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| September 4, 2005 -- Weekend Edition |
MAILBAG ARCHIVES | ||
The BuzzFlash Mailbag The opinions expressed in the Mailbag are not necessarily those of BuzzFlash. Read the BuzzFlash FAQ for info on submitting to the Mailbag. Subject: The Witless Wonder I normally don't watch any newscast with Mr. Bush speaking. However, this morning a regular program was interrupted for a special report. Bush had just landed in Mississippi. Several important leaders were standing with Bush telling him what they have been doing to deal with the situation. Bush was so out of touch it was pathetic. When he said, "Trent Lott also lost his big home here, but we will rebuild him another bigger and better home and I look forward to coming down and sitting on his front porch." Can you believe such a statement? Republican's when are you going to wake up?
Subject: Enough evidence for a lifetime of impeachments Drew Nannis
Dear Buzzflash, The cat is out of the bag! The Federal Government could not have responded to any major homeland security disaster anywhere in the country and it's now common knowledge. They committed too many National Guard Troops to Iraq. They went to Iraq on lies leaving our Homeland at complete risk. Even without a hurricane, terrorists could have blown up the levees in New Orleans with the same effect. And there would have been no warning and NO mandatory evacuation that had already taken place, thus protecting hundreds of thousands. Bush pumped his fist and got to Baghdad faster than he got to New Orleans. We are all at risk with this President. When are we going to realize it and impeach him and his partying crowd? M. W. Medicine Park, OK Subject: The disaster after the disaster I hope this time the people of this country hold the Bush administration responsible for the utter ineptness and criminal negligence in the handling of the rescue operation in New Orleans and the Gulf coast. I knew we could expect photo ops today of Bush hugging victims of Katrina and sure enough I read about him hugging some poor hysterical woman and telling her to "hang in there." We have a 59-year-old chief executive who talks like a frat boy. He simply cannot comprehend this level of shock and misery because he has led nothing but a protected, pampered life. To be fair, the clueless head of FEMA, said he was unaware that the Convention center, not the Superdome was sheltering thousands of people (today's BuzzFlash editorial). How could the head of FEMA not know that thousands of people were at the Convention Center where they had been told to go to seek shelter? This is, of course, what happens when political appointees who know nothing about the agency they head up are put into these positions. Lee Witt, who was an expert in disaster management was replaced by Bush with a guy who knows nothing whatsoever about disaster management or, apparently, any other kind of management. He is nothing but a political hack. After this horrifying debacle I hope that, finally, the American people will hold the Bush administration accountable but I'm not holding my breath. Already the right wing mouthpieces are blaming the victims and the mayor of NO and the governor of Louisiana. If the Democrats don't show some spine and stand up to this spin then they are as worthless as the Bushies. Bush has some nerve saying the results of this "rescue" operation are not acceptable. Is he not the CEO and Commander in Chief? Didn't he appoint these people to head these agencies? I would love to hear what he thinks his job is. A BuzzFlash Reader
While Katrina was still bearing down on the Gulf Coast it was being predicted as early as Friday Night that a devastating blow was coming and that it could be a worst case scenario for New Orleans. We now have spent billions on Homeland Security and one of Homeland Security's worst case fears is a major US City being rendered uninhabitable by some form of terrorist attack, be it a radiation "dirty" bomb or contamination from a biological agent like anthrax or smallpox, or an attack on a chemical or nuclear facility. So it wasn't al Qaeda. It was Katrina. New Orleans is uninhabitable and will be for quite a while. Homeland Security has failed in the bare essentials. There was no evacuation plan. There was no plan for rescue or relocation. They failed to even establish a command and control center. Where is the plan? These poor people will need shelter and food for months, possibly years. Where will the kids go to school? Are they going to build huge camps or will they settle people into other cities and absorb the kids into existing schools? The Astrodome is only going to provide temporary shelter for a few months. Then what? The city has to be rebuilt. The bridges and roads are gone. This is not the usual hurricane damage, where some communities have to be replaced but most just need some repairs, a clean up and some wires replaced. This is rebuilding infrastructure from scratch. Roads, bridges, housing and buildings on a grand scale. Where do these people go until then? And why does the government seem so clueless 4 years after 9/11 supposedly set off big spending on big plans for such big problems? Robert Sandinsky
(Dreaming About Living in Squalor) We've got a million poor folks down south here in America Dreaming about living in squalor. I'm sure they'd all pitch in for gas to send our leaders to hell But they ain't got a dollar. (I'll pitch in ten.) The world is in disbelief that our Bunnypants-in-Chief and his cronies seem to not care less. They're only capable of destruction, corruption, and more tax cuts for the rich Now we know why Iraq is such a mess. Racism in America finally made the news FubarF
As much as it infuriates me to hear yet another BushCo stumblebum - FEMA director Michael Brown, in this case - issue the same rosy, see-no-evil, fantasyland statements they always dish out about whatever crisis is unfolding (not to mention their despicable but oh-so-typical "blame the victims" game), it pisses me off even more that our corporate MSM lets them get away with it. Asked on CNN how he could blame the victims, Brown fell back on the McClellan-tested "now is not the time to be blaming," after having just done that very thing. I don't suppose he was asked why Washington didn't "heed the advance warnings," to use his words, that they'd gotten not only in the days preceding the storm, but for several years now, about the inevitability of this event, and the need for preparedness. 'Scuse me; I gotta go punch a wall or make Bush-Cheney voodoo dolls or something. Steven A. Wells Subject: Compare and Contrast BuzzFlash; “Nearly 600,000 people have been evacuated as Typhoon Talim, packing winds of up to 185 kilometers per hour, heads for southern China. Authorities issued a top-level "black alarm" as heavy rain and moderate gales swept through Fujian province's capital, Fuzhou. “A total of 286,000 people were evacuated in the province, and rescue teams were standing by for emergencies, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. “Just to the north in Zhejiang province, more than 291,000 people were moved away from the coastline, rivers, and raging reservoirs, mountain villages and dilapidated housing, according to the official China News Service. “More than 29,000 ships and fishing vessels had taken shelter in harbors, it's said. “Authorities predicted Talim would reach shore in the afternoon or evening between the Fujian cities of Lianjiang and Jinjiang, about 750 kilometres south of Beijing.” What can we expect when the next disaster strikes us here? We now know for sure we have little leadership, we convinced ourselves that although Bush was inept that surly his appointed staff could think straight. What they've done to our sense of security, that was our last refuge when disasters strike, the certainty that it couldn't happen here, now we know better. I think we can no longer wait for the next elections and trust to the vote counters withtheir Diebold voting machines. The same company who makes the Super market register machines that give such detail, and the ATM machines, but who claim they cannot give a paper trail with each vote. How much more are we going to endure, and pretend there is nothing terribly wrong here? Andrew, A Renton Barber Subject: Right on with Cindy - lets expand the fight! Thanks for the great site and your support of Cindy. I am in the State of Missouri. Our Governor has recently authorized deployment of up to 1,000 of our air and army guard to go to New Orleans to fight the looters and other violence bent individuals terrorizing that city. Recent reports have indicated that over 30 of that city's police officers have turned in their badges rather than face any fire to quell the unrest and violence. It is just not worth it to send anyone else, especially our KIDS in the guard to deal with this. I want to start and extension of Cindy's campaign to stop and bring our kids home from this ill-advised deployment. There is nothing worth saving or going into harms way for in New Orleans. The city is not salvageable and will have to be rebuilt from the ground up. I say let those who can get out on their own do so, and those that want to stay and kill each other can do so. We can't let them put our Missouri girls and boys or other young kids in the country in danger to guard flooded Wal- Marts and other retail establishments full of ruined goods, when the local people down there won't even act to protect their town or take care of themselves. I just can stand that our kids will be placed in an area of urban conflict, which will be just like the Iraq quagmire for months on end. The people marauding the streets in New Orleans are just the long oppressed and disadvantaged who need not be blamed for acting out violently, but there is no point in risking the lives and safety of our innocent kids in the reserves and guard for this. Everything in New Orleans is not worth the life of one of our kids. Please let me know what we can do to extend Cindy's message and stop this looming tragedy. If we stand together we won't have more troops that have to be brought home like those in Iraq. We can stop the campaign to militarize the New Orleans ruins if we all speak out now. I will be organizing in my neighborhood and town and campaign in Cindy's name to stop the deployment to New Orleans. This will be called "KEEP EM HOME - Remember Casey and Cindy before they go!" Thanks for publicizing our drive and protest. I will also be having cards and letters go to all members of congress and the Whitehouse letting them know how outraged we are about this New Orleans debacle and that we firmly support Cindy Sheehan and are with her in solidarity. Thanks again. Claude Jochards
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