I just stopped at the grocery store to pick up a candy bar. They only had one line open, plus the do-it-yourself area where you have to play amateur cashier. I hate that do-it-yourself area, but the other line was too long so I used it.
After I managed to get the candy bar's bar code to fit perfectly over the little laser and figured out how the machine worked so I could waste twice the time it would normally take me to buy a candy bar, an employee approached me and said, "Would you like to give a dollar for Hurricane Katrina?"
I said, "No."
First off, I'm offended that the store employees are wandering around fundraising instead of helping customers, especially when it's so obvious that the store conglomerate uses these do-it-yourself machines to cut down on the number of employees necessary to help customers so that the store conglomerate can turn a larger profit while having fewer of those pesky union workers to deal with.
But beyond that, I'm sick of footing the bill for George W. Bush and the rest of his so-called compassionate conservatives. It's been well-documented over the past two days that there were all kinds of warnings about what could happen to New Orleans and that the levees designed to keep out the water were sinking or uncompleted.
What did Bush do? Nothing. Actually, worse than nothing. He was so busy fighting his cowboy war in Iraq (cheers to Hugo Chavez for the analogy) that he actually diverted money away from the projects that might have saved New Orleans because the war was so damn expensive! And now I should pony up to help out? Sorry, Charlie.
Let Bush open his wallet. I'm sure he's still got a few nickels rolling around his pockets from flipping the Texas Rangers like a Miami condo.
You 60 million losers who voted for this loser open YOUR wallets. This president declared war on the poor long ago, and while some of us cared enough to vote for someone who gave a damn, you buried your heads in the sand, babbled about abortion and family values, and voted for the doofus.
And now you want to act all high and mighty and come asking me for a buck or two to help these poor people? Sorry, Charlie. Take an extra buck or two out of the fund you set aside to buy seventeen Support Our Troops magnets to stick all over your car to show how patriotic you are.
You want disaster relief? Impeach George W. Bush.
More where this came from at Blunderford
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - augrad
I bet you would be singing a different tune if you lived in New Orleans.
2 - Blunderford
I think I'd be even more pissed off if I lived in New Orleans. More likely I'd be singing no tune at all, as I wouldn't be in much of a singing mood. But I might be trying to hit a field goal from the 35-yard line of the Superdome, so that would be some consolation I'm sure, smartypants.
3 - Scott Butki
Sounds like you're taking anger at Bush out on disaster victims.
Which seems a bit, well, misplaced to me.
I mean, I'm mad at Bush about the war and other screw-ups too but that doesn't seem a good reason to not help victims.
4 - Blunderford
I may be taking it out on disaster victims, but he's been taking it out on society's victims for years. I've done a lot of helping of the unfortunate -- I'd like to see him and his GOP cronies do some giving now. Unfortunately the only giving they'll do is to the rich via repeal of the estate tax, etc. Sometimes those of us in the middle get sick of paying up for the policies of the fat and bloated.
5 - Michael J. West
Knowing that Bush won't do anything about it, you'd prefer to just let the people suffer to make your point?
6 - Brent
I wont send any money to help Katrina victims either. Those people were told to get the hell out. They didn't. Now they are shooting at military helicopters? Making others risk THEIR lives to pluck them off roof tops? I've seen video of irate people saying "we need........." What they needed to do was NOT be stupid and get the fuck out of there. THEY brought this upon themselves.
7 - Michael J. West
THEY brought this upon themselves.
Some of them did, Brent. A LOT of them did. But some of them didn't--a fair number of people didn't leave because they had no way (car, money, etc.) to get transportation out of the city and shelter elsewhere. It's not always that easy, and it seems as though the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana did nothing whatsoever to offer to help people who needed assistance in evacuating. So I'm willing to help out, for the sake of those people.
8 - One Monkey's Uncle
"What they needed to do what NOT be stupid and get the fuck out of there. THEY brought this upon themselves."
That is among the most unintelligent things I have ever read; can you even fucking READ? Do you have even the slightest CLUE who those people on television are, what their income was like, what little opportunity they had to "escape"?
I really mean this, sincerely: I hope something utterly horrifying, and insufferably painful, and completely devastating financially happens, that ruins you and every member of your immediate family. On national television.
[edited]
9 - Linda Hutchinson
Does the leadership for the city of New Orleans bear any responsibility for the mess they're in now? Seems to me they weren't very well mobilized for any kind of emergency. How about the idiots who built the city in a bowl in the first place? All that put aside, sometimes nature just deals a harsh blow, and all the preparation in the world won't prevent catastrophic damage. Why is George Bush blamed for everything that goes wrong in this country and abroad? I remember a few presidents from the Democratic party who involved us in a few nice messes. Vietnam for starters. Then there was Bill Can't Keep It Zipped Clinton who let Bin Ladin get away. Yeah, I know, there was important business under that desk. Liberals are some of the most narrow minded people I know. Open those minds...and while you're at it, take a history course or two.
10 - Druxxx
I just want to know why Bush and Co. didn't get national gaurd troops in there sooner.
As soon as the decision was made to evacuate, why weren't troops deployed to keep the peace.
Any idiot should have known that people were going to stay behind or be left behind. And some of those left behind were going to loot and cause other problems.
The slow reaction time is inexcusable.
11 - Blunderford
Let me make something clear -- my post is not a theme of "those people stayed in New Orleans so they deserve it for not evacuating." A lot of those people were damn poor and no one was going to give a free taxi ride to every one of them.
I'm saying I'm sick of cleaning up Bush's mess while he gives handouts to the richest of the rich. Money that should have been spent preparting for hurricanes that everyone knew were coming eventually was diverted to a war over... nothing. And now I'm supposed to pay to build everything back up?
12 - Rodrigo
You're just [edited]
13 - Druxxx
I'm with ya Blunderford.
Its well documanted that G.W. diverted money for leve repair to the war in Iraq.
14 - The Duke
Oh, the power of water.... the Titanic was unsinkable too.
Give mother nature a little credit.
She is very capable of laying waste to puny human efforts.
A levee indeed. A mere anthill in the greater scheme of physical laws.
15 - Tom Ashton
I would like to see how you have been "cleaning up Bush's mess" as you put it. Have you been taxed to death, have you had to lift one little finger, have you even been to Iraq for 15 months like I have? Geez, what an selfish man you must be. Your next blog will probably be GWB caused the hurricane. You were probably the same one blaming him for the typhoon earlier this year.
16 - Chris
My god this is unbelievable because you disagree with a president you are going to not help your fellow Americans in time of need. Weren’t there earthquakes during Clinton’s presidency? So we shouldn’t have helped those people because of Bosnia, Bin Laden escaping ( to later blow up the world trade center)? I can’t understand you people at all. I guess it’s all about you and what your entitled to and f*ck every one else. Well that’s a viewpoint. Ever hear of karma, you know what goes around comes around.
17 - Ronald C McKito
I believe out of respect to Hurricane vitims right now, that this is not the time or place to discuss just yet, while many efforts are being made to save these victims. But I do agree on some part and love your voting thing that is awesome. I will never know How bush pulled off an 8 year term in the white house.
18 - Think.Ink
I despise the unspecific donation requests such as people asking for me to donate to "tsunami relief" or now to "katrina relief." I often wonder what organizations these people are going to fund with this money. Are they going to the red cross, the salvation army, the arbor day foundation?
If someone has a desire to donate money, they should look at the org they decide to donate to, and not throw some money in a random bucket.
Then there are the "support the troop" magnets. If you really want to support the troops, use that money to help a troops' family or to send a troop or group of troops a goodie bag. They love hard candy and movies. There are even websites where you can send troops things they want, such as specific books or cd's... but buying a magnet for your car is not support.
I also will not be donating money to "katrina" but will do what i can for the red cross and other hard-working orgs.
19 - Ronald C McKito
Everyone has there own view, karma has nothing to do with ones opininos, but with ones actions. I believe we should support and I will support the fundrasier, but we should be worried about saving these peoples lives instead of blaming the president right now. I'm not a big G.W. fan, so again I like part of your article but, I dont have exact numbers and facts of what G.W. has done with our funds for hurricanes. Also like it was pointed out if mother nature or God had a hand in this, no levee was going to stop it.
20 - Chris
Then you might want to look at how much of your donation to Red Cross goes to victims and how much goes to high ranking officals?
21 - Victor Lana
There were poor people, infirmed, children, and the elderly who would have left if they could. They could not. They had no means to escape. It's quite pompous to blame this on W (of whom I am no fan) and to say that is the reason NOT to give. It comes off as rather heartless as well.
22 - Blunderford
Plenty of my money has gone to help people in need, but not so much of the government's money has, unless you mean the people of Iraq. And, yes, I have been taxed to death, because everything Bush cuts federally I pay for locally in taxes, don't fool yourself otherwise. And the more poor people we create, the more money we'll all pay -- maybe today in money to help, maybe tomorrow when more desperate people are accosting you on the streets.
I'm not going to get into it with anyone who's served in Iraq -- I have no issue with you, but with the people who sent you there in the first place. The military is a noble profession, but that doesn't mean its every use is justified. And that doesn't mean people who are anti-war are anti-troops, so don't feed me the "I've been in Iraq" line as if I'm not qualified to have an opinion because George W. Bush didn't send me over there as part of his faux war on terrorism.
I'm not heartless. My heart goes out to these people and everyone that suffers, especially the poor who got a double whammy down in New Orleans. I just don't know how to channel my frustration, and to encourage others to give to the Red Cross because nothing was done to prevent this is like saying, "yeah, they screwed up again, fix their mistakes and don't hold them accountable."
23 - Bob A. Booey
While they are two completely different sorts of catastrophes, the Bush administration failed to be prepared for 9/11 and now it failed to prepare New Orleans for what scientists knew was a pending disaster. This isn't a partisan issue, it's an issue of failing to listen to the latest scientific research and the advice of your own agencies and administrators that you've helped appoint.
Here's today's Chicago Tribune
'WASHINGTON -- Despite continuous warnings that a catastrophic hurricane could hit New Orleans, the Bush administration and Congress in recent years have repeatedly denied full funding for hurricane preparation and flood control.
That has delayed construction of levees around the city and stymied an ambitious project to improve drainage in New Orleans' neighborhoods.
For instance, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers requested $27 million for this fiscal year to pay for hurricane-protection projects around Lake Pontchartrain. The Bush administration countered with $3.9 million, and Congress eventually provided $5.7 million, according to figures provided by the office of U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.).
Because of the shortfalls, which were caused in part by the rising costs of the war in Iraq, the corps delayed seven contracts that included enlarging the levees, according to corps documents.
Much of the devastation in New Orleans was caused by breaches in the levees, which sent water from Lake Pontchartrain pouring into the city. Since much of the city is below sea level, the levee walls acted like the walls of a bowl that filled until as much as 80 percent of the city was under water.
Similarly, the Army Corps requested $78 million for this fiscal year for projects that would improve draining and prevent flooding in New Orleans. The Bush administration's budget provided $30 million for the projects, and Congress ultimately approved $36.5 million, according to Landrieu's office.
"I'm not saying it wouldn't still be flooded, but I do feel that if it had been totally funded, there would be less flooding than you have," said Michael Parker, a former Republican Mississippi congressman who headed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from October 2001 until March 2002, when he was ousted after publicly criticizing a Bush administration proposal to cut the corps' budget.
[...]
A corps plan to shore up the levees began in 1965 and was supposed to be finished in 10 years but remains incomplete. "They've never put enough money in to complete it," Parker said. He said the corps' budget has been regularly targeted by the White House because public works projects are perceived as pork and aren't considered "sexy."
"Go talk to the people who are suffering in New Orleans," Parker said. "Ask them do they think it's pork."
Joseph Suhayda, an emeritus engineering professor at Louisiana State University who has worked for the Army Corps of Engineers, said the corps simply didn't have enough money to build the levees as high as the designs called for.
"The fact that they weren't that high was a result of lack of funding," he said, noting that part of the levee at the 17th Street Canal--where one of the breaches occurred--was 4 feet lower than the rest. "I think they could have significantly reduced the impact if they had those projects funded. If you need to spend $20 million and you spend $4 or $5 million, something's got to give."
[...]
In the years since then, local officials have warned that a catastrophic storm was inevitable and sought more funding to improve the area's hurricane preparedness to handle larger storms. In July 2004, for instance, federal, state and local officials staged a simulation in which a "Hurricane Pam" slammed into New Orleans with 120 m.p.h. winds and created havoc that was eerily similar to that of Hurricane Katrina, including widespread building damage and death.
"Since 1995, we've been replaying these scenarios out in various degrees. . . . Unfortunately, our way for dealing with these disasters is after the fact," Suhayda said.
J. David Rogers, chairman of the geological engineering department at the University of Missouri-Rolla, said politicians have refused to spend money to improve the levees to handle a Category 5 storm because of the low probability of such a storm occurring."
And here's a detailed June 2003 special report from the New Orleans Times-Picayune that predicted almost exactly what would happen in a hurricane like Katrina drawing on the latest science:
The Disaster That We Should Have Seen Coming
24 - Bob A. Booey
Oh, and I almsot forgot, this piece is kind of hard-hearted and over-the-top.
Everyone should contribute to relief efforts because this may be almost as catastrophic an event on the American economy and in loss of life as we've seen since 9/11.
That is all.
25 - Eric Olsen
consider my already dislodged mellow officially harshed