Thursday, September 1, 2005
I didn't actually watch the whole show tonight, I confess. After a day of watching coverage about New Orleans and seeing horrifying pictures of what's going on down there, I was actually somewhat relieved when I heard that KPTV's sister station was carrying a football game which was going long. That meant that wrestling was starting at 9 PM, giving me a semi-legitimate excuse to not watch the "news."
At 10, however, at the urging of my wife, I did watch the first 11 minutes of the show. As you'd expect, it was totally concerned with the Katrina aftermath. Some of you aren't going to like what I'm about to say.
I'm 53 years old and I've lived in America all my life. I have never been as disgusted by, and ashamed of, my government as I am this week. No rational person could blame the Bush administration for the hurricane. The fact is, however, that despite warnings for years from scientists and engineers that the levees in the New Orleans area needed to be repaired and fortified, the administration cut the budget for that work by 60%. It is possible that even the fortified levees might have failed under the onslaught of a catergory 5 hurricane, but they would almost certainly not have failed as catastrophically.
The situation in the South right now is horrifying; the video of it makes the U.S. look like a Third World nation. Some police officers in New Orleans have handed in their badges, saying that it isn't worth their lives to confront looters with guns. Click here. In the midst of this catastrophe, what is the Secretary of State doing? Why, shopping for expensive shoes, of course! Go to gawker.com and scroll down to "Breaking: Condi Rice Spends Salary on Shoes" When does the New French Revolution start?
Want a timeline of how this all happened? Click here.
Oh, while I'm here, remember how I blogged about on Sunday night about Washington state supposedly converting their HOV lanes back to regular traffic? Remember how I said the "reporter" on the story was a right-wing hack who gave the last word to someone who said that HOV lanes were "social engineering?" Funny thing. KPTV issued a correction tonight for that story. Turns out, Washington state is NOT ending the HOV program; it's only closing some HOV lanes in the Vancouver area. May I politely ask how you could possibly make a mistake like that? Wouldn't it be essential to have gotten some information from the state that they WERE closing the HOV lanes statewide before you went on the air with a story to that effect? Guess not. Facts in "journalism"--that's so 20th Century! Gee, since Dan Springer is "their" reporter, will KPTV fire him for this screw-up? I kid.
See you tomorrow night.
posted by KPTV-Watch @ 11:51 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
I am very tired of hearing people blame the Government for the suffering that's occuring in New Orleans. Some blame Bush, some blame the federal government (either for the lack of funding to make the levees stronger or for a PERCEIVED slow response to this tragedy), and some blame state & local governments for being unprepared.
Wake up people.
This storm was predicted... experts said the city would be underwater, and it is.
People in need of rescue & immediate care/relief are in their situation because they disobeyed DIRECT orders to evacuate the city. To suggest that the Government is somehow to blame for their current suffering is ridiculous.
This the largest humanitarian relief effort in modern U.S. times. It's not like there's a well-oiled disaster-relief machine that can be turned on to instantly make things all better. Yet, it seems like there are people who honestly believe such a thing is possible, and are angry that it isn't being done quickly.
I'm amazed at the amount of people who don't realize that Government is not an efficient operation. It's too big, too slow, too bulky, and too overextended. It's always been that way, no matter the President at the time. To expect that Government should suddenly become efficient at a time of crisis needs to adjust their level of expectations.
I can't stop you from blaming our current President for this "slow" relief effort or for his "lack of preventative support". But clearly those who blame Mr. Bush are allowing their dislike for him affect their judgement. The simple fact of the matter is that New Orleans should be underwater right now, given it's elevation below sea level. And given the accurate warnings and predictions about this storm, there shouldn't have been ANY people there to rescue/save/relieve -- they all should've evacuated well inland.
"I am very tired of hearing people blame the Government for the suffering that's occuring in New Orleans. Some blame Bush, some blame the federal government (either for the lack of funding to make the levees stronger or for a PERCEIVED slow response to this tragedy), and some blame state & local governments for being unprepared.
Wake up people."
"Perceived" slow response? How about ACTUAL slow response?
"This storm was predicted... experts said the city would be underwater, and it is."
Yes, the storm was predicted, making the slow response all the more tragic. The Times-Pacayune newspaper has been running a series of articles about the impending problem with the levees for the past three years. The federal government, under the "leadership" of George Bush and the Republicans, rather than increasing the budget for maintenance, repair and improvement of the levees, REDUCED the budget for that work by 60%.
And what Commie outfit put in the original budget request? Oh, the Army Corps of Engineers, that wild-eyed bunch of leftists.
"People in need of rescue & immediate care/relief are in their situation because they disobeyed DIRECT orders to evacuate the city. To suggest that the Government is somehow to blame for their current suffering is ridiculous."
Are you aware that 27% of the citizens of New Orleans do NOT own cars? Are you aware that there was NO mass transportation provided by the government to help them get out of the city? This is even though, as you said, the storm was predicted. If the storm had magically appeared out of nowhere, it would be reasonable to say that they couldn't have reacted to it. That, as you correctly point out, is not the case, though. The mayor of New Orleans did the only thing he COULD do under the circumstances and ordered people to evacuate. Many of them, including the 27% with no personal means of transportation, COULD NOT evacuate.
"This the largest humanitarian relief effort in modern U.S. times. It's not like there's a well-oiled disaster-relief machine that can be turned on to instantly make things all better. Yet, it seems like there are people who honestly believe such a thing is possible, and are angry that it isn't being done quickly."
Uh, are you aware of a government agency called FEMA, The Federal Emergency Management Agency? It exists specifically for helping people in circumstances like this. Well, it did, that is, until George Bush folded it into the much larger Homeland Security Agency. Homeland Security is the second-largest agency in the federal government, by the way and is run by Michael Chertoff, an old pal of Bush's, who has NO prior experience in emergency management. Obviously, he's the PERFECT guy to run an agency that helps people survice catastrophes. In other words, George Bush and the Republicans made FEMA LESS efficient--unless you believe that the larger a government bureaucracy is, the more efficient it becomes (and I seriously doubt you believe that).
"I'm amazed at the amount of people who don't realize that Government is not an efficient operation. It's too big, too slow, too bulky, and too overextended. It's always been that way, no matter the President at the time. To expect that Government should suddenly become efficient at a time of crisis needs to adjust their level of expectations."
So, in other words, tough shit for those who have died or are suffering. I'll say it again, in different words this time: Crisis management is exactly what FEMA is supposed to do--and what it used to be able to do more efficiently than it currently can.
"I can't stop you from blaming our current President for this "slow" relief effort or for his "lack of preventative support". But clearly those who blame Mr. Bush are allowing their dislike for him affect their judgement."
I can't speak for others, but I can say that the REASON I dislike Bush is precisely BECAUSE of the way he has run the government over the past 4.5 years. From my point of view, he has failed in every respect I can think of.
"The simple fact of the matter is that New Orleans should be underwater right now, given it's elevation below sea level."
And most of Southern California shouldn't be where it is since it sits directly on or near a fault line. My home town, New York City, shouldn't be where it is since it is a prime target for terrorism. Florida keeps getting hit by hurricanes. Let's get everyone out of there permanently. Same goes for a large chunk of the middle of America. It isn't called Tornado Alley for no reason, after all. Where do you plan to put all the people who need to be permanently moved out of potentially dangerous areas?
New Orleans is where it is because it's a large port, though which much of our oil passes, for example. You HAVE seen what's happened to gas prices over the past few days, yes? According to the oil companies, New Orleans is vital to their ability to provide gas and oil to the rest of the company. Or are you calling the oil companies liars?
"And given the accurate warnings and predictions about this storm, there shouldn't have been ANY people there to rescue/save/relieve -- they all should've evacuated well inland."
Absolutely. So, why didn't the Federal government supply vehicles to do that? I don't follow your logic here.
Oops, I misspelled "Picayune." Sorry.
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