Comments on: Katrina And The Beast

Dick Meyer Applauds Skillful Wildfire Handling As A Rare Feat For Big Government

[quatrops]

You''ve learned the neo-con lesson well, Robisch. Framing the question or defining the terms to their advantage is ALWAYS step #1 for them. Rove was unmatched in his ability to do this.

Discourse, in my dictionary, implies an exchange of ideas. I''m not exchanging ideas with Bush/Cheney (nor am I likely to), so I will call them whatever I choose. I''ll still attempt to be civil, but you DO make it difficult.

Re Cheney as a fascist: Dictionary defines fascism as "a system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, supression of opposition through terror or censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism or racism." One has only to look at Cheney''s words and revealed actions vis-a-vis the extra-constitutional "unitary executive" mindset, his gothic attitude about torture etc. etc. to understand the appellation is not far off the mark.

Rove and other neo-con masters of diffusion (see above) have co-opted the term "liberal" to the extent that many of us prefer the "progressive" label.

So YOU have decided that abortion and homosexual marriage are not "moving in the right direction", so those of us who are pro-choice and are not threatened by the political activities of the homosexual community may not call ourselves "progressive"? That kind of effrontary is becoming less surprising to me.

Our disagreement about the nature of fetal "life" will have to wait for another post.

[alanrobisch]

What most progressives are complaining about is a lying, incompetent President (who, too often, has appointed incompetent party hacks to responsible positions) and a Vice-President who is as close to being a fascist as I hope this country ever sees.


Posted by Quatrops at 12:26 AM : Oct 25, 2007

Lets see in your civil comments you called the vp a fascist and the president a liar. If this is civil discourse I don''t want any. Btw what is a fascist and what makes him a fascist? also are only liberals like you progressives? I thought progress in a positive direction was characterized a progressive. The changes such as legalized abortion homosexual marriage are not changes in the right direction. Therefore imho you are stealing the term progressive to avoid the now often perjorative term of liberal. but the famous phrase that a rose is a rose no matter what the name will smell as nice fits here with liberals aka progressives have the same agenda but change their name to try and avoid the negatives of being called a liberal. Much like pro chice which I''m sure you are but you care for poor and those without power yet you advocate the right to kill the unborn who have no power.

[krenz4]

alosmarmo: You are soooo right! You let all of Oakland burn down and you will see no services or squalor like the poor people caught up in Katrina saw. These Californians actually had live music, and massages for pete sake! The fed says they "learned" from Katrina and thats bull. Did they have to "learn" not to send people to a shelter that they were not providing any services to? What a joke They wanted the poor and the black out of New Orleans and thats just what has happened. Those same feds will be rebilding Mcmansions in Cali so fast it will make all of heads spin!

[andor3]

The reason the response has been successful is because Californians still (to some degree) have faith in governement, still believe it makes sense to pay taxes and expect services, still understand that there are things that need to be provided by pooling all citizen resources and not for profit.

Any successful government operation is a huge setback for Bush&Co and their elite friends who want the government seen as incompetent. Of course they need votes too--must suck to be them right now.

[drivelphobe]

alomarsmom...

You are right, and time will prove it. I may try to rent a guest house from some rich guy so I have a better chance in the event of a disaster.

[alomarsmom]

When the rich people had a disaster the government sprang into action. When the poor people had one no one in authority cared. If something happens in a poor part of California things will be very different I am sure.

[drivelphobe]

Katrina hit an area full of poor, uneducated blacks, with a corrupt mayor, obviously incompetent and self-serving. No one cared much about the residents and they had very little political clout, if any at all.

The California fires have hit areas of wealthy, educated white people, with adequate resources and heavy political connections.

Both are disasters of great magnitude, but the bottom line is, there was little concern for the residents of New Orleans and the surrouunding affected areas, while there is much concern for the population affected by the California fires.

Poor populations have less, get less and are easy victims. The news printed the image in our minds of an over-weight, black woman, with several boxes of new shoes she had just looted from a store, wading through filthy water and claiming her actions were justified as survival behaviour.

In California, the news shows hundreds of volunteers and nothing but orderly management of evacuees.

It is a hard life when you are poor, uneducated and living on entitlements, but that''s the way it is.

[quatrops]

Perception5 at 9:03:

1. You, and others keep harping on the failures at the local & state level in Louisiana vs. successes of same in California. That Louisiana politics has a decades-long history of incompetence is a given. California, under both parties, has been more fortunate. The POINT is that the FEDERAL RESPONSE to Katrina was INCOMPETENT, INADEQUATE, and MISMANAGED! Even the majority of Republican politicians in Washington admit to that!

2. You complain about the "110 do-nothing Democratic congress". With a veto (S-CHIP) or threat of veto, NO narrow-margin opposite party congress has EVER made significant accomplishments. Why don''t you discuss the failure of the 2000, 2002, and 2004 failures of congress to provide significant legislation?

3. What does "diversity your liberal staff" mean? Assuming you meant "diversify", explain the preponderance of articles from NRO and Weekly Standard on CBS. Tell me about diversity on talk radio or Fox News.

[perception5]

Mr. Meyers their is a reason why this situation is different from the Katrina situation.

Number 1: In California we have a Republican Mayor in San Diego and a Republican Govnernor in Arnold.
With Katrina we had a Democrat Mayor who refused to evacuate the poor people in the DAYS before Katrina hit and a Democrat Governor that told our President that the levees were fine when in fact they weren''t.

That''s the difference Republican know how to "manage" things much better than Democrats.

I simply point to our 110 Do Nothing Democrat Congress for another example to prove my point.

Mr. Meyers its long past time that America''s corrupt liberal MSM wolfpack press STOPS propping up their close pals the Democrat Party and provide Americans will the truth and hard facts.

Our liberal wolfpack press should be calling "balls and strikes" not "pitching" the game.

Diversity your liberal staff at CBS (Corrupt Broadcasting Station).

[jowand]

As for the Beast, this time it was local and the state and city authorites have done an amazing job. Only one death, too many volunteers, too many supplies at the "Q". You have to give it up to Mayor Sanders, first for cleaning up the Red Cross in San Diego, and for keeping everyone informed. TV and radio in San Diego delivered up to the minute and accurate public safety information.
Posted by koko98 at 02:33 AM : Oct 25, 2007

You can''t compare San Diego and N Orleans, N Orleans had a totally incompetent mayor and the governor of LA was a clown.