Shut Up!!

[Nbadan]

This thread is for FWD...


As they've done after every crisis, right-wingers are insisting that to question the Bush administration is unpatriotic. But no one should be afraid to hold our incompetent leaders to account.

For the third time since George W. Bush became president, Americans are paying a catastrophic price for bad government. As the costs are tallied once more in death and dollars, we are being told that the wise and patriotic thing to do is shut up -- as if good citizens are obliged to remain silent about unwise and incompetent leadership.

Honest political debate over how and why we lost the great city of New Orleans, according to the latest dictates from the right, means "an excess of recrimination," "finger-pointing" and "villain hunting." Such a "vulgar" exercise risks overshadowing our normal national unity and generosity in confronting disaster with "divisiveness" and "partisanship." We are piously advised instead to do good and find common ground, to "be humble, compassionate and helpful." Thus speak the sages of the New York Post and the Wall Street Journal.

In short, we must simply write checks to the Red Cross and choke off any critical impulse.

(snip)

So we are not to mention the downgrading of the Federal Emergency Management Agency from a Cabinet-level agency to a neglected sideline of the Department of Homeland Security. We must not say that FEMA was turned away from its mission when the president replaced its superb director, James Lee Witt, with political cronies who knew nothing about disaster planning. We cannot talk about the consistent underfunding of the Army Corps of Engineers, whose efforts to rebuild the Louisiana levees practically halted because of budget cuts last year. Above all, we must never, ever ask whether global warming might be making the annual perils of tropical weather systems much, much worse.

more: Salon (http://salon.com/opinion/conason/2005/09/02/criticizing_bush/index.html)

[Marcus Bryant]

Major shit happens and the knee jerk reaction from some on the left is to blame Bush. Just like when shit happened and Clinton got the blame from the right regardless of whether it was warranted.

FWD's point is that a tragedy like this should transcend politics for the moment. I, and most other non-whackjobs, agree.

[Spurminator]

Criticism is fine.

Most people know the difference between criticism and politicism.

You and your Chicken Little blogger buddies clearly don't.

[Marcus Bryant]

There will be a time to start the blame game. Now is not that time, for those who need it spelled out to them.

[FromWayDowntown]

There will be a time to start the blame game. Now is not that time, for those who need it spelled out to them.

:tu

[Nbadan]

There will be a time to start the blame game. Now is not that time, for those who need it spelled out to them.


Eh, that shit may have flown with people after 911 because they didn't want to criticize the Commander in chief during a war and seem unpatriotic. However, there is no enemy in NO. W is not the CIC in this situation but the top-dog of a bureaucracy that failed miserably to prepare, coordinate and react to the worst natural disaster to ever strike the U.S.

[Useruser666]

Did New Orleans suddenly sink below sea level in the last 5 years?

[FromWayDowntown]

Eh, that shit may have flown with people after 911 because they didn't want to criticize the Commander in chief during a war and seem unpatriotic. However, there is no enemy in NO. W is not the CIC in this situation but the top-dog of a bureaucracy that failed miserably to prepare, coordinate and react to the worst natural disaster to ever strike the U.S.

And rather than do a damn thing to compensate for the shortcomings -- to address the situation and make a difference -- tis better to make political hay while the sun is shining. :rolleyes

A frightening misallocation of priorities.

[MiNuS]

Bush's latest quote: "if you don't need to fill up on gasoline don't do it".

I'll make sure someone comes up with that sticker and place it on ALL the
gasoline stations in the country.

[Spurminator]

Oh well... While I'll certainly admit to being disgusted by the giddiness of a select few people in the wake of all this to say "I told you so" for whatever reason, I'm also convinced that these kind of sentiments are very rare among real people in real life situations.

Frankly, they can go fuck themselves. I'm through pretending their opinions are relevant.

[Marcus Bryant]

Eh, that shit may have flown with people after 911 because they didn't want to criticize the Commander in chief during a war and seem unpatriotic. However, there is no enemy in NO. W is not the CIC in this situation but the top-dog of a bureaucracy that failed miserably to prepare, coordinate and react to the worst natural disaster to ever strike the U.S.

Same old song, different tune. When the Twin Towers were still smoldering and it thought that perhaps tens of thousands of Americans had died, loons on the left and right were already claiming that Bush had orchestrated it so he could invade Afghanistan for his 'oil buddies.'

No one is saying that you have to like Bush. Just that politicizing this tragedy while it is not even a week old is not productive.

You could spend your time in here, if you really cared about what was going on in LA, MS and AL by posting info on how to donate and assist those in need.

Sorry, some of us just don't live and breathe a hatred or love of politicians.

Seek professional help.

[Nbadan]

And rather than do a damn thing to compensate for the shortcomings -- to address the situation and make a difference -- tis better to make political hay while the sun is shining. :rolleyes

A frightening misallocation of priorities.

Since when has the WH listened to anyone? There have been experts telling us since 2001 that this could happen. So what does the WH do? divert money that would have been spent strenghtening the levees to Iraq. Yes, we do have to take action to fix this problem and the first action we should take is make those most responsible for this horrific tragedy held responsible. Starting at the top.

[Nbadan]

You could spend your time in here, if you really cared about what was going on in LA, MS and AL by posting info on how to donate and assist those in need.

:rolleyes

Been there, done that in the Hurricane Katrina thread.

[Marcus Bryant]

:rolleyes

Been there, done that in the Hurricane Katrina thread.


Cutting and pasting hits on Bush doesn't count.

[FromWayDowntown]

the first action we should take is make those most responsible for this horrific tragedy held responsible. Starting at the top.

So, let's get the politics straight, and then we can worry about those who are actually suffering?

Want to know what you can do? Give money to the Red Cross. If you don't have money, or if you're skeptical about where it will go, find a shelter and offer whatever skillls you have to helping those who have lost everything. It's not particularly hard, even on a holiday weekend. Take your extra blankets and clothes to a shelter so that someone who isn't as fortunate as you might have a slightly easier time. Gather some school supplies for the kids who are having to enroll in new schools and are going to face the petty ridicule that so many kids are capable of, just because they won't have the right clothes or supplies. There are literally a million things that any of us can do.

Sitting around an internet forum blaming the President should be about 1,000,000th on the list of priorities.

This is just frightening.

[Marcus Bryant]

There will be years to sit around and blame whoever you like for this tragedy, be it Bush, the ACoE, Pete Fountain or Emeril.

[TOP-CHERRY]

So, let's get the politics straight, and then we can worry about those who are actually suffering?

Want to know what you can do? Give money to the Red Cross. If you don't have money, or if you're skeptical about where it will go, find a shelter and offer whatever skillls you have to helping those who have lost everything. It's not particularly hard, even on a holiday weekend. Take your extra blankets and clothes to a shelter so that someone who isn't as fortunate as you might have a slightly easier time. Gather some school supplies for the kids who are having to enroll in new schools and are going to face the petty ridicule that so many kids are capable of, just because they won't have the right clothes or supplies. There are literally a million things that any of us can do.

Sitting around an internet forum blaming the President should be about 1,000,000th on the list of priorities.

This is just frightening.
Voice of reason.

[Nbadan]

So, let's get the politics straight, and then we can worry about those who are actually suffering?

Want to know what you can do? Give money to the Red Cross. If you don't have money, or if you're skeptical about where it will go, find a shelter and offer whatever skillls you have to helping those who have lost everything. It's not particularly hard, even on a holiday weekend. Take your extra blankets and clothes to a shelter so that someone who isn't as fortunate as you might have a slightly easier time. Gather some school supplies for the kids who are having to enroll in new schools and are going to face the petty ridicule that so many kids are capable of, just because they won't have the right clothes or supplies. There are literally a million things that any of us can do.

Sitting around an internet forum blaming the President should be about 1,000,000th on the list of priorities.

This is just frightening.


Hey, the world of politics goes on whether we like it or not. Yes, we should all be doing everything we can to help the victims of Katrina, myself and my so-called blogger buddies have raised thousands of dollars for relief efforts and will continue to help the victims as much as we can. However, sitting around talking about what went wrong with Katrina aid way after the fact isn't going to do any good, and you know it. The administration will just later spin it into a over-reaction by the mean lefties, and a horrible sequence of unexpected circumstances when nothing could be further from the truth.

In today's political climate you have strike when the iron hot, and the images that we are all seeing on CNN/MSNBC should compel people to seriously ponder how prepared we really are for a horrific act of terror if the government is so over-whelmed by something that was this predictable?

[FromWayDowntown]

In today's political climate you have strike when the iron hot, and the images that we are all seeing on CNN/MSNBC should compel people to seriously ponder how prepared we really are for a horrific act of terror if the government is so over-whelmed by something that was this predictable?

That sentiment could truly explain the result in 2004 -- not some far-flung conspiracy to steal votes in Ohio. Anyone who truly sees this as a time to make political hay has zero perspective. I can better understand the backlash against the left if it crystallizes in a greater concern for finding political advantage by name-calling and finger-pointing than for finding solutions to existing problems.

Funny . . . those images cause no political reaction in me. They just make me very sad, and, quite often, bring me to tears.

I haven't once thought about who I should blame for the horrific things that I see.

[Nbadan]

Funny . . . those images cause no political reaction in me. They just make me very sad, and, quite often, bring me to tears.

I haven't once thought about who I should blame for the horrific things that I see.


What brings me to tears is our government's slow reaction to this natural disaster. 5 days to get any real federal aid into a U.S. city when people are dieing is simply outrageous, politically, ethically, and otherwise. We should all be mortified and hey, you better fucken realize that your alone out there. If Katrina would have hit South Texas and went up the coast to Galveston I wonder if the Fed relief would have been as slow? Fucken frightening.

[Nbadan]

That sentiment could truly explain the result in 2004 -- not some far-flung conspiracy to steal votes in Ohio. Anyone who truly sees this as a time to make political hay has zero perspective. I can better understand the backlash against the left if it crystallizes in a greater concern for finding political advantage by name-calling and finger-pointing than for finding solutions to existing problems.

It’s not the Ted Kennedy's or the Hillary Clinton's that are being vocal about the slow reaction by the feds, they have to much to lose. It's the people who are pissed. We expect more from our government, we expect more from our elected representatives, we expect more from the people who neglected to properly coordinate search and rescue missions in the critical hours, we are incensed that helicopters sent to sandbag the 17th street levee to save it from collapse never made it there because they were diverted, we are angered that it took our military 5 days to figure out how to air-drop food and water to stranded victims.

People are dying, trapped in their attics tonight because their time has run out. They simply can not hold on anymore. Think about that when you see all these rosy pictures of truck lined streets.

It’s too late.

It’s too late.

[Hook Dem]

Hey, the world of politics goes on whether we like it or not. Yes, we should all be doing everything we can to help the victims of Katrina, myself and my so-called blogger buddies have raised thousands of dollars for relief efforts and will continue to help the victims as much as we can. However, sitting around talking about what went wrong with Katrina aid way after the fact isn't going to do any good, and you know it. The administration will just later spin it into a over-reaction by the mean lefties, and a horrible sequence of unexpected circumstances when nothing could be further from the truth.

In today's political climate you have strike when the iron hot, and the images that we are all seeing on CNN/MSNBC should compel people to seriously ponder how prepared we really are for a horrific act of terror if the government is so over-whelmed by something that was this predictable?
You have buddies????? Absolutely shocking! Go crawl into your hole Dan until this is over and we'll signal you when to come out and continue with your hate campaign.