Full transcript of an interview this morning on Tim Russert's show - here's a quote
Don't believe they're keeping the vast majority of information from you? Think again.
A first-hand report from a member of MetaFilter, who took things into his own hands when FEMA wouldn't.
To give you all reference who this guy is, Grover Norquist compared the Estate Tax to the Holocaust.
But, you know, we shouldn't politicize.
And yes, take the icon. We need to cover livejournal with it. It's the *very least* you can do.
"The guy who runs this building I'm in, emergency management, he's responsible for everything. His mother was trapped in St. Bernard nursing home and every day she called him and said, "Are you coming, son? Is somebody coming?" And he said, "Yeah, Mama, somebody's coming to get you. Somebody's coming to get you on Tuesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Wednesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Thursday. Somebody's coming to get you on Friday." And she drowned Friday night. She drowned Friday night."A reminder: after the tsunami, we were in there helping in two days. Halfway around the world.
Don't believe they're keeping the vast majority of information from you? Think again.
A first-hand report from a member of MetaFilter, who took things into his own hands when FEMA wouldn't.
When we brought in the first set of people, a local Sheriff's Office lieutenant started telling us to leave. He said this had come from FEMA. A lot of guys got upset by this, because we had all come over here with our own boats, paying for our fuel, food and water, and were in the water and working before anyone else. FEMA, while certainly able to do more than us, didn't get in the water until around noon.And the bullshit keeps coming: Quote: Grover Norquist, blamed the chaos on "looting in a Democratic city run by a Democratic mayor and a Democratic governor."
We explained to the guy how this was going to look, and he finally relented. We had to take down everybody's names, and create an official badge with duct tape and an oversized red crayon. It turned out to be a good thing we didn't leave, because pretty soon some other FEMA guys were asking us to take their teams out. Which seemed to work out well.
To give you all reference who this guy is, Grover Norquist compared the Estate Tax to the Holocaust.
But, you know, we shouldn't politicize.
And yes, take the icon. We need to cover livejournal with it. It's the *very least* you can do.
no subject
Date: 2005-09-04 05:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-04 05:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-04 06:00 pm (UTC)And yes to the anger and the righteous indignation.
Back to entering missing people into the database. I can't do much from here, but at least the PeopleFinder effort is something I can do.
no subject
Date: 2005-09-04 06:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-04 06:10 pm (UTC)What the "patriots" have done to this country makes me cry.
no subject
Date: 2005-09-04 07:35 pm (UTC)Again, thank you.
no subject
Date: 2005-09-04 09:04 pm (UTC)This entire situation is contrary to sense. It's a truism that in a disaster situation, the best thing that most people can do is stay away. Stay home. Watch the news. Donate money to the pertinent relief organizations, and donate goods only if specifically asked by those organizations. In a crisis, cash is best, because there are people who specialize in handling crises, and a bunch of untrained civilians organizing themselves and rushing in can only contribute to chaos; the professionals wind up having to rescue the would-be rescuers.
Except here, where the professionals are absolutely failing, and the untrained, self-organized citizen responders have a more realistic view of the situation, and the means to respond appropriately.
no subject
Date: 2005-09-04 09:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-04 10:02 pm (UTC)To compare: Articles for Richard Nixon.
Articles for Andrewn Johnson.
Articles for Bill Clinton.
no subject
Date: 2005-09-04 10:28 pm (UTC)::SHIVER::
no subject
Date: 2005-09-04 11:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-05 12:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-05 05:21 am (UTC)http://s43.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1DSFYZT9WUQRN0PBCYYCGF4WW5
no subject
Date: 2005-09-05 05:55 pm (UTC)Our government is looking less and less like one for a free nation and more and more like the dictatorship it really is.
But isn't it funny how people sit there and go "If you don't like it move to China, we'll see how much you appreciate your freedoms then." And yes, this IS about freedoms, privledges, and all that good stuff because those articles are nothing but removing the rights of citizens, ursurping authority, and other good stuff like that.
o_o I'd send the Prez 'wtf are you doing?!' mail, but I'm afraid I'd disappear. Since...you know...the free country I live in isn't...exactly free anymore. And since speaking against the prez isn't patriotic that would make me a terrorist.
no subject
Date: 2005-09-05 09:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-06 04:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-06 05:42 pm (UTC)I don't know what to do now. I'm Australian, so I don't have a congressperson to write to. I guess I write to my state and federal officials and ask them to condemn the United States federal government for... "failing to respond to the crisis" doesn't even begin to cover the magnitude of it.
American Politics
Date: 2005-09-30 05:04 pm (UTC)Grover Norquist should be strung up along with most of the heads of each party. Time to get someone in there who cares ABOUT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE!!