More on our worthless government and mostly worthless media, and what you can do

Links from all over, including DailyKos, MakingLight, Newshounds at MetaFilter, and various ljs.

Please don't just read this, fume, and then despair - DO SOMETHING. (DO SOMETHING instructions at the bottom of the post *g*)

"A man from the Evergreen Foundation was on air spinning the myth that the President had to "beg" the Governor of Louisiana to take action. Having been on this show several times I called one of the bookers, Susan Durrwatcher, to alert her to the fact that this man was misrepresenting what happened.  I offered Susan the following objective, documented facts (see timeline below).  Susan thanked me for my "opinion" and said "we just have a different perspective"." (more here)

Firefighters from other states who are called to the devastated areas assume they are going to be helping citizens and clearing and shoring up the cities; instead their jobs are to hand out leaflets and accompany George Bush for photo ops, but not do any actual work while with him. (more here) (and here).

Senator Rick Santorum wants to fine those who did not leave.

"I mean, you have people who don't heed those warnings and then put people at risk as a result of not heeding those warnings. There may be a need to look at tougher penalties on those who decide to ride it out and understand that there are consequences to not leaving."

(more here)

First the journalists were barred from photographing any returning dead from Iraq. Now they are barred from photographing any bodies of victims of Katrina. There are to be no photos of the dead during this regime. Ever. (more here)

President Bush says he'll lead an investigation into... himself. Is it just me, or does that sound like he's going to put his own head up his ass. No, wait ... it's already there. Hm. Possibly he'll go looking for the real culprits with O.J.

Nancy Pelosi talks to a brain-damaged monkey the President.

At a news conference, Pelosi, D-Calif., said Bush's choice for head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency had "absolutely no credentials."

She related that she had urged Bush at the White House on Tuesday to fire Michael Brown.

"He said 'Why would I do that?'" Pelosi said.

"'I said because of all that went wrong, of all that didn't go right last week.' And he said 'What didn't go right?'"

(more here)

Katrina fuck-ups timeline.

Another.

Another.

First-hand account of Katrina and aftermath by two people who lived through it.

And finally in today's round-up of fun facts, these statistics:

• Days since September 11, 2001 that Osama bin Laden has remained uncaptured: 1,454
  
• Days after bombing Pearl Harbor that Japan surrendered to U.S. forces: 1,365
  
• Number of children dying each day from preventable diseases: 27,000
  
• Percentage of the world's population living on less than $2 per day: 50
  
• Cut in funding for foreign development assistance proposed in President Bush's budget: $345 million
  
• Amount charged to American taxpayers by Halliburton to build a movie library for its employees: $152 million

By the by, 2004 was the fourth year in a row that the number of Americans in poverty has *risen*. That would be every year since Bush took office, and that *includes* the rise in poverty before 9/11 (so the spinners can shut up with the "well, 9/11 caused job loss blah markets blah"). The last year in which the number of Americans in poverty *declined*? Three guesses and the first two don't count - that's right, 2000, the last year of the Clinton Administration - which, by the way, saw a constant decrease in the number of families living in poverty to the tune of 25 percent over their eight years - a drop to the lowest poverty levels since 1974. Luckily for Bush, many of the people who lost their homes in Katrina were *already* living below the poverty line, so he probably won't see too big a bump in those numbers next year.

There's oh so much more, but there's only so much I can take of reading this ongoing horror. And for those who say "Instead of pointing fingers, why aren't you helping the displaced and homeless and hungry?" My answers is, gee, I can actually do both at the same time. Keeping two or more ideas in your head at once isn't really that hard for people who know how to think.

What to do? CONTACT YOUR OFFICIALS. Contact your local government. Contact your congresspeople. Contact your Senators. Talk to them. Tell them what you're thinking. Ask them what they're thinking, and what they're going to do about it. And if you are lucky enough to have a forthright, honest, eloquent Senator with heart and integrity, like my Senator Obama, contact them and thank them. We often complain, but rarely applaud.