Apparently the Industrial Canal in New Orleans has been breached again already, and a ten block area that was just dried out is now underwater again.
No doubt FEMA’s fault. And why is Bush flying to Texas? Doesn’t he realize he should be in New Orleans to stop this?
*** Update ***
Not breached. Overtopped.
*** Update #2 ***
Goldstein and I think alike:
Don’t know about all of you, but I, for one, am completely at ease knowing that George Bush has put away the guitar and the cowboy hat, and that this time, he really really cares.
Although, judging from this latest round of flooding, the streets of New Orleans don’t seem to appreciate the effort. Ungrateful, hard-hearted streets.
farmgirl
John, I love you, but why is this filed under “Democratic Stupidity”? Is this another time where your finger slipped? (I’m not trying to be sarcastic.)
yet another jeff
Um…I don’t get the “Democratic Stupidity” part of this…is this being said by Democrats or is this pre-emptive snark?
Trent
Should be Republican Stupidity. Can’t he stay away and let the officials of Texas do their job?
You know Bush, other people actually DO their job! I know it’s hard to relate.
Sweet little cardboard PResident…
John Cole
It was supposed to be Domestic Affairs.
Doug
I am completely and utterly anti-Bush, but I think the blame heaped on Bush for the federal government’s lack of response to Katrina has been out of proportion.
On the other, hand, there is so very much shit that Bush should have been pounded into the turf over but more or less got away with, that I just don’t feel any sympathy for him.
What’s the psychological term? “Displaced anger”? I think Bush is suffering from that. Folks are really mad at him over Iraq and foreign policy but haven’t been able to get at him effectively because then they’re “helping the terrorists.” So the anger and frustration at this administration is being rerouted using Katrina as a vehicle because there you also have a lot of dead people but no “enemy” to help.
Just my theory.
DougJ
There is no way anyone could have anticipated that the Industrial Canal would be breached.
Here’s what I want to know: Where is Al Gore? Is he going to “save” people in Houston, too, or does he only save his fat cat New Orleans friends? Where is Sean Penn? Is he going to go help people in Galveston or is he too busy drinking soy lattes?
I just hope that Al Gore and Sean Penn have finally wised up and realized that you don’t help storm victims by rescuing them, you help them by standing behind the president.
Trent
Or how about just wanting a President that takes his job more seriously than his exercise regime?
I guarantee that if he had returned to Washington when Katrina hit (not the levees broke but when the hurricane hit) the Bush bashing would be a fraction of what it is, even with the same degree of federal incompetence.
He’s a lazy, spoiled, incompetent son-of-a-bitch.
DougJ
It sounds like the water isn’t too deep in New Orleans right now. So maybe FEMA should try rescuing people with Arabian horses again.
DougJ
It sounds like the water isn’t too deep in New Orleans right now. So maybe FEMA should try rescuing people with Arabian horses again.
Krista
Doug: I think you might be on to something here. A lot of people were probably frustrated with the WoT, but have had it beat into them that criticizing the president is practically akin to handing the enemy an AK-47 and painting a big red target on a U.S. soldier’s back. So they’re probably taking this opportunity to vent their frustration with him in a situation where their patriotism won’t be called into question for doing so.
John Cole
I agree. A lot of the stuff was just pure nonsense.
At the same time, do I understand why people were piling on? Hell, yeah. This is, after all, the same administration that was smearing all liberals as pro-terrorist as recent as three months ago. You do remember the Rove speech? Or the Durbin nonsense?
So while I think the vast majority of the crap was over-the-top, I can understand where it is coming from…
DougJ
Why do you hate America?
Blue Neponset
John,
You forgot to mention Mother Sheehan. Also why not throw in a Bushitler or two? I prefer Chimpy McFlightsuit, but to each his own.
Trent
What did you do with the real John Cole?
Joey
I’m with John and Doug. They fucked up, but you can’t blame everything related to Katrina on them. Lots of people screwed up. And DougJ, you’re fucking retarded, you know that? Penn was IN A BOAT RESCUING PEOPLE. Yet, you feel he can help people more by supporting Dubbya. Yeah, that’s real logical.
Another Jeff
I always love people that don’t get DougJ. I mean, does he have to point out that it’s sarcasm EVERY TIME!?
Krista
A haiku for DougJ
His snark knows no bounds
On deafened ears it will fall
Some folks are just dumb
DJ
My complaint isn’t that Bush didn’t go to New Orleans and phsyically remove people from the flooded waters. My complaint is about the rampant cronyism that is the norm in the administration. You have a guy with zero experience in emergency management running FEMA and a woman who used to lobby for Chevron investigating gasoline price gouging.
Is it so wrong for me to then pile it on Bush when the response to Katrina at the federal level was pathetic? I’m not saying that he caused the hurricane (that’s just foolish), but don’t I have the right to complain about the government’s response. It was he, afterall, who appointed these people.
ppGaz
Because Sheehan is in DC?
jg
Bush is not on vacation, he’s doing his job. This is good. I don’t see a point in going to Texas but he is and thats that.
ppGaz
DougJ, looks like the fishing is good today. You snagged one right here on your first cast. I bagged one in another thread on my first cast.
If these fish could be flash-frozen, we could go into business.
Patrick Lightbody
Can I just say that DougJ rocks? OK, good. DougJ, you rock!
Doug
Bush flees Hurricane Sheehan.
skip
The word here in Georgetown is that Bush is authorizing the deployment of Jack Abramoff’s West Bank sniper school (paid for by Choctaw “monkeys”). They will be authorized to shoot deli bread & water looters, miscellaneous media pests, and ivy league arabists.
Best of all, as Israelis, they will be guaranteed favorable press on both CNN and Fox, and won’t be subject to the Posse Commitatus act.
Finally, many had already been pre-positioned well before the hurricanes, in the Pentagon’s Office of Special Plans, the office of Congressman Tom Lantos (D-CA) and the Wall Street Journal.
Skip
gratefulcub
All time favorite DougJ thread.
I could ALMOST fell sorry for the prez right about now. The piling on about Katrina that, as mentioned above, is really just a tipping point that unleashed anger about several issues. And now, another disaster coming and there is no right answer for him. If he goes to Texas, it is just PR. If he doesn’t, he isn’t doing his job. If the response is perfect, then why wasn’t it decent in NO. If it is a trainwreck, well, that hurts too.
I would start drinking again.
tBone
I think John’s been breathing too many Lemon Pledge fumes. That post was downright mellow.
Jane Finch
Your degree of political snark is an indication of just how far away you are from this, but I suppose facile sniping shows just how this series of disasters has become just one more thing for bloggers to make their stupid points about.
I am in Austin, TX and there is not one person slagging anyone…all I’ve heard is concern for the folks stranded on the highways and shelters opening. But then, they’re not people with an audience to satisfy, now are they.
Narvy
Speaking as another practitioner of the Sarcastic Arts (although a less subtle one than DougJ), the answer to your question is YES!!! At least for those with tin ears and no context analysis skills.
Krista
Jane Finch: are you okay? My aunt and uncle live in Alvin, and they’ve been trying to get out of town, but I don’t think they’ve made much progress.
DougJ
Jane, I’ve really come to believe that the *only* way to effectively criticize the Bush administration, and the crazy right-wing spin machine it has created, is through satire. Criticizing their ideology suggests that they *have* an ideology. Criticizing their results suggest that they care about results.
And here is the main thing: the statements of the Bush White House and its surrogates on Fox News are so close to satire that people can hardly be blamed for thinking that I am serious. Bush supporters *do* say things every bit as stupid as the things I say in jest. In fact, I have an uncle who supports Bush who regularaly says things that are *much* stupider than anything I have ever posted here.
yet another jeff
gratefulclub, I still haven’t forgiven the shrub for trading Sammy Sosa…or naming the new stadium “The Ballpark”…so everything else since then has just piled on my rage.
So, I’d start drinking again, but I have no interest in stopping long enough to have that start be any more significant than “hey, I’m off work now!”.
Narvy
Let’s create a Bush Rating Chart. Column One will list everything Bush has done wrong. Column Two will list verything Bush has done right. Column Three will list everything Bush has done out of a principled sense of what’s right rather than because Rove thinks it would be politically advanatgeous.
Maybe we need two charts, one for Bush defenders and another for people who pay attention.
Jane Finch
Krista, we’re fine in Austin…but it isn’t so fine a few miles from here. I’m housing a friend from Louisiana who tried to get home to St. Francisville LA because it’s within the cone but it took him 6 1/2 hours and he wasn’t even at Houston, then the eastbound lanes were closed.
I hope your relatives make it to a storm-safe place soon.
DougJ
Jane, don’t mistake sarcasm for lack of caring. Spend some time with Irish-Americans and you’ll see what I mean.
ET
DougJ -Why do you think the mayor ordered an evacuation again? They knew the levees were weak.
from CNN: Corps of Engineers officials had warned earlier this week that anything beyond normal tides risked further damage to New Orleans’ damaged levees.
this on MSNBC (from AP) “Our worst fears came true,” said Maj. Barry Guidry of the Georgia National Guard.
Of course they knew this was possible. I knew it was possible and I am sitting in DC and have less than zero engineering experience.
And on a side note – what’s with the gratuitous Gore reference/bash? What relevance is that to the N.O. situation.
DougJ
Jane, it is unfortunate that evacuation of Houston is being botched. They should have told people in low-lying areas to leave and others not to leave so that the people from the low-lying areas would be able to get out. I’m sure that Katrina led to an excess of caution (perfectly natural), but I’m afraid that this excess is going to have bad results. I hate to think of people stranded in their cars when the wind comes through.
Krista
Jane – I hope so too. They said they’ll call tomorrow if they can. I don’t agree with them on most things (they’re very right-wing, religious, and think Bush walks on water), but right now, if their beliefs and their faith are giving them comfort and strength, then I can’t argue with that.
Jane Finch
Doug it is not being botched from what I can see….there are simply too many people travelling for the infrastructure to support. They’re even moving buses by military planes.
From what I can see, all levels of government are doing as much as they can to get folks out and to avoid a repeat of Katrina.
Krista
Yeah, and really, there is no friggin’ way to get that many people out efficiently and without long waits, no matter how well it’s planned.
Hell, I waited 4 1/2 hours to get out of the Rolling Stones concert in Moncton, and that was only 85,000 people.
Another Jeff
Jeez, I thought i was done having to see Jane Finch’s incoherent, self-righteous babbling after Caruso booted her off his site.
sean
“Houston…too close to New Orleans…”
jg
Thats why it was so hard to figure you out at first. You said stuff that is routinely said at my poker table, and those people are serious.
DougJ
That’s what I mean when I say it has been botched. They should have told only people in high risk areas to evacuate since the infrastructure can’t support everyone moving at once.
The tough thing with this — and you see it with the budget too — is that an evacuation, like a budget, requires *choices*. You can’t give money for every program, just like you can’t evacuate everyone from a huge city.
I don’t mean this as a harsh criticism of the mayor or governor of Texas. Obviously, they’re in a tough situation, but I think we have to think in terms of the lessons here.
jg
SNAFU
Situation Normal All Fema’d Up.
tBone
Your uncle must be one brain cell away from having Congress pass an emergency bill to prevent removal of life support, then.
(That’s a compliment to your satirical skills, BTW, not an insult.)
jg
The man in charge of Katrina reconstruction is traveling to North Dakota for a political fundraising event. Situation normal.
Lines
jg: he won’t have to do Katrina reconstruction. Rita solved all the problems for him. They can claim Rove did a great job, no one could have done better, but Rita wiped out all his results.
rayabacus
That’s a little harsh on the Matriarch, don’t you think?
DougJ
How long until they start doing tests on using the Star Wars Defense System to fight hurricanes?
Ekim
John,
Why are so many of your readers Democrats? Because you are so wise? Or because you should be one but won’t admit it to yourself?