My LTTE re the Drowning of New Orleans

My LTTE made the Santa Barbara News-Press on Wednesday -- also sent it to the Los Angeles Times, but no word on that yet. Someone phoned in the early morning to say he appreciated it.

Hekate

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Neocon pundit once said he wanted to shrink federal government "down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub."

Who knew the demo project would be a storm surge in New Orleans?

The refugees of New Orleans have struggled virtually alone for a week. When the evacuation order came, tens of thousands remained because they had no transportation and planes, busses, and trains were long gone. There were NO government plans to evacuate the poor, the sick, the elderly, those in hospitals and nursing homes.

They died in their houses, in their attics, and finally on their roofs.

They did as they were told by the authorities. They went to the Super Dome and the Convention Center. As days went by, they walked miles to where buses or relief supplies were supposed to be, only to be told it was someplace else. They died in the Super Dome and the Convention Center.

The president of the United States was on vacation. He went to California for photo ops.

The National Guards that governors rely on in times of natural disaster were largely in Iraq.

Babies. Old people. The already sick. Diabetics. Dying for lack of water, sanitation, food, and medical care.

Refugees are scavenging shoes, bottled water, baby formula, diapers, food, clothing. The newscasters called them looters until it became apparent most were simply desperate refugees fighting for their lives.

Unfathomably, the federal authorities, once they showed up after 5 days, turned away Red Cross workers, claiming it wasn’t safe to enter the city. We heard that "battle-tested Iraq veterans" are arriving with shoot-to-kill orders for looters, even those scavenging life’s necessities. National Guardsmen, told to expect a riotous mob at the Convention Center, came heavily armed. They were greeted by a desperate nurse tending sick and dying children, and orderly-enough refugees in dire straits.

Now federal officials are pressing Louisiana’s governor to "request" a federal takeover of the evacuation of New Orleans — in effect a declaration of martial law, which would never have been necessary had humanitarian aid arrived promptly, and may not be needed now.

From the Bush administration: Malignant neglect followed by punishment of the victims. And Halliburton already has the contract to rebuild damaged naval installations in the Gulf.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

like he wanted, New Orleans would look like Fallujah at this point.

Poor black people would be the new terrorists and the only why Bush could deal with the new 'problem' that they created would be by heavy handed military tactics.

If Bushco was still in charge, the Superdome and the Convention center would still be full of starving people because it was too dangerous to even bring them food and water. This was the direction they were heading with this thing. Glad it didn't work.

:kick: