« August 28, 2005 - September 03, 2005 | Main | September 11, 2005 - September 17, 2005 »
September 09, 2005
Permanent Post: Bush is not fit to lead
[Nancy Pelosi, D-CA] 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.
This quote which Plummer brought to our attention will remain at the top of the page in order for it to truly sink in, because, "What didn't go right?" are the most purely evil and reckless words spoken by a modern American president.
09:27 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Bush does something right...
...and it only took thousands of dead bodies in New Orleans. Impressive.
Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael Brown, the principal target of harsh criticism of the Bush administration's response to Hurricane Katrina, was relieved of his onsite command Friday. He will be replaced by Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad W. Allen, who was overseeing New Orleans relief, recovery and rescue efforts, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced.
04:49 PM | Comments (3) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Republicans and their opinion of black people
The Wall Street Journal via the DCCC:
Two shaky House incumbents, Democrat Melancon and Republican Boustany, hope response to hurricane rallies voters behind them. House Republican campaign chief Reynolds touts chance to market conservative social-policy solutions; Rep. Baker of Baton Rouge is overheard telling lobbyists: "We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans. We couldn't do it, but God did."Baker explains later he didn't intend flippancy but has long wanted to improve low-income housing.
Sick sick sick sick and twisted.
12:22 PM | Comments (1) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Yo Bushie! AP says 39 percent.
AP-Ipsos poll numbers. If Republicans in Congress want to keep their jobs a year from now, they need to distance themselves, not parrot the talking points of a failed leader.
10:37 AM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
September 08, 2005
Brian Williams possessed by spirit of Edward R. Murrow
Brian Williams (Yes, BRIAN WILLIAMS! The NBC anchor!) is leading the charge against the FEMA/Bush led attempt to lock reporters out of New Orleans.
From Brian's blog:
It can be said absent slant, ideology or opinion that the security presence in much of central New Orleans is in response to lawlessness that no longer exists.
I don't think the newly responsible media is going to let Bush roll over them this time.
09:20 PM | Comments (1) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
You're doin' a heck of a job, Fitzie!
Reuters reports today that Patrick Fitzgerald may be close to wrapping up his investigation into who in the White House broke federal law in outing CIA agent Valerie Plame.
Several lawyers involved in the case say Fitzgerald was likely to wrap up his inquiry this fall, if not sooner, though they say they have not heard from his office in weeks.The outcome could have political implications for Bush, whose approval ratings are already the lowest of his presidency.
It'll be kinda, oh, interesting if we learn that Rove or Libby or Bush himself broke federal law.
09:15 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
FEMA gets $50 BILLION?!?!?!
Josh Marshall red flags the latest Bush/FEMA nexis of evil:
This just seems amazingly misguided. And I don't understand why more is not being made of it.Fully $50 billion of those recovery and reconstruction funds passed by Congress today are going to FEMA. FEMA is going to administer those funds. That is just friggin' crazy.
Even if FEMA were still a model government agency, as it was by most accounts in the 1990s, this would still be a really, really bad decision. As the title says, FEMA is an emergency management agency, not a reconstruction agency. It doesn't have the organizational structure or competence to run the economy of a significant chunk of the United States for the foreseeable future, which is what this amounts to.
Read the rest at TalkingPointsMemo. And then write your Congresspersons and Senators. Ask them which is the kind of "looting" we should be concerned about: people taking food and meds to survive, or FEMA getting handed $50 billion for God knows what?
Randi Rhodes is already offering a big ugly dot to connect to this. In 2004, an election year in which Florida was kinda important to Bush, FEMA conducted extremely questionable actions in Florida. Here's just one example, from the diligent Florida Sun-Sentinal:
Florida officially recorded 123 fatalities from last year's hurricanes, but the federal government has paid funeral expenses for at least 315 deaths, including those of a man who shot himself and a stroke victim hospitalized more than a week before the last storm hit.In one case, a Federal Emergency Management Agency worker tried unsuccessfully to persuade a coroner to count among the hurricane casualties a "morbidly obese" heart patient who purportedly was "scared to death."
"If you were to call around to all the medical examiner offices, people would say, `No way did we have as many deaths as FEMA is saying,'" said Dr. Stephen Nelson, head of Florida's Medical Examiners Commission. "It's just an incredible number -- a difference of 192. This is the Free Funeral Payment Act."
It gets worse. Go to the Sun-Sentinal and look at their EXTENSIVE series of reports on many, many different aspects of FEMA corruption. You'll notice Michael Brown's name comes up a lot.
08:52 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
Oh, that chubby little Dick!
Cheney was flown down to a Republican neighborhood in Mississippi today for his photo op near damaged homes. And the Emperor Palpatine of the Bush team had this to say:
“I think the progress we’re making is significant,” Cheney said. “I think the performance, in general, at least in terms of the information I’ve received from locals, is definitely very impressive.”
VERY IMPRESSIVE. THE INSURGENCY IS IN THE LAST THROES. SADDAM HAD A LINK WITH AL QAEDA.
Fortunately, someone told the national Dick to "Go fuck [him]self!" And while most of the doubtless vetted victims of Katrina wore kid gloves with Cheney, one woman, Lynne Lofton, spoke her mind. And MSNBC reported it:
“I think this media opportunity today is a terrible waste of time and taxpayer money,” she said. “They’ve picked a nice neighborhood where people have insurance and most are Republicans.”
The spin ain't working. Send as many Dicks down there as you like. You cannot whitewash tens of thousands of dead Americans.
08:13 PM | Comments (1) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
Video timeline on Katrina
Keith Olbermann has a video timeline that will curdle your blood.
Courtesy of crooksandliars.com.
I defy anyone to watch this and not want to retch when you see and hear those immortal words "And Brownie, you're doin' a heck of a job."
04:42 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
Scotty Mac tells the truth
Scott McClellan:
"There are clear lines of authority and responsibility. ... Ultimately the president is in charge."
Glad we've cleared that up! The Blame Game is over! The President in charge!
04:13 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
GOP investigates GOP
"An investigation of the Republican administration by a Republican-controlled Congress is like having a pitcher call his own balls and strikes," said Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader.
Spine growth continues!
From the NYT.
03:55 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
Oh, what a Rick
Rick Santorum, the #3 guy in the Senate, this past weekend, blaming the victims:
"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."
Who gets penalized first, Rick? The people who don't have cars? The elderly in retirement homes? The ill in long-term care facilities? No, I know! The parents of children in the Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit! Penalize those people first!
Rick is running desperately to get re-elected, and you reckon he'd think twice before spewing idiotic hate drivel. But I guess Rick can't help spewing idiotic hate drivel. Call it his speech impediment.
The good news is Bob Casey, the Dem running against Rick, gives Santorum no quarter. His spokesman responded to the idiotic hate drivel by asking:
"What exactly does Senator Santorum mean by imposing penalties on people who often times had no transportation and no place to go?"
Courtesy of Daily Kos.
03:31 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
Master of Disaster
Via Kos.
02:56 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Is it a race thing? Sure. Is it a class thing? Definitely.
While I give kudos to Kanye West for his heartfelt comments on live television regarding President Bush's not caring about black people, I have to extend that uncaring to the poverty stricken in general, regardless of race. The majority of impoverished affected in New Orleans are black, but there were plenty of white and other races whose lives were ruined because of Bush's negligence. I'd say that Bush doesn't care about POOR people. His lack of understanding and compassion for the poor is unforgiveable, not to mention his deliberate lack of foresight in regards to this national tragedy. He is a loyal lap dog for the wealthy 1% with no regard whatsoever for those who struggle to get by below the poverty line. I have never encountered someone as single-mindedly selfish as President Bush. He doesn't even FAKE compassion well.
Being poor in this country has never seemed so grim.
I hope Katrina blows Bush right out of office.
02:37 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By
Oh, what a Dick
If you haven't seen the LIVE CNN footage Cesca posted of an off-camera citizen shouting "Go fuck yourself, Mr. Cheney, go fuck yourself!" at the most uncaring VP we've ever had, then go check it out.
And I really mean "uncaring." He clearly doesn't care about the disaster any more than he cares that someone threw his own epithet-driven phrase (which he used against Patrick Leahy last year) back in his face.
He tries to make a lame joke, and says that the off-camera person must be "a friend of John," then muffs the rest (though the reporters , of course, yuck it up as if Cheney's the reincarnation of Groucho Marx). But what does the "joke" mean? Is it possible he's reaching for a Kerry reference?! Is it possible he doesn't realize that the off-camera shouter is using his own words against him?
The reporter asks "Are you getting a lot of that, Mr. Vice President?" Let's make sure the answer is a resounding YES.
02:19 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
Federal authorities authoritatively authorized less money than state and local officials aksed for
It's REALLY simple. Bush spent WAY less money than experts asked for to prevent hurricane destruction in the Gulf Coast. From today's Washington Post:
Louisiana's politicians have requested much more money for New Orleans hurricane protection than the Bush administration has proposed or Congress has provided. In the last budget bill, Louisiana's delegation requested $27.1 million for shoring up levees around Lake Pontchartrain, the full amount the Corps had declared as its "project capability." Bush suggested $3.9 million, and Congress agreed to spend $5.7 million.Administration officials also dramatically scaled back a long-term project to restore Louisiana's disappearing coastal marshes, which once provided a measure of natural hurricane protection for New Orleans. They ordered the Corps to stop work on a $14 billion plan, and devise a $2 billion plan instead.
02:14 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
Go fuck yourself, Mr. Cheney!
Cheney gets owned live on CNN.
02:14 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Reports of her humanity have been greatly exaggerated
Barbara Bush is a spiteful, greedy, cruel woman who lacks basic compassion for any human being who is not in her socio-economic class. Is it any wonder Georgie is the way he is? Is it any wonder George Sr. had a long-running affair? I mean, looks aside, would you want to curl up with this lady every night?
John Nichols in the Nation has more on the nastiest First Lady ever:
Finally, we have discovered the roots of George W. Bush's "compassionate conservatism."On the heels of the president's "What, me worry?" response to the death, destruction and dislocation that followed upon Hurricane Katrina comes the news of his mother's Labor Day visit with hurricane evacuees at the Astrodome in Houston.
Commenting on the facilities that have been set up for the evacuees - cots crammed side-by-side in a huge stadium where the lights never go out and the sound of sobbing children never completely ceases - former First Lady Barbara Bush concluded that the poor people of New Orleans had lucked out.
"Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this, this is working very well for them," Mrs. Bush told American Public Media's "Marketplace" program, before returning to her multi-million dollar Houston home.
On the tape of the interview, Mrs. Bush chuckles audibly as she observes just how great things are going for families that are separated from loved ones, people who have been forced to abandon their homes and the only community where they have ever lived, and parents who are explaining to children that their pets, their toys and in some cases their friends may be lost forever. Perhaps the former first lady was amusing herself with the notion that evacuees without bread could eat cake.
01:49 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
What's missing from this list...?
The president's Statement on Federal Emergency Assistance for Louisiana, dated 8/26:
The President today declared an emergency exists in the State of Louisiana and ordered Federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts in the parishes located in the path of Hurricane Katrina beginning on August 26, 2005, and continuing.The President's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives, protect property and public health and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the parishes of Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Caldwell, Claiborne, Catahoula, Concordia, De Soto, East Baton Rouge, East Carroll, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Franklin, Grant, Jackson, LaSalle, Lincoln, Livingston, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Pointe Coupee, Ouachita, Rapides, Red River, Richland, Sabine, St. Helena, St. Landry, Tensas, Union, Vernon, Webster, West Carroll, West Feliciana, and Winn.
Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency. Debris removal and emergency protective measures, including direct Federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent Federal funding.
Representing FEMA, Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary for Emergency Preparedness and Response, Department of Homeland Security, named William Lokey as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected area.
Give up?
Orleans Parish.
10:46 AM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
September 07, 2005
Brilliant.
08:34 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
Bush: Making Americans less safe
Maureen Dowd gets it right, courtesy of truthout:
The president won re-election because he said that the war in Iraq and the Homeland Security Department would make us safer. Hogwash.W's 2004 convention was staged like "The Magnificent Seven" with the Republicans' swaggering tough guys - from Rudy Giuliani to Arnold Schwarzenegger to John McCain - riding in to save an embattled town.
These were the steely-eyed gunslingers we needed to protect us, they said, not those sissified girlie-men Democrats. But now it turns out that W. can't save the town, not even from hurricane damage that everyone has been predicting for years, much less from unpredictable terrorists.
His campaigns presented the arc of his life story as that of a man who stumbled around until he was 40, then found himself and developed a laserlike focus.
But now that the people of New Orleans need an ark, we have to question the president's arc. He's stumbling in Iraq and he's stumbling on Katrina.
Let's play the blame game: the man who benefited more than anyone in history from safety nets set up by family did not bother to provide one for those who lost their families.
05:56 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
Bush in freefall.
From the AP, via truthout.org:
"It's going to be almost impossible to overcome the perception about the president that he didn't show compassion and didn't get control of the policy failures," American University political scientist James Thurber said. "The vivid images that are coming across the television are really destroying his image as a leader."
Too right. And as much as Bush would like to use 9/11 to prop up his bloody and bogus war in Iraq, it will unquestionably make most thinking people wonder "What if another terrorist attack happens under this team's watch? Will it be as bad as Katrina? Worse?"
05:49 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
Katrina Timeline
Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo has posted a timeline of Katrina-related events.
It is WELL worth a look. Pay special attention to these facts (yes, they are FACTS, George):
Saturday, August 27: President Bush officially declares that a "state of emergency" exists in Louisiana and ordered Federal aid to the affected areas to complement state and local relief efforts.Monday, August 29: FEMA director Michael Brown waits 5 hrs after Katrina has hit to ask his boss, Michael Chertoff, for 1000 Homeland Security employees to be sent to the region and gave them two days to arrive. Brown urges emergency service personnel "not to respond to hurricane impact areas unless dispatched by state, local authorities."
Tuesday, August 30: President Bush delivers a speech on the 60th anniversary of V-J Day in which he talks mainly of the need to "stay the course" in Iraq.
There's lots more, of course, but just those facts alone display an unbreakable chain of negligence that is criminal and must be prosecuted. Period.
05:19 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
Spine growth II: Attack of the Senate Minority Leader
Go Harry Reid! From the NYT:
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?''
Now the trick is building the momentum, not caving in the fact of Rovian tactics. Send Senator Reid an email and tell him to keep up the fight for accountability and truth. While you're at it, do the same to Nancy Pelosi.
05:11 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
Spine growth!
Nancy Pelosi, from the NYT:
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.
He must be fired, and then jailed. This is a CRIMINAL case.
05:01 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
Bush signed request for Fed help on 8/27
From Andrew Sullivan:
"Plain and simple: President Bush signed (document here) Gov. Blanco's request to declare a state of emergency in Louisiana on 8/27. Within the text of that declaration the Gov. declares:Pursuant to 44 CFR § 206.35, I have determined that this incident is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the State and affected local governments, and that supplementary Federal assistance is necessary to save lives, protect property, public health, and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a disaster.The Stafford Act is the legal stipulator in that declaration. Under The Stafford Act:
§ 5170a. GENERAL FEDERAL ASSISTANCE {Sec. 402}In any major disaster, the President may--
# direct any Federal agency, with or without reimbursement, to utilize its authorities and the resources granted to it under Federal law (including personnel, equipment, supplies, facilities, and managerial, technical, and advisory services) in support of State and local assistance efforts.
When President Bush signed that declaration on 8/27 he accepted a responsibility to the citizens of Louisiana. Who has the greater resources, Gov. Blanco, or President Bush? Why is Gov. Blanco held to a higher standard of competence than President Bush, when they each had the same responsibility?"
Bush endorsed federal assistance, then went back to his brush clearing and fund raisers. Criminal. PLEASE e-mail this news to everyone you know, including your congressman.
03:43 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Let Them Eat Cake.
03:14 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
The Blame Game: We have a winner!
That's "President" Bush on Sunday, in a video conference, getting an update on the size, power, and direction of Hurricane Katrina. It comes, of course, from the White House website. Here's the caption:
President George W. Bush is handed a map by Deputy Chief of Staff Joe Hagin, center, during a video teleconference with federal and state emergency management organizations on Hurricane Katrina from his Crawford, Texas ranch on Sunday August 28, 2005. White House photo by Paul Morse
Our Blame Game Winner is talking to National Hurricane Center Chief Max Mayfield. Mayfield told the St. Petersburg Times:
"I just wanted to be able to go to sleep that night knowing that I did all I could do."
I wonder if that's a thought that has ever crossed the coke-fried brain of George W. Bush?
Regardless, I repeat: don't stop at Brownie or Chertoff. Stop at the feckless, moneyed drifter who hired them: George W. Bush. Stop at the war-driven, special-interest serving hack who underfunded levee protection: George W. Bush. Stop at the greenhouse-gas-loving proponent of warm ocean waters that cause destructive hurricanes, Mr. Anti-Science and Anti-Reason himself, the Biggest Buck Passer our nation has ever seen: GEORGE W. BUSH!
HE is responsible. Brownie and Chertoff are small potatoes. This is Bush's doing. Period.
01:28 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
Let's play "The Blame Game"!
Republicans and their media flacks just can't shut up about "Finger Pointing" and "The Blame Game." Their new fave catchphrases sound like reality show titles to me, but for really bad reality shows that would premiere on VH1 or something. "Up next on the Blame Game, watch what happens when Omarosa tries to pin the rap for a clogged toilet on Verne Troyer! And then, on Finger Pointing, who will host Steven Cujacaro point his pointy finger at today -- Jose Canseco or Vendela?!"
Oh, but, unfortunately, these phrases are not a bad reality show, they are part of real reality, Bush style, in which a couple of key phrases get repeated ENDLESSLY by the GOP mouthpieces, then by their shills at Fox News, the Washington Times, and on shoutradio, then, quite quickly, by the Mainstream Media. And thus the phrases become a legitimate part of the lexicon of Katrina talk.
The absurd part is that these heartless schnooks suggest that assigning blame (or what I like to call it, responsibility) is NOT part of solving the problem. When, of course, it's THE FIRST STEP to solving the problem.
So but since they're so enamoured of the phrases, I suggest that we turn the phrases right back at them. Yes, let's keep playing "The Blame Game!" If it's proven that you're "To Blame!" then you don't just get a "Finger Pointed!" you get "Fired!" and, ideally, "Sued!" and "Sent to Jail!"
01:01 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
Oh, it's about race.
And of course the Onion knows it:
White Foragers Report Threat Of Black LootersNEW ORLEANS--Throughout the Gulf Coast, Caucasian suburbanites attempting to gather food and drink in the shattered wreckage of shopping districts have reported seeing African Americans "looting snacks and beer from damaged businesses." "I was in the abandoned Wal-Mart gathering an air mattress so I could float out the potato chips, beef jerky, and Budweiser I'd managed to find," said white survivor Lars Wrightson, who had carefully selected foodstuffs whose salt and alcohol content provide protection against contamination. "Then I look up, and I see a whole family of [African-Americans] going straight for the booze. Hell, you could see they had already looted a fortune in diapers." Radio stations still in operation are advising store owners and white people in the affected areas to locate firearms in sporting-goods stores in order to protect themselves against marauding blacks looting gun shops.
For more sober thoughts on the racism behind the Feds' pathetic response to New Orleans, check out Amy Goodman's Democracy Now. Here's an excerpt:
New Orleans is a city that is almost 70 percent black with nearly 23 percent of its residents living in poverty. Many African Americans are asking if this calamity would have been allowed to happen if the demographics of the city were different. And they are asking if the response would have been quicker if New Orleans had been a predominately white, wealthy city. On his way to Louisiana a few days ago, Reverend Jesse Jackson said that racial discrimination and indifference to black suffering was at the root of the disaster response. He went on to say, "In this same city of New Orleans where slave ships landed, where the legacy of 246 years of slavery and 100 years of Jim Crow discrimination, that legacy is unbroken today."
12:48 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
Obstruction of Justice.
CNN:
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The House majority leader late Tuesday tried to deflect criticism of the federal response to Hurricane Katrina by saying "the emergency response system was set up to work from the bottom up," then announced a short time later that House hearings examining that response had been canceled.Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said House Republican leaders instead want a joint House-Senate panel set up to conduct a "congressional review" of the issue.
11:20 AM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Problem solver. He solves problems.
Imagine courtesy of Horkulated.
11:09 AM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Over 40,000 corpses?
Courtesy of Talking Points Memo comes this grim quote about the number of corpses a volunteer mortician connected to Homeland Security has been told to expect.
"DMort is telling us to expect up to 40,000 bodies," Dan Buckner said, quoting officials with the Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team, a volunteer arm of Homeland Security.
Read the rest here. Time will tell.
01:20 AM | Comments (0) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
September 06, 2005
O'Reilly and Tony Snow are Petty Bitches
Can someone send me a link to a capture of O'Reilly and Tony Snow on FNC tonight? If you saw The Factor, you probably saw Bill and Tony going over the list of international hurricane relief donations like a snooty newlywed couple assessing their bounty in the limo on the way to the airport.
"You mean Uncle Dabney only gave us napkin rings? Come on! He's loaded!"
"Yeah -- and how about Cousin Dot's card with the 20 dollar bill? What a cheap whore. I didn't like her anyway."
"Bitch."
"Bitch."
The only actual quote I can recall due to, you know, the reflexive dry-heaves, went something like this:
O'REILLY: "Sri Lanka, $25,000. They can't afford much."
I'll be over at Media Matters refreshing the main page.
11:42 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Priorities.
Want to know what Governor Blanco was doing last Sunday? Will Pitt at truthout has the answer:
Also on Sunday the 28th, Governor Blanco of Louisiana dispatched a letter to Bush formally requesting help for the horror she saw rolling towards her state over the southern horizon. "Under the provisions of Section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 42 USC. 5121-5206 (Stafford Act), and implemented by 44 CFR 206.36, I request that you declare an expedited major disaster for the state of Louisiana as Hurricane Katrina, a Category V hurricane approaches our coast south of New Orleans; beginning on August 28, 2005 and continuing," read the letter. She went on in great detail over four full pages to list a series of requests that, had they been granted, would have spared thousands of people from death.
The same day, Bush was chilling at his estate in Crawford, trying to ignore Cindy Sheehan. I couldn't find any photos to show him in action. But here he was Monday, the day Katrina hit:
My question: which one is Marie and which one is Louis XV? (In reality, the guy on the left is the one Bush's friend Karl Rove said had a mixed-race daughter out of wedlock. I guess he's forgiven Bush and Rove.)
08:39 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
E. coli in water.
From CNN:
The standing water in New Orleans, left behind after Hurricane Katrina blasted through the region more than a week ago, is contaminated by E. coli bacteria, a highly placed official in the New Orleans mayor's office told CNN on Tuesday."It's absolutely unhealthy to be anywhere near the water," said the official, who declined to be identified.
I guess New Orleans didn't dodge lots of bullets. Oh, Brownie, what will you say about this one?! (Do you think the Arabian Show Horse Association ever had to deal with E. Coli contamination?)
08:21 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
Cafferty scores again.
Jack Cafferty on CNN today:
Why are we talking about the "blame game" - there are thousands of people dead because government officials failed to do what they're supposed to be doing. That's criminal behavior. I mean, that's no game. There are people dead in the city of New Orleans and up and down the gulf coast because people charged with seeing to their welfare failed to do that. I don't understand this relecutance to say, Mr. Brown, you failed in your assignment. You're out of here. Go away. Go back to Colorado and go back to working for the Arabian Horse Association that we got you from.
Courtesy of Atrios.
07:24 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
The true face of George W. Bush
cow·ard n. One who shows ignoble fear in the face of danger or pain.
[Middle English, from Old French couard, from coue, tail, from Latin cauda.] Word History: A coward is one who “turns tail.” The word comes from Old French couart, coart, “coward,” and is related to Italian codardo, “coward.” Couart is formed from coe, a northern French dialectal variant of cue, “tail” (from Latin cda), to which the derogatory suffix -ard was added. This suffix appears in bastard, laggard, and sluggard, to name a few. A coward may also be one with his tail between his legs. In heraldry a lion couard, “cowardly lion,” was depicted with his tail between his legs. So a coward may be one with his tail hidden between his legs or one who turns tail and runs like a rabbit, with his tail showing.
05:23 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
Go, Howard!
Dr. Dean, head Democrat, tells the truth and shames the devil:
"Based on today's reports, it seems clear that President Bush's visit today is just another callous political move crafted by Karl Rove. It's just appalling to see how quickly President Bush and Karl Rove have mobilized a political strategy in their own defense, but simply failed to mobilize a swift response to either keep the people in the Gulf Coast region safe in the first place or aid the victims in the aftermath of the storm."Thousands of people have lost their lives. Our nation faces difficult times as we address the painful aftermath of Katrina, yet President Bush is worried about shifting blame and passing the buck? Shouldn't he be worried about restoring stability, plans to evacuate survivors, and ensuring that our communities have the resources they need to help the victims of this tragedy rebuild their lives? Now is a time for leadership not partisanship. This is one failure we will not allow Rove and the GOP attack machine to spin away with their usual barrage of photo-ops, misinformation, smear campaigns and press conferences."
Courtesy of DailyKos.
05:16 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
Can't lie about this, either, Karl.
Yeah, that's $3.99. Regular's $3.89.
How we doin' now, Karl?
02:13 PM | Comments (4) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
President: "Our government failed."
Yes, the President said that yesterday. Unfortunately, it was President Bill Clinton.
"Our government failed those people in the beginning, and I take it now there is no dispute about it," Clinton told CNN. "One hundred percent of the people recognize that -- that it was a failure."
Nice to hear Bill sort of gets it (he does some "there will be a time for analysis later" dancing).
But then his partner in the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund got his two cents in about sonny boy. Said former President Bush:
"What can he do? He can just go out and do what he's doing today, showing that the federal government's involved, has been involved, will continue to be involved ... He cannot listen to every critic from the editorial page of The New York Times."
Wow. That is just...wow. Let's parse this:
"What can he do?" His job as the Commander-In-Chief of, among other things, the Dept. of Homeland Security, which is legally tasked with protecting American citizens.
"...showing that the federal government's involved..." Ah, yes, the show! Start up the show! SHOW that the feds are "involved." Brilliant! Because it's the show that matters!
"...every critic from the editorial page of the New York Times." Okay, the GOP doesn't like the NYT (although they SHOULD, since the NYT helped them launch an illegal war in Iraq and helped them bury federal crimes committed by Karl Rove that would probably have derailed the 2004 election). But really, Mr. Bush, do you really think that the only critics are on the editorial page of the Times? Here's a short list of some critics you might be more used to listening to: Newt Gingrich, Shepherd Smith, the Times-Picayune, Republican Senator Vitter.
Pathetic.
01:46 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
FEMA CONTINUES to have no plan.
From the Times-Picayune:
Nearly a full week after Hurricane Katrina, a rescue force the size of an invading army had not yet begun the task of retrieving the bodies Sunday. What's more, officials appeared to have no plan.Daniel Martinez, a spokesman for FEMA working on Interstate 10 in eastern New Orleans, said plans for body recovery "are not being released yet."
Dozens of rescue workers questioned Monday said they knew of no protocol or collection points for bodies; none said they had retrieved even one of the many corpses seen floating in neighborhoods around the city as they searched for survivors.
Unbelievable. But I guess there weren't many dead riders of Arabian show horses to worry about collecting.
01:43 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
Lying no longer works, Karl.
From the Guardian UK:
The president flew to Baton Rouge and visited a church relief centre to talk to survivors and relief workers."All levels of the government are doing the best they can," he said, before flying on to visit another devastated community along the coast in Mississippi. "So long as any life is in danger, we've got work to do."
Many of the evacuees at the centre remained unimpressed. Mildred Brown, who has been there since Tuesday with her husband, mother-in-law and cousin, told the Associated Press: "I'm not interested in hand-shaking. I'm not interested in photo ops. This is going to take a lot of money."
Bald-faced lying has worked pretty well as a game plan for Rove, Bush, Cheney et al thus far, and the media has been only to happy to play along. People can hear that the person who leaked Valerie Plame's CIA identity "will be fired," but then time passes, and...is Tom Cruise nutty or what?! People can hear "the insurgency is in its last throes," but then time passes, and 5,000 miles away and...hey, what about that runaway bride, huh?! People can even hear "The evidence indicates that Iraq is reconstituting its nuclear weapons program," but years pass, and reasons for war shift, and, well...how about that Michael Jackson verdict?!
This time, though, Karl, it's different. It's not 5,000 miles away. It's not a slightly complicated story about spys and ambassadors. It's not years of slow and steady failure to find WMDs. This time, it's dead Americans floating in American waters, it's one of America's greatest cities drowned, it's corpses being eaten by rats, and it's in our face, 24/7...and it's not going away. Sorry, Karl, but you can't throw a curtain over an entire region. You can't pretend MILLIONS of people don't exist.
You can't deny over 10,000 funerals.
The "Boy Genius" is supposed to be a brilliant political strategist. But his one-size-fits-all brand of problem solving isn't working anymore, and any journalist who gets within a mile of this incident doesn't seem like they're going to play along. The jig is up.
I bet Karl wishes he'd never let Judy Miller go to jail now.
01:16 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
Will Brownie get a medal, George?
01:14 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
Times-Pic: Buck Stops At Bush
The New Orleans Times-Picayune chief agrees: Bush is responsible for this epic failure. The newspaper is not known for Bush bashing (it endorsed no one for President in 2004), but they're clearly basing their judgement on things like facts and their own experience.
Courtesy of Editor & Publisher:
While the angry barbs and finger pointing continue today in assigning of blame for the horrendously poor response to the Gulf Coast hurricane catastrophe, Jim Amoss, the editor of The Times-Picayune in New Orleans, is mincing no words. The feeble response, he says in an interview, is "ultimately his failure, and it is a colossal one that may have cost lives."He pulled no punches in the interview in addressing FEMA officials: "It's a preposterous notion, that they couldn't get in here and their hands were tied. If any of us had experienced anything like that (level of failure) in our own companies, it would mean instant termination. The government ought to be held accountable in the same way."
01:09 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
Evil. Fucking. Whore.
No. Not Barbara Bush. Try Heritage Foundation's Rebecca Hagelin, who believes the poor of New Orleans should've had the dignity to drown like the poor lower-decks passengers on the Titanic:
The harsh reality that dreadful day in 1912 is that most of the passengers would die, and they knew it. Yet, amid the panic and impending doom, the accounts of survivors remind us of a time when civility and honor were more important to many than survival itself.So how is that in fewer than 100 years we have digressed to a society where, when disaster strikes, the story is marked by a display of the worst side of human nature rather than the best?
Full evil fucking whore article here. Via Roger Ailes.
09:54 AM | Comments (1) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Drowning government in the bathtub
Hughes for America reminds us of an infamous neocon quote from Grover Norquist.
Here.
09:50 AM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Don't stop at Brown.
Now that the right-wing mouthpieces like Andrew Sullivan have clearly gotten the memo that blaming "state and local officials" is not working as a CYA strategy for Bush, they are joining the Times-Picayune in calling for the firing of Michael "Brownie" Brown.
You know a guy that Bush nicknames "Brownie" is in trouble. I mean, he clearly didn't put a lot of effort into the nickname. He didn't nickname Karl "Rovey," after all.
So Bush/Rove/Bartlett et al. are clearly hoping that the buck will stop at Brownie.
Sorry Mr. "President," but that's not going to wash. Brownie is horrible and must be fired, but he wasn't the one who signed budgets that horribly cut the levee building. That was you, Georgie.
Don't bother firing Brown and then going to Chertoff and others. Just cut to the chase and fire yourself before we spend more tax-payer dollars firing you the old-fashioned way.
12:31 AM | Comments (0) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
September 05, 2005
Who's the bigger idiot?
The idiot or the idiot who appointed him? The chorus of voices calling for the firing of FEMA chief Mike Brown has become loud and bipartisan. And damn straight -- he should be fired NOW.
His lack of qualifications have become the stuff of legend, and the results are apocalyptic. But who thrust this man into a position to bungle this so badly? The president. Who reorganized FEMA to the point of rendering the director and the organization almost entirely impotent? The president.
If Brown is unqualified to handle New Orleans, much less a terrorist attack, what does that say about the judgement of the president who elevated this crony to a position of such vital importance?
Basic 8th grade civics tells us that presidential appointees directly reflect the judgement and abilities of the president. When they fail, the president fails. We can no longer accept the Rove line that Bush is a Bubble Boy allowing him immunity from the deadly mistakes of his underlings -- most of whom are cronies.
Hypothetical... If you're the head of a small business and you hire The Three Stooges as your sales team, who's the idiot? And who should accept the blame when the business tanks?
09:28 PM | Comments (1) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Us And Them
A must-read post from Driftglass here.
09:17 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Responsibility Era
"Our nation's leaders are responsible ... to confront problems, not pass them on to others."And to lead this nation to a responsibility era, a president himself must be responsible."
George W. Bush's 2000 nomination acceptance speech.
05:01 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
We're fucked if Chertoff remains in charge
Chertoff on MEET THE PRESS:
"I remember on Tuesday morning picking up newspapers and I saw headlines, 'New Orleans Dodged The Bullet.'"
Two things here. First, the secretary of Homeland Security is getting his information from newspapers? Secondly, what newspapers does he read (via Wonkette)?
So we have a president who doesn't read the paper, and a DHS secretary who gets his information on MAJOR FUCKING HURRICANES only from the papers?
We're fucked.
04:26 PM | Comments (2) | Posted By Bob Cesca
It's over, Georgie. Now step up Dems!
Adam McKay not only makes painfully hilarious movies like Anchorman, he also writes insightful blog posts at HuffPost. Here's part of his latest, and I'd say he gets it on the nose:
Our country is legitimately teetering because of this criminal spoiled fool. We must get him out. And because it seems our Nation is drawn to these Republicans like a moth to a blowtorch we must focus on finding a Republican candidate who is not a retarded corporate shill who thinks science is a theory. I guess it's McCain. Obama is the only Democrat out there with an honest to God soul. He and Barbara Boxer should run a no double speak and straight forward campaign. Forget courting the undecided voter. It has destroyed the party. Let's drop the hammer and see what happens.So as a pile of ignored rotting reports sits in the White House dumpster we have to break out the electron microscope and start looking for the silver lining. The only ones I can find are the fact that W Bush is completely exposed. It's done. Everyone knows. And those that pretend they don't know probably don't know anything to begin with. My friends and I are guessing what the approval rating will be like we're predicting the line on a Suns Mavericks game. I'm going with 31% and my buddy says 28%. Either way it's over.
It's over. Except for the 3 more years we must endure. (Still, there is hope that Patrick Fitzgerald's October presentation of his investigation into the outing of Valerie Plame will have a lasting impact on the Bush junta. And there is even a chance, albeit quite slim, that the Dems will control Congress in 2006, and would decide to impeach on, oh, any number of federal crimes.)
But I couldn't agree more about Dems running as Dems, both in 2006 and 2008. Haven't we learned after two failed presidential elections (granted, both were stolen, but they were CLOSE ENOUGH TO STEAL), that the media handlers in DC are just dead wrong? Haven't we learned from Paul Hackett's stunning near victory in the special Ohio election that people LIKE a candidate who is not afraid to call Bush a "son-of-a-bitch" and a "chickenhawk" (not to mention id'ing Rush Limbaugh as a "fat ass drug addict" (and, mom, I'm sorry for the swears -- I'm just quoting))? Because Bush is a chickenhawk and a nasty, uncaring person; Rush is a drug addict with a serious weight problem that's concentrated on his lower trunk.
Hackett's running for senate in 2006, and the Ohio GOP is terrified. We need more candidates like Hackett who care about people, not pollsters.
Which brings us to Barack Obama and Barbara Boxer. Senator Obama probably won't make a run in 2008, but not because he's afraid of being "too black." More probably, because he doesn't have the "experience." I would urge him, in the strongest way possible, that he has more than enough experience. His experience far outpaces that which our current "president," for example, had when Mr. Bush was appointed by the Supreme Court. But more to the point, after the mess of the last five years, after the horrors of the last week and those still to come, after we see gas prices climb to four and five and six dollars a gallon while George W. Oilman tells us to "be prudent" (the line that really didn't help his dad), after we reach 2,000 dead and counting in Iraq, and top 10,000 dead in the Gulf Coast, after all this, do you really think that the majority of Americans (and every poll says the majority currently thinks Bush is inadequate at his job) really care what color Senator Obama's skin is?
And Barbara Boxer? Well, I'm certainly proud to call her my senator. She almost makes me feel good about living in L.A. From being the sole senator to challenge the Ohio 2004 results to confronting the duplicitous Ms. Rice about her illegal invasion of Iraq, Senator Boxer is a woman who is not afraid to fight for the truth and for the people, regardless of the cost.
So I agree with Mr. McKay (and, essentially, Howard Dean and much of the progressive/liberal blogosphere). Quit counting states and courting 10% of the electorate. Run hard EVERYWHERE, run on your strengths, admit your weaknesses, and never, ever stop caring about human beings. That last quality alone is enough to seperate you from the current criminals.
[As for Hillary...please. If you truly care about progress, don't even talk seriously about Hillary as a candidate in 2008. She continues to vote with Joe Lieberman and to the right of many registered Republicans. She is so desperate to appear strong and manly but, more to the point, she is a corporate flack, just like the W. junta. How else can she explain her support of the bancruptcy bill? Appalling. Besides, a lot of people may not be sure about the "Negro fella" but they sure as hell know they hate Hillary Rodham Clinton.]
Obama/Boxer. A good way out of hell in 2008.
02:17 AM | Comments (2) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
September 04, 2005
Flashback: Republican Compassion
News that Bill Frist is volunteering medical assistance is certainly welcome. But recall that during the aftermath of the tsunami, Frist showed his true colors.
Flashback here.
05:14 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
The Food for Smirk Scandal
Three tons of food ready for delivery by air to refugees in St. Bernard Parish and on Algiers Point sat on the Crescent City Connection bridge Friday afternoon as air traffic was halted because of President Bush’s visit to New Orleans, officials said.
Eh-eh-eh-eh. Hey Trent! Where's yer porch? Eh-eh-eh-eh.
Dick.
04:26 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
How much money has Bush given?
I'm middle class, struggling like millions of Americans to stay ahead of my credit card debt. My monthly expenses are pretty tightly managed. But this week, they went up by two-hundred bucks, which I gave to help victims of Katrina.
Not much, but it's what I could afford.
Nic Cage and P. Diddy and Jay Z gave more.
But how much has Bush given? He's got millions. How about Cheney? He's got billions. What about Frist? Or DeLay? Or, for that matter, Hillary Clinton or Harry Reid? How much of their own money have they given to the Red Cross or other organizations?
This is not a rhetorical question. I'd really like to know the answer.
02:59 AM | Comments (2) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
FUCKING CRIMINAL.
From the Times-Picayune, we learn that Bush's bullshit visit to New Orleans did have a significant impact: IT KEPT FOOD AND SUPPLIES FROM GETTING TO PEOPLE IN NEED.
Three tons of food ready for delivery by air to refugees in St. Bernard Parish and on Algiers Point sat on the Crescent City Connection bridge Friday afternoon as air traffic was halted because of President Bush’s visit to New Orleans, officials said.The provisions, secured by U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-Napoleonville, and state Agriculture Commissioner Bob Odom, baked in the afternoon sun as Bush surveyed damage across southeast Louisiana five days after Katrina made landfall as a Category 4 storm, said Melancon’s chief of staff, Casey O’Shea.
“We had arrangements to airlift food by helicopter to these folks, and now the food is sitting in trucks because they won’t let helicopters fly,” O’Shea said Friday afternoon.
Nothing short of prison will do. He is a horrible, horrible, horrible human being.
02:30 AM | Comments (2) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
CRIMINALS
From Germany's ZDF News, via Kevin Drum:
ZDF News reported that the president's visit was a completely staged event. Their crew witnessed how the open air food distribution point Bush visited in front of the cameras was torn down immediately after the president and the herd of 'news people' had left and that others which were allegedly being set up were abandoned at the same time.The people in the area were once again left to fend for themselves, said ZDF.
This is criminal. Bush must be pursued for lying to the public, for negligent homicide, for environmental destruction.
02:24 AM | Comments (0) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
