ThinkFast: May 22, 2006
ThinkFast: May 22, 2006
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales yesterday suggested that journalists can be prosecuted for publishing classified information. “There are some statutes on the book which, if you read the language carefully, would seem to indicate that that is a possibility,” Gonzales said.
The former top procurement officer in the White House Office of Management and Budget, David Safavian, goes on trial this week to face charges, evidenced by a string of e-mails, that “he concealed [Jack] Abramoff’s interest in government business when seeking permission to accept airfare for a Scotland golf trip from the lobbyist in 2002. Safavian is also accused of obstructing inquiries into the matter.â€
“There is no official Category 6 for hurricanes, but scientists say they’re pondering whether there should be as evidence mounts that hurricanes around the world have sharply worsened over the past 30 years — and all but a handful of hurricane experts now agree this worsening bears the fingerprints of man-made global warming.â€
A Virginia businesswoman whom Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) allegedly tried to scam was an FBI informant. Under investigation for bribery, Jefferson was videotaped accepting $100,000 in $100 bills from the informant whose conversations with the lawmaker were also recorded.
People who hire undocumented workers are “21st century slave masters…just as immoral as the 19th century slave masters we had to fight a civil war to get rid of,” said House immigration point-person Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) yesterday. Conservative bloggers blasted the analogy as “dangerous,” “insane moral equivalence,” and “dumb.”
U.S. warplanes attacked an Afghan village, killing an estimated 50 Taliban fighters. Villagers claim another “50 civilians had been killed and dozens more wounded in the attack.”
1 in 136: The proportion of U.S. residents serving time in prison, according to a Bureau of Justice Statistics report. The report “found that 62 percent of people in jails have not been convicted, meaning many of them are awaiting trial.â€
A new report from University of California, Berkeley professor Raymond Seed found that many of the “major breaches in the New Orleans levee system during Hurricane Katrina were caused by flaws in design, construction and maintenance – and parts of the system could still be dangerous even after the current round of repairs by the Army Corps of Engineers.â€
The Bush administration is “shunning pressure from allies for direct dialogue with Iran [and] shifting toward a more confrontational stance and intensifying efforts to undercut the country’s ruling clerics.” Under pressure from the United States, “four of the biggest European banks have started curbing their activities in Iran.”
And finally: White House Press Secretary Tony Snow “told reporters that he spent [a flight last week] in the staff cabin watching Gen. Michael V. Hayden’s confirmation hearings to be the new C.I.A. director – on CNN.†“There is no official channel at the White House,” the former Fox news anchor claimed. Someone should tell Cheney.
What did we miss? Let us know in the comments section.
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Alberto Gonzales, the former real estate attorney, should spend some time studying the First Amendment. Here is what the Supreme Court said about the publishing of so-called state secrets in the Pentagon Papers case: “In the First Amendment, the Government’s power to censor the press was abolished so that the press would remain forever free to censure the government. Far from deserving condemnation for their courageous reporting, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and other newspapers should be commended for serving the purpose that the Founding Fathers saw so clearly.”
May 22nd, 2006 at 9:14 am“A Virginia businesswoman who Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) allegedly tried to scam was an FBI informant.”
Man, TP missed the best part in that story:
stashing $90,000 from the scheme in his home freezer in Washington.
Everybody knows you shouldn’t stash it in your freezer, it’s the first place they check, man, if he was GOP at least he would have had a basic seminar or two on the proper ways to hide illicit funding, once again, the democrats showing gross incompetance when it comes to any area of governance.
May 22nd, 2006 at 9:17 amMan, TP missed the best part in that story:
stashing $90,000 from the scheme in his home freezer in Washington.
Comment by squegeeboo
I think the best part of the story is the crook serves the New Orleans district. These are the same people who say, “Give us Billions to rebuild our ghetto, you can trust us.”
May 22nd, 2006 at 9:20 amThat’s funny. Dr. Gray, perhaps the most respected hurricane scientist, is only among “a handful of scientists” that believe man-made global warming is causing larger hurricanes. Never mind that we’ve only had satellites since the 1960s, and reliable satellite data since the 1970s. Never mind the 30 year cycle hurricanes have.
How many hurricane experts can ABC or Think Progress name who believe this? Oh, meteorologists don’t count, we’re talking about hurricane experts. Come on, dazzle me.
May 22nd, 2006 at 9:30 am#3, “I think the best part of the story is the crook serves the New Orleans district. These are the same people who say, “Give us Billions to rebuild our ghetto, you can trust us.â€
Comment by I-RIGHT-I — May 22, 2006 @ 9:20 am”
You mean those icky black people? Leaving aside your tasteless “ghetto” remark. . .
Jefferson’s illegal action have nothing to do with Katrina-related corruption. That’s strictly a Republican story.
Watch as the one Democrat’s investigation becomes proof to the simple-minded that “everybody does it.”
A friend I hadn’t seen for a while tried to tell me that Dems and Republicans were equally corrupt. It only took me a few questions to find out he doesn’t read the newspaper, doesn’t watch news on TV, had never heard of the K Street Project, etc., etc. I set him straight.
May 22nd, 2006 at 9:31 amOh, and it’s good to see that Think Progress recognizes that the levees in New Orleans failed due to design flaws, and not because the hurricane was too strong. It puts the lie to the meme that everyone expected the levees to fail.
May 22nd, 2006 at 9:34 amWIth Jefferson you have ONE DEM representative who is going to go down. With the Republicans it is a wide spread pattern and obviously well organized as so many are playing the same game with the same people. Of course on Faux News which will get the most play?
IRI & republican thought patterns – No money for blacks in NO. They should learn to do it themselves and we can avoid the corruption. With Iraqi’s, send them billions, those poor people need our help, ignore the corruption involved with that spending.
May 22nd, 2006 at 9:36 amRead an analysis that compares and contrasts today’s immigration situation with the United States prior experience with slavery….here:
http://www.thoughttheater.com
May 22nd, 2006 at 9:37 amHILLARY PRAISES LIEBERMAN
Monday 22nd of May 2006
By Jay Randal
During the attempted impeachment of Pres. Clinton, Sen. Joe Lieberman insinuated that Bill’s affair with Monica was morally sleazy and perverted, but Joseph has always been a whore for corporations and wars!
Joe had NO right to jabber about morality since he has NONE, and his support for the Iraq occupation fiasco is plain putrid, as well as his defense of the vile Bush Regime, so Sen. Clinton helping him is strange!
Hillary’s support for Lieberman is simply disgusting, and proves that she is a “Trojan Horse” Republican, like old phony joe, which also means that she and her hubby Bill have sold-out the nation to the Bush cabal!
Pres. Clinton never deserved to be impeached for lies about SEX with Monica, but in hindsight he probably should have been impeached for his lies about NAFTA and failure to secure the Mexican border for 8 years!
Most Democrats are becoming pissed-off at Senators, so Hillary can cancel her quest for president in 2008!
( Jay Randal, political activist and writer in Stone Mountain, Georgia.)
May 22nd, 2006 at 9:37 amThat’s why you let K-Street handle the money.
May 22nd, 2006 at 9:39 amAttorney General Alberto Gonzales yesterday suggested that journalists can be prosecuted for publishing classified information. “There are some statutes on the book which, if you read the language carefully, would seem to indicate that that is a possibility,†Gonzales said.
Don’t forget the part about ignoring the Constitution and that whole ‘Freedom of the press’ thing. You need to do that, too. Just for a little refresher course, Al, here’s the first amendment:
May 22nd, 2006 at 9:42 am
Does anyone really think it’s ok for journalists to publish classified information?
May 22nd, 2006 at 9:43 amI-R-I, good to see you, since you’re such a strong Clinton supporter. You said before, Bush’s wiretapping must be legal because “Bush is still in office and there is no action taken against him.†You therefore must fully believe Clinton acted legally throughout his presidency (the greatest of our generation) because he also remained in office and was acquitted during the Senate impeachment trials.
May 22nd, 2006 at 9:44 amThe Pentagon Papers case allowed the newspapers to publish their stories by refusing to grant an injunction, a prior restraint on freedom of the press. However the opinion did leave the door open for criminal prosecutions after the publication.
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/ scripts/ getcase.pl?court=US&vol=403&invol=713
MR. JUSTICE STEWART, with whom MR. JUSTICE WHITE joins, concurring.
With One-Party Rule, and especially if the One-Party gains a clear majority on the Supreme Court, there are no limits to the Government’s Power.
May 22nd, 2006 at 9:46 amBrian Ross says his number of sources has increased since he went public that FBI was spying on him. He says it’s the same for other reporters he knows.
May 22nd, 2006 at 9:46 amBush seems to think it is okay for journalists to publish classified information, as long as that information benefits his agenda. Why else would he declassify information regarding Iraq’s supposed weapon capabilities to discredit Joe Wilson?
May 22nd, 2006 at 9:47 am“if you read the language carefully, would seem to indicate that that is a possibility”
The Attorney General should not be a weasel.
The Attorney General should lead cops into battle against criminals.
May 22nd, 2006 at 9:48 amElectricBassPlayer,
The only reason more Republicans are caught up in corruption is, tada, because they have power. The more power you have, the more likely someone will approach you with money to corrupt you into doing their bidding. In other words, it is quite logical that more Republicans fall into corruption simply because they are the majority party and have been since what, 1994? Not only that, they’ve had the presidency for almost 6 years now.
I’m not sure what you’re talking about in regards to Katrina, but Louisiana and New Orleans is stocked with Democrats in power. If they weren’t the ones who screwed up, who did? Oh right, Bush, of course. It’s Bush’s fault that they didn’t carry out their own evacuation plans. It’s Bush’s fault that Louisiana misused their funding. It’s Bush’s fault that the Army Corps of Engineers built the levees poorly before he was even president. Yup, I see the logic.
May 22nd, 2006 at 9:48 amTaliban fighters in Afghanistan?? Where did they come from? I thought BushCo said the Taliban had been defeated? So much for that, huh?
May 22nd, 2006 at 9:54 am#13
May 22nd, 2006 at 9:54 amSo, if a president or vice-president did something illegal they could classify all of ht eevidence as secret and if a reporter got their hands on it and reported it in a newspaper then the reporter would be arrested and thrown in jail?
Does anyone really think it’s ok for journalists to publish classified information?
Comment by Antagonist — May 22, 2006 @ 9:43 am
Apparently Bush, Cheney, and Scooter do. Oh wait, no. Bush declassified the Valerie Plame stuff right before they leaked it to the press. You know, because leaking classified information would be wrong. But if you declassify it IMMEDIATELY before telling the press in order to out a CIA agent who happens to be the wife of a guy who showed that your ‘evidence’ of Iraq getting nuclear material was completely made up, that’s okay, right?
Right, Antagonist? Then it’s okay. Careful, you might break your Hypocrisy Button if you keep pushing this point.
May 22nd, 2006 at 9:54 amDoes anyone really think it’s ok for journalists to publish classified information?
Comment by Antagonist — May 22, 2006 @ 9:43 am
It depends. Very, very few things are one-size-fits-all.
If it’s in the best interest of the American people, then maybe it should. If it’s not in the best interest of the people, then maybe it shouldn’t be. I’d like to think a professional could distinguish between ‘need to know’ and ‘need for national security’ in this case. Unfortunately our money first system seems to have compromised that.
But, I’m not ready to give up freedom of the press. After all, we have the most powerful military in the world. According to the words and deeds of the Right, we have nothing to fear at all.
May 22nd, 2006 at 9:56 am#13 – Does anyone really think it’s ok for journalists to publish classified information?
I would take the position illustrated by the Pentagon Papers case I linked above.
Suppose, for the sake of argument, the Government rounded up every poster here in a covert (classified) operation, held us in secret prisons and tortured us into implicating others who were subesquently rounded up and tortured in an Orwellian hunt to eliminate dissent. Reporters from several major media outlets are aware of the program yet do nothing: the information they received is classified.
If the Government becomes a totalitarian state and classifies all information about illegal programs, would you want journalists to keep those secrets from the public?
If so, you have just given Government control over the press: the Ministry of Truth is born.
May 22nd, 2006 at 9:57 amKrazny,
Bush seems to think it is okay for journalists to publish classified information, as long as that information benefits his agenda. Why else would he declassify information regarding Iraq’s supposed weapon capabilities to discredit Joe Wilson?
Read what you just wrote. Think a bit. See if any light bulbs switch on.
bobcat_gread,
Don’t forget the part about ignoring the Constitution and that whole ‘Freedom of the press’ thing.
Where does it say that journalists can break the law? Is that in the 1st Amendment?
May 22nd, 2006 at 9:57 amSo much for that, huh?
Comment by Cyra Brown — May 22, 2006 @ 9:54 am
To be fair I was trying to come up with one valid thing Bush has done during his time in office (since none of the conservatives seem to be able to), and I couldn’t either. He has bungled absolutely everything he’s touched. Reverse Midas Effect.
I just hope we now have the wisdom as a nation to elect a real leader who can get us out of this mess. Another one like Bush and we’re a country with a glorious past, but a dismal future. Sad what one Administration has done to destroy the 230 year old vision of our Founding Fathers.
May 22nd, 2006 at 9:59 am#23- ‘nothing to fear’, except everything they say, and every thing they do.
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:00 amCyra,
Taliban fighters in Afghanistan?? Where did they come from? I thought BushCo said the Taliban had been defeated? So much for that, huh?
So there’s no difference between ruling a country and being pushed off into the desert and mountains to snipe at American soldiers? Oh, I see. I suppose we haven’t really defeated the Nazis either, since you know, there’s still Nazis around. Guess that means we lost WWII after all. LOL.
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:01 amWe just killed at least 16 civilians in order to get 60 Taliban in Afghanistan. This is why we are losing hearts and minds in the War on Terror. Its time to change strategy.
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:03 amBefore everyone forgets, there is such a thing as whistle-blower protection, is there not? Unfortunately Wilson could not qualify for anything of the sort, since he lied like a dog.
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:04 am#19
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:05 amIn addition to the reasons you listed, for some reason the Republicans are just sitting back and taking all the shit the Dems are dishing out —while the Democrats have been in a full court press to sell their culture of corruption slogan. I would love to see all the dirt that would surface if the Republicans would start investigating the Democrats with the same intensity.
Mash #29,
Alright, let me know when you come up with magical abilities to give our military so that they can avoid all collateral damage. You’d win the Nobel Peace Prize. Come on, spill it.
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:06 amIt puts the lie to the meme that everyone expected the levees to fail.
Comment by Seixon — May 22, 2006 @ 9:34 am
“Washington knew exactly what needed to be done to protect the citizens of New Orleans from disasters like Katrina. Yet federal funding for Louisiana flood control projects was diverted to pay for the war in Iraq.”
New Orleans had long known it was highly vulnerable to flooding and a direct hit from a hurricane. In fact, the federal government has been working with state and local officials in the region since the late 1960s on major hurricane and flood relief efforts.
Yet after 2003, the flow of federal dollars toward SELA dropped to a trickle. The Corps never tried to hide the fact that the spending pressures of the war in Iraq, as well as homeland security — coming at the same time as federal tax cuts — was the reason for the strain. At least nine articles in the Times-Picayune from 2004 and 2005 specifically cite the cost of Iraq as a reason for the lack of hurricane- and flood-control dollars.
http://www.alternet.org/story/24871
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:06 amDoes anyone really think it’s ok for journalists to publish classified information?
Comment by Antagonist — May 22, 2006 @ 9:43 am
When it is a crime being perpetrated by our government (warrantless wiretapping, illegal collection of domestic phone records, secret illegal prisons…) and hidden from the public under the guise of national security then YES… it is not only ok but it is preferred that this “classified information” be published
When that information reveals the identity of an undercover intelligence agent and hampers our ability to surveil Iran’s nuclear ambitions then NO… it is not ok for this classified info to be revealed.
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:07 am‘nothing to fear’, except everything they say, and every thing they do.
Comment by Cyra Brown — May 22, 2006 @ 10:00 am
No kidding…
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:08 amHas any one ever explained why Sec. Chertoff didn’t declare Katrina a catastrophy?Also here is a great link for a parallel case regarding classified info sharing . http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/30/AR2006033001777.html
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:09 amEvery politician failed the citizens of New Orleans during and after Katrina! Mayor Nagin had left several hundred school buses in a parking lot in NO, instead of using them to remove a few thousand poor people who were unable to evacuate > the buses were destroyed in the floods! Putting people in the Superdome was stupid because the director of the building told the city that the Dome roof could fail in high winds and that it was not equiped to be a storm shelter! Sen. Mary Landrieu basically did nothing to help the poor of New Orleans and even praised FEMA for doing nothing, and Bush too! Gov. Blanco knew the levees were crap, but none the less never told the citizens of NO that they were in danger from any hurricane! Federal government and Army Corp of Engineers knew the levees would fail, but again nobody told home owners in NO to have flood insurance! FEMA had no excuse to not drop water and food by helicopters or planes to the drowning suffering people of NO, and Bush had NO excuse to go eat cake with Sen. McCain while people were drowning and starving in NO! I wish all those politicians would resign, but they have no shame!
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:09 amMany of the border states have lost skilled workers due to the hiring of illegal immigrants to replace them. Builders hire three for the price of one they figure. Workmanship has become extremely shoddy on single family homes, condos, apartment complexes and small buisness facilities and strip malls.
Immigrant workers are no more necessary as the SOVIET STYLE SUBSIDISED sugar, rice, wheat, vegatable industries. Most other grains such as corn and soybeeans are pointless as well. Canada, Australia and all of Latin America can provide more than enough of these products at a far lower price. Food processors are a major contributor to this problem as well. Neither are competative in the world economy. Sugar and rice should not even be grown here considering the world price for these commodities. Wheat and the vegatable industries are a close second.
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:10 am#19, when the previous president was in office he was held accountable for everything. For instance his predecessor, George Herbert Walker Bush sent us troops into Somalia shortly after he lost his re-election bid. Once Clinton hit office he had to deal with that situation his military advisor was a guy named Colin Powell. Eventually the Bush Somalia adventure turned bad because Clinton followed the UN suggestion and changed the mission from humanitarian to catch the bad guys. His military advisor, Colin Powell, did a poor job of it, yet Clinton took the fall, and continues to take the fall for that one, not his military advisor, Colin Powell. And rightly so as the guy in charge is ultimately responsible.
With the current administration they are not being held accountable for the levees breaking or for New Orleans not carrying out their disaster plans. There is plenty of blame to go around. They are being criticized for their non-response to the situation. Their seeming lack of concern and being totally out of the loop as the events unfolded. Additionally they are being criticized for staging some very expensive photo ops and little else. No action has occurred other than that nice lighting of St Louis Cathedral. The Levee criticism is not with how they were built, but with how their condition was ignored for years, Bush and Clinton, which led to their demise. The levee criticism also involves a president saying no body could have anticipated, even after knowing that he had been told that very scenario is a very real possibility. They are being criticized for their total and absolute ineptness in handling nearly every domestic situation. And of course the only people from the administration who ever bear and burden for their inept actions are the lower underlings, the dear leader never gets heat from his minions for his ineptness. Sad isn’t it? By that I mean it is sad how the party wanting to restore honor, integrity and accountability to the office of the president, has done none of that and actually has moved in the opposite direction in each of those area’s.
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:11 amJay
“but again nobody told home owners in NO to have flood insurance!”
They live in a city surrounded by levee’s, if their not smart enough to get flood insurance on their own, thats just stupidity, not lack of information.
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:11 amI commend TP for posting the corrupt Democrat story. I hope it will be the beginning of a something new. All corruption, regardless of which side of the aisle, should be exposed. The guilty should be subject to the same justice that is placed on our citizens.
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:13 am# 34 – One type of leak reports crimes the other commits crimes… see the difference Assgrabonist?
Unfortunately, your boy in the White House prefers the latter.
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:15 amI agree that we will see the Jefferson story of corruption and bribery on every newscast, in every headline, justifying the Republican claim that they “all” do it.
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:15 amAs the Republicans have control of all the government, all the contracts, all the legislation and recent indictments have shown that corruption is rampant in their ranks, look for them to point at a Democrat and say, we’re not so bad, he does it too!”
#25
Let me get this straight.
It’s OKAY for the Bush administration to declassify information and leak it to the press for political reasons?
I’m sorry, but I don’t think it’s a good thing that the group that is the subject of the reporting is also the group that gets to make up the rules about what can’t be printed.
Example:
NYT Reporter: “We’re investigating the fact that Bush hates the color green. We have a source who says there is a tape of Bush stating that he does indeed hate the color green. We’d like to hear that tape.”
Bush administration: “Sorry. It’s classified.”
NYT Reporter: “Since when?”
Bush administration: “Since about five seconds ago.”
NYT Reporter: “You can’t be serious.”
Bush administration: “Oh, but we are. What are you going to do about it? If you’d like, we can declassify this bit of info for you: John Kerry is a robot. Run with that.”
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:15 am#23 remember this is an adminsitration which views eveything in black and white, so there are no grey area’s that normal people see, except for when they are caught with corruption, then everything suddenly becomes grey.
#31 Republicans have controlled since 1994, don’t you think they have looked under every rock. Imagine how much shit would be ion public display if the dems held power today? Right now all this corruption, the worst organized corruption in my life time, is being investigated, and pulled to the surface in a republican controlled government. So you know this is only the worst of the worst, and that they are probably all selling stamps & such for extra cash. If it were me in charge at some point I would almost have to invoke RICO and investiagte the whole party top to bottem in the same manner that they investigate organized crime families.
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:17 amI heard a news story where Ray Nagin compared himself to George Bush. He was mumbling something about how he and George were both being ‘villified.’
Now George Bush is a poor, defenseless victim too.
Ray Nagin must be getting his drugs from Rush.
Finger in the wind Ray Nagin would not have been so kind to poor George had he lost the mayoral election. These politicians of any stripe never seem to stop their slobbering over anybody who is willing to give them a buck or two.
Mr. Nagin wasn’t at all kind to FEMA directors after Katrina had done a number on New Orleans. Now that the money has arrived, it’s all roses. It’s a cakewalk for Nawlins.
Enough butt kissin’ going around to make a grown man cry or puke. I guess they’ve all had enough of the back stabbin’.
Don’t get me wrong. New Orleans needs help.
It’s the politicians who have gone beyond the pale.
It requires a major league powerbarf.
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:19 am#41:
I agree completely Ben. No favorites from me. If you are a corrupt politician, get the hell out of office. We need people who are in it for their constituents, not themselves, lobbyists, or corporate interests.
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:19 am#19
The only reason more Republicans are caught up in corruption is, tada, because they have power.
Oh that is laughable. Theonly reason????
How about an utter lack of morals? How about a lack of concern for your constituents?
The people who are caught up in corruption, Democrat or Republican, don’t get that way because they are powerful. They end up that way because they are weak. They end up that way because they are selfish little bastards. They get that way because they are dishonest. They get that way because in the end, they really just don’t give a damn. But they’ll be first in line to preach honesty and integrity.
Like every one of us, they had a choice.
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:22 amPost 40 you are party right about those who lived in New Orleans all their lives to have gotten flood insurance, but those who purchased homes more recently in NO were not required or told to get flood insurance! When I purchased a house in Florida > my mortgage company forced me to get flood insurance! The government of Louisiana should have made it mandatory for everyone in NO to have flood insurance, including renters! Everyone who has a house below sea level, like most of NO, should realize they could be in danger at any time! The old French Quarter is actually about 15 feet above sea level, so the French were smart anyways > lol.
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:24 amWhistleblowers alerting journalists of illegal or unethical actions by the government shall be hunted down and punished. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales suggested that journalists can be prosecuted for publishing classified information. The Bush administration has operated a determined campaign to eliminate all dissenters, indeed, all who oppose them. Abuse of powers by this administration have been justified and explained as being in the guise of national security. As they trample upon the rights of citizens, and as they trample on the system of checks and balances in government guaranteed in the Constitution, it causes me to question what additional nefarious activities are they conducting under the umbrella of “national security.”
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:28 amNote: the Ninth Ward in New Orleans was once a swamp and is about 20 feet below sea level! Who allowed for that area to be developed as a residential neighborhood? I bet some white Cajun guys decided that black people could be conned to buy swamp land and they did so!
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:33 amJay
“The government of Louisiana should have made it mandatory for everyone in NO to have flood insurance, including renters!”
Why? Why is it the gov’ts job to make sure you don’t do stupid things? I think everyone in NO should have had flood insurance, but I really can’t see it being the gov’ts job to make sure you do.
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:33 amSo, I went to look at cnn.com and here’s the main headline of the main story:
Barbaro eating, flirting with mares
Yup. That’s the most important thing right now. A boy horse flirting with girl horses. Stop the presses.
Other headlines that aren’t getting the same important coverage as horses courting one another:
80 suspected Taliban killed, coalition says
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:34 amHamas gunmen, Palestinian police trade gunfire
Affidavit: $90,000 found in congressman’s freezer
Albright fears Bush’s faith in God
Gonzales: U.S. could track reporters’ phone calls
Tests indicate miners died from carbon monoxide
What do you think it will take to stop the politicians from taking bribes?
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:36 amI’m starting to lean toward a broader standard to describe bribery and a tougher punishment. A great deal tougher. I think a case could be made for describing both the briber and the bribed as traitors, with an attendent death penalty. Then I think we might see the politicians and the corporations that bribe them back where they belong, serving the public.
#25
Seixon:
While the White House points out that the president has the right to declassify information, White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters on July 18, 2003, that the documents had become declassified that day — 10 days after Bush, according to the court papers, approved their release to the news media.
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/04/10/whitehouse.leak/index.html
So it appears that Bush approved the release of classified information before he declassified it.
That’s OK…right?
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:39 ambobcat_grad
“Yup. That’s the most important thing right now. A boy horse flirting with girl horses. Stop the presses.”
The real question is why don’t you care about horses?
I saw anouther headline on the horse earlier today, and was also irritated that i gets top billing somehow.
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:42 amThe RNC has moved into the WH and Bush has personally wrested control of that organization from Ken Mehlman and given it to himself.
He thinks Mehlman is not doing is job because when Mehlman starts flapping his lips, thousands of pukes get a hard on.
The RNC is gathering up corporate donations like you have never seen before, and will have to spend none of the money. Why? Because you, the taxpayer, are the ones who will be paying for the all out puke blitz between now and November.
Not only is Bushco taxing teenagers, he is raping the taxpayers, and guess what? The pukes love it.
Bush is spinning, I guess for the fourth or fifth time, that NOW Iraq has a government, and LOOK OUT, HERE THEY COME!! They will control the insurgency, which Bush insists is all Al Qaeda. What a moron the man is, a dunce in a business suit surrounded by like idiots. Condi Rice comes to mind, a shriveled up old whore. Another that comes to mind is the vacuum cleaner salesman, whats his name, oh yeah, Gonzalez.
There has never been, at one time, more idiots attempting to manage a country. The Bush era will go down in history as HOW NOT TO RUN A COUNTRY.
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:42 amBen, if you think TP doesn’t publish the reports of Dem malfeasance, you haven’t been here very long. If what you want is to monitor the lack of coverage, try Faux News. You’ll get more action there.
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:45 am#53 – Damn, I hope Barboro is a boy horse. What’s that called? I’m home with a migraine today. If I’m not puking or admiring the pretty pretty lights dancing in front of my eyes, I think I’ll be checking the headlines on various news sites, just to check their priorites. Stallion — that’s it. I’ll post them here.
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:48 amPost 52 the State of Florida requires that homeowners have flood insurance, or you must own your home outright > no mortage! Louisiana is a notoriously corrupt State, so the government is oblivious to the needs of its citizens!
President Bush was informed in advance by weather experts that Katrina would cause massive damage wherever it hit and that it could cause the levees to fail around New Orleans! He chose to not care and everything he failed to do proved it! Dubya still does not care because his plan for the next hurricane is to send in Blackwater mercenary thugs to shoot poor people if the complain about anything!
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:49 amJay
“Louisiana is a notoriously corrupt State, so the government is oblivious to the needs of its citizens!”
I’d say the citizens were oblivious to their own needs.
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:58 am#26
I just hope we now have the wisdom as a nation to elect a real leader who can get us out of this mess. Another one like Bush and we’re a country with a glorious past, but a dismal future. Sad what one Administration has done to destroy the 230 year old vision of our Founding Fathers.
Comment by unbelievable — May 22, 2006 @ 9:59 am
I believe we do have the wisdom to elect a real leader, unfortunately I don’t think there are any real leaders to choose from. You can even see this in corporate America—They’re all self-serving and weak. I disagree with your comment that one Administration has destroyed the 230 year old vision…You’re forgeting about the Clinton Administration. The face of our nation changed dramatically during his presidency, and America went through a cultural revolution during that time. I’m sure every generation can point to a particular Administration and say that’s when America went downhill. Let’s say you get your wish in ‘08. America as a whole will be the same, except the right will be the unhappy ones launching the attacks, the left will be trying to defend and will struggle to remain loyal to the politicians they voted for, and partisan politics will continue as usual. America is still the best place to live in the world, but I don’t think it will be around forever.
May 22nd, 2006 at 11:03 amPost 61 go to New Orleans > the “Big Easy” has always been a city of vice and corruption, just like Louisiana itself! The function of government is to protect its citizenry, NOT to be corrupt!
May 22nd, 2006 at 11:05 amthe immigration-related language debate all comes down to one thing: laziness…
http://blogdebogs.blogspot.com/2006/05/be-careful-out-there-among-english_22.html
May 22nd, 2006 at 11:10 amI’ve heard of BYOI (bring your own infrastructure), but now bring your own army? Oh yes, because corporations are so honest, trustworthy, accountable, and transparent, that they won’t pollute or kill innocent local citizens… Ay Crumba
Is Ted Koppel for real!
May 22nd, 2006 at 11:13 am
This is just silly
Madonna crucifies herself in L.A. tour opener
Stupid TP won’t let me link, but it’s at reuters
“Later on, she donned a crown of thorns and suspended herself from a giant mirrored cross to deliver the ballad “Live to Tell.” Video screens showed images of third-world poverty and reeled off grim statistics.
During one of her half-dozen costume changes, another video montage juxtaposed images of Bush, members of his administration and British Prime Minister Tony Blair with footage of Adolf Hitler, Osama bin Laden, and Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe.”
May 22nd, 2006 at 11:18 amEnron is far from the only bad apple on Wall St.
May 22nd, 2006 at 11:22 amBanks and publicly traded corporations have been identified by the Senate Intelligence Committee as money laundering several hundreds of billions to over a trillion dollars a year. In 1999, Sen. Levin told many Wall St. corporations to “cool it”. So it should be no surprise that Afghanistan is now by far the greatest producer of opium products. The article “Afghanistan: Drug Addiction Lucrative for Neolib Banksters, CIA” give a good description of what has been going on lately. It’s nothing new, but shows how the real war on drugs is run.
Ted Koppel’s article would not be possible if it wasn’t for Dick Cheney talking Bush I into privatizing parts of the military. That Dick is a real ####!
May 22nd, 2006 at 11:24 am#66
Eek.
What happened to Madonna? She used to be a beacon of morality, virute, and old-fashioned values.
May 22nd, 2006 at 11:31 amMississippi and North Dakota are more corrupt than Louisiana.
http://www.corporatecrimereporter.com/corruptreport.pdf
May 22nd, 2006 at 11:35 ambobcat_grad
Well said.
May 22nd, 2006 at 11:38 amunbelievable,
Alternet? LOL. Get out of the house more often, please. The politicians in Louisiana got money from the feds, but didn’t use it for what they were supposed to. Why would the feds continue giving them money when they were just misspending it all? You also fail to recognize that the levees were built quite a long time ago, which has nothing to do with Bush at all. Louisiana never fixed the levees under Clinton either, while they were getting money to do so. You just can’t live with the fact that all those people died because someone other than Bush screwed up.
For everyone else, do you really want to keep towing the line that because Bush, the president, had his advisors disclose classified information (which by his order was declassified), then what they did was wrong because you claim it was for “political reasons”?
Well, well, well. Wilson’s buddies in the VIPS group were doing the same thing – in February 2003. Meet me in another glass house, this one seems to be busted.
May 22nd, 2006 at 11:42 amBush won 40% of Latinos in 2004 — compared with the 21% GOP presidential nominee Bob Dole won in 1996, after the passage of Proposition 187.
During the 2000 election, Bush previewed a campaign video from ad-maker Lionel Sosa that used emotion-laden themes to woo Latinos.
As he watched, Sosa recalled, Bush’s face lighted up. “How much do you need for this?” Bush asked as the two men sat with Rove in the governor’s mansion in Texas, Sosa said.
Sosa replied that it would take $3 million. According to the ad-maker, Bush then turned to Rove, saying: “Give him five.”
Four years later, Sosa produced a variation of that video for the 2004 campaign that was mailed to Latino voters across the country.
The video includes images that would probably rile those who today are calling for the most restrictive immigration laws. At one point, Bush is shown waving a Mexican flag. The footage was shot, Sosa said, during a Mexican Independence Day parade in San Antonio in 1998, when Bush was running for reelection as governor.
The five-minute video, narrated by Bush, opens with an image of him fishing on his property near Crawford, Texas, as he essentially described millions of Americans who populate his home state as the true foreigners in someone else’s native land.
“About 15 years before the Civil War, much of the American West was northern Mexico,” Bush says in the video. “The people who lived there weren’t called Latinos or Hispanics. They were Mexican citizens, until all that land became part of the United States.
“After that, many of them were treated as foreigners in their own land,” Bush adds.
He says the “Latino spirit” was fueled by “strong conservative values” of family, a strong work ethic, faith in God, patriotism and personal responsibility. “These values are my values,” Bush says. “I live by them, and I lead by them.”
Thanks for voting for me: now tell your countrymen to get the hell out.
For more hypocrisy and humor, read the rest of the article.
May 22nd, 2006 at 11:43 am#72: Hey, Sexion:
I don’t blame Bush for the levees breaking. That was an act of nature combined with an overall lack of concern for maintaining and strengthening the levees.
I do blame Bush for FEMA’s response, though. His reorganization of FEMA left it a bureaucratic mess incapable of being flexible to deal with an emergency like Hurricane Katrina. I also blame him for his shameless photo opp speech he gave a few weeks later where he promised help to rebuild and then doing nothing about it.
For everyone else, do you really want to keep towing the line that because Bush, the president, had his advisors disclose classified information (which by his order was declassified), then what they did was wrong because you claim it was for “political reasons�
Yes. Put the shoe on the other foot. If this was switched around and a Democratic president had pulled this stunt, you and other conservatives wouldn’t be able to shut up about it, either.
Honestly, what does Bush need to do to finally lose support among the other 29% of this country?
May 22nd, 2006 at 11:52 amBobcat, my husband asked me that same question – the 29% the other night. If you remember this is where Nixon was when he resigned. There will always be individuals that refuse to believe they were wrong by trusting him. There is a woman my husband works with that is so conservative she believe we won the Vietnam war.
May 22nd, 2006 at 11:59 amSqueege,
Please save the lame “pop-culture” references for your E!-online blog.
As to your question “why” regarding mandatory flood insurance:
It’s true that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. It costs A HELLUVA lot more (lawsuits, FEMA, bail-out $$) of YOUR tax dollars to rebuild a devasted city which was woefully underinsured. So many hurricanes nearly bankrupting the insurance industry(and state government) in Florida obviosly taught us something. See, your ‘evil’ government actually can be fiscally aware!
I doubt you’ve ever been to The Big Easy since you seem to have no empathy for the incredible variety people who were the defining culture that will be forever lost
May 22nd, 2006 at 12:00 pmPeople who hire undocumented workers are “21st century slave masters…just as immoral as the 19th century slave masters we had to fight a civil war to get rid of,†said House immigration point-person Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) yesterday. Conservative bloggers blasted the analogy as “dangerous,†“insane moral equivalence,†and “dumb.â€
Apparently Con bloggers don’t want the undocumented workers here, but hell, if they’re here they sure want to be able to hire them without feeling bad about themselves. “Dangerous,” “insane moral equivalence,” and “dumb?” Kind of over the top language. Just sayin’
May 22nd, 2006 at 12:12 pm“There is no official channel at the White House,†the former Fox news anchor claimed.
Coming from Snowflake, this means absolutely nothing.
May 22nd, 2006 at 12:15 pmIt just makes me giggle.
Way back early shortly after the Bush junta took power he gave an interview. One of the questions asked was which presidents before you did he admire and why. Bush said Harry Truman because he believed in the Buck Stops Here principle. Bush said that Harry was not afraid to take responsibility for the actions of his government good or bad and that he was the ultimate decision maker and Bush admired that sense of responsibility and that he hoped to govern under that principle.
Prior to Bush taking office the president was responsible for his actions, or at least in the 8 years prior. The press held Clinton accountable for every thing from Waco, to Somalia to who ordered single ply tissue for the bathrooms. Some justified, some not. However the president as leader is, regardless of what any un American republican puke says, responsible for what happens during his administration. Any leader is, that is why they call them leaders. In WWII when Eisenhower would relive leaders in the field, and he did quite a bit, he did not fire the troops for not taking the objective, he fired the guys responsible for organizing and formatting the plans, they were responsible, not the nuts and bolts guys. Heck Eisenhower was prepared to resign if D-Day failed because it was his responsibility. Had Bush been leader back then he would have blamed the grunts. The man has no sense of personal accountability and he never has in his life. To try and argue that he is not responsible for the actions of his administration is absolutely going against the whole republican notion of personal responsibility and the previous 8 years where any fart in the white house was Clinton’s responsibility.
As to the disclosing information for political purposes, that I believe is already in the public record. Cheany was working to discredit Wilson and his findings, because Wilson’s reality did not match up with Cheany’s fiction, so that reality had to be challenged and debunked. If that is not unleashing classified information for political purposes, I don’t know what is.
May 22nd, 2006 at 12:21 pmI remembered who Snowflake reminds me of: Max Headroom.
May 22nd, 2006 at 12:22 pm#37 – one side note – although the buses weren’t sent out by the mayor, a few of them were commandeered by a youth from the “ghetto” (sorry, I can’t remember his name, I will try to find the story) who with a few friends, made several trips picking people up and getting them out of town, until the water got too high. Same youth moved here to my town after the ‘cane, and went back to school and got on the basketball team and is doing great. A little instance of where breaking the law led to self-determination and working toward the good of the community. Sort of apropo to a few things on the open threead.
May 22nd, 2006 at 12:24 pm#79 – Amen, Mark. No one in this administration is capable of personal responsibility, but GWB leads the pack. He makes Nixon look good.
Reading the comments GWB made about Truman makes it absolutely clear he was following a script, because if he actually believed in those things, he wouldn’t have been able to do the things he’s done. He probably thought Harry Truman shot a deer.
May 22nd, 2006 at 12:28 pmDieNowForPeace
“As to your question “why†regarding mandatory flood insurance:
It’s true that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. It costs A HELLUVA lot more (lawsuits, FEMA, bail-out $$) of YOUR tax dollars to rebuild a devasted city which was woefully underinsured. So many hurricanes nearly bankrupting the insurance industry(and state government) in Florida obviosly taught us something. See, your ‘evil’ government actually can be fiscally aware! “
Simple solution, if people don’t have flood insurance, they don’t get reimbursed by the gov’t, or anyone else, for water damage. That way people who have insurance get their pay out, and people who don’t learn and teach a valuable lesson.
“I doubt you’ve ever been to The Big Easy since you seem to have no empathy for the incredible variety people who were the defining culture that will be forever lost”
I’ve been to the Big Easy, but lazy/stupid people will never get my empathy.
May 22nd, 2006 at 12:30 pmOh and how exactly did the culture change in the 1990’s under CLinton? I mean what did he do to cvhange it? What I saw during the 1990’s was an increasingly shrill, angry right wing media pulling out all stops to get their way. What I saw was a congress working less and less together for the betterment of America and more and more for the adbvancement of one political ideology. I saw a government obsessed with getting a president out of office that they dd everything and anything in their powers to remove him and still all they got out of it was a lie about a blow job. Since then I’ve seen that governemnt work more and more to advance an Ideology that they think looks good on paper, but does nto work when applied in a real world situation. I see no difference in republican ideology and communist ideology. Sure the substance is diffferent, but republican ideology, like communist ideology, only works on paper, it does not and has not worked in practice. Now ttoday we have to toss the neocon think tank world view and the combination of republican ideology and necon ideology has been volitile to america.
Way back Clinton tried to have the paula Jones thing put off till after he left office, however the liberal activist courts said no the president is nto above the law and must answer to it and republicans were very happy. Now the president says yes, I do believe I am above the law and republicans nod their heads in agreement. That alone should tell you that they are not the people to be running our country. The constitution has no exceptions, except in republican interpretations.
May 22nd, 2006 at 12:33 pm#83. Insurance companies are not paying claims. Trent Lott of Mississippi is the most visible example.
May 22nd, 2006 at 12:37 pmSomeone should point out to Tony Snow that C-SPAN 3 was the only channel completely covering the Hayden confirmation hearing.
I had to switch between CNN, MSNBC, C-SPAN and Fox all day to cobble together my coverage. And, after the lunch break, it was almost impossible to find it on any of those channels.
I find it hard to believe that he watched only CNN and was able to view the hearing in its entirety. In fact, I know it’s not true.
May 22nd, 2006 at 12:47 pmbelieve we do have the wisdom to elect a real leader, unfortunately I don’t think there are any real leaders to choose from.
A side effect of Corporate America sponsoring the folks they want us to pick from, and well, all those hand puppets cater to their true masters – money and mo’ money. It’s why I’ve been considering the Independent route.
You can even see this in corporate America—They’re all self-serving and weak.
Pretty much what incest did to the British royals :).
It seems like the puny kids in grade school had a vendetta to live out. And revenge makes a terrible, terrible leader.
I disagree with your comment that one Administration has destroyed the 230 year old vision…
Minor nuance – but I didn’t say that they have destroyed it – that they are in teh process of helping to destroy it. There is a difference.
You’re forgeting about the Clinton Administration. The face of our nation changed dramatically during his presidency,
Again, I’m not fan of Clinton – but he had a pretty long list of ‘good’ accomplishments to go along with his list of ‘bad’. Georgie’s lists are one sided. I’ve yet to hear ayone come up wioth a valid positive thing his regime has accomplished in 5.5 years.
and America went through a cultural revolution during that time. I’m sure every generation can point to a particular Administration and say that’s when America went downhill.
Specifically what? The whole ‘Me Mentality’ started under Reagan. If anything, Clinton didn’t slow it down at all.
Let’s say you get your wish in ‘08. America as a whole will be the same, except the right will be the unhappy ones launching the attacks, the left will be trying to defend and will struggle to remain loyal to the politicians they voted for, and partisan politics will continue as usual.
Actually my wish is campaign reform and the elimination of Corporate Personhood. If we get that, the struggles might not be so ugly for a while. I have full confidence in politicians to get themselves in a new debacle in the future. I just thinking shaking things up for them on occasion gives them less time to sit around and hatch new plots…
America is still the best place to live in the world, but I don’t think it will be around forever.
Comment by Antagonist — May 22, 2006 @ 11:03 am
You’re entitled to feel that way. Just as Italians, Australians, Canadians, Swedes, Japanese, etc. people are free to think their countries are the best place to live. It’s just an opinion. I don’t think it’s worth the blood, sweat and tears that people shed over it.
So far, seems not much is forever. Certainly nothing human designed :).
May 22nd, 2006 at 12:50 pmAlberto Gonzales is a lying TRAITOR…
…he skirted the issue about not allowing the investigatory team into warrantless wiretapping to receive security clearances- which scuttled their investigation…
…and what’s more infuriating is how George Stephanopolous didn’t even TRY to challenge his (TRAITOR GONZO’s) rambling, bullsh*t non-answer…
America has NO INDEPENDENT CONGRESS, DOJ, INTEL, or JUDICIARY…
…Mr. and Mrs. America welcome to the NEW (WESTERN) IRON CURTAIN…
May 22nd, 2006 at 12:50 pmMeet me in another glass house, this one seems to be busted.
Comment by Seixon — May 22, 2006 @ 11:42 am
It was a valid resource Seixon. But, I guess I can’t expect you to click on the link and actually see the documentation, seeing as how little you use or value such things as references and facts.
May 22nd, 2006 at 12:52 pmWhy would the feds continue giving them money when they were just misspending it all?
Comment by Seixon #72
Sickson,
…see Iraq war and emergency supplementals…
May 22nd, 2006 at 12:54 pmHonestly, what does Bush need to do to finally lose support among the other 29% of this country?
Comment by bobcat_grad — May 22, 2006 @ 11:52 am
Switch parties?
Admit he’s gay?
Put a ‘Pro-Choice’ bumper sticker on air Force One?
Swear off religion?
All of the above at the same time? ;)
May 22nd, 2006 at 12:57 pmYou’re forgeting about the Clinton Administration. The face of our nation changed dramatically during his presidency, and America went through a cultural revolution during that time.
Comment by Antagonist #62
Antichrist,
You REALLY need to let Bill Clinton go…
…your gods Bushiva and L’il Dick have presided over these last 6 years…
…plenty enough time to undo ANY imaginable screw up Bill Clinton could’ve left them…
…YOUR problem is…
In his 8 years in the White House, Bill presided over unprecedented prosperity, and global good will- (until Monica)…
…NO he wasn’t PERFECT…
…but compared to these sh*theads YOU worship- in the TREASONOUS, corrupt criminal Bushite junta…
…he (Clinton) was/is revered…
May 22nd, 2006 at 1:05 pmI’ve been to the Big Easy, but lazy/stupid people will never get my empathy.
Comment by squegeeboo #83
queasybooger,
…still can’t forgive your parents…huh?
May 22nd, 2006 at 1:07 pm#95 – Sorry, big papa, I think that’s out of bounds.
May 22nd, 2006 at 1:14 pm#83 – Squeegy, please play nice. That was an awfully generalized statement.
May 22nd, 2006 at 1:16 pm#97
Yes ma’am, sorry ma’am, but I’m so good at broad sweeping generalities :(
May 22nd, 2006 at 1:23 pmtom oliphant speaking on franken: gonzales is referring to the Espionage act of 1917, “an abomination” he called it … makes it a crime to give or receive information “related to national defence” if not authorized … creates an official secrets act “by back door”… easily abused… very seldom used, obscure…
May 22nd, 2006 at 1:40 pmoliphant says that everyone should be very leary of this WW1 law and work to have it abolished…
i love to hear oliphant speak – he has a great way of clarifying the information… and when he laughs it’s amusing in itself…
Squeege,
May 22nd, 2006 at 1:42 pmI’d like to introduce you to the basic principal of our country:
“Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”
That’s why illegals can go to school here and receive publicly funded health care. Hopefully, this applies to the less-well-off who are definitely legal citizens.
If you’re so smart (cause a tragedy which leaves YOU penniless is SO unlikely to occur – “God can’t touch you, eh?”), why don’t you run for President?
Now, go do your “Material Girl” dance in front of your webcam.
Uncaring, unsympathetic MEAN people like you suck. Please, go enlist and off to Iraq you go!
Addition: Environmental Racism?
Did the manufacturer(s) of some of the FEMA trailers dump toxic trailers on the survivors of Katrina, and the Government bought in? Nothing like kicking people when they are down… (or should that be killing them). Icks!
The Sierra Club on Wednesday asked for a congressional hearing after it claimed that 30 out of 32 Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers it tested had levels of formaldehyde that were unsafe.
FEMA won’t test air in trailers, despite report of formaldehyde
Couple Discovers High Levels Of Formaldehyde In FEMA Trailer
May 22nd, 2006 at 1:51 pm#102 -Good news, huh Squeegy?
May 22nd, 2006 at 1:54 pmDieNowForPeace
“Uncaring, unsympathetic MEAN people like you suck.”
If you live in an area beneath sea level, next to the ocean, and don’t have flood insurace you have no one to blame but yourself when you get flooded.
“(cause a tragedy which leaves YOU penniless is SO unlikely to occur – “God can’t touch you, eh?â€)” He hasn’t yet, but if he does, any likely event for my region of the country is covered by my insurance, because to do otherwise would be lazy and/or stupid of me.
“Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happinessâ€
May 22nd, 2006 at 1:54 pmYes, you have the liberty to get insurance or to not get insurance, if you choose not to, live with your decision when you get wiped out, don’t come crying to the gov’t because you couldn’t be bothered. As for pursuit of happiness? I didn’t realize that meant you could do what ever you wanted, knowing the gov’t is behind you like a nanny, ready to bandage your scraped knee and send you back on your way.
I just designed/ordered bumper stickers for Squeege.
THINK PROGRESSIVELY : ACT REGRESSIVELY
Haven’t you noticed, the guvment didn’t exactly NANNY anyone in New Orleans.
Wake up to reality. Not everyone is a selfish paranoid like yourself.
Seriously, I’ll fill out your enlistment paperwork for you? Do you have any relatives?
Are a majority of you yankees rude assholes, or what?
May 22nd, 2006 at 2:00 pmEducate thyself — http://democracyrising.us/content/view/483/151/
Noble cuase? — http://democracyrising.us/content/view/486/164/
May 22nd, 2006 at 2:09 pmHey – I am a yankee by birth and in my heart (I hope to return soon) and we may be rude but we are not assholes!!!
May 22nd, 2006 at 2:09 pm(…)any likely event for my region of the country is covered by my insurance, because to do otherwise would be lazy and/or stupid of me.
Comment by squegeeboo — May 22, 2006 @ 1:54 pm
This has been said ad nauseam, squegeeboo. It seems you haven’t paid attention to the news: The people in New Orleans were not necessarily lazy or stupid. Some simply were too poor and could not afford flood insurance. Those are the same ones who could not afford to leave the city -you know, the poor souls who were asking to be rescued from their rooftops?
May 22nd, 2006 at 2:09 pm“Are a majority of you yankees rude assholes, or what?”
Nope, Just me baby, just me.
(who can name the movie)
“Haven’t you noticed, the guvment didn’t exactly NANNY anyone in New Orleans.”
Tell that to the people still on living stipends.
“Not everyone is a selfish paranoid like yourself.”
May 22nd, 2006 at 2:10 pmunfortunately, maybe if they were personal responsibly would take an upswing.
#107 and any others NOT in Boston. Sorry. I did say majority, not all!
May 22nd, 2006 at 2:11 pmSorry – DieNowForPeace – I just noticed you did indeed say majority. I think most people in the northeast are progessive, however there are a few putzes. Therefore, I stand by my statement, we are rude, but even the majority are not assholes.
May 22nd, 2006 at 2:16 pmSome of the poor blacks in New Orleans had been living in houses passed down from one generation to the next > a lot of them in the Ninth Ward area that flooded the worst! Many did not have enough cash to leave New Orleans before Katrina hit, or had no vehicle either, and Mayor Nagin told them to seek shelter in the Superdome which was unsafe! Nagin is criminally negligent, but just got re-elected mayor by the same fools he almost drowned > sad but true!
May 22nd, 2006 at 2:28 pm#87 DS
May 22nd, 2006 at 2:31 pmI agree with you. I tried to watch the hearings at work and was frustrated. C-Span was the only channel that covered it, and even then, it wasn’t long before the hearings went into closed session.
Why hasn’t anyone else in the media pointed this out?
Tony Snow is simply a smoother liar.
Damn Squeege,
Why can’t I feel anything but love for you?! You’re, like, a UNITER!
Look, both parties wish to devide us. That keeps them in control.
If half of the non-voting population became independents, there would become a “Progressive Party.” Then, they’d succumb to all the corporate influence, scandals, et. al. Hmm.
In the idiotic words of a crazy cowboy in Texas who was defeated by Governer Anne Richards, maybe “we should all just sit back and enjoy it”. Unfortunately for him, he was referring to rape. Yikes.
May 22nd, 2006 at 2:33 pm#100 Katy
May 22nd, 2006 at 2:41 pmDontcha just love that Tom Oliphant — a real Mr. Peepers kind of guy — nerdy — but thoroughly likeable. Always courteous, full of information.
Did you know he nearly died a few months ago?
DieNowForPeace
“If half of the non-voting population became independents, there would become a “Progressive Party.†Then, they’d succumb to all the corporate influence, scandals, et. al. Hmm.”
If their non-voting, no one would care. If half the voting population suddenly did, that would be amazing.
“Look, both parties wish to devide us. That keeps them in control.”
Except for Bush, he just wants to heal America.(this one is sarcasm)
“Why can’t I feel anything but love for you?! You’re, like, a UNITER!”
May 22nd, 2006 at 2:46 pmI knew you’d come around to my side, welcome.
#109
May 22nd, 2006 at 2:55 pmWell hello Mr. Fancypants!
# 100 katy:
WATCH OUT !! unbelivable is trolling.
Ca ca ca catfight.
May 22nd, 2006 at 3:18 pm#37. I’d like you to post a source on this. I’ve never heard it. “Putting people in the Superdome was stupid because the director of the building told the city that the Dome roof could fail in high winds …”
You don’t like being called “ignorant,” so I’ll settle for “uninformed.” Please see the following:
#51. The Ninth Ward was never a swamp. It is too near the River.
It is not 20 feet below sea level, also because it is too near the River.
That area might have seen its first residential housing during the French or Spanish colonial periods (prior to 1803). Certainly, it was settled in some way since before the Civil War. It has filled in considerably since then. My father is among the white people who grew up there in the 1930’s and before.
No “white Cajun guy” sold the land to black people. Cajuns are not from New Orleans; Cajuns live in areas about 100-150 miles west of New Orleans, in places called New Iberia, Lafayette and Houma, among others.
#112. I don’t know what you’re inferring with this statement, “Some of the poor blacks in New Orleans had been living in houses passed down from one generation to the next.” But, the Uptown mansions of St. Charles and Broadway Avenues and Audubon Place have been in the same families for generations, too. That parents pass houses to their children is not a measure of their poverty.
May 22nd, 2006 at 3:26 pm#117 Ha, great reference, with the name too.
May 22nd, 2006 at 3:32 pmDenny / E.Coli / GURU,
Get a life dude. I know you are fixated on mine, but really – get your own.
May 22nd, 2006 at 3:37 pmPost 119 LOL I never inferred that rich people in New Orleans did not pass houses down from one generation to the next! You take things too personally about your city, because you have tried to pick a fight with me on a past TP thread on NO! Ninth ward at its lowest point is almost 20 feet below sea level > Miss. River in the old days had swampy areas along its banks! I am curious how that low lying area was developed into housing for the poor?
The French Quarter was built on the highest land in the area at that time, so the French never developed low lying areas, but much later the US government must have done so to expand NO?! Cajuns are French-Americans, so how can you possible imply that none are in New Orleans?
I want to see NO rebuilt but not for rich Republicans or for their stupid stooge Nagin to get kickbacks! Do not be so quick to attack a friend of your city such as myself, but I do tell it as I see it and not suger coat it!
May 22nd, 2006 at 3:41 pmAnd post 119 > I have an article on file that a year before Katrina hit, the manager/director of the Superdome reported to the Mayor that the building was not safe to be used as a storm shelter > He said the electrical generators would fail because they are located in the basement which would flood > He said the toilets would overflow and back up > He said the air conditioners would fail > He said the roof could come off in high winds! Most of what he warned came true! ( I will look up the article in my files and send it to you > ok? )
Note: Nagin has stated now that the Superdome will NEVER be used as a shelter again! Hmm I wonder why?
May 22nd, 2006 at 3:51 pm#109 – Nope, Just me baby, just me.
(who can name the movie)
I win, Squeegy! Army of Darkness
May 22nd, 2006 at 4:13 pmAs my prize, you must mind your spelling for an entire day of my choosing. Deal?
yea marie #115 – i remember he and al talking about it but i don’t remember the specifics…
i love to read his work also, but just listening to him is such a treat…
hey, another thing – have a follow up story to tell about the teacher who was fired for in-vitro – remember that one a couple weeks ago? think that was you who posted the first story…
May 22nd, 2006 at 4:15 pmanyway, i talked to my sister – the very bushie, pro-”life”, nurse practitioner who retired from the baby making business… let me know if you’re gonna be around – i’ll keep checking…
#124 Zookeeper
May 22nd, 2006 at 4:25 pmI think 117 beat you to it, didn’t mention the movie, but check out the user name, and the qoute. But I’ll mind the speeling anywhays :)
Democrats good! Republicans bad! Fire scary!
May 22nd, 2006 at 4:37 pm#126 – Damn, I missed that — and it was so obvious. I look furwerd to you miding your speeling. ;)
May 22nd, 2006 at 4:49 pm#125 – katy, I’m interested in your update on the fired teacher story.
May 22nd, 2006 at 4:52 pm#125 Katy,
May 22nd, 2006 at 5:17 pmthe last info I have is that there was supposed to have been an administrative hearing in mid-May; I can’t find anything more recent.
This is the woman’s web site:
http://www.aces-xavier-fires-teacher.com/default.htm
I find a lot of sites with the initial report from Wisconsin newspapers to CNN to MSNBC, but nothing with an update.
#122. I am trying to set some of your blind misinformation in the proper context. You are spectacularly uninformed. “Picking a fight” with you is of no interest to me. You have to know what “it” is before you can “tell it like it is” or “sugar-coat it.” You do not know.
Please do some basic research. I can say that Cajuns are not “from New Orleans” because I know they are not “from New Orleans.” Cajuns are descendants of French-Canadians who emigrated from what are called the “maritime provinces;” the region was and is also called Acadia and includes Maine. When, after France was defeated in the French and Indian War of 1763, the French-Acadians refused to swear allegiance to the English crown, the English kicked them out. They relocated to Louisiana, but not New Orleans. The city was not for them, and they preferred the hunting and trapping land to the west, in the Atchafalaya River basin, they call it Acadiana, after their Canadian homeland. I am from New Orleans; I am of French descent; “French descent” means “from France.” “Cajun” means “from Canada.” Cajuns are not from New Orleans.
Please show me some sort of documentation that any part of the Ninth Ward is anywhere near 20 feet below sea level. I have been there, and I have studied the topography of the area, and I cannot conceive how it could be so low. I honestly do not know of more a handfull of tiny spots that are so low as 20 feet below sea level, and there are no houses in any of them.
“Swampy areas” do not equal “below sea level.” That the French Quarter was built on the highest land does not prove that it was the only land above sea level. A basic reality of the Mississippi River is that it floods every spring. Before the river levees confined the flood, it deposited sediment in thick layers at the edge of the river, in what are called “natural levees.” Those levees exist along the entire length of the river. Every year, for centuries before LaSalle arrived, the River filled the swamp with sediment, gradually raising it to elevations above sea level. That is why the swamp is not near the river and why the Ninth Ward is not in the swamp and why the Ninth Ward is not below sea level. The Ninth Ward is too near the River.
Can you not understand that the City expanded beyond the French Quarter prior to the American Period? Before 1803, the City had expanded into the suburbs of Marigny below the Quarter and Ste. Marie above it. The Ninth Ward was not “developed into housing for the poor;” it evolved. None of those houses were built expressly for poor people. It had housing before the Civil War; generations of people, across race and class lines, lived there for decades. In the common post-WW2 evolution of American cities, middle class whites left their old neighborhoods for new houses in the suburbs, and blacks moved in. Later, middle class blacks moved to the suburbs, too.
Mostly poor blacks seem to have lived in the Ninth Ward by the time of Katrina, although I cannot say for certain. Notably, the famous musician, Fats Domino, lived there. Until Katrina, I had not been in the area since my last family (white) moved out more than 30 years ago. I recently learned that my sister’s in-laws (also white) lived there until about 10 years ago.
I will be a great surprise for you to learn that when the US Government came in to develop the first low-lying areas, it was expressly illegal for any of the property to be sold to blacks; deed restrictions were placed on the land, preventing sale to any but whites. In other words, some white guys decided that to sell the swamp to white people. That land was created by a New Deal project in the 1930’s. A seawall was built, the seawater was pumped out and sand from the Mississippi River was pumped in. (Of course, in the 1950’s, the deed restrictions were declared unenforceable.) Those areas are know today as Lakeview and Gentilly, they are very near sea level or below, and are home to many middle class white families who moved there from the Ninth Ward after WW2. And, they were very severely flooded by Katrina.
I would like to see that link about the Superdome roof failing in a hurricane. I have never read that before. Conditions such as hurricane Katrins are surely among the design criteria used by the engineers who designed it. I suspect the roofing material and not the roof structure was the discussion. The toilets, etc. can be little surprise to anyone. It is, after all, a shelter of last resort. Occupation for more than one or two days was not anticipated. They said the same thing after hurricane Georges, several years ago, and yet, here we are. There will be people who are unable or unwilling to evacuate, and they will be taken in, again. Better planning could make it a better shelter. It is a large, well-constructed building, well above floodwater’s reach.
May 22nd, 2006 at 5:29 pm[...] Think Progress [...]
May 22nd, 2006 at 5:38 pm#131 – Excellent info on who’s who in LA. In my experience living in the heart of Acadiana, the Cajuns definitely considered themselves different than the NO French. The language sounded different to me, although I’m no expert. All of the people I knew in LA were wonderful and loving, they even made my blond, blue-eyed baby boy an “honorary Cajun.” I would love to visit the state again.
May 22nd, 2006 at 5:47 pmoh good – here goes… sorry for the wait… gee i hope my sis doesn’t pay attention to TP as this info will “blow my cover! eek! ha ha…
anyway – this is not about that woman’s story per se – but i was very confused about the church’s policy about in-vitro and why this woman would have been fired – AND how my practicing catholic sister was doing all the work she did with fertilization while remaining “devout” … so i asked her…
she said the church has obliged with “loopholes” to get around it all (imagine that)… here goes: first of all, you gotta have the semen, right? but the church forbids masterbation, “the spilling of seed”… so, what the couple has to do is have sex, using a condom (to catch the semen)… BUT, as the church frowns on sex other than for procreation, the sex act HAS to allow for “natural” insemination, SO the condom has to be punctured with a pin to at least give the little sperms a chance on their own….
oh lord – it’s hard to keep from laughing here – i can imagine you too … and this conversation was taking place in a restaurant with my mom and 3 other sisters – the only thing that kept my composure through it! but she was very serious and reverent about it all … now, granted, only the devout catholic people would go through all this … i think it’s pretty amazing myself – i mean you’d think the church would promote anything that would bring on more catholics!
well, i hope it was worth your wait and you’re not too disappointed with the turn my story took…
sis seems to think there is more to that story, given the information above… or maybe that diocese is taking a harder line… but, regardless, it is not an “across the board” prohibition of in-vitro fertilization in the catholic church…
bring on the comments! this should be good…
May 22nd, 2006 at 5:58 pmwow – that was a very interesting read of n.o. history…
May 22nd, 2006 at 6:07 pmthank you bienville!
Post 131 Nice to see you post some info on New Orleans on this thread > I am not your enemy! Never heard of Cajuns being separate from the French in New Orleans, but I suppose in all cultures you want a difference between the wealthy French descendants in NO and the common French descendants who prefer the countryside! I suppose you prefer the name “Creole” instead?
The Miss. River at the time of the French settlers was very different from today! It is NOT the same river with levees being alongside it! Early historical desciptions of New Orleans talk about the swamps around it > the river would overflow its banks and leave pools of water that became swamps! The French noticed a hilly spot near the river and built their city > they never built in low lying areas, but around the Civil War after Lousiana had joined the United States the city was expanded into reclaimed areas from swamps! I have no idea who decided to build houses in the Ninth Ward area, but it is almost 20 feet below sea level at its lowest point > I hope it gets filled with fill to raise it higher before allowing construction again! As for Superdome building being well constructed is debatable! I think it is an extremely ugly building and since it became a symbol of death during Katrina, it should have been torn down! But by all means go to the Football games and be proud that the seat you are sitting in might once have been a pile of human crap there or a dead body perhaps! The building irregardless will never be used as a shelter again and that is good!
Do NOT defend your lousy Mayor Nagin on here or we will have a fight and not a discussion!
May 22nd, 2006 at 6:17 pm#134 Katy,
May 22nd, 2006 at 7:11 pmI know it is not polite to laugh, so I apologize, but I admit that I am grinning pretty broadly at the church’s position on in vitro. Your story reminded me, as a former Catholic, of some of the reasons why I left.
marie – ditto that… such hypocricy…
and no need to apoligize to me – i had another laugh while typing…
but it is amazing the holes they allow the “faithful” to loop through – instead of just facing the facts and the truth…
i always felt that the god wanted man to think and invent and progress and to NOT do those things is wrong… it’s why man’s brain evolved and enlarged… not?
however – i’m a fence-sitter on the firtility issue … i think it’s wonderful – to a point … i have qualms about messing with “mother nature” … there is a reason for everything and most should just accept the way it is … what i can’t abide is the incredible amount of money some will spend and/or the multiple births resulting from so many eggs implanted – that’s just not right…
yea yea … mustn’t judge… hey i’m only human…
May 22nd, 2006 at 8:50 pmSqueegee-poo,
Based on your own assertions, I guess all those people directly affected on 9/11 in NYC and DC were “not smart enough to get ‘terrorism’ insurance on their own, ‘and’ thats just stupidity”
How much insurance do you carry? Do you have brain insurance, because your premium would be DIRT cheap.
May 22nd, 2006 at 8:53 pm#138 Katy,
May 22nd, 2006 at 9:08 pmI can’t say that I disagree with you philosophically. If I would have had difficulty conceiving, we would probably have adopted. In fact, we seriously discussed it. My sister adopted – other relatives adopted as well.
But I also know many people who have gone the I-V route and I have only good wishes for them. The point, I think, is that science has provided man with a lot of options in various situations, and perhaps that is “natural” in some way.
So, like you, I can’t judge.
But I still laugh at the inconsistencies of the religious moralists.
#117 – the master speaks
May 22nd, 2006 at 9:22 pmAnd Ash has this to say about the remainder of George W. Bush’s presidency
May 22nd, 2006 at 9:35 pmSome interesting facts I looked up on Louisiana and New Orleans: Around 1762 the British forced out the French Acadians from Nova Scotia who migrated to the region and became known as Cajuns. In 1803 Emperor Napoleon of France sold Louisiana territory to the United States for 60 million Francs or 15 million in US dollars. After the war of 1812 with Britain, Louisiana became the 18th State, and in 1819 the final boundaries were determined when Florida was ceded from Spain to the US. By 1860 the population of Louisiana exceeded 700,000 > most of them slaves. The expansion of New Orleans itself began just before the Civil War, so the Ninth Ward that flooded was NOT developed until after 1860.
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:46 pm“Creole” aptly describes white residents of New Orleans of the French and Spanish colonial periods. It has fallen into disuse. Very few, if any, would describe themselves as Creole, today. More likely, “descended from Creoles.” Few, if any, would agree with your characterization of Cajuns as “common.” The same goes for your class distinction of “wealthy French descendants in NO.”
If it is based on your post #143, your deduction that settlement of the area below New Orleans, now known as the Ninth Ward, did not begin until after the Civil War is flawed. The very large gap between 1819 and 1860 is filled with great economic development of New Orleans, owing to its position near the mouth of the river. Then, as today, river transportation was very cheap. Goods could be transshipped at the port: raw materials were exported and finished goods were imported.
There are no hills in or around New Orleans. You may find reference to ridges, but that is a relative term. The Gentilly and Metairie ridges are only between 5 and 10 feet higher than the surrounding terrain. All of southeastern Louisiana is river delta. It is very flat.
The site of New Orleans was chosen for a number of reasons, including the relatively higher riverbank, which was wide enough for a settlement. The proximity to Lake Ponchartrain and water access via Bayou St. John was another. A third important reason is the bending of the River. Sailing ships had great difficulty navigating the River. When the wind went opposite the current, ships could move easily, at a turn of the River, the wind and current could go in the same direction, forcing ships to laboriously tack and jibe – very difficult in an 18th century square-rigged man-of-war. New Orleans is at a bend in the River that optimizes defensibility and accessibility.
Please provide a link for the minus-20 elevation in the Ninth Ward. I doubt it exists.
Please provide a link for the structural deficiency of the Superdome roof.
As for the Superdome being a “symbol of death,” I ask you to consider that on September 26, 2006, the Times-Picayune published a lengthy report on the violence at the Superdome and Convention Center and found the “Rumors of deaths greatly exaggerated.”
http://www.nola.com/t-p/archive.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_tporleans/archives/2005_09_26.html
The report concludes as follows:
“As the Dome cleared out Sept. 3, Beron, the National Guard commander, fashioned a plan to deal with the dead. He knew of the six bodies in the freezer, but expected far more. He and an Ohio National Guard commander sent 450 Ohio troops to search every nook of the Dome, top to bottom. They told them to mark locations of bodies on a map of the Dome, to rope off suspected crime scenes, and leave a chemical light sticks next to each one so they could be retrieved later.
“I fully expected to find more bodies, both homicides and natural causes,” he said.
They found nothing. “
May 23rd, 2006 at 10:06 amI’ve been to the Big Easy, but lazy/stupid people will never get my empathy.
Comment by squegeeboo #83
Sorry, big papa, I think that’s out of bounds.
Comment by Zookeeper #96
I’m surprised Zoo,
…by the fact that you don’t find queasybooger’s obvious (hidden) reference to the overwhelmingly Black/minority New Orleanian Katrina displaced/victimized population…
…as being “lazy/stupid”…
…as being “out of bounds”…
…I guess I shouldn’t be (surprised) though…
…”birds of a feather” (race)…
…I mean…
…and all that jazz…
May 23rd, 2006 at 1:11 pm