Here’s the title of a Press Release up on FEMA’s website:
First Responders Urged Not To Respond To Hurricane Impact Areas Unless Dispatched By State, Local Authorities
I wish I was kidding.
Nero's Rome
Nero fiddled while Rome burned; Bush thrummed while New Orleans drowned.
What’s important to note is that Nero – after he was finished singing – blamed the Christians and started the first persecution of Christians. Who’s Bush going to blame – God? Mother Nature? The National Weather Service? It’s certainly not going to be FEMA in-charge Brown, who Bush has already commended.
Not Working
As someone who already had PTSD when 9/11 happened, I’ve been very attuned to the fear-mongering that’s been going on in his country for the past four years. I’ve been aware of it because it works on me – works in that I start to fear getting on a subway or a plane. And let me say, there’s been a lot of it, all of it focused on what the terrorists might do. There’s been so much that I understand why Americans are fearful, and even why they voted for Bush: they wanted to be safe. So do we all.
But it strikes me that on this Sunday morning, what we have all feared terrorists doing has now happened, and it wasn’t terrorists who did it. We have lost a great American city to a combination of natural disaster and incompetence. We gave up our civil liberties, we gave the President new, sweeping powers, we funded the Department of Homeland Security. And for what? Because we thought, we hoped, that doing so would keep us safe; that a small sacrifice, like letting the government in on what I’ve been reading, would give the government enough power to handle something disastrous quickly and well.
They didn’t. There’s a lot of blame-laying going around: ironically, Republicans (who are usually for giving more power to state and local governments) are blaming the state and local governments for not being prepared, and Democrats (who tend to like big, nation-wide planning) are blaming the Feds. The irony that the current Republican Party says it’s for smaller government when it has increased the powers of said government is not lost on me.
Gov. Blanco (D-LA) called a state of emergency on August 26th. She asked the President to do the same on August 27th, which he did.
So what happened? FEMA has said that all the emphasis has been placed on terrorism, not natural disasters, which is why this went as wrong as it did. But surely the response to a natural disaster or a terrorist attack requires the same mobilization, supplies, and swiftness, yes? Why, if on August 27th, FEMA were alerted that they might have to help Louisiana with the aftermath of Katrina, are people’s moms still dying as of Friday night? I’m sure there isn’t a simple answer, although it’s pretty clear to me that the White House – along with Chertoff, Brown of FEMA, and the President himself – have shown themselves to be incompetent, or, as a recent editorial by Greg Mitchell pointed out, they are guilty of dereliction of duty. One that’s proved fatal, not just to thousands of American citizens, but to a great American city.
My question, then, is when do we get our civil liberties back? If we traded them in for safety and security as promised by the Bush Administration, and we are not getting those things, shouldn’t we get them back now, due to breach of contract? Because if a hurricane – which is one of the most predictable types of natural disasters – caught these guys unprepared, then how on earth can anyone still believe that they will be prepared for a terrorist attack, which is not predictable at all?
(Much thanks to the blogosphere for doing the legwork: Josh Marshall, Atrios, Kos, and Kevin Drum.)
Rehnquist Dies
Chief Justice Rehnquist died today at the age of 80, at his home, surrounded by his family.
So when do we start building the underground railroad for the women in red states who need abortions?
More on Katrina, Politics, and Being Rudderless
Molly Ivins has a word to say about why politics matter, and why Katrina has made that clear.
Here’s something that I could have written – straight from a New Yorker who has had enough of this charade of a Presidency.
And finally, the Rude Pundit (not for those who don’t like swear words!) on leadership and the lack of it. Look, I didn’t like Rudy Giuliani, but I’d take all of his bullshit twelve times over for the leadership he showed on 9/11, a leadership that is obviously lacking with Katrina, and in the person of George Bush Jr. If people think that’s leadership, we really aren’t teaching history in school anymore.
Leaders are people like Mother Jones, John L. Lewis, Eugene Debs, Cesar Chavez: the people who brought you Labor Day weekend, the 40-hour work week, and weekends. None of them were perfect, but all of them understood something that Dubya does not: that what people need is power, not promises.
Happy Labor Day, folks.
What's Left in America
Liberal Blogosphere for Hurricane Relief
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“There’s nothing wrong with America that can’t be fixed by what’s right with America.” – Bill Clinton.
Hurricane Katrina destroyed thousands of lives. Together, we’re raising $1 million for the Red Cross and prove that the liberal blogosphere can help our fellow citizens.
Please donate now.
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“There’s nothing wrong with America that can’t be fixed by what’s right with America.” – Bill Clinton.
Hurricane Katrina destroyed thousands of lives. Together, we’re raising $1 million for the Red Cross and prove that the liberal blogosphere can help our fellow citizens.
Please donate now.
Katrina
First a letter from one RenaRF to the President which was also posted on Daily Kos. It sums up how I’m feeling, too.
RenaRF also provided a list of organizations that are focusing their efforts on the Gulf.
Also, here’s a good article on the funding issue, & why the region wasn’t prepared.
& Another one that appeared in Salon
There is *no reason* that in this country, with our resources and technology, the poor folks of the South were left to evacuate by their own means, except for the short fall of empathy.
And God bless that man who had to let go of his wife’s hand.
Sacco and Vanzetti
Turns out I missed the anniversary of the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti this year, a date which I usually mark. Sacco and Vanzetti were executed on August 23rd, 1927, at the end of a notorious trial during which it’s said their own judge referred to them as wops (or dagoes, I forget which right now, but it was one of the two). Fair trial, my ass.
Whether or not they were guilty is still hotly debated by people who care about such things. They were, in a sense, the Rosenbergs long before the Rosenbergs – radicals put to death mostly for being radicals, and without the kind of definitive evidence you’d expect in a death penalty case.
They had the misfortune of not just being anarchists (the political philosophy doesn’t immediately imply violence, by the way) but being Italians in 1920s Boston. Sacco made shoes. Vanzetti sold fish. They were working-class men who some say were Syndicalists, others outright criminals, and still others, idealists and revolutionaries.
It’s still a case I read about, when I find new things to read. For those interested in the death penalty, famous trials, Italian-American culture, anarchism, radical politics, prejudice – or anyone who just wants to read one hell of a story – there are some decent sites on the topic, and plenty of good books (the best of which are, unfortunately) out of print.
U Penn site
Court TV’s site
a Michigan State U site
The Wiki entry
and Court TV’s bibliography. In the out of print books, you’ll see both Frankfurther’s The Case of Sacco and Vanzetti, which is by *that* Frankfurter. Joughin and Morgan’s The Legacy of Sacco and Vanzetti is, in my opinion, still the seminal work on the case, including cultural references. You can track down either at reasonably old libraries or through rare bookstores. Vanzetti’s letters are stunning and beautiful and highly recommended.
What does this have to do with gender? Not a damn thing.
Sacco and Vanzetti were officially declared innocent of their crimes on the 50th anniversary of their executions by then Governor of Massachusetts, Michael Dukakis.
Emerging Cartoonist
Okay, this cartoon made me laugh out loud, probably because I’m one of them liberal, atheist, feminazi gay treehuggers. Or maybe it was just the use of the word strategeryists.
Terribly Worried
Actually, I’m not terribly worried about this. I mean, one hopes that the Iraqis protect women’s social rights as much as possible. It certainly seems clear that in protecting the political rights, there’s no discussion of women not having the right to vote. I think it’s important to remember that in the year 1900, for example, in the United States, it was a democracy then. In 1900, women did not have the right to vote. If Iraqis could develop a democracy that resembled America in the 1900s, I think we’d all be thrilled. I mean, women’s social rights are not critical to the evolution of democracy. We hope they’re there. I think they will be there. But I think we need to put this into perspective.
(italics mine)
This choice little quote comes from yesterday’s Meet the Press, as spoken by Reuel Marc Gerecht, Director of the Middle East Initiative for Project for the New American Century.
Women had more rights under Hussein than they’re going to have after the US “liberation”? Um, how does that work? And what on earth does the word democracy possibly mean if women’s social rights don’t matter? 1900?
I’m flabbergasted.
Thanks to Betty for blogging this one; you can find links to other bloggers on the same topic in her post.