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You are here: Home / Politics / Republican Stupidity / Heckuva Job, Rick Perry

Heckuva Job, Rick Perry

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Remember this, during the GOP convention, when Hurrican Gustav was going to possibly spoil the show:

“You’re seeing Republican governors and… uh… I think in Republican states, taking care of the citizens. That’s what… That’s what we do.” – Governor Rick Perry

Well, the convention is over and the cameras are gone, so we are back to business as usual:

It didn’t take long for the finger-pointing to begin.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency came under fire Sunday as emergency workers were left undernourished and dozens of trucks of water and food had yet to be set up at distribution centers around Houston and surrounding communities.

And no sooner had the agency — widely condemned for its glacial response to suffering after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 — drawn sharp criticism as its leaders and spokesmen began to say it was someone else’s fault.

Earlier in the day, a FEMA spokesman said delays in setting up staging points to hand out needed provisions had been caused by blocked roads.

By the evening, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said it was the fault of state officials who handed his department the “unexpected challenge” of having to prepare distribution points in addition to delivering supplies.

Let me be the first to say you are doing a heckuva job, Rick Perry.

Reader Interactions

65Comments

  1. 1.

    Ted

    And the country may yet again reward across-the-board GOP incompetence with the White House.

    I just hope there are a lot of John Coles out there, particularly in Missouri and Ohio.

  2. 2.

    The Grand Panjandrum

    Jesus! I almost forgot the former Cheerleader was still President.

    What the hell happened? Didn’t Rick Perry just say yesterday that Texas had the largest pre-positioned response team in Texas history? Apparently the best thing to ever come out of Texas was Interstate 10.

    If the GOP were an ocean going liner they’d make the Titanic look seaworthy.

  4. 4.

    DonnaInMichigan

    They must of forgotten to take off their Republican hats, after the convention, and put back on their American hats.

    Yanno, those silly hats can get confusing….

  5. 5.

    Dennis - SGMM

    If the GOP were an ocean going liner they’d make the Titanic look seaworthy.

    If the GOP had been running the Titanic they would have all miraculously found themselves a lifeboat and then sworn to the press that the iceberg jumped out at the ship.

  7. 7.

    michelle

    The (former)cheerleader will be in Houston and Galveston tomorrow, according to the local wingnut station.

    The reason Perry can’t say the same about Texas is that Bill White has done a better job than any of the other politicians and has been lighting fires under FEMA butts for the last three years.

    Let Chertoff point his finger. It’s coming right at back him.

  8. 8.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    If the GOP had been running the Titanic they would have all miraculously found themselves a lifeboat and then sworn to the press that the iceberg jumped out at the ship.

    That’ll dovetail nicely with the War on Ice they’ve got going.

  9. 9.

    JGabriel

    Dennis – SGMM:

    If the GOP had been running the Titanic they would have all miraculously found themselves a lifeboat and then sworn to the press that the iceberg jumped out at the ship.

    Then they would have said, “No one could foresee this.” Which, to be fair, is kind of close to what the original owners of the Titanic actually said.

    So maybe the GOP was running the Titanic, and the current disaster responses – both natural and financial – are just a foreseeable consequence of electing them to office….

    Nah. That would mean the DFHs were right, which – as we all know – is unpossible.

    .

  13. 13.

    Alex B

    I gotta hope…

    The more McCain and Palin lie about ‘the economy being strong’ or ‘that Obama will raise taxes on the middle-class’ or about that cursed damn bridge… the more American voters are going to say to the McCain/Palin campaign, ‘THANKS, BUT NO THANKS, TO YOUR TICKET TO NOWHERE!’

    McCain/Palin – The Ticket to Nowhere. …Boy, that works.

  14. 14.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    I had more respect for Perry when he was fronting Journey.

    “Rock You Like a Hurricane” seems pretty fucking prescient now, dontit?

  15. 15.

    frogspawn

    Nobody could’ve anticipated distribution points!

    What, were they just going to dump all the supplies at the Oklahoma and Louisiana borders and sound the little dinner triangle thing?

    *Ding!* *Ding!* *Ding!*

    Come ‘n’ get it!

  16. 16.

    Tsulagi

    That’ll dovetail nicely with the War on Ice they’ve got going.

    And with the eight year detente we’ve had with the fish so far under the Decider’s experienced, keen leadership…

    “I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully.” —GW Bush, Saginaw, Mich., Sept. 29, 2000

    People voted for this idiot. We really do get the government we deserve.

  18. 18.

    SGEW

    “I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully.”

    Hey! This is, actually, the only quote by Bush that I respect!

    Seriously. The man loves fish. He invited Jacques Cousteau’s son to the White House (twice, I think) to talk about fish, and created the nation’s largest wilderness preserve to protect the precious, precious fish. For real. He likes fish. A lot.

    I find it to be evidence that he’s human. Sad, evil, and monstrously simple-minded, but human.

  19. 19.

    Incertus

    Let Chertoff point his finger. It’s coming right at back him.

    He should have gotten the axe after Katrina. Brownie was supremely unqualified for that job, but Chertoff cut him off at the neck when it came to the response.

  20. 20.

    flywheelgrinding

    Both our governor and

    Jesus! I almost forgot the former Cheerleader was still President.

    his predecessor

    The (former)cheerleader will be in Houston and Galveston tomorrow, according to the local wingnut station.

    were “yell leaders”.

    So was Kay Bailey Hutchinson.

    I wonder if Sayrah was, too.

  22. 22.

    SGEW

    Romney slamming McCain’s lying.

    WTF?

    I concur. WTF indeed!

    McCain’s lies are too much for Mitt Romney?!?

    What is the frequency, Kenneth?

  25. 25.

    sistermoon

    Fuck “my” Governor. I hate the asshole

    But, you’ve gotta admit, the man has hair that makes Mitt Romney jealous…

  26. 26.

    The Moar You Know

    Seriously. The man loves fish. He invited Jacques Cousteau’s son to the White House (twice, I think) to talk about fish, and created the nation’s largest wilderness preserve to protect the precious, precious fish. For real. He likes fish. A lot.

    WTF?

    I guess under some radically different circumstances the guy would be an engaging weirdo rather than a pants-crapping incompetent.

    My original thought was this – I think Perry is not the guy to be pointing the finger at here. By all accounts, the locals have performed admirably.

    It’s fucking FEMA, led by that heckuva guy, Chertoff, that is fucking blowing it again.

    I have a particular axe to grind about FEMA’s newfound incompetence.

    I was a “victim” (for me it was a ten-day party, in all honesty) of the Loma Prieta earthquake back in 1989. I was living in Santa Cruz and it destroyed quite a bit of the town. We were absolutely cut off from any outside assistance for about four or five days.

    The National Guard, the Red Cross, and FEMA all got there within 24 hours and did a bang-up job of getting assistance to those who needed it, food and water to those without, shelter to those who had lost their homes and financial and paperwork assistance to those who needed it.

    I’ve seen FEMA when it worked. It did great. I might point out that this was under the reign of Bush I, so it wasn’t even a Dem/Republican issue. FEMA was led by dedicated professionals who knew how to get the job done.

    Not any more.

    It’s obvious, seeing FEMA today, that FEMA has been the victim of a deliberate attempt to wreck the agency.

  27. 27.

    douglasfactors

    Off-topic, but a McCain spokesman just announced that Palin won’t meet with the Troopergate investigator. Is there a subpoena in her future?

  29. 29.

    Svensker

    “You’re seeing Republican governors and… uh… I think in Republican states, taking care of the citizens. That’s what… That’s what we do.” – Governor Rick Perry

    Wasn’t he also the one who said, right before Ike, that Texans knew how to take care of themselves and didn’t need anyone to tell them when to evacuate, they’d just do it if necessary?

    Why do the friggin Goopers have to constantly slam everyone else?

    I really hate these people…and I used to be one of ’em.

  30. 30.

    Jake

    Off-topic, but a McCain spokesman just announced that Palin won’t meet with the Troopergate investigator. Is there a subpoena in her future?

    I doubt it. I think the pols on the committee are quite hesitant to go after Palin aggressively as a group. It’s just local politics. Palin was popular before she got picked as McCain’s VP, now there’s all sorts of attention on Alaska. They don’t want to be known as the folks who brought her down, because ultimately, they’re primarily interested in keeping their own jobs.

    In other words, the Dem heading the investigation is a major cheese dick.

  31. 31.

    douglasfactors

    Is there a subpoena in her future?

    Would it matter if there was?

    Would it matter if the freaking vice-presidential candidate got hit with freaking subpoena?

    I’d say so.

  32. 32.

    phobos

    To be fair, this seems to be consistent with FEMA’s new policy of delaying actual “emergency management” services until local government agencies stop acting all faggy and procedural.

  33. 33.

    JL

    Jake Says:

    Check out this video of Romney slamming McCain’s lying.

    WTF?

    I listened a few times and could not tell when this was made. McCain has lied a few times so it could have been in the primary. Any idea when Romney said that?

  34. 34.

    SGEW

    The Moar You Know Says:

    I guess under some radically different circumstances [Bush] would be an engaging weirdo rather than a pants-crapping incompetent.

    Naw, he’d still be an asshole.

  35. 35.

    Blue Buddha

    By the evening, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said it was the fault of state officials who handed his department the “unexpected challenge” of having to prepare distribution points in addition to delivering supplies.

    Ummmm… WHAT IN THE FUCKING FUCK?!?! For one thing, distribution points were already set up. Second of all, doesn’t DHS/FEMA usually set up these distribution points? How in the motherfuck is this an “unexpected challenge”?! Jumping Jesus on a Segway!

    I’d hate to see what would happen if there were another major terrorist attack. This country is seriously fucked.

  36. 36.

    michelle

    W won’t talk to any reporters on his visit tomorrow. I guess that’s for the best. Only staged photos. I’m lucky not to have an operating teevee now, so I’ll miss that.

    Wasn’t he also the one who said, right before Ike, that Texans knew how to take care of themselves and didn’t need anyone to tell them when to evacuate, they’d just do it if necessary?

    I don’t know that that is correct exactly, but I can tell you that Perry was worthless to me, as was Chertoff before and during the storm. I had power and was watching the coverage until about 7 a.m. — when the worst of the storm hit my area. The man I looked to was Mayor White.

    Just now on the news — FEMA has distributed 1 million meals. Houston is 3 million by itself. That 1 million is just a fraction. It’s only been a few hours, but I am tired of hearing about the PODS. Stupid name.

  37. 37.

    Incertus

    I concur. WTF indeed!

    McCain’s lies are too much for Mitt Romney?!?

    Positioning for 2012, I’d say. Mitt will spend the next four years trying to remake his fortune and take another shot at the ring.

  39. 39.

    SGEW

    Well, if the Ike reaction is as fucked as the Katrina one, it’ll prove one thing:

    It’s not that George W. Bush doesn’t care about black people, contra Kanye. George W. Bush doesn’t care about people.

  40. 40.

    Blue Buddha

    It’s obvious, seeing FEMA today, that FEMA has been the victim of a deliberate attempt to wreck the agency.

    …as is the INS and other organizations that magically fell under the umbrella of DHS. I’m thinking that the sole purpose of the DHS was to wreck several government agencies at once, while shoveling cash into the pockets of the Bush cronies hired into top positions of the agency.

  41. 41.

    KC

    I hope the Obama campaign is truly coming back to life. It seems with the exception of the convention and the multiple homes thing, Obama gave McCain the entire month of August and a portion of September. With the economy going to the tank, I really do hope he starts doing some campaigning with Bill Clinton. I think his numbers would improve quite a bit. Whole fuckin’ thing concerns me.

  42. 42.

    The Moar You Know

    Would it matter if the freaking vice-presidential candidate got hit with freaking subpoena?

    I’d say so.

    Watch me make this not matter in four sentences:

    “This is obviously a partisan smear designed to embarrass and humiliate Ms. Palin just weeks before the election. Why are the Democrats so afraid of a powerful woman? Democrat leaders instigated this investigation and then moved the hearing to coincide with the election. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions from the facts I’ve put forth here today.”

    And she’ll just ignore it anyway. Cheney has blazed a trail into our new, lawless future.

  44. 44.

    NonyNony

    Seriously. The man loves fish. He invited Jacques Cousteau’s son to the White House (twice, I think) to talk about fish, and created the nation’s largest wilderness preserve to protect the precious, precious fish. For real. He likes fish. A lot.

    I find it to be evidence that he’s human.

    That’s interesting. I’d take it as evidence that he’s a “Manchurian” President – sent here from the sunken continent of Atlantis.

    Actually, that might explain a few things now that I think of it…

  45. 45.

    Jake

    I hope the Obama campaign is truly coming back to life. It seems with the exception of the convention and the multiple homes thing, Obama gave McCain the entire month of August and a portion of September.

    Well, the media’s fascination with all things Palin wasn’t exactly something he had a heckofa lot of control over.

    Nonetheless, I think we’ll see a big push here over the home stretch. I like Obama better coming from behind than being a little ahead and having to play defense.

    Still, we have to keep things in perspective. Americans are an impressionable bunch. And let’s face it – had we been told a few months after 9/11 that the 2008 Democratic candidate would be an African American named Barack Obama, well, nobody would have believed it. We tend to lose sight both of how impressive this guy has been, but also of just how improbable he is.

  46. 46.

    Incertus

    I’m thinking that the sole purpose of the DHS was to wreck several government agencies at once, while shoveling cash into the pockets of the Bush cronies hired into top positions of the agency.

    That would fit the Republican M.O.

  48. 48.

    SGEW

    So did Hirohito.

    This is both fascinating and truly spooky. What is it about fish?!

    Mind you, I do not think that W. Bush could even read A New Hydroid Hydractinia Bayeri (family Hydractiniidae) From the Bay of Panama, let alone write it.

    Hirohito:1
    Bush: 0

  50. 50.

    cain

    uh oh. my wife just discovered political blogs. She suddenly got interested once Palin came on the scene. She dislikes Palin intensely. Unfortunately, she was looking for the saturday night clip and ended up at “Ace of Spades”. Boy, there was suddenly a lot of ranting and raving. :-)

    I suspect another person to join the nutroots :-) haha

    cain

  52. 52.

    Delia

    Check out the comments on Steve Benen’s post on the Ike disaster. A lot of people in the region writing in. This one from this afternoon was good.

    I’m watching the live stream of ABC13.com out of Houston right now. They have had their best investigative reporter out at Crystal Beach, which is part of the restricted area (with the no-fly zone). He went in by boat, and they’ve had telephoto shots of the island.

    The investigative reporter has just finished his live report by satellite phone, describing the utter devastation. The chopper pilot is estimating 80% of the homes are completely destroyed, 95% significantly damaged, huge amounts of debris.

    The one thing that is amazing to him and all of the reporters:

    THERE IS NO ONE THERE! No rescue workers. No helicopters or boats. No National Guard, or Coast Guard, or ANYONE.

    He said that the only people they came across was two game wardens from farther south in Texas who were coming up in their boat to the Galveston area to see if they could help. As they came past they had been hailed by a couple of people who rode out the storm and who have been hoping someone would come get them out for the 48 hours since the storm passed.

    He was pointing out that, during Katrina, rescue workers were going through the houses to see if people or bodies were in them, and marking on the houses that they had been checked.

    There’s none of this going on, and there hasn’t been anyone in some of these areas at all. The authorities are not answering questions on casualties or survivors (there were a number of people at Crystal Beach who were planning to ride), and probably because they don’t know. They also are apparently not answering any questions about rescue efforts.

    Lots of other good stuff. The feds are basically trying to hide the whole thing. Maybe with the economic collapse and the McCain lying bullshit extravaganza we’ll just forget about Galveston, huh?

  53. 53.

    Alex B

    She dislikes Palin intensely. Unfortunately, she was looking for the saturday night clip and ended up at “Ace of Spades”

    cain – There is a clip of SNL Palin-Clinton skit available on Huffington Post site. No Motorhead there though.

  54. 54.

    gbear

    Lots of other good stuff.

    KHOU in Houston had 24-hr coverage on live internet feed up until sometime this evening. I saw one of their reporters saying the same things about the rescue efforts up by Crystal Beach. A group of storm survivors came up to the reporter and said they hadn’t seen a soul.
    I saw an interview where a (state?) representative from the area was blowing his cork because FEMA had sent 300 relief workers to a base where there wasn’t even food, water or toilets for the workers. The rep was literally begging for Houston citizens to bring food to the base for the workers. The Houstoners brought so much food that they had enough to distribute to storm-damaged areas.
    FEMA sucks shit.

  57. 57.

    TenguPhule

    Wow, McCain has completely lost Richard Cohen, of all people.

    Their bitter tears of disbelief taste delicious.

  58. 58.

    SnarkyShark

    I am from Galveston. FEMA has been getting in the way. Skeletor is a lying fuck, White had the POD positions pre-scoped.

    They are merely playing out the grand design of showing how bad government sucks. If FEMA worked worth a damn, then people would want more of that!.

    And I am frikin sick of PODS.

    Fuck PODS

  59. 59.

    SnarkyShark

    Is the Mayor of Houston a Democrat?

    Yes, but not the usual variety. Mayor White don’t play no shit and has already called FEMA and Skeletor out on numerous occasions. Even Republicans like White.

    They picked the wrong guy to make a patsy. Nagin was a corrupt dickweed. White is a tight unit.

  60. 60.

    cain

    cain – There is a clip of SNL Palin-Clinton skit available on Huffington Post site. No Motorhead there though.

    I think she just did a google search and just went to a promising link. Unfortunately, she started reading the comments. hehe.

    cain

  61. 61.

    cain

    Yes, but not the usual variety. Mayor White don’t play no shit and has already called FEMA and Skeletor out on numerous occasions. Even Republicans like White.

    This is great news for McCain. He will point out that we need to restore trust in government. Yeah right. Bush’s legacy is complete with the final nail in the coffin. He failed two cities now.

    Chertoff, you fuck, I hope you become a victim of your own incompetence!

    cain

  62. 62.

    cain

    Somebody threw up a link to thinkprogress. Somewhere in one of the links posted in the comment was a report about some guy holed up in a church with a pet lion because he was afraid that if he went to a shelter that the lion would end up on the food chain.

    I feel sorry for the lion. The coast isn’t exactly the Serengeti.

    cain

  63. 63.

    b. hussein canuckistani

    Am I the only one thinking that those fierce individualists who were too stubborn to evacuate should bear part of the cost of their rescue and emergency care? Not the ones too poor to evacuate, of course, I mean the ones who sat through three other hurricanes and they’re not leaving for some rainstorm.

  64. 64.

    PeterJ

    Bush has now arrived in Houston so Perry is expecting to get his medal of freedom anytime now…

    Mayor White wasn’t on the tarmac to greet the decider(tm). Good for him.

    And FEMA has brought ice, but no food or water.

  65. 65.

    Mary

    I can tell you for a fact that the actual CONTRACTS to provide aid were issued on Sunday. I am talking food, water, emergency health care, every FUCKING THING. You have to ask yourself what kind of government aid would require issuing contracts AFTER THE FUCKING FACT. This is the same kind of ideological privitizing REPUBLICAN BULLSHIT that caused the BS after Katrina. So why do they do this-fear and power. They had to check the donations before they would award the contracts. SCUMBAGS!!!

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