Troubling rumors about the Christian Coalition and radical Muslims

Hmmmm Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

Thread away my friends Read the rest of this post...

Fighting Poverty Is Hopeless? Only With Bush In Charge

New York Times columnist David Brooks is ready for the "silver lining" of Katrina, basically a plan to rebuild the city but making sure that middle class people and poor people are culturally integrated, which will lift 'em up, don't you know. How about just getting people a decent job at a decent wage so someone working 40 hours a week can have health care and feed their kid?

Then Brooks throws in this dismissive kicker:

We can't win a grandiose war on poverty.

Actually, Brother Brooks, we CAN. Clinton attacked poverty with the same vigor that Bush attacks taxes that keep the super wealthy from being even super wealthier. Poverty dropped under Clinton and fewer children went to bed hungry at night. Clinton also got people off welfare rolls and gave them their dignity.

Maybe what Brooks meant to say was that BUSH can't win the war on poverty. That's certainly true: lost amidst the terrible news was the fact that more and more Americans have fallen into poverty. The number of people living in poverty has increased every year of the Bush reign -- the increase has hit 17% and rising. So obviously BUSH can't win the war on poverty. But of course he isn't even trying. Read the rest of this post...

Poor Drownie, getting picked on and all

Drownie sent out an email to his pals wondering why people get in to public service after the treatment he got. Hey, if that keeps people like him out of public service we're all better off. But love this response:

"It's horrible," said Mary Ann Karns, an Oklahoma lawyer who once worked with Brown in the Edmond, Okla., city government and got the e-mail addressed. "He does not deserve this as a human being."

Hmm. How about some context here. What happened to the people in New Orleans, Ms. Karns, was actually horrible.

Remember, that useless sack of shit still heads FEMA. America's safety is STILL in his hands. Read the rest of this post...

Iraq war hindering Katrina response

Gee, what a surprise. Read the rest of this post...

Update from Kyle - the Blackwater mercenaries are in New Orleans

Kyle and the guys just had a run-in with the Blackwater mercenaries, the same guns for hire that they have in Iraq. I told the guys to write it up and post it, as it's a very interesting and odd story - what are these guys doing there? And according to Bob Brigham, who's part of Kyle's posse down there, no civilians are allowd to have guns in the area EXCEPT the mercenaries. Huh?

Anyway, it sounds like a heck of a story, and I see TruthOut is reporting the same story, so the guys are writing up their experience and are going to post later when they get an Internet connection.

Even more on Blackwater here. Read the rest of this post...

Americablog: The Big Hits Of The Week For Sept. 3 to Sept. 9

Here's a rundown of the biggest hits of the week -- the postings that generated the most traffic and inspired the most comments. If you love Americablog, this is a great link to send to friends and an easy way to track down some of the postings you want to refer to again and again. Thanks for reading and keeping Americablog the informed, involved, inspired community that it is.

The week was dominated again by Katrina, but some other news did begin to pop in now and again. And what a finale -- sheer incompetence is finally punished (sort of) instead of rewarded by the White House.

THE WEEKEND

John in DC keeps the facts front and center with "FLASHBACK: The levees broke last Monday MORNING, a good 48+ hours BEFORE Bush Called Off His Vacation." Someone email this to Homeland Security head Michael Chertoff.

Even Fox News goes ballistic over the bungled rescue effort, as Shep Smith and Geraldo Rivera get deeply passionate and refuse to let Sean Hannity downplay the disaster in gripping footage posted by John in DC under "OMG. They've LOCKED everyone in the convention center and won't let them out, and Geraldo and Shep Smith are going ape shit."

More FACTS, this time from John in DC detailing the actual weather bulletins released warning of impending doom under the headline "And Bush had no idea it would get this bad" and "Oops. Department of Homeland Security website claims FULL responsibility for any natural disaster."

Some five days after the worst natural disaster in our nation's history, John in DC reports "Dick Cheney cancels his vacation." Condi Rice ended her vacation early -- three days after the hurricane struck and only because of media pressure. But she did defend Bush in Michael in New York's "Condi Speaks!"

Michael in New York spotted "Bush Panicking Over Political Fallout."

Chris in Paris continued to focus on race, which would become a consistent theme in the media soon, with "Blacks and poor: move to the back of the line."

Passing the buck continued as Joe in DC said in "FEMA's deputy political hack taking no responsibility on CNN" and Michael in New York's "Michael Chertoff: We're On Trial."

Rob in Baltimore brought the scary news "CNN: Rehnquist Dead" and followed with his opinion that "Congress Should Reject ALL Supreme Court Nominees -- recommend Their Own."

John in DC points to a must-read with "Washington Post article concludes that Bush pretty much destroyed FEMA." Joe in DC chimes in with "The White House totally screwed up and their only strategy is to blame everyone else."

Chris in Paris plays town crier with "Inland Katrina victims still waiting for food and water."

Rob in Baltimore insists "Now IS The Time To Ask Why Everything Got Screwed Up."

John in DC delights in an MSM with backbone on "VIDEO: Tim Russert Rips Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff -- Chertoff said he didn't know levee collapsed until Tuesday morn, 24 hours after it did!"

Off topic, John in DC talked about the need for mass protest to be focused and on-message in "I'd like a straight answer about this protest on September 24." People must have been dying for something other than Katrina and misery to talk about it because it inspired more comments than almost any other posting in history.

Michael in New York laid it out in "George Bush Is Solely Responsible For Abandoning The Levees" and "NY Times: Bush Severely Damaged National Guard."

And John in DC spotted more indifference by Bush who rushed to lower the flags for Rehnquist, then realized they hadn't bothered to do the same for the thousands of dead in the Gulf region and hastily made clear they were included too, with "Bush ordered flags to half-staff for Rehnquist. Did he do the same for Katrina victims?"

MONDAY

Chris in Paris stayed on the race issue with "The great white fear and the real looters."

Michael in New York saw Bush finally putting his attack machine into motion with "Now Bush Will Spring Into Action."

Joe in DC coined a terrific new medical condition with "The Media are Rove-aholics."

Rob in Baltimore vented for all of us with "WHAT WILL IT TAKE FOR YOU PEOPLE TO DO YOUR F**KING JOBS?"

More pesky facts from John in DC who tells us "Head of National Hurricane Center briefed FEMA's Brown and Homeland's Chertoff on the coming disaster, including levees breaking -- LIARS."

Michael in New York stuck to his one refrain -- which remarkably never caught on as a major issue in the MSM -- "What Went Wrong? Bush Played Hooky!"

The damning analysis continued says John in DC with "Financial Times: Bush's policies have crippled disaster response capabilities."

John in DC linked to that amazing audio of the President's mother in "Hear Barbara Bush laugh at the little people who died in the hurricane."

Michael in New York offered up one telling way of tracking this tragedy in "Hurricane Katrina: The Headlines Tell The Story."

TUESDAY

Michael in New York says "The struggle for the soul of America is gathering pace...."

Chris in Paris feasts on a tougher MSM with "Olbermann rips the law, order and terror team."

Michael in New York has some "Questions for Condi."

Rob in Baltimore says "The Stench is Horrific."

John in DC highlights the indifference of Bush with stories of people who helped like "3 Duke Students Travel To New Orleans, rescue people, come back, while feds say they couldn't help anybody."

John in DC counters lies with facts in "Jt. Chiefs Chairman General Myers is a liar. Just said DOD didn't offer Katrina relief because the Tuesday papers said everything was okay!" and with a rundown of dozens of major papers and their headlines in "Is General Myers a liar or an idiot?"

WEDNESDAY

Chris in Paris highlights the continued incompetence with "Foreign aid donors still waiting for clearance."

Rob in Baltimore makes the case for Brownie's dismissal with "Mr. President: Fire This Man Immediately."

Joe in DC is astonished by "Navy Pilots Rebuked For Saving Lives."

Michael in New York is even more astonished that the Washington Post would run a fluff piece about Dick Cheney closing a deal on a mansion off Chesapeake Bay just one week after the worst natural disaster in our nation's history and didn't even think to discuss Cheney staying on vacation and possibly house-shopping during this tragedy in "BREAKING: Cheney Was Shopping For A Mansion While Disaster Struck."

John in DC can't believe Bush wants to throw a party after this nightmare in "Thousands are dead across the South and the Pentagon is throwing a party on September 11."

John in DC spots a potential media clampdown in "BREAKING: Military stopping media from entering New Orleans." Joe in DC chimed in with "More from Joe on FEMA censorship."

John in DC cheers on Congresswoman Pelosi in "Pelosi calls Bush 'oblivious, in denial, dangerous."

Michael in New York highlights the growing conservative disdain for Brownie with "Even New York Post Blasting FEMA."

THURSDAY

Joe in DC delights in the daily hammering called a press conference with "Scotty Gets Hammered, Day Two."

John in DC giggles over a new poll that shows Bush would lose in a vote to virtually everyone -- including Jimmy Carter! -- in "Zogby: Bush's Approval Rating At An All-Time low, 41%."

More well-earned comic relief and well-earned heckling detailed by John in DC with "Cheney told to go fuck himself on CNN."

Michael in New York offers the MSM some ready-made "Questions For Dick."

Chris in Paris says "MSNBC dishing out the Rove-inspired lies."

Michael in New York also cheers on Pelosi with "Go Pelosi! Who Needs Bush Officials When CNN Will Attack Critics For Him?"

Michael in New York (on a bit of a roll) points out "FEMA Head Blasted By EVERYONE -- Not Just Dems."

John in DC highlights more conservative ire with "Former conservative GOP congressman Scarborough BLASTS Bush, Barbour."

FRIDAY

Rob in Baltimore trumpets the knock-out punch of a Time magazine piece detailing the MANY distortions and lies on Brownie's resume in "LIAR LIAR and thousands of people died."

John in DC mocks WaPo for slowly coming to life with "Oh, so now the Washington Post editorial board thinks Bush screwed up."

Chris in Paris highlights the absurdity of the Potemkin-like control of Bush's latest propaganda effort with "The Not-So-Much Freedom Walk."

Rob in Baltimore is aghast at "Bush Suspends 'Prevailing' Wage In Recover Area -- Slave Labor Wages, Here We Come!"

Success! John in DC tells us "FEMA's Michael 'Drownie' Brownie' relieved of Katrina duties."

More criticism of CNN's Kyra Phillips, who seemed to be channeling Karl Rove during an interview with Congresswoman Pelosi and went off on another crazy tear detailed by John in DC's "Who Is That Idiot Woman On CNN?"

Michael in New York is incredulous that Bush and his cronies continue to pretend the media said New Orleans was safe on Tuesday when countless newspaper headlines prove them liars in "Scotty Lies Again About News Coverage Of Hurricane Katrina."

T-shirt blogging makes a welcome return with John in DC's "It is SO time for more t-shirts."

And Al Gore did more as a private citizen than George Bush did as President, detailed in John in DC's "Al Gore personally saved 270 people in New Orleans."

And of course this week, Americablog launched its first on-the-scene correspondent, thanks to our readers and the willingness of Kyle to go and volunteer (without pay) in the disaster area. Kyle got into the convention center just after NBC's Brian Williams was denied entry, sent back exclusive photos of the scene, spoke to angry evacuees and -- most importantly -- used his computer savvy to chip in and help the Red Cross work on compiling all those "missing person" databases into one resource. Read the rest of this post...

REUTERS: Firms with White House ties get Katrina contracts

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade for your closest friends. Read the rest of this post...

Newsweek poll: Bush approval at 38%!

A failed presidency.

Bush's job approval ratings have hit all-time lows. A Newsweek poll published on Saturday found 52 percent of Americans did not trust him to make the correct decisions during either a foreign or domestic crisis, against 45 percent who did. The president's overall approval stood at 38 percent.

Worst. President. Ever.

Vice President Dick Cheney visited an emergency management center in Austin, Texas, and said the government was finally gaining control of the situation.

"I think we are in fact on our way to getting on top of the whole Katrina exercise. We've got a lot of work ahead of us," he said.

After two weeks we're FINALLY "on our way" towards getting a hold of the situation? He didn't say we finally got hold of the situation after two weeks, which would be abysmal, he said we're finally "on our way" to getting there. He's got to be kidding?

Read the rest of this post...

Per your request....

Someone suggested these last night. I've made large and small fonts, since some of you seem to prefer each:



As always, there are a large variety of men's and women's styles, and colors. Read the rest of this post...

Food stamp hell - An update from Kyle, our correspondent on the scene in the south

This trip has been full of things I wasn't quite prepared to see. Hundreds of cars cover every single patch of grass for a quarter mile. Up ahead an array of colored umbrellas came into view, and as we moved further down the stretch of road it became clear that this was the food stamp line. People walking away from the operation were just getting out after six and a half hours of waiting. Six and a half hours in line for food stamps. And there's only ONE LINE.



The food stamp facility is miles away from the Riverside Convention Center shelter, where the refugees are actually staying. While there is transportation between the shelter and the food stamp facility, in the form of bus vouchers disbursed by the Red Cross, there's a catch. Only people who can't walk to the shopping center, miles away, get the passes. Those who can walk have to make the trip by foot. This was confirmed on our drive around as we saw the pink and green wristbands of those staying in the shelter making the long walk back by foot, carrying goods in the sweltering afternoon heat.

Read the rest of this post...

Open Thread

Take it. It yours. Read the rest of this post...

Yet, in spite of Drownie's and Chertoff's incompetence, Bush still has them on staff

Joe's post below is telling, and horrifying, in that it took Bush 8 days to do anything about Drownie's incompetence after he found out, and he still hasn't fired him or demoted him. As for Chertoff, our Secretary of Homeland Security is getting all of his info from one guy - Chertoff screwed up just as big, and continues in his job as well.

George Bush is the vice president on 24 who just got appointed president and is clearly way over his head, can't make a decision, and just puts things off.

It's one thing to be loyal to your staff. It's another to countenance outright incompetence while people are dying.

George Bush: A failed president.

Worst. President. Ever. Read the rest of this post...

Wow. The WH does get its info from the media

Okay, clearly the White House fed this info. to Ms. Bumiller to show how concerned and angry the President was. But, it really makes them look even more incompetent. The only info. they had was from newspaper reports?:

The president, long reluctant to fire subordinates, came to a belated recognition that his administration was in trouble for the way it had dealt with the disaster, many of his supporters say. One moment of realization occurred on Thursday of last week when an aide carried a news agency report from New Orleans into the Oval Office for him to see.

The report was about the evacuees at the convention center, some dying and some already dead. Mr. Bush had been briefed that morning by his homeland security secretary, Michael Chertoff, who was getting much of his information from Mr. Brown and was not aware of what was occurring there. The news account was the first that the president and his top advisers had heard not only of the conditions at the convention center but even that there were people there at all.

Worst President with the worst administration EVER.

Bottom line: Drownie still funs FEMA. Read the rest of this post...

Is the White House scheming to put Gonzales on the court?

Looks that way. And the best part, White House allies are calling the religious right "misguided and ill-informed." Uh oh. I see a Karl Rove strategy to get Gonzales appointed here. Too bad, now Rove is screwing the radical right - when will the far-right Christian bigots learn that political sociopaths are only your friend as long as they need you?

"A lot of us who worked with him in the White House counsel's office feel strongly that the opposition is misguided and rather ill-informed," said David Leitch, a former Gonzales deputy who is now general counsel for Ford Motor Co.

Read the rest of this post...

What is the Washington Post's problem?

The latest anti-Democrat smear from the Washington Times' sister paper.

These days it seems that no Republican remark is too small or ambiguous to trigger a Democratic mass mailing. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee yesterday sent links to a Houston Chronicle blogger who had watched House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (Tex.) tour the Astrodome, where children evacuated from New Orleans were playing. The blog reported that DeLay "likened their stay to being at camp and asked, 'Now, tell me the truth, boys, is this kind of fun?' " The blogger said the youngsters "nodded yes, but looked perplexed."

Yep, there they go again. The Republicans screw up, so in "fairness" the "liberal" media has to thrown in an anti-Democrat paragraph in order to be "fair." In this case, of course, the Democrats are bad people for - what? - calling the Republicans on their own idiocy. Not to mention, since when is it a small ambiguous remark for Tom DeLay to tell refugees who just escaped with their lives that it's really fun what they're going through? That comment is idiotic. And at some point the Washington Post needs to start reporting the news and stop pretending that fairness requires a slap at a Democrat every time a Republican screws up.

Not to mention, the Democrats have been so mute over the past two weeks, it's the height of unfairness to suggest that they're gratuitously slapping Republicans. President Bush deserves to be impeached for what he did last week while New Orleans was wiped off the map. And the media have been far nastier to the president than have the Democrats.

Yet again, the Washington Post sinks to a new low. Hell of a newspaper you guys are destroying over there. Read the rest of this post...

Compassionate conservatives in action - post Katrina

Nice folks over there and plenty of compassion.

• Tom DeLay asks kids in the Astrodome who survived Katrina to go ahead and tell their old friend Tom, it's really just like camping and kind of fun.
• Babara Bush thinks the poor never had it so good.
• Man-Dog Santorum thinks that the National Weather Service dropped the ball.
• Richard H. Baker, Congressman from Baton Rouge says "we finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans. We couldn't do it, but God did." Nice biblical link, Dick.
• Bush worries about Trent Lott's house instead of countless poor who have lost everything.
• Cheney follows administration policy of avoiding poor neighborhoods, prefering white, wealthy neighborhoods for photo ops.
  

Read the rest of this post...

Real freedom in action - judge votes against "zero access" in NOLA

A federal judge agreed with CNN that actions to prevent news coverage of the recovery of bodies was unconstitutional and just more fascist policy by the Bush administration for personal spin purposes. Well OK, the second part is not part of the ruling but the judge did place a temporary restraining order against the "zero access" policy that was in effect. A hearing on Saturday morning will decide whether to maintain the ruling.

CNN deserves credit here for plenty of good coverage (with a few exceptions) and also fighting for real freedom and not the Bush-style freedom, whatever the hell that is. Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

And off to bed. Great Battlestar Galactica tonight. Read the rest of this post...