If you just heard two synchronized explosions, that would be when Henry Waxmen and Duncan Black just had their heads explode when they learned that Halliburton will be fixing several of the hurricane damaged Navy bases.
*** Update ***
Heh. It is Henry Waxman, not Waxmen, but I like this explanation in the comments:
Actually, WaxmEn is correct: he’s so angry he’s beside himself.
Far North
Is that the same Halliburton that Dick Cheney recieves monthly checks from? ….the same Halliburton that was awarded no bid contracts for work in Iraq- but not because they had any ties to Cheney (wink, wink). That Halliburton?
Andrew J. Lazarus
Now that they’ve figured out how to get Chenyburton the profits, reconstruction might speed up. Well, at least the spending will.
capelza
God dammit, John Cole, you got to quit making me laugh when I’m drinking! I like Waxman and Atrois, but damn, I inhaled my vodka up my nose.
Haliburton? Well no suprise..Cheney must be directing things from the Castle in Transylvania..
Brian
This is just the tip of the coming boondoggle iceberg. You better believe every R-friendly corporation, two bit lobbiest/consulting firm, faith-based slush fund, etc., will be making wheelbarrows of cash off this.
I might have to start up my own bogus Homeland Security consulting firm and see if I can get some action.
rkrider
This is turning out to be a day of days:
(from kos)
Rightous indignation, Gilliard style:
Well, motherfuckers, and that means you, fat ass Goldberg and your master, Rich Lowry, PNAC Bitch Beinart, the racist wannabe white Malkin and the little fucktards at LGF, Bareback Andy and “Diversity” Instacracker, all you backstabbing, fag hating uncle tom ministers, you can see Dear Leader in action. America’s largest port is gone, maybe forever, gas is $5+ a gallon and FEMA is coming. Whores come faster with old men than FEMA is getting to NOLA.
How did your wartime President react? Like Chiang Kai-Shek when the Yellow River flooded in 1944, with corrupt indifference.
Bush, the man your fever dreams built into the next Winston Churchill when he is really the live action Chauncey Gardiner, has failed to everyone, in plain sight, without question. Rick Perry is trying to save his ass, but it ain’t working. NOLA looks like ANGOLA and that ain’t flying.
Say 9/11 changed everything now, motherfuckers. Ooops, 9/11, 9/11. 9/11. Doesn’t work anymore? Gee, maybe the sea of alligator MRE’s once known as the citizens of New Orleans has something to do with that. Now you can shut the fuck up about 9/11. Bush just proved what would happen with another 9/11. Dead Americans as far as the nose can smell.
linda
don’t kid yourself. there were more than a couple of heads popping at that news. the american public is finally seeing for themselves the utter corruption, greed and incompetence that permeates the bush administration. i really don’t see how bush serves the full term. if he doesn’t have a mental crackup first (which he clearly appears headed for).
aaronpacy
Where’s Dick??? Our 2nd in command…and no one’s seen him! Maybe he’s in his bunker calling the shots….oh…no wonder things are so screwed! Seriously…does anyone seem concerned that the man 1 heartbeat from them presidency hasn’t been heard from?
tBone
Let’s not kid ourselves – scumbags of every stripe will be making wheelbarrows of cash off this, and they’re certainly not all going to have an R behind their name. Halliburton will probably look like the Red Cross next to some of the scammers and hustlers that will slither out to make a quick buck off this mess.
stickler
Halliburton will probably look like the Red Cross next to some of the scammers and hustlers that will slither out to make a quick buck off this mess.
Ho, ho ho! Gads, I think I tore a muscle from laughing. No, I don’t think that Halliburton will end up looking like the Red Cross.
No.
CaseyL
How much did Halliburton steal in Iraq?
Something like $8 billion out of $150 billion? And that’s just the outright “It’s gone and no-one knows where” stealing. It doesn’t include the overcharges, kickbacks, and cushy jobs given to deadbeats whose only qualification was membership at a RW thinktank.
So, how much do you figure they’ll pocket this time? As a percentage?
And if Halliburton does as good a job “rebuilding” NO as it’s done in Iraq, well… we’re likely to see Pat Buchanan join NAACP before NO is fully habitable again.
tBone
Yeah, well, I don’t think they’re choirboys over there either, but just wait – there’s some ugly shit coming down the pike. The (in)human capacity for preying on misery is basically bottomless in these situations.
rkrider
So when do the impeachment hearings start?
Worst President Ever.
Far North
This is what happens when people that hate goverment are running that same governement. God forbid we have another crisis that requires leadership and a prompt government response during the remaining Bush term.
Gary Farber
“Henry Waxmen”
He’s singular, actually.
bennett
Do you people really know anything about Halliburton? Do you know what KBR is? It is beyond my comprehension how utterly uninformed some of you are. KBR is one of the only two companies in this country, quite possibly the world that can handle the rebuilding and repair of these naval facilities in MS. And let me blow your minds even more. They are one of the only two companies in the country that can rebuild or repair the petroleum infrastructure as well. The other is Bechtel, and we won’t even go into the names of some of their past employees (well maybe a little: George Schultz and Casper Weinberger to name two). You see, its their business to build large industrial concerns, you know, power plants, refineries, ports and such. Its construction of a type and on a scale that requires a high degree of skill and specialization. Example, who do you think built the infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, or the nuclear plants in this country and in others around the world? Why, KBR and Bechtel. Disclaimer, my father was a 25 year employee of Bechtel, so I am quite biased her, but he never had anything good to say about KBR, considering they were the competition. But the point still remains. They are one of two companies with the capabilities to complete these projects. End of story. You small-minded conspiracy theorists can have all the fun you want, but here in the real world, it takes engineers and business people to build these things. Those individuals work for either KBR or Bechtel. Who else is going to do it? You have any ideas? Want to hire a firm from the EU or China?
rkrider
Congressman can’t get Bush on the line
DAVID PACE
Associated Press
WASHINGTON – Thousands of people stranded in two swamped parishes south of New Orleans are just as desperate for supplies as those trapped in the city but can’t get the attention of federal disaster relief officials, their congressman said Friday.
And to make matters worse, says Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-La., he was unable to deliver that message to President Bush during his visit to New Orleans because the president’s security detail couldn’t clear him to board Air Force One.
After waiting 90 minutes Friday while a U.S. marshal using a satellite phone repeatedly tried, and failed, to contact Bush’s plane – located just 300 yards away at New Orleans’ Armstrong airport – a disgusted Melancon left.
“After an hour and a half of that, and two hours to get down there, I am now back on my way, without seeing the president, not accomplishing anything in my mind today. I’ve wasted time while people are dying in South Louisiana,” he said in a telephone interview. “It’s not personal to the president. It’s just that this whole thing has been handled terribly.”
Melancon said the communications problems that kept him from meeting with Bush are symptomatic of the problems that have plagued the slow-moving federal response to the devastation left by Hurricane Katrina.
In St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes, just south of New Orleans, victims of the hurricane are still waiting for food and water and for buses to escape the floodwaters, Melancon said. And for the entire time Bush was in the state, the congressman said, a ban on helicopter flights further stalled the delivery of food and supplies.
“I thank the president for his visit today, but it was more show than substance,” Melancon said. “Frankly, we needed action days ago.”
What’s it going to take to get this evil bastard out of office? or are you going to keep sticking up for him John?
rkrider
bennet – I’ve been in engineering for 30 years. Your full of shit.
S.W. Anderson
“Where’s Dick??? Our 2nd in command…and no one’s seen him!”
He’s at his undisclosed location, in his memorial-events parka, with duct tape over his mouth. Karl Rove has issued strict orders to keep him there, as is, until further notice. This ensures Cheney won’t announce the hurricane misery is in its final throes — or something equally false and stupid.
bennett
Then give me a name of another company that can rebuild these facilities, and has the proven track record of those two. Don’t just tell me I’m full of shit.
Katherine
If Halliburton is one of two companies that provides these services, what that proves to me is: this is a natural monopoly. You should not privatize those things, because when they fuck up–and they have certainly done so, in Iraq and before, there have been fuckups and frauds–there is nothing you can do–there are no other companies that can do the job, and the government has degraded the capacity to do the job itself. It just combines the worst aspects of the government with the worst aspects of the private sector. No real competition, no possibility of democratic accountability–and they get a cut, unlike the government.
bennett
And while you are at it, explain to me why that Sat phone not working is Bush’s fault. I’ve got nothing for the man, and think quite like John Cole does in that regard. But you want to talk about show over substance, that whole article is. Melancon didn’t need to talk to Bush about his situation, he needed to talk to the leaders on the ground. You know, the people in direct control of the supplies.
TheocracyIsComing
Of course Halliburton is only ones that will do it, it’s called a “no-bid” contract for chrissakes!
jg
Bectel fucked up the Big Dig in Boston IIRC and Haliburton is known to charge the military for cleaning the offices 5 times a day in Kosovo.
Because the number of companies that can perform this duty is limited we look away from corruption?
Brandon
I’d better not tell anyone how the Clinton Administration awarded no-bid contracts to Halliburton for work in Kosovo during the 90’s. That just might make the head of every stupid lefty in this thread explode.
S.W. Anderson
bennet wrote: “KBR is one of the only two companies in this country, quite possibly the world that can handle the rebuilding and repair of these naval facilities in MS. And let me blow your minds even more. They are one of the only two companies in the country that can rebuild or repair the petroleum infrastructure as well.”
Let me see if I get your drift here. If a company is big enough and does projects that are big enough and important enough, corruption and incompetence are OK?
Us taxpayers and citizens, and our troops over in Iraq, should just grin and bear it, as phantom tank trucks deliver make-believe fuel at screw-the-bastards prices, billions of dollars disappear and go unaccounted for, soldiers are served skimpy portions of outdated, tainted food, and overcharges, special charges, early charges, late charges, overnight charges and trickle charges are paid for by Bush & CO. out of a no-bid slush fund by the billions?
Maybe you’re OK with that, but I’m not.
djc
rkrider sez:
Working on a garbage truck doesn’t count, clown.
Get your chickenhawk ass down to NOLA to help clean up the mess down there.
jobiuspublius
Yeah, the work is twice as hard. First you construct the problem, then, you construct the “solution”.
S.W. Anderson
Brandon multitasks with his mistake making.
First, there are no stupid lefties here, just bright ones.
Secondly, you presume for no good reason a blind partisanship in the commenters here that blindly excuses the bad practice of no-bid contracts as long as a Democrat’s administration is responsible.
Finally, you’re apparently OK with the notion two wrongs make a right.
I’ll leave to others to decide who comes closer to sounding stupid.
jobiuspublius
Now we don’t have to travel so far to see what a clusterfuck Iraq is. We can have our own right here.
rkrider
bennett
stone & webster
flour daniel
trafalgalhouse
Danielle
there’s hundreds of them, beleive me, do a google search.
And while you are at it, explain to me why that Sat phone not working is Bush’s fault. I’ve got nothing for the man, and think quite like John Cole does in that regard. But you want to talk about show over substance, that whole article is. Melancon didn’t need to talk to Bush about his situation, he needed to talk to the leaders on the ground. You know, the people in direct control of the supplies.
what got me about that story was this:
And for the entire time Bush was in the state, the congressman said, a ban on helicopter flights further stalled the delivery of food and supplies.
My god what kind of leader would keep people from getting food and supplies? just for a photo-op? (a useless one, that’s for sure)
and djc, who said:
Get your chickenhawk ass down to NOLA to help clean up the mess down there.
I wish I could but I’m too far away, so all I can do is send money, I wish I could be down there with you man.
jobiuspublius
Why not? We are in desparate need of impeaching someone and Dear Leader is busy playing Bob the Rebuilder. Besides, it would finally shut some people up.
rkrider
Brandon Says:
I’d better not tell anyone how the Clinton Administration awarded no-bid contracts to Halliburton for work in Kosovo during the 90’s.
In case you haven’t noticed, Clinton’s not the president anymore.
djc
rkrider sez:
Well, I’m actually in Canada.
Nevermind, You’ve got the right attitude.
Regards…
rkrider
Un-fucking believable
OMG. They’ve LOCKED everyone in the convention center and won’t let them out, and Geraldo and Shep Smith are going ape shit.
This is some of the most amazing TV I have ever seen.
(photos courtesy of Crooks and Liars, who are also hosting the video)
Geraldo Rivera and Shepard Smith are reporting that the authorities have just locked everyone in the convention center with no escape, and a checkpoint is stopping people from leaving New Orleans. They set up a check point at the bottom of the bridge out of New Orleans, it’s the only way out, per Shep Smith, and if you go the checkpoint they turn you around and send you back to New Orleans. Jesus.
Geraldo started crying in the convention center on camera. Shep Smith is going nuts. And then Hannity tries to defend Bush and the government and Shep and Geraldo will have nothing of it. My God, every FOX News viewer just watched this this evening. FOX’s own anchors saying the entire federal relief effort is a fiasco. Geraldo is holding a ten month old baby in his arms, who’s also trapped in the convention center, he then started chanting “let them go, let them out of here.”
OMG. This is an absolute disaster.
Bush needs to finally start acting like the president and accept that the buck stops at his desk. It’s time for Bush to step aside and let someone competent handle this crisis before anyone else dies.
djc
Uh rkryder…
I’m watching Fox too..
You’re watching repeats at this time.
Those clips are a few hours stale. May still be relevant. Maybe CNN or MSNBC has something new.
Ancient Purple
When that information was disclosed with Halliburton got the Iraq contract through a no-bid process, there were plenty of people (myself included) that maintained that it was wrong then and it was wrong now.
But now that we know that the Clinton Administration did a no-bid contract for Halliburton, please explain to everyone here how that mitigates in any conceivable way the fact that Halliburton screwed the U.S. taxpayers over in Iraq.
They want the contract? Fine. I want a public audit of Halliburton’s books for the past 25 years.
Far North
One way we can measure just how important disaster response is to George W. Bush is to look at the people he chose to lead FEMA. The first, Mr Albaugh, was a friend of the President from Texas. Emergency management experience: ZERO. But he was a loyal pal of the president.
The current guy, Mike Brown, is another good ole’ boy pal of Bush’s. Wouldn’t ambassador of Lichtenstein better suited Mike Brown instead of the nation’s lead emergency management entity?
You can measure a man by the people he chooses to surround himself with.
This is what you get when you put people that hate government in charge of government.
jobiuspublius
No, Dear Leader couldn’t possible do this. Nagin did it. Nagin did it.
Just Some Guy
That makes it okay.
The local government sucks.
The state government sucks.
The federal government continues to suck now that it is in their purview. What would you expect if this were a terrorist attack? It’s the same agency.
Matthew J. Stinson
“Henry Waxmen,” heh.
Nice catch, Gary.
Would all of those suffering from pre-programmed seizures at the mere mention of the name “Halliburton” please kindly point out other construction firms suitable for the rebuilding effort at the bases? This is not to say that companies like Halliburton should be beyond criticism, but some research and suggestion of alternatives would be helpful, as opposed to writing one over the top comment after another.
the friendly grizzly
Actually, WaxmEn is correct: he’s so angry he’s beside himself.
docG
Some unbiased observer said:
and
Let’s see? There are only two, count them, two companies in the world that can do the above discussed job. Then a taunt is made about hiring firms from China or Europe. Why would you suggest any firm other than the only two capable, or did you just expose the bullshit in your original arguement? If you want me to believe that all major industrial projects in the world were done by just two companies, the Brooklyn Bridge can be yours today, and today only, for the low, low price of . . . . . .
jobiuspublius
Does anybody remember Intel. They used to be itty bitty until the Gov smiled on them.
jobiuspublius
Hmm, rescue arrives on Friday. How convinient. Any news? Video?
goonie bird
Wacky waxman wasnt he the idiot who was whinning about theater popcorn a few years back?
Jim Caputo
What’s your point? That we shouldn’t look a little sideways at the connection between Haliburton and the White house? That Haliburton is a wonderful company that doesn’t deserve scrutiny? What the hell is your point?
EL
bennett Says:
And while you are at it, explain to me why that Sat phone not working is Bush’s fault. I’ve got nothing for the man, and think quite like John Cole does in that regard. But you want to talk about show over substance, that whole article is. Melancon didn’t need to talk to Bush about his situation, he needed to talk to the leaders on the ground. You know, the people in direct control of the supplies.
Well, I think this raises an excellent question- just who the heck is in control? Are the lines of communication clear? Does anyone know who they are supposed to request help from?
I’m no disaster expert, but I’ve had some exposure. One accepted point is that you have people out there determining need, you don’t wait to be asked. If you only supply areas that ask, you may be ignoring the places that need it most, or those whose communications are out. So does Melancon have a way contact the person who can allocate resources? You assume yes, but I have to question that given the lack of organization and the apparent disregard of standard disaster management principles.
Jim Caputo
Or maybe you think it’s a good thing that the military industrial complex has grown so large that it can afford lifetime support for politicians that make decisions about taking this country to war, thereby increasing their profits.
jobiuspublius
Here’s a little something for “Looters!” and the “Shoot to kill!” crowd.
Civility seems like an understatment here.
jobiuspublius
Homeland Security/FEMA does drills in New Jersey and Conneticut with their state and local authorities AND the Canadian government, all three at the SAME time. N.O. is a major port of NATIONAL INTEREST. Is CANADA a port of NATIONAL INTEREST? Why did Dear Leader fail to lead? Why did he waste his “mandate” and “political capitol” on Social Security, Gay Marriage, Estate Tax, “Activist Judges”, Terry Schiavo, etc., at the expense of NATIONAL INTEREST? What the hell sort of example is he setting? How is he LEADING? The last election was all about terrorism and soiled panties. Tell me if you feel any safer today waiting 4-5 days for Dear Leader to rescue your ass?!?!