C'mon, These Are Our Neighbors

Jerks

This whole thing is a rotten story. 

Go here to do something about it.

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This is important.

New Photo Opportunities in a Closed File

For those that thought the case on George W. Bush's leadership during natural disasters was closed, think again. He's out there in the fire right now kicking ass and taking names. Just see how the man has grown.

First, a recap.

When Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the entire Gulf South region, Mr. President was missing in action. When this was going on....

...President Bush was busy doing other things...

Boy oh boy did Georgie get pounded in the papers. And by the Republican Congress.

Here is the President's assessment of FEMA chief Michael Brown days before Brown's resignation:

Here's what Michael Brown was busy with during the storm (from the NYT):

On Aug. 31, Mr. Bahamonde decided to send an e-mail message directly to Mr. Brown.

"I know you know, the situation is past critical," Mr. Bahamonde wrote. "Hotels are kicking people out, thousands gathering in the streets with no food or water."'

An aide to Mr. Brown responded hours later that the director would need a restaurant in Baton Rouge that night. "It is very important that time is allowed for Mr. Brown to eat dinner," the message said.

(Emphasis mine, though it should be intuitive)

President Bush tumbled in the polls as a result of his anemic reaction to storms devastation, his cold indifference as he and his people played bureaucratic blame games with state and municipal officials as American citizens died on the streets. The whole episode, it seemed, would cast a dark shadow on his whole presidency, not even mentioning the unpopular war launched on fabricated premises. (oops) The President and his press machine were wise to whisk Mr. Bush into Jackson Square on some key anniversary dates and snap some photos of a leader determined to rebuild. Throw those babies in the Katrina file and shut that shit tight. Historians can sort it out later.

Fast forward to the wildfire disaster and the Bush team response?

NO

Let's slow-forward (as if one could do real justice on a blog) through two agonizing years:

Health care failures.

Rebuilding an entire public school system.

Out of control murder and crime rates.

No mental health facilities.

Public Defender shortages.

Insurance company payout refusals.

Corruption of public offices.

Business woes.

What else am I missing, New Orleans? Sanitation, roads, LRA payouts, public transportation, much much much much more...

And that brings us to the tragic wildfires in California...

The disaster response was largely superb. Evacuees were treated with dignity and respect. They were given beyond basic food and water. They had a live band, massage, and acupuncture. Complete breakdown was avoided this time. Human beings weren't left to die for days on end.

And it's all because President Bush has learned his lesson....

....about photo opportunities and the pitfalls of press outrage.

Promptly arranged speeches, direct flights to California, emergency cabinet sessions replaced the ranch vacation of two years ago.

"Yes, Katrina was not handled well," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said curtly when peppered with questions about lessons learned. "The president accepted responsibility for that, and then he took action to fix it."

Yes, Katrina murdered us in the polls. We will do whatever necessary to make sure the next natural disaster is handled in a way befitting of the opinion numbers to which we aspire.

He has learned.

And President Bush did handle the immediate disaster here the way he was supposed to. He's proud of his administration's response. To be added to the file:


"We're not going to forget you in Washington, D.C.," Bush vowed after a tour of fire damage in Escondido, Calif. "We want the people to know there's a better day ahead; that today your life may look dismal, but tomorrow life is going to get better, and to the extent that the federal government can help you, we want to do so."

He has learned.

Think he could learn about that link list I got above? If he truly accepts responsibility for the failure of his leadership during Hurricane Katrina, think he might be interested in demonstrating his revamped leadership abilities by helping out his old victims down here?

Will Pose For Hospitals and Roads

So when you attempt to forget what you did to us two years ago by piling on Governor Blanco, why don't you try to remember how you're still screwing us today?

Holding Back a Tidal Wave of Anger

I'm elated to hear that the wildfires in Southern California are being battled effectively. I'm glad that people are going home and that they'll be able to begin to rebuild. I'm proud that the government largely took care of the evacuees.

I'm growing furious that the effectiveness of this response is being used to pile on the victims of Hurricane Katrina and deflect blame for the federal government's culpability in that disaster. My levee is holding for now. I'll hit Category 4 or 5 later on. And then...... Heckuva job?..... hold.... just hold.... a little longer.....


ttyl

I Feel For California, But I'm Still Bitter

With over one million people displaced, the wildfires in the San Diego area represent a heartbreaking tragedy.

Many people are losing their homes. It's awful. I'm not religious but I pray for rain and the firefighters battling the inferno.

I expect decisive and comprehensive relief for all human beings affected by the fires. I want nothing less for them. Humans should always take care of each other.

Yet, when I read this.....: (h/t: Karen)

A good 9,000 people ended up here, at Qualcomm Stadium, and if this was the endgame of a disaster, it would be a disaster that seemed possible only in the idyll of California.

There was a banh mi picnic in the parking lot, beef empanadas on the chow line, Caesar salads, cartons of fresh Starbucks House Blend, free magazines, toys for the kids, cots for grandma, pizza by the slice or, if you wished, the box. There was a man playing jazz guitar, a blues band, massages and acupuncture.

.....well I grow angry.... and you'll have to excuse me....

Because I live in a place that didn't get acupuncture for its evacuees. I live in a place that didn't have enough water for its refugees instead. My neighbors were evacuated to the Superdome. And I live in a place still struggling to recover from the "treatment." People are still displaced. People still live their lives in FEMA trailers. There aren't enough cops, not enough hospitals, our roads are in terrible condition, the criminal justice system is overloaded, the murder rate resembles Rio de Janeiro, the schools are in tremendous disrepair, the mental health system is nonexistent, our mayor thinks its more important to replace 4 year old trash cans purchased at $700 a piece with new trash cans purchased at $650 a piece because the old cans were too short, we have no large-scale agreed-upon recovery plan, the supposedly fixed pumping system still doesn't work, nobody has any faith that the army corps of engineers is repairing the levees to an adequate level of protection, an embarrassing number of public officials are under corruption investigation, a suffocating bureaucratic hate triangle between the city the state and the national governments prevents allocated money from being spent on anything constructive....

...and people around America ask if our hometown is worth being rebuilt at all....


The evacuees of the San Diego area deserve everything they seem to be getting from the government to help them cope with the tragedy they face.

I guess I just wish people around the country believed the people of New Orleans deserved the same care.