Read the whole thing. (A tip of the cap to Peter Venlet.)
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Reading for the Road
God bless Robert Tracinski for daring to lay it on the line:
Tuesday, September 06, 2005 |
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6 comments:
Oh, stick it in your butt and rotate.
The children and elderly deserved to die?
From http://petty-larseny.blogspot.com/2005/09/white-house-to-america-youre-on-your.html:
White House spokesman Scott McClellan was asked today whether Americans should be confident that the federal government is prepared to respond tomorrow -- not after some time the administration says it's okay to play the alleged "blame game," which the president used to call "accountability" when he was running for office -- to a massive terrorist attack on America, in light of the lethally bungled response to Katrina. Here are the exact words, according to the White House itself, that the president's spokesman used to assure Americans of their safety:
Q I'm asking a direct question. Is he confident --
MR. McCLELLAN: We're going to remain focused on the people.
Q -- that he can secure the American people in the event of a major terrorist attack?
MR. McCLELLAN: We are securing the American people by staying on the offensive abroad and working to spread freedom and democracy in the Middle East.
Sen. Rick Santorum has a suggestion, too:
"I mean, 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."
You can spin all you want, try to direct attention away from the real problem: our government is corrupt, incompetent, and concerned only with the interests of the rich.
Right. No one has ANY personal responsibility for their own behavior, health or well-being whatsoever. The federal government should put up and shut up.
Seems to me that the President did constrain the feds from doing what, by law, the federal government is constrained from doing -- UNTIL the Governor of the State of Louisiana requested federal assistance.
In the meantime, the Mayor of NO completely screwed up by turning hundreds of buses into giant septic tanks instead of using them to evacuate his own people.
The Governor dithered for at least 24 hours while Bush pleaded with her to let the feds in to help.
But, hey. George W. Bush is SATAN. Everyone in the federal government is corrupt. And those poor, poor people just can't help themselves. They're absolutely justified in shooting at the very people who are coming in to "rescue" them.
You can't just beam in the assistance. Even with ramp-up in place as soon as the "go" was given, moving those sheer numbers of people and equipment take time.
And, quite frankly, I'm sick to death of seeing images of people who, having not had the sense God gave a gnat, did not bother to stockpile food and/or water bitch bitterly when, after 3 or 4 days with neither, they had to eat MREs instead of their "regular" food. Jesus H. Christ, Kevin -- what are we supposed to do? Fly in Paul Prudhomme to cater for the Red Cross? And do it on the Fed's nickel? THAT's the attitude this article is talking about, is the whole issue of people who expect nothing of themselves and everything of the government.
It is unacceptable to discuss the fact that quite a few of these folks might also be "corrupt, incompetent and concerned only with [their own] interests...", or to mention that this is true at Lousiana state and local levels, but it's okay to level the same accusations at GWB and company?
C'mon.
And, no. The children and the elderly did NOT deserve to die. But neither is that true in Missippi. Or Florida. Or Georgia. Only in New Orleans are things quite this out-of-control.
I will note, for what it's worth, that the head of FEMA should have been shit-canned. He's totally incompetent.
There is no defense for the incompetence displayed by *all* levels of government in this mess: local, state or federal. But the Bush administration is in a class all by itself. I have no use for it, or anyone who defends it.
Remove the link to my page from your blogroll. The differences of opinion are irreconcilable.
Oh yeah, I forgot:
http://www.reason.com/links/links090605.shtml
Kevin --
Nope. Not playing the delinking game. I respect your right to your opinion. And I respect your writing. I believe in open, respectful debate. This "you're wrong and I'm right" stuff doesn't fall into that category.
That being said, in the past you and I have agreed that there are some topics that we just can't discuss because you or I feel very strongly about them. Fine. Let's let this be one of them.
I'm still your friend. Whether or not you choose to continue to be mine is up to you. Whether or not you choose to stop by is up to you. I'm not going anywhere. And I'll still be dropping by the KGB Report to see what's new in your world. Whether or not you care, I still do.
Leslie
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