Jefferson Parish president Aaron Broussard on NBC's Meet The Press: bureaucracy has committed murder. In the end Broussard loses it and starts crying. I could barely watch this clip.
God, that's a terrible thing to watch. I had to cry along with him. What is it with the Americans? I'm starting to re-believe everything I once feared about them, including the conspiracy theories pepperlandgirl4 linked to. My God.
I saw a link to this on metafilter and watched it; it made me cry too. (As an aside, the BBC ran an hour-long special on Katrina last week which included a lengthy montage of US TV coverage, but they left out that clip. They should have included it; everyone should see it.)
It seems to me right now, that what happens in New Orleans gives the Radical left all the ammunition they could wish in their critic in their critic of the US political system. And right know it does seems rather rotten to me, if you are not rich and don’t have the right connections.
Have you seen what Barbra Bush said in Houston when she visited refuges?
"What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality," she said during a radio interview with the American Public Media program "Marketplace." "And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them."
See, the thing is, I have travelled North America plenty of times, have worked there for weeks at a time in volunteer projects, and with very few exceptions, I have met only decent people. Okay, you get the occasional jackass, but you get those everywhere. The people I met were friendly, warm, helpful, welcoming, open-minded. Obviously one tends to hang with the kind of folks that are on the same wavelength, and I didn't exactly travel in redneck country. But really, that country is divided and for every... person who explains why the poor of NO dieing is a good thing and who believes that their property is more valuable than someone else's life, you get someone who's as shocked at that as you. More so, probably.
I just wish those decent folks would get their act together and claim their country back from the insane religious right.
I have stayed away from conspiracy theories so far... they're enticing, but not constructive. And I'm prone to getting sucked into stuff like that. And really, reading how FEMA was obstucting the local rescue efforts, it's hard to not cry conspiracy. I wouldn't be surprised if that was one of those theories floating around right now?
Yeah, that's why I posted the link. The more people watch this, the better. Particularly with the federal government starting to point fingers at local government, trying to shift the blame (as predicted by pretty much everybody). I hope the blame proves too sticky this time. Today I read somewhere, spiegel.de I think, that Bush's approval rating is at an all-time low.
Have you seen what Barbra Bush said in Houston when she visited refuges?
Man, yes, I read that. She was chuckling, too, when she said that. Cause hundreds of thousands of citizens losing their homes and livelyhoods, funny.
That statement is so incredibly stupid that it's hard to comment on, eh? Because one is taught to try to argue reasonably and not resort to insults, but in the case of such monumental stupidity and cold-heartness, how could one not: That woman is a braindead cow. Well, at least she's not lying, unless Bush and his cronies. Only, she's being honest because she's too stupid or too removed from reality to see how such a statement would shock some people.
Man, I read so many mindboggling statements by republicans last week, I wouldn't even know where to start pasting. If I were still christian, I'd be extremely pissed at those right-wingers abusing my religion like that.
It seems to me right now, that what happens in New Orleans gives the Radical left all the ammunition they could wish in their critic in their critic of the US political system. And right know it does seems rather rotten to me, if you are not rich and don’t have the right connections.
They have the ammunition, I hope they know how to use it this time. This is a chance for the left, bitter as it is. The government showed its true face there. At least some people's eyes were opened, I think. I hope.
I was only able to watch that clip once -- that was the one that left me actually sobbing with horror and rage.
As for the rest of the US, I've never seen such an outpouring of fury, shame and disgust. Even newcasters, who normally maintain journalistic detachment, have had visible difficulty holding in their anger (and several didn't succeed).
Maybe thiswill precipitate a political shift; I hope so. It's certainly dealt a blow to to the current administration, and the opposition has abandoned their customary annoying caution. DNC Chairman Howard Dean, for example, is making some jaw-dropping accusations.
It's hard to be optimistic about anything having to do with politics in this country, but at least the media has shaken off its post-911 lockstep servility, and the Dems are yelling again. it's something.
I was only able to watch that clip once -- that was the one that left me actually sobbing with horror and rage.
Watching this from another country is horrible... it must be so much worse to see it going on in one's home country.
It's hard to be optimistic about anything having to do with politics in this country, but at least the media has shaken off its post-911 lockstep servility, and the Dems are yelling again. it's something.
Yes, it's something at least. From the looks of it, the media really have stopped with the inexplicable self-censorship. Remember how during the last presidential 'election', the only journalist who dared to open his mouth and point out the irregularities was Keith Olberman in his blog? Everybody else was very pointedly looking the opposite direction. That thought still fills me with rage.
I hope the newly-discovered freedom of speech lasts this time.
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Have you seen what Barbra Bush said in Houston when she visited refuges?
"What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality," she said during a radio interview with the American Public Media program "Marketplace." "And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them."
www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/06/katrina.presidents.ap/
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I just wish those decent folks would get their act together and claim their country back from the insane religious right.
I have stayed away from conspiracy theories so far... they're enticing, but not constructive. And I'm prone to getting sucked into stuff like that. And really, reading how FEMA was obstucting the local rescue efforts, it's hard to not cry conspiracy. I wouldn't be surprised if that was one of those theories floating around right now?
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Yeah, that's why I posted the link. The more people watch this, the better. Particularly with the federal government starting to point fingers at local government, trying to shift the blame (as predicted by pretty much everybody). I hope the blame proves too sticky this time. Today I read somewhere, spiegel.de I think, that Bush's approval rating is at an all-time low.
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Man, yes, I read that. She was chuckling, too, when she said that. Cause hundreds of thousands of citizens losing their homes and livelyhoods, funny.
That statement is so incredibly stupid that it's hard to comment on, eh? Because one is taught to try to argue reasonably and not resort to insults, but in the case of such monumental stupidity and cold-heartness, how could one not: That woman is a braindead cow. Well, at least she's not lying, unless Bush and his cronies. Only, she's being honest because she's too stupid or too removed from reality to see how such a statement would shock some people.
Man, I read so many mindboggling statements by republicans last week, I wouldn't even know where to start pasting. If I were still christian, I'd be extremely pissed at those right-wingers abusing my religion like that.
It seems to me right now, that what happens in New Orleans gives the Radical left all the ammunition they could wish in their critic in their critic of the US political system. And right know it does seems rather rotten to me, if you are not rich and don’t have the right connections.
They have the ammunition, I hope they know how to use it this time. This is a chance for the left, bitter as it is. The government showed its true face there. At least some people's eyes were opened, I think. I hope.
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As for the rest of the US, I've never seen such an outpouring of fury, shame and disgust. Even newcasters, who normally maintain journalistic detachment, have had visible difficulty holding in their anger (and several didn't succeed).
Maybe thiswill precipitate a political shift; I hope so. It's certainly dealt a blow to to the current administration, and the opposition has abandoned their customary annoying caution. DNC Chairman Howard Dean, for example, is making some jaw-dropping accusations.
It's hard to be optimistic about anything having to do with politics in this country, but at least the media has shaken off its post-911 lockstep servility, and the Dems are yelling again. it's something.
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Watching this from another country is horrible... it must be so much worse to see it going on in one's home country.
It's hard to be optimistic about anything having to do with politics in this country, but at least the media has shaken off its post-911 lockstep servility, and the Dems are yelling again. it's something.
Yes, it's something at least. From the looks of it, the media really have stopped with the inexplicable self-censorship. Remember how during the last presidential 'election', the only journalist who dared to open his mouth and point out the irregularities was Keith Olberman in his blog? Everybody else was very pointedly looking the opposite direction. That thought still fills me with rage.
I hope the newly-discovered freedom of speech lasts this time.