Bush has got to be the biggest joke around.

[Jim]

Seriously.

There are no words of how much of a ****ing moron he is, especially with this disaster that has happened.

Impeach that stupid ****er. Clinton did far less to get dragged in the mud. No one died at least.

Some articles of interest:

http://www.nola.com/weblogs/print.ssf?/ ... 76556.html

"Three tons of food ready for delivery by air to refugees in St. Bernard Parish and on Algiers Point sat on the Crescent City Connection bridge Friday afternoon as air traffic was halted because of President Bush’s visit to New Orleans, officials said. "

http://www.markarkleiman.com/archives/k ... fforts.php

""But perhaps the greatest disappointment stands at the breached 17th Street levee. Touring this critical site yesterday with the President, I saw what I believed to be a real and significant effort to get a handle on a major cause of this catastrophe. Flying over this critical spot again this morning, less than 24 hours later, it became apparent that yesterday we witnessed a hastily prepared stage set for a Presidential photo opportunity; and the desperately needed resources we saw were this morning reduced to a single, lonely piece of equipment. "

Some other stuff:

Just last year, the Army Corps of Engineers sought $105 million for hurricane and flood programs in New Orleans. The White House slashed the request to about $40 million. Congress finally approved $42.2 million, less than half of the agency's request.

Yet the lawmakers and Bush agreed to a $286.4 billion pork-laden highway bill that included more than 6,000 pet projects for lawmakers. Congress spent money on dust control for Arkansas roads, a warehouse on the Erie Canal and a $231 million bridge to a small, uninhabited Alaskan island.

How could Washington spend $231 million on a bridge to nowhere — and not find $42 million for hurricane and flood projects in New Orleans? It's a matter of power and politics.

Lots of other stuff is out there that just blows my mind away.

This is bull****. TOTAL ****ING BULL****.

[God Jinrai]

sad thing is, Jim... I could tell you why.


because of the simple fact that 90 % of new orleans' population is poverty stricken.


So far as I'm concerned, Bush may as well have just said:

"Let the poor drown because they're too poor to get out of town. I'm not wasting money I feel can be better spent elsewhere to dam up some little shandy town"

and also one other thing.

Now that everything's submerged... if they even BOTHER to reclaim the city, no one will have anything. and as such, the big real estate people will go and buy the entire place up. New Orleans is going to be rebuilt, alright... and only the people with assloads of money are gonna be down there. The entire symbolism of the city... the HOME OF JAZZ AND BLUES MUSIC... is going to be WIPED OUT OF EXISTANCE PERMANENTLY.

[Chromia]

Just last year, the Army Corps of Engineers sought $105 million for hurricane and flood programs in New Orleans. The White House slashed the request to about $40 million. Congress finally approved $42.2 million, less than half of the agency's request.


Well, I voted for him, but...****, I gotta agree....

Not about being impeached...but.....damn, something.....

[Jim]

Originally posted by God Jinrai

So far as I'm concerned, Bush may as well have just said:

"Let the poor drown because they're too poor to get out of town. I'm not wasting money I feel can be better spent elsewhere to dam up some little shandy town"

Well, another interesting fact is:

"The overwhelming majority of those stranded in the post-Katrina chaos were those without the resources to escape — and overwhelmingly, they were black."

Not trying to ummm... imply... who **** it, that's why. :\

[Zisteau]

What's that phrase that goes hindsight something something something? Hurricanes hit the southeast United States at least once a year, and nothing on this scale has ever happened before.

[Cassettacon 27]

Not being an American citizen, I shouldn't have a say in this. However, being a Canadian I can say that he is making an ass out of himself here in the Great White North.
I think that I'd make a better President,
"My fellow Americans, as my first act, We shall build a 50ft monument of Optimus Prime!"

[Denyer]

Originally posted by Zisteau
What's that phrase that goes hindsight something something something? Hurricanes hit the southeast United States at least once a year, and nothing on this scale has ever happened before.

You'd think that if you have a major city (important to the economy) built below sea level to look after that, that it'd be a good idea to either listen to engineers or employ some that made reliable budgetary assessments, really...

[Jaynz]

Originally posted by Denyer
You'd think that if you have a major city (important to the economy) built below sea level to look after that, that it'd be a good idea to either listen to engineers or employ some that made reliable budgetary assessments, really...

A little Fact Checking (TM) helps.

Guys, look up what happened to all of the Federal Funding (TM) that went to the levee projects to New Orleans in the past 30 years. Compare it then to the levee projects in Florida, Alabama, Texas, and Mississippi.

The NO Levee Officials kept the ****ing money for themselves. Only a small percentage of the money actually went to building up the levees.

Besides, the Bush cuts - such as they were - were to a study of levee construction that would be completed in 2006. The actual construction of these new levees would start in 2008 with a estimated completion in 2038.

And when all that was done, the levees would protect against a Cat 3 Hurricane. Katrina was Cat 4.

Fact Checking. The new wonder drug.

[Sociopathic Autobot]

Originally posted by Cassettacon 27
Not being an American citizen, I shouldn't have a say in this. However, being a Canadian I can say that he is making an ass out of himself here in the Great White North.
I think that I'd make a better President,
"My fellow Americans, as my first act, We shall build a 50ft monument of Optimus Prime!"

Ewwww, you're Canadian?

Bush has always been dis-liked north of the border because we are left and he's banking so hard to the right the only three guys in Canada who likes him are Stephen Harper and maybe Stockwell Day and Ted White or what ever that one bastards name is.

[Denyer]

Originally posted by TFVanguard
The NO Levee Officials kept the ****ing money for themselves. Only a small percentage of the money actually went to building up the levees.

Yes. Federal funding isn't simply a matter of handing over cash; it involves following up—one of the reasons there's a federal level of government over state apparatus, in fact.

Originally posted by TFVanguard
the Bush cuts - such as they were - were to a study of levee construction

So clearly not worthwhile, then?

You seem to be conflating replies to different people.

Originally posted by TFVanguard
when all that was done, the levees would protect against a Cat 3 Hurricane. Katrina was Cat 4.

Fact Checking. The new wonder drug.

Let's take a hypothetical situation, and I'll try to make it mind-bendingly simple for you, since we've progressed to insults;

You can build a wall from paper, bricks or an expensive impervious wonder metal. Simply because anything less than the metal won't stop all of the damage isn't a reason to only build paper walls.

[Jaynz]

Originally posted by Denyer
Yes. Federal funding isn't simply a matter of handing over cash; it involves following up—one of the reasons there's a federal level of government over state apparatus, in fact.

Which has been aproblem with funding going into New Orleans for generations. The accountability with NO officials has been somewhere around zero. As we're seeing, already the 'political protection machine' is hard at work to pin the blame on the Feds.. who, even if everything had had ten times the amount of initial funding given to it, would have amounted to dead zero difference.

So clearly not worthwhile, then?

Worthwhile, sure. The argument was that the money was being spent on the personal limos of the officials and not on the project. The issue was that the Federal Government wanted to do it independantly of the local officials - who balked at such a suggestion.

Let's take a hypothetical situation, and I'll try to make it mind-bendingly simple for you, since we've progressed to insults;

Well, I've only called BM a liar, and called 'he that doesn't deserved to be named' a few things... that's as insulting as I got. I can go more, though, if you want.

Edit - addressed wrong person.

You can build a wall from paper, bricks or an expensive impervious wonder metal. Simply because anything less than the metal won't stop all of the damage isn't a reason to only build paper walls.

Again, the construction would have STARTED in 2008, and ENDED in 2030. And, even then, many engineers said that the soil for the area just wouldn't take the new levee structures anyway. As it turned out, that's what happened. The recently-upgraded levees fell because the soil fell out from under them.

The sad fact of the matter is, at the end of the day, New Orleans was no longer a safe site for a city. It really hadn't been for decades, but they had, thus far, dodged the bullet. This time, it hit them between the eyes.

Anyone that decides to rebuild the city on the delta itself is guaranteeing another disaster within another generation or two. It just isn't a safe place to have a city, the soil itself cannot take it.

[God Jinrai]

...correct me if I'm wrong, but neither are any of the vast amount of cities along the eastern seaboards of japan, china and both parts of vietnam. yet those villages are still there, and year after year, when the tsunamis strike, are rebuilt.


am I missing something really big here, or am I just stupid?

[Cyberstrike nTo]

I hate to say it but TFVanguard is right to the fact that New Orleans has one worst (if not the worst) rates of corruption in the US, so it's not hard to buy the possiablty that city officals have ripped off the federal goverment.

[Jaynz]

Originally posted by God Jinrai
...correct me if I'm wrong, but neither are any of the vast amount of cities along the eastern seaboards of japan, china and both parts of vietnam. yet those villages are still there, and year after year, when the tsunamis strike, are rebuilt.

A lot cheaper to rebuild a small coastal 'third-world' village than New Orleans.. but...

Well, let me illustrate the big issue now in New Orleans. Rescue efforts in the French Quarter were stopped by Uniformed Police Officers shooting at the National Guard. IE, the Police are hampering efforts, 'cause they're as bad as the gangs - overall.

I don't know if anything else can illustrate it so well.

[Sociopathic Autobot]

Originally posted by TFVanguard
A lot cheaper to rebuild a small coastal 'third-world' village than New Orleans.. but...

Really, Japan and China are third world? I never would have guessed that.

[Rodimus Convoy]

Originally posted by Jim
Clinton did far less to get dragged in the mud. No one died at least.

You know what's funny? Clinton was actually a fairly good President. Besides the whole scandal thing. And yes, Bush sucks.

[Cassettacon 27]

Originally posted by Sociopathic Autobot
Ewwww, you're Canadian?

Yeah. I'm a Canadian and I'm proud of it.
You got a f**king problem with it, eh?

[Cliffjumper]

Originally posted by Cassettacon 27
You got a f**king problem with it, eh?

He probably thinks Canadians are sub-human.

Oh, sod it, I can't do this. Can't someone ban this loser to prevent him looking like quite such an arsehead?

[Sociopathic Autobot]

Originally posted by Cassettacon 27
Yeah. I'm a Canadian and I'm proud of it.
You got a f**king problem with it, eh?

I have a huge problem with it. Damn hoser. Go away, no one here likes your kind.

[Jaynz]

Originally posted by Sociopathic Autobot
Really, Japan and China are third world? I never would have guessed that.

Japan, no ... most of China, yes. Now, go to Japan, and ask about their own Tsunami and earthquake rebuilding efforts? They do face and deal with such devastation. But, if you're going to compare an Oriental or Indonesian fishing village to Biloxi or New Orleans... well, you've got a worse grasp on scale than a Toei animator.

You know what's funny? Clinton was actually a fairly good President. Besides the whole scandal thing. And yes, Bush sucks.

You know, though, Clinton has given pretty high props to Bush Jr in his handling of most affairs. Funny, that... (Bill Clinton was never a hyper-partisan.) Also, Clinton was appointed to head up fundraising efforts by Bush...