Officer Criticizes Detainee Abuse Inquiry - New York Times

Consider: The US under Bush is nobody home, substitute teacher who doesn't care, nobody minding the store.
There were lots of kids in school, lots of goings on when there was no adult in the house, lots of free candy when there was nobody watching the store. And every one of those kids liked it.
Who likes it when the police are out? firemen on strike? teachers walk? bankers look the other way? Lots of people rush to defend that. Pat Roberston likes that.
The nature of the executive is visited on every citizen and public servant to the least of us. We cannot escape the fate we have aided and abetted.

the "leader": Bush

"'We came forward because of the larger issue that prisoner abuse is systemic in the Army. I'm concerned this will take a new twist, and they'll try to scapegoat some of the younger soldiers. This is a leadership problem.'"

Justice is served.

Let's use the regular Armed force right here! what a good idea!

The notion of preparation and training is simply not present in any mind of this administration... certainly such thought has never touched the mind of George Bush.
The soldiers are trained to kill people and destroy property. If you assign them to some other task, well, they kill people and destroy property. They direct traffic and help little old ladies and keep order and carry AK-47s and various explosive devices... you never know when the little old ladies might turn ugly, or that guy you thought was dead and drowned isn't.
What we see in Bush is a man who realized that if he took time to train his dumb ass, he'd never finish. So, he dropped out and lived on daddy's dime. And now as president he vacations, still dosn't read, and he and all of his friends and moms friends and daddy's all life of our dime.
So, how dumb are we?

The Great Unraveling

Yes, I know that is the title of a Pual Krugman book about the Bush presidency. But the moniker is somehow fitting now that there seems to be a confluence of events that are exposing the gross ineptitude of the Bush administration.

We see today that a bus, loaded with the elderly being evacuated from Houston, exploded. The oxygen that many were using is suspected in the blast. Wow, billions of dollars spent on "homeland" security and you can just picture the panic of Bush administration hacks after their response to hurricane Katrina, "Get 'em out of there. Stuff them on any bus you can find, just get 'em out of there." Of course if there had been an actual plan for an evacuation maybe there would have chosen a system of transportation that wouldn't explode when transporting elderly oxygen users. But, as we all know, government is bad (that is unless it's military governemnt...)

In another indication that our pals in the White House are blithering idiots one of our "allies" in the Gulf Region, Prince Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister (ally here means that they have lots of money and oil, not that their populous give a damn about us. In fact, they hate our guts, hell most of the 9/11 hijackers were Saudis) has warned that Iraq is on the verge of total collapse (not unlike the Bush administration itself). He warns that if this were to occur that it would most likely lead to a regional war. Oh joy! You know if we only had someone who gave a shit in office.

Speaking of collapse, there is a book out (Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed) by that name authored by Jared Diamond (he is the author of the very good book Guns, Germs, and Steel). I haven't read the book myself but from what I understand the general premise is that societies collapse because they choose to. What happens is that the interests of the power structure in a society come into conflict with the interests of the society itself. That is the destructive force, and one that we as TRUE Americans should be aware of. Why? Jeez, where oh where do the interests of the power class come into conflict with that of the society as a whole? Hmm. (Tax breaks for the wealthy - $200 billion on a war in a far away land (most of which has gone where exactly?). The luxury goods market is hot - Poverty has been increasing for the last four years. Crony government - Levees break in New Orleans. Creationism in the classroom - threat to our economic future from well educated foreign workers and NO plan to do anything about it.)

Bill Clinton

"Welcome to Planet Clinton, an interconnected world that's a solar system and a wormhole away from Bush country."

A New Deadly, Contagious Dog Flu Virus Is Detected in 7 States

By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr. and CARIN RUBENSTEIN

A new, highly contagious and sometimes deadly canine flu is spreading in kennels and at dog tracks around the country, veterinarians said yesterday.

The virus, which scientists say mutated from an influenza strain that affects horses, has killed racing greyhounds in seven states and has been found in shelters and pet shops in many places, including the New York suburbs, though the extent of its spread is unknown.

Jesus is coming...

better stuff some mushrooms.

When wondering about Bush, remember Norquist

A key and senior strategist of the Republican Party for decades, and for Bush for all of his service, Norquist says:
"He wants to shrink the size of government until it is small enough to drag it up to the bathroom and drown it in the tub".
He doesn't want to make it efficient, effective, better: he wants to kill it. That of course is a euphemism for "overthrow and replace". But he doesn't really need to make it small: anything that diminshes the government ability to be effective, anything that runs it out of money, discredits it and its people or strengthens alternatives to "government" like ultra rich contributors: that's just fine.
These people did not mince words. They told you what they wanted. Believe them, that is what they are doing.

Gerogie (que sera) Bush

“It’s Gonna Cost Whatever It Costs”
Bush, on cleaning up Katrina.
For this we need a president?

The more things change...

A fascinating and humorous review of the political events of the last century, and a reminder that many fundamental issues confronted then still face us today.


National Security Blanket

A Bush for all seasons

The same Bush. A constant.
Bush change? Why ever would he do that? Everything is working just fine.
Bush learn? Learn what: he knew everything when he started, and he's made no mistakes.
That is a perfectly good and rational policy. Now, if people don't like that, and many don't, beseeching change is a total waste of time. If they want to do anything, they can predict to a faretheewell where he is going and start setting up the roadblocks: make them vewy vewy strong, be vewy vewy quiet. (ala E. Fudd)

Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.

Note we have had two soft landings in the market after an interest rate hike: under John Kennedy and under William Jefferson Clinton.
Democrats.
Quite revealing.
Not at all unlike New Orleans.

Ex-FEMA Chief Tells of Frustration and Chaos

If you consider who his boss is, and how the rest of the government was staffed, I wonder if Brown could have done any better... you can read what he was up against... consider at least he had to manage the disaster for a president was on a long and continuing vacation.
Then consider the mess itself: the evacuation. The mayor said there was a plan: get the people to high ground and then wait for the rescue. Only, the rescue never came because the national guard wasn't there and Fema was under homeland security and New Orleans was Democratic and was not a city in Texas and we saw how the president felt for California during the so called energy crisis.
And the mayors plan was totally right: there was high ground, there was shelter, what there was not was any timely federal support, which was totally expected but not a shred turned up.
Yeah, when things get messed up and not cleaned up for too long, shit happens. And it did. (Notice that the white Christians of Ireland are rioting... that's what people do and it is not a "for Muslims only" game.)
Finally, note the opportunity for Bush, again: the nation in some distress, some panic, turns to their president who spends money he hasn't got and money we haven't got anymore because he's given it away or spent in on a war of his choice which he lied to get us to.
"Oh", the people cry, "maybe Bush has learned!"
No, Bush already knew everything he needed to know, it's the people that haven't learned. Bush will advance his agenda. Period. Game, set, match.

The president: a history of going AWOL

Read what Brown says, and understand what he doesn't say but is obvious: the president was needed.
It's one thing going AWOL... the problem is the s.o.b .comes back. No, he cannot be impeached for doing a bad job. That's the voters' job.

My Favorite Country Songs

1. Get Your Biscuits In The Oven And Your Buns In Bed

2. Get Your Tongue Otta My Mouth 'Cause I'm Kissing You Goodbye

3. Her Teeth Was Stained, But Her Heart Was Pure

4. How Can I Miss You If You Won't Go Away?

5. I Can't Get Over You, So Why Don't You Get Under Me

6. I Don't Know Whether To Kill Myself Or Go Bowling

7. I Got In At 2 With a 10, And Woke Up At 10 With a 2.

8. I Hate Every Bone In Your Body Except For Mine

9. I Just Bought A Car From A Guy That Stole My Girl, But The
Car Don't Run, So I figure We Got An Even Deal

10. I Keep Forgettin' I Forgot About You

11. I Liked You Better Before I Knew You So Well

12. I Still Miss You Baby, But My Aim's Gettin' Better

13. I Wouldn't Take Her To A Dog Fight, Cause I'm Afraid She'd Win

14. I'll Marry You Tomorrow But Let's Honeymoon Tonight

15. I'm So miserable Without You, It's Like Having You Here

16. I've Got Tears in My Ears From Lying On My Back While I Cry Over you

17. If I Can't Be Number One In Your Life, Then Number Two On You

18. If I Had Shot You When I Wanted To, I'd Be Out By Now

19. Mama Get A Hammer (There's A Fly On Papa's Head)

20. My Head Hurts, My Feet Stink, And I Love Rovers

21. My Wife Ran Off With My Best Friend, and I Sure Do Miss Him

22. Please Bypass this Heart

23. She Got The Ring and I Got The Finger

24. You're the Reason Our Kids Are So Ugly

Katrina Disaster Needs

Cleaning Supplies (glass cleaner, bleach, disinfectant, etc.)
Aspirin and other basic over the counter drugs.
Bottled Water
Canned Goods
Hygiene Supplies
Baby Supplies - Baby Food Formula, diapers #4, #5, Wipes, Pedialyte
Sterile Gloves
Batteries - All kinds, from AA to watch and hearing aid batteries.

What is most needed now are FAMILY PACKS.

What's a Family Pack? Enough supplies for a family of four for 3 to 4 days.

Ex:

3 Sterno Cans
Matches (items cannot be sent via UPS)
Canned Food
Napkins
First Aid Kit
Candles
Dried fruit
Dried Goods
Water
Powdered Milk
Baby Food
Toiletries
Fruit Drinks
Utensils
Flashlight
Batteries
Perhaps a small radio.

Send via UPS to

Veterans for Peace
Omni Storage
74145 Hwy. 25
Covington LA

Bush Takes Responsibility for Katrina Failures

42% approve of the job he's doing. Today, right now. Anyway. Ah, the faithful.
I mean, shouldn't that be, like, 11%? a 42% base that can hang on after all this is really formidable.

I never thought I'd see the day

But today is it. President Bush actually had the buck stop with him. It's as if he were replaced by a real leader. Who knows the possibilities of such a revelation. Maybe we can start to get leadership out of Bush? I doubt it, but one can always hope.

Bush on Failed Rescue: 'I Take Responsibility'

President says the disaster exposed "serious problems" in the nation's disaster response system.

Beltway insiders, rich lawyers, ideologues, incompetents and their strap-hangers

Go to Original After Katrina Fiasco, Time for Bush to Go By Gordon Adams The Baltimore Sun Thursday 08 September 2005 The disastrous federal response to Katrina exposes a record of incompetence, misjudgment and ideological blinders that should lead to serious doubts that the Bush administration should be allowed to continue in office. When taxpayers have raised, borrowed and spent $40 billion to $50 billion a year for the past four years for homeland security but the officials at the Federal Emergency Management Agency cannot find their own hands in broad daylight for four days while New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast swelter, drown and die, it is time for them to go. When funding for water works and levees in the gulf region is repeatedly cut by an administration that seems determined to undermine the public responsibility for infrastructure in America, despite clear warnings that the infrastructure could not survive a major storm, it seems clear someone is playing politics with the public trust. When rescue and medical squads are sitting in Manassas and elsewhere in northern Virginia and foreign assistance waits at airports because the government can't figure out how to insure the workers, how to use the assistance or which jurisdiction should be in charge, it is time for the administration to leave town. When President Bush stays on vacation and attends social functions for two days in the face of disaster before finally understanding that people are starving, crying out and dying, it is time for him to go. When FEMA officials cannot figure out that there are thousands stranded at the New Orleans convention center - where people died and were starving - and fussed ineffectively about the same problems in the Superdome, they should be fired, not praised, as the president praised FEMA Director Michael Brown in New Orleans last week. When Mr. Bush states publicly that "nobody could anticipate a breach of the levee" while New Orleans journalists, Scientific American, National Geographic, academic researchers and Louisiana politicians had been doing precisely that for decades, right up through last year and even as Hurricane Katrina passed over, he should be laughed out of town as an impostor. When repeated studies of New Orleans make it clear that tens of thousands of people would be unable to evacuate the city in case of a flood, lacking both money and transportation, but FEMA makes no effort before the storm to commandeer buses and move them to safety, it is time for someone to be given his walking papers. When the president makes Sen. Trent Lott's house in Pascagoula, Miss., the poster child for rebuilding while hundreds of thousands are bereft of housing, jobs, electricity and security, he betrays a careless insensitivity that should banish him from office. When the president of the United States points the finger away from the lame response of his administration to Katrina and tries to finger local officials in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, La., as the culprits, he betrays the unwillingness of this administration to speak truth and hold itself accountable. As in the case of the miserable execution of policy in Iraq, Mr. Bush and Karl Rove always have some excuse for failure other than their own misjudgments. We have a president who is apparently ill-informed, lackadaisical and narrow-minded, surrounded by oil baron cronies, religious fundamentalist crazies and right-wing extremists and ideologues. He has appointed officials who give incompetence new meaning, who replace the positive role of government with expensive baloney. They rode into office in a highly contested election, spouting a message of bipartisanship but determined to undermine the federal government in every way but defense (and, after 9/11, one presumed, homeland security). One with Grover Norquist, they were determined to shrink Washington until it was "small enough to drown in a bathtub." Katrina has stripped the veil from this mean-spirited strategy, exposing the greed, mindlessness and sheer profiteering behind it. It is time to hold them accountable - this ugly, troglodyte crowd of Capital Beltway insiders, rich lawyers, ideologues, incompetents and their strap-hangers should be tarred, feathered and ridden gracefully and mindfully out of Washington and returned to their caves, clubs in hand.

A Deepening Gloom About Ground Zero's Future - New York Times

Blame Bush. Blame the man who holds the office of the presidency, the single most powerful position in the world, now or ever.
NY, Iraq, California, Alaska, energy prices, New Orleans... it is the desires, the dreams of one man and the power he by dint of office weilds: the road to "success" is to divine the will of the president and deliver.
There are probably no less than a million Americans for whom that is a part of their lives, every single day: do what might please Bush.
We got it. The country acts like Bush.

Billions and billions

Cost of Recovery Surges, as Do Bids to Join in Effort
By EDMUND L. ANDREWS and CARL HULSE
White House officials and Congressional budget experts now assume that federal costs for the hurricane will shoot past $100 billion

It's time to start seriously considering a tax increase. We need a Katrina tax and an Iraq tax. Iraq has monetary costs of over $170 billion dollars and now Katrina will cost over $100 billion. The profligate Bush administration shouts out numbers to keep the angry population at bay, but how the hell are we going to pay for this? Where is the money coming from? Raise taxes. That's what needs to happen. Have a special Katrina tax and a special Iraq tax that will phase out after X years.

As for all that money, the real shame is that this is yet another dive for government handouts by the well connected.

Bush in action

From DailyKOS

by kos

Wed Sep 7th, 2005 at 09:23:57 PDT

Note, the two superimposed photos were taken the same day.

From Boing Boing.

about the dumbest thing I ever heard a white boy say...

From a black man who was on the same foorball team as Ronnie Reagan who "never saw any prejudice or discrimination."
But, wait, George (weapons of mass destruction) Bush is still pushing:

"Yesterday Mr. Bush made an utterly fantastic claim: that nobody expected the breach of the levees." Planet Bush. The only possible retort is the bitch slap.

Critics, however say that Reagans' identifyting trees as a source of air polution, had covered that position already.

Friday night

"The guy who runs this building I'm in, emergency management, he's responsible for everything. His mother was trapped in St. Bernard nursing home, and every day she called him and said, `Are you coming, son? Is somebody coming?' And he said, `And yeah, Momma, somebody's coming to get you. Somebody's coming to get you on Tuesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Wednesday. Somebody's coming to get you Thursday. Somebody's coming to get you on Friday' — and she drowned Friday night. She drowned on Friday night," Broussard said.

FEMA knew

FEMA knew storm's potential, Mayfield says

“It’s not like this was a surprise. We had in the advisories that the levee could be topped."

Sunday, 4:44 p.m.

By Mark Schleifstein
Staff writer

Dr. Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center, said
Sunday that officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security, including FEMA Director Mike Brown and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, listened in on electronic briefings given by his staff in advance of Hurricane Katrina slamming Louisiana and Mississippi and were advised of the storm’s potential deadly effects.

Mayfield said the strength of the storm and the potential disaster it could bring were made clear during both the briefings and in formal advisories, which warned of a storm surge capable of overtopping levees in New Orleans and winds strong enough to blow out windows of high-rise buildings. He said the briefings included information on expected wind speed, storm surge, rainfall and the potential for tornados to accompany the storm as it came ashore.

“We were briefing them way before landfall,” Mayfield said. “It’s not like this was a surprise. We had in the advisories that the levee could be topped.

“I keep looking back to see if there was anything else we could have done, and I just don’t know what it would be,” he said.

[more]

"You cannot just blame the president, or any one person.s

Oh yes you can. And you should. Because it is the fault of one man. That's where it starts, and it grows from there. That is not a philosophical position, it simply is the way we, we humans, we mammals, work: when a president speaks, we may rail and protest but we cannot dodge his power.
You know what? This whole country acted like it was George Bush.

American poodles: the free lunch press

The reporters were invited to eat, but not report. How curious.
Brings back memories of Reagan: he served them breakfast, fed them nicely, every day...
Isn't that nice.

Moved to the head of the line

3:34 P.M. - (AP) The evacuation of Superdome refugees was interrupted briefly when school buses rolled up so some 700 guests and employees from the Hyatt hotel. They were move to the head of the line to be evacuated -- much to the amazement of those who had been crammed in the stinking Superdome for days.

The 700 had been trapped in the Hyatt just like the others, but conditions were considerably cleaner, even without running water, than the unsanitary crush inside the dome.

Updates

3:14 P.M. - St. Bernard Parish officials say that FEMA has not called them yet...five days after the storm.

3:07 P.M. - BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- U.S. Sen. David Vitter said FEMA's efforts to deal with the hurricane have been completely ineffective, and he called the federal government's response a failure.

"I think FEMA has been completely dysfunctional and is completely overwhelmed, and I don't know why. This situation was utterly predictable," said Vitter, R-Metairie. "It seems like there was no coherent plan, which I don't understand because this precise scenario has been predicted for 20 years," he said.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin

"They are thinking small"

PAULA ZAHN NOW

Aired September 1, 2005 - 20:00 ET

PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR
&
MICHAEL BROWN, DIRECTOR, FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY

ZAHN: Sir, you aren't just telling me you just learned that the folks at the Convention Center didn't have food and water until today, are you? You had no idea they were completely cut off?

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Paula, the federal government did not even know about the Convention Center people until today.

What the hell? What are they doing? They were ALL on vacation. In fact I think we now know that they are ALWAYS on vacation. Five years of failure is enough. Impeach the bastard now and call a special election.

Photos

From KOS

Think Progress has this screen capture from CNN:

Notice the nicely positioned Coast Guard helicopters in the background, not rescuing people and delivering supplies. Notice the uniformed personnel standing at attention in the back, providing a nice backdrop to Bush, not rescuing people and delivering supplies.

Again, politics trumps everything in this administration.

$100 billion

11:31 A.M. - NEWARK, CA (AP): A leading risk assessment firm is projecting the economic loss from Hurricane Katrina and flooding in New Orleans at over $100 billion.

Risk Management Solutions says the losses are the result of two separate catastrophic events: the landfall of Hurricane Katrina last Monday, and the New Orleans flood which resulted from failure of the levee systems that protect the city.

The company says at least 50% of the total economic loss is expected to come from flooding in New Orleans, in addition to hurricane losses from wind and coastal surge, infrastructure damage, and indirect economic impacts.

On Monday, RMS issued preliminary insured loss estimates of up to $25 billion for Hurricane Katrina, prior to evidence of the levee failure and flooding.

Credit rating agency Standard and Poor's has said that damage from the hurricane could reach $50 billion once damage to bridges, roads and other public infrastructure is counted.

GOP: Out of touch with reality

As what might be the worst natural disaster to hit the country continues to unfold, as gasoline supplies dwindle in the South East and prices go over $3.00 a gallon (in some places $6.00 a gallon), as 25,000 go without food or water at the New Orleans convention center alone, the head of the Republican Party in Washington sent out a message for help to people in Ohio

please call Sen. Voinovich and demand he repeal the estate tax.

Chaos at the convention center

From CNN

'A scene of anarchy'

Posted: 10:02 a.m. ET
CNN's Jim Spellman in New Orleans, Louisiana

I don't think I really have the vocabulary for this situation.

We just heard a couple of gunshots go off. There's a building smoldering a block away. People are picking through whatever is left in the stores right now. They are walking the streets because they have nowhere else to go.

Right now, I'm a few blocks away from the New Orleans Convention Center area. We drove through there earlier, and it was unbelievable. Thousands and thousands and thousands of people spent the night sleeping on the street, on the sidewalk, on the median.

The Convention Center is a place that people were told to go to because it would be safe. In fact, it is a scene of anarchy.

There is absolutely nobody in control. There is no National Guard, no police, no information to be had.

The Convention Center is next to the Mississippi River. Many people who are sleeping there feel that a boat is going to come and get them. Or they think a bus is going to come. But no buses have come. No boats have come. They think water is going come. No water has come. And they have no food.

As we drove by, people screamed out to us -- "Do you have water? Do you have food? Do you have any information for us?"

We had none of those.

Probably the most disturbing thing is that people at the Convention Center are starting to pass away and there is simply nothing to do with their bodies. There is nowhere to put them. There is no one who can do anything with them. This is making everybody very, very upset.

US won't let Canada help Katrina victims

Outrage fatigue

Canadian agencies are saying that foreign aid is probably not being permitted into Louisiana and Mississippi because of "mass confusion" at the U.S. federal level in the wake of the storm.

James Lee Witt

We need to keep the heat on those who are responsible for the lack of preparedness. We are see the effect of cutting taxes and the war in Iraq along with patronage hires (rife in this administration) are making what would have been a bad situation MUCH WORSE.

It seems we've got part of our answer from James Lee Witt in this article from Knight-Ridder, which a number of readers were kind enough to send in.

Here's a passage

...

Being prepared for a disaster is basic emergency management, disaster experts say.

For example, in the 1990s, in planning for a New Orleans nightmare scenario, the federal government figured it would pre-deploy nearby ships with pumps to remove water from the below-sea-level city and have hospital ships nearby, said James Lee Witt, who was FEMA director under President Clinton.

Federal officials said a hospital ship would leave from Baltimore on Friday.

"These things need to be planned and prepared for; it just doesn't look like it was," said Witt, a former Arkansas disaster chief who won bipartisan praise on Capitol Hill during his tenure.

FEMA said some of its response teams were prepared.

Some were prepared.

-- Josh Marshall

Patronage Hires

More repost, this time from talkingpointsmemo

Much was made at the time and since about the fact that James Lee Witt was the first head of FEMA who had a professional background in emergency and disaster management.

No one seems to dispute the fact that prior to 1993, the agency was a dumping ground for patronage hires. (The change was also furthered by a devastating 1992 GAO report.)

President Bush replaced Witt with Joe Allbaugh, whose main qualification was that he was one of the president's main political fixers from Texas.

When Allbaugh left FEMA in 2003 to cash in on the Iraqi contracts bonanza, he was replaced by Michael Brown. Allbaugh originally brought Brown to FEMA as General Counsel. His qualification was that they were college buddies.

When Allbaugh bailed, he apparently gave the top job to Brown.

-- Josh Marshall