Signs of the times 2

Stockbridge, GA.

Like I said, criminal

Via Atrios:

WASHINGTON - Several states ready and willing to send National Guard troops to the rescue in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans didn't get the go-ahead until days after the storm struck - a delay nearly certain to be investigated by Congress.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson offered Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco help from his state's National Guard on 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. [my emphases]

[. . .]

I don't want somebody fired, I want people in jail!

And just a question for the commanding generals of the Guard forces: What the fuck are you doing sitting around waiting for paperwork? You go when people need you and worry about the paperwork later, you desk-bound, pencil-pushing, bureaucratic motherfuckers. Has it been that long since you had to work for a living? Are your stars and your career worth more than your humanity, assholes? Has the flag officer corps really turned into a bunch of pussies or what?

Update:

Speaking of criminal:

. . . That's not a defense, guys. That's genocide. . .

Wanted:

Stolen from my friend the CultureGhost:

[I had stolen the graphic, but somehow it was playing Hell with my template. Click on the link to go see it.]

Questions, questions

Jill has questions:

Where the hell is Cheney, anyway? Is he alive? Dead? Hooked up to tubes in a persistent vegetative state? It seems odd that we haven't heard so much as a statement from him. [Seems he's on vacation too - F-man]

[. . .]

Maureen Dowd has a few of her own too:

[. . .]

Why does this self-styled "can do" president always lapse into such lame "who could have known?" excuses.

Who on earth could have known that Osama bin Laden wanted to attack us by flying planes into buildings? Any official who bothered to read the trellis of pre-9/11 intelligence briefs.

Who on earth could have known that an American invasion of Iraq would spawn a brutal insurgency, terrorist recruiting boom and possible civil war? Any official who bothered to read the C.I.A.'s prewar reports.

Who on earth could have known that New Orleans's sinking levees were at risk from a strong hurricane? Anybody who bothered to read the endless warnings over the years about the Big Easy's uneasy fishbowl.

[. . .]

'Useful idiot'

Consortium News via Farnsworth:

[. . .]

In the 1980s, when I was covering the wars in Central America, neoconservative theorists liked to call U.S. peace activists "useful idiots" because their opposition to the hard-line Reagan administration was seen as unwittingly aiding and abetting communists and other leftist enemies. In that vein, is Bush now al-Qaeda's "useful idiot"?

[. . .]

The answer is a resounding yes. Time to impeach him, indict him, and send him, and his minions, to Leavenworth for the rest of their natural lives.

I told ya

Don't piss off the spooks. Via Cookie Christine:

Former CIA director George Tenet, said to be the target of what the Washington Times called "a scathing report by Inspector General John Helgerson" - may go public with embarrassing disclosures about the Bush administration and its actions leading up to Sept. 11, 2001.

[. . .]

The report, delivered to Congress this week, recommends punitive sanctions against Tenet, former Deputy Director of Operations James L. Pavitt and former counter-terrorist center head J. Cofer Black.

Roberts writes, "George Tenet is not going to let himself become the fall guy for the September 11th intelligence failures, according to a former intelligence officer and a source friendly to Mr. Tenet."

[. . .]

In his rebuttal, Tenet, Roberts warns, "treads perilously close to affirming the account of Richard Clarke, the former NSC terrorism official who claimed the Bush administration's had delayed adopting a strategy against al-Qaida."

[. . .]

They've classified the report and Tenet's rebuttal, but I can't wait until this shit starts leaking out (you know it will). Comes at a perfect time too. Remember how I talked about the coming shitstorm? The housing bubble, the automakers' problems', the steady deterioration of the Iraq situation (haven't heard anything about the new constitution lately, have ya?), and now Katrina. Tenet's rebuttal should be the capper on the Republicans' chances this election season. Unless the Democrats seriously shoot themselves in the foot (which is not out of the question with some of the leadership we have), the Repubs should be big losers in '06.

Note to Dems: Don't fuck this up.

It figures

Via Pam:

WASHINGTON, Sept. 1 (HalliburtonWatch.org) -- The US Navy asked Halliburton to repair naval facilities damaged by Hurricane Katrina, the Houston Chronicle reported today. The work was assigned to Halliburton's KBR subsidiary under the Navy's $500 million CONCAP contract awarded to KBR in 2001 and renewed in 2004. The repairs will take place in Louisiana and Mississippi.

[. . .]

Kill me . . . please.

Signs of the times

Looting

This one was so good, I've posted it in two places. My apologies to the source - I can't remember where I found it.

America needs a leader

Go read John Howard.

Go see Pauly too.

Who Lost New Orleans?

I'm holding a gun on my finger to get it to type this: Go read Pat Buchanan. What he says makes sense, but he says it like it's a bad thing.

Gulf Coast Overload

There is just soooo much today on the twin disasters in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, both the human tragedy and its exacerbation by our highly paid administration, that I will simply direct you to Cursor. Scroll and click.

SKB on NOLA

South Knox Bubba may be using his real name these days, but his powers are undiminished. He's still on the case. Via Are You Effin' Kidding Me?

Forgotten lessons from the Pacific War

Today is the 60th anniversary of the formal end of the Second World War. Philippe Pons brings up some analogies for today.

Asia's history up until the day after the War in the Pacific is especially rich in lessons about mistakes. Thus, Japan's creation in 1932 of the puppet state of Manchukuo presents - in spite of the obvious differences - troubling analogies with Iraq: both cases were the work of rightist radicalism from a superpower (regional, in Japan's case, global, in America's) combined with a manipulation of public opinion and defiance of international rules, notes the political scientist Kang Sang-jung. In both cases, a war of aggression was waged in the name of a messianic vision (the "liberation" of Asia; the "democratization" of the Middle East) and out of a conviction that military superiority would conquer all: the creation of the state of Manchukuo in fact marked the beginning of a fifteen-year-long war.

Finally, George Bush's messianic "vision" singularly recalls the redemptive message of Japanese militarists when they invaded Asia: "Without conveying the United States' pretensions to universalism, Japanese Imperialist ideology drew from the same source," writes American historian and Japanese history specialist Herbert Bix, author of Hirohito and the Making of a Modern Japan (Harper Collins), "The Japanese were taught to believe in their moral superiority and to be proud of the Light of which they were the bearers. Like Americans today. And when they encounter resistance in the country they invade, they behave no better than the Japanese in China." Decidedly not so distant, the Pacific War...

I absolutely differ with "...they behave no better than the Japanese in China." Our troops don't bet on how many civilians they can behead in a given period or kill millions of people, at least I hope not. Other than that, food for thought.

Moore's letter to Bush

Michael Moore

There will be those who will try to politicize this tragedy and try to use it against you. Just have your people keep pointing that out. Respond to nothing. Even those pesky scientists who predicted this would happen because the water in the Gulf of Mexico is getting hotter and hotter making a storm like this inevitable. Ignore them and all their global warming Chicken Littles. There is nothing unusual about a hurricane that was so wide it would be like having one F-4 tornado that stretched from New York to Cleveland.

No, Mr. Bush, you just stay the course. It's not your fault that 30 percent of New Orleans lives in poverty or that tens of thousands had no transportation to get out of town. C'mon, they're black! I mean, it's not like this happened to Kennebunkport. Can you imagine leaving white people on their roofs for five days? Don't make me laugh! Race has nothing -- NOTHING -- to do with this!

You hang in there, Mr. Bush. Just try to find a few of our Army helicopters and send them there. Pretend the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast are near Tikrit.

I wonder when Bush will don some chest waders and declare "Mission Accomplished"?

Our 'Can't Do' Government

Paul Krugman

I don't think this is a simple tale of incompetence. The reason the military wasn't rushed in to help along the Gulf Coast is, I believe, the same reason nothing was done to stop looting after the fall of Baghdad. Flood control was neglected for the same reason our troops in Iraq didn't get adequate armor.

At a fundamental level, I'd argue, our current leaders just aren't serious about some of the essential functions of government. They like waging war, but they don't like providing security, rescuing those in need or spending on preventive measures. And they never, ever ask for shared sacrifice.

Yesterday Mr. Bush made an utterly fantastic claim: that nobody expected the breach of the levees. In fact, there had been repeated warnings about exactly that risk.

So America, once famous for its can-do attitude, now has a can't-do government that makes excuses instead of doing its job. And while it makes those excuses, Americans are dying.

Their incompetence and contempt for us has come spectacularly to light in recent days. Even the MSM has noticed, so it must pretty obvious. They'll try to spin their way out of responsibility like they always do. This time, let's not let 'em.

It is the time

Wolcott:

[. . .]

"[T]his is not a time for politics -- not only for moral and ethical reasons, but for political ones as well. That is, politics itself mandates that these days not be political."

Stop right there. First of all, "politics" mandates nothing. It's an abstract noun. It's like beginning a sentence "Morality dictates that..." Morality dictates nothing. It's how people interpret morality, and how they apply it in certain situations which evolve over time. Politics are people, and what they make of their political situation, and when the realities of their lives demand that the political and economic circumstances of their lives change. It isn't something to put on a shelf and used only when the climate of opinion permits.

Armando again: "Yes Bush and his administration have much to answer for. But what of the government of the State of Louisiana? The government of the City of New Orleans? I for one believe all have to answer for this. But not now. Maybe next week. But not today."

I don't mean to pick on Armando, but has he learned nothing under Bush? There is no "next week" when it comes to getting answers and fixing accountability for failure under this president. Next week never comes. [my emphasis]

[. . .]

Like I said the other day, Bush and the Repubs own Katrina and the aftermath of her visit. This isn't just a random natural disaster. This is the result of the corrupt, failed, and flawed policy of the Chimp administration, their enablers, and their apologists.

Dear President Bush

From our friend and esteemed colleague, the CutureGhost:

Dear President Bush;

Your services are no longer needed. Please submit your resignation and return to Texas.

Thank you,

The CultureGhost

Short, sweet, and to the point. As we've seen over the past few days, we're on our own anyway.

Update:

Granny:

A government that cannot provide basic protection and support to its people, let alone a government in the most powerful nation ever with the most money ever that lets this happen is a government that is beyond corruption.

[. . .]

You know the helpless, frustrated feeling you have about all this? That's the way people feel who discover they've just been scammed by a con artist. We've been scammed in the biggest way possible.

Friday Cattle Dog Blogging

Princess Shayna says she'll shoot death rays from her eyes at George Bush for his ineptitude and criminal acts. "He shouldn't be allowed to have a dog," she was heard to say.

Hat tip: Disgruntled Chemist.

Ashamed

I've been permanently pissed off at Bush since 2000, but this time I'm ashamed of the sonofabitch. Ashamed that he calls himself an American.

I've been watching the NOLA news, like we all have. What I saw is disgraceful. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of people sitting around the Convention Center with no food or water. People are dying of dehydration.

A leader would have been burning up the phone wires getting help for these folks. The Corporal of the Guard of the 443rd Mess Kit Repair Battalion could do better than the Chimp-in-Chief.

It ain't rocket science, folks. Load up a goddam old CH-46 Sea Knight from some reserve squadron in Podunk with water, fly it over the thirsty people and kick it the fuck out. Hell, George, put on your fancy flight suit, load up that big blue motherfucker that we paid for and let you fly around in, fill it with bottled water, fly low (we know the best pilots in the world can do that 'cuz they did it yesterday), tie your ass to a stanchion, sit on the deck, open the door, and you do the kickout. Just once, earn your fuckin' money. Maybe if you're feeling extra compassionate, throw in a few sandwiches.

The relief people won't fly into an area because they heard a fuckin' gunshot, fer chrissakes. 82 school buses aren't highballin' it to get people out because a couple of the drivers are scared to go in. Instead of helping folks, cops and guardsmen are detailed to prevent looting (if they're black) aka stealing to survive (if they're white). They oughta be helping the folks break down the fucking doors to get food, water, medicine. Let the sonsabitches who are stealing TVs get 'em up the three flights to their cribs, then make 'em take 'em back to the store if they won't turn on.

I'm sorta reminded of the so-called Siege of Khe Sanh in Vietnam. Many, many flights went in every day to supply the Marines with food, water, ammo, typewriter ribbons, etc. They used transports, helos, air drops, LAPES, all with background music by B-52s. All this NOLA deal calls for is food, water, a few Corpsmen. Don't need to fly in tons of artillery rounds, and these relief flights are only gonna get shot at by a couple loonies instead of by the whole fuckin' People's Army of Viet Nam.

Goddammit, George, these are Americans you're leaving in the fuckin' lurch. They work, and pay taxes just on the off chance you'll help them in time of need instead of throwing the money down some sand hole.

Get off your ass and tell Rumbo to cut loose with whatever assets we've still got, get 'em in the fuckin' air, and GO HELP THESE PEOPLE!

Better yet, call that young Corporal in Podunk. He'll get it done quicker because he gives a shit.

Ranting is filled. For now.