Legend tells us that Nero fiddled while Rome burned. Debate continues to this day whether that was an urban renewal project when that occurred. I shake my head in disbelief after hearing someone in the US Senate suggested we just bulldoze New Orleans?
Geo Bush (the 'Smirking Chimp') played guitar as the hurricane hit the Gulf Coast and maybe he misunderstood there was a problem in the gulf area so he decided to play golf to check it out for himself? Now don't get me wrong about that since he was still on vacation and being on vacation is a 'hard job...a really hard job' especially while trying to avoid other issues! He did the best he could after cutting his vacation a day or two short and had his plane fly really low over New Orleans on his way back to Washington. At least it is on record that in the devastation he was overlooking he noticed a church that looked intact amid the ruins....
We should all be assured that the reconstuction of New Orleans will procede on a well timed and cost effective schedule since the Navy awarded that contract to the Haliburton Corporation!

Well it wasn't the smartest thing to build a city below sea level AND right on the coast AND right in the path of a known hurricane highway anyway. Perhaps they could rebuild it after raising the land some or make it a city on stilts. At least then they could avoid the flooding issue if not the other typical hurricane damages.

While I don't necessarily think GWB is all that great, why trash him about something he couldn't have done anything about anyway. WTF you want him to do, jump in the path of Katrina and say "Oh HELL NO!"? Or maybe wave his magic presidential finger and fix it all as he flew over? Everyone knew it was coming so most...maybe not all...can have their own responsibility for not getting out of there. How many times have we heard it...someone won't leave because this has been their family's home for generations and/or they have survived this before blah blah blah.

Now my thoughts are certainly with all those who are now homeless/jobless etc and I do realize that some were not able to get out in time. So don't think that I don't have any compassion.

Oh and im sure that was your point but we all know that the Govt./Military doesn't do anything cost effectively.

Darn you George Bush! My computer crashed! Do something about it! Its all your fault![;)]

PHX, your argument is completely redundant. How can you state that we saw the hurricane coming, yet it took 4 DAYS for the national guard to respond?

GWB sat and twirled in the days prior to Katrina, and continued to be a complete ****head about it until the mayor of New Orleans got on the horn and said WTF.

Just another reason to thank the christian right for the re-election of that moron.

you do error my friend. The National guard is under control of the Govenor. He/or/she are the only ones that can call up the national guard. What would you have done if you were the president. Plus by wend, two days after the hurricane federal troops and other aid was being to enter into the picture.You nor anyone could organize an operation as massive as this any sooner, plus what about all of those school buses sitting flooded that could have been used to get people out before the strom.

Lincoln Journal Star (Sunday, August 28)

President Bush calls Governor Blanco and urges her to evacuate the endangered areas. Publicly, he urges all those living in the path of the hurricane to put their personal safety ahead of all other concerns. He even takes the unprecedented step of declaring states in the path of the oncoming storm federal disaster areas ahead of time.

CRAWFORD, Texas -- President Bush, as he readied the federal government for a massive relief effort, on Sunday urged people in the path of Hurricane Katrina to forget anything but their safety and move to higher ground as instructed.

"We cannot stress enough the danger this hurricane poses to Gulf Coast communities," Bush said as the storm roared across the gulf toward New Orleans and other communities. "I urge all citizens to put their own safety and the safety of their families first by moving to safe ground."

With forecasters warning of a category five storm, the president made sure the federal response would not be delayed by already declaring emergencies in Mississippi, Florida and Alabama just hours after a similar declaration for Louisiana. Such declarations make federal aid available to assist with disaster relief, but they are rarely made before a storm even hits.

http://www.americandaughter.com/timeline.html

I think what he's saying... is that GWB may be the president, but that doesn't mean he's personally responsible for everything that goes wrong. Most of this fell on local authorities, which screwed up badly. Plus the organizations charged with responding failed and each of those organizations have their own chain of command and don't report all issues to the president (how could they? LOL). After this was learned, GWB tried to salvage what he could of the situation politically via photo-op. It seemed to do nothing more than reinforce people's current opinions tho, those that love him... love him even more now. Those that don't, don't... even more now.

While we saw it coming, what we did NOT see coming was the incredibly poor response afterwards.

As much as I hate these to self-indlugent nitwits, they are soley responsible for getting the ball rolling to were it desperately needed roll to! Bill O'Reilly and Geraldo Rivera cleary took mediated charge of a chaotic situation and coordinated a focused response for waiting evacuees. For that I thank them.

To the Commander and Chief, the Three Star General, the Secretary of Homeland, Governer Blanco, please it is far time for you all to stop you're impudent lying. We the public are in fact much smarter then you dare to think. Your petty excuses and misdirection of blame are tiresome and apparent. As you are each plainly incompetent.

I believe that snake in the grass, I mean the Secretary of Homeland Michael Chertoff has much to do in they way of the series of delay's that occured. [}:)]

And I suppose you are one of these people that think the world would be a perfect place if Kerry or even Gore was elected....If you ask me if Gore or Kerry would have been in office we would all have been dead by now...Dont get me wrong I think bush has made his mistake BUT not as bad as I feel it would have been if someone else got elected.

Say what you may...GWB (The Smirking Chimp) had his handlers who should have been reading the reports from the National Hurricane Center and advised him to cut short his photo-ops surrounded by military personnel and then play guitar with some rock star...cut out the planned speech promoting his privitization of Social Security speech to a pre-screened audience of senior citizens in the driest state in the Union and headed to his desk in the White House to at least LOOK presidential! We hired him to represent our interests as a nation instead of him using us as his servants (as in role of king). Yes...the governors of states have control of the Guard units but for several years now the Guard has been integrated into the National military in a manner that any Guard unit may be called into service and deployed as the Pentagon wishes.

Now...during the Clinton years in the White House he had called an advisory group together to list the most serious crises that might occur and in the top 3 were a major hurricane hitting New Orleans and also a major terrorist attack against NYC. Clinton enacted a funding process to enable the Army Corp of Engineers to work on the levee (read dam) to keep the lake that flooded New Orleans to keep the city safe. In the years 2002, 2003 and 2004 the Bush administration gutted those funds and diverted the cash to the Iraq fiasco. Clinton also funded a wetlands restoration project between New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico. The wetlands were designed to hold water and stop massive flood crest surges...this was also gutted by the Bush adminstration when major portions of Environmental protection was gutted and the wetlands were turned over to developers who then got rid of that vital buffer.

It is interesting that the head of the Homeland Security/Terrorism Office's name (Chernoff I believe) translates from Russian as 'of the Devil'...correct me if I am wrong and also look for a copy of the American Legion Magazine with his picture on the cover.

For more information about current mistakes and past mistakes of our rulers in Washington then check local radio talk shows for Air America Radio...Randi Rhodes, Ed Schultz, Al Franken...else stream them on the web.... They are the alternatives to folks like Pigboy Limbaugh, Bill O'Rielly, Doctor Laura and that crew of idiots!

You can find blog clips below at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ else can check other posts at http://www.bartcop.com/ If you disagree with the old proud liberal at bartcop then he has quite a few other links on the sidebars such as great food ideas and such. Easiest way to find the following is at bartcop and follow the links. If you agree or disagree with him then is easy to deal direct and send him your thoughts....

Posted by: J.T. Davis on September 01, 2005 at 06:23AM

Anyone, Anyone...Buehler?
Great analogy of Bush not tuned in to the tragedies befalling our country. First Bush sits and does nothing during 9-11 and now he sits and does nothing during the destruction of New Orleans. Bush and the crew he represents are the most worthless pieces of garbage our Nation has ever had to endure.

Posted by: truthteller on September 01, 2005 at 08:38AM

One very good idea that the left had was Project Impact -- which Clinton implemented in 1997 as a way to study disaster relief efforts in this country. Too bad Bush eliminated it right when he got into office. That money needed to go to tax cuts for the rich (plus anything Clinton did had to be abolished).

Gutting the New Orleans levee project of its funding wasn't so wise either, in hindsight. Plus, relief supplies are being mobilized now that should have been mobilized before the Hurricane ever hit. We knew on Sunday this was a disaster in the making, but nothing was done in advance. If it ended being not so bad, hey, you can always bring the bottled water and MRE's back to the storage facility.

Yikes! I been ranting too long! (END OF RANT #1)

Bush, could not lead his way to a baked potato!

why dont all of you STFU and play TWS? sounds like a plan to me....[;)]

i agree with exvex...but before u log in call red cross and make a donation and remember these peeps with their life ripped apart in your prayers!

Because I am multi-talented I can play TW, while I completely shred Bush! LMAO & ROFL [^]

By Friday, offers had been received from Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Belgium, Britain, Canada, China, Colombia, Cuba, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, France, Germany, Greece, Georgia, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Paraguay, the Philippines, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Venezuela and the United Arab Emirates.

Many of those had offered help to the USA before Geo Bush had finished his rounds of golf in AZ... Even Castro offered to send 1100 doctors and medical supplies but last I been able to find out the adminstration had not replied to his offer...in spite of Rice having told the world that all offers would be accepted.

A few days back the airboat/swampboat clubs in Florida had offered help to serve as rescue service since they have gone through that a few times recently and that offer was turned down due to 'jurisdiction' issues. I just praise God that enough folks finally responded to block the levee breach and start pumping out the water.

Yes...New Orleans is in an area surrounded by high water for the most part.... Originally it was built around the old neighborhoods such as the French Quarter and a couple others that were above the high water levels WAY back when the French built a port in the middle of a bayou... hmm...1700 something? Then there was the war of 1812 where the final battle was fought when it was over a bit before? I am still wondering if Haliburton will be as effective restoring all services as they have been so far in Iraq!