But (and maybe this is just not possible), shouldn't the response time to a much larger tragedy than Hugo be MUCH quicker? I mean, they moved 25,000 body bags into NO alone, not even counting the rest of LA, AL, and MS. Shouldn't we, as a country, have reacted quicker because more was at stake? I'm not saying that those people affected by Hugo, or any other disaster, deserved a longer response time per se, but there were so many more lives at stake here and the amount of people brought out of this thing alive was directly impacted by the amount of time it took for us to help them.

[Edited on September 13, 2005 at 12:02 PM. Reason : duh]

9/13/2005 12:01:17 PM

so right after the hurricane before the flooding when it didnt seem that bad in new orleans, we shouldve been therE?

or maybe we shouldve just driven into town when the highways were out and flooded?

come on Mr. Hindsight

9/13/2005 12:05:03 PM

I just find it sad that the news media knew about people dying in places like the Convention Center for lack of food and water, for example, and were broadcasting it all over national news days before FEMA and other government agencies admitted that they had no idea people were even taking up shelter there. I saw broadcasts about bodies being taken outside of the convention center and being left there, because people had no food, no water, and no place to put the dead. That, in and of itself is disgusting. But, combine that with FEMA personnel saying, days after I saw these broadcasts, that they had JUST found out about the convention center that day...that's not ok. I'm not blaming any one individual for this, but this is definitely a failure on a massive degree. You're right, Hindsight is definitely 20/20 and I realize that a lot of what happened could not be helped. But a lot of the shit that these poor people had to go through (literally and figuratively) is a result of a poor, chaotic response by the American people.

9/13/2005 12:13:59 PM

Quote :

"> BREAKING NEWS President Bush says he takes responsibility for the federal government's failures in responding to Hurricane Katrina. Details soon."

http://www.cnn.com/

Wow. Bold move.

9/13/2005 12:18:15 PM

Karl Rove is a genius.

9/13/2005 12:22:29 PM

aha, "president bush takes responsibility for the federal government's failures"

bold move indeed

9/13/2005 12:24:40 PM

That doesn't seem like him. Are we sure that he understands what all of those words mean?

9/13/2005 12:25:26 PM

Holy shit hell's freezing over.

He didn't have a choice in the matter. He can either be accountable for the feds or look like he's dodging yet another issue. Not even saying what part of this clusterfuck he's responsible for, but I think the growing consensus is that he's not much of a leader when it comes to accountability.

Good move on his part. I'm going to watch as the 2006 GOP hopefuls start to slink away from him, whistling with their hands in their pockets.

9/13/2005 12:26:30 PM

I bet the speech on Thursday's gonna be gangbusters and his approval rating's gonna shoot back up.

9/13/2005 12:26:34 PM

^I don't know, I mean, he's pretty bad at giving speeches. He did an ok job after 9/11, but they've definitely been lacking in this whole Hurricane Katrina tragedy. Could he sound MORE like he's reading for the very first time when he gives these speeches???

9/13/2005 12:29:33 PM

Meanwhile:
Louisiana's governor insists the state government did absolutely nothing wrong;
the mayor of NO has moved to Texas.

9/13/2005 12:31:41 PM

I think all and all, one thing has come to my attention through all of this. US citizens are getting more attentive to the needs of our fellow Americans. Just, it would have been nice if we all had a collective concern with Bush's military policy after 911, like we do with this Katrina incident. Maybe we could have stopped this man's plans before he ran us into the negative 200 billions and put us smack tab into a quagmire which we cannot leave for the next five years.

[Edited on September 13, 2005 at 10:29 PM. Reason : 5 years is my conservative estimation.]

9/13/2005 10:27:51 PM

Quote :

" you know, according to some national guardsmen, the response time was about average, and it was faster than hugo...another story that slips through the cracks and is not picked up by lewis black "

I know a former guardsman that thinks otherwise.

His middle name is walker.

[Edited on September 14, 2005 at 9:04 AM. Reason : -]

9/14/2005 9:04:26 AM

so by former you mean he wasnt one of the responders to Katrina like the guy Im talking about

9/14/2005 10:29:01 AM

HAHA

dude, thats way over treetwista's head i think

9/14/2005 3:23:07 PM

And finally, New Rule: Defenders of the war in Iraq must stop comparing it to the American Revolution.

Yes. The only thing the Iraqi leadership has in common with our founding fathers is that neither of them used deodorant. Now, the sight of Iraqis having a constitutional convention has put a lump in the throat of Bush, Rumsfeld and Cheney, all of whom have compared the American patriots of 1776 to our soldiers in Iraq today, mostly because they're using the same equipment.

Let's just mention a few ways this analogy breaks down. One: the American Revolution was a home-grown rebellion fought with guerilla tactics against an occupying army of foreigners and mercenaries. Okay, that is exactly what's going on in Iraq . Oh, except for one thing: This time, WE'RE ENGLAND !

You need proof? The only people on our side? England .

9/14/2005 3:28:45 PM

^^yeah i realize he was referring to George Herbert Walker Bush...but most of reality is over most of the Soap Box's head anyway

9/14/2005 3:47:04 PM

just admit that before you were trying to spin this shit

i mean even your god bush has admitted its a fuck up

just admit it

9/14/2005 3:50:36 PM

^^he was NOT referring to george herbert walker bush

9/14/2005 4:42:47 PM