Bush faces new challenge amid flood of bad news

[The Hunter]

Here are some thoughts from some informed people, and some very misinformed ones.

Some of the comments I found shocking, IE saying that the Bush goverment gave the local goverment the needed money and that they wasted it.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/4207856.stm

[Wolfie]

Not to mention a vast crowd of needy, increasingly frustrated southerners, some of whom even voted for him, demanding more action from their government than they have seen so far.

:nope:

[method77]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from...ent/4208066.stm

an article everyone should read

thanks Hunter

[DudeAsInCool]

All the President's Friends

The lethally inept response to Hurricane Katrina revealed to everyone that the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which earned universal praise during the Clinton years, is a shell of its former self. The hapless Michael Brown - who is no longer overseeing relief efforts but still heads the agency - has become a symbol of cronyism.

But what we really should be asking is whether FEMA's decline and fall is unique, or part of a larger pattern. What other government functions have been crippled by politicization, cronyism and/or the departure of experienced professionals? How many FEMA's are there?

....The point is that Katrina should serve as a wakeup call, not just about FEMA, but about the executive branch as a whole. Everything I know suggests that it's in a sorry state - that an administration which doesn't treat governing seriously has created two, three, many FEMA's.

http://nytimes.com/2005/09/12/opinion/12krugman.html?hp

[DudeAsInCool]

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, credible private experts are forecasting a federal budget deficit of $500 billion for this year, a sharp reminder of the government's fiscal folly.

For all the deserved criticism the Bush administration has received for its tardy and ragged response to the storm's ravages on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, the long-term costs to the nation of the reckless disregard both the president and Congress have shown toward paying the nation's bills may be even greater.

....The warning signs of impending economic calamity are every bit as evident as the forecasts of ruin for New Orleans when a major hurricane hit.

The runaway budget deficits are compounded by the persistent and growing imbalance in our trade accounts -- jeopardizing the inflow of foreign funds we have used to finance our debt.

At a private dinner the other evening where many of the men and women who have steered economic and fiscal policy during the past two decades were expressing their alarm about this situation, one speaker summarized the feelings of the group:

"I think it's 1925," he said, "and we're headed for 1929."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...5090901820.html

When conservative loyalist Republicans start slamming Bush, you know he's toast

[MrBag]

This man is suppose to represent the american people,, that means you and me folks, bush is a very poor representation for me .. he's a big joke to me, makes me sad to think he represents all of you too .... thanks for the ear

[Kooperman]

When conservative loyalist Republicans start slamming Bush, you know he's toast

Worst.

President.

Ever.

[DudeAsInCool]

Maureen Dowd: The president should stop haunting New Orleans, looking for that bullhorn moment. It's too late.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/14/opinion/14dowd.html?hp

I find it interesting that whenever there was a natural disaster during Clinton's term, he was there without hesitation - not this President, he's too busy taking vacations

[Kooperman]

Maureen Dowd: The president should stop haunting New Orleans, looking for that bullhorn moment. It's too late.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/14/opinion/14dowd.html?hp

I find it interesting that whenever there was a natural disaster during Clinton's term, he was there without hesitation - not this President, he's too busy taking vacations

Enjoy Maureen Dowd, Paul Krugman and (sometimes) David Brooks while you can...on Friday the NY Times requires a $50 yearly subscription payment for all editorial and op-ed columns.

[DudeAsInCool]

Maureen Dowd:  The president should stop haunting New Orleans, looking for that bullhorn moment. It's too late.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/14/opinion/14dowd.html?hp

I find it interesting that whenever there was a natural disaster during Clinton's term, he was there without hesitation - not this President, he's too busy taking vacations

Enjoy Maureen Dowd, Paul Krugman and (sometimes) David Brooks while you can...on Friday the NY Times requires a $50 yearly subscription payment for all editorial and op-ed columns.

The Times are getting greedy now and I may have to boycott them. Certainly they make enuff money off of advertising not to do this. Screw them.

[DudeAsInCool]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/0...r2587077477.jpg

[DudeAsInCool]

CBS/NY Times Poll - more bad news for Bush:

http://nytimes.com/2005/09/15/politics/15p...artner=homepage

[slum_goddess]

The Times are getting greedy now and I may have to boycott them.  Certainly they make enuff money off of advertising not to do this.  Screw them.

it's too bad about Krugman, Rich and Bob Herbert but as far as NYT 'news,' they've sucked balls/been slanted, trying to prove they're not liberal, for ages now.

fuck them--i'll wait until someone hacks, copies and publishes whatever (if i must). :)

[DudeAsInCool]

As much as Im not a fan, I thought Bush's speech tonight from Jackson Square was pretty good. I'm troubled by the no-bid contracts/but he seemed to hint at being more inclusive beyond that. Any thoughts....

[method77]

speeches are made by professional speech-makers or what they are called. I never believe a politicians speech. People that judge a politician by his speech are fools.

No offense dude

[DudeAsInCool]

speeches are made by professional speech-makers or what they are called. I never believe a politicians speech. People that judge a politician by his speech are fools.

No offense dude

lol - who said anything about judging anyone. i was resporting on my reaction on his speech..

[method77]

I happened to see the last few seconds of the speech on Euronews and I was about to spit on the damn TV as soon as I saw his monkey face take that "I care about you" too. Fuckin mass murderer motherfucker!

...you asked for a reaction

[DudeAsInCool]

Well, yes, I did... I didnt have that reaction, as I listened to it on the radio...

Here's the speech he didnt make:

Here's the speech that War Room readers might write. Douglas O'Morain of Austin, Tex., gets us started, and then a list of would-be presidential advisors too long to mention fills in the blanks and connects the dots from there.

"My fellow Americans, while many people were at fault for our country's poor response to Hurricane Katrina, I am the president, and the buck stops with me. In addition to being the commander in chief, I believe that the president has a moral obligation to protect the people to the best of his ability. And in this case, I did not perform for you as I did on September the 11th, 2001. While I believe that there are many reasons behind the debacle in New Orleans and elsewhere in the wake of the hurricane, I accept full responsibility for the failures of the federal government. I will not shirk from blame; I will not pass the buck.

"I take responsibility for not having shown concern about the people or the situation in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast until it became clear that it was a public relations disaster for my administration. I take responsibility for the fact that Katrina will go down as one of the 10 deadliest natural disastersin our nation's history -- and that the other nine all happened before helicopters were widely available for rescue missions.

"I take responsibility for packing FEMA, a federal agency America depends on in national emergencies, with political hacks with no real qualificationsfor doing life-and-death jobs. I take responsibility for not making geography skills a priority for FEMA. I take responsibility for the fact that, while fires blazed out of control in New Orleans, 600 firefighters were stuck in a FEMA seminar on customer service in Atlanta. I take responsibility for telling Brownie that he was 'doing a heck of a job,' when, in fact, he sucked.

"I take responsibility for not asking Dick Cheney to end his vacation sooner; for not asking Condoleezza Rice to end her shopping spree in New York sooner; for not asking Donald Rumsfeld to cut short his trip to the ballgameand mobilize soldiers for the relief effort. I take responsibility for sendinglarge numbers of National Guard members from Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama and Florida to Iraq, making it impossible for them to act quickly to aid and the protect their homeland.

"I take responsibility for allowing one of my senior administration officials to insinuate that that I ignored the delay in the deployment of federal troops because I didn't want to seem like I was bullying some chick governor.

"I take responsibility for allowing the nation's poverty rate to rise four years in a row. I take responsibility for the fiscal policies and war plans that have left our country unable to perform its primary duty of protecting its citizens without going into further debt. I take responsibility for failing to give the Army Corps of Engineers' adequate funds to build and fortify levees in New Orleans. I take responsibility for consistently burying scientific evidence about global warming and other issues and paying people to re-word scientific reports so that they line up with my way of thinking.

"I take responsibility for pretending to play guitar in California while New Orleans was flooding.

"I take responsibility for saying, 'I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees,' when practically anyone who lived in New Orleans for the past 100 years could have anticipated it. I take responsibility for countless phony uses of the word 'folks' instead of 'people' to convince as many knuckle-draggers as possible that despite my massive wealth, Yale education and privilege I am really just as dumb and illiterate as they are.

"I take responsibility for the suffering that will follow from my decision -- between photo-op hops to the safest sites within the battered Gulf Coast -- to suspend the Davis-Bacon Act protections for laborers working to rebuild the Gulf Coast and New Orleans. I take responsibility for issuing 'no-bid', 'cost-plus' contracts to those helping to re-build hurricane damaged areas, so my close personal friends and cronies can make millions taking advantage of the worst natural disaster in America's history -- just like they did in Iraq. I take responsibility for trying to further my political goals of allowing private/religious school vouchers, smashing unions, weakening environmental regulations and giving Halliburton a blank check during this time of great crisis.

"I take responsibility for having failed to say 'I take responsibility' for anything until it was politically expedient to do so. I take responsibility for being such an aggrogant, cranky, vindictive twit that my loyal aides have todraw straws to see which unlucky one has to bring me a reality check. I take responsibility for putting myself in the position of being elected to the most powerful position in the world knowing full well that I have neither the experience, imagination nor human compassion that are prerequisites for the job."

"May God bless the good folks in this part of the world. And may God continue to bless the United States of America."

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/index.html

[method77]

much better...

[method77]

This whole situation would have "killed" the goverment here or any other country of the first world by no, not in America. What the fuck people? Bush and gang are useless and they proved it once again. They are a danger to the civilised world and they must be put away at once! DO SOMETHING!!!

I remember the german leader a few days before the last elections there. He was a sure loss but he handled the huge flood like a maestro. He did everything human possible to save the german south.

He won the elections and the world applauded.

[DudeAsInCool]

Transcript of the speech:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/15/national...5text-bush.html

Wire Summary:

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/09/15/D8CL3BEO6.html

  Bush repeated a hotline number, 1-877-568-3317, for people to call to help reunite family members separated during the hurricane. Moments later, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., criticized Bush, saying "Leadership isn't a speech or a toll-free number."

"No American doubts that New Orleans will rise again," Kerry said. "They doubt the competence and commitment of this administration." House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, in a joint statement, said, "We are concerned by Bush administration initiatives this week waiving wage protections, environmental safeguards and protections for veterans, minorities, women and the disabled."

NYTimes Analysis:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/16/politics/16assess.html

[DudeAsInCool]

This whole situation would have "killed" the goverment here or any other country of the first world by no, not in America. What the fuck people? Bush and gang are useless and they proved it once again. They are a danger to the civilised world and they must be put away at once! DO SOMETHING!!!

We dont have a recall or vote of faith option (to my knowledge) and impeachment would be blocked by the Republican controlled congress--hell, they voted down Hillary's attempt to have an investigation on Katrina! So we are stuck with the jerk... But the public is angry--even most of the Republicans I know (there are a few here in California lol)--I dont think he is going to be be able to salvage his rep.. and its going to get worse once the Plame investigation closes and over the half of the public wants out of Iraq. He's toast!

[Kooperman]

As much as Im not a fan, I thought Bush's speech tonight from Jackson Square was pretty good. I'm troubled by the no-bid contracts/but he seemed to hint at being more inclusive beyond that. Any thoughts....

His proposals are aimed more toward business owners, not direct relief for average, impoverished citizens...a class of people that he and his party could care less about. His programs will use labor that will be paid less than prevailing wages, thanks to a special order by Bush, and just see if they get health insurance. This is strictly a partisan project, administered and overseen by an unqualified Karl Rove. It will distribute huge amounts of money to favored clients of the Bush administration, and the results will probably be much like the projects in Iraq....shoddily done with overcharges and fraud aplenty.

This is less a rebuilding of New Orleans and the fractured lives of the largely poor, black citizenry, and more a rebuilding of a fragmented, inept Republican party. There's no reason to believe this will be any more of a success than any of the other failures this corrupt administration has overseen.

[slum_goddess]

  Any thoughts....

he fooled your Hollywood ass... :)

Here's the speech that War Room readers might write.

but they won't and if they did, they'd be unemployed ASAP.

This whole situation would have "killed" the goverment here or any other country of the first world by no, not in America. What the fuck people? Bush and gang are useless and they proved it once again. They are a danger to the civilised world and they must be put away at once! DO SOMETHING!!!

i think short of unified civil disobedience (e.g., to quit paying income taxes) NOTHING will get through to these fuckers. and people are complacent--they don't wanna rock the boat or possibly lose not one (badly-needed) dollar these days. :(

i watched Fahrenheit 9/11 last night again (a really stupid thing for me to do)...too bad people think Michael Moore is fat (and fat = unamerikan and we all know we totally can't trust those overweight since we're all so perfectly fit ourselves). *mirthless laughter*

Koop, you're the voice of reason, as usual :)

[DudeAsInCool]

he fooled your Hollywood ass... :)

Says who? No, he didnt.