President Biden responded with humanity and compassion for the people of Baltimore. And he's been clear about what has to happen next. pic.twitter.com/4HlRlc5lg3
— Secretary Pete Buttigieg (@SecretaryPete) April 7, 2024
President Biden has directed his entire administration, including our department, to get every resource possible to Maryland. All of America is standing with Baltimore as Gov. Moore, Mayor Scott, & so many others work tirelessly to reopen the port & rebuild the bridge. pic.twitter.com/lR7FgZ58PV
— Secretary Pete Buttigieg (@SecretaryPete) April 6, 2024
Per the NYTimes, “What We Know About the Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse in Baltimore” [gift link]:
The giant container ship that struck and downed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore in the early hours of March 26 remains pinned under the twisted remains of the bridge. Officials have outlined plans for their effort to recover the bodies of victims, free the vessel, dismantle the wreckage and reopen the city’s port as quickly as possible.
They have begun to clean up the debris to clear the channel to one of the nation’s busiest ports, and so far have removed a 200-ton piece of the bridge, officials said. As part of the operation, officials brought in a crane capable of lifting 1,000 tons.
On Thursday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it hoped to open a channel for limited access by the end of April, and reopen to normal port traffic by the end of May.
On another front, federal investigators said that they were interviewing key crew members and examining hours of data recordings. But the investigation into the ship crash could take years, they said.
The bridge is a part of Interstate 695 and a critical transportation link on the East Coast. The disaster has become America’s deadliest bridge collapse in more than a decade…
Amazon, Home Depot, Domino Sugar and others have committed to keep workers on payroll in Baltimore following Key Bridge collapse, Biden says during site visit.
He called on every company at and around the port to do same.
(@business scooped yesterday that White House… https://t.co/WHxfwhlQNb pic.twitter.com/kCWj3fBc4G
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) April 5, 2024
The GOP, of course, is responding with its usual intelligence and empathy…
BREAKING: Pete Buttigieg just slammed Donald Trump for showing no empathy for the victims of the Baltimore bridge collapse. This is why having President Biden is so important. Retweet so all Americans see this. pic.twitter.com/SpPpwt2g3Z
— Biden’s Wins (@BidensWins) April 7, 2024
They always sound like deranged hostage takers https://t.co/Igbnee5D5j
— Lisan al-Godzilla (@TonyMoonbeam) April 5, 2024
Imagine thinking this is an own vs. Biden.
Also, Biden actually said, “to get that phone call in the middle of the night, to say your family members are gone. I’ve been there.” That’s happened to him more than once — his 1st wife and baby daughter died in car accident, in 1972. pic.twitter.com/Jxc0FtILrU
— Eric Kleefeld (@EricKleefeld) April 5, 2024
HumboldtBlue
eliethehallwaycat is polydactyl, she might could help with the bridge building.
satby
They sound like deranged hostage takers because that’s what they are. It’s the only way they can get what they want. And even then, like with the border concessions to get aid to Ukraine, they renege on the deal to try to get more.
Betty Cracker
@satby: Yep. They are chaos agents, nothing more.
Villago Delenda Est
@Betty Cracker: Let’s be blunt. They’re traitors to the Constitution and the People of the United States.
satby
@Villago Delenda Est: that too.
Dangerman
@Villago Delenda Est: Let’s be fair. Traitor is a little strong. I’ll go only as far as rancid pieces of shit that would sell their Daughters and Mothers into prostitution if It got them a tax cut for the 1%.
Odie Hugh Manatee
“But the investigation into the ship crash could take years, they said.”
This has to change. Something like this shouldn’t take years to determine what happened when most everyone already knows most of it already. Companies poorly maintain their equipment, run with it in dangerous condition and refuse to pay for tugs, all because they are too expensive. Now they knocked down a bridge and don’t want to pay for it but rather, stick us with the bill.
Seriously, something needs to be done to light a fire under our regulatory bodies. I understand taking the time to get things right but this is fucking stupid.
Bruce K in ATH-GR
@Dangerman: Yeah … there’s a reason that “treason” was narrowly defined in the Constitution. I’d use the term “fellow travelers” except that on looking it up, it has a historical anti-fascist bent to it, which the 21st-century GOP is most emphatically not.
Betty Cracker
@Odie Hugh Manatee: I had the same thought when I read that the investigation could “take years.” There are multiple videos of the crash, FFS! It might take years to litigate the legal culpability, but we already know how to make bridges safer from collisions.
Gretchen
What’s interesting to me is that Governor Larry Hogan pushed to allow these big container ships into the port despite warnings from engineers and safety experts that this could happen. Now he has to defend that decision while running for Senate. People warned him, he ignored the warnings and people died.
satby
@Odie Hugh Manatee: @Betty Cracker: everything can take years when obstruction into the process is normalized and the judiciary is used to derail and delay things.
Betty Cracker
@satby: Excellent point. The cure for that is obvious too — stop reelecting members of the party who block accountability and progress.
ColoradoGuy
The entire ethos of the former GOP, or rather, the new Trump/Putin Party, is Cruelty Is Cool. That’s the one thing they all believe, from top to bottom.
Rupert Murdoch, Rush Limbaugh, and Newt Gingrich created this monster … absolute contempt for any trace of compassion or basic humanity.
NotMax
@Betty Cracker
We have or can bring in people with expertise in these matters and I for one am not about to second guess their prowess in conducting a methodical investigatory procedure.
All that is known with certainty are the when, the where and a sliver of the who. The how, why, what and the rest of the who remain to be responsibly determined.
Baud
If we had left wingers who acted like them, the entire Dem party would be tarnished by it. I hope the freedom caucus sinks Hogan, although he should sink because of his own actions.
eclare
@HumboldtBlue:
What a cutie!
Jeffg166
@satby: They are the real takers.
matt
losing a family member is comparable to losing a family member. not sure what the hissing spiders of the media are trying to say.
satby
@matt: That Joe Biden, rather than being empathetic (because they aren’t capable of empathy), is just milking his losses for votes. Pure projection , that’s what they would do so they naturally assume he is.
lowtechcyclist
@Dangerman:
@Bruce K in ATH-GR:
I think ‘traitor’ is appropriate. Remember, it means ‘someone who betrays,’ not ‘someone who commits treason.’ Though the latter is a subset of the former, there is plenty of room to betray this country and the Constitution in ways that don’t fit into the (appropriately IMHO) narrow definition of treason in the Constitution.
kalakal
@Bruce K in ATH-GR:
Quislings
Kirk
@Odie Hugh Manatee: nope. It will take 2-3 years to do the complete investigation and that has nothing to do with obstruction or slow rolling. Doing it faster is akin to thinking CSI is an accurate depiction of how long and how effective forensic science is.
At the grossest level, we know. But we don’t know all the specifics. We don’t know what exactly failed and caused the power failure, just for one point. We don’t know how much of each parties’ stories are correct.
We might not ever know it all. At some point the investigation will put out findings with unknowns listed, but sufficient for not only assigning fault but also recommendations for preventing a next time.
And that will, as always in major disasters, take years.
Mousebumples
@Kirk: I presume you have me expertise in this field? Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
evodevo
@Kirk:
One good thing: the ship didn’t sink, and is fully accessible to investigators. Should shorten the timeline. One caveat: DON’T let the insurance claims adjusters be the only ones on board…there should be a 24/7 monitoring of the site and feds involved in the investigation, to make sure all the liable parties are open and honest about the findings.
Uncle Cosmo
I wish folks would stop referring to the Key Bridge and its approaches as “part of Interstate 695” because it
isn’twasn’t (and won’t be once restored).It
doesdid close the ring of the Baltimore Beltway, which is I-695 for the section between I-95 to the southwest of town (at about 8 on the clock) clockwise to I-95 northeast of town (2 on the clock). Itdoesdid afford an alternate route to I-95, shorter than I-695 and less of a hassle than driving through Baltimore City, for vehicles prohibited from either of the tunnels under the Patapsco River.But it has never met the minimum requirements for an interstate highway (e.g., the bridge and much of it approaches
iswas only 2 lanes wide). Therefore itiswas designated state highway 695 (MD-695).And this is not unique: the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, which runs roughly parallel to I-95 but predates it, is designated MD-295 because it doesn’t qualify as an interstate either. (IIUC, for about the same reason – not enough lanes.) Both designations allude to a close relationship (but not equivalence) with the similar-numbered interstates.
(And if this be pedantry, mark me down as unabashedly pedantic. IOW, sue me.)
Anonymous At Work
@Gretchen: AND Hogan has to defend his party’s presidential nominee and his party’s calls for banning this-or-that or defunding something as a pre-condition for any federal aid.
Villago Delenda Est
@Jeffg166: They are parasites.