The Hurricane Katrina Disaster: It's Causes & Aftermath

-CTF Editorial: September 1, 2001

After the rash of hurricanes this year, worse than the rash of hurricanes last year, there is no doubt that global warming is contributing to both the severe weather, and the increase in it's power. The Gulf is many degrees higher than is normal, thanks to this global phenomenon. This process will only get worse if we don't actively reverse the trend. Inuit peoples in the Arctic are literally losing permafrozen ice on which to live. The ground is literally melting out from underneath them. Pacific Islanders are watching their islands submerged under rising ocean levels. And with the destruction of hurricane mitigating wetlands which act as a natural barrier, the impact of these higher force storms on highly populated coastal areas is leading to disaster. Meanwhile members of the Bush Administration twiddle their thumbs and barely even debate whether something that is already here is even happening in the first place. Well, they don't believe in evolution either. Not big on the science this group.

------------------------------------------------------------------

UPDATE

Right Wing Makes Excuses and Places Blame at Everyone's Feet But Their Own

Scott McClellan: "Flood control has been a priority for this Administration from day one."

Do I even have to explain why he should be spanked within an inch of his life for this lie????????

Scott McClellan: "We will not tolerate law breakers, we will not tolerate price-gouging, we will not tolerate insurance fraud, we won't tolerate looting. And there is a zero tolerance approach when it comes to these issues."

But you'll tolerate Oil Company price-gouging? I STILL don't see Ken Lay in jail, do I?

Bush: "I don't think anyone anticipated the breaking of the levees."

Are FEMA, Senator Mary Landrieu, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Environmental Protection Agency, National Geographic Magazine, and the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project suddenly mute???

Michelle Malkin, Republican stooge, gave us this gem: "Where are Hollywood and the Live Aid people? Answer: Nowhere to be found yet."

Is she serious??? They can raise money for later, and will, and are flat-out donating money, but YOU REPUBLICANS CONTROL THE GOVERNMENT NOW!! You wanted it so bad? Well here it is, and you're blowing it!

Rush Limbaugh: "The non-black population was able to get out!"

Do these people even hear themselves speak?

George Neumayr, the executive editor of the rabidly NeoCon American Spectator said, "Its dangerous geography, combined with a dangerous culture, made it susceptible to an unfolding catastrophe. Currents of chaos and lawlessness were running through the city long before this week, and they were bound to come to the surface under the pressure of natural disaster and explode in a scene of looting and mayhem.... Like riotous Los Angeles since the 1960s, New Orleans has been a wasteland of politically correct dysfunction for decades.... barbaric gangster rap culture no one will confront lest they offend liberal pieties, multiculturalist frauds who empower no one but themselves, and cops neutered by the NAACP and ACLU. Criminals have ruled New Orleans for some time.... Why are police officers behaving like criminals? Well, because PC police departments like the NOPD hire them. Aggressive, let's-just-meet-the-quota-style affirmative action has become the door through which criminals enter the police academy."

So there you have it.

Clinton funded and completed 80% of the required repairs during his administration. Bush had only to finish the last 20%, yet he, and the Republican-controlled Congress, SPECIFICALLY removed the line item in the Budget that funded the Army Corps of Engineers Project to restore the levees. The hurricane? The refusal to fund and repair the levees? The allowing business unrestricted rights to build on the wetlands which might have reduced the water levels?

Nope, those are not the problem.

"Affirmative action" is the problem. "Barbaric gangster rap culture" is the problem. Supposedly "criminal" POLICE OFFICERS who've been pulling 20-hour shifts to RESCUE PEOPLE are the problem. The NAACP and ACLU are supposedly the problem.

These people have NO LIMITS. I have one small question.

Jesse Jackson has been down there organizing relief efforts. Jackson headed into New Orleans with state Sen. Cleo Fields and three buses to move 450 students from Xavier University to safer locations outside the city and then made repeated 70-mile roundtrips to help others escape. "We're going to New Orleans today without a security guard," Jackson said, "We trust people."

If he can do it, WHY CAN'T BUSH??

Get down in the muck with the people!

The real reason why he can't is THEY WOULD TEAR HIM TO SHREDS at this point. And he would have EARNED IT. Bush then chimed in with: "I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees."

I know he doesn't read the newspaper, but perhaps we should buy him a subscription to the National Geographic:

-----------------
http://www3.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0410/feature5/

"The Louisiana bayou, hardest working marsh in America, is in big trouble—with dire consequences for residents, the nearby city of New Orleans, and seafood lovers everywhere."

Nearly 80 percent of New Orleans lies below sea level—more than eight feet below in places....

The chances of such a storm hitting New Orleans in any given year are slight, but the danger is growing. Climatologists predict that powerful storms may occur more frequently this century, while rising sea level from global warming is putting low-lying coasts at greater risk. "It's not if it will happen," says University of New Orleans geologist Shea Penland. "It's when."
-----------------

Or maybe an issue of Popular Mechanics?

No, Mr. Bush, NOBODY could have seen this one coming.....

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/research/1282151.html

The Democratic reponse?

"If we talk of accountability too soon, it's called finger-pointing. If we talk about accountability too late, we're told to 'Get over it.' Tell me, Mr. President, when EXACTLY is the moment for accountability?" - Brad Miller (D - North Carolina)

Terribly, terribly true.

------------------------------------------------------------------

UPDATE

Profiting Off Of Misery

This just in:

Halliburton gets the contract to repair damage from Hurricane Katrina.
Blackwater is in charge of "crowd control".

Ka-CHING!! $$$$$$$

I think we were all waiting for that shoe to drop.

They're going make money off of this hideous tragedy, and Cheney didn't even come off his vacation to do it. This is NOTHING MORE than the Republican version of the Zimbabwe government's policy of bulldozing poor people's homes to "renew" the country.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is EXACTLY like 9/11, they are using a NATIONAL TRAGEDY to make money.

If that son-of-a-bitch even TWITCHES in the direction of blaming the Mayor, after he was SCREAMING for help and getting ignored by the Feds, everyone should make for the White House with torches and pitchforks like a damn Frankenstein movie. Drag him out, give him a fair trial and LOCK HIM UP for his CRIMES. For the SAFETY OF THE NATION.

Now CNN is running video of Trent Lott's destroyed house like he's in the same position as somebody making $8,000 a YEAR.

He's a MILLIONAIRE!!!! He can AFFORD to REBUILD!!!!!!

Then he gets escorted onto a helicopter and flies right out. I'm sure people at the damn SUPERDOME or the CONVENTION CENTER would have liked a personal helicopter escort out!!!!!!!!

Then Anderson Cooper asks him if he thinks the Federal Government has done enough, without a moment's hesitation, that jackass goes, "Absolutely." Then Anderson says, "A man who lives here on the corner, we told him we we're going to be interviewing you next, and wanted me to ask you if you thought the federal response had failed."

This is what a "looter" looks like.

This is what a "looter" looks like.

This is what "residents" who "find" food look like.

Lott dismisses this with, "The only people who think that are media people."

Anderson asks, "But- But- Excuse me, Senator, but this was a man who lives here on this corner who asked that. The people want to know that, not just the media. He said it's not enough for you to just say 'help is on the way,' when people are dying in the streets."

Lott just goes, "That's not accurate."

Right. The guy whose watching the body float by him has no idea what's going on. MY ASS, TRENT.

The ReTHUGlicans are spinning RIGHT NOW. On CNN, right now, they are holding the MAYOR responsible for FEDERAL FUNDING FAILURES. Because what's most important here isn't that they actually HELP people, but that they help THEMSELVES.

I am getting seriously PISSED OFF now.

Anderson just asked Jesse Jackson whether race was a factor, and when Jesse pointed out that federal funding for the levees was cut, Anderson came back with, "But isn't the Mayor black?" NO KIDDING, Anderson!!! But he doesn't control FEDERAL FUNDING. What the hell do you want him to do if they give him no money to protect the city with?????? Are you somehow unaware that practically every state in the nation is BANKRUPT?????????

Don't blame the man screaming for help!!!!!!!!

The Republicans are trying to pass that buck as fast as they can.

And the media is trying to excuse THEMSELVES for initially reporting on "looters" like it was some bad episode of "Cops", rather than pointing out that HELLO, most of the people DYING are BLACK and POOR!!!!! But oh they'll repeatedly report on the WHITE couple that got their baby back, but only give that poor black man passing mention when the wife he lost is now believed to be dead. that was the last of the coverage on him. But the white baby rescued? Over, and over, and over again. That's BULLSHIT.

We need to clamp down on that foolishness RIGHT NOW!!!!

This is a Red State with a Blue Mayor and a Blue Governor. The ReTHUGlicans are going to do everything in their power to shuck blame off on the Democrats at the local level, even though this mess was under federal control.

This isn't just about black and white.
This isn't just about poor and rich.

This is about blue and red.

Bush didn't give a shit because that was a city run by a Democratic Mayor, instead of a Republican one, and he was fully prepared to let thousands die so he could go, "It was on his watch."

BULLPUCKY!!!!

This was on YOUR watch, Mr. Bush.

YOU diverted National Guard troops to endless stop-loss tours in Iraq.
YOU diverted funds to rebuild and improve the levees for your tax cuts to benefit the top 1% of wealthy people.
YOU ignored the FEMA warnings in 2001 for BOTH a terrorist attack in NYC and a catastrphic flood in New Orleans.
YOU cut back the budget of the Army Corps of Engineers by over 80% despite the REPEATED warnings from Democratic Senator Landrieu, Democratic Governor Blanco, and Democratic Mayor Nagin.

STOP blaming the people screaming for help!!!!!!!!

I'll say it AGAIN, prosecute the idiot who made this situation FAR worse than it had to be. You can find him parking his ass at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave in the big oval-shaped room!!!!!!

------------------------------------------------------------------

UPDATE

Bush Strafes New Orleans

Yesterday, after days of Americans dying like rats on a sinking ship, the President of the United States FINALLY came to New Orleans. Well, sort of. He did a flyby and had his plane descend down to 1700 feet to get a better look at the flood damage. And just like 9/11, the Republican Myth Machine took photos of the "Commander-in-Chief" looking out the window of Air Force One at the devastation below. He looked oh so very serious and concerned. They told the press, he "clenched his fists" as they flew over from that ever-so-safe distance. That was yesterday. Today he played golf. Seriously.

The White House used the 9/11 version of this kind of disgustingly self-aggrandizing photo op to campaign with. They sold them for hundreds a pop. More profiting off the people's misery. No doubt the White House was hoping they'd be able to use these photos in a similar way. The people, however, are far less inclined to buy the propaganda this time around. The evidence is just too brutal, the response is just too late, and the callousness is just too evident.

PS. Cheney's still on vacation, and hasn't even made a statement of concern. Because he isn't concerned. THOSE people are beneath him.

------------------------------------------------------------------

UPDATE

Gretna: Worst Town in America

As more stories filter out from the region destroyed by Katrina, some of the stories are revealing that the character of some Americans is about as mean-spirited as the Bush Administration itself. These are the kind of people who vote for Bush.

Gretna officers blocked the Mississippi River bridge, and officers fired their guns above the heads of the terrified men, women and children who tried to cross the bridge out of New Orleans in order to drive them back and "protect" their own suburbs. The blockade remained in place into the Labor Day weekend.

New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin said that Gretna officials "will have to live" with their decision. "We allowed people to cross ... because they were dying in the convention center," Nagin said. "We made a decision to protect people…. They made a decision to protect property."

LA Times reporter Nicholas Riccardi wrote, "Little over a week after this mostly white suburb became a symbol of callousness for using armed officers to seal one of the last escape routes from New Orleans — trapping thousands of mostly black evacuees in the flooded city — the Gretna City Council passed a resolution supporting the police chief's move. 'This wasn't just one man's decision,' Mayor Ronnie C. Harris said Thursday. 'The whole community backs it.'"

But Gretna wasn't the only town to behave like selfish, pompous assholes. Authorities in St. Bernard Parish, to the east, stacked cars to seal roads from the Crescent City.

FEMA killed people through their neglect and incompetence, New Orleans neighbors killed more with open hostility and lack of even simple Christian charity.

This is an eyewitness account from two paramedics, Larry Bradshaw and Lorrie Beth Slonsky:

"As we approached the bridge, armed Gretna sheriffs formed a line across the foot of the bridge. Before we were close enough to speak, they began firing their weapons over our heads. This sent the crowd fleeing in various directions. As the crowd scattered and dissipated, a few of us inched forward and managed to engage some of the sheriffs in conversation. We told them of our conversation with the police commander and of the commander's assurances. The sheriffs informed us there were no buses waiting. The commander had lied to us to get us to move.

We questioned why we couldn't cross the bridge anyway, especially as there was little traffic on the 6-lane highway. They responded that the West Bank was not going to become New Orleans and there would be no Superdomes in their City. These were code words for if you are poor and black, you are not crossing the Mississippi River and you were not getting out of New Orleans."

Since they weren't allowed to cross, they camped on the opposite side of the freeway from the cops. They had nowhere else to go. This is the EMT's account of what happened next:

"From a woman with a battery powered radio we learned that the media was talking about us. Up in full view on the freeway, every relief and news organizations saw us on their way into the City. Officials were being asked what they were going to do about all those families living up on the freeway? The officials responded they were going to take care of us. Some of us got a sinking feeling. "Taking care of us" had an ominous tone to it.

Unfortunately, our sinking feeling (along with the sinking City) was correct. Just as dusk set in, a Gretna Sheriff showed up, jumped out of his patrol vehicle, aimed his gun at our faces, screaming, "Get off the fucking freeway". A helicopter arrived and used the wind from its blades to blow away our flimsy structures. As we retreated, the sheriff loaded up his truck with our food and water."

So not only did they shoot at victims of a natural disaster who were trying to get to safer ground, they then came back and stole their food and water under the cover of darkness, where no media could witness their thievery!!

Nice.

From the Chicago Tribune, "Among many unanswered questions in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, we have this one: Why didn't the stranded residents of flooded New Orleans simply walk to dry land? For many, the answer was simple and disturbing: The suburbs wouldn't let them."

And people wonder why I don't like the 'burbs? THAT'S WHY. SUV-driving "Soccer moms" and "security dads" are some selfish motherfuckers.

And why was this not played on a fricking LOOP on the nightly news? Because those who anchor/edit/manage the major news media, and those who own it, in general AGREE with the Gretna Police Chief.

They see themselves not as those on the bridge trying to escape devastation, but as those on the other side of the bridge trying to protect their coveted riches.

They simply are too wealthy, too over-privileged to see themselves in any other light, or to identify with the poor in even the most remote way, unless they are like an Anderson Cooper, literally waist deep in dead bodies. It's pathetic.

Actually, it's CRIMINAL.

 ------------------------------------------------------------------

UPDATE

Katrina Timeline

No need for lengthy speeches. The Democrats can win now with just two words: "New Orleans."

FYI: the latest spin is that the supposedly the Democrats withdrew from the "bi-partisan" committee set up by the Republicans to "investigate" what went wrong [their own malignant incompetence and criminal democidal negligence].

FACT: the Democrats were never INVITED to participate.

So the Democrats will hold their own investigation. In the same basement room where they held the Downing Street Memo Hearings, because they are not allowed a proper forum by the ReTHUGlican majority.

So basically, Democracy is in the basement. Let's hope the Republicans don't try to flood that room too. You know they'd love to kill everyone in that room, and WOULD given the chance.

I like what D.L. Hughley said about the Republicans investigating themselves, "Isn't that like O.J. saying he's gonna find the real killer?"

When having conversations with the three people out there who still believe, after ALL THIS, that Bush isn't a murdering fuckwit, I'd advise you send them a copy of this timeline, with links to the relevant proofs of what ACTUALLY happened. The picture of Bush having birthday cake while New Orleans drowned is especially telling:

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

The big rightwing spin/excuse/buck-passing over the last week has been to say that the Democratic Governor called for help only after the tragedy occurred, when in fact she declared a state of emergency on August 26th, and sent a very specific letter asking for federal help by the 27th. From that point on, it's all on the Federals. Bush didn't get off his ass until many critical days later, after the Mayor had literally SCREAMED for help on the air. Yet he hopped down to the white neighborhoods of swing-state Florida and was handing out water bottles with Jeb to residents inside of three seconds during an election year.... Hmmm.....

Personally, I am of the belief that every time those ass-wipes go to shake the hands of one of the victims for some damned photo-op so they can LOOK like they care, the people should ALL just recoil from it and say, "Let me get this straight -- you want me to shake your blood-stained hand? I DON'T THINK SO. I will tell you where you can STICK that hand though....."

What angers me is that even with his late and lame response, Bush still got aid to the tsunami victims half a world away inside of two days, but couldn't manage to give aid to a city in our own damn country within a week.

What angers me is that he could drag ass out of bed in the middle of the night to attend to the already brain dead Terri Schiavo because she MIGHT die of starvation and thirst, but he can sit around for four days while people who DEFINITELY have all their faculties intact, die in a lawn chair outside of a Convention Center I myself attended a conference at in 2000.

That last part was what really tore it for me. This shot of a man pulling back the sheet on an elderly woman who'd simply died of thirst and heat exhaustion just sitting there waiting for help. A crumpled, fragile body, left to waste away.

That was my functional limit.

Hurting the elderly.

The last two weeks have been a real struggle with my faith, because my anger at the shear callous WASTE of it has been so profound.

We absolutely, without question, MUST retake the Congress in 2006, and impeach that man, & prosecute ALL his cronies. Get every last Bush political appointee out of office. From FEMA, to the FDA, to the CPB, to the EPA, to the CIA, to the NEA, to the DIA, to Health and Human Services, to the Dept of Education, to NASA, to the U.N. to the CDC, etc., etc., etc...... If Bush appointed you, you're GONE. It's just too damn risky having these people anywhere near government.

Thom Hartman was quoted by the wonderful Georgia Congressional Rep. Cynthia McKinney the other day as writing, "If you don't believe in government, you can't govern." Truer words are rarely spoken. These people don't believe government can to do good, so they literally help it achieve evil, in the hopes of destroying it.

Or "drowning it in a bathtub," as Grover Norquist put it.....

 

PS. Barbara Bush oughta be slapped. Arrogant, racist bitch.

PPS. Good on whoever the fella was who walked by when Cheney was touring his neighborhood, and while the cameras were rolling, told Cheney to "Go fuck himself". Twice. Way to be an American!

------------------------------------------------------------------

UPDATE

Kenyon International Desecrating Katrina Victim's Bodies?