Way ahead of you Josh, we were already talking about this on the open thread!! :-) It is a great article, the FEMA director looks like Baghdad Bob and is just as well informed apparently. This is what happens when you appoint political hacks instead of well qualified people in positions where a high level of knowledge and skill is needed. Kind of like the Supreme Court.

Republican jerks...

The Republican Nemesis

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This time, anticipate the people who say that we couldn't have done such a massive effort. It is true that the Governor, crippled by the deployment of the National Guard to Iraq, could not have. But the federal Government should have-- and the proof is that they DID under Bill Clinton. In March 2000, President Clinton worked with the leaders of South Africa, Britain and other countries to supply, airlift and rescue tens of thousands of people in a very similar situation in Mozambique (a much more difficult logistical task, incidentally, than getting aid to Louisiana).

But that was when we had a full-time President in the White House instead of a part-time resident.

Incidentally, there are still people in great need of help in St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes, don't forget them.

My friend, Sandy Waters from PA, had a good idea and I thought I'd forward it.

My Suggestion on the refugees, is that States like PA, that have closed military bases have adequate food and housing to take in many of the now homeless population of the US. People can then be identified and if they are tradesmen or have the ability to provide labor for employment, each state could hire back its own residents to do what they can do on the rebuilds. Streets and road work, electrical, debris removal and sheet metal fabrication are a few of the things I can see would be required. The citizens of these areas are now not only homeless but jobless as well.

the dems, strangely silent as usual. obeying the admonition that this is not the time for finger pointing or partisanship. sorry, THIS IS THE TIME. people are still dying on national TV. we don't need to wait for a whitewashing commission 2 years down the road to know...THIS IS WRONG! Penning people like animals in 90 degree heat, living in their own filth for two days, without food or water, and then pointing to their bad behavior?????

will no dem articulate what we are all thinking and saying amongst ourselves?
1. there is no way white people would have been treated this way.
2. this is what we can look forward to if there is a disaster or terrorist attack in our town.
3. it's a good thing it wasn't a terrorist attack.
4. with half the guard and its assets in iraq protecting iraqis and their islamic government, the cupboard is bare for us.
5. we can drop thousands of MREs to afghanis on the other side of the world but no food or water to NO.
6. the government couldn't act because bla bla bla...isn't FEMA's job dealing with disasters?

Now is the time for dems to fill the leadership vacuum...WITH A PLAN...not just criticism.
1. Everyone on the conservation bandwagon and pulling together. Gas, lights, everything.
2. People first, Americans first--not corporate interests. Bush cut levee repair $$ to the bone so his pals could get a tax break. this is what less government and compassionate conservatism looks like. it's a failure. we need a people centered philosophy.
3. Was signing Kyoto and acknowledging global warming more expensive than the $100 billion this will cost? this is just a down payment. Hurricane season's not over yet.
4. Very reckless decision to not protect our port for the entire midwest and oil refineries. We can't afford Bush any more. the war is bleeding us dry and now we'll be stuck with this bill. the man is a weak, out of touch, pigheaded flop.

This article doesn't surprise me. It's another example of disinformation from the White House and their trained hounds. What I found especially distressing was some idiot that Fox or CNN ran on the tube to discredit the Mayor of New Orleans and Governor of Louisiana for not doing anything, when it was W who did nothing until he was sufficiently embarrassed. As for 2008, I have one suggestion...DRAFT BILL (Clinton that is)

It's like I have said, The Democratic Party will apparently never learn. We are now hearing
"Now is not the time to lay blame."

Later the administration will say..
"That is old News!

We have seen this happen repeatedly now, and will again. When will the party get it together and stop playing the doormat to this administration?

This most certainly is the time to lay blame.

Time to grow some balls.

We have all the makings for an Impeachment, Why can't we get it going??

I can only guess how Hillary, Lieberman, even Kerry would vote, should that ever come up for a vote ! Sad, so sad.

Josh thanks for posting the CNN article with the apparent prepared lies by people that are supposed to keep this country safe.

I will agree wholeheartedly with Pam, it is time for the impeachment proceedings to begin. Bush used the lives of the lost in New Orleans as photo op.

This country needs a leader and fast.

The Difference: Clinton simply loved the work of President, Bush simply loves the power and connections? Clinton said it was the best job he ever had! He said I love the work. Beside having a really high IQ, he was used to long hours and solving problems. Bush has to get at least eight(8) hours each night, Clinton manages very well on(5)hours. Clinton see solving problems as a challenge. Bush considers problems as a nuisance, he wants to go directly to the end results. Bush doesn't do well under people depending on him for anything. Clinton enjoys helping and being helped, the comradery suits him.

I agree with j8582j, Now is the time for our "leaders" to open their mouths and say something, anything. The people of this country are watching and everyone, regardless of party affiliation, is stunned by the way the victims of this disaster have been abandoned for days. People have died of dehydration, violence and lack of basic medical attention, here at home in the U.S. This is shameful and we ALL KNOW WHO IS TO BLAME. Anyone saying that this is not the time to assign blame is failing to see the bigger picture. Do we want these same bozos in charge if there is an earthquake, another hurricane or God forbid, a terrorist attack. You know, the ones they have been warning (scaring) us about for 4+ years now. This administration and its supporters have been telling us about what a bang up job they are doing with our security and their ability to respond to an emergency. BS! They blew it and there is no excuse, spin or any of their other slimy tactics that can get 'em out of it. Time to hang them with the rope they so graciously handed us. Democratic leaders: OPEN YOUR MOUTHS AND CALL THEM ON IT.

These folks are a joke.

Bush played golf during the early stages of the disaster. (catastrophic hurricane ripping a region of the country to shreads - this what you do??)

The FEMA director said that people should have left. (no transpo and no money. how??)

Laura Bush went to a shelter and told parents they should keep a routine with their kids regardless. (doesn't matter if their hungry or not)

Condi shopped for shoes and attended a Broadway play (oh yeah I forgot only Ferragomos will do while your ethnic heritage is floating down Canal St.)

Condi reminds me of Imelda Marcos.

Spending $1000 on her shoes while her people suffer.

She needs to spend that money on some Black history books and get some SE DC sisters to do that jacked-up hair of hers.

If all of the Dems in congress won't stand up for We the People, then we will need to replace them as well as their counterparts. Its too much. Enough is enough. I'd support impeachment now, though that would require all those votes in the Senate and until we get in some fresh blood, that just won't happen. I'd like to throw nearly the whole lot of them out..only a few lone voices on either side these days.

I see y'all keep forgetting that The Congressional Black Caucus is made up of, HELLO?

Democrats

As the man on the plane that went down in Pennsylvania said,LET'S ROLL

Josh, thanks for posting. Nice article. The people who need to read it, will see it during the holiday weekend. But at least someone at CNN has decided to take a chance and challenge them. A strong FREE press is the first step back to democracy. Rove has lost his grip on total obedience.

Where are the indictments from the Plame grand jury? Were Roberts or Gonzales questioned?

What a difference the state and the stakes make. Observe candidate for second-term bush dealing with Hurricane Bonnie (be sure to look at all the side bar photos as well.)
Here’s bush after Hurricane France handing out water (be sure to look at all the side bar photos as
well.) Look what happens when you google bush george hurricane katrina

I suppose after you’re re-elected you don’t need to give a sh*t.

The French Revolution wouldn't have happened if Karl Rove was advicing the French royalty. Marie Antoniette would have offered "god" to the protesting proletariat instead of cake when they didn't have bread to eat. Barbara Bush has taken the first steps in the direction of offering "god"; in the interview on Larry King Live, she said how George (the current King George) was a man of deep faith. We will see this play out in the right wing propaganda machinery from Bill O'Reiley to Scarbarough to Brit Hume to Carlson Tucker to the rest of the radical right wing crowd.

Immediately after the hurricane struck and the President was still on vacation or was taking a tourist aerial tour of the affected areas, the right wing propagandists, Carlson Tucker, Bill O'Reiley, Brit Humes and the rest of the crowd had already shifted the blame to the state and local authorities giving the right wing party time to conjure up the strategy to respond to the administration's abject failure. Fox News had started the blame game before any Democrat could even realize what was happening.

The Republican right wing has moved to the next step in their reponse to the President's failure to respond to the hurricane. Tom Delay has already equated criticism of the administration's response to criticism of the hard working folks on the ground. Next patriotism would be brought to question of the people being critical of the administration's response.

Bush Senior has fired the first salvo against the "liberal media" by attacking New York Times (and I am sure Washington Post). Now the mainstream news person will want to make sure they are not called "liberal" and rush to join the right wing propagandists in the name of fair reporting; already the mainstream media in the name of fair reporting has started saying there is blame to go all around.

Republican strategists (I am sure Karl Rove must be working 7/24 in formulating and dishing out the talking points) are already at level 3 of their propaganda cycle. And the Democrats are still waiting for everybody to be rescued before analyzing what went wrong. By the time they wake up, the Republican party would have completed their propaganda initiative and would be repeating their talking points over and over again; if you repeat a lie 1000 times, that becomes the truth. By the time the Democrats wake up, this would all be the fault of the Democrats, the Mayor, the Governor, former President Clinton (because he didn't do enough during his tenure to strengthen the levies- never mind the Bush administration has been cutting the funding ever since they have come to office- who cares about the truth anymore), Northeastern Liberals, Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi. Anybody Democrat who dares to question the administration when the dust settles down would be equated to Nancy Pelosi, Senator Ted Kennedy and Senator Clinton. That should silence every Democratic critic; oh my God! they can't be a equated to a liberal, how will they get all the right wing votes, the Christian Coalition votes in the next election. And then the Democratic party will be wondering why its base is not turning up to vote!!!

The Congressional Black Caucus should demand an explanation not only from the current administration but also from the Democratic leadership.
Did you see the color of the news persons. CNN is an exception!!!

Hi, ummm i would just like to say, that i love President Bush and I would also like to say that CNN is a bias liberal-conservative station along with most of the news stations, because its not that hard to do the research and read and find that many news stations are owned by the same people, so what comes from one channel gets shown in the same opinion on the other channel. Also, same sex marriage? It just doesn't work... You can say what you want, but God made it so that babies are only made with a man and a woman, you can play doctor surgeon or dr god all you want but you cant make a man have babies or make one woman impregnate another woman... The Pledge of Allegiance? our country was founded on the basis of a One God Religion, over 75% of America's Religions exist of one God. The Bill of Rights and Constitution for the USA were created on the basis of One God Religion. Dont cry about hafting to say four words. If it is against your religion, then lieing, cheating, and stealing and etc. are also probably in there, so its not like your breaking your first rule, and its ok, were all human, we lie and cheat and steal sometimes even though it might not seem like a big deal. I say, if you can't stand up to say the pledge, then sit down in another country. Yall have the right to your own religion, but please, don't try to be a jackass and be different when everyone else is saying it even though it isnt that big of a deal to say it. One more thing, before I leave you to reply, Don't criticize Bush about doing what he does. He was elected President, there are plenty of Supreme Court Judges who know way more than you who watch television or run a democratic website, who know the difference between right and wrong. Don't tell me he shouldn't be in Iraq, because it's not like those car bombs were accidental and neither were the shootings. Don't tell me he should be looking in the mountains and not in Iraq because he is, our Military Services are more than big enough to search two places at once. Don't tell me he shouldn't have gotten rid of Sudam, because honostly, for all of you soccer fans... he even had his soccer team beat and lashed just for losing a game! Don't tell me that is just harsh training... Finally, it's called First Amendment so don't get mad at me for voicing the facts...

Oh yea and hey Paige(Top of Blog), why don't you give it a go at supreme court judge for the rest of your life? Or would you like to leave it up to the people who actually know what their doing and let them make the right decisions?

eric cartman,
i do not even believe the filth you just spewed. our forefathers tried to get away from persecution by religion so that they could live freely. now you wanna eqaute god and religion with politics. god has no part in politics. nor does monotheism. have respect that because you may not have the beliefs of someone else, that theirs don't matter. if you think cnn is a liberal media facet then why don't you look at the garbage they're putting on Fox News? all facilitated bush propaganda spins and more claims. has he ever taken responsibility for his actions? you know what he was doing while the hurricane was a comin, on vacation. where was he on 9/11 ...on vacation. it seems your president doesn't even want to work. gay marraige shmay marraige...his whole campaign was about hate...hate the liberals, hate the gays...anyone who doesn't believe in the iraq war is un-american. did you know that the patriot act that your president holds up so highly actually is unconstitutional taking away a lot of civil liberties we are awarded as citizens of the us. also, car bombs, insurgency is terrorism. get the facts straight. i lived in israel and i can tell you firsthand terrorism is NEVER EVER solved by occupancy. you only facilitate hate. maybe u need to go look on fox news website and see what arguments you can refute now.