You blinked! The "accountability moment" for Katrina has come and gone

September 8, 2005 10:29 PM

House and Senate GOP leaders announce the (Republican dominated) "Hurricane Katrina Joint Review Committee" which should ensure that no-one near the top of the (Republican Dominated) chain of command is in any danger of repercussions over the death of a great American city. In fact, it seems likely that incompetence will be richly rewarded: representative Waxman thinks that a Provision in Katrina Emergency Bill Leaves Government Open to Waste, Fraud, and Abuse. But that's nothing! Despite near-universal opprobrium as a dysfunctional bureaucracy led by an unqualified political appointee, FEMA will receive nearly all of the funds approved on Thursday -- $50 billion... (all links via TPM)
posted by dinsdale (44 comments total)

tho I didnt read it all Im just saying voters really need to clean house next election - both sides. Time for new generation of idea people.
posted by celerystick at 10:43 PM on September 8, 2005

Apologies for "yet another katrina post" but it seems like a crucial corner has been turned, and that the possibility of some good coming from a thorough house cleaning and a sincere attempt to find out what went wrong, is already behind us. There'll be a 911-style "everyone-is-to-blame-therefore-no-one-is-to-blame" whitewash, promotions and bonuses all round, with massive no-bid contracts for GOP-connected corporations. Please [insert diety here] - let me be wrong...
posted by dinsdale at 10:44 PM on September 8, 2005

I hope you are wrong, dinsdale. It certainly does seem that if the deaths of thousands of Americans doesn't cause some change in our country, nothing ever will.
posted by nonmerci at 11:02 PM on September 8, 2005

not if its the 'wrong' people I but... these aren't rich, movers and shakers, of international trade.. and not if you can't start a war overseas about it. we can't attack a storm for the insult. we (Our government is one of the main causes of this, I doubt its in anyones (in power) best interest to attack the cause.
posted by Elim at 11:06 PM on September 8, 2005

I guess they were right, insofar as we can't help out AND point the finger at the same time. We (America) were so busy scrambling to lend a hand, lend a home, donate money, clothes, and even just a word of comfort that we (or myself, at least) were completely blind-sided by this.
After helping out with MeFi Hurricane relief (see the sidebar on the front page), I was actually starting to feel positive about the whole situation. I heard people tell me that their situation was improving, I got emails from people who had taken tens of strangers into their homes, and I got emails from people who wanted to donate anything that was needed. After a rocky, chaotic week, I felt like we were making progress and, in a grass-roots way, getting help to people who needed it.
This news, though, makes me feel like I've been kicked in the groin. It's as though they're just letting the American people handle this themselves and then whitewashing it.

They got this together faster than they got drinking water to the disaster area. Those fuckers better circle their wagons.
posted by Jon-o at 11:15 PM on September 8, 2005

Despite near-universal opprobrium as a dysfunctional bureaucracy led by an unqualified political appointee, FEMA will receive nearly all of the funds approved on Thursday -- $50 billion...

If X isn't working it's because we're not doing enough X. Duh.
posted by aubilenon at 11:33 PM on September 8, 2005

nonmerci sez: "I hope you are wrong, dinsdale. It certainly does seem that if the deaths of thousands of Americans doesn't cause some change in our country, nothing ever will."

combined with, Jon-O's "Those fuckers better circle their wagons."

give an indication of which Americans' deaths WOULD change some things in this country.

I swear I'm gonna get banned from here one of these days, huh?

I think I may be hinting at the same thing Elim is hinting at, but I could be wrong.
posted by symbioid at 11:36 PM on September 8, 2005

No I think we indeed are....
posted by Elim at 11:47 PM on September 8, 2005

symbioid, if I'm correct in my interpretation of your comment, then you're not the only person feeling that way right now.
posted by nonmerci at 11:53 PM on September 8, 2005

the question in this time is "what are the mindless masses going to make of all this?"
posted by Elim at 12:04 AM on September 9, 2005

Well, a race war wouldn't be too surprising. A class war would really be more to the point, but lower class America has yet to understand that they're on the business end of the Republican weapon.
posted by dreamsign at 12:10 AM on September 9, 2005

God. How low can they get?

I guess this is one of those times that millions of us will have to get up and make our voices heard... let's see how...
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 12:13 AM on September 9, 2005

'im with you in this.
posted by Elim at 12:21 AM on September 9, 2005

dreamsign: I think race may play a role to the masses, but I think there are a significant number (including moderate liberals) who know that in the long run, they're on the side of the empoverished and disempowered.

I like the song by DOA, I may have already posted lyrics in another thread, but I'm going to again, especially since it's relevant to this reply:

"Race Riot. Don't buy it. KKK. We're not gonna buy it! Race riot, no way, it's gonna be a class war!"

We'll see. The latest polls that show Americans STILL think Bush didn't improperly handle this is staggering to me. It depresses me, but seeing the subtle comments here and there on boards like these keep the fire of hope alive.

I hate going to work, because I know the people around me feel quite different than I. I feel so alone. Thank /insert deity here/ for the net. I am NOT alone. YOU are not alone. WE are not alone.
posted by symbioid at 12:23 AM on September 9, 2005

Curiously, it seems that any Democrats who bother to show up for this committee will be led into battle by Joe-mentum Lieberman. It seems that Senator Lieberman also led "Brownie's" confirmation hearing. Amusing coincidence isn't it?
posted by well_balanced at 12:24 AM on September 9, 2005

And this is surprising how?

I mean, come on. The foxes are guarding the henhouse here.
posted by moonbiter at 1:03 AM on September 9, 2005

I'm positively shocked that people are shocked by this.
Where have you been these past few years?
posted by nightchrome at 1:17 AM on September 9, 2005

Every Congressional inquiry is led by the majority party in Congress, this isn't news.

Seriously, though, leftists need to make a decision. If they want the Katrina inquiries to be constructive, they've got to abandon hope of using them to score partisan points. Republicans want answers and solutions, too, but not at the cost of advancing the Howard Dean / Ted Kennedy agenda of overtaxing the productive and overcoddling the savage and degenerate.
posted by MattD at 5:51 AM on September 9, 2005

Republicans want answers and solutions, too, but not at the cost of advancing the Howard Dean / Ted Kennedy agenda of overtaxing the productive and overcoddling the savage and degenerate.


You should be ashamed of yourself. Apparently, its only ok to try to sort out this clusterfuck if, and only if it doesn't inconvenience the Republican Party. That is a traitorous, un-American attitude, which bespeaks a willingness to put party ideology above the stated principles of this nation.
posted by Chrischris at 6:12 AM on September 9, 2005

overcoddling the savage and degenerate

What an asshole.
posted by Armitage Shanks at 6:16 AM on September 9, 2005

overcoddling the savage and degenerate

He obviously means Bush and the entire GOP.
posted by amberglow at 6:19 AM on September 9, 2005

overtaxing the productive and overcoddling the savage and degenerate.

Gimme a break.
posted by Miko at 6:19 AM on September 9, 2005

He obviously means Bush and the entire GOP.

For wingnuts, savage is the new black.
posted by Armitage Shanks at 6:27 AM on September 9, 2005

overcoddling the savage and degenerate

Um.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 6:54 AM on September 9, 2005

A suggestion from DailyKos as to how to get a more bipartisan commission: Senator Landrieu (D-LA) needs to block Roberts.
posted by barjo at 7:04 AM on September 9, 2005

FEMA will receive nearly all of the funds approved on Thursday -- $50 billion...

Yeah, because Michael "Horse's Ass" Brown has been doing "a heck of a job" so far!

Incidentally Brown seems to have been a pretty spectacular failure wherever he's gone, and not shy of outright lying about it either. Ah, the things you don't have to worry about when you're in George W. Bush's rolodex!
posted by clevershark at 7:08 AM on September 9, 2005

If I didn't know better, I'd have thought I was peering through the fence at a concentration camp. ...
posted by amberglow at 7:08 AM on September 9, 2005

MattD writes "Republicans want answers and solutions, too"

Hey, I got this bridge near where I used to live that you might be interested in buying from me...
posted by clevershark at 7:09 AM on September 9, 2005

Every Congressional inquiry is led by the majority party in Congress, this isn't news.

Except of course the independent 9/11 investigation created by the then-majority Senate Democrats. I guess you've never heard of Google or something.
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 7:23 AM on September 9, 2005

posted by caddis at 7:28 AM on September 9, 2005

It's going to take a lot of fireworks to clean this mess up.
posted by sonofsamiam at 7:30 AM on September 9, 2005

Yeah, and what oil-rich nation can we invade to stop this gathering windy threat?
posted by wakko at 7:40 AM on September 9, 2005

And meanwhile, Santorum is now blaming the National Weather Service for not giving enough warning.

Never mind that they posted a set of warnings that I, and a whole bunch of other weather junkies, thought were fake because of the (what then appeared to be ) hyperbole in them. For those forgetting, The Times has an image of the actual alert.

I surrender. When this gets airplay -- when a so called journalist can even possibly give this lie exposure, it shows that it's over. Decency and truth have failed. The ideals this country held so dear are gone. Our fate is tyranny.

I just don't have any heart left to fight anymore.
posted by eriko at 7:45 AM on September 9, 2005

I don't know, everytime I think that people have obviously had enough and *this* thing will be the thing that gets everybody thinking about what a bad idea the current adminstration is; it disappears and folks forget.

The tragedy of all this is that in six months, most of the country will have forgotten how badly handled this situation was. The pundits and the administration will spin this so that the average guy on the street is blaming the mayor of NO and those fools who didn't get out.

And to be honest, I understand. Most folks in this country are far too busy trying to live and deal with their daily existence to bother with reading and watching tons of news or going online and finding alternate sources of information. Most folks are more concerned with who's gonna be on Survivor and how the Pats are doing than some government crap. And it will continue to be that way until it gets so bad, there's nothing to think about but how bad it is. By then it's too late.
posted by teleri025 at 8:39 AM on September 9, 2005

Santorum really does stay bought.
posted by bshort at 8:39 AM on September 9, 2005

Santorum never ceases to amuse me, not just for the scatological implication which has been attached to his name, but for what he does -- which is, namely, to take the most extreme talking points of the right and get them out into the public so as to gradually "sanitize" them politically and make them acceptable to the "red" populace.

A few years from now the ideas he speaks will have become part of daily speech. The question is, is Santorum actually smart enough to realize it, or is he just a puppet of the Cheney/Rice/Rumsfeld alliance?
posted by clevershark at 9:59 AM on September 9, 2005

I surrender. When this gets airplay -- when a so called journalist can even possibly give this lie exposure, it shows that it's over. Decency and truth have failed. The ideals this country held so dear are gone. Our fate is tyranny.

I just don't have any heart left to fight anymore.
posted by sonofsamiam at 10:02 AM on September 9, 2005

eriko writes "I just don't have any heart left to fight anymore."

Now you know how the rest of the world felt when it was determined that Dubya won last year... that's when it sank in that "most of them really do agree with him."
posted by clevershark at 10:11 AM on September 9, 2005

National Weather Service's August 28 advisory on Hurricane Katrina:

Potentially catastrophic Hurricane Katrina headed for the northern Gulf Coast
...
Katrina is expected to make landfall at Category Four or Five intensity.
...
Coastal storm surge flooding of 18 to 22 feet above normal tide levels...locally as high as 28 feet...along with large and dangerous battering waves...can be expected near and to the east of where the center makes landfall. Some levees in the greater New Orleans area could be overtopped.

FEMA's Hurricane Pam exercise included "storm surge that topped levees in the New Orleans area."

It's interesting to compare these White House photos of President Bush being briefed on Hurricane Isabel in 2003 and on Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
posted by kirkaracha at 10:17 AM on September 9, 2005

AP is reporting that Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael Brown is being removed from his role managing Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, as questiobns about his background continue to emerge -- including a padded resume -- not to mention his being a colossal fuck-up.
posted by ericb at 10:21 AM on September 9, 2005

wow...he's being sent back to washington d.c.

what a harsh punishment. at worst, he'll be removed from fema altogether and shuffled off to some other sinecure. he will continue to work in a nice, spacious, air-coniditioned office, getting paid a ridiculous amount of money and benefits, doing very little work.

as a result of his "removal", bush's approval ratings will rebound in two weeks rather than four. business as usual. damn, it must feel good to be a gan'sta.
posted by lord_wolf at 10:53 AM on September 9, 2005

eriko... First, I think it's important to remember that the "ideals" upon which this country is founded never actually were implemented in any fact without struggle. Whether it be a civil war, a womens liberation movement, a struggle against segregation, a battle for workers rights, a riot at Stonewall for gay rights (amongst many others), none of our ideals incarnate were just given to us. We struggled.

It was when the people became so dejected and full of rage that they did something. The trick is to keep our ideals alive, and not let them snuff it out with their Republican, Christian (apologies to any liberally oriented Christians) agenda. We will have periods of sorrow, we will have periods of rage, we will have periods of joy, success and defeat.

We must take them all as part of a larger struggle for liberty and equality. When we feel dejected look around you, see the community of people who still realize the truth. I mentioned earlier that metafilter gives me hope when I realize that even more (at least seemingly) moderate people are feeling the rage I feel inside, and that gives me hope.

I realize that I wasn't as crushed this time as much as I was during the election (even though I didn't really expect John Kerry to be that much better)... I broke down in tears the next day. This time, I just got angry. I'm sick of feeling dejected, it's either rage or depression, and I hope I can continue to burn.
posted by symbioid at 11:23 AM on September 9, 2005

I'm positively shocked that people are shocked by this.
Where have you been these past few years?

I understand that Bush's approval rating has now hit an all-time low of 40%. Forty. Four-in-ten Americans think he's doing a good job, despite economy, Iraq, New Orleans, and the fact that he can't seem to speak a single language.

My pity is en route to contempt.
posted by dreamsign at 3:43 PM on September 9, 2005

Should be more like 4%, but then huge numbers of people have no idea how to judge incompetence. (thanks again, mazola) Looks like just about 40% of the US has that problem. Hopefully they're learning, though.

Won't change the relatively small percentage of real narcissistic evil aggressive assholes, though.
posted by zoogleplex at 5:19 PM on September 9, 2005