FRT - Cool Down Version, Direct From Hot Hollywood

My Friday Random Ten

Cool Down Version, Direct From Hot Hollywood


Frank Sinatra - Swinging On A Star
Doris Day - Que Sera, Sera
Diana Krall - Midnight Sun
Bob James - Rain Forest
Chuck Mangione - Feels So Good
Sarah Vaughn - What A Difference A Day Makes
Esquival - Harlem Nocturne
Spyro Gyra - Morning Dance
Al Jarreau - We’re In This Love Together
Nancy Wilson - Good Morning Heartache

Bonus Midnight Track:

Lee Ritenour - West Coast Blues

Cross-posted at Feministe.

They're Mostly Losers

I've often written about ButtsForBush, most recently here, and here. I find it funny that DailyKos has taken them on today here and here, for one of their inane posts.

See, with that little group over at ButtsForBush, they are just too small a blog to have any real impact, despite the overblown graphic layout. They get a handful of comments from the same motley crew because they won't let anyone else post. I got one through, once, and after that, nothing. And I don't see a dissenting opinion ever. They do advocate violence on democrats, liberals, gays, women and minorities. It's their mantra.

But, in the scope of relevance, they're mostly losers.

Oh, Happy Day!

DELAY INDICTED!

AMERICAblog

Raw Story

Yahoo News

Daily DeLay

Just Some Silly Exaggerations, Ooops!

Well, now the truth comes out, about the Superdome and the Convention Center in New Orleans. It seems that all those reports of roving gangs, murders and rapes of children were simply rumors. Wow, how could that be? Oh, I know, it was a town full of black people, and we all know that black people, in that type of situation, just can't control themselves.

I was sickened by all the allegations of rapes and murders and such, especially when it became obvious to THIS astute viewer that the reporters could find NO ONE to corroborate these findings from personal experience. And now, when the workers finally come in to clean up the mess at the Superdome and the Convention Center, what do they find? Six dead bodies at the Superdome, but no dead babies and no rape victims. And how many bodies at the Convention Center? Just four.

That the nation's frontline emergency-management officials believed the body count would resemble that of a bloody battle in a war is but one of scores of examples of myths about the Dome and the Convention Center treated as fact by evacuees, the news media and even some of the city's top officials, including the mayor and police superintendent.

No Shit, Sherlock! The media just tried like the dickens to portray New Orleans as an angry, uncontrollable black peoples mob, where every white person should fear for their lives. And they say race had nothing to do with the slow response in New Orleans. My ass.

The vast majority of reported atrocities committed by evacuees —— mass murders, rapes and beatings —— have turned out to be false, or at least unsupported by any evidence, according to key military, law-enforcement, medical and civilian officials in positions to know.

Surprise, Surprise.

"I think 99 percent of it is [expletive]," said Sgt. 1st Class Jason Lachney, who played a key role in security and humanitarian work inside the Dome. "Don't get me wrong —— bad things happened. But I didn't see any killing and raping and cutting of throats or anything ... 99 percent of the people in the Dome were very well-behaved."

EXTREMELY well-behaved for a group of American citizens to be abandoned in such a fashion by the white folks afraid of the black boogeyman.

Orleans Parish District Attorney Eddie Jordan said authorities have only confirmed four murders in the entire city in the aftermath of Katrina —— making it a typical week in a city that anticipated more than 200 homicides this year.

"I had the impression that at least 40 or 50 murders had occurred at the two sites," he said. "It's unfortunate we saw these kinds of stories saying crime had taken place on a massive scale when that wasn't the case. And they [national media outlets] have done nothing to follow up on any of these cases; they just accepted what people [on the street] told them. ... It's not consistent with the highest standards of journalism."

NOT consistent with the highest standards of journalsim. There it is, in a nutshell. There ARE NO higest standards of jounalism anymore. Just bullshit reporters who outright lie and lie and lie and lie and lie and lie and lie. AND, who get away with the lies, without any retribution or any punishment. Well, unless you consider NOT watching television any sort of punishment of the establishment.

In interviews with Oprah Winfrey, Compass reported rapes of "babies," and Mayor Ray Nagin spoke of "hundreds of armed gang members killing and raping people" inside the Dome. Other unidentified evacuees told of children stepping over so many bodies "we couldn't count."

The picture that emerged was one of the impoverished, overwhelmingly African-American masses of flood victims resorting to utter depravity, randomly attacking each other, as well as the police trying to protect them and the rescue workers trying to save them. The mayor told Winfrey the crowd has descended to an "almost animalistic state."

Four weeks after the storm, few of the widely reported atrocities have been backed with evidence. The piles of murdered bodies never materialized, and soldiers, police officers and rescue personnel on the front lines assert that, while anarchy reigned at times and people suffered indignities, most of the worst crimes reported at the time never happened.

But, did Oprah do anything to help clear up the misinformation? Hell no. She's about as black as Condi, but richer. So, guess whose base Oprah protected...her white ass base, that's for sure. She did zero to combat the viscious rumours, and played hostess to the perpetuation of the fucking lies.

The 400 to 500 soldiers in the Dome could have been easily overrun by increasingly agitated crowds in the Dome, but that never happened, said Col. James Knotts, a midlevel commander there. While the Convention Center saw plenty of mischief, including massive looting and isolated gunfire, and many inside cowered in fear, the hordes of evacuees for the most part did not resort to violence.

"Everything was embellished, everything was exaggerated," said Deputy Police Superintendent Warren Riley. "If one guy said he saw six bodies, then another guy the same six, and another guy saw them —— then that became 18."

Yeah, that's the truth, baby. Lies and exaggerations. Um, could it be because there were black people all holed up together in two untenable confined spaces? Yeah, that's the ticket.

Inside the Superdome, where National Guardsmen performed rigorous security checks before allowing anyone inside, only one shooting has been verified —— and even that shooting, injuring Louisiana Guardsman Chris Watt of the 527th Engineer Battalion, has been widely misreported, said Maj. David Baldwin, who led the team of soldiers who arrested the alleged assailant.

Watt had indeed been attacked inside one of the Dome's locker rooms, where he entered with another soldier. In the darkness, as they walked through about six inches of water, Watt's attacker hit him with a metal rod, a piece of a cot. But the bullet that penetrated Watt's leg came from his own gun —— he accidentally shot himself during the commotion. The attacker was sent to jail, Baldwin said.

Wow, and mainstream media reported this as ....? See, that's what I mean.

This is what got me so pissed off in the first place, and which resulted in my sabatical from blogging. This country is so fucking racist, and to watch what happened in New Orleans just sickened me to the core. And, on top of that, to watch mainstream media gloss over the race issue as if it just doesn't exist, or if it did, it was not in play with respect to New Orleans, just made me sick to my stomach.

Images of hundreds and thousands of people calmly evacuating New York city, crossing the bridges on foot, is a memory I have of 9/11. Images of hundreds of New Orleans residents attempting to leave on foot, only to be met by white men with guns, forcing them back into the city, is a memory I have of Hurrican Katrina.

And now, to complete the circle, this Administration wants to "round up the black people and put them in confined communities with trailers," which trailers, of course, will be supplied by one of the many subsidiaries of Haliburton. God forbid we actually give these displaced persons the Section 8 vouchers for real residential homes. That's not the ticket, no way! Let's keep track of them AND make money! Yeah, that's the white man's ticket. Always has been.

Anyone that thinks race did not play a role in this bad incident is just a fool, and stupid to boot.

Let The Spin Begin

100,000 really isn't much, according to the Butts for Bush:

Fortunately, I don't see any lack of will to win. President Bush is determined, and his supporters are behind him 100%. 100,000 people in DC means about 1% of the hard-core anti-Americans showed up...hardly a good showing; and this is their best time...with the war becoming a grind and Katrina/Rita depressing spirits, if there was a time when an anti-war movement could tap into public dismay, this was it. It hasn't happened - and for two reasons:

1. We really do want to win - all of us who support the liberation of Iraq will do whatever proves necessary to secure absolute victory.

2. The anti-war protestors aren't really anti-war - they are actually anti-American. I feel for those who are just misguided into the anti-war movement, but one has to face the fact that if you are within a country mile of the really horrible people of ANSWER, then you are besmirched with the muck of treason. The broad mass of the American people will never sign on to a group which not only says that the war should end, but calls our efforts to date part of a criminal conspiracy.

It really amazes me that people can actually state that the "liberation of Iraq" is our desire and goal as America. It belies the fact that it took Bush and this administration, oh what, two years to settle on that as the reason for the invasion of Iraq. Only the die hards are buying that assertion these days. Most of mainstream America have children, and they all have seen the kid with the chocolate all over their face denying they ate the chocolate. Bush, being the immature kid that he is, has shit all over his face, and the rest of America is finally smelling it, and not wanting anything to do with it.

Anti-Americans, my ass. Marginalizing the anti-war march, yeah, 100,000 people really isn't that much. Ho hum.

We Resume Our Regularly Scheduled Program

Pictures courtesy of The Brad Blog.

Realizing that the anti-war march was a success with respect to the numbers, I found my depressive state of mind start to shift toward the positive state I am generally accustomed to.

M$M has been complicit with this administration from the beginning of this war, and they have always portrayed opposition to the war as both non-existent in mainstream America, and dominated by left-wing liberal commie psychopaths. However, I couldn’t help but feel that somehow, the anti-war movement would never be expressed as it was back in the late sixties and early seventies. And, then came Cindy Sheehan.

Reading the press coverage of the anti-war march yesterday was an exercise in futility, because, there was very little by way of coverage to be found. While right wing blogs and websites were all over this march prior to it happening, i.e., denigrating Sheehan and accusing her of being hijacked by the left wing fringe elements, I could not find one mention of the protest march yesterday. Not even a mention of their pathetic little counter protest of what, 200 people?

Likewise with television, which all downplayed the numbers and tried to focus mostly on hurricane Rita. Surprisingly, Rita didn’t play out in Texas the same as Katrina did in New Orleans, making Bush’s activities for the weekend all the more in the twilight zone.

We need demonstrations of this magnitude to be able to rise above the M$M and government censors that have been controlling the media, and what information is disseminated to the general populace. The fact that there was easily 100,000 anti war protesters present, and has actually been argued to be 20,000 on some news sites, is a perfect reason why. Sooner or later, just like with Katrina, the visuals, i.e., the numbers, become apparent. The media spin will never cease, because corporations are heavily invested in this administration. Now that the pro-war activists could only muster a few hundred to attend their counter-demonstration, the spin is, they are the "silent majority."

So, Just Where WAS The Counter Protest?

I find it interesting that early reports on the crowd at the anti-war protest was in the "tens of thousands," but that the counter-protest, pro-war rally garnered, at best, a crowd of about 100 to 150.

The pro-war vocal majority, my ass!

Friday Random Ten

3997 - Michael Jackson - Dirty Diana
5261 - Young Rascals - Good Lovin’
4914 - Steve & Edyie - What Did I Have That I Don’t Have Now
3512 - Kelly Osbourne - Right Here
617 - Dick Dale & His Deltones - The Wedge
2492 - Elvis Costello - Accidents Will Happen
2955 - Grover Washington, Jr. - Village Groove
4120 - Neil Diamond - Red Red Wine
2054 - CCR - Lookin’ Out My Back Door
4608 - Santana - Sideways

Bonus Track

7733 - The Postal Service - Such Great Heights

Cross-posted at feministe.

Hello? Is Anybody Out There?

I've been on a sort of self-imposed sabatical from blogging.

The events subsequent to Katrina's destruction of New Orleans has dismayed me to such an extent I have nothing to say. All the blogs, as well as some M$M have been all over the negligence of this administration, and I found I had nothing further, or more poignant, to post.

I'm distraught, and much too full of pain and anger to put my thoughts out coherently, without drawing attention from either the looney squad, or Bush's death squad.

So, light posting over the next couple of weeks, as I sort out my feelings.

My Friday Random Top Ten

Load up your MP3 player, and hit random select. I have 9217 titles at last count. Here are my top ten random hits for Friday.

1476 - Bruce (Bruno) Willis - Save The Last Dance For Me
1071 - Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams
9129 - I Dream Of Genie Theme (hey, it’s random, damn it!)
1382 - Nelly - E.I.
7824 - Ravi Shankar - Svara Mantra
3723 - Madonna - Borderline
4908 - Stevie Wonder - Signed, Sealed, Delivered
1479 - Bruce (Bruno) Willis - Comin’ Right Up (hey, again, it’s friggin random)
3023 - Jack Jones - Nobody Knows
6904 - David Allen Coe - Titties And Beer

Ha Ha. Ok, now for the bonus track!

6818 - Moonglows - Blue Velvet

Cross-posted at Feministe.

9-11-01 IMAGES I WILL NEVER FORGET

Friday Random Ten

My FRT - Substitute Teacher style (covers):

1. Counting Crows feat. Vanessa Carlton - Big Yellow Taxi
2. Chingon - Malaguena Salerosa (Kill Bill II)
3. Dixie Chicks - Landslide
4. Scooter - The Logical Song
5. UB40 feat. Chrissy Hynde - I've Got You Babe
6. Joan Jett - Crimson And Clover
7. Kelly Osbourne - Papa Don't Preach
8. Madonna - American Pie
9. Michael Buble - Come Fly With Me
10. Guns N' Roses - Knocking On Heaven's Door

Bonus Track:

Pat Boone - Panama

Cross-posted at Feministe.

Arnie's Flip Flopping On Judicial Activism

Ah, the hypocrisy.

First the republican party says that the courts should not legislate, and now Ahhhhhhnaaaaald says the court's should legislate. Why does Arnold hate republicans?

Flip, flop, flip, flop, flip, flop.

Photo Op This, Mother Fucker

Photo Op President. At first glance, there doesn't appear to be anything wrong with this picture. Except, the firemen were flown in from a brigade of 1,000 firefighters that have been holed up in Atlanta. Seems that FEMA felt it was more important for these firemen to be getting sensitivity training and to pass out leaflets in and around the Gulf Coast, instead of being flown into New Orleans to do rescue work.

ATLANTA - Not long after some 1,000 firefighters sat down for ight hours of training, the whispering began: "What are we doing ere?"

As New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin pleaded on national television for firefighters - his own are exhausted after working around the clock for a week - a battalion of highly trained men and women sat idle Sunday in a muggy Sheraton Hotel conference room in Atlanta.

Many of the firefighters, assembled from Utah and throughout the United States by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, thought they were going to be deployed as emergency workers.

Instead, they have learned they are going to be community- relations officers for FEMA, shuffled throughout the Gulf Coast region to disseminate fliers and a phone number: 1-800-621-FEMA.

On Monday, some firefighters stuck in the staging area at the Sheraton peeled off their FEMA-issued shirts and stuffed them in backpacks, saying they refuse to represent the federal agency.

Also of concern to some of the firefighters is the cost borne by their municipalities in the wake of their absence. Cities are picking up the tab to fill the firefighters' vacancies while they work 30 days for the federal government.

"There are all of these guys with all of this training and we're sending them out to hand out a phone number," an Oregon firefighter said. "They [the hurricane victims] are screaming for help and this day [of FEMA training] was a waste."

Firefighters say they want to brave the heat, the debris-littered roads, the poisonous cottonmouth snakes and fire ants and travel into pockets of Louisiana where many people have yet to receive emergency aid.

But as specific orders began arriving to the firefighters in Atlanta, a team of 50 Monday morning quickly was ushered onto a flight headed for Louisiana. The crew's first assignment: to stand beside President Bush as he tours devastated areas.

STAND BESIDE PRESIDENT BUSH ... MAKE HIM LOOK GOOD. That's all this president knows how to do. And the bastard has no clue that the fireman dislike what he has put them up to. They see through him, and this administration. They see that when people really need help, this president doesn't have a clue how to help. He only knows how to set up photo sessions that make him look like he's actually doing something.

Photo op this, mother fucker.

GOP Agenda

"If they think they can go forward as if nothing's changed, they do not understand what the rest of America has witnessed over the past week," said Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), ..."

Let's just hope this is true. A good sign is the fact they pushed back the Paris Hilton tax bill vote.

And They Said It Couldn't Be Done

I've read over and over how many individuals and groups were able to get into New Orleans and to the convention center, while the federal government told everyone else it was impossible for them to get into the city.

DURHAM -- A trio of Duke University sophomores say they drove to New Orleans late last week, posed as journalists to slip inside the hurricane-soaked city twice, and evacuated seven people who weren't receiving help from authorities.

The group, led by South Carolina native Sonny Byrd, say they also managed to drive all the way to the New Orleans Convention Center, where they encountered scenes early Saturday evening that they say were disgraceful.

"We found it absolutely incredible that the authorities had no way to get there for four or five days, that they didn't go in and help these people, and we made it in a two-wheel-drive Hyundai," said Hans Buder, who made the trip with his roommate Byrd and another student, David Hankla.

Buder's account -- told by cell phone Sunday evening as the trio neared Montgomery, Ala., on their way home -- chronicled a three-day odyssey that began when the students, angered by the news reports they were seeing on CNN, loaded up their car with bottled water and headed for the Gulf coast to see if they could lend a hand.

The trio say they left Durham about 6 p.m. Thursday and reached Montgomery about 12 hours later. After catching 1½ hours of sleep, they reached the coast at Mobile. From there, they traveled through the Mississippi cities of Biloxi and Gulfport.

They say they elected to keep going because it seemed like Mississippi authorities had things well in hand.

Pushing on, they passed through Slidell, La., and tried to get into New Orleans by a couple of routes. Each time, police and National Guard troops turned them away. By 2 p.m. they'd wound up in Baton Rouge. Stopping first at a Red Cross shelter and then at offices of a Baton Rouge TV station, WAFB, they eventually made their way to the campus of Louisiana State University. By 8 p.m. Friday they were working as volunteers in an emergency assistance area set up inside LSU's indoor track arena.

The students worked until about 2 a.m. Saturday, then slept on the floor of a dorm room. When they awoke, they went back to the TV station, which was hosting what Buder termed "a distribution center" for supplies.

At 2 p.m., the trio decided to head for New Orleans, Buder said. After looking around, they swiped an Associated Press identification and one of the TV station's crew shirts, and found a Kinko's where they could make copies of the ID.

They were stopped again by authorities at the edge of New Orleans, but this time were able to make it through.

"We waved the press pass, and they looked at each other, the two
guards, and waved us on in," Buder said.

Inside the city, they found a surreal environment.

"It was wild," Buder said. "It really felt like it was 'Independence Day,' the movie."

The trio dodged downed trees and power lines until they happened upon Magazine Street, which runs in a semi-circle around the city parallel to and about four blocks north of the Mississippi River.

They stopped to give water to a 15-year-old boy sitting beside the road holding a sign that said "Need Water/Food," then went to the convention center.

The evacuation was basically complete by the time they arrived, at about 6:30 or 6:45 p.m. What the trio saw there horrified them.

"The only way I can describe this, it was the epicenter," Buder said. "Inside there were National Guard running around, there was feces, people had urinated, soiled the carpet. There were dead bodies. The smell will never leave me."

Buder said the students saw four or five bodies. National Guard troopers seemed to be checking the second and third floors of the building to try to secure the site.

"Anyone who knows that area, if you had a bus, it would take you no more than 20 minutes to drive in with a bus and get these people out," Buder said. "They sat there for four or five days with no food, no water, babies getting raped in the bathrooms, there were murders, nobody was doing anything for these people. And we just drove right in, really disgraceful. I don't want to get too fired up with the rhetoric, but some blame needs to be placed somewhere."

By about 7 p.m., the students made their way back to the boy on Magazine Street. He directed them to some people "who really needed to get out." The resulting evacuation began at a house at the corner of Magazine and Peniston streets.

The first group included three women and a man. The students climbed into the front seats of the four-door Hyundai, and the evacuees filled the back seat. They left the city and headed back to Baton Rouge. There they deposited the man at the LSU medical center and took the women to dinner. The women later found shelter with relatives, and the students got about four hours' sleep inside the LSU chapel.

At 6:30 a.m. Sunday, they made their second run into New Orleans, returning to the house at Magazine and Peniston streets. This time they picked up three men and headed back to Baton Rouge. Two of the men were the husbands of two of the women evacuated the night before. The students reunited them with their wives and put the two families on a bus for Texas.

Buder is from Martha's Vineyard, Mass.; Byrd is from Rock Hill, S.C.; and Hankla is from Washington, D.C.

Will the president please stop taking photo-ops.

Boy, the Rove spin is in full swing, now! It's all the local authorities fault, and Bush got pissed when the poor victims were sent to the convention center without food or water! HA HA HA HA. That's a good one, Bush baby!

Late last week, Bush said he was unhappy with the overall response, but the aide made it clear he was most upset with the local plan -- not his own administration's efforts. Bush lost patience with local officials when he learned that thousands of people were sent to the New Orleans convention center for relief only to learn their was no assistance for victims there, the aide said, calling this the "tipping point." Bush infuriated Blanco and other local officials when he sought late Friday night to federalize the relief effort and seize control of National Guard and other operations. The governor refused, and tensions between the federal and local officials worsened.

If you believe any of this, I've got a bridge I'd like to sell ya (wink, wink).

"I know what the body count is so far, but I won't horrify the nation."

If you're looking for excellent, up-to-date coverage of recovery efforts and general news about New Orleans, check out WWLTV.com.

This is an interesting entry, that I'm sure will not be played out in M$M:

10:12: A.M. - Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard: I'm not surprised at what the feds say, they're covering their butts. They're keeping the body counts down because they don't want to horrify the nation. It's worse than Iraq, worse than 9-11. They just don't want to know how many were murdered by bureaucracy.

10:10 A.M. - Broussard: I know what the body count is so far, but I won't horrify the nation.

Russert - 1, Chertoff - 0

Video of Russert taking it to Chertoff. A must see.

Again, It's Haliburton. Enough With The Haliburton, Already!

And don't get me started on Haliburton. You'd think by now, that Bush's fan base would get a clue, hearing this company name, over and over and over and over. Tax paying citizens should just admit it ... Haliburton is the only contractor this government considers for projects that will never end and are guaranteed to tap into the tax payer's money. While the assets of this country are drained, the tap flows freely to Haliburton, et al. You know, the good 'ole boys. The good 'ole white boys.

Our President, The Consummate Liar

And just what is it with this president, any way? Nothing, nada, is EVER his fault. It's been five years now, and doesn't his fan base, er, constituentcy find his constant denial of wrong doing just a bit odd?

I mean, do they really think that this man, and his gang of thugs, has never made a mistake while in office? I have never once heard this man take responsibility for any of his failures. The bad economy is Bill Clinton's fault, not his. The mess in Iraq is the left wing liberal conspiracy's fault, not his. Now in his radio address, he's blaming the local governments for the tragedy that's unfolding in New Orleans. Funny, but isn't FEMA under the federal government? Funny, but isn't FEMA the agency that keeps turning relief away?

The buck never stops with Bush, ever. This is our fearless leader? A consummate liar?

This Racist Administration Will Spawn A Civil War

I am so angry.

I read everywhere about individuals offering help and being turned back by FEMA.

The 1,000 citizens pulling 500 boats on Wednesday, that FEMA told to go home, they didn't need them.

Where Wal-Mart had delivered three trucks of water, but FEMA turned them back.

Where there was 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel on a Coast Guard vessel docked nearby, but FEMA refused to let local government unload the fuel.

Where FEMA came in and cut off Jefferson Parish's emergency communication lines! Sheriff Harry Lee has to reconnect the emergency communication lines! AND, he posts ARMED GUARDS to prevent FEMA from coming in again. (See Eschaton)

Where the food distribution sites that were used for Bush's photo ops were TORN DOWN immediately AFTER Bush left.

Where the photo op at the 17th street levee turned out to be a sham, and after Bush left, so did all the helicopters that were working on shoring up the levee.

This president and his cabinet goes on vacation while a city dies, and NO ONE CARES? Where is the mass indignation? It is still the left vs. the right over this issue, once again, with the right wing nut jobs all insisting, along the RTP lines, that there was just NOTHING that Bush could have done, and it's all the people's fault for being in the damn city in the first place.

This president doesn't know how to do anything but lie to the American people. A FUCKING PHOTO OP, AND THEN THEY TEAR DOWN THE DISTRIBUTION POINT FOR RELIEF? WHERE IS THE COMPASSION IN THAT? And, what's more sick, is that the newspeople covering this saw it, knew it, and yet, didn't do much about it. No stink has been nationally raised over the president's fake photo op. Nada.

I'm disgusted to the core. I'm as angry as I was that afternoon watching the verdict come in on the Rodney King matter, finding those bastard officers NOT GUILTY. I knew the streets were going to be on fire that evening.

I'm waiting for riots to start, and believe me, they will. This is just another example of how this government holds black people in such contempt. And god forbid, poor black people.

FEMA refused aid, and turned away aid, turned away the Red Cross, and has kept the Red Cross out, and forced people to stay in the city against their will. Just like a Nazi concentration camp. Run by the Nazi Republican government.

None of this bodes well for this country, and I feel a civil war mounting, ready to break in the not too distant future.

Why did America ask a city cherished by millions and excoriated by some, but ignored by no one, to fight for its own life for so long?

Through this all, black culture never declined in Louisiana. In fact, New Orleans became home to blacks in a way, perhaps, that few other American cities have ever been. Dillard University and Xavier University became two of the most outstanding black colleges in America; and once the battles of desegregation had
been won, black New Orleanians entered all levels of life, building a visible middle class that is absent in far too many Western and Northern American cities to this day.

The influence of blacks on the music of the city and the nation is too immense and too well known to be described. It was black musicians coming down to New Orleans for work who nicknamed the city "the Big Easy" because it was a place where they could always find a job. But it's not fair to the nature of New Orleans to think of jazz and the blues as the poor man's music, or the music of the oppressed.

Something else was going on in New Orleans. The living was good there. The clock ticked more slowly; people laughed more easily; people kissed; people loved; there was joy. Which is why so many New Orleanians, black and white, never went north. They didn't want to leave a place where they felt at home in neighborhoods that dated back centuries; they didn't want to leave families whose rounds of weddings, births and funerals had become the fabric of their lives. They didn't want to leave a city where tolerance had always been able to outweigh prejudice, where patience had always been able to outweigh rage. They didn't want to leave a place that was theirs.

[snip]

But to my country I want to say this: During this crisis you failed us. You looked down on us; you dismissed our victims; you dismissed us. You want our Jazz Fest, you want our Mardi Gras, you want our cooking and our music. Then when you saw us in real trouble, when you saw a tiny minority preying on the weak among us, you called us "Sin City," and turned your backs. Well, we are a lot more than all that. And though we may seem the most exotic, the most atmospheric and, at times, the most downtrodden part of this land, we are still part of it. We are Americans. We are you.

We Won't Be Fooled Again

Having a rather large rum and diet coke, and listening to The Who sing We Won't Be Fooled Again ... wondering. Where are we?

"That's What It Said In The Manual"

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) has been accused of being so concerned about the possibility of a terrorist attack that it failed to prepare properly for a much more inevitable natural disaster.

That's bullshit. They've been accused of squandering the money it was given, under the guise of being so concerned about the possiblity of a terrorist attack. The failure was because they were unprepared for any circumstance, attack or otherwise.

After the authorities in Baton Rouge had prepared a field hospital for victims of the storm, Fema sent its first batch of supplies, all of which were designed for use against chemical attack, including drugs such as Cipro, which is designed for use against anthrax. "We called them up and asked them: 'Why did you send that, and they said that's what it says in the book'," said a Baton Rouge official.

That's what it says in the book? Who the fuck are we kidding?

The authorities in Baton Rouge say they have tried to raise such problems with Fema representatives deployed to the city but were told all decisions had to be relayed to Washington. "They sent down Mike Brown [the head of Fema] for television interviews, but everyone else is really low-level," an official said.

Well, duh. If anyone has been thinking otherwise, it was always the intention of the federal government to drag its feet. I mean, first you have Dubya on continued vacation, playing guitar and giving pointless Iraq is hard work speeches. You have that black tart bitch shopping in New York, buying thousand dollar really ugly shoes. You have that pink fat pig VP off fishing. This is a government that truly shows it represents only the white very rich people of America (note to black bitch, you ain't white, honey).

Federal officials have defended their response. Michael Chertoff, head of the homeland security department, which has responsibility for Fema, said: "We are extremely pleased with the response of every element of the federal government, all of our federal partners, to this terrible tragedy.

That would be all and well, if one could actually point to every element of the federal goverment's actions, as well as those actions of their federal partners, to this terible tragedy. How about pointing to one element?

As usual, they just say they did even though they didn't.

Is Our Government Forcing New Orleans Victims To Stay Put? You Betcha!

NEW ORLEANS — Combat operations are underway on the streets “to take this city back” in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

“This place is going to look like Little Somalia,” Brig. Gen. Gary Jones, commander of the Louisiana National Guard’s Joint Task Force told Army Times Friday as hundreds of armed troops under his charge prepared to launch a massive citywide security mission from a staging area outside the Louisiana Superdome. “We’re going to go out and take this city back. This will be a combat operation to get this city under control.”

It gets worse, as you read on.

I can see the Rove handprints all over this. The smear campaign to make those people of New Orleans stuck in this quagmire out to somehow be low life murdering scum bags. With all the talk about roving armed gangs terrorizing people, there has not been one eye-witness report to confirm any of this. All reports have been "I've been told" this is happening. I even saw one reporter on TV talking on the phone to a doctor, and she asked the doctor how he felt listening to the sniper fire. The doctor started out to state how he felt about it, but then backtracked and actually stated he only heard about the sniper fire. He, himself, did not hear it. Everytime I've watched a reporter ask someone about their feelings concerning the sniper fire and armed gangs, not a one has indicated they actually saw any of this.

It's a Rove thing. Crap all over the messenger, and in this case, the messenger is collectively those stranded in New Orleans. They are the noose in place over Dubya's neck. They have to portray the people we are watching on TV, not as victims, but as perpetrators of mass violence and lawlessness. It's the racist black boogey man, circa 2005 Republican correctness. And it disgusts me.

Then, last night, locking the people up into the convention center, and refusing to let anyone leave the city, just blows my mind. There are check points armed by National Guardsmen, and they are turning BACK anyone that tries to individually and voluntarily leave the city! Well, I am sure if you are white, and you somehow had your SUV packed with other white people, you could get past the check point, if you know what I mean.

To top it off, reading about how Homeland Security has REFUSED to allow the Red Cross to enter the city, is beyond any rational thought. Their excuse -- if the Red Cross was allowed in, and the victims allowed to have food and water, it would encourage people to come to the city and not leave. Yeah, you read that right.

We've seen the Rove smear campaign effectively work, every single time. Will they be successful in making their base believe it?

My Friday Random Ten - Homage to Louisiana Version

Fats Domino - Blue Monday
Buckwheat Zydeco - Ma ‘Tit Fille
Pete Fountain - Way Down Yonder In New Orleans
Harry Connick, Jr. - Basin Street Blues
J. Paul Jr. - We Got That Groove
Neville Brothers - Mardi Gras Mambo
Wayne Toups - Oh Louisiana
Porchdogs - Stomp Down Music
New Orleans Jazz Band - Birth Of The Blues
Fats Domino, Jerry Lewis & Ray Charles - Jambalaya

Cross-posted at Feministe.

Karmic Payback, For Fallujah?

I am truly appalled by what I have seen over the last four days on the television and in print concerning this administration’s response to the victims of Katrina. The boys over at AMERICAblog have been all over this, so for the most part, I direct you to check out their blog for serious updates and commentary about the government’s lack of response.

I note over at DailyKos they have a piece up about Canada offering aid and support, and having planes ready. Unfortunately, our government has refused to allow them into our airspace for any aid deliveries. That’s right. Refused to allow them to assist and aid the victims of Katrina. Way to go, George. I also read that our dear friend south of us, Hugo Chavez, has offered aid, including valuable petroleum, which has, of course, been rebuffed by this administration.

Now I read that Pelosi has requested that congress convene early to help with the victims of Katrina by getting a jump start on authorizing funds. Pelosi was rebuffed by house leaders that indicated showing up for work as usual on Tuesday, September 6, after the Labor Day holiday would suffice.

I don’t know where these people’s heads are, but I am convinced it’s mostly up their butts. The lack of response by anyone in authority has gone beyond amazing. The local leaders are freaking out, and Bush stays on vacation, plays guitar, and talks about working hard and democracy on the rise in Iraq, etc., etc., etc. I cannot believe how many references were made comparing Bush to Nero fiddling while Rome burned, which is an apt analogy.

Now we have a full blown refugee crisis on American soil. Go figure. There are inadequate National Guard to assist because a great many are stationed in Iraq, of all places. There is a lack of machinery available because, many of them are located in Iraq, with their National Guard units. There’s no real money available to assist the victims of Katrina because, for one, FEMA is under Homeland Security and is no longer an autonomous entity able to use its resources immediately. Now, FEMA has to get approval, and as was noted in one of the posts on AMERICAblog, FEMA only recently got approval for spending money on a hurricane that passed through the area SEVEN FUCKING WEEKS AGO. So, if anyone is counting on immediate financial assistance, of any kind, from FEMA, they are going to have to wait. Of course, the money coming in seven weeks later from an early hurricane, most assuredly will be editorialized as current funds being immediately disbursed. Yeah, right.

I believe this will end up surpassing 9/11 in the number of deaths, and it will go down as the worst natural disaster in the United States, if not in history (probably have a plague or two that wiped out more, but I’m not in a fact checking mood this morning), at least within the last 100 years. While this administration has been scaring the shit out of ordinary Americans, making them believe that they need to send all their hard earned government money to private contractors and businesses profiteering over in Iraq, the failure to shore up our own soil against natural disasters is beyond pathetic. Making FEMA part of Homeland Security and subordinating its budget to them, reducing the federal dollars yearly to Louisiana earmarked for work in New Orleans, siphoning precious dollars from our homeland and spending it on Iraq projects that primarily line the pockets of a handful of Bush Boys, giving tax breaks in a time of "war" to Bush Boys, all of this just came to a head like a giant pimple on the face of America, located in New Orleans.

I also believe this is the beginning of the end of Bush’s love affair with what he considers his loyal supporters, mainstream America. Judging from what I have read over the past four days, America is steamed and pissed at this administration’s dragging of its feet in getting the aid ball rolling. This was a predicted category 5 hurricane, that ended up coming ashore at a category 3 rating, pretty damned bad no matter how you call it. There was not one fucking national administrative procedure in place prior to Katrina hitting Monday, to assist what would be obvious victims. And it took Bush three whole more days before he got off his ass and made it look like he gave a shit.

His ratings have been tanking. Let’s see how much America loves this president a month down the line when the extent of the death toll is realized, when the 250,000 American refugees crisis is realized, when the actual dollar amount is tallied for relief and it becomes obvious there IS NO REAL MONEY AVAILABLE for this relief, and when it finally becomes painfully obvious that we needed our National Guard troops here on American soil for such disasters, which is what they are prepared to handle in the first place.

I cannot help but feel that the New Orleans predicament is eerily similar to Falluja, which was fully destroyed, almost as if by a natural disaster, albiet, named U.S. Armed Forces. What happened is that the residents of Falluja ended up refugees on their own soil, displaced for months on end, without adequate food, water, electricity, sanitation, etc. Now we have a full blown refugee crisis on American soil, similar in scope and numbers as that in Falluja.

Karmic payback for Falluja, eh?

Cross-posted at MyDD.