The Superdome Society
More than 10,000 Louisiana residents poured into the Superdome overnight to take refuge from Hurricane Katrina. The city administration did an admirable job of providing basic security for some of the area’s neediest residents, even providing busing to take people to the Superdome.
The stories of the fleeing residents, however, paint the picture of an America where many people struggle. As Treasury Secretary John Snow noted recently, the fruits of economic growth are not being shared equally. In New Orleans, many such low wage earners have congregated at the Superdome. Their stories reveal the conditions faced by the poor in America:
Americans Living Paycheck to Paycheck
“If I hadn’t had to work last night, you wouldn’t be seeing me here,” said Arthur Simpson, 46, an Uptown resident who left his job as a printer in Harahan on Sunday at 6:30 a.m. and headed north.
Fending For Themselves
“The people arriving on this side of the building are expected to fend for themselves,” said Terry Ebbert, the city’s homeland security director.
Waiting In Line For Basic Services
They were the poor, homeless, frail or forgotten, those without the means or inclination to go anywhere else. They waited in blocks-long lines outside the massive indoor football stadium. Once inside, they were told, they couldn’t leave, possibly for days.
Families Dependent on Gov’t Assistance
“No funds,” a 41-year-old woman surrounded by four children, ages 2 to 14, said when asked what brought her to the shelter. The woman didn’t want to give her name as she waited with stacks of bedding and a few children’s toys resting on the sidewalk.
“I know they’re saying ‘Get out of town,’ but I don’t have any way to get out,” said Hattie Johns, 74. “If you don’t have no money, you can’t go.”
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“No funds,†a 41-year-old woman surrounded by four children, ages 2 to 14, said when asked what brought her to the shelter. The woman didn’t want to give her name as she waited with stacks of bedding and a few children’s toys resting on the sidewalk.
Perhaps someone with no funds should not have four children, eh? How terribly irresponsible.
August 29th, 2005 at 5:02 pmI saw this one coming. Liberals never give up a chance to exploit class warfare. My heart went out to these poor souls last night - believe it or not. I counted the seconds before the left would exploit it - thank you Faiz, you win for first to do it!
My question for liberals - why don’t you do more for these people then show up on election day to get them out to vote. Landrieu, Blanco and NO Mayor are all Democrats who use these people to get elected and then go away when that is finished. Shame on the Democrats.
August 29th, 2005 at 5:03 pmShame on Democrats? What party has passed more legislation to help out the poor? Weird.
And I agree, don’t have kids if you can’t feed them. That’s a downstream model though, and not a very productive argument. Focusing money on education and getting back to a living wage are ways to help this problem. That’s upstream. That’s thinking.
-jp2
August 29th, 2005 at 5:29 pm“Perhaps someone with no funds should not have four children, eh?”
Perhaps someone with the power should support sex education, birth control and the morning-after pill, eh?
August 29th, 2005 at 5:32 pmMaybe when that 41 year old mother had her children she could afford to have them. Anybody think of that? Circumstances change, people. Have a heart.
August 29th, 2005 at 5:33 pmSure NED, your heart goes out to them, just as you support the troops with your little bumper sticker. Spare us the platitudes you monkey s..t smearee. The warfare on class was started by the right and you are damn right we are going to punch you in the face until elitist traitors like you are gone.
August 29th, 2005 at 5:33 pmWhen you two asses get through blowing smoke to one another just consider what $800,000 billion and 200,000 National Guard and military troops could have done to prevent the terrorist attack on the South. Do not for a second think that the people in that storm were not terrorized. To claim that the huricane was not a terrorist act is the same as claiming Iraq was to blame for 9/11. Where was the duty idiot? He was on vacation while his Daddy and cronies were helping the people evacuate the area by raising the cost of gasoline by $1.00 or mare a gallon. The only thing about you neocons that work is your vocal chords and most of the time the words come out your ass.
August 29th, 2005 at 5:33 pm#3 - obviously the Democrats are not helping the poor in New Orleans considering both the state and city are lead by Democrats. If you actually did educate these people, they would realize the left has done nothing, but hold them back except on Election Day.
August 29th, 2005 at 5:33 pm#6 - that’s why you lose elections - we punch back and we punch harder. Speaking of elitist traitors, John Kerry was certainly the man to lead the class warfare charge considering he chased down two heiresses to make himself a rich man.
August 29th, 2005 at 5:36 pmThe right wingers are the first in line with their manicured hands open at any kind of give away, kicking a hungry child out of your way. Reminder connies, the first rule of being an American, help those who are weaker then yourself. YOU ARE TRAITORS TO THIS COUNTRY!
August 29th, 2005 at 5:40 pmNED is 100% troll, and 100% waste of time.
August 29th, 2005 at 5:41 pm#10 - yawn….. Please keep that invective going. You show liberals for what they truly are.
August 29th, 2005 at 5:41 pmYou did punch harder because we allowed weak leaders, make no mistake traitor this is a changin. We will punch until you cry like the girlboys you are.
As for your pussy statement about state and local governments, once again you show your low IQ. The disaster relief is controled by the Federal government. Suck and swallow neddy.
August 29th, 2005 at 5:46 pm#13 - Citizen - you should take your prozac. OR are you saving after Roberts wipes the floor with Dick “slander the troops” Durbin and Joe Xerox Biden next week? You’re right, you should probably save it.
Poor Citizen, out of power and angry about it.
August 29th, 2005 at 5:50 pmYour right Afterthought, waste of time and post. Traitors to America are with us no matter what.
August 29th, 2005 at 5:53 pmPlease don’t feed the trolls.
August 29th, 2005 at 5:56 pmIf they don’t add to the discussion they are
better off ignored.
The thread ends up filled with rubbish.
#4: Birth control is generally covered under a health plan, and condoms aren’t expected. You don’t need particularly good sex-ed to know that having sex = having children.
#5: “Maybe when that 41 year old mother had her children she could afford to have them.”
The most recent one is two years old, so it hasn’t been that long. Plus, four kids is a lot to support. If you’re not pretty confident that you’re going to be able to support the kids you have, maybe you should stop having more.
I’m not saying we shouldn’t help them, but perhaps using (likely) irresponsible people as your poster-children for the unfortunate isn’t such a good idea.
August 29th, 2005 at 6:09 pmWhoops, “expected” = “expensive”.
August 29th, 2005 at 6:10 pmAmericans protect those who are weaker and help those who need help. This is the American way. All else is an excuse for not being American citizen.
August 29th, 2005 at 6:21 pmMassa asked Toby, “are you complainin’ bout your tight chains and your bug infested food rations again?” “Cut it with the class warfare or I’ll get out my whip”.
August 29th, 2005 at 6:31 pm#19 - Amen, Citizen.
August 29th, 2005 at 6:42 pm#17: Can’t argue against personal responsibility, but the “abstinence” crew is working hard to block availability of both methods and information — ’cause they SOOO love your fetus…until the day it’s born.
#19: “Americans” protect the weak. Conservatives blame them for not having a Fugazi limo on standby.
August 29th, 2005 at 6:43 pmBush is out trying to push his SS agenda again.
August 29th, 2005 at 6:43 pmThis is class warfare. Call it what it is, I recall
blurbs about how Louisiana was so vulnerable - and still funds were cut. I hate republicans and everything they stand for. Mean hypocritial a-holes.
You’ve lost your cool, NED.
August 29th, 2005 at 7:09 pmYou come here because being berated is all you know. You’re pathetic.
#17 “You don’t need particularly good sex-ed to know that having sex = having children”
Evil Inbred, you are so far out of touch with reality it’s hard to for me to imagine. Come down off your suburban high horse sometime and talk to people that are less fortunate than you. Many are uneducated or never graduated high school, usually the result of the endless chain of poverty. But regardless, there are too many high school kids, both rich and poor, that don’t know how diseases like herpes and aids are spread, and who don’t think you can get pregnant by doing it “just once”. Don’t be so naive.
And also, dumb-ass, poor people don’t have healthplans. It’s too bad you’re parents didn’t know about birth control or we could be spared rediculously stupid statements like yours.
And lastly, to you hypocritical “christian” conservative morons, shouldn’t you be following in the footsteps of Jesus and helping a neighbor in need rather than judging and disposing of them like trash?
August 29th, 2005 at 7:35 pmA lot of folks who are living “paycheck to paycheck” have CDs, 401(k)s, multiple cars and other consumer stuff, and a whole lot of equity in their homes. You don’t get a lot of ROI by parking thousands of dollars in a regualr savings account.
August 29th, 2005 at 7:35 pmBrian, you are right LOL. NED does like the abuse. He reminds me of the character from Pulp Fiction, the one with a latex b&d hood and the gag ball in his mouth (slave bitch of gun shop guy), I think his name was ZED! Let NED (all trolls included)be now known as ZED. Slave bitch of the right, long live ZED!
August 29th, 2005 at 7:39 pmTypical right wing self righteous criticism about someone without knowing a single fact.
August 29th, 2005 at 7:43 pmYou don’t know if circumstances changed in her life AFTER she had children.
You are the same ones who will prohibit birth control and the morning after pill in you self-righteous proclamation of the sanctitity of life. Life is precious - before it’s born — after that - you’re on your own! Typically scornful and uncharitable comments. Maybe that woman voted for GW just like you!
Thank you, NED and EvilCornbread!!! Our DemFriends run all of the Big Cities, work hand & mouth with the NEA and then have the nerve to complain about the raw deal of the poor. The dirty little secret is that Dems don’t want anybody to do too well (either money wise or at school) - that how they keep “po’ folks down on their luck - and on the Dem plantation.” Oh, it’s great to have an evil currency dealer like George Soros as long as he spends like a drunken druggie on important Dem messages, but the average little guy can’t have too many high standards expected of him - because, who knows maybe he/she will succeed - and they won’t need Dems then. If the birth control directions are tooooo complicated for a 41 yro mom of 4, tell to put it between her knees.
August 29th, 2005 at 7:43 pmWho said birth control is covered on health plans?
August 29th, 2005 at 7:49 pmWho said everyone has a health plan?
Birth control is NOT covered under health plans - only Viagra is.
This is just another way for the snooty rich to “tsk tsk” the poor person who isn’t as lucky as they, not as educated as they, not as wealthy as they — remember, “there but for the grace of god go I”. When are you gonna get iiut thru your thick heads we are all in this together — we are all human. Well, maybe not NED.
And what would you tell the 74 year old? Get a job?
August 29th, 2005 at 7:52 pmWhy didn’t you save more money when you were working your minimum wage job waiting on me at the diner? or cleaning my hotel room when I was on that golfing junket?
What? A new troll?
August 29th, 2005 at 7:54 pmI guess the other three (or one, you never know
when they have multiple personalities) must
need help.
Evil Cornbread:
“Perhaps someone with no funds should not have four children, eh? How terribly irresponsible.”
Perhaps YOU should be paying your child support.
August 29th, 2005 at 7:58 pm#29, I thought it was republicans who wanted to keep the “po’ folks down on their luck…” so they could feed take advantage of them by giving them no hope but to join the military and progress the agenda of the new american century. I guess there are two sides to every story.
By the way, how are those big cities’ school programs funded? Oh, that’s right, they’re underfunded because Bush put all sorts of “No child left behind” bullshit requirements with no way to fund them.
August 29th, 2005 at 7:58 pmOne thing I’ve noticed about trolls - they attack the subject (person, writer or messenger) and not the message. You want to prove your point about who does what better than whoever you support - back it up! And when you provide info give the sources. Discourse & debate….discourse & debate.
August 29th, 2005 at 8:03 pmKitt
They are slave btiches to the right, daddy would be very angry if they opened any kind of discourse.
August 29th, 2005 at 8:08 pmOh, you pitiful trolls
August 29th, 2005 at 8:15 pmYou ignorant Rush - quoting trolls
Go and fight the war why don’t ya
You just sit at home and munch ya
Cheetos, and anything else
You can wrap your fat-assed mouth around
If you ever had a brain well it’s dead by now
From listening to Chimpy and the other low brows
Go, go, you ignorant slow, pitiful chickenhawk trolls
NED and trolls like NED love to bash those who are less fortunate yet NED does nothing to improve their lives. That is the very reason our economy is suffering so much. When people stop shopping it hurts everybody.
NED you really need to go to Iraq and make a difference instead of baby bashing.
I work in the credit and debt industry and I consider myself to be an expert. I would love it if the trolls like NED and BS would provide us their credentials. More than likely they are involved in some preditory lending scam. I know how they operate and their use of language is scripted to the tee. Their technics are widely used by preditory lenders to scam Americans.
Help me put folks like NED and BS out of business. Go to my website and show your support by signing my petition to educate students on credit and debt issues.
Thanks, It’s folks like you who make America a better place. The trolls try to destroy America at every chance but we will prevail.
August 29th, 2005 at 8:17 pmWell Mikey - Federal $$$ is 6% of education funds - your state and local taxes fund the majority of school budgets. That’s why the Dem.God made property taxes Let teachers get off the PC curiculum and let them do what they do best. Marie, I don’t know about the circumstances of the 74 year old lady - you conveniently shifted the argument away from the irresponsible 41 year old. Does she have any children who should be pitching in to help MOM?? And your stupid argument about her menial jobs - (what a guess!) reinforces how the Dems need to keep people poor, stupid and dependent!
August 29th, 2005 at 8:21 pmHermaphrodite, you are in the con game too I see. Your script is older than your mothers underwear. Get a real job and quit scamming children, the sick and elderly. You should be ashamed of yourself.
August 29th, 2005 at 8:26 pmThanks for sounding the clarion call, Citizen80203 over at John’s place.
As demonstrated by their responses, they are indeed quite ‘compassionate’ to those who don’t have as much as our capitalistic society espouses. How dare any of you critcize any of those seeking shelter? What business is it of yours?
August 29th, 2005 at 8:29 pm#34- How is this for discourse and debate? “FOUR - KIDS - NO - MONEY” - ‘NUFF SAID
August 29th, 2005 at 8:30 pmpeople: just ignore the trools!
August 29th, 2005 at 8:36 pmIf right wing Jesus where here now, he would point fingers, place blame and throw the loaves and fishes into the dumpster.
August 29th, 2005 at 8:36 pmMighty Hermaphrodite, the mother had money until you and your criminals stole everything she had. Are you proud that you have taken food from childrens mouths? Sounds like it. Sicko.
August 29th, 2005 at 8:37 pmIf federal $$ is 6% of education, then why is it acceptable that the feds mandate no child left behind when the states can’t afford it? I agree with letting teachers do what they do best, but NCLB is not the way to do it, especially when it forces schools to cut other programs (music, phys ed)in order to fund it.
August 29th, 2005 at 8:38 pmSusan - if you are a REAL woman - please address my argument. Otherwise, go adjust your jockstrap!
August 29th, 2005 at 8:39 pmAs a teacher in a red state, I can regretfully say to MA that it is not the PC curriculum that “keep(s) people poor, stupid and dependent.” It is instead the school board’s insitance that science teachers interupt lessons that teach the skills our children will need to compete in the global marketplace so they can acknowledge “intelligent design.”
That said, none of us know the circumstance by which the 41 yo mom came to her “no funds” situation. It could be lazy stupidity, it could be all her money was in Enron or WorldCom stocks.
August 29th, 2005 at 8:43 pmSueman, I’ll give her back anything I’ve taken from her if you’ll give me a refund on the high taxes we pay on everything! Mikey- I think music and phys ed are great but let’s concentrate on reading, and math first! And again, Sueman, your argument is….weak!
August 29th, 2005 at 8:44 pmSusan Wrote
“I work in the credit and debt industry and I consider myself to be an expert. ”
How can you sleep at night?
August 29th, 2005 at 8:44 pm#47 - You’re right - we don’t know her circumstances -World Com?? a possibility! Enron??? Maybe. Having an “addiction”? Could be! Having 4 kids with 3 or 4 men? Who knows?
August 29th, 2005 at 8:47 pmSince when is helping people educate themselves about preditory lenders something I should lose sleep over Eddie? Are you confessing to be a con artist like the Hermaphrodite?
I don’t argue with criminals, I expose them. You were out argued before I even got here. Your scam isn’t working here Hermaphrodite.
August 29th, 2005 at 8:50 pmMA, You mean addiction like Limbaughs and Multiple children by different partners like Strom Thurmond, right?
August 29th, 2005 at 8:56 pmHow is this for discourse and debate? “FOUR - KIDS - NO - MONEY†- ‘NUFF SAID
How old are you!?
That makes no sense. Where’s your compassion? I mean it - where. How do YOU know the circumstances of this woman’s life?
August 29th, 2005 at 8:57 pm#28 Marie, you showed the hypocrisy of the right wingers in a single post. I’m sure these poor folks who couldn’t just jog up to the Hamptons and wait out the storm did vote for Bushie.
Bushie just turned Lousiana Blue. Good job dumbass.
August 29th, 2005 at 8:58 pmForty million poor people with ten thousand dollars of federal aid is four hundred billion dollars. What needs to be done is wean poor people in the US from any federally assisted programs and earmark more money (four hundred billion dollars) for more war in Venezuela, Iran, Syria and North Korea. The poor are burdening the federal government’s largesse and it needs to come to a screeching halt.
To hell with the poor, more war is better. They’re a waste of money. They can fend for themselves, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are much more important.
Pay attention and get it right… har
August 29th, 2005 at 8:59 pmSusan,
You said you worked in the Credit and debt industry.
If you councel against getting into dept or taking out Credit I apologize.
But if you are pushing one kind of dept as being superior I guess you are technically right. Indentured servitude is better than Slavery.
I wouldn’t consider either to be good though.
There is no good debt. Only Bad or worse dept.
August 29th, 2005 at 9:00 pmIf that 41 year old woman had only been born a Bush, all her personal failures, shortcomings and inadequacies would be of no consequence at all.
August 29th, 2005 at 9:09 pmThanks for clearing that up Eddie. I educate folks to prevent them from getting into debt. When someone is already overwhelmed with debt I offer solutions and repair their credit. I don’t call them bad people because they lost their job or had an illness that prevented them from earning.
BushCo is very much responsible for folks losing everything and by being in the industry I know this as a fact. I talk to people every day and the most common reasons for their debt is a job loss and/or medical bills caused by losing employment health insurance.
I expose preditory lenders and illegal collection scams. Debt is a major factor in the decline of todays economy. Sorry I wasn’t clear about my position.
August 29th, 2005 at 9:13 pmI agree with poster 1. If you can’t afford 4 kids, don’t have them. Oh but wait, this would involve some dreadful awful thing–recognizing a right to reproductive freedom!! Avoiding random parenthood! NOT letting the government tell you how many kids you must bear! What a CONcept!
You know, well, reproductive freedom involves horrible awful stuff like–birth control!, sex education!, abortion should birth control fail, as happens with certainty a certain percentage of the time.
Oh, but who cares about all that, let’s all get weepy about clusters of cells in petri dishes. Let’s adopt them and give them names like “Bunny” and “Manuel.” Aren’t we SO Godly?
Actual children? Actual mothers? Actual families?
Screw them. It’s Darwinian “survival of the fittest” all the way. Oh, oops. I didn’t mean Darwin, did I?
I meant that if God didn’t want there to be piss-poor people, He wouldn’t have made any. Intelligent Design, dont you get it??!
Don’t you recall what Bubble-Boy said at Harvard, after Daddy’s Friends got him in? “People are poor because they’re lazy.”
Mr. Vacation. Mr. Never Had a Real Job in His Whole Life. Tell us all how to live our lives, why don’tcha.
August 29th, 2005 at 9:56 pmWhy are you bashing the woman with four children? According to R’s, birth control is evil. You should be glad that she is a good Christian that is going forth and multiplying. I want to know why Laura Bush only got pregnant once. Okay, she had twins, but where are the rest of the kids? Or did she take birth control herself?
August 29th, 2005 at 10:13 pmThe Superdome Society? How about:
“The Opt Out Society: The GOP Threat to National Unity and the American Social Contract.”
August 29th, 2005 at 10:17 pm#25: “Don’t be so naive”
You’re the one claiming that after having THREE children she didn’t realize that having unprotected sex might, just MIGHT, have something to do with pregnancy…and I’m the naive one? This isn’t some wet-behind-the-ears teenager, this is a woman of 38 years. Acting as if having children was something that just happened to her rather than something that she did is just ludicrous.
“poor people don’t have healthplans”
Yes, and as I’ve said, condoms aren’t expensive.
“shouldn’t you be following in the footsteps of Jesus and helping a neighbor in need rather than judging and disposing of them like trash?”
I didn’t say we shouldn’t help her — if you’d actually read what I wrote, I said the exact opposite. I just think that portraying her and her blatant irresponsibility isn’t the best way to get your point across.
Also, the namecalling isn’t helping your case.
#28: “You don’t know if circumstances changed in her life AFTER she had children.”
That’s true, but like I said, her youngest is two years old…it’s not like she had her children a long time ago. Furthermore, again as I’ve said, if you’re going to have that large of a family, you should be SURE that you can take care of them. Yes, there are exceptional cases, but that’s what insurance is for. If you can’t ensure that you can afford your kids, you have no business having them.
#32: “Perhaps YOU should be paying your child support”
Um, what? MY child support? What in the world are you talking about?
#59: Am I mistaken, or are not condoms and abortions freely available in this country?
August 29th, 2005 at 10:19 pmMaybe her husband got shipped off to Iraq and took one in the neck for Bushy? Then, to repay the brave soldier, Bushy cut off their money, repossessed the house, and bankrupted their business that he couldn’t be home to run. Thanks, Bushy.
August 29th, 2005 at 10:24 pmCondoms are available. The typical use failure rate for condoms is 14%. That’s 14 unwanted pregnancies out of 100. Oh, and of course, the beings who get pregnant (ask Judge Roberts about this) are typically female, and they typically are not the ones wearing the condoms, are they? Never mind.
Googling, it looks like there is a single facility providing abortions for all of Louisiana, and that it has been under threat from those who would like to bomb it or see it close.
I am thrilled that you are apparently against random parenthood. Good for you. I do hope you put your money where your mouth is.
That would mean your taking a stand for reproductive freedom, so that the government isn’t the entity forcing you to have children you can’t care for and don’t want. Up for it, are you?
August 29th, 2005 at 10:37 pmNo one knows why the woman has 4 kids. The reason(s) are not at issue. The reality is she has 4 kids to protect from an approaching hurricane. Therefore, the would ofs, could ofs, & should ofs, really don’t matter at the point.
August 29th, 2005 at 10:39 pmIf she’s poor, I know why she has four children. I am poor. I had to go get free healthcare at Parkland Hospital. The OBGYN, a female doctor, told me that my problem was that I needed to go find prince charming and have children. All of my problems would be solved if I went out and had children. True story. Not once. Not twice. Three times, this female doctor, told me that Prince Charming, her words, was on his way. That poor me, on welfare, can’t afford a doctor, needs to go out and have children. That’s how she ended up with four children.
August 29th, 2005 at 10:48 pmJen, Applause, Applause. You make a great case even though a woman does not have to defend herself for having 4 children. Like Nancy L. says her number of children is not the issue. The real issue is that Bushie could care less about the people of Louisiana and the republican party is going to pay dearly for it.
August 29th, 2005 at 10:49 pm#64: Honestly, I’m all for freely available contraception and sex ed in school. But lets not pretend that the government is “forcing you to have children”. No one’s forcing anyone to have sex, and we know the risk of pregnancy comes with sex. So to speak. Heh.
#65: True, and no one’s arguing that they should be turned away. But if TP is going to use them examples of “struggling people”, maybe using an unsympathetic example like a destitute woman with four children isn’t the best move.
August 29th, 2005 at 10:52 pm#66: Anyone who would take that kind of advice from an OBGYN to heart shouldn’t be contributing to the gene pool in the first place.
#67: No, she doesn’t have to defend herself for having four children, but neither should we be expected to deal with her self-inflicted burden nor is she a particularly sympathetic example of the poor in America.
Personally, I find having a large family that you’re unable to support fairly irresponsible.
August 29th, 2005 at 10:56 pmI have no children, because I am smarter than my crack-head doctor. the one my tax dollars sent to school. My problem is I have no, what was that word? Ensurance. So, I can’t really pick and choose which crack-head doctor I get to see.
August 29th, 2005 at 10:57 pmYou’re still not getting the point EvilCornbread. Not all citizens can just jog over to their home in the Hamptons when a hurricane is about to slam into their community.
This isn’t about birth control but your hypocricy has brought it to our attention.
You argument is about as weak as they come. Your a typical chickenhawk who refuses to fight the war you support. That makes you useless.
August 29th, 2005 at 10:59 pm68. So, really, your idea of birth control is abstinence, as in not having sex.
Is that what you personally practice?
To the extent that abortion is not available to terminate unwanted pregnancies, yes, indeedy, the government would be forcing people to have children against their will.
Think about it. Do you, personally, only want to have sexual relations that will result in children?
How many children are you ready for? Two? Ten? Fifteen? Are you really ready for living forty years of your adulthood having sexual relations only two, ten, or fifteen times?
Maybe you are.
Maybe others aren’t.
August 29th, 2005 at 11:02 pmEvilCornbread never fights with his right hand. So, there is no fear of pregnancy.
August 29th, 2005 at 11:05 pmEvil Cornbread wrote
“But if TP is going to use them examples of “struggling peopleâ€, maybe using an unsympathetic example like a destitute woman with four children isn’t the best move.”
I don’t care what she did. There is no way that a destitute mother with four kids is an “unsympathetic example”.
August 29th, 2005 at 11:09 pmI haven’t heard of any deaths in LA or MS or AL yet so hopefully we dodged a bullet.
We in TN get hit tonight. I think it will be downgraded to a tropical storm by then so hopefully it wont be too bad. But they are warning of possible Tornados.
August 29th, 2005 at 11:16 pmthe great unwashed are taking a bath in New Orleans.
Two hundred billion to wage war in Iraq is what pays. Homeless, destitute people in the United States have always been a problem that can’t really be solved, so it’s better to appropriate two hundred billion to wage war in Iraq.
Cindy Sheehan and all of those anti-war types can starve.
On with the war, forget about somebody with four kids wiling away the hours in the Superdome. It’s not important. It’s a tragedy, for sure, but it is of no consequence. get over it
August 29th, 2005 at 11:17 pmCNN just reported 55 dead in MS. They think.
August 29th, 2005 at 11:19 pmSad to hear that. I guess no deaths would be too much to hope for
August 29th, 2005 at 11:21 pmI have some friends near Gulfport. Hope they make it ok.
August 29th, 2005 at 11:23 pmSee, what these moronic NeoCons can’t grasp is the story is not about todays hurricane. It is about protecting the future of LA.
A lot of that area is under sea level and needs levies and dams to keep the water back. Those levies are very old and in need of repair.
Not anymore. Now they need to be replaced, because they broke. They needed to be shored up. You know, to protect the future.
So, Bush stopping 71 millino is a drop in the bucket. Here is the irony. Bush will declare a state of emergency and send a lot more than 71 million there to help. In essence buying the republican vote down there, keeping LA a red state.
“Look how Bush saved us.”
Sad. :(
August 29th, 2005 at 11:25 pmSpudgebob wrote
“Here is the irony. Bush will declare a state of emergency and send a lot more than 71 million there to help. In essence buying the republican vote down there, keeping LA a red state.”
At least 55 people are dead, and you are woried about how LA will vote in 3 years? There is a lot of time between now and then. Plenty of time to convince people how to vote.
August 29th, 2005 at 11:31 pmI posted this in the other thread, but it is just a relevant here:
“Here is a problem Susan. The people that are being affected by this hurricane in LA are not on their computers reading this. Nor are they watching a TV or any other form of media that is covering the fact that Bush has made sure they won’t be protected from future hurricanes.
They are huddled together in shelters trying to survive. They won’t get the information we know of. I would even go as far as to say that they won’t have Internet access or TVs for a while. I sure it is the last thing they are thinking of.
So, when they return to a somewhat normal life again, all of this will be “old news†and the MSM will be back to reporting on Halloway. That is real news. They just rearrested the brothers.
Then, come ‘06 these people will vote republican again. Very sad.”
August 29th, 2005 at 11:34 pmAnd Eddie, since we are on the same team here, my name is Spudge-Boy.
August 29th, 2005 at 11:35 pmGee, Ron, try not to kill yourself tonight…
August 29th, 2005 at 11:36 pmTypical misogynist bullsh*t…attacking some woman who has, as someone pointed out, four children to protect without knowing the whys of there being four children.
Where’s the father in all of this?
Typical ‘blame the victim’ blather of those who really contribute anything meaningful to our society.
August 29th, 2005 at 11:38 pmSpudgeboy wrote
“And Eddie, since we are on the same team here, my name is Spudge-Boy. ”
Sorry, I got 3 kids. For some reason I read SpudgeBOB.
“Who lives in a Pineapple under the sea?…”
Arghhh :)
August 29th, 2005 at 11:41 pmThat’s cool, I can dig Sponge Bob, but I have been Spudge Boy much longer than he has been around.
So, my point, as you can see from the other post that I reposted is that the people that are affected by Bush’s future cuts are not at their PCs or TVs and can’t see how they got screwed for future protection.
I am a very empathetic person and wish there hadn’t been any death. It is why I am so against the war in Iraq. People dying for no reason is horrible.
The Bush funding cut wouldn’t have helped those 55 people, but maybe they would have helped people in the future.
August 29th, 2005 at 11:49 pmSpudgeboy wrote
“Then, come ‘06 these people will vote republican again. Very sad.â€
There is no ground more fertile for Democratic expansion than the South. I live in a Rural county that has never voted Republican scince the end of Reconstruction.
All you got to do is convince them you don’t want there guns, and make a place in the tent for Pro life Dems.
August 29th, 2005 at 11:52 pmAccording to what I gather from the Bushie Groupies here they consider that Slavery was never abolished. They just changed the name to Wellfare and don’t make them work any more. How else can any one not subhuman reduce the disaster in New Orleans to whether or not one black woman has four kids wthout a Bush size checking account. Go crawl in your holes, scum.
August 29th, 2005 at 11:54 pm#71: Who said I supported any war? What does that have to do with this discussion at all?
#72: One, cheap contraception (a condom) is available. Two, abortion providers are available. Three, abstinence (or other sexual activities that don’t result in pregnancies) are alternatives.
#73: The personal attacks are SO persuasive.
#74: Maybe to you. To me, it smacks of irresponsibility. The children are extremely sympathetic. The mother is not.
#85: The father is at least as culpable as the mother. Moreso if he’s abandoned them. You say “blame the victim”, I say “don’t victimize those responsible”.
August 29th, 2005 at 11:54 pmI hear you Eddie, Only problem is that I live in California. Everybody I know at work, friends, even people I meet on the streets are easily turned against Bush. A lot of people here are fence sitters. You give them a good reason to fall off one side of the fence and they do it.
If it wasn’t for the fact that I work in the high tech industry, I would move to a red state and convert people. All it takes is pointing out the facts and they get it.
There just aren’t enough people changing peoples minds in the red states. That is my conundrum.
August 29th, 2005 at 11:57 pmMaybe EvilCornbread will be more sympathetic to a double-amputee veteren that was rescued from a tree top, clinging to life through the hurricane?
August 30th, 2005 at 12:00 amEvilCornbread wrote
“#74: Maybe to you. To me, it smacks of irresponsibility. The children are extremely sympathetic. The mother is not.”
She is raising the children she had. She is taking them to the shelter to be safe. The children apear to be well fed and clothed. Just because she doesn’t have the ability to transport herself and those kids across 1/2 a continent does not mean she is irresponsible.
August 30th, 2005 at 12:01 amMaybe Evil Cornbread doesn’t realize that I don’t care to persuade him. I want him to get run over by a truck and taste his own blood.
August 30th, 2005 at 12:02 amComment by EvilCornbread
You make quite a few sweeping generalizations and judgements on very few facts. Perhaps this family had a nice home, two jobs, and two parents, during the Clinton years. You just don’t know, do you? Maybe we should punish Bill Clinton, for leaving.
August 30th, 2005 at 12:02 amIt may be worth noting in this discussion of the woman with the four children that Louisiana was given an F by NARAL Pro-Choice America. From the other side of the fence, it was ranked 1st in the nation in “fetus protection” from Americans United for Life.
Just thought that might be relevant.
August 30th, 2005 at 12:18 amDon’t even worry about. Come 2006 and 2008, even with all the gerrymandering and slick redistricting to keep GOP incumbents in office in perpetuity, the GOP , like the highwater point of a tsunami, has reached it’s peak and has begun to slime back into the primordial ooze from whence it came. Except for the rabid christo fascist nazi districts, Republican candidates won’t be returned to office at any level during the next 30 years.
August 30th, 2005 at 12:20 amWorry, GOP. This time you may be gone for long, long time.
http://www.historyshots.com/parties2/
August 30th, 2005 at 12:30 amSpudgeboy wrote
“I hear you Eddie, Only problem is that I live in California. Everybody I know at work, friends, even people I meet on the streets are easily turned against Bush. ”
“If it wasn’t for the fact that I work in the high tech industry, I would move to a red state and convert people. All it takes is pointing out the facts and they get it”
No one needs to move anywhere. The mood in the south is that we are tired of Bush too. If the 2008 election was about some unknown Democrat vs Bush the Dem would win in a landslide. But it wont be Bush vs some Dem. It will be some other Republican. If that Republican talk’s about fisical disipline, the right to bear arms, and providing some form of protection to late tearm featuses he or she will beat a Dem who wants to take away guns and supports the right to abortion all the way till seconds before birth.
The Dems need to work hard to Moderate their image on those two fronts. If they do that they have an excellent chance to win. Especially scince the Republicans have screwed up so badly.
You have to make a party that upholds rights (Including the second amendment). You need to make a party that looks out for the little guy (including full term featuses AKA Babies)
August 30th, 2005 at 12:31 amThe father is at least as culpable as the mother. Moreso if he’s abandoned them. You say “blame the victimâ€, I say “don’t victimize those responsible.”
‘Don’t victimize those responsible.’ Are you for real? You don’t even the circumstances of this woman’s life and yet you’re all over her.
THAT irrational focus of yours is where misogyny comes in. Of all the stories in that write-up, you choose hers because she epitomizes ’something’ for you.
August 30th, 2005 at 12:37 amREPUGnicans can’t have any sympathy for the poor. They just don’t relate to them. (Even if they themselves are poor, they are in denial of it)
In their myopic view of things, they see only straight ahead (and much of that is ONLY what they choose to see) much the same as if they have blinders on.
I don’t give a flying bush what the circumstances are of this woman having even 1000 children, I DO CARE THAT she has NO CHOICE AND NO OPTIONS ABOUT PROTECTING HER KIDS. It is HER BODY, HER FAMILY AND ULTIMATELY HER CHOICE! If you care about her having children, you are the ONE WITH THE PROBLEM.
Our forefathers knew that our government might not always be honest, forthright and looking out for true Americans, so in their infinate wisdom they wrote the constitution, to protect our certian inalienable rights. We should respect their wisdom, and not believe everything our (sic) elected officials tell us as the gospel.
It is our duty, yes DUTY, to stand up for ALL AMERICANS! You don’t have to agree with them, or approve but as Americans we have the right TO BE WHO WE ARE, WARTS AND ALL. This goes out to protect dumbya as well, I hate to say that, but if we don’t protect the rights of bigots as well, this is no longer a free country.
August 30th, 2005 at 3:47 am“If you don’t have no money, you can’t go (evacuate.)”
Yep. That must be why Bush is AWOL from the scene of the hurricane’s desctruction whoring his dead Social Security privatization scheme out west.
To help people like this woman.
August 30th, 2005 at 8:38 amHow about everyone just mind their own business and thank goodness Katrina didn’t smash New Orleans/Biloxi off the face of the earth?
August 30th, 2005 at 11:46 am100, I feel sticking UP FOR RIGHT is my business. I do thank God the damage wasn’t as bad as it could have been. I also am waiting to see if things get worse (levy). It isn’t over until the water is controlled. So I also feel that it is my business to help them if it gets worse.
August 30th, 2005 at 12:14 pmNews Flash for the “Compassionate” Conservatives: The nation’s poverty rate rose to 12.7 percent of the population last year, the fourth consecutive annual increase, the Census Bureau said Tuesday. Overall, there were 37 million people living in poverty, up 1.1 million people from 2003.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9130342/
August 30th, 2005 at 1:06 pm#37 You rightly assume that I don’t know the circumstances of the 74 year old who was also quoted in the topic — but you will not admit that youalso do not know the circumstances of the 41 year old!
August 30th, 2005 at 2:17 pmYou typify the self-centered, well-to-to, smug and sanctimonious right wing — go get yourself a manicure!
Oh, please.
Must everything be turned to partisan “advantage”?
Why not just applaud the good work by the folks in New Orleans and leave it at that? Why drag politics into it.
This is the kind of sniping and, yes, whining that has turned our country into the constant battleground that it has become.
As a virtually lifelong Liberal, I grow weary of this sort of nonsense. Both sides do it and both sides make me want to retch.
August 30th, 2005 at 3:11 pmToo bad that when God was talking to GW he didn’t tell him to go forth and provide for the people of this country rather than those of Iraq. Where is all the COMPASSION he professes. And don’t label me as a Liberal. I am damned sick and tired of the whole greedy bunch in DC. It seems that once they get elected they forget all the promises they made and put their hands out to all the lobbyists. I’m talking about both sides of the aisle. To politicize the situation in New Orleans and the communities hit by Katrina is an out and out sin.
August 30th, 2005 at 5:58 pm“If it wasn’t for the fact that I work in the high tech industry, I would move to a red state and convert people. All it takes is pointing out the facts and they get it.
There just aren’t enough people changing peoples minds in the red states. That is my conundrum.”
Spudgeboy
i hate to tell you this, but as a progressive, liberal person living in a very red state, facts don’t mean much to the conservative, neocon, religious right. What’s that old saying? “Don’t let facts get in the way of truth.” Just look at the message boards on the internet like this — the right is steadfast in the opinions and often cannot back it up with reasons or facts. When you corner them, they just avoid the subject or don’t answer the question or more often than not insult you. There is no reasoning with them. A perfect example is the evolution debate. Only the religious right seems to believe in intelligent design.
I admire your attempts, but you may be wasting your time.
August 30th, 2005 at 6:07 pm#102 I am not surprised. George Bush seems to think that a factory job can be replaced by Wal-Mart. He thinks a clerk in a store handing out fries with that shake is the same as a teacher, or accountant.
It is very hard for a person making $6.00 an hour to buy a $150,000 brick home, and a $40,000 car.
August 30th, 2005 at 7:09 pmLook on this thread where people posted yesterday the belief was that Katrina would not be so bad.
Thank the media for the lies. Katrina has devastated this nation.
See the point?
August 31st, 2005 at 1:39 amI hate to be harsh but this woman with 4 kids just isn’t a responsible person. She is in her 40s! Why doesn’t she have savings? Where is her IRA?It is certainly possible that something bad happened that wiped her out financially, such as medical-related bankruptcy, but not likely. I just find it hard to believe that a person could end up in her position if she were a hardworking, responsible adult. The fact of the matter is that our society gives you choices. No one forces you to be uneducated and unemployed. All of these poor, downtrodden people should go to school and/or get to work.
August 31st, 2005 at 10:10 amDid you notice, when the cars were jamming the highway leaving New Orleans, that the opposite lanes (going to N.O.) were completely open? The least the City of Chicago could have done for New Orleans was to share the concept of reversible lanes in rush hour….
And can you also tell me why 2,000 SUVs or schoolbuses couldn’t have been pressed into service to evacuate all those people who couldn’t rent a car? Wouldn’t it have been cheaper than picking them off the rooftops by helicopter?
I don’t have sympathy for looters, but when you treat the population of a city as expendable (see above), is it surprising that they do whatever they can to fend for themselves?
August 31st, 2005 at 3:18 pmjerome you are an a-hole. You do not know her story now do you? Many people struggle just to come up with money for the very basics. IRA - you gotta be kidding.
August 31st, 2005 at 3:19 pmNot everybody has the wherewithall to be able to go to school - and jobs when/where available typically pay at or below poverty level. There are people who are lazy no doubt and there are people show deserve what they get - but her kids do not. And it is heartless a-holes like you whow get on their high horse and pontificate. stfu
Linda, no one was treating the people of New Orleans as expendable. Buses went out and picked up those that didn’t have a way to get out of the city - they were placed in the SuperDome. At least they were safe from Katrina, and are now survivors, instead of on the growing list of the dead.
New Orleans did USE Contra Flow… the jam ups were at the interchanges….
August 31st, 2005 at 8:42 pmJerome,
August 31st, 2005 at 8:49 pmInstead of sitting there judging someone because they’ve had more kids than you think they should have had, go roll up your sleeves and help those people continue to survive. I realize that you’ll go pick out someone that you think is of your class, but their house may look just like homes of others. Watch it, you might just be helping someone that’s of lesser class than you!!!! Good God idiot - you and your attitude is part of what’s wrong with things now. Your holier than thou attitude isn’t going to gain you anything more in life than you deserve………..which the most pitiful person, down on their luck and trying to survive, deserves more consideration and help than you do! You also will receive your due Jerome - keep looking over your shoulder!
I still don’t see why we couldn’t evacuate everyone. It happened on a weekend, and it was obvious it was going to be horrible a day before they called for an evacuation. There are literally thousands of School Busses in the surrounding states that could have been impressed. We have known this is a possibility for literally decades. There should have been a better plan.
August 31st, 2005 at 9:20 pmI love how the lefties are all coming out and saying it was this republican policy, etc. that caused Katrina. I feel very sorry for the suffering people in the guld and would hope that politics would be put aside but I guess that is not possible. I guess,we republicans, would love to take the time and protest the worlds ills but unfortunately someone has to work and take personal responsibility. So please, go back to making your placards, my tax dollars will support you.
September 1st, 2005 at 12:12 pm#103- Sorry Marie - no time for a manicure (or a pedicure either for that matter. Busy working to responsibly take care of: 1.) my family(a new concept for some, I know!) 2.) my contributing and raising $$ for the relief efforts 3.) filling up my tank - (thanks to all the new refineries we’ve built in the last 30 years of ecoterrorism.)
September 1st, 2005 at 3:14 pm#115 - Thanks, I’m at work as we speak trying to help the less fortunate. I understand scavenging for food and potable H2O(that means “drinkable” for all the druggies out there). I AM a little confused about the folks boosting the TV’s and guns, though. Tongue out of cheek - I am thrilled to live in such a generous and kind nation - I realize that most of those horribly affected are good, decent people - hopefully the National Guard will order a “shoot to kill” order for the sleazebags.
Aphrodippy,
Other low-income types work just as hard as you, if not harder, but thanks to low wages and no benefits are 1.) Unable spend time with their family, 2.)Work 2 or more jobs, so have no time for fund-raising, relief efforts or freaking bake sales, 3.)Can’t afford a car, let alone a tank to fill.
Ecoterrorism?? OH!! You mean those people who still think having clean air, clean water and a few standing old growth trees to marvel at is a good thing. Yes, just like a terrorist those crazies.
How about econoterrorists like those currently in power? They give tax breakes to their corporate so they can ship the good paying jobs Americans should have overseas, which is why good American citizens are in the dire straights they are in, in NO.
As fasr as looting TV’s over food? It doesn’t matter where you are, there will always be a few bad people that will enrich themselves at others expense, opportunity allowing. You know, kind of like those no bid contracts that tricky Dick made sure Halliburton got in Iraq on the taxpayers dime?
And like most with your holier than all attitude, you forget, judge not lest ye be judged. Who here can say what they would do, trapped with thousands, stewing in your own feces, watching people you love suffer for want of food and water, while armed soldiers refuse to allow anyone to leave? You can bet I’d consider any option to protect the ones I love.
September 4th, 2005 at 11:23 amOkay all you BUSH-BASHER’S….if you’re gonna fling around the dirt..lets be fair about it and make sure it gets ALL around…anyone besides me see the photo’s of those EMPTY busses in that parking lot in New Orleans??? Why were they empty and not on hwy 10 outta New Orleans BEFORE Katrina hit with ALL the disabled, sick and children on board??? Surley there were more public transports that could’ve been put to better use than leaving them to be flooded…so that’s BUSH’s fault or does that come under the TOWN ELECTED OFFICIALS of New Orleans?????? hmmmm let me think
I’m NOT a Republican or Democrat but i gotta tell ya, the MAN is trying to do a good job on this one and all I see and hear is whine and the hand-out…whatever happened to “lets see what WE can do”…cuz the “Lord helps those who help themselves”…and we as Americans are used to doing it OURSELVES!!! So STOP with the whine and get busy…there’s alot of work to do!!!!
September 6th, 2005 at 12:48 pmBH
This is one super duper site
March 1st, 2007 at 8:02 pm