Help me correct a RW talk show host I have been emailing

This was his response to me tonite when I emailed him a copy of Blanco's letter to Bush:



Just where in the letter did she call out the 8000 available members of the national guard to quell the lawlessness that unlike New York after 9-11 ravaged the city? The only national disgrace going on right now is the Bush bashers shamelessly exploiting the death of thousands for political gain. It is the most outrageous thing I've ever witnessed.

K--something in Minnesota

in Mpls/St Paul used to carry him. They currently run Rush and Hannity, but their ratings are down locally (and some FM station may pick them up) so KSTP is looking for other wingnuts to take their places when their contract runs out.

dated August 27th, regarding Gov. Blanco's request for help
The President's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives, protect property and public health and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe ... Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency

I'll correct him.

I wonder why, have you ever tried calling Randi? That's a busy number!

No. I disagree. That's not what is happening here.

But I DO know who continues to shamelessly exploit the deaths of thousands on September 11, 2001 for political gain...

hope you don't mind used your quote in my response. could never had said it so well

if they really wanted to.If they hadn't let thousands die, there would be no one to exploit now would there?

It's just my own personal opinion.........

First of all, this was similar to 9/11 but it was also different. On 9/11, we were attacked by an enemy so there was the fact that we all joined together to fight against that enemy and that's why they didn't see any looting. Also our govt reacted immediately to that disaster. If it had taken the govt 5 days to respond to 9/11, I'm guessing there would probably have been some kind of lawlessness. After 9/11, no one stood around and asked when is our govt coming to help us because the govt reacted immediately!

With Katrina, we are now hearing this pussy excuse that the Governor never asked us to come. Do they really expect us to believe that this has been the ONLY news story 24/7 on ALL channels and the President, DHS and FEMA didn't know this was that bad? They expected an invitation? That is absolutely ridiculous!!!! Do these guys even have a brain in their heads? Can they look at a TV screen and think.......this looks pretty bad, I wonder if they need any help? Maybe we should call them just to see if they're ok. It doesn't take rocket science to know these people needed help when we see them day after day after day on TV begging for food and water!!!

Plus 9/11 came without warning.........and they got there fast! What took them so long with Katrina? They knew 2 days before the storm that it was heading straight for New Orleans and still it took them 5 days to get there!! What took them so long?

I would also suggest that if he is outraged at the politics of this and not the loss of human life..........well, he's not a good example of the human race. To me, this kind of outrage is the typical 'fake outrage' that the right wingnuts try to show. They show fake outrage to distract and change the subject. Don't let him do that! Tell him if he is outraged by the politics and not the loss of American lives..........the loss of lives that could have been easily prevented, then he is a poor excuse for a human being!!!

If he still tells you he doesn't think it was a big deal........tell him you'll buy him a one way ticket to New Orleans and see how he likes living 5 days without food and water. Living in a toxic soup!!

I truly believe that he is definitely not a convert but would just like to put him in his place

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2061999

"WASHINGTON -- Government disaster officials had an action plan if a major hurricane hit New Orleans. They simply didn't execute it when Hurricane Katrina struck.

Thirteen months before Katrina hit New Orleans, local, state and federal officials held a simulated hurricane drill that Ronald Castleman, then the regional director for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, called "a very good exercise."

More than a million residents were "evacuated" in the table-top scenario as 120 m.p.h. winds and 20 inches of rain caused widespread flooding that supposedly trapped 300,000 people in the city.

"It was very much an eye-opener," said Castleman, a Republican appointee of President Bush who left FEMA in December for the private sector. "A number of things were identified that we had to deal with, not all of them were solved.""

and

"...Despite four years and tens of billions of dollars spent preparing for the worst, the federal government was not ready when it came at daybreak on Monday, according to interviews with more than a dozen current and former senior officials and outside experts.

Among the flaws they cited: Failure to take the storm seriously before it hit and trigger the government's highest level of response. Rebuffed offers of aid from the military, states and cities. An unfinished new plan meant to guide disaster response. And a slow bureaucracy that waited until late Tuesday to declare the catastrophe "an incident of national significance," the new federal term meant to set off the broadest possible relief effort.

Born out of the confused and uncertain response to 9/11, the massive new Department of Homeland Security was charged with being ready the next time, whether the disaster was wrought by nature or terrorists. The department commanded huge resources as it prepared for deadly scenarios from an airborne anthrax attack to a biological attack with plague to a chlorine-tank explosion.

But Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said yesterday that his department had failed to find an adequate model for addressing the "ultra-catastrophe" that resulted when Hurricane Katrina's floodwater breached New Orleans's levees and drowned the city, "as if an atomic bomb had been dropped.""

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2061999

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4619137

AND

"For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
August 27, 2005

Statement on Federal Emergency Assistance for Louisiana

The President today declared an emergency exists in the State of Louisiana and ordered Federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts in the parishes located in the path of Hurricane Katrina beginning on August 26, 2005, and continuing.

The President's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives, protect property and public health and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the parishes of Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Caldwell, Claiborne, Catahoula, Concordia, De Soto, East Baton Rouge, East Carroll, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Franklin, Grant, Jackson, LaSalle, Lincoln, Livingston, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Pointe Coupee, Ouachita, Rapides, Red River, Richland, Sabine, St. Helena, St. Landry, Tensas, Union, Vernon, Webster, West Carroll, West Feliciana, and Winn.

Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency. Debris removal and emergency protective measures, including direct Federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent Federal funding.

Representing FEMA, Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary for Emergency Preparedness and Response, Department of Homeland Security, named William Lokey as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected area.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: FEMA (202) 646-4600. "

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4630184

People in NYC weren't locked in Manhattan. They tried to get everyone out of there and anyone who could walk over a bridge was allowed to do so, the opposite here. New Yorkers weren't told to go somewhere to wait for help, except some disabled people in the tower who were later killed by the falling building.

Why is this guy a DJ? He obviously doesn't read too much.

says some horrible stuff check him out if you can:


http://www.wbt.com/jasonlewis/index.cfm;jsessionid=203025c64cff7b5b437fTR

and I'll pass listening to an idiot. I live in a red state and can hear them daily without giving them ratings.

Thanks anyway.

First, lawlessness didn't "ravage the city"--hunger, dehydration, high winds and a hell of a lot of water did. New Orleans city officials estimate that 90% of the looters were looking for food, water, medicine and basic supplies in order to survive.

Second, if the entire city of New York was flooded, lost power, and was unable to provide even basic services for several days (or weeks--who knows?), you can bet your ass there'd be looting, rape, murder and mayhem. The situations are in no wise analogous--a few blocks of lower Manhattan were destroyed on 9/11; the relief effort was massive and immediate. All of New Orleans was paralyzed by hurricane Katrina, and about 80% of the city was under water; the relief effort was slow and insufficient. The RW meme that somehow NY under Giuliani was nobler and better than New Orleans under its Democratic mayor is nonsense--they're blaming the victims, most of whom happen to be poor and black.

On edit: as for "exploiting the deaths of thousands for political gain," what was Bush doing on his photo op "tour of the devastation," if not exploiting the suffering of thousands for his direct political gain? Those who point out the shortcomings of Bush and his DHS/FEMA appointees aren't going to gain a damn thing--Bush and the Republicans will still control all three branches of government, the war in Iraq will rage unabated (and unplanned), and the American people will continue to get screwed by the government that's paid to represent them.

that bush mobilized the guard after 9/11. Something the president has the power to do

assertions.

Why are they so eager to use the power of the United States government to provide food and water to Iraqis, while at the same time scoffing at those of us who think the federal government should be used in relief efforts in our own country?

They have lost every rationale for the Iraq war, and the only one they're left with is the idea that we've "liberated" the Iraqis: built schools, turned on the electricity, water, etc...

So why not in America?

That's my two cents. Or maybe one cent, depending on the value of my points. :)

If you've been in Charleston as long as i've been in charlotte then we both know the devastation from a major hurricane

I've been in and out of Charleston my whole life, but have been back for three years now. I rode out Hurricane Hugo in Columbia and it was bad enough there, a couple of hours inland. If I remember correctly, Hugo made an appearance in Charlotte, too. Were you around for that?

Living two miles from the beach now, and watching this so-called response by the feds, I'm even more concerned. Not only for the feds' ability to respond in general, but we're still in hurricane season. If there's a big one here (or anywhere) the resources that are now on the Gulf Coast, and rightfully so, will make it even tougher to respond to another disaster.

I was 8 months pregnant. A night I will never forget. But compared to what people have experienced this week it was probably just a bad thunderstorm that left us without power and water for a few weeks

one more thing that could be helpful
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson offered Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco help from his state's National Guard last Sunday, the day before Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana. Blanco accepted, but paperwork needed to get the troops en route didn't come from Washington until late Thursday.

from the mother of a dead soldier who had a question to ask him and was busy partying on Tuesday, eating birthday cake and playing the guitar.

The VP was fly-fishing in MN until this weekend and wasn't heard from throughout the entire disaster. Citizens of the US thought he was dead.

The SOS was on a shoe-shopping trip on Wednesday and went to the theater on Wednesday night.

Gov. Blanco did all that she had the power to do by requesting the NG before the hurricane struck. Other states responded to her request.

Bush did not.

Iraq had drained most states of the NG and first responders, such as police, many of whom were in the NG.

Funds were cut to FEMA and the head of that organization was fired from his previous job (a horse training org of some sort) for incompetence and had no experience in disaster management.

FEMA, rather than save lives, actually prevented lives from being saved by stopping help from getting to the victims.

The Mayor of Chicago was turned down when he offered extra police and NG.

Crime did not kill the thousands who died in this tragedy, neglect killed them, from the time the storm passed on Monday, until Friday when the Bush administration was finally shamed into action by the horrible images flashing across the world with virtually no leadership apparent.

When 9/11 happened, FEMA had not been privatized. Federal funds had not been slashed by this administration as they were for the repair of the levees by BUSH and the money diverted to the Iraq War, which was based on the lie that WMDs were a threat to the US.

Bush has spent 300 billion dollars on Iraq and has accomplished nothing there, not even provided basic services for the people of Iraq, such as clean water, electricity etc.

America has now been proven to be far less safe, its military and NG are elsewhere, and not where they are needed. Money is being wasted on foreign wars, and Osama is still on the loose, four years later.

His cult leader is not only a failure, he is a danger to the lives of people here and abroad and needs to step down immediately along with his entire administration, for the sake of his country.

If he is more horrified by the politics of this than the deaths of thousands of his fellow Americans, he is a sorry excuse for a human being ~

And ask him what excuses this 'Security President' would be making had this been a terrorist attack, which would have resulted in even more deaths, since there would have been NO warning and the tens of thousands of people who DID get out, would not have? Does he still think Bush can protect him? What a jerk!!

that

Further, what if she was dead after the freaking hurricane?

Screw these idiots!

his response to me was about that letter.

destruction of public schools; joblessness and poverty; racism; destruction of protective wetlands; and the crumbling infrastructure in this country.

Every parent with children in public schools, civil rights leaders, environmentalists, members of the clergy, and labor should be raising hell about this debacle.

be outraged abouth those inportant issues

and that was enough. Ugh, they've all got "that look."

Smirk is getting blasted from all sides, not just from evil libruls. Have you pointed that out to "Mr. Right"?