Thursday, September 01, 2005
Escape from New Orleans
Talk about a hurricane . . . we're having one in the blogosphere, and I spent time reading this morning that I should have spent working.
Steve Gilliard over at the News Blog has some terrific posts on the aftermath of Katrina. This one from last night I'm quoting at length:
Meanwhile, the Secretary of Homeland Security goes on TV and lumps the tens of thousands who never had the resources to flee the city--no cars, no credit cards, no place to go--with the ignorant dumbasses (dozens? hundreds?) you can find in every hurricane situation, those who could have left but chose not to:
On this day, right now, the Bush Administration's cluelessness and heartlessness is blazing so brightly that even Stevie Wonder could see it. But why not be more blunt about it? Clueless and heartless? Nah, let's just say stupid and evil.
Recommended Reading: Thanks to Katrina, lots of misinformation about the likely price of gasoline and the possibility of shortages and/or rationing are making the rounds via e-mail. Before you read any of the ones in your inbox, read this from the good folks at Snopes.com. (Most of the warnings you'll get are incorrect--but not all of them. Prices are really are out of sight in some places.)
And finally, my friends, here's Ann Coulter. Somebody get this woman some help.
Talk about a hurricane . . . we're having one in the blogosphere, and I spent time reading this morning that I should have spent working.
Steve Gilliard over at the News Blog has some terrific posts on the aftermath of Katrina. This one from last night I'm quoting at length:
The problem is that the government is treating this like a US domestic crisis where people can drive to relief centers and that ain't it. . . .Imagine New Orleans had been hit by, instead of a hurricane, a dirty bomb. Would the administration react in the same brain-dead way? Damn, I hope not.
When Andy Sullivan knocks Kos for saying this is worse than 9/11, he's wrong and Kos is right, because I lived through 9/11 without so much as a lost glass of water. This is a lot closer to an attack than any natural disaster we've seen. An entire city has turned into a movie set, and I mean Escape from New York. The people fleeing New Orelans are refugees, soemthing we haven't seen since the Civil War. The Astrodome is a temporary solution, and refugee camps will have to be built. There are sharks and alligators swimming in the streets, nobody will be going home for a long time.
There is still an inability to realize the scale of this. They are talking about trucking in supplies. Why not do what they did in Afghanistan and just drop food and water from C-130's? They need to act like this is a humanitarian crisis, and not just a national disaster.
Meanwhile, the Secretary of Homeland Security goes on TV and lumps the tens of thousands who never had the resources to flee the city--no cars, no credit cards, no place to go--with the ignorant dumbasses (dozens? hundreds?) you can find in every hurricane situation, those who could have left but chose not to:
The critical thing was to get people out of there before the disaster. Some people chose not to obey that order. That was a mistake on their part.So let me translate: "Lost everything, when you didn't have that much to begin with? Dead? This is the Ownership Society, buddy boy. Your fate is your fault. You're lucky we're doing anything for you."
On this day, right now, the Bush Administration's cluelessness and heartlessness is blazing so brightly that even Stevie Wonder could see it. But why not be more blunt about it? Clueless and heartless? Nah, let's just say stupid and evil.
Recommended Reading: Thanks to Katrina, lots of misinformation about the likely price of gasoline and the possibility of shortages and/or rationing are making the rounds via e-mail. Before you read any of the ones in your inbox, read this from the good folks at Snopes.com. (Most of the warnings you'll get are incorrect--but not all of them. Prices are really are out of sight in some places.)
And finally, my friends, here's Ann Coulter. Somebody get this woman some help.
