No more politics after this, I promise . . .but . . .
I was actually not going to rant about the government's response anymore. I mean, this is beyond anything that's happened in this country in living memory (oops. I mean of anyone still alive).
But then I listened to Ira Flato. . . Oh, there have been so many warnings, so many chances to make the city safer** . . . .!!
And after that, I heard the president.
The great thing about passive voice--it's the perfect way to not assign blame. Mistakes have been made. That's a fine bit of responsibility ducking, don't you think?
The results are not acceptable says President Bush.
That's when I shouted at the radio:
How about that bit about The buck stops here? How about saying I and and other politicians have screwed up. And This Was Not even close to the start of our screw ups when it comes to New Orleans?
from the Chicago Tribune:
WASHINGTON -- Despite continuous warnings that a catastrophic hurricane could hit New Orleans, the Bush administration and Congress in recent years have repeatedly cut funding for hurricane preparation and flood control.The cuts have delayed construction of levees around the city and stymied an ambitious project to improve drainage in New Orleans' neighborhoods.For instance, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers requested $27 million for this fiscal year to pay for hurricane protection projects around Lake Pontchartrain. The Bush administration countered with $3.9 million, and Congress eventually provided $5.7 million, according to figures provided by the office of U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.).Because of the budget cuts, which were caused in part by the rising costs of the war in Iraq,**** the corps delayed seven contracts that included enlarging the levees, according to corps documents.
_______
** Perhaps these warnings were not in English? Because according to the president this morning on "Good Morning America": "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees. They did anticipate a serious storm. But these levees got breached. And as a result, much of New Orleans is flooded."
**** Oh really? Today possible budget problems are... a different story. The president rejected suggestions that the United States could not afford both the war in Iraq and the hurricane cleanup. "We'll do both. We've got plenty of resources to do both," he said. . . Huh. Maybe Mr. Cheney will be selling some of his Halliburton shares to pay for war or the clean up? The war, I think, since that's where Halliburton has been raking in its dough. Each share was worth $8 before the war. Now they're up to about $63 apiece.
Boy, if a casual blogger like me can find this kind of inconsistency . . .
But then I listened to Ira Flato. . . Oh, there have been so many warnings, so many chances to make the city safer** . . . .!!
And after that, I heard the president.
The great thing about passive voice--it's the perfect way to not assign blame. Mistakes have been made. That's a fine bit of responsibility ducking, don't you think?
The results are not acceptable says President Bush.
That's when I shouted at the radio:
How about that bit about The buck stops here? How about saying I and and other politicians have screwed up. And This Was Not even close to the start of our screw ups when it comes to New Orleans?
from the Chicago Tribune:
WASHINGTON -- Despite continuous warnings that a catastrophic hurricane could hit New Orleans, the Bush administration and Congress in recent years have repeatedly cut funding for hurricane preparation and flood control.The cuts have delayed construction of levees around the city and stymied an ambitious project to improve drainage in New Orleans' neighborhoods.For instance, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers requested $27 million for this fiscal year to pay for hurricane protection projects around Lake Pontchartrain. The Bush administration countered with $3.9 million, and Congress eventually provided $5.7 million, according to figures provided by the office of U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.).Because of the budget cuts, which were caused in part by the rising costs of the war in Iraq,**** the corps delayed seven contracts that included enlarging the levees, according to corps documents.
_______
** Perhaps these warnings were not in English? Because according to the president this morning on "Good Morning America": "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees. They did anticipate a serious storm. But these levees got breached. And as a result, much of New Orleans is flooded."
**** Oh really? Today possible budget problems are... a different story. The president rejected suggestions that the United States could not afford both the war in Iraq and the hurricane cleanup. "We'll do both. We've got plenty of resources to do both," he said. . . Huh. Maybe Mr. Cheney will be selling some of his Halliburton shares to pay for war or the clean up? The war, I think, since that's where Halliburton has been raking in its dough. Each share was worth $8 before the war. Now they're up to about $63 apiece.
Boy, if a casual blogger like me can find this kind of inconsistency . . .
i did a post about the hurricane thing....it's pretty insipid...not polital at all.....but i voted for Kerry....know what i mean ?????
ReplyDeleteOkay, Kate, now I'm starting to think we really ARE the same person...today I shouted at the radio, "What the fuck happened to the buck stops here?" NO-ONE takes any kind of blame anymore. Just once I want someone to say, 'yeah, we screwed up, and we're trying to fix the mistake.'
ReplyDeleteAAHHHHHH JUST AHHHHHH AHHHHHHHH.
ReplyDeleteOK, I can't read any more about this. It's driving me CRAZY, AND I CAN'T EVEN VOTE IN THIS GODDAMN COUNTRY 'CAUSE I'M NOT A CITIZEN AND AHHHHHHHH.
What I love: that Bush can say with a straight face that we can do both the war in Iraq and the hurricane cleanup, plennnnnty of resources, uh huh, GO AMERICA -- and then accepts foreign aid. Frikken SRI LANKA is offering us money. You know Sri Lanka; it was devastated by the tsunami.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE that Cuba is offering to help out. And sad as it is, we really need it.
ReplyDeleteWhat kills me is the talk about the looters. A reporter in New Orleans said this, his voice cracking with anger. A few criminals. . . this stopped ambulances and troops from coming in to evacuate hospitals and save babies! We went into Afghanistan and Bagdad under fire for humanitarian reasons. There were looters there. There are always looters. We were in SE Asia within hours, but we make excuses not to help our own suffering innocent people and children!
this is laughably bad
ReplyDeleteFrom Cnn
I just can't stop shaking my head.