Bush has failed

[Edan]

Homeland Security won't let Red Cross deliver food

[mrmitchell]

(emphasis added)
None of the centrists I know of use that philosophy. show me an example.

SCORE!

But no really, why did you people even bring up centrists? Does it matter if the head of FEMA is a Democrat, or a Republican, or a moderate, or a martian? NO! It matters that he's competent, and he apparently isn't. CAN HIM

[MOBIUS]

Originally posted by Whoha
the route is pretty obvious, those busses are next to a highway that leads straight to the super dome, and the other way heads out of the city. Check out the satellite photos. By the way, those busses are fueled, one was "stolen" and a couple of people used it to get out.

as to the # of busses, someone counted 205, and there are a couple outside of the shot as well.

And that is probably one of a number of bus 'stations'!

But supposing it is the only one in the whole city...

Say they seat 50 people (our standard coaches take about that many). 50 into 100,000 makes 2,000 bus journeys. Divide that by the buses in that photo and we can call that 10 journeys for each bus. Say evacuate them all the 76 miles to Baton Rouge, give them a very generous 8hr turnaround and let the drivers sleep a whole 8 hours and it would still only take those buses 5 days to evac 100,000 people - imagine thousands of buses!!?

[MOBIUS]

Originally posted by Edan
Homeland Security won't let Red Cross deliver food

Why is anyone still in NO!!???

Everyone should be evacuated to specially set up centres away from the carnage of the city where they can be looked after under better circumstances - all they're doing now is adding to the congestion and mess of the city...

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by MOBIUS
That is plain BS - or I ****ing damned well hope it is!

A city knowingly under the threat of catastrophic inundation had better damned well ****ing have a disaster plan worked out to the nth degree.

Personally I find it inconceivable that didn't have some kind of intricately planned evacuation drill involving the public buses of NO(at least to save the ****ing buses!)!

Actually, they have a plan. They have drilled. They just didn't make sure people knew about the free transportation. At least that's according to the Miami Herald.

[OzzyKP]

Finally the Supreme Court stepped in to set things right:

In a swift yet powerful condemnation of the government-run hurricane relief effort, the Supreme Court ruled today to give eminent domain rights to CNN and Fox News over Katrina-devastated regions. As part of the ruling, the two media giants will have exclusive rights to control not only all aspects of the rescue, recovery, and rebuilding of large swaths of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, but the future day-to-day administration of the aforementioned territory. For all intents and purposes, all aspects of the American government will be kicked out of some 90,000 square miles of devastated land and left to the two media giants.

The media moguls explained that they got the idea to sue for control of the disaster area after seeing footage after footage of victims asking how the hell the journalists can travel in and around New Orleans, but the National Guard couldn't.

Writing for the 9-0 unanimous ruling, Justice Ginsberg explained that government on all levels has absolutely failed in all aspects to provide even the most basic functions of security, transportation, and sanitation, and needed to be taught a lesson. Referring to the recent Kelo eminent domain ruling, the Justice explained, "We believe that more tax revenue can be collected and better administration maintained by ceding all of the land to Ted Turner and Rupert Murdoch."

Ginsberg went on: "After all, the hurricane and flood victims were more likely to see TV crews and journalists running around, sharing supplies with the people, than local law enforcement and emergency personnel. Ted's and Rupert's people were on the scene before, during, after the hurricane, are still on the ground, and are showing no reluctance to leave. The same cannot be said for the National Guard, police, sheriffs, firefighters, politicians, EMTs, and FEMA workers. Frankly, the reporters deserve a chance to govern, because it's clear who wants to help the common man more."

The more conservative wing of the court, led by Justice Thomas, was equally elated: "Centuries of history show us that the private sector is more efficient than government at, well, running anything and everything. While personally not a fan of eminent domain, taking full control of the land and people away from state and federal officials will, using a cost-benefit analysis, benefit the locals much more and much faster than a bureaucratic leviathan named Uncle Sam. This is a rare example of the government being targeted and penalized for its incompetence."

Messrs Turner and Murdoch, shown hugging and high-fiving each other after walking out of the Supreme Court building, said that their first order of business was to ask their billionaire colleague Donald Trump to go to the three afflicted southern states and Washington DC, and give the boot to Governors Blanco, Barbour, Riley, New Orleans Mayor Nagin, and President Bush using his legendary "You're fired!" line.

The two media moguls, giving a press conference in front of their own employees' cameras on the Supreme Court steps, praised the work of their field reporters. Their statement, read by the two men simultaneously, said: "Our field men and women have a long, proud history of responding to disasters in the world's toughest hot spots. If we can do a professional job at filming and reporting events, just wait till you see our boys giving out aid to needy refugees. No amount of water, wind, or bullets can scare away our response teams! First we must feed the hungry and take care of the hospitalized while quashing the rioters. Our teams have been to places as ugly as Lebanon, Somalia and Iraq, so how bad can Bourbon Street or the Superdome really be? We got the manpower, the trucks, the choppers and the satellites, and we're gonna use it to benefit all the needy. Except the government people. They can help themselves."

The two men are also planning to consult billionaire Bill Gates to join their team's reconstruction efforts, possibly pumping tens of billions of dollars immediately into the hurricane-ravaged areas. Mr. Turner bragged: "Heh, Congress has promised a measly $10 billion. Bill can get us five times that merely by opening his wallet upside down." Mr. Murdoch spoke of his dream for a giant free-trade zone in their new fiefdom, a center for high-tech commerce and banking that would make banking meccas like Switzerland and the Bahamas blush. The Fox News owner also promised to quote, "drill like hell" in the Gulf of Mexico till gas prices were back to below $1/gallon: "Who needs OPEC oil when you got Rupert oil!?" Mr. Turner spoke of a levy and dike system that would more than rival Holland: "Hey God, try and stop us then!"

When asked about a bipartisan ticket for the 2008 presidential race, Mr. Turner smiled, winked, but declined to comment. Mr. Murdoch raised both hands in the air and flash two "V for victory" signs.

The Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P 500 all posted huge gains in heavy trading. The New York Times planned to appeal the ruling, arguing that they too deserve a piece of the reconsutrction pie but were ignored because of their lack of a 24-hour TV channel. Halliburton is planning to accept the ruling, so long as Halliburton has exclusive eminent domain rights to Iraq. The Bush Administration could not be found for comment.

[Whoha]

More pictures

The buses from orbit.

[Gatekeeper]

Originally posted by mrmitchell

Yeah. Everyone I've talked to who says Bush has FUBARd is a drooling left-winger.

You centrists are trotting out worse name calling than a lot of the righties...what an imaginary high horse to be on..."I'm a centrist! I'm not just a glorified indecisive flip-flopper! I'm an educated rational person that thinks things through even though I'm going to just cut the problem in half, say it's a compromise, and call it a day!"

You want to know why centrists can't do anything? It's because we're STUPID enough to believe that, hey, good ideas (and bad ideas) come equally from all political spectrums. That means we like to weld some of the right with some of the left with a bit of the center and come up with something that WORKS.

But, no, the folks on the right and the left want it THEIR WAY OR THE HIGHWAY. Well, folks, **** like that might work in a monochromatic society that embraces one or the other, but the last time I checked, America was a diverse nation that could hardly be described as a cookie-cutter bunch of people.

Compromise a bad thing? Whatever! Problem is, righties and lefties want the whole damn cake, just like the spoiled brats they are. Frankly, kids, it's about time the parents stepped in, separated the two of you and sent you to your bedrooms with no supper. You're tearing the house (aka nation) apart, and — surprise, surprise — that mentality has already resulted in pointed fingers WRT New Orleans.

Good God. At the rate it's going, I expect France to get caught up in the blame game. After all, whose bright idea was it to put New Orleans in that sort of terrain? (Lord, don't let it get that silly, please!)

Gatekeeper

[MOBIUS]

Actually AFAIK all the French bits were actually sensibly built above sea level - it's only the Americans that thought it was a good idea to build below sea level...

I blame the Americans!

In fact I bet if you trace the Bush family tree back far enough you'll find they actually came from Louisiana and got rich by building lots of new houses in NO before leaving in a hurry...

[chequita guevara]

The right says, let's drill a big hole in the boat.

The left says, let's not drill any holes in the boat.

The "moderates" says, lets compromise and drill a small hole in the boat.

Result, we all sink.

Frankly, the moderates bear just as much blame as the conservatives and liberals. If the moderates had used their brains and realized the danger the conservatives represented, then maybe we wouldn't be in this situation today.

[The Mad Monk]

Originally posted by Gatekeeper


You want to know why centrists can't do anything? It's because we're STUPID enough to believe that, hey, good ideas (and bad ideas) come equally from all political spectrums. That means we like to weld some of the right with some of the left with a bit of the center and come up with something that WORKS.

But, no, the folks on the right and the left want it THEIR WAY OR THE HIGHWAY. Well, folks, **** like that might work in a monochromatic society that embraces one or the other, but the last time I checked, America was a diverse nation that could hardly be described as a cookie-cutter bunch of people.

Compromise a bad thing? Whatever! Problem is, righties and lefties want the whole damn cake, just like the spoiled brats they are. Frankly, kids, it's about time the parents stepped in, separated the two of you and sent you to your bedrooms with no supper. You're tearing the house (aka nation) apart, and — surprise, surprise — that mentality has already resulted in pointed fingers WRT New Orleans.

Good God. At the rate it's going, I expect France to get caught up in the blame game. After all, whose bright idea was it to put New Orleans in that sort of terrain? (Lord, don't let it get that silly, please!)

Gatekeeper

I take it you didn't see GhengisFarb's thread...

[MOBIUS]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
The right says, let's drill a big hole in the boat.

The left says, let's not drill any holes in the boat.

The "moderates" says, lets compromise and drill a small hole in the boat.

Result, we all sink.

Frankly, the moderates bear just as much blame as the conservatives and liberals. If the moderates had used their brains and realized the danger the conservatives represented, then maybe we wouldn't be in this situation today.

Yeah, yeah, blah blah blah...

The whole point of the right and left is to score political points off each other and generally **** the other group up.

Che you just happen to be on the left - so your goal basically is to sh.it on the right cos 'they're all greedy rich bastards' or something like that...

Problem is once the lefties get into power they're just as greedy and corrupt.

So things see saw from one extreme to the next without any hope of equilibrium without any prospect of justice or fairness to the populace as a whole...

That last sentence of yours just shows how totally deluded you are in your own sense of self-righteousness...

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by MOBIUS
That last sentence of yours just shows how totally deluded you are in your own sense of self-righteousness...

YOU have no right to call anyone self-righteous!

[MOBIUS]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
YOU have no right to call anyone self-righteous!

Judging by the last sentence in your previous post I feel perfectly entitled to out you on it...

No true moderate in his/her right mind would ever vote for Bush...

[Drake Tungsten]

Well, so much for this thread.