Frist on tsunami: "It is like 9/11 but so different....no one to blame!"

"I feel like I've been hit in the stomach," Frist, R-Tenn., said in an e-mail to friends and supporters. "It is like 9/11 but so different. There is no one to blame."

I just hate it when there's a calamity with no one to blame. It's so difficult to exploit the situation.

n/t

the clenis was to blame. I read it on the internet so it must be true.

It is on the internet

CIA Officials Reveal What Went Wrong – Clinton to Blame

The worst, single most tragic day in the history of America has just passed.
Tuesday more Americans likely died than all the casualties of the Battle of Antietam on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 1862.

Already the media spin on yesterday's events is relentless.

The talking heads are pushing several themes, including:

Now is not the time to point fingers at responsible parties in America, i.e., political figures like Clinton or our own security agencies.

The events of Tuesday are the "worst-case scenario" – the worst is over.

Osama bin Laden is the culprit.


http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2001/9/11/232727.shtml

:argh:

Since Clinton was not ther to portect SE Asia, its his fault. He also didn't warn the people there, so its his fault, etc.

but he didn't so this is his fault

unfortunately president bush has been so busy with terrorists he never had time to call for a better warning system

They cant just leave it alone.

repuKKKes always ready to blame and exploit... :puke:

I, for one, will happily point the finger at the governments of India, Indonesia, etc. for completely ignoring the huge risk posed by this system of faults within their midst, and for not spending the miniscule amount of money it would have taken to build an early warning system

I thought I heard that they've been few and far between and minimal. If that's true, you're just talking with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight.

If I'm mistaken about their tsunami history, I apologize.

This is a problem we often come up against when trying to educate governments about the risks posed by faults and other geological hazards. Just because something is rare doesn't mean it's not likely to happen eventually. Fault systems like the one that caused this earthquake are well-known for causing large quakes and tsunamis (because subduction zones are located under the ocean.) Yes, the chance of it happening within any given person's lifetime is very low. However, when it *does* happen...

Short answer - they gambled and they lost.

What would happen if every society were to prepare for every remote but realistic possibility, and how far do you go? Do you do things like ban ownership of oceanfront property?

Would maximum preparation work? Or could it ruin entire economies?

I'm not trying to be confrontational. I'm just trying to consider as many facets as possible. I hope that's how this is coming across.

I understand exactly what you're saying. Just look at how much money Montana is receiving for anti-terrorism. :) Sure, terrorists might attack Butte, but you can't give every town the size of Butte the same protection you give NYC.
I call out this tsunami as being unique for a couple of reasons:

1) The probability of this event happening has always been essentially 100% and it's only been a question of when. It was not an unforseeable event.

2) Preventative measures are quite simple and inexpensive. In most cases I've seen so far, if people had only been a few hundred yards or a mile inland, they would have been fine. We understand how to build a cheap, effective early warning system. You'd have to have a mass evacuation, yes, but a very short one.

You can't plan for every possible outcome. But this is a case where there are people who've been campaigning for years to get an early warning system, and they were ignored.

>>But this is a case where there are people who've been campaigning
>>for years to get an early warning system, and they were ignored.

I was not aware of that! Thanks for the thoughtful reply.

Actually, this is one of the projects Arthur C. Clarke's foundation has been working on (granted, most of their work is focused on the Pacific basin, but that's mostly because that's where you get the funding and political backing to do the sort of things they wanted to do.) Anyway, I've read some of his writings on this subject, and it was clear early on that he understood the geology of the Indian ocean, and was concerned about the possibility of earthquake-generated tsunami for quite some time. His work in this area has been very beneficial, as it focuses on collaborative information-sharing measures that would quickly propogate data from early-warning systems to agencies that could do something about it. I'll try to find the link again, but if memory serves, you can google on "clarke project WARN" if you're interested. (I think I've got the name of the project right, but it's new year's eve and I'm drunk. :toast:

n/t

Interesting. I'd like to read about that.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/28/opinion/l28flood.html...


We should recognize that the United States lacks a fully deployed early warning system for earthquakes.

One of the goals of the Advanced National Seismic System is to provide this capability. Only $16.6 million has been appropriated for the system from the $170.3 million needed and authorized by Congress.

Seeing the loss of life that could have been prevented by an early warning system in Asia should be motivation enough to push for the full deployment of a seismic system to mitigate the loss of life that can occur in the regions of our country that are affected by earthquakes.

Timothy Dawson
Newark, Dec. 27, 2004
The writer, an independent consulting geologist, formerly worked at the United States Geological Survey.

Thanks for the info. I'm going to try to find out exactly what was in that appropriation. Would you be interested in knowning the specifics, if I can figure out what was in the bill?

I called Senator Feinstein's office and Congressman Berman's office on Thursday and asked about the program and its current status. The aides I spoke with at both offices were unaware of the status on the the funding.

I would love to hear more and Im sure I will be keeping up as well.

n/t

Setting up another Bush coronation and spoiling Frist's 2008 run?

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So I guess he can't use it for political gain like 9/11. I hate it when that happens.

Only about 40 times the human toll, if not more.

Not to belittle what happened September 11, 2001, but WTF?

he needs to keep his pie hole closed.

After an exclusive interview with the Tsunami they reported that it was very displeased with the recount efforts in Ohio and thus was punishing thousands of innocent people because those stupid liberals won't accept the legitimacy of our beloved commander-in-chief George W.

For one thing, no one has been "held" accountable for 9/11.

Why would he make the statement "no one to blame"?

While 9/11 was horrific, and 3,000 lives lost....cannot compare in magnitude to the Tsunami with 120,000+ lives lost, towns and villages obliterated and no one could have prevented it. On the other hand, had King George been paying attention to his job instead of taking one of his many vacations, he might have been able to prevent 9/11.

Asinine comment by the doctor/senator.

The implication being that tragedies are easier to deal with if there is someone to blame?

one American life equals 100 furrners.

the bad too?

Whenever I think about Frist, I remember the words of my little sister.

I was nine years old, and she was five, and some older guy was pounding us with some sick theology, and she said to him:

"...you...you...PENIS HEAD!

You can't debate someone like Frist on a rational level. This is the guy who screamed "Anthrax!" and next thing you know they'd stripped his staff naked and wrapped them up in plastic sheeting and duct tape.

He probably has pictures.

and Clinton is the built in BLAMEE for the Republicans.
Shouldn't be that hard to come up with someone to point the finger at.