kellyahern
Blue Crack Supplier
MrsSpringsteen said:
No more movies.
MERGED==> The politics of Katrina + Trent Lott + Michael Moore
- Thread starter sharky
- Start date
The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
No more movies.
phanan
Blue Crack Addict
nbcrusader said:
Please. I guess until you see GWB's head on a stick, you will always question any investigation.
I don't think that was elfyx's point. He just wants bipartisan answers, like we all do.
MrsSpringsteen
Blue Crack Addict
http://politicalhumor.about.com/b/a/200507.htm
I like this part, lol
"Now for people who are saying, 'Well, let’s stop pointing fingers at the president, the left-wing media is being too hard on him' — no. Shut up. No. This is inarguably — inarguably — a failure of leadership from the top of the federal government. Remember when Bill Clinton went out with Monica Lewinsky. That was inarguably a failure of judgment at the top. Democrats had to come out and risk losing credibility if they did not condemn Bill Clinton for his behavior. I believe Republicans are in the same position right now, and I will say this: Hurricane Katrina is George Bush’s Monica Lewinsky. The only difference is that tens of thousands of people weren’t stranded in Monica Lewinsky’s vagina. Although, this is an interesting point, her vagina at the time was also known at the Superdome
I like this part, lol
"Now for people who are saying, 'Well, let’s stop pointing fingers at the president, the left-wing media is being too hard on him' — no. Shut up. No. This is inarguably — inarguably — a failure of leadership from the top of the federal government. Remember when Bill Clinton went out with Monica Lewinsky. That was inarguably a failure of judgment at the top. Democrats had to come out and risk losing credibility if they did not condemn Bill Clinton for his behavior. I believe Republicans are in the same position right now, and I will say this: Hurricane Katrina is George Bush’s Monica Lewinsky. The only difference is that tens of thousands of people weren’t stranded in Monica Lewinsky’s vagina. Although, this is an interesting point, her vagina at the time was also known at the Superdome
Lila64
Blue Crack Distributor
I posted the web addy for Jon Stewart in the 'Daily Show' appreciation thread over at the LS. He's been brilliant all this week. You should definitely watch all 3 from this week: Inarguable Failure, Meet the F**kers, and Hurricane Aftermath.
http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/the_daily_show/videos/headlines/index.jhtml
http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/the_daily_show/videos/headlines/index.jhtml
i don't like how there are many on the left that are using this tragedy to lob blow after blow at president bush yet are glancing over the fact that that the mayor of new orleans and the governor of louisiana, both democrats, fucked up royaly, too.
all three need to be blamed.
all three need to be blamed.
kellyahern
Blue Crack Supplier
Headache in a Suitcase said:
I think it's sort of dumb actually for some of the democrats to be so agressive. For once, the media is challenging the pat answers. The democrats don't need to beat us over the head with how stupid the administration has acted. We know it, we can see it. Everyday we see it. I'm seeing it now on NBC news. I don't need Pelosi or Reid to tell me. I'm afraid it might backfire.
And yes, the locals fucked up too.
btw, Brown's in charge of preparing for Ophelia (according to NBC).
nbcrusader
Blue Crack Addict
Jon Stewert is an excellent comediane. Too bad he is also viewed as a source of news.
Clark W. Griswold Jr
War Child
Headache in a Suitcase said:
C'mon headache, he's only down there to help out- just ask him...
Anyway, think of all the water he can displace just by himself.
MrsSpringsteen
Blue Crack Addict
I don't view Jon Stewart as a source of my news, but there is truth for me in much of his commentary
MrsSpringsteen
Blue Crack Addict
MrsSpringsteen
Blue Crack Addict
http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/2005090...jGvNKes0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3YWFzYnA2BHNlYwM3NDI-
" Former Defense Secretary and Sen. William Cohen is credited with the quip, "Government is the enemy until you need a friend." In the wake of Katrina, that may have to be amended, "and then your friend may turn out to be dysfunctional."
We are learning the hard way about the costs of stinting on infrastructure to pay for tax cuts and the war in
Iraq. And we are learning the hard way about the cost of entrusting emergency response to the political cronies and contributors who people this administration."
" Former Defense Secretary and Sen. William Cohen is credited with the quip, "Government is the enemy until you need a friend." In the wake of Katrina, that may have to be amended, "and then your friend may turn out to be dysfunctional."
We are learning the hard way about the costs of stinting on infrastructure to pay for tax cuts and the war in
Iraq. And we are learning the hard way about the cost of entrusting emergency response to the political cronies and contributors who people this administration."
kellyahern
Blue Crack Supplier
MrsSpringsteen said:
The sad thing is, if I put that on my car, I'd be afraid that people wouldn't get the sarcasm
verte76
Blue Crack Addict
Headache in a Suitcase said:
I agree, the Democrats shouldn't be screaming too much about the administration's screw-ups. They've got their own problems.
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Moonlit_Angel
Blue Crack Addict
The only thing I have to say about the right complaining that the left's being too hard on the federal government is that, once again, you just know that if it were a Democrat in office and this happened under their watch, there would indeed be people on the right lambasting them, too.
People are right, though, there are Democrats in this situation who've definitely screwed up, too. There's a lot of government officials on both sides that I just don't trust right now. It's just that the whole accusation of the left being too hard kinda irks me-yeah, well, the right would be the exact same way if the situation were reversed, so what's your point?
Sorry if that came off rude. Anywho, I'm in agreement with the idea of moving forward and yet still working to figure out why things fell apart the way they did.
Also...
This guy...continues to appear more idiotic to me with each thing that comes out of his mouth. First off, as pointed out, not everyone had the ability to leave.
And second, again, even if people did have that ability, and yet didn't heed the warning, I still don't agree with this idea of "getting tough" on them. I would imagine there's lots of reasons why people don't leave, after all.
And on another related note, as long as we're all talking about various programs and the commentary on this all, did anyone catch Bill Maher's show last night? He sure had a lot to say about the government's actions. So did George Carlin (he was one of the guests).
One other thing that I was thinking about last night while watching Bill Maher...you know, I can only imagine that this has to be the most surreal thing in the world, for those who were affected by this hurricane, but who are still able to get to various news sources and whatnot, to see everyone and their mother commenting on all of this, be it on TV, on the Internet, on the radio...whatever.
Angela
People are right, though, there are Democrats in this situation who've definitely screwed up, too. There's a lot of government officials on both sides that I just don't trust right now. It's just that the whole accusation of the left being too hard kinda irks me-yeah, well, the right would be the exact same way if the situation were reversed, so what's your point?
Sorry if that came off rude. Anywho, I'm in agreement with the idea of moving forward and yet still working to figure out why things fell apart the way they did.
Also...
This guy...continues to appear more idiotic to me with each thing that comes out of his mouth. First off, as pointed out, not everyone had the ability to leave.
And second, again, even if people did have that ability, and yet didn't heed the warning, I still don't agree with this idea of "getting tough" on them. I would imagine there's lots of reasons why people don't leave, after all.
And on another related note, as long as we're all talking about various programs and the commentary on this all, did anyone catch Bill Maher's show last night? He sure had a lot to say about the government's actions. So did George Carlin (he was one of the guests).
One other thing that I was thinking about last night while watching Bill Maher...you know, I can only imagine that this has to be the most surreal thing in the world, for those who were affected by this hurricane, but who are still able to get to various news sources and whatnot, to see everyone and their mother commenting on all of this, be it on TV, on the Internet, on the radio...whatever.
Angela
Scarletwine
New Yorker
I wasn't sure where to put this. It is very disturbing to me.
I'm not sure what type of website this is, but the author is a Christian woman from Oklahoma, not a hotbed of liberalism.
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/fema.html
I just got back from a FEMA Detainment Camp
I'm extremely depressed to report that things seem to only be getting sadder concerning the people so devastatingly affected by Katrina last week. Two car loads of us headed over to Falls Creek, a youth camp for Southern Baptist churches in Oklahoma that agreed to have its facilities used to house Louisiana refugees. I'm afraid the camp is not going to be used as the kind people of the churches who own the cabins believe it was going to be used.
Jesse Jackson was right when he said "refugees" was not the appropriate word for the poor souls dislocated due to Katrina. But he was wrong about why it is not appropriate. It's not appropriate because they are detainees, not refugees.
Falls Creek is like a small town that is closed down about 9 months out of the year. It is made up of cabins that range from small and humble to large and grandiose, according to how much money the church who owns the cabin has. Each cabin has full kitchen facilities, bathrooms and usually have two large bunkrooms - one for women and one for men. The occupancy of the cabins varies according to the church. This past week the Southern Baptist association of Oklahoma offered the facility as a place to house refugees from the Katrina disaster. Each church owning a cabin was then called to find out if they would make their cabin available. Churches across the state agreed.
...
The only odd thing that occurred prior to setting off happened while I was gassing up in our small town. My daughter was pumping the gas and a lady she knew pulled up to an adjacent pump. My daughter started telling her where we were going and that we were taking things to the refugees. The lady told my daughter that she had been told the Red Cross was not allowing any one to deliver supplies. When I returned to the car from paying for the gas my daughter informed of this. I told her that the Red Cross would not be preventing the members of our church from entering our own cabin, so it really didn't matter. It was at that point we decided to stop back by the house and get my daughter's camera so that she could take pictures if required.
...
We then started lugging in our food products. The foods I had purchased were mainly snacks, but my mother - God bless her soul - had gone all out with fresh vegetables, fruits, canned goods, breakfast cereals, rice, and pancake fixings. That's when we got the next message: They will not be able to use the kitchen.
Excuse me? I asked incredulously.
FEMA will not allow any of the kitchen facilities in any of the cabins to be used by the occupants due to fire hazards. FEMA will deliver meals to the cabins. The refugees will be given two meals per day by FEMA. They will not be able to cook. In fact, the "host" goes on to explain, some churches had already enquired about whether they could come in on weekends and fix meals for the people staying in their cabin. FEMA won't allow it because there could be a situation where one cabin gets steaks and another gets hot dogs - and...
it could cause a riot.
It gets worse.
He then precedes to tell us that some churches had already enquired into whether they could send a van or bus on Sundays to pick up any occupants of their cabins who might be interested in attending church. FEMA will not allow this. The occupants of the camp cannot leave the camp for any reason. If they leave the camp they may never return. They will be issued FEMA identification cards and "a sum of money" and they will remain within the camp for the next 5 months.
My son looks at me and mumbles "Welcome to Krakow."
...
The pictures are astonishing and the story so depressing.
I'm not sure what type of website this is, but the author is a Christian woman from Oklahoma, not a hotbed of liberalism.
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/fema.html
I just got back from a FEMA Detainment Camp
I'm extremely depressed to report that things seem to only be getting sadder concerning the people so devastatingly affected by Katrina last week. Two car loads of us headed over to Falls Creek, a youth camp for Southern Baptist churches in Oklahoma that agreed to have its facilities used to house Louisiana refugees. I'm afraid the camp is not going to be used as the kind people of the churches who own the cabins believe it was going to be used.
Jesse Jackson was right when he said "refugees" was not the appropriate word for the poor souls dislocated due to Katrina. But he was wrong about why it is not appropriate. It's not appropriate because they are detainees, not refugees.
Falls Creek is like a small town that is closed down about 9 months out of the year. It is made up of cabins that range from small and humble to large and grandiose, according to how much money the church who owns the cabin has. Each cabin has full kitchen facilities, bathrooms and usually have two large bunkrooms - one for women and one for men. The occupancy of the cabins varies according to the church. This past week the Southern Baptist association of Oklahoma offered the facility as a place to house refugees from the Katrina disaster. Each church owning a cabin was then called to find out if they would make their cabin available. Churches across the state agreed.
...
The only odd thing that occurred prior to setting off happened while I was gassing up in our small town. My daughter was pumping the gas and a lady she knew pulled up to an adjacent pump. My daughter started telling her where we were going and that we were taking things to the refugees. The lady told my daughter that she had been told the Red Cross was not allowing any one to deliver supplies. When I returned to the car from paying for the gas my daughter informed of this. I told her that the Red Cross would not be preventing the members of our church from entering our own cabin, so it really didn't matter. It was at that point we decided to stop back by the house and get my daughter's camera so that she could take pictures if required.
...
We then started lugging in our food products. The foods I had purchased were mainly snacks, but my mother - God bless her soul - had gone all out with fresh vegetables, fruits, canned goods, breakfast cereals, rice, and pancake fixings. That's when we got the next message: They will not be able to use the kitchen.
Excuse me? I asked incredulously.
FEMA will not allow any of the kitchen facilities in any of the cabins to be used by the occupants due to fire hazards. FEMA will deliver meals to the cabins. The refugees will be given two meals per day by FEMA. They will not be able to cook. In fact, the "host" goes on to explain, some churches had already enquired about whether they could come in on weekends and fix meals for the people staying in their cabin. FEMA won't allow it because there could be a situation where one cabin gets steaks and another gets hot dogs - and...
it could cause a riot.
It gets worse.
He then precedes to tell us that some churches had already enquired into whether they could send a van or bus on Sundays to pick up any occupants of their cabins who might be interested in attending church. FEMA will not allow this. The occupants of the camp cannot leave the camp for any reason. If they leave the camp they may never return. They will be issued FEMA identification cards and "a sum of money" and they will remain within the camp for the next 5 months.
My son looks at me and mumbles "Welcome to Krakow."
...
The pictures are astonishing and the story so depressing.
Lila64
Blue Crack Distributor
kellyahern
Blue Crack Supplier
Hey, let's prevent all the niggas from mingling with the white people. My God, you might just get misengination, you just MIGHT have middle-class white people hearing things the govt might not want them to hear. About their old lives. They just MIGHT hear the truth, and join together. Form politcal groups or social movements. Foment strange changes in voting habits eventually. In short, we don't want PEOPLE WOKEN UP. These poor being kept the way hated groups of refugees are kept, treated like the THird World masses they see them as. They are going to be shoved right back into the next housing project that is made aviailable to them, and back they'll go into their old lives of hidden dispair.
Excuse me for using the n-word, I've never even typed that before, but I am SO angry. WHO Is "playing politics" here?
I am so angry that I might not read any more. Every day I tellmyself that I won't, but I do, b/c I CARE. IN the name of Christ, in the 30's it was just the opposite: the hellholes were the camps run by private individuals, and the governments camps were the good ones. This wasn't just New Deal Propaganda. I actually did the research and it was true.
REally, you guys should read "The Grapes of Wrath" (or watch the movie, which is surprisingly as good as the book) to get a prepective on all this. My Goid, even the people in the squalid private camps were allowed to COOK! And the government camps they finally felt like human beings and not cattle. True, there was probsbly politcs in that too, they were trying to turn them into New Deal voters, but who gives a crap about the poltics if everyone else was treating you like cattler and in the government camp you coild cook and had running water and electricity and a dance you could go to every Saturday night.
REally, THIS is the stuff that should be getting on the nightly news..NOT exposes of Colin Powell....like on ABC last night....
Have you guys read or watched "The Grapes of Wrath"
Excuse me for using the n-word, I've never even typed that before, but I am SO angry. WHO Is "playing politics" here?
I am so angry that I might not read any more. Every day I tellmyself that I won't, but I do, b/c I CARE. IN the name of Christ, in the 30's it was just the opposite: the hellholes were the camps run by private individuals, and the governments camps were the good ones. This wasn't just New Deal Propaganda. I actually did the research and it was true.
REally, you guys should read "The Grapes of Wrath" (or watch the movie, which is surprisingly as good as the book) to get a prepective on all this. My Goid, even the people in the squalid private camps were allowed to COOK! And the government camps they finally felt like human beings and not cattle. True, there was probsbly politcs in that too, they were trying to turn them into New Deal voters, but who gives a crap about the poltics if everyone else was treating you like cattler and in the government camp you coild cook and had running water and electricity and a dance you could go to every Saturday night.
REally, THIS is the stuff that should be getting on the nightly news..NOT exposes of Colin Powell....like on ABC last night....
Have you guys read or watched "The Grapes of Wrath"
Last edited:
verte76
Blue Crack Addict
Oh my goodness Scarletwine. That's a horror story. Thanks for posting it. I could not be more exasperated with FEMA.
adam's_mistress
Acrobat
I think I'm going to be sick...
verte76
Blue Crack Addict
Moonlit_Angel said:
That's right, not everyone was able to leave. Some didn't have the transportation. They could have used those schoolbuses that got submerged under the floodwaters, this is a case of the locals screwing up. If you're going to mandate that everyone leave the city you've got to make sure they all have a way out. And as usual I don't like Santorum's comment. It makes no sense to "get tough" on people who couldn't leave. There's a story in my diocesan newsletter about some people at a Catholic boarding school in southern Mississippi who were not able to leave their school. They finally got rescued, a day later. I don't think anything should be done with these people other than helping them.
Moonlit_Angel
Blue Crack Addict
verte76 said:
*Nods* Exactly right, as usual, verte
. Also, Scarletwine, that's...a very weird story...wow.
So tonight, I saw that commercial in which a little girl was asking questions of her mom about what would happen in case of a terrorist attack or other things along those lines, and at the end, all it said was something along the lines of, "Everyone should have a plan", and in one of the bottom corners, you saw that the Homeland Security people supported the ad.
And I was sitting there thinking, "You first, guys."
Angela
Lila64
Blue Crack Distributor
amen sister!
Kieran McConville
ONE love, blood, life
'Getting tough' on people? Wow, gee, I wonder what tough measures you use on people who've lost everything.
MrsSpringsteen
Blue Crack Addict
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/09/10/katrina.contracts.reut/index.html
"Companies with ties to the Bush White House and the former head of FEMA are clinching some of the administration's first disaster relief and reconstruction contracts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
At least two major corporate clients of lobbyist Joe Allbaugh, President Bush's former campaign manager and a former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, have already been tapped to start recovery work along the battered Gulf Coast."
"Companies with ties to the Bush White House and the former head of FEMA are clinching some of the administration's first disaster relief and reconstruction contracts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
At least two major corporate clients of lobbyist Joe Allbaugh, President Bush's former campaign manager and a former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, have already been tapped to start recovery work along the battered Gulf Coast."
verte76
Blue Crack Addict
MrsSpringsteen said:
This burns me up. It's not honest.
Lila64
Blue Crack Distributor
what about this administration is? 
Lila64
Blue Crack Distributor
Got this from a friend today...
To All My Fellow Americans Who Voted for George W. Bush:
On this, the fourth anniversary of 9/11, I'm just curious, how does it feel?
How does it feel to know that the man you elected to lead us after we were attacked went ahead and put a guy in charge of FEMA whose main qualification was that he ran horse shows?
That's right. Horse shows.
I really want to know -- and I ask you this in all sincerity and with all due respect -- how do you feel about the utter contempt Mr. Bush has shown for your safety? C'mon, give me just a moment of honesty. Don't start ranting on about how this disaster in New Orleans was the fault of one of the poorest cities in America. Put aside your hatred of Democrats and liberals and anyone with the last name of Clinton. Just look me in the eye and tell me our President did the right thing after 9/11 by naming a horse show runner as the top man to protect us in case of an emergency or catastrophe.
I want you to put aside your self-affixed label of Republican/conservative/born-again/capitalist/ditto-head/right-winger and just talk to me as an American, on the common ground we both call America.
Are we safer now than before 9/11? When you learn that behind the horse show runner, the #2 and #3 men in charge of emergency preparedness have zero experience in emergency preparedness, do you think we are safer?
When you look at Michael Chertoff, the head of Homeland Security, a man with little experience in national security, do you feel secure?
When men who never served in the military and have never seen young men die in battle send our young people off to war, do you think they know how to conduct a war? Do they know what it means to have your legs blown off for a threat that was never there?
Do you really believe that turning over important government services to private corporations has resulted in better services for the people?
Why do you hate our federal government so much? You have voted for politicians for the past 25 years whose main goal has been to de-fund the federal government. Do you think that cutting federal programs like FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers has been good or bad for America? GOOD OR BAD?
With the nation's debt at an all-time high, do you think tax cuts for the rich are still a good idea? Will you give yours back so hundreds of thousands of homeless in New Orleans can have a home?
Do you believe in Jesus? Really? Didn't he say that we would be judged by how we treat the least among us? Hurricane Katrina came in and blew off the facade that we were a nation with liberty and justice for all. The wind howled and the water rose and what was revealed was that the poor in America shall be left to suffer and die while the President of the United States fiddles and tells them to eat cake.
That's not a joke. The day the hurricane hit and the levees broke, Mr. Bush, John McCain and their rich pals were stuffing themselves with cake. A full day after the levees broke (the same levees whose repair funding he had cut), Mr. Bush was playing a guitar some country singer gave him. All this while New Orleans sank under water.
It would take ANOTHER day before the President would do a flyover in his jumbo jet, peeking out the widow at the misery 2500 feet below him as he flew back to his second home in DC. It would then be TWO MORE DAYS before a trickle of federal aid and troops would arrive. This was no seven minutes in a sitting trance while children read "My Pet Goat" to him. This was FOUR DAYS of doing nothing other than saying "Brownie (FEMA director Michael Brown), you're doing a heck of a job!"
My Republican friends, does it bother you that we are the laughing stock of the world?
And on this sacred day of remembrance, do you think we honor or shame those who died on 9/11/01? If we learned nothing and find ourselves today every bit as vulnerable and unprepared as we were on that bright sunny morning, then did the 3,000 die in vain?
Our vulnerability is not just about dealing with terrorists or natural disasters. We are vulnerable and unsafe because we allow one in eight Americans to live in horrible poverty. We accept an education system where one in six children never graduate and most of those who do can't string a coherent sentence together. The middle class can't pay the mortgage or the hospital bills and 45 million have no health coverage whatsoever.
Are we safe? Do you really feel safe? You can only move so far out and build so many gated communities before the fruit of what you've sown will be crashing through your walls and demanding retribution. Do you really want to wait until that happens? Or is it your hope that if they are left alone long enough to soil themselves and shoot themselves and drown in the filth that fills the street that maybe the problem will somehow go away?
I know you know better. You gave the country and the world a man who wasn't up for the job and all he does is hire people who aren't up for the job. You did this to us, to the world, to the people of New Orleans. Please fix it. Bush is yours. And you know, for our peace and safety and security, this has to be fixed. What do you propose?
I have an idea, and it isn't a horse show.
Yours,
Michael Moore
www.michaelmoore.com
mmflint@aol.com
To All My Fellow Americans Who Voted for George W. Bush:
On this, the fourth anniversary of 9/11, I'm just curious, how does it feel?
How does it feel to know that the man you elected to lead us after we were attacked went ahead and put a guy in charge of FEMA whose main qualification was that he ran horse shows?
That's right. Horse shows.
I really want to know -- and I ask you this in all sincerity and with all due respect -- how do you feel about the utter contempt Mr. Bush has shown for your safety? C'mon, give me just a moment of honesty. Don't start ranting on about how this disaster in New Orleans was the fault of one of the poorest cities in America. Put aside your hatred of Democrats and liberals and anyone with the last name of Clinton. Just look me in the eye and tell me our President did the right thing after 9/11 by naming a horse show runner as the top man to protect us in case of an emergency or catastrophe.
I want you to put aside your self-affixed label of Republican/conservative/born-again/capitalist/ditto-head/right-winger and just talk to me as an American, on the common ground we both call America.
Are we safer now than before 9/11? When you learn that behind the horse show runner, the #2 and #3 men in charge of emergency preparedness have zero experience in emergency preparedness, do you think we are safer?
When you look at Michael Chertoff, the head of Homeland Security, a man with little experience in national security, do you feel secure?
When men who never served in the military and have never seen young men die in battle send our young people off to war, do you think they know how to conduct a war? Do they know what it means to have your legs blown off for a threat that was never there?
Do you really believe that turning over important government services to private corporations has resulted in better services for the people?
Why do you hate our federal government so much? You have voted for politicians for the past 25 years whose main goal has been to de-fund the federal government. Do you think that cutting federal programs like FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers has been good or bad for America? GOOD OR BAD?
With the nation's debt at an all-time high, do you think tax cuts for the rich are still a good idea? Will you give yours back so hundreds of thousands of homeless in New Orleans can have a home?
Do you believe in Jesus? Really? Didn't he say that we would be judged by how we treat the least among us? Hurricane Katrina came in and blew off the facade that we were a nation with liberty and justice for all. The wind howled and the water rose and what was revealed was that the poor in America shall be left to suffer and die while the President of the United States fiddles and tells them to eat cake.
That's not a joke. The day the hurricane hit and the levees broke, Mr. Bush, John McCain and their rich pals were stuffing themselves with cake. A full day after the levees broke (the same levees whose repair funding he had cut), Mr. Bush was playing a guitar some country singer gave him. All this while New Orleans sank under water.
It would take ANOTHER day before the President would do a flyover in his jumbo jet, peeking out the widow at the misery 2500 feet below him as he flew back to his second home in DC. It would then be TWO MORE DAYS before a trickle of federal aid and troops would arrive. This was no seven minutes in a sitting trance while children read "My Pet Goat" to him. This was FOUR DAYS of doing nothing other than saying "Brownie (FEMA director Michael Brown), you're doing a heck of a job!"
My Republican friends, does it bother you that we are the laughing stock of the world?
And on this sacred day of remembrance, do you think we honor or shame those who died on 9/11/01? If we learned nothing and find ourselves today every bit as vulnerable and unprepared as we were on that bright sunny morning, then did the 3,000 die in vain?
Our vulnerability is not just about dealing with terrorists or natural disasters. We are vulnerable and unsafe because we allow one in eight Americans to live in horrible poverty. We accept an education system where one in six children never graduate and most of those who do can't string a coherent sentence together. The middle class can't pay the mortgage or the hospital bills and 45 million have no health coverage whatsoever.
Are we safe? Do you really feel safe? You can only move so far out and build so many gated communities before the fruit of what you've sown will be crashing through your walls and demanding retribution. Do you really want to wait until that happens? Or is it your hope that if they are left alone long enough to soil themselves and shoot themselves and drown in the filth that fills the street that maybe the problem will somehow go away?
I know you know better. You gave the country and the world a man who wasn't up for the job and all he does is hire people who aren't up for the job. You did this to us, to the world, to the people of New Orleans. Please fix it. Bush is yours. And you know, for our peace and safety and security, this has to be fixed. What do you propose?
I have an idea, and it isn't a horse show.
Yours,
Michael Moore
www.michaelmoore.com
mmflint@aol.com
Lila64
Blue Crack Distributor
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