of the dead:

Rebecca Daugherty of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press found [FEMA's] stance inexplicable.

"The notion that, when there's very little information from FEMA, that they would even spend the time to be concerned about whether the reporting effort is up to its standards of taste is simply mind-boggling," Daugherty said. "You cannot report on the disaster and give the public a realistic idea of how horrible it is if you don't see that there are bodies as well."

FEMA's policy of excluding media from recovery expeditions in New Orleans is "an invitation to chaos," according to Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, a part of Columbia University's journalism school.

"This is about managing images and not public taste or human dignity," Rosenstiel said. He said FEMA's refusal to take journalists along on recovery missions meant that media workers would go on their own.

Next thing we'll hear is that they aren't counting the dead bodies anymore either.

Too bad FEMA didn't show as much concern for these people before they died. Read More......

More on FEMA's censorship of the media

Here Read More......

Blogger riding in military convoy with Louisiana governor

Excellent. I just got a call from Bob Brigham of Swing State Project (AMERICAblog correspondent Kyle Shank will be joining bob later this evening), he was in a military convoy with the governor of Louisiana as we spoke. He's going to check back at their next stop and give us an update, that I'm going to record and put up on the blog. Read More......

NY Daily News has more on FEMA's Michael Brown - it's juicy

NY Daily News

Embattled FEMA head Mike Brown insists he is well-qualified to lead the nation's disaster response agency - though he spent his time before joining the Federal Emergency Management Agency probing whether a breeder was performing liposuction on a horse's rear end.

Read More......

Remember The Missing

Bush doesn't want anyone to see th dead bodies coming out of New Orleans any more than he wants us to see the dead bodies coming out of Iraq. Here are just a few photos of kids looking for their parents. Here's a link the New Orleans Times-Picayune website, which lists people's emails and who they're trying to find. "Looking for aunt...." "Looking for Brenda...." "Looking for Maureen...."

Good luck to them. Meanwhile, we'll keep looking for Bush.... Read More......

Call the White House: Tell them to stop trying to hide the dead bodies

An email I just received from a reader. He's right. Call the White House. 202-456-1414, 202-456-1111. They probably won't listen, but it's time for everyone working there to feel some shame for being part of this conspiracy to dishonor the dead, the dead that THEY caused. If they want to work for Bush, they need to start sharing some of the blame for the deaths he's caused.

Hey there John,

First, thanks for being the voice of conscience through all of this horror we are experiencing here in the south.

I was concerned when I read your comments that the press was being moved out of New Orleans, so I called the White House to voice my concern. I was told by the WH operator that the reason was out of respect for the dead. I told her that I thought it was a bad idea to not chronicle this issue so that we could learn from it, correct what went wrong and make sure there is accountability.

Well the minute the operator heard the buzzword "accountability" she got very testy and insisted that it was not appropriate to show the dead. I told here we saw dead bodies everyday on the news from Iraq and she went a little nuts and said I was "being insensitive." I've got friends I can't find in New orleans and I'm being insensitive? These people need to get real and hear from more Americans.

Please tell people to call 202-456-1414, 202-456-1111 and tell the WH operators that the press need to stay.

Thanks
C...
Atlanta

Read More......

NY Daily News: Bush gave top 3 jobs at FEMA to "political cronies" with no experience

Gee, and they killed a few thousand people. I think we call that a learning curve.

The three top jobs at the Federal Emergency Management Agency under President Bush went to political cronies with no apparent experience coping with catastrophes, the Daily News has learned.

Even if Bush were to fire embattled and suddenly invisible FEMA Director Michael Brown over his handling of Hurricane Katrina, the bureaucrat immediately below him is no disaster professional, either.

While Brown ran horse shows in his last private-sector job, FEMA's No. 2 man, deputy director and chief of staff Patrick Rhode, was an advance man for the Bush-Cheney campaign and White House. He also did short stints at the Commerce Department and Small Business Administration.

Rhode's biography posted on FEMA's Web site doesn't indicate he has any real experience in emergency response.

In addition, the agency's former third-ranking official, deputy chief of staff Scott Morris, was a PR expert who worked for Maverick Media, the Texas outfit that produced TV and radio spots for the Bush-Cheney campaign. In June, Morris moved to Florida to become FEMA's long-term recovery director.

"The Bush administration has apparently transformed FEMA from a professional, world-class emergency responder into a dumping ground for former campaign staff and political hacks," said Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan).

Read More......

We've raised enough money for Kyle, our on-the-ground correspondent, so stop donating!

Thanks everyone, we got it. You guys are GREAT. Read More......

Bush on Tuesday of this week asks "What didn't go right?"

What didn't go right? Why don't you ask the thousands of people you killed in New Orleans - you know, the ones you just banned the media from photographing - ask THEM what didn't go right, you lying sack of shit.

At a news conference, Pelosi, D-Calif., said Bush's choice for head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency had "absolutely no credentials."

She related that she had urged Bush at the White House on Tuesday to fire Michael Brown.

"He said 'Why would I do that?'" Pelosi said.

"'I said because of all that went wrong, of all that didn't go right last week.' And he said 'What didn't go right?'"

"Oblivious, in denial, dangerous," she added.

Read More......

GOP to announce fake rubber-stamp commission to investigate Katrina - no Democrats involved

Gee, big surprise there.

Sources on the Hill are hearing that the Republicans are going to announce a "bipartisan" bicameral Katrina commission, except, while they are saying its bipartisan and bicameral, they've not told the Senate
Democratic Leadership anything about it, the Democratic Leadership will not be invited to the announcement of the commission.

They don't know yet if there will be equal representation on the committee, who will decide who's on it, or even if the committee will have subpoena power or real congressional authority.

They will have the cameras at the announcment, but will take no questions from reporters (spokespeople will answer all questions later).

This can not pass the laugh test. The Republicans have decided to create a fake commission to give Bush a rubber stamp for all the crimes he's already committed.

Just remember how uncooperative Bush was with the September 11 commission - imagine what kind of stonewalling he'll do with these guys.

This isn't our government anymore. Read More......

BREAKING: Military stopping media from entering New Orleans

UPDATE: I've received some questions about this, and yes, Bob was banned from entering New Orleans today AS A JOURNALIST with full press credentials. He just called, and he's subsequently found a way to sneak in, but he was definitely banned today as a journalist from entering.

Bob Brigham has just reported - and this is why we need OUR folks on the ground, to report this stuff - the military is banning all reporters from New Orleans. Outrageous. If you kill a couple thousand people, you definitely want to keep the media and the public from finding out.

Bush is literally trying to hide the bodies. This is beyond outrageous.

They're trying to hide the bodies. Who the hell does Bush think he is? So much for the First Amendment, so much for the Constitution, so much for a democratic government.

Hey, Democrats, time to speak up LOUDLY. This is what military regimes do, what dictatorships do, it's not what democracies do. We don't hide our dead bodies in our to spare our leaders their well-due shame.

I hope the media is all over this.

As we already know, Bush is banning the media from taking any photos of the dead. So here's a thought:

Get a media helicopter, fly in, and let them shoot you down. Do you really think the Natl Guard is going to shoot down CNN? Especially if they have a few Democratic congressmen on board? Doubt it. And are they going to arrest those Democratic congressmen for taking photos of the recovery? Doubt it.

PS And Kyle is still on his way as our correspondent - we're not gonna let some petty dictator stop us. Read More......

AMERICAblog hires on-the-scene hurricane correspondent. If you can donate to help pay his way, that'd be great DONE!

UPDATE: You guys rock, we received a bit over $1500 before I could pull the plug on the donations. That will be more than enough for Kyle to live AND to use some of the extra money to help folks directly on the ground (any extra he can donate to hurricane relief). Thank you SO much. I knew I could count on you guys, you totally rock :-) JOHN
------------------

In order to give you guys the best possible coverage of the hurricane relief effort, AMERICAblog has hired Kyle Shank of AmIPatriotic.com to be our special hurricane Katrina correspondent, on the scene, starting today.

Kyle is on a plane as I write this, headed for Baton Rouge, where he will join up with Bob Brigham of Swing State Project and Macon Phillips of Blue State Digital in their efforts to report on the region AND help provide their own technical brand of hurricane relief (such as the computer project in the post below).

Why do this?

Because we cannot trust the Bush administration on anything they say about this hurricane. We are still seeing hourly horror stories about relief not making it, foreign offers of help being delayed, people on the ground not getting the support they need, military recruiters supposedly using the disaster as an opportunity to recruit, and more. Perhaps most importantly, FEMA is now not letting the media take pictures of bodies, apparently so that FEMA can hide the real death toll (and real horror) in an effort to help the Bush administration.

AMERICAblog, and all the liberal blogs, have done a great job holding the Bush administration accountable for its lies and its failures. Just imagine what we can do with our own correspondent on the ground. Our correspondent will be getting those stories and more and he won't have to worry about FEMA censoring him.

Please help us pay for Kyle's trip

I've promised Kyle I'd pay his airfare (a bit over $400) and expenses for the 6 days he's down there - he is NOT taking a salary. As they're sleeping in their rent-a-car and eating PB&J; sandwiches for breakfast, lunch and dinner, I doubt his expenses will be too outrageous (apparently the folks already on the scene, Bob and Macon, haven't even had the chance to shower in a week). So, I figure a good additional $600 should hold Kyle over fine for food, any lodging they might need, emergency supplies, etc. (Bob and Macon have already been spending some of their money buying supplies for destitute people they're finding, so I suspect Kyle will be spending some of his funds on that as well). In any case, $600 additional will let him survive, report on the area, and hopefully help some people in need.

I have already promised Kyle $1000 total to pay for his trip, and I will donate that $1000 from the next $1000 that is donated to this blog starting now (and if the donations don't come in, I'll be paying him myself).

If you'd like to help finance Kyle's trip, please just click the "Make a donation" button at the top of the blog and, as I said, I'll give the first $1000 to Kyle (and I'll alert you when we've reached it, so you don't keep donating thinking you're helping Kyle's trip.) I'm sorry, but mailing in donations is too much trouble for financing Kyle's trip, it will take too long - we have to rely on PayPal for the moment, as much of a pain as it is.

Thanks in advance. I really think this will be a fascinating opportunity, and hope you agree.

JOHN Read More......

Harry Reid asks about Bush vacationing during Katrina

These questions deserve answers:

In a letter to the Senate's Homeland Security Committee chairwoman, Reid, the Senate Democratic leader, pressed for a wide-ranging investigation and answers to several questions, including: "How much time did the president spend dealing with this emerging crisis while he was on vacation? Did the fact that he was outside of Washington, D.C., have any effect on the federal government's response?"

We'll probably never get answers. But, we should know how many people died because Bush stayed on vacation and the federal government failed to act. Read More......

Thousand are dead across the south and the Pentagon is throwing a party on September 11

What a bunch of disgusting people. They're throwing a party, a concert, in four days to celebrate war! And worse yet, they're spending probably millions doing it (that's what it costs to run these kind of things), using military resources, security, medical resources, you name it. All this is going on when the south is still in dire need of our help. Our generals are busying planning a party.

Feel free to contact the numbers below and let them know what you think of their having a party while people in the south are devastated.

Bra-vo.

PS You have to REGISTER with the little nazis in order to take part in the march.

U.S. Department of Defense
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)
News Release
On the Web:

Media contact: +1 (703) 697-5131

Public contact:
http://www.dod.mil/faq/comment.html
or http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2005/nr20050907-4668.html

No. 921-05
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 7, 2005
Pentagon Remembers September 11th Honors Victims and Families

Thousands are expected to take part in the Pentagon’s America Supports You Freedom Walk this Sunday. The walk is a Department of Defense commemoration for victims’ families of the events of Sept. 11, 2001.

The walk begins near the future site of the Pentagon Memorial, proceeds over the Memorial Bridge, passes several national memorials, and concludes adjacent to the National Mall and Reflecting Pool. For more information, visit http://www.AmericaSupportsYou.com and click on the FREEDOM WALK icon.

It will end with a musical tribute by country music star Clint Black at the JFK Hockey Field near the Washington Monument.

The walk begins Sunday, Sept. 11, 2005, at 10 a.m. EDT at the Pentagon South parking lot and is free and open to anyone who registers http://www.americasupportsyou.com/ .

Read More......

BREAKING: Cheney Was Shopping For A Mansion While Disaster Struck

Apparently, Condi Rice wasn't the only one who decided that the worst natural disaster in our country's history was the perfect time to go shopping. Rice, of course, was spotted on Fifth Avenue paying reportedly thousands of dollars on a pair of Ferragamo shoes. Cheney stayed on vacation while Hurricane Katrina struck. He stayed on vacation on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday and Friday and he was finally spotted back in Washington on Saturday. This was such a gross dereliction of duty that even liberal bloggers struggled for a reasonable explanation. Surely Cheney was deathly ill and simply incapable of doing what any decent human being would do during such a terrible disaster? Nope. Maureen Dowd says Cheney was house-hunting:

The vice president has at long last lumbered back from a Wyoming vacation, and, reportedly, from shopping for a $2.9 million waterfront estate in St. Michael's, a retreat in the Chesapeake Bay where Rummy has a weekend home, where "Wedding Crashers" was filmed and where rich lobbyists hunt.

Dick Cheney was SHOPPING FOR A MANSION DURING THE WORST NATURAL DISASTER IN OUR NATION'S HISTORY. Unbelievable. If this isn't the first question for any government official who gives a statement to the press until we get some answers, the MSM should just pack up and go home. I now apologize for bending backwards to assume Cheney was ill -- perhaps from his weak heart -- and offering my heartfelt thoughts for his family while insisting he'd have to step down. I made the rookie mistake of assuming Cheney had a heart.

NOTE: Now what do I say? The Washington Post did a story on Cheney house hunting on Chesapeake Bay on Monday, a week after the hurricane struck. It quoted people saying the deal would close yesterday or today. How could The Washington Post CONCEIVABLY do a light, fluffy article about Cheney buying a mansion when he was AWOL during the worst natural disaster in our nation's history? Why aren't they demanding to speak to Cheney? Why aren't they asking for a complete itinerary of everything he did last week while the waters were rising and people were dying? Why aren't they asking Cheney about the grotesque contrast of him buying a mansion after hundreds of thousands of people watched their entire lives wash away and Cheney did nothing. NOTHING. How could the Washington Post run an article like this in this context? It seems there is no report of Cheney literally shopping for his home last week, but who knows? The Washington Post didn't ask and they used the facts to run a "cute" feature instead of recognizing his insulting refusal to get to work when this country needed him most. Write the Washington Post with your opinion of them running a story like this two days after Cheney FINALLY was spotted at the White House and let them know what questions you want answered. letters@washpost.com Read More......

Even "New York Post" Blasting FEMA

The NY Post can't quite bring itself to criticize Bush too strongly, but even they realize FEMA's Michael Brown is grossly incompetent and has caused the unnecessary death of Americans. The front page story? "Dead Wait," with the inside article headlined "FEMA Fool Sat On His Hands." Even an Op-Ed column by Ralph Peters in the NY Post on Tuesday that tries to defend Bush and denounce "playing politics" can't resist blasting the buffoons in charge:

The Bush administration seems to have a problem with serious planning outside of a campaign. Our troops were sent into Iraq without an occupation plan and now we find that, four years after 9/11, the Department of Homeland Security, which swallowed the Federal Emergency Management Agency, appears to have done no serious planning for a national disaster.

What on earth has DHS been doing...?

What's striking is that the administration and the staffers at Homeland Security didn't seem to grasp all the resources available to them -- or even what their responsibilities were. Anything but reassuring, the clumsy initial response to Katrina must have Islamist terrorists stroking their beards, smiling and thinking ahead....

And furious over Europe's sometimes callous attitude towards this disaster, he blasts their leadership for an unforgivable dereliction of duty:

When the last water recedes, we may find that a few thousand Americans died in a great natural catastrophe. But two years ago, during a heat-wave, 25,000 elderly Europeans died unnecessarily in France, Italy and Germany while their political leaders, medical personnel and even their children went on vacation -- and stayed on vacation.

I agree: leaders of countries who stay on vacation during unprecedented national disasters are beyond contempt. Read More......

Scottie, it's not "the blame game" when your boss just killed thousands of people

It's a crime. Read More......

Navy Pilots rebuked for saving lives

Who runs this government?

Two Navy helicopter pilots and their crews returned from New Orleans on Aug. 30 expecting to be greeted as lifesavers after ferrying more than 100 hurricane victims to safety.

Instead, their superiors chided the pilots, Lt. David Shand and Lt. Matt Udkow, at a meeting the next morning for rescuing civilians when their assignment that day had been to deliver food and water to military installations along the Gulf Coast.

Hey, they only saved 100 lives. The Navy is so petty, you get punished for that:

The order to halt civilian relief efforts angered some helicopter crews. Lieutenant Udkow, who associates say was especially vocal about voicing his disagreement to superiors, was taken out of the squadron's flying rotation temporarily and assigned to oversee a temporary kennel established at Pensacola to hold pets of service members evacuated from the hurricane-damaged areas, two members of the unit said. Lieutenant Udkow denied that he had complained and said he did not view the kennel assignment as punishment.

Watch the dogs who are already safe instead of rescuing people. Read More......

Bush's Potemkin Government

That's all his Government is - a sham Potemkin wrapper around a core of incompetent cronyism.

Kudos to Kos for collecting it all in one place. Read More......

Open Thread

Start chatting, please. Read More......

MR. PRESIDENT FIRE THIS MAN IMMEDIATELY

From AP via Yahoo:

The government's disaster chief waited until hours after Hurricane Katrina had already struck the Gulf Coast before asking his boss to dispatch 1,000 Homeland Security employees to the region - and gave them two days to arrive, according to internal documents.

Michael Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, sought the approval from Homeland Security Secretary Mike Chertoff roughly five hours after Katrina made landfall on Aug. 29. Brown said that among duties of these employees was to "convey a positive image" about the government's response for victims.

Before then, FEMA had positioned smaller rescue and communications teams across the Gulf Coast. But officials acknowledged Tuesday the first department-wide appeal for help came only as the storm raged.

What failure is big enough for you to fire anyone Mr. President? This is our Government Mr. President, and this isn't my country's values.

UPDATE: Thank you Nancy Pelosi for calling it out! From the San Francisco Chronicle:

Critics have singled out Brown, the head of the emergency management agency, who was commissioner of the International Arabian Horse Association before joining the agency as general counsel in 2001. Brown was sharply criticized for telling CNN Thursday night he did not know that thousands of people had no food or water at the New Orleans convention center -- even though TV images had shown their plight all day.

"If somebody is incompetent, has no credentials for the job that he holds, and that, I would say, is Michael Brown, the head of FEMA ... then he should not continue in that job," Pelosi said after her meeting at the White House.

Asked Bush's reaction, Pelosi said, "the president thanked me for my suggestion."

The internal documents disclosed Tuesday showed that Brown sought approval to send employees to the Gulf Coast from Homeland Security Secretary Mike Chertoff roughly five hours after Katrina made landfall on Aug. 29. Brown said that among duties of these employees was to "convey a positive image" about the government's response.

Thank you Nancy Pelosi for a moment of sanity in the winds of hurricane Karl. Since when is our disaster management agency a dumping ground for political hacks? Since the President clearly doesn't care one bit about average Americans. Thousands have died because of it, but, hey, now is not the time to talk about corruption, there is Halliburton money to be made!

They are so repulsive it disgusts me. Read More......

Foreign aid donors still waiting for clearance

I heard wingnuts early on crying about "where are all of the foreign donors since the US always acts to help others" but in fact the international donors were there, it was Condi and team at State that was foot dragging. The fact remains that besides just people, equipment to handle disasters such as Katrina are over in Iraq. Foreign aid was offered by friends such as Canada, Sweden, France, etc but our bungling bunch of royals in the administration were too busy taking vacations to worry about it.

Since Hurricane Katrina, more than 90 countries and international organizations offered to assist in recovery efforts for the flood-stricken region, but nearly all endeavors remained mired yesterday in bureaucratic entanglements, in most cases, at the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"FEMA? That was a lost case," said Mirit Hemy, an executive with the Netherlands-based New Skies Satellite who made the phone calls. "We got zero help, and we lost one week trying to get hold of them."

"As far as I know, it's still on the ground," said Claes Thorson, press counselor at the Swedish Embassy in Washington. He said that along with 20 other European Union nations that have pledged aid, "We are ready to send our things. We know they are needed, but what seems to be a problem is getting all these offers into the country."

So far, Thorson said, the State Department has denied Sweden's request for flight clearance. "We don't know exactly why, but we have a suspicion that the system is clogged on the receiving end," he said.

Michael Brown is incompetent but he is just the starting point for failure so sacking him is only the first step. It's much deeper than just one or two people. $400 Billion in spending for this?

Read More......

Where's the conservation?

Politicians around the country and all scrambling to find ways to cut prices at the pump. Hmmm, last time I checked, conservation is not a dirty word. Instead of feeding money to oil companies and sponging oil from other countries, how about the US starts talking about conservation? Serious conservation and not just a few words because it's clear how cheap talk is with this team. I still have no idea why the IEA and our friends in Europe are diverting strategic reserves to the US when this administration has not shown an inkling of interest in serious energy conservation. It's all about gluttony and lining pockets of friendly special interest groups.

Instead of working on a short term solution how about they spend time on a long term solution. Haven't we already witnessed too many short term solutions to long term problems? When are we ever going to see common goals and sacrifice for a nation that is supposedly at war? Read More......

Santorum shows a taste of GOP compassion

We've all heard GOP House Speaker Hastert talk about whether NOLA should be rebuilt and I see Barbara Bush's "let them eat cake" moment has made the Yahoo! Most Popular list (way to go Bab's!) but what list would be complete without Ricky-boy "Man-Dog" Santorum chiming in? Ahh, I am so looking forward to 2006 because this guy just can't make it through a week without stepping in pooh. Please take the floor, Ricky-boy!

In a weekend interview with WTAE-TV about the victims of Hurricane Katrina, Santorum said: "You have people who don't heed those warnings and then put people at risk as a result of not heeding those warnings. There may be a need to look at tougher penalties on those who decide to ride it out and understand that there are consequences to not leaving."

Hoo-ha! Point blank, right in the big juicy pile of pooh. OK, sure, Mr Man-Dog is now backpedaling and trying to get out of it but just what scenes from NOLA was Ricky-boy watching? Is he still believing the classic GOP/compassion line that says every poor person has a big fancy car thanks to government handouts? Does the GOP always have to live off of tired old stereotypes? Why is he focusing on a very small percentage of the people who may have been able to get out but stayed instead of the overwhelming majority who did not have the ability to leave? Nice compassion there folks. Read More......

FEMA flew evacuees to wrong Charleston

The sad part is that Bush will fire the FEMA director and then use him as the scapegoat to say "problem solved." Read More......

Firefighters "stuck in Atlanta drinking beer" because FEMA refuses to send them out to help people hurt by hurricane

Tell me again how George Bush is going to save our asses when Osama strikes again?

Hundreds of firefighters have been sitting in Atlanta, playing cards and taking FEMA history classes, instead of doing what they came to do: help hurricane victims.

The volunteers traveled south and west from around the country, leaving their homes in places like Washington state, Pennsylvania and Michigan. They came after FEMA put out a call for two-thousand firefighters to help with community service.

Firefighters arrived, as told, with lifesaving equipment and sleeping bags.

But one of the waiting volunteers says it might have been better if they'd brought paper and cell phones. That's because some of the emergency responders are being told they will go to South Carolina, to do paperwork.

Others don't know where they'll be put in action.

The FEMA director in charge of firefighters says he's trying to get the volunteers deployed ASAP, but wants to make sure they go to the right place.

One firefighter points to nightly reports of hurricane victims asking how they were forgotten. He says, "we didn't forget, we're stuck in Atlanta drinking beer."

Read More......