Monday, August 21, 2006
C-SPAN Katrina Anniversary Special - Pandering At The 17th Street Canal
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) was on C-SPAN this morning and stated 'America is going to be shocked at what has not happend since Katrina.'
Gee, I wonder if America would be shocked at the amount of work that has been performed since Katrina. I am.
Mary is right, though. New Orleans is still a mess. It will take generations to get things back. Just like it took generations to get MS back to normal after Camille - which Mary conveniently neglects. Mary also neglected to mention any of the other parts of LA that are worse off than New Orleans like St.Tammany Parish. How come your love-in with C-SPAN was not filmed there?
And on and on this show went on...critics of the money, FEMA, Corps of Engineers, etc., Uhm...Mary...here's a question for you: Aren't you in charge of monitoring this as a rep. of the federal disaster relief efforts? When is this your fault? You are the GVT, you bleach blonde, idiot! You are the direct link to FEMA and the Corps of Engineers. Why can't you give specifics of an audit of what has been wasted in terms of gvt relief? I bet the answer to that is because you have no idea of what is going on. It's real simple to charge that this Administration is doing a poor job. It's easy to criticize, sweetheart, especially when you're sitting in front of rubble. But where is your audit? Where are the GAO numbers? Do they exist? I am sure they do. I know they do. There has been waste. There has been fraud. But until you can prove anything, do your job as an elected rep. from your state.
Here's are some other observations: A caller stated that 481Million went to St Bernard Parish. (For the record, the Corps of Engineer said that out of a total of 66K strucutres in that parish, 4 were liveable after the storm) - 72K per person in St Bernard Parish. So how much progress do you think can be achieved in less than a calendar year when one parsih was wiped off the map?
Since this was an open call session, callers were able to say anything. Most of the calls were from residents or ex-pats of the city. But at no time was anyone who was critical of Landrieu or the local response to Katrina allowed to speak his mind once the nature of the call was known. Any call that did not fit into the victim format of this anniversary special had his/her call cut short.
Why am I so focused on this? My Grandmother had four feet of water in her house for several days in Jefferson Parish. She, along with the help of my family, was able to get in contact with the right assistance groups within FEMA. She has been given checks from FEMA along with what was covered in her home owners policy...and 11 months later, her house is back to its original state. Was her house underwater for days like the poor souls on the wrong side of the 17th Street Canal? No. But what this does illustrate is the notion that the mechanics of relief do exist, they are functional and those that can help themselves, and thousands of those who can't, are getting relief in some form from the gvt.
And something else that no one mentioned in this show which I thought was reprehensible was the fact that none of the private agencies who are providing relief on a minute-by-minute basis were ever mentioned. There are hundreds of millions of dollars raised for relief. Catholic Charities alone has raised over 159 million and 95% of that has been earmarked for Katrina relief for the whole Gulf Coast.
The area of this show took place at the 17th Street Canal in Orleans Parish. This was one of several levee breaks that flooded the city (My Cousin has a house about 75 feet from the b-cast site) . And the pictures of this section of New Orleans are devastating. But as one caller said, 'I'm tired of hearing about New Orleans. Here in Mississippi (MS), things are much worse and you don't see anyone talking about MS.' God Bless that caller, she is dead-on right!
I'm tired of hearing about New Orleans too. MS is much, much worse than New Orleans. But as long as Landrieu continues to put cameras in Orleans Parish, the sympathy pimping and lack of accountability will continue.
Disgusting.
Gee, I wonder if America would be shocked at the amount of work that has been performed since Katrina. I am.
Mary is right, though. New Orleans is still a mess. It will take generations to get things back. Just like it took generations to get MS back to normal after Camille - which Mary conveniently neglects. Mary also neglected to mention any of the other parts of LA that are worse off than New Orleans like St.Tammany Parish. How come your love-in with C-SPAN was not filmed there?
And on and on this show went on...critics of the money, FEMA, Corps of Engineers, etc., Uhm...Mary...here's a question for you: Aren't you in charge of monitoring this as a rep. of the federal disaster relief efforts? When is this your fault? You are the GVT, you bleach blonde, idiot! You are the direct link to FEMA and the Corps of Engineers. Why can't you give specifics of an audit of what has been wasted in terms of gvt relief? I bet the answer to that is because you have no idea of what is going on. It's real simple to charge that this Administration is doing a poor job. It's easy to criticize, sweetheart, especially when you're sitting in front of rubble. But where is your audit? Where are the GAO numbers? Do they exist? I am sure they do. I know they do. There has been waste. There has been fraud. But until you can prove anything, do your job as an elected rep. from your state.
Here's are some other observations: A caller stated that 481Million went to St Bernard Parish. (For the record, the Corps of Engineer said that out of a total of 66K strucutres in that parish, 4 were liveable after the storm) - 72K per person in St Bernard Parish. So how much progress do you think can be achieved in less than a calendar year when one parsih was wiped off the map?
Since this was an open call session, callers were able to say anything. Most of the calls were from residents or ex-pats of the city. But at no time was anyone who was critical of Landrieu or the local response to Katrina allowed to speak his mind once the nature of the call was known. Any call that did not fit into the victim format of this anniversary special had his/her call cut short.
Why am I so focused on this? My Grandmother had four feet of water in her house for several days in Jefferson Parish. She, along with the help of my family, was able to get in contact with the right assistance groups within FEMA. She has been given checks from FEMA along with what was covered in her home owners policy...and 11 months later, her house is back to its original state. Was her house underwater for days like the poor souls on the wrong side of the 17th Street Canal? No. But what this does illustrate is the notion that the mechanics of relief do exist, they are functional and those that can help themselves, and thousands of those who can't, are getting relief in some form from the gvt.
And something else that no one mentioned in this show which I thought was reprehensible was the fact that none of the private agencies who are providing relief on a minute-by-minute basis were ever mentioned. There are hundreds of millions of dollars raised for relief. Catholic Charities alone has raised over 159 million and 95% of that has been earmarked for Katrina relief for the whole Gulf Coast.
The area of this show took place at the 17th Street Canal in Orleans Parish. This was one of several levee breaks that flooded the city (My Cousin has a house about 75 feet from the b-cast site) . And the pictures of this section of New Orleans are devastating. But as one caller said, 'I'm tired of hearing about New Orleans. Here in Mississippi (MS), things are much worse and you don't see anyone talking about MS.' God Bless that caller, she is dead-on right!
I'm tired of hearing about New Orleans too. MS is much, much worse than New Orleans. But as long as Landrieu continues to put cameras in Orleans Parish, the sympathy pimping and lack of accountability will continue.
Disgusting.
I was in NO back in May. That place was messed up way before Katrina ever hit.
It took Chicago a few years to rebuild after the fire in 1871, with virtually no government assistance, so why is everyone whining about The Chocolate City?
Sheesh!
It took Chicago a few years to rebuild after the fire in 1871, with virtually no government assistance, so why is everyone whining about The Chocolate City?
Sheesh!
I loved the crime stats after the storm...the crime rate in NO was down 75%...the crime in Dallas and Houston went up 50%...
Wonder why?
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Wonder why?
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