A Weblog of Centrist Voices in American Politics
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A Weblog of Centrist Voices in American Politics | |
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September 26, 2005Good News From New OrleansRumors of deaths greatly exaggerated: Widely reported attacks false or unsubstantiated Following days of internationally reported killings, rapes and gang violence inside the Dome, the doctor from FEMA - Beron doesn't remember his name - came prepared for a grisly scene: He brought a refrigerated 18-wheeler and three doctors to process bodies. In other Katrina news, the state of Louisiana opens the bidding.... Louisiana Goes After Federal Billions Louisiana's congressional delegation has requested $40 billion for Army Corps of Engineers projects in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, about 10 times the annual Corps budget for the entire nation, or 16 times the amount the Corps has said it would need to protect New Orleans from a Category 5 hurricane. Sounds like a larger version of the New Orleans Levee Board. UPDATE: LSU poli-sci prof Jeffrey D. Sadow weighs in with some perspective. MORE UPDATES: Katrina Takes a Toll on Truth, News Accuracy Some Reports of N.O. Violence Exaggerated Posted by Tully at September 26, 2005 01:51 PMComments
...hmm, maybe we should sell it back to French after all. Posted by: bk at September 26, 2005 02:54 PMOnly if they pay "book price" for all the improvements..... Posted by: Tully at September 26, 2005 03:03 PMI don't see what the big deal is. Louisiana has long been known for the superior ethical standards of its elected and appointed officials, so why shouldn't we just write a check. We'll just let them decide where they would like to spend it. Hell, might as well make it easy and have the check payable directly to 'Edwin Edwards'? I'm sure he would be more than honored to serve as Chairman of said Pelican Commission. Posted by: AR at September 26, 2005 03:55 PMHell, might as well make it easy and have the check payable directly to 'Edwin Edwards'? I'm sure he would be more than honored to serve as Chairman of said Pelican Commission. We even know where to send it to him! I have it from reliable sourcing that the address will be good for another six years or so. On the other hand, maybe we should give it directly to the Louisiana Office of Emergency Preparedness. Posted by: Tully at September 26, 2005 04:13 PMNagin behaved like a moron, talking about 10,000 deaths and so on, increasing the hysteria rather than trying to curb it like you would think an elected official would want. I always suspected his estimates were much too high and it looks like they are. The entire "discussion" (probably dignifying it too much) over New Orleans has been extremely depressing and seems to symbolize what has happened to public discourse in the last several decades. The idea of (relatively) objective analysis has gone completely out the window, replaced by emoting whatever comes to mind. Obviously, the Democrats had every incentive to use Katrina for partisan purposes and the Democratic officials in Louisiana had even more reason to bash FEMA because it would hide their own incompetence. On the other side, we had the spectacle of a FEMA director with no particular qualifications for the job. If earth was invaded by aliens, the first thing that would happen is that the left would say it's a result of our aggressive "space" policy while the right would say it's because of gay marriage. Posted by: Marc at September 26, 2005 04:24 PMIf earth was invaded by aliens, the first thing that would happen is that the left would say it's a result of our aggressive "space" policyLet's be honest Marc; Reagan DID start the Star Wars Weapon systems. "Klaatu barada nikto." Posted by: c3 at September 26, 2005 04:39 PM No argument here, Marc. I've been arguing in favor of objective analysis for years--and have invariably been called a simpering tool of the opposition whenever OA disagreed with someone's party line, either side. (I get the biggest s***s and grins out of being called a tool by wingers from both sides for the same post.) But we might as well have some fun with it. True real-life absurdity almost requires humor. As the old joke goes, if Armageddon were to arrive tomorrow, the NYT headline would read "World Ends: Women, Minorities Hardest Hit," and the Wall Street Journal would proclaim "Armageddon Arrives: Share Prices Decline." I seem to recall predicting that NO casualties would be just a wee bit lower than the media headlines of the time. [tongue in cheek]Chris, I blame Kennedy and Kruschev. Until the Dems and Commies started lobbing people into orbit it was, galactically speaking, just a domestic problem. Oh yeah, and Big Tobacco, of course. Klaatu barada nicotine![/tongue in cheek] Posted by: Tully at September 26, 2005 05:05 PMWell, I'm sure if the aliens are smart enough to build space ships, they're smart enough to attack D.C. when it's raining--and the missile shield won't work. (Not that it works all that well when it's sunny, mind you.) Of course, we're smart enough to build space ships--yet some of us still take Intelligent Design seriously, along with Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, and "I just saw Elvis eating a jelly doughnut at 7-11!" Klaatu barada nuke---d-oh! Posted by: Blue Jean at September 26, 2005 05:42 PMAnd Jean slips in TWO Homers in two consecutive sentences. Impressive! ;-) Posted by: Tully at September 26, 2005 06:01 PMThanks. I consider that praise from Caesar; or at least, Mayor Quimby. ;-) Posted by: Blue Jean at September 26, 2005 11:07 PMAnd here's more good news: the evacuees are nicer than they have been portrayed. Posted by: Blue Jean at September 27, 2005 12:01 AMTully, You mean you're not a tool for both sides? [grin] Posted by: Rick DeMent at September 27, 2005 08:25 AMC3, I hadn't even thought about Star Wars. My God, you are right, it would be his fault! Actually, we are going to need a Star Wars shield when the Galactica leads the Cylons to earth. What the hell are the colonists coming here for so we can get wiped out too? ;) (For those of you that don't watch, that's a reference to the great Sci-Fi show "Battlestar Galactica"). Posted by: Marc at September 27, 2005 10:17 AMRick--LOL. Nope. They are tools for me..... Posted by: Tully at September 27, 2005 11:07 AMMonsieur Cruise would be so happy to read this thread. "We believe, Tom. We believe." Posted by: AR at September 27, 2005 03:19 PMActually, we are going to need a Star Wars shield when the Galactica leads the Cylons to earth. What the hell are the colonists coming here for so we can get wiped out too? ;) (For those of you that don't watch, that's a reference to the great Sci-Fi show "Battlestar Galactica"). I don't know, Marc...are you talking about the simple yet fabulously cheesy 70's Battlestar Galactica? Or the technocratic, wildly convoluted '05 Battlestar Galactica? Either way, we'd be screwed. That's why we sent Voyager out; to misdirect their star fleet. Didn't you get the memo from NASA? ;-) Posted by: Blue Jean at September 27, 2005 05:58 PMShhhh...that wasn't really from NASA, we sent it from the secret Groom lake chateau! Posted by: Tully at September 27, 2005 06:07 PMAhhh...so that's where the French are hiding. My bad. Posted by: Blue Jean at September 27, 2005 06:47 PM |
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