Senator Rick Santorum: "I mean, you have people who don't heed those warnings and then put people at risk as a result of not heeding those warnings. There may be a need to look at tougher penalties on those who decide to ride it out and understand that there are consequences to not leaving."

Hey Ricky, there may be a need to look at tougher penalties for our Government when it decides to ride it out for a few days before lending help, putting people at risk, as a result of not heeding the warnings.

Instead of talking about the help survivors need, or the inaction by Bush, let's talk about penalties for those who refused to leave.

Over at Huffingtonpost.com, they are predicting that Gonzales will be the next Supreme Court nomination to replace O'Connor.

What Did He Know and When Did He Know It?

(From Talkin gPoints Memo-Josh Marshal blog-today)

..According to this August 30th article in the St. Petersburg Times, on Sunday the 28th, Mayfield arranged a video conference call with President Bush himself at the Crawford Ranch during which he explained the hurricane's force and destructive potential.

Perhaps this is common knowledge. But I hadn't heard it before. And it would seem to leave little question that the president himself knew the critical information from Mayfield before Katrina even made landfall.

Said Mayfield, according to the Times: "I just wanted to be able to go to sleep that night knowing that I did all I could do."

>>>>and a synopsis of that information was on the wires from NOAA at the same time

000
WWUS74 KLIX 281550
NPWLIX

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA
1011 AM CDT SUN AUG 28 2005

...DEVASTATING DAMAGE EXPECTED...

.HURRICANE KATRINA...A MOST POWERFUL HURRICANE WITH UNPRECEDENTED
STRENGTH...RIVALING THE INTENSITY OF HURRICANE CAMILLE OF 1969.

MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS...PERHAPS LONGER. AT
LEAST ONE HALF OF WELL CONSTRUCTED HOMES WILL HAVE ROOF AND WALL
FAILURE. ALL GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL...LEAVING THOSE HOMES SEVERELY
DAMAGED OR DESTROYED.

THE MAJORITY OF INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS WILL BECOME NON FUNCTIONAL.
PARTIAL TO COMPLETE WALL AND ROOF FAILURE IS EXPECTED. ALL WOOD
FRAMED LOW RISING APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL BE DESTROYED. CONCRETE
BLOCK LOW RISE APARTMENTS WILL SUSTAIN MAJOR DAMAGE...INCLUDING SOME
WALL AND ROOF FAILURE.

HIGH RISE OFFICE AND APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL SWAY DANGEROUSLY...A
FEW TO THE POINT OF TOTAL COLLAPSE. ALL WINDOWS WILL BLOW OUT.

AIRBORNE DEBRIS WILL BE WIDESPREAD...AND MAY INCLUDE HEAVY ITEMS SUCH
AS HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES AND EVEN LIGHT VEHICLES. SPORT UTILITY
VEHICLES AND LIGHT TRUCKS WILL BE MOVED. THE BLOWN DEBRIS WILL CREATE
ADDITIONAL DESTRUCTION. PERSONS...PETS...AND LIVESTOCK EXPOSED TO THE
WINDS WILL FACE CERTAIN DEATH IF STRUCK.

POWER OUTAGES WILL LAST FOR WEEKS...AS MOST POWER POLES WILL BE DOWN
AND TRANSFORMERS DESTROYED. WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING
INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS.

THE VAST MAJORITY OF NATIVE TREES WILL BE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. ONLY
THE HEARTIEST WILL REMAIN STANDING...BUT BE TOTALLY DEFOLIATED. FEW
CROPS WILL REMAIN. LIVESTOCK LEFT EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL BE
KILLED.

AN INLAND HURRICANE WIND WARNING IS ISSUED WHEN SUSTAINED WINDS NEAR
HURRICANE FORCE...OR FREQUENT GUSTS AT OR ABOVE HURRICANE FORCE...ARE
CERTAIN WITHIN THE NEXT 12 TO 24 HOURS.

ONCE TROPICAL STORM AND HURRICANE FORCE WINDS ONSET...DO NOT VENTURE
OUTSIDE!

Categories: Press | Hurricane Katrina
A

Estimated people remaining in New Orleans, 10,000. A lot of them refuse to leave. The mayor is ready to order federal troops to forcefully evacuate them. The governor says she will not approve the removal by federal troops. I agree with the mayor. This is a real time current crisis involving the life or death of 10,000 poor souls. What would you do right now, if you had the authority? Please respond now, instead of waiting for someone to act, and criticize their action later.

If the city is as uninhabitable as reports indicate, then people should leave. The fact that many don't want to due to familiarity or other attachment is a sad commentary on the condition of the city before the storm hit.

I think it's rather clear that the city should have been emptied early last week - forced or unforced. Authorities who were paying attention and had half a clue knew exactly what was going to happen. So it's about damn time.

Please respond now, instead of waiting for someone to act, and criticize their action later.

And my reaction has been the same since experts in New Orleans were getting on the tube even before the hurricane ended and practically screaming that the city should be completely evacuated before the basin flooded and became the North America's biggest biohazard. This community (the liberal blogosphere, and the Left Coaster in specific) has been fairly unanimous in following that opinion. Unlike certain policital parties, we actually listen to scientists and take action appropriately.

Switching gears - the local NPR station this morning had a choice quote. Iowa Senator Chuck "I'm my own man, except when my Party tells me" Grassley remarked to newspeople that, "Maybe we shouldn't have put FEMA underneath the Department of Homeland Security." [sic]

No shit, sherlock? How about maybe we shouldn't have let Bush stack both FEMA and DHS full of political toadys of questionable work records and competence!! How about the words, Congressional Oversight? I know you've heard of that concept, Chuck; you like using it as a club when it gets you face time in front of a camera, particularly if a whistleblower is spilling her guts out in front of you. Or how about this one: "Senate Confirmation". I could have sworn that you and other senators interviewed most of the political appointees Bush put in place, and then advised and consented them into their jobs.

online training that will make you more qualified to run FEMA than Michael Brown.

Hell, reading The Onion will make you more qualified to run FEMA than Michael Brown.

I think the FEMA->DHS issue is completely separate from the cronyism issue. Organizationally, it makes sense to have a disaster agency that operates regardless of the source of the disaster. Making that agency part of the larger department for securing the homeland is hardly nonsensical (unless one thinks that 'security' only means 'security from the actions of others').

The big issues are (1) the GOP's unrelenting emphasis on power devolving to states, localities, or private markets; and (2) the GOP's unrelenting emphasis on giving jobs to white guys who know each other from school. No org chart in the world is robust enough to stand up to those kinds of pressures for incompetence.

Mary,

I don't know how factual information such as this will be received on this thread.

This points to the theory that 1 person is in charge, which is just how the system is suppose to work. I'm confident that within a few weeks, someone else will actually do the research and find that this "someone" is Governor Blanco.

Bush offered to take over, but Blanco said she needed 24 hours to decide.

J West,
You would let an incompentent take over for you? I sure wouldn't. Besides that "take over" garbage is about the LANG. Point being, that if Blanco had let Bush take over control of LANG, they wouldn't have been able to defend the city. Under federal authority, the NG can only respond to being shot at, it can not be proactive. So if you want a bunch of guardsmen who only can stand around and be shot at, you give authority over to Bush.

The Bush apologia is getting more and more ridiculous.

Anybody see "Nightline" last night? Some parts of the city seem very normal, just without the crowds. A bar was open, some have a patern that includes swimming in some condo pool. An elderly lady bicycling down St. Charles St. They go into an empty house and flick the light switch on and it works. The light comes on as does the fan. I heard a man say, when asked about the water shortage, he had a lot of red wine. He's happy.

Makes you wonder why the whole city needs to be cleared now.

peter, they don't want witnesses so they can lowball the number of dead.

The Democratic Mayor wants to low ball the number? The military says they will not force anyone out.

Like I said, it will take you folks a few weeks to do the research to figure it out.

Ga6thdem has a few facts, but they a jumbled into such disorder that it makes it confusing for people to follow.

If Bush had sent FEDERAL troops into New Orleans without Blanco turning over control, or without using the insurection act, they could not do any law enforcement activities.

Bush has no authority over Louisiana (or any other) National Guard troops, unless those troops have been nationalized. Blanco is the "commander in chief" of these troops, and any other National Guard units placed under her control through mutual aid agreements with other states.

In the coming weeks, the truth will come out concerning who did what and when. If we come to find that FEMA (which is not a first responder) did not preposition the material outlined in the disaster plan, I will be howling for criminal charges against the Bush appointees. But, knowing the plan and the players, I seriously doubt this was the case.

It's more than possible for Federal and state authorities to screw up. Blanco does not seem to have done an ace job. But she does seem to have done enough that BushCo could have acted, in that she did declare a state of emergency.

See, this is the difference between liberals and "conservatives": We're just not that interested in creating phony heroes. We just want things to work. There's nothing--nothing at all--in Bush's treatment of FEMA generally, and the Katrina disaster specifically, that would suggest Bush just wants things to work. All he cares about is making sure that Democrats get the blame; j.west and peter are, of course, more than willing to help.

dj,

You must be watching a different hurricane than I am.

From where I sit, Blanco has been invisible. Bush, on the other hand, has been roasted by every news anchor, reporter and democrat who can find a camera.

Bush and all of his people in the federal government have been taking the stance that now is not the time to fix blame.

jwest, it's interesting to compare the differences between the Governors in the Gulf States. Some are "take charge" kind of people. Others, are hoping somebody else comes in and takes charge. Blanco seems like the latter. She's been a disorganized mess through this whole thing.

I can understand why this was an overwhelming event. We're talking about a huge magnitude on the disaster scale. Relief efforts weren't going to be perfect. But Blanco didn't manage the effort effectively. There was conflict, disorganization, and everybody seemed to just stand around and point fingers at each other. Unfortunately, if she were in Trump's boardroom, he'd have to tell her "You're fired."

Bush and all of his people in the federal government have been taking the stance that now is not the time to fix blame.

All the while, they blame Blanco and Nagin while talking to reporters off the record. What a noble stance.

Ga6thdem has a few facts, but they a jumbled into such disorder that it makes it confusing for people to follow.

Not this person. I found the points clear and easy to follow as I always have when ga6thdem writes. As far as relunctance to turn over authority to Bush, that's totally understandable considering this.

if she were in Trump's boardroom, he'd have to tell her "You're fired."

as opposed to brownie, who would be told "you're getting the presidential medal of freedom."

Try to explain this, wrong-wingers:

East of New Orleans, Heavy Damage, Lost Lives and Pleas for Help

St. Bernard [Parish], a marshy area, appears to have been particularly hard hit by Hurricane Katrina, but local officials say scores of lives were lost because of the delay in official response. They said they felt all but forsaken by the federal government. [T]he bulk of the assistance has come, instead, from a hodgepodge of sources: neighboring parishes, state police, boat-owning volunteers and other officials.

The Sheriff's Department is now based on the Cajun Queen, a ferry boat parked in Arabi. Sheriff Jack Stephens, interviewed on the Cajun Queen, also said federal assistance had been minimal. "I have Royal Canadian Mounties who have gotten here faster than the federal government," he said.

The Canadians were actually members of a 47-member search-and-rescue team sent from the municipal government in Vancouver, British Columbia.

And they got there before King George's Men of FEMA did.

J west,
Bush could have nationalized those troops. Look, I know you guys want to make excuse after excuse for Bush. He has failed our country time after time. He has a history of making poor choices.

Face it, Bush and conservatism has been exposed to be a bankrupt philosphy. It's a philosophy that rewards wealth not work. It's a philosphy that allows the poorest of our nation to drown while he "picks and grins" at a hootenanny.

Be sure to blame Haley Barbour also.

I know you guys don't want accountability. Tom Delay just cancelled any hearings on the Katrina disaster. Doesn't that sound like the Bush administration is to blame? Bush to investigate himself? LOL. You and your President Incompetent have become a national and international laughingstock. You guys should be kicking his sorry butt from here to timbuktu but nooooo you continue to excuse him with pretend "facts."

BTW, your lovely hero has allowed AQ to take over part of Iraq. Be gone apologists. Go sell your sorry excuses somewhere else. Many more of our citizens are going to die because of Bush's incompetence and you guys are more interested in saving his sorry a** than solving problems.

geez, the sociopaths will do anything to defend the indefensible, won't they? But then, they're taking their god's words at face value instead of facing the fact that the spew coming from the administration is all ass-covering bullshit. The fact is, when a national emergency hit, Bush was on vacation until Wed. even after a briefing by the weather service of the coming catastrophe and after confirming twice that FEMA was in charge of coordination. Condi was buying shoes in NYC, on a vacation she started after the storm hit. She still has yet to look over offers of aid from other countries. Darth Cheney slithered back to DC on FRIDAY. FEMA didn't even mobilize its people until the storm was over, and then it was to hand out leaflets saying everything was fine. Aid was held back because FEMA wanted complete control to do nothing. All of this is documented. What do the sociopaths have? A photo of a parking lot of school busses, and Rove's talking points. But as we know, what the damaged trolls here don't have is the ability to empathize, or a conscience. Those things are required for actual caring about other people.

rlp,

The link to Angry Bear is helpful, because it emphasises my point.

The person in charge (Blanco), or her designee, is the one who requests specific aid at specific locations. If we come to find out that fire, EMA or HAZMAT people were requested for a specific mission and that request was not filled by FEMA, then the fault will be with the federal government.

In the aftermath of disasters, it is important that the correct number and types of responders are put on the scene. Too many are as bad as too few. That is why 1 person is in charge.

As I've said, we will come to find out what happened and when. One good thing about the system, everything is recorded for future assessment.

from Maureen Dowd:

The vice president has at long last lumbered back from a Wyoming vacation, and, reportedly, from shopping for a $2.9 million waterfront estate in St. Michael's, a retreat in the Chesapeake Bay where Rummy has a weekend home, where "Wedding Crashers" was filmed and where rich lobbyists hunt.

I can see why he couldn't rush back to Washington at this point. Shopping for a new estate is so exhausting.

coyote, i see the pathology this way: this cult is predicated on the idea that The Establishment has its standing in society for a good reason. since W is the son of a president and the grandson of a US senator, his genes dictate that he's an intelligent, responsible person qualified to lead us. if we find that our social betters are no more capable than us (even - gasp - less capable than some of us), the entire house of cards falls apart. so some people can see W fail repeatedly and say "i'm sure that white trash clinton couldn't have done any better, even if he was the smartest guy in the room, worked into the wee hours and had to be persuaded to take 2 weeks' vacation."

or maybe they like to see a fuckup in charge; makes them feel better about their own failings. i don't know. some people will look up to anyone. maybe it's the jesus thing.

if we find that our social betters are no more capable than us (even - gasp - less capable than some of us), the entire house of cards falls apart

It's bad enough that Brown wasn't capable; what's worse--signficantly worse--is that we have evidence that he just wasn't really trying. I also have no disaster experience (nor even arabian horse experience); but I have to think that in the face of the impending landfall of a Class 4/5 hurricane at a major American city, I would be working really, really hard to get relief to the site immediately. It doesn't take a genius, or even an average intellect, to figure that out. The real problem with BushCo, worse even than their manifest incapacity, is their laziness.

bsh s mdl f ntllctl rgr, hrd wrk nd cmptnc t m.

bush's life story is inspiring for all the disadvantages he had to overcome.

you libs don't know how grueling it is to lead cheers at andover. you think john kerry could lead a good cheer? think he could hold down 20 beers in a single night? never; he was too busy padding his resume with that shrapnel in his leg, the coward.

benjoya,

As long as we're looking at the pathology of political parties, can you imagine how racist you liberals look to us?

As Bush so tactfully described the "soft bigotry of low expectations", we see your "caring class" support for things such as affirmative action incredibly insulting and racist to black americans. At some point, don't you think the "cared for" class might start looking at their benefactors as the reason they continue to be in need of care?

How can democrats justify the educational system in cities like Washington DC, that spend three times the amount of good districts and produce pathetic results? These cities and schools are and have been run by democrats forever. The only explaination is the liberal mindset that these are black people so the results are the best they are capable of.

Also, as an atheist, I don't think it's the "Jesus thing".

I live in the carolinas. Today around my time of 12:00pm and Californias time around 9:00am I heard on Channel 9 eyewitness news, that just to clean up the deprie in New Orleans it will cost more then 1 hundred billon dollars, and that is just the deprie

As I've said, we will come to find out what happened and when

Are you truly this ignorant? Bush is already trying to cover up this mess. He's already been caught in a boatload of lies. Of course, his apologists will never admit that he was wrong. They will find excuse after excuse for his unlimited failings. The apologists will continue to swallow the lies and be played for the dupes they are.

How can democrats justify the educational system in cities like Washington DC, that spend three times the amount of good districts and produce pathetic results?

What about the state of SC. Worst schools in the nation and a republican stronghold. What about GA? The state has declined since the GOP fundamentalists took over the education system. The republicans are the ones that are saying that Bush is doing too much for the residents of NO. The GOP has a reputation as a racist organization, like it or not. Don't you think that Bush's non reaction to a hurricane in a black and poor area of the country says a lot about what he thinks about minorities? He's only reinforcing existing opinions about the GOP among the black community. From the southern strategy forward, the GOP has attacked blacks and tried to make them social pariahs. Heck, even Colin Powell agrees with the fact that the GOP has a miserable reputation and history w/r/t treatment of minorities.

When you hold up a pro-lynching segragationist Senator as a hero, only idiots in the GOP would think that helps race relations.

Maybe you conservatives should move to your eden aka the islamic theocracy of Iraq.

Hell, jimmy - that's just the Halliburton graft on the cleanup!

I wonder what all the Putsch fellating trolls would say if they knew that the Chimperor was in charge since August 27th? What was the problem bringing in troops again? Something about authority? When pResident Perpetual Vacation was in charge?

And what kind of kimchee are you trying to peddle with your race baiting crap? The junta dawdles on saving black people in Democratic areas - and the Democrats are engaging in race baiting! Funny how that works. Almost as if Repugnicant traitors can't find any way to accept responsibility for their actions. Geee, where have we seen that before?

Perhaps you need to brush up on your Repugnicant spin, you loathsome traitorous trolls...

As long as we're looking at the pathology of political parties, can you imagine how racist you liberals look to us?

by "us," i assume you mean black republicans; otherwise, tell it to trent lott. or maybe the congressional black caucus, which counts among its members all black republican senators and house members, ie, none.

Here's an interesting take on the Bush/Blanco tug of war. Helped me understand better the fury of the "blame-game" against Blanco. We need Blanco to confirm, though.

Also, as an atheist, I don't think it's the "Jesus thing".

well, if it's not bush's ostentatious piety that makes you such an uncritical fan, is it his intellectual curiosity that you admire? his long record of accomplishments? his work ethic? come on, enlighten me.

president bush has done great things for iraq!

Pessimist, thank you for your reply. I would prefer to be alive, and have my civil rights violated, than be dead and my civil rights intact. The news is reporting the mayor has ordered forceful evacuation using NG and police, but no federal troops. Thank God, he has the Gonads to force people out for their own welfare, and worry about the legalities later.
Ann: I agree with your comments on Cheney.

"The state has declined since the GOP fundamentalists took over the education system."

I bet it began the day after the election. Teachers said, "heck with i, we're lost, lets give up."

"The GOP has a reputation as a racist organization, like it or not."

This IS so laughable its rediculous.
1.Ike's forcing Southern Dems to permit Blacks into public schools.
2. Over 80% support for both the Equal Rights and Voter Rights Acts, verses only 60% Dem.
3. Affirmative Action
4. Ending the duel school systems in 7 southern states, including Georgia.
5. Current admin's elevating Blacks to the highest appointed office in the land not once but twice.
6. Justice Thomas, 2cd Black member to SCOTUS.
7. Janice Rogers Brown, the 3rd.

Peter,
You silly goose. I'm talking about what the GOP has been doing for the last 40 years. Do you think that it's a mistake that a pro-lynching Dem became a Republican in 1964? I'm not denying that the GOP, Ike and previously, had good records on race relations. You are ignoring recent history and hawking back 50 years to make your case. BTW, Johnson is credited with the civil rights legislation. He twisted a bunch of arms, both D and R to get it done.

Sorry, you are laughable if you think Janice Rogers Brown is good example. Putting her forth is actually damaging to african americans. JRB is a nut case.

The problem with the GOP is that they think blacks really aren't capable so they end up putting incompetent blacks in posts which reinforce negative sterotypes. Condi-incompetent. The only one they have appointed who didn't come off as incompetent was Powell.

Do you think padering to fundamentalist segragationists is racist? Do you think supporting The Council of Conservative Citizens is racist? I guess not by your post.

benjoya,

I would love a good discussion on the subject, but it would take a great deal of time.

At the moment, I feel like Atticus Finch trying to fend off the Bush lynching. Its tough to defend someone when the courtroom has their minds made up prior to hearing the facts.

Let's put off the "why I like Bush" for a slow news day.

BTW, Johnson is credited with the civil rights legislation. He twisted a bunch of arms, both D and R to get it done.

and he did it believing it would cost the dems the south for a long time. he was right; i wonder why.

I feel like Atticus Finch trying to fend off the Bush lynching

poor guy; he has it so hard. why it's no different than if he had been strung up in a tree. you should be applauded for standing up for such disempowered people. no one takes their concerns into consideration, particularly the government.

'scuse me while i spin in my grave

I feel like Atticus Finch trying to fend off the Bush lynching

With that, you have discredited yourself completely.

Why is it that every Black Republican is viewed as inferior to Black Democrats? Is Otto Banks lessor because he switched partied last March?

Is Otto Banks lessor because he switched partied last March?

Why, no. 'Lessor' is a term from property law, and 'switched partied' sounds kinky, but that's not really here or there. Now get lost, you worthless racist punk bitch.

Why is it that every Black Republican is viewed as inferior to Black Democrats? Is Otto Banks lessor because he switched partied last March?

yes, all this banks-bashing has got to stop. constantly deriding him because he's a republican. why, this entire blog is all otto-banks-this and otto-banks-that.

btw, i'm sure everyone knows this (since we never for a minute stop piling on the poor guy), but otto banks is a city councilman in harrisburg. pennsylvania.

dj,

I knew the Atticus Finch reference would send a liberal through the roof.

It's impossible for you to see yourself as part of the mob, as opposed to the one fighting with logic and justice.

atticus finch defended a member of a hated minority, bush is a member of the ruling class, and you are a piece of shit who doesn't know thing one about history or literature

It's impossible for you to see yourself as part of the mob

No, it's not. I could easily see myself as being part of certain mobs.

What is impossible for me to see is this: how you could be so racially insensitive that you would compare burning people and stringing them from trees for invented crimes with trying to wring some measure of accountability from a Skull and Bones man who's been given countless opportunities to redeem himself from an entire life as a fuckup. That's a freakishly fucked up perspective you've got there, and I feel kind of bad for you that you're so fucked up, you don't even realize you should be ashamed, both of our President and yourself.

at,

I'll ignore the "piece of shit" comment for now, in an attempt to keep the conversation at a higher level.

Atticus knew that everyone in the courthouse understood what had really happened, but their social conditioning made it impossible for them to admit the truth.

I'm sure that even though all the facts and logic in this disaster situation point to a reality much closer to what I've described, your social conditioning just won't let you admit the truth.

dj, let's try to indulge our little psychopath here. bush is being lynched. michael moore is bull connor, sean penn is strom thurmond, rove is dr. king, brownie is rosa parks, cheney is thurgood marshall, and asking for accountability from bush is like reinstating the poll tax. bush is suffering because of his race as surely and as severely as any black man swinging from a tree. - think about it; in the senate, for instance, his ethnic group only makes up 97% of the members and has only held the presidency for the last 230 years or so. this makes even more sense if you huff glue.

yes, my social conditioning won't allow me to accept that bush succeeds at everything he does. excellent work with that cheney anti-terrorism task force that met for the first time on 9/4/01. excellent work on that iraq thing, which if we hadn't invaded would be conspiring with their long-time fundamentalist enemies, no doubt, since all arabs are alike. masterful job of quadrupling north korea's nukes - that's certainly no danger to us. great on appointing brownie; there's clearly no one in the country who was more qualified; just a happy coincidence that he was the college roommate of dear leader's campaign manger. small world, huh? obviously, bush is the picture of competence; how else does a "C" student get into the ivy league?

dj & benjoya,

I continue to sit in front of this jail, with my rifle full of facts, to protect the unjustly accused Bush from your impassioned but misguided mob.

Republicans believe in equal protection. You don't have to be a member of some "protected class" to receive justice. Even rich white politicians are protected from lynchings these days.

God, I hope somebody kills you.

you throw that word "lynching" around like they're about to storm the white house; why not say he's a poor jew in the warsaw ghetto and you're raoul wallenberg? no, i got it, bush is cheney/schwermer/goodman and you're the head of the NAACP!

comparing yourself to atticus finch is not a "rifle full of facts," just pathetic self-aggrandizement.

stop lynching my friend bush! he is truly one of the great saudis, i mean americans.

bush is cheney/schwermer/goodman

not dick cheney, obviously. cause dick really suffered, unlike those delusional libs who didn't know enough to keep out of mississippi.

dj,

What kind of a person wishes death on another because of their views?

I don't recall the outrage on the left when the NAACP threw the word "lynching" around during the 2000 campaign. If Bush is the target, it must be O.K.?

What is it that keeps you from discussing matters without the overt hatred of anyone who doesn't share your point of view? Is this the open-mind you and your liberal friends brag of?

Hate and violence cannot win the battle of ideas.

I don't recall the outrage on the left when the NAACP threw the word "lynching" around during the 2000 campaign.

the NAACP said gore was being lynched? i don't remember that.

Hate and violence cannot win the battle of ideas.

too true

What kind of a person wishes death on another because of their views?

Maybe you should try looking around Free Republic, Little Green Footballs, or The AntiIdiotarian Rottweiler. You'd see a lot of your Putsch fellating brethren around there. And, amazingly enough, they regularly call for the Clintons, Teddy Kennedy, and John Kerry to be taken out for the good of the country.

I don't recall the outrage on the left when the NAACP threw the word "lynching" around during the 2000 campaign. If Bush is the target, it must be O.K.?

Funny - I don't recall anyone saying anything about the junta smearing John McCain in the Rep primaries leading up to the 2000 election. I wonder why that is?

What is it that keeps you from discussing matters without the overt hatred of anyone who doesn't share your point of view? Is this the open-mind you and your liberal friends brag of?

What is it that keeps you firmly denying the reality that your boy is a worthless lying arrogant elitist who can't be challenged on his BS?

Hate and violence cannot win the battle of ideas.

It also helps to own all the voting machines, the press, and the courts. But the previous two stolen elections do not jibe with your faith-based idolatry of all things Repugnicant.

I don't recall the outrage on the left when the NAACP threw the word "lynching" around during the 2000 campaign.

You obviously don't have the mind for details. That was in regards to the cretins who drug James Byrd around behind the back of a truck. Bush gave tacit approval to those cretins actions by refusing to sign a hate crimes bill into law. I don't think that those cretins even got the death penalty.

jesus, troll, would you cum already, this has got to be the longest jackoff in comment history.

Ga6thdem,

"Tactic approval"? Is that like driving the truck?

Can you stretch any farther to justify a blatantly racist smear? Where is your "reality based" community?

Obviously, you don't get subtle racism. Bush went to south carolina and hee hawed around the confederate flag and said it was a "states rights" issue. I guess you wouldn't get the message he was sending out there either. You need to learn the GOP codewords bucko. You are way too naive to discuss politics.

thanks for changing the subject, j west. 72 black-eyed virgins await you. any day, now. enjoy your oil! LATWTTB!

What is it that keeps you from discussing matters without the overt hatred of anyone who doesn't share your point of view?

Not anyone; just those who compare accountability for a coddled scion of an American dynasty with killing the poor and defenseless. I keep my hatred under wraps, except when dealing with true scum.

Is this the open-mind you and your liberal friends brag of?

If an open mind means accepting your comments as valuable contributions to the public discourse, I'll stick with what I know.

Ga6thdem,

I guess your right. This politics thing is awful tough for us uneducated folks.

If you could just explain all of these "code words" to the rest of the country, you might be able to win a few elections.

It must be hard work trying to shout down, berate, insult and threaten the majority of the country to get them to think the way you do. Maybe it will work, but I'll stick to facts and logic.

And to prince bandar, they don't give the virgins to us atheists, we have to make do with 3 middle-age hookers.

LOL! The only one who is screaming here is you j. west. The people down here in the south understand the language of the GOP so why don't you? Do you understand why black people don't for the GOP? Of course, not.

they don't give the virgins to us atheists

of course they don't; i was just complimenting your dedication to my cause.

Ga6thdem,

More and more, with each election, black voters are moving to the GOP.

Black americans are seeing the difference in the parties. Bush appoints people like Rice and Powell because they were the best people for the job, not because they were black. The dem response was to call them traitors to their race and "Uncle Tom/Aunt Jemima".

The code words we on the right understand sound like "why would they vote against their economic interest?". People with dignity don't appreciate the democrats thinking that just because they are black, it is against their economic interest to have different views on issues.

The trend is towards the GOP.

number of black republicans in the senate: 0
number of black republicans in the house: 0

More and more, with each election, black voters are moving to the GOP.

In 1988 poppy Bush got 15% of the black vote. Last year little boots got a solid 11%. Yep, more and more with each election...

More and more, with each election, black voters are moving to the GOP

Nope, that's a GOP fantasy.

Actually, the trend is against the GOP. The GOP philosphy of "drowning the government" just played out in the bathtub called NO. Conservatism is a corrupt ideology that believes bringing Islamic Theocracies to the mideast is more important than American citizens.

Have you looked at what the conservatives see as important? What's more important to the GOP than the average American citizen? Well it's giving out welfare to millionaires. Millionaire welfare is their defining agenda.

Condi? She is massively incompetent. She is the one who was stupid enough to believe that Sadaam was trying to get his hands on nuclear materials. Is that what you call competence. Someone who still can't decide whether to accept help from other countries. Many countries are trying to send water purification equipment here to help out with the water problems on the gulf coast and she's dithering and spending thousands on shoes. Funny most people wouldn't consider that competent. However, as we well know, the GOP can't distinguish between competence and incompetence. After all they think that showing up 4 days after a natural catastrophe to help the victims is "good work."

I don't know how factual information such as this will be received on this thread.

This points to the theory that 1 person is in charge, which is just how the system is suppose to work. I'm confident that within a few weeks, someone else will actually do the research and find that this "someone" is Governor Blanco.

Bush offered to take over, but Blanco said she needed 24 hours to decide.

Posted by j.west at September 7, 2005 07:08 AM
J west I can back up my fact not make them up.

http://www.thinkprogress.org/katrina-timeline

Nice try, thanks for playing but you loose.

Bush would do Marie Antoinette proud:

Sunday, August 28, 2005: 26,000 refugees huddle in the Superdome with no more than two days worth of food and water.

Bush’s response would come the very next day!

Monday, August 28, 2005:
LET THEM EAT /CAKE!

Bush would do Marie Antoinette proud:

Sunday, August 28, 2005: 26,000 refugees huddle in the Superdome with no more than two days worth of food and water. http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_Times-Picayune/archives/2005_08.html#074657

Bush’s response would come the very next day!

Monday, August 28, 2005:
LET THEM EAT CAKE! http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/images/20050829-5_p082905pm-0125-515h.html

Wikipedia has useful information on Katrina

(here)

White House Press Briefing we learn that

Q I just want to follow up on David's questions on accountability. First, just to get you on the record, where does the buck stop in this administration?

MR. McCLELLAN: The President.

Q [...] where does the buck stop in this administration?

MR. McCLELLAN: The President.

Apparently, this means that when "bucks"--American dollars--are the unit of corrupt influence, those bucks stop in the Oval Office, whereas corrupt influence directed toward other White House officials must be conducted in other currencies. It's the only thing that makes any sense.