Politics
Police Trapped Thousands in New Orleans
As the situation grew steadily worse in New Orleans last week, you might have wondered why people didn't just leave on foot. The Louisiana Superdome is less than two miles from a bridge that leads over the Mississippi River out of the city. The answer: Any crowd that tried to do so was met by suburban police, some of whom fired guns to disperse the group and seized their water. Around 500 people stuck in downtown New Orleans after the storm banded together for self-preservation, making sure the ... (read more)The United States of Emergency
Our Nation is prepared, as never before, to deal quickly and capably with the consequences of disasters and other domestic incidents. -- FEMA Chief Michael Brown, Senate testimony, March 9, 2005 Now that the initial shock of the disaster in New Orleans has worn off, Republicans have mobilized to defend President Bush, who appears to have replaced "I'll keep you safe" with a more nuanced slogan: I'll protect you -- unless of course your local officials fail you, in which case I'll let you ... (read more)Cindy Sheehan and the Veterans for Peace Bus have rerouted their tour to Louisiana, setting up a Camp Casey in Covington with food and supplies collected in Crawford, Texas: We have set up a permanent Camp Casey at the Pine View Middle School, 1115 West 28th Avenue, Covington, LA. We are using the school to support Veterans For Peace hurricane relief efforts for the people of the region. We are supporting The Red Cross with power, medical supplies, kitchen service, food bank and distribution, ... (read more)Barbara Bush's Texas Hospitality
As Presidents Clinton and Bush toured the Astrodome yesterday, an NPR reporter recorded an amazing comment from First Lady Barbara Bush: Almost everyone I've talked to says we're going to move to Houston. ... What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas. Everybody is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this -- this is working very well for them. Indeed. Losing your home, ... (read more)2005/09/06'Abandoned By Our Own Country'
The president of Jefferson Parish in Louisiana, Aaron Broussard, appeared on Meet the Press this morning in an interview you can watch on Crooks and Liars. Broussard reported FEMA officials who refused entry to shipments of water, turned back diesel fuel, and cut emergency phone lines: We have been abandoned by our own country. Hurricane Katrina will go down in history as one of the worst storms ever to hit an American coast. But the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina will go down as one of the ... (read more)
Broadcasting live from the New Orleans Convention Center on Hannity and Colmes last night, Fox News anchor Geraldo Rivera cried, holding a 10-month-old child as he discussed the extremely inhumane conditions 15,000 evacuees have been forced to live under. Outside, a visibly despondent Shepard Smith pointed out locked exit doors on the center and road checkpoints that prevented the exit of people housed for six days without food, shelter, sanitation, and medicine. "Let them go," Rivera begged. ... (read more)Pastor: God Destroyed New Orleans
Agape Press, the publishing division of the American Family Association, issued a press release Friday quoting a New Orleans pastor who celebrates the devastation in New Orleans for wiping out "much of the rampant sin common to the city." Rev. Bill Shanks, pastor of New Covenant Fellowship of New Orleans in Metairie, said that he warned for years God would pass judgment on the city: New Orleans now is abortion free. New Orleans now is Mardi Gras free. New Orleans now is free of Southern ... (read more)Dying of Thirst in New Orleans
As thousands of evacuees languished in the New Orleans Convention Center for four days, only one authority came to reassure them, according to NBC photographer Tony Zumbado: I went back with Harry Connick Jr. He spoke to them and told them he would do anything he can to help them. They seemed to appreciate that. He's the only person of authority -- believe it or not, a musician -- to go in there and tell them that things are going to be ok. Connick's upholding a fine tradition of entertainers ... (read more)I'm getting hammered by some people for my proposal that liberals and conservatives stage comparable relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina victims. One of the conservative bloggers I approached with this idea sent an e-mail that's still cooling off: You're sick ... trying to make a competition out of other's suffering. You should be ashamed of yourself. As I told him, competing to outraise another group is a routine charity practice. Look at all the weblogs in competition on TLB's Blog for ... (read more)Rabid Ideologues for Hurricane Relief
The Drudge Retort belongs to a large network of liberal weblogs that's trying to raise $1 million for urgent Hurricane Katrina relief. Donations go to the Red Cross for the specific purpose of helping thousands of people affected by a disaster of biblical proportions -- 90,000 square miles of four states were devastated by the storm, thousands may be dead, and more are dying by the hour. Site visitors have donated almost $100,000 in one day, which is good but still a long way from the goal. ... (read more)
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