You want disaster relief? Impeach George W. Bush.
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.…
Article comments
— go to most recent comments326 - jordaddy
Pat, Please don't assume things. I never said I was high school science teacher. Guilty of you own critique!
327 - joedaddy
I'm laughing at you pat! Now you have resorted to name calling. WHAT A HYPOCRITE YOU ARE!
328 - get a life
I got edited ;)
Yeah, patrick, you're a [edited]. we got it. loud and clear.
Joedaddy, why do you bother? Of course, the ozone depletion is caused by humans. Yeah, volcanoes and whatever else, but humans can't control nature, we can control our gasoline and other consumptions. Any educated person could tell you that. Let Patrick sink in his own filthy stinkhole. Let him live in his imaginary world where nothing is related to each other and everything is ok just the way it is. Concentrate on trying to reach people who want to understand and who can be saved.
329 - Patrick
>>"because I have an education that allows me to speak, and teach science. It's funny; High School kids can understand this stuff"<<
Precisely what name did I call you?
330 - joedaddy
get a life,
My family is gone or the weekend so I'm just having fun with this fool.
331 - The Amish Hitman
Blunderford and Shark...it's ok bro's. Closed minded folks like you always look for the easy way out of not helping. Always want to lay blame wit the system...when in fact...you are part of that same system.
Want your help?
No thanks...we Americans and others who care about others, will do just fine.
Next.....
332 - Squatch
Apparently, the state of Louisianna and the city of New Orleans has lacked the authority in the past to implement taxes to address what is and has been a pressing local need and, instead, has had to rely completely upon the federal government. How odd!
In Arizona our concern is with water supply. It would be foolish of us to rely on people in, say, New Hampshire to care greatly about our water supply, and I would not expect them to. Hence, the state of Arizona has the authority to implement taxation to address our local concerns! I think that's part of the whole idea of having 50 state governments - to address pressing local needs, instead of hoping that you can somehow impress upon the powers-that-be that YOUR particular local need is greater than that of most everybody else's local needs.
Perhaps the people of Louisianna could amend their consitution to allow its government to levy taxes? That way, they won't have to rely upon evil and ignorant people like President Bush and Republican congressmen to take care of everything! I mean, it's not like this is the Soviet Union...
333 - Patrick
Get a life: Of course you were edited. What do you expect when the height of your rhetorical skills consists of gutter language? Enough said about your qualifications to enter into inteligent discussions.
Joedaddy: You still didn't tell me what name I called you. And the assertion that you claimed to be a high school science teacher was not from any assumption. It's called reasoned deduction. You have to understand Joe, that when you engage in written discussion you leave behind a record. And you did it again, calling me "fool". You'll never learn!
Alas, I'm tired of trying to engage you in intelligent debate, it's too much like stealing candy from a baby. I peruse the blogosphere looking for intelligent people with whom to have serious and intellectual conversations. Sadly, that appears to be beyond your abilities. So I'll bid you adieu.
334 - get a life
Hey Squatch, what a great Mon morning quarterback you are. Really helpful suggestions, I'm sure N.O. and LA govt will get right on that constitution amendment. That'll fix everything. Maybe they can get taxes from those obviously loaded citizens of NO for a time machine to get that levee built in time to save them all.
By the way, that water that you are being taxed on, where do you think that water is coming from (or being drained from is more like it)? The state of AZ? No, it is coming from another state that is naturally habitable, urban deserts are not economically or environmentally sane. None of us operate in our own little world, we are all related and we all need to help each other out. Try a helpful suggestion please, instead of blaming and further demonizing the dying people of LA with unhelpful after-the-fact comments.
335 - joedaddy
Pat,
Goodbye. It goes to show that even you can't make a "reasoned deduction". Then you run when asked for proof of your statements, after demanding proof of mine.
336 - Squatch
Hey Get a Life,
Just pointing out how absurd the Blame Bush crowd is being. For instance, "I'm sick of footing the bill for George W. Bush and the rest of his so-called compassionate conservatives". He thinks by not donating that he's somehow getting back at Bush, when in reality fault cannot be solely laid at the feet of the federal government. All he's doing is hurting the people of Louisianna by not donating.
If it's finding fault that Mr. Blunderford wants to engage in, then he should be even more crass and blame the people of Louisianna as well, which he won't do, because his post is just an exercise in political one-upsmanship.
Tucson is taking in refugees and will be housing them at the TCC, and I'll be checking what our local government wants us to help provide so that I can contribute. I also work for a major nonprofit that will be contributing a large amount of money for relief efforts, and I'm proud that we are.
Not my fault you can't detect obvious sarcasm in a comment.
337 - get a life
Maybe Blunderford, and others angry at Bush, feel that they are paying taxes for this kind of relief operation and not for Iraq. I don't mind donating $ to this. I feel like it's my duty as a human being after this week. But I feel like my tax money is being spent needlessly on a made-up war. I want to see these people helped, not spending MY hard-earned $ on Iraq!! Also, maybe Bush is not the only person to blame, but the country does not vote for the mayor of NO, they vote for the pres. someone who is meant to lead. Did Bush lead??!!?? No, he lied for days and days, saying supplies were in there, people being saved. We all saw it on TV, they weren't. Nothing was done until he couldn't help but do something. And why wasn't anything done, becuase Bush has no ability to make a decision, without his cronies telling him what to do, how to feel, what to think... He's a moron. I believe that he looked at this situation as collateral damage - like the war. He failied to see that NO is not a war and his own people were dying, while he was lying. That is why people are blaming Bush. He had days and days and days to do something, anything and the only thing he did was pay lip service. Not good enough.
338 - Liberal
"If we can’t respond faster than this to an event we saw coming across the Gulf for days, then why do we think we’re prepared to respond to a nuclear or biological attack?" said former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a Republican.
Hmmmm....
339 - EducatedConservative
Amazing how many people who claim to be educated are too stupid to know that the Federal Gov. can't give any aid unless it is requested. The fault for slow response lies DIRECTLY at the feet of the elected "officials" in LA, who couldn't even follow their own disaster plans and use the 500+ available buses to evacuate people. Heavens, they didn't have RESTROOMS, so they demanded Greyhound buses. Guess they are too divorced from reality to have heard of PUBLIC RESTROOMS.
They still haven't declared a state of emergency. The Governor of LA is completely useless. They have refused help from the Federal government at every turn.
340 - Anthony Grande
Yeah and the governor of LA just happens to be a liberal democrat, so we can't blame him, so we must look someone else like Bush to blame.
341 - SOS
What Proof do you have that Bush Has not been giving money to charity? Disagreeing on the war in Iraq is like disagreeing with WWII after Pearl Harbor. Not to give money to the Hurricane victims is The Stupidist thing I have ever heard. Think About all the little kids whose HOMES got washed away!!!
342 - Brian Sevilla
As someone newly detached from high school, i apologize for my grammar and writing, but i felt compelled to say something.
Help your fellow man. No matter how it happened, why it happened...help them.
People of both parties,
We have to stop fighting amongst ourselves. This is not a time to fingerpoint and not a time to argue about what would happen if someone else was elected president.
As a liberal, i was pretty bummed that we lost 04 and the majority was for the war...but i let it go, if they want this war, let them have it. I voted, thats all i can do.
But i cannot stand the fact people wont help because of someones views or beliefs...isnt this kind of like the same as muslim terrorists bombing us because of our way of life to some degree?
The government totally botched this, the city, the state, there are so many people to point at and say "Its thats guys fault"
But what many political minded people are forgetting is that Americans are Starving...AMERICANS
Ive been out of the country many times,
Philippines(Where im from), Thailand, Singapore. Honestly guys, we have it good here.
One of the things that struck me was when i was in the Philippines, 2 children came up to the passenger side of my cab, asking for money, food, anything. I gave em an amount equal to 5 dollars, since i have a cab to pay for.
But when you look outside, stuck in traffic, literally dozens of children, elderly, the sick, all were begging besides the traffic. I shed a tear because i felt my problems at home were so insignificant to those children.
I wanted to do more, and i felt so helpless.
So i started volunteering at small church group thingies, because i thought its a good start.
But back to the issue of new orleans.
AMERICANS ARE STARVING, AMERICANS!
I dont give a F*** if their black, white, asian, liberal, conservative...they are our fellow brothers and sisters, and they need help.
So in short, we have to stop arguing amongst ourselves.
Im sorry, i feel as if i rambled this post. And if people are gonna critic me because of my post, I'm a naive college student...so go ahead and badger me to make urself feel big.
please help
343 - Natalie Davis
Criticize you? Mr. Sevilla, you are helping! Thank you.
As for those refusing to help because of their distaste for Shrubbie and Co., we have heard from two. Two. Outrage over this is unnecessary; I don't think this is a widely held stance.
As for blame, yeah, I think some falls at the feet of Dubya and Chertoff and the feds. But lots of it belongs to Nagin and Blanco (Mr. Grande, LA's governor is not a "him").
344 - Dave Nalle
>>Amazing how many people who claim to be educated are too stupid to know that the Federal Gov. can't give any aid unless it is requested. <<
Were you aware that the completely useless Ms. Blanco has yet to request that Louisiana be declared a disaster area?
Dave
345 - Realist
Now listen, children.
There is plenty of blame to go around,
1. The levee system is known to be inadequate. This has been known for decades. Every administration at least since 1965 owns a share of the problem.
2. The entire Louisiana Delta has been, and remains a disaster waiting to happen. You have got to be from another planet not to know this.
3. Washington politicians have known it. Everyone knew it.
4. No serious effort has been made by either Democrats or Republicans to allocate the funds necessary to address the problem. Now it will cost more to clean up the mess than it would have cost to correct the problem in the first place -- and that will still leave the original problem of the delta.
5. Proposed funding has been cut by both parties, Tip O’Neill got his money for the Big Dig by playing political shenanigans with Reagan. That’s the way it works in Washington. Both parties play the game with our money.
6. Announcement of the hurricane was made in sufficient time for an evacuation. Any sane person should have made every possible effort to get out starting two or three days before the storm hit.
7. The Mayor issued a mandatory evacuation order. Many weren’t paying attention or didn’t believe it was necessary to evacuate.
8. Common sense says that some people could not evacuate unless transportation was provided
9. Transportation was not provided either by the city, the state, or the federal government. It is not rocket science to understand that some level of government could have and should have seen that this was done.
10. Some did not evacuate out of choice. They deserve no sympathy.
11. The city did not have adequate resources available. This in spite of the predictions that a category 4 or 5 storm would necessitate a certain level of action.
12. The state did not have adequate resources available. This in spite of the predictions that a category 4 or 5 storm would necessitate a certain level of action.
13. The federal government did not have adequate resources available. This in spite of the predictions that a category 4 or 5 storm would necessitate a certain level of action.
14. No plan was in place to coordinate the required efforts.
15. There were many fumbles, but the ones that stand out are those of the federal government. Aside from the human considerations, the country depends on the off-shore drilling rigs, oil refineries and pipelines located in the area of the delta.
16. To make matters worse, the federal government has been making excuses in real time while the city continues to flood.
17. Finger pointing has become the game.
18. It is interesting that not giving a dollar or two ignited this “flood” of commentary.
19. Anyone who wants to donate should be able to do it through recognized channels, and there are many that are in place. Who knows what happens to the dollar bills dropped into a “box” in a store?
346 - Veritas
I never realized that the citizens of New Orleans were considered Republican voters. I was under the mistaken view that blacks voted for the Democratic Party. So I guess the Left wishes that blacks would roll over and die if one is to believe the author.
Well I always thought the Left had a heart.
347 - Allen
Druxxx posted, "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."
Firstly, Druxxx shows not just his irrational hatred of Bush in the post, but also his hatred for the military by wanting the men and women in the national guard to have been placed directly in the path of Katrina.
Secondly, federal law prevents Bush from moving the national guard in until being specifically requested by a state's governor. There are a few exceptions to this with one prime example being Eisenhower's decision to federalize the Arkansas National Guard when the Democratic governor refused to comply with court-ordered school desegregation orders. However, a natural disaster isn't one of those exceptions; the decision to move the guard into NOLA laid squarely on the shoulders of no one other than Gov. Blanco (D-LA). She didn't even bother ordering in her own national guard units into the area until Wednesday morning...AFTER the looting had already begun two nights earlier. In fact, she failed to do anything other than to ask Bush to declare the region a Federal disaster area prior to the landfall of Katrina; Bush declared it as such that Sunday and FEMA began mobilizing at that time.
348 - Anthony Grande
Allen, I never knew all that. I guess the left was dead wrong about putting the blame on Bush after all. The blame should go to the liberal Democrat Governor of Louisiana.
349 - Max
I don't hear anyone blaming the Independent party, Green party, Libertarian party, Socialist party, or the Constitutionalist party. Just the two of you bitching at each other! Grow up, kids! Look in the mirror and ask yourself, “How have I become so full of hate?”
Man! It's funny to watch all of you blaming Bush and blaming the democrats. Look...Here's the truth from and independent. It's no one's fault, but...BUSH DROPPED THE BALL!!! And is STILL fumbling with it. Another HUGE failure. Where has he succeeded? NO WHERE!! Fire the man. You will notice that Buh has never, and will never act quickly. He needs his advisors to tell him what to do.
350 - max
i TAKE THAT BACK. bUSH WAS QUICKTO iNVADE iRAQ WITH NO PROOFOF ANYTHINGOTHERTHAN iRAQ HAS OIL
I take that back. Bush was quick to invade Iraq for true reason, or proof of anything... other than Iraq has Oil. But, that's all he needed.
351 - Rhonda
WOW!!! some of you here are pretty sad examples of human beings! right now it doesnt matter who's to blame, it only matters that these human beings lives are distroyed and they need help. Any of you so quick to put blame on some one right now should be strung up and hung. If you are that cold and uncaring, why dont you move from these United States, move to another country that is more deserving of your hatred.
even countries we do not have anything to do with are offering their help.
just go back to that rock you crawled out from under will you? before someone who isnt normally disrespectful of life finds you. Being a firm beliver of what goes around comes around, I see all you fools crying for help someday, and no one will be there.
352 - steve
There is no reason why the state of Louisiana could have implimented an evacuation plan. Just look at the state of Flordia. Every year it seems, they get hit by a hurricane. every year they have the foresight to evacuate and make due. why couldnt the people of LA do the same? why is it that there is never any looting in florida? that was very opportunistic and should be frowned upon. shooting at helicopters or police will not earn my sympathy either
353 - Anthony Grande
"Bush was quick to invade Iraq for true reason, or proof of anything... other than Iraq has Oil."
Exactly how much oil have we took form Iraq??? Look at our gas prices.
"BUSH DROPPED THE BALL!!! And is STILL fumbling with it."
No the ball went under the legs of Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin, they just happen to be democrats, I am not blaming Democrats in general.
354 - max
Anthony,
I can't tell you exactly how much oil, but it's every drop that has left Iraq. Why is gas so high...NO REASON AT ALL!!! Come on! Everyone on the Gulf Ghost lost their car, boat, trucks, yard equipment. They aren't selling as much now and need to rape you for the profit. Man!! Republicans are too stupid to think. Now, the truth is out about Nagin. You can't blame anyone but Bush, now. How do you explain him out of this one?
355 - Commander Stevens
UNHINGED!!
356 - smb
Im not donating to Katrina either. The looters can put the jewelry and big screens that they sole on ebay. this will cover me, as well as several thousand other americans hanging on the wire whether or not they should donate.
357 - Kim
I find it funny that all these people set in their nice dry comfortable house with power and running water and pass judgment on others. Have you ever lived through a natural disaster? Their are hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, and then their are man made disasters, look around you, how many people have died for what you are enjoying? How many people have died over the electricity that runs your computer? Which one of you has the balls to tell a 5 year old little girl that looses her mom and dad to a disaster that they diserved it and she deserves to be alone? Can you tell her that she should die from lack of food or the basic essentials? Since when does anothers action wave the basic human responsibilities of us to our fellow man? Is it any wonder that we create monsters that rape, steal, feel justified in blowing people up. They know that there are people out there that will justify those actions for them by blaming the government or a specific race. You are right it is the governments responsibility to respond to our need. But do we not have a responsibility to respond to our own needs as well.
Look at your home, take a good look, if a disaster happens and you are homeless tell your children that just as you have no compassion or responsibility to society that society has no responsibility to them. Tell them that it is OK for them to be hungry and sick with no place to go because you should have moved before it happened. But wait, how will you answer them when they ask were you would have gone that is completely safe? No tornadoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, lightning storms, snow storms, or even people that wish to hurt them?
I can not sit and look at a person starving to death and eat my hot meal and tell them that they have no right to food because sitting in my warm dry house I can see that they should have left. Hind sight is 20/20! But I know all of you judgmental asses have never made a bad decision in your life. If the rest of us were so perfect there would be no problems in this world. Fact is this world is not perfect nor will it ever be so we have to do the best we can.
How arrogant is it to think that you are the only person in the world that has the answers. I wonder if you were in charge would someone be judging you as an incompetent fool who knows nothing.
There is ALOT with our government, taxes, and their spending that I do not agree with, but I am smart enough to know that I do not have all the answers and neither do they. We will have to work together to come up with the answers. The system is far from perfect but I can think of a Hell of alot of other systems that would be worse. I agree that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, but what has that got to do with people who work every day and pay the same taxes you do loosing everything they have to a hurricane? If you are so smart and say we knew it was coming why didnt you tell any one that this would be the biggest, worst hurricane in history? Why didnt you tell the gulf coast that they would feel the effect and have damage 150 miles from the center of the storm, since no other hurricane in history has produced these effects. Yes I live on the Gulf Coast and have seen many hurricanes. Maybe, the millions of people that are my neighbors should all pack up and move to the same neighbor hoods that these self center people live, because then we would all be safe. Would that make your life easier or would you then sit and bitch about the resources of your community being taxed and these people should go back to were they came from.
As far as the looters, they should be shot. They are taking advantage of a tragedy and they have made a conscious decision about survival. They are not stealing food and water to survive. They probably are justifying their actions by saying that if people didnt want things stolen than they should have moved it out of the city, sound familiar. Maybe you should make sure your burglar alarm, burglar bars, fire alarm, carbon monoxide alarm, and your personal gaurds are prepared because I know that these are the type of reasonable precautions that someone so arrogant would take before they judged someone else. Someone so smart would make sure that they could never be judged in the same light that they judge others. I once heard it said that you need to sweep your own front porch before you start looking at others.
358 - Jeffrey Crisp
The President's responsibility? The bottom line...suppose... I am the manager of a store in a chain and I designate responsiblity for an implemented program handed down to me from the corporate level. This program is not handled properly by the person I designate resulting in major loss to not only the company but the community as well. The community demands answers as to who was responsible. The question of responsibility has a chain to it....Major responsibility comes from the person designated to do the job at the store level and that person most likely should be fired....Then, as the manager of the store it should have been MY responsibility to check in from time to time and oversee that the program was operating as it should so I should be reprimanded at the very least for my inattention. The head (president) of the corporation thinks it has been handled properly by the manager (that's me) under him and is unaware of it's failure until after the fact so he has the job of seeing to it that it doesn't happen again. HOWEVER...if that president of the corporation is monitoring the progress in some fashion HE SHOULD BE ALL OVER THE SITUATION WHEN IT BECOMES APPARENT THAT IT ISN'T BEING HANDLED....ESPECIALLY IF HE IS IN THE AREA CLOSEBY WHERE THE STORE IS LOCATED....so maybe the company needs a new president as well...huh? Jeffrey Crisp
Asheville NC
359 - Josh
You self-important idiot. It's thick-headed and hard-hearted enough of you not to give money to disaster relief because of some point you want to make about Bush, but then you have to go and write about it on your little blog as though you've actually done something bold rather than lazy and selfish. You're not only failing to help people in need, but you're giving ammo to conservatives. You should be ashamed to call yourself a liberal.
360 - Gavin
After the 9/11 donations scandal; I'm not suprised that there are people not wanting to donate. I also agree that Mr. Bush should dig into his own pocket, and the Federal Govt' should ask the Rich to return the big tax cuts Bush gave them to donate.
361 - tony
Why should I give a dime? I pay my taxes and that should be enough. I donate every payday. Just like millions of Americans. It's our leaders that are suppose to have plans and resorces set aside for this type of thing. And since the government is refusing help from other countries...then let them pay from their own pocket. Maybe we should be asking the oil companies to help. why won't the republicans let the world help Americans in need???????
362 - x
FUCK Bush?
Fuck the Shark and all the rest of you.
That is all.
363 - DrPat
Here it is again: "Have you stopped beating your wife?"
364 - george
I think the question to ask is have you stopped beating something else? Hint: it's very small and ineffective.
365 - george
Who's in need?
My family, not people I am not related to or know personally. If I were in trouble, I would not ask strangers for help. I would not ask my government for help. If I couldn't take care of my own or provide for my own safety and security, then I would deserve to perish. That's the first rule of nature. Survival of the fittest.
That's the way America USED to be. What happened to that America? That's right, it was hijacked by pussies raised on the government's tits and thinking our leaders are supposed to be our mommies and daddies.
366 - joe
Well george,
We live in a modern world. Cities aren't part of nature, so survival of the fittest does not apply here, and we are humans...not animals. It's in OUR nature to help others in need. So, it seems that you are out of touch with reality. Are you mad that we help other countries when they are in need? This is ONLY the worst disaster that has ever hit our country. Many people will need help. If you don't want to give...so what. There is no crime in not donating to charity.
367 - george
you are correct, joe, there is no crime to give to strangers. Just don't expect me to give up anything that is mine or expect me to gladly accept the premise that my tax dollars are being given to people who don't have the smarts to get out of the way of a hurricane. And btw, evertything is part of nature and we are animals, homo sapiens, the top of the food chain.
368 - joe
Yes George,
You are correct. Nuclear power plants are part of nature.
369 - george
atoms are at the foundation of life in nature, or did you miss that day in science class? Harnessing their energy is part of the brilliance of mankind that I admire above most other things. What could you possibly have against nuclear power?
370 - max
Georgie worgie puddin n pie. Kissed the girls and made them cry!
How about we dump all that natural nuclear waste in your back yard and see how natural you feel. To say that splitting an atom is part of nature just goes to show how far removed from reality you are. I guess your planet has nuclear storms and radioactive acid rains, where the solar winds blow across your atmosphere-less world.
NICE!
371 - joe
nature
A primitive state of existence, untouched and uninfluenced by civilization or artificiality: couldn't tolerate city life anymore and went back to nature.
The material world and its phenomena.
The forces and processes that produce and control all the phenomena of the material world: the laws of nature.
The world of living things and the outdoors: the beauties of nature.
Theology. Humankind's natural state as distinguished from the state of grace.
372 - george
The world of living things and the outdoors:
hmmm, atomic particles aren't living things? Tell that to my old science teacher!
The forces and processes that produce and control all the phenomena of the material world: the laws of nature.
Phenomena like splitting atomic particles and marvelling at the energy expelled via that process, for example.
You tree huggers crack me up!
373 - joe
yes, atoms are part of nuture. Splitting them unnaturally is not...hence the word, "unnatural"
unnatural...
In violation of a natural law.
Inconsistent with an individual pattern or custom.
Deviating from a behavioral or social norm: an unnatural attachment.
Contrived or constrained; artificial: smiled in an unnatural manner.
In violation of natural feelings; inhuman.
374 - Scott Butki
This thread sure devolved fast.
375 - Victor Plenty
It was already devolved in the headline.