19ster-
I've always used this thread to "load up" in preparation
for debate... in addition to enjoying the points of view.
more ammo...
a letter from the cosmic bandito, a.c. weisbecker:
(the DSP is his "down south perspective" - an occasional email
that allan sends to people on his email list)
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Hi folks,
My question about the New Orleans catastrophe elicited tremendous
response. Here it is again, a reminder:
Do you think it might've gone differently in New Orleans if it'd been
200,000 country club Republicans trapped and dying down there?
Just about exactly 50-50 agreeing with the implication of the question
and disagreeing.
Lotsa hostility in the negative ones.
I do now regret having sent the DSP as it was, since I now have to
explain what the question meant in subtext, although it seems obvious.
I'm still recovering from TB and now I've been diagnosed with
full-blown Lyme Disease, so my energy level is low.
Aside from my energy level, there's a sense of uselessness to pointing
stuff out. Regarding those of you who agree with my observations and
conclusions, I'm preaching to the choir, as it were, so nothing
changes.
Regarding those of you who think Bush really cares about you and the
American people in general, rather than empire building there's
nothing, no facts, no observations, however inarguable, that will
change your minds. So nothing changes here either.
This is discouraging.
Here we go anyway:
A very high percentage of the negative responses berated me for
singling out Republicans to blame for the delay in the arrival of help.
The real problem, these people said, was with the State and local
governments, their incompetence. And they are all Democrats. (A lot of
emails stated that the people who stayed deserved what they got based
on their stupidity for not leaving, words to that effect. As vicious
and inhuman as this attitude is, I'll get to it.)
Okay, it's true: my mentioning Republicans was a mistake. Those of you
who know me from past DSPs will remember my contempt for the Democrats
in Washington, as well as the Republicans. I should have made that
clear.
Thing is though, it's the Republicans, Bush Republicans (his
appointees), who are running The Office of Homeland Security (a
designation right out of Orwell, no?), and it's these people who are in
charge of disaster response.
Be advised that I agree that the local and State people were
incompetent and should be gotten rid off, regardless of their party
affiliation. Okay.
I think we all agree on that. But let's forget them for now. Let's talk
about the Washington boys, Bush and his appointees.
I'll limit myself to ten questions, although there could have been many
more:
1. Top officials from the Office of Homeland Security (which oversees
FEMA) say that they "didn't know" or "could not have known" the extent
of the coming catastrophe. Question is: Never mind their own think
tanks and scientific advisors and Army Corps of Engineers liaisons,
don't they watch CNN, Fox News, local news or the Weather Channel, all
of which repeatedly predicted a levee breach and concomitant
CATASTROPHIC flooding? (Doesn't their multi-billion dollar budget
include a TV set?)
2. Homeland Security has had four years to get ready for a major
catastrophe exactly like this one. Since the results of Hurricane
Katrina in New Orleans – flooding and a massive refugee problem – WOULD
HAVE BEEN IDENTICAL HAD TERRORISTS BLOWN UP THE LEVEE, my question is:
Based on their charter, why weren't they ready help the people trapped
there?
And in this case, notwithstanding the "couldn't have known" lie, THEY
HAD AT LEAST THREE DAYS NOTICE that a potential catastrophe was in the
offing.
So they weren't really four days late in sending help, it was more like
ONE WEEK.
3. The emphasis above leads to this more specific question: Since New
Orleans is below sea level and therefore totally vulnerable to a
terrorist attack on the levee, why wasn't a PLAN for evacuation and
rescue in place? Again, they had FOUR YEARS to do this. (Here's my
response to you vicious bastards who blame the trapped folks for not
leaving: Had terrorists blown the levee, NO ONE would have been able to
get out, least of all poor folks with no vehicles. So their "stupidity"
is irrelevant to the question at hand: a lack of an evacuation plan,
and more importantly, simply a way of dropping food and water to those
tapped in the city.)
(The above observation answers all those who claimed that Republican
would never have got trapped since they're not stupid like the black
folks who did get trapped. Also: The emailers of this view are
themselves too stupid to know a hypothetical question when they see
one. Hypothetical questions contain assumptions that are to be taken as
a given. If you can't do that, you keep your trap shut.)
4. Since cable and network news trucks (not to mention helicopters) had
no trouble getting into New Orleans within a few hours, how could it be
that federal relief took FOUR DAYS (again, actually ONE WEEK)?
5. As Commander in Chief, how many helicopters (National Guard, Army,
Navy, Coast Guard and various Federal Agencies) did Bush have access to
during those four agonizing days? Ditto air drop-capable fixed wing
aircraft, trucks, and personnel? (Give specific numbers.) Ditto food
and water stored on military bases and elsewhere?
And please don't give any "Constitution" issue crap – the charter of
the Office of Homeland Security abrogates virtually all of the
restrictions to federal authority on matters of National Security. (And
again, the Katrina catastrophe was clearly a matter of National
Security.) And the Patriot Act… don't get me started, but: all they had
to do was tap into my Yahoo email account to learn about the
catastrophe, since I wrote about it to friends on Monday.
6. I'll get specific: Never mind the rationalization (the non-issue) of
constitutional limitations of using federal resources (which are
regarding using the military for law enforcement): WHY WASN'T FOOD AND
WATER AIRDROPPED OR TRUCKED IN UNTIL FRIDAY?
7. After 9/11 Bush said we shouldn't worry about who was at fault for
the "intelligence failure" that led to the success of the attacks. Is
he going to hand us the same bullshit on this one? Or will he fire a
couple of people in order to say "Not my fault"?
Which leads to these questions, which I'll direct at him:
8. Mr. Bush, if you're going to surround yourself with idiots and
incompetents – which in the best case scenario is what happened –
aren't you yourself to blame?
9. This is your watch, isn't it, Mr. Bush?
10. Mr. Bush, do you know what criminal negligence is? I'll tell you:
It's when you know people are in grave danger and are able to help
them, but you don't. As in all criminal statutes, motive, or lack
thereof, is irrelevant.
But I'm curious: Did you have a motive or are you just plain stupid and
incompetent yourself?
To sum up: For four years Bush has been telling us that the welfare of
the American people is his number one priority. Then the first time
this claim is tested, when American people are in real, desperate need
(based on a scenario identical to a terrorist attack, i.e., the
sabotage of the levee), he and his cronies are unable to even drop some
food and water for four days, let alone get the people to safety.
If you, kind subscribers, don't have a major problem with that, then I
have a question for you: How do you do it? How do you live in this sort
of denial? How do you get through the day?
Okay. Speaking of denial and getting through the day. Some of you have
asked what I'm doing to help the folks on the Gulf Coast.
I've donated $500 to the Red Cross and am donating the proceeds from my
books for a year.
What are you doing?
How about this: Go directly to redcross.org and donate what you can, if
you haven't done so already. I mean now, this very minute. Never mind
if you think I'm an asshole. Just do it.
In fact, if you have something to say to me, put how much you donated
in the subject box. Otherwise I won't open your email. If you lie
you'll rot in hell.
By the way: My view of Republican and Democrats, who's worse, most
dishonest and treacherous, is best summed up by this:
"The essence of oligarchical is a ruling group (that can) nominate its
successors... Who wields power is not important, provided that the
hierarchical structure remains always the same.": George Orwell, 1984
I'll be in touch.
Pura vida, Allan
P.S. Why hasn't the (corporate owned) media asked one of the FEMA and
Homeland Security people for a specific timeline?:
When did you know there was a catastrophic situation? (Did you see
Brian Williams interview with that total moron, Brown, the head of
FEMA? Williams runs scenes of the devastation and desperation and the
guy says, "I didn't know it was like that." This was on THURSDAY.)
What did you do about it and when? In other words, who did you contact
to help those people, when did you do so, and what did they say and do?
And I ask the same of George W. Bush, since he is apparently assigning
the blame elsewhere.
I'm going to (finally) end this by repeating myself yet again – based
on about half the responses to my hypothetical question (and life
experience in general) it's obvious that some people just don't GET IT.
Question to you and to Mr. Bush:
Four years after 9/11, why was there not a general plan to mobilize
federal resources (too numerous to list) to evacuate and/or help
victims of a catastrophe – terrorist induced or otherwise?
Keep in mind that the disaster in New Orleans would have been much
worse (no notice, rather than a week's notice) had it been the result
of a terrorist attack (a much less complex one that 9/11, requiring
only a maniac with an explosive-laden speedboat).
That's what I really meant by the question posed in my last DSP. I
misspoke. Sorry. If you're going to write to berate me – aside from
putting how much you donated in the subject box – deal with this
question in your first paragraph. Otherwise I'll immediately delete
you.
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Gift Detail
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Name: Allan Weisbecker
Donation Amount: $500.00
Fund: Hurricane Katrina
You made your contribution on 09/11/2005 10:52:36
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Your turn... |
