http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=8726
More on Katrina
By Ben Stein
Published 9/12/2005 12:11:44 AM
Fact: Katrina was a devastating storm. It left terrible damage to innocent people's lives and to property throughout the Gulf South.
Fact: There have been other storms as damaging and some far more damaging. What, then, is different about this storm? Here are a few tentative thoughts.
First, the incompetence of the local and state authorities in Louisiana and especially New Orleans was breathtaking. To issue a mandatory evacuation order without providing means of transport is almost criminally irresponsible.
SNIP
Second, the response of the federal government is described as slow, and it was slow at first.
SNIP
Third, the networks and newspapers have been quick to cry racism because so many of the victims were black.
SNIP
What is the real story of Katrina is (I suggest) not so much that nature wrought fury on land, water, people, property, and animals, not at all anything about racism, not much about federal government incompetence. The real story is that the mainstream media rioted.
They used the storm and its attendant sorrows to continue their endless attack on George W. Bush. Wildly inflated stories about the number of dead and missing, totally made up old wives' tales of racism, breathless accounts of Bush's neglect that are utterly devoid of truth and of historical context -- this is what the mainstream media gave us.
Mainstream Media Rioted
Discussion in 'Political Debate & Discussion' started by carpro, Sep 12, 2005.
-
-
church mouse guy Well-Known MemberSite Supporter
Carpro, that is my take on all of this, also. When I look at the motives of the media, it seems to me that they are totally political partisanship. It must have been apparent to the media that the Governor of LA made a big mistake in keeping out the Red Cross and The Salvation Army so they covered for her by attacking Bush. The normal reaction during a disaster is to pull together but here we saw the Democrats focus more on fixing blame than in getting help.
Also, the media went out of their way to ignore the vast volume of aid from Christians.
The Democrat Party is in desperate shape and they want to conceal the truth about themselves at all costs.
Carpro, my cynical personal opinion is that the Mayor of New Orleans and the Governor of LA will be re-elected. -
I rather believe the contentions of the O.P.
I saw a reporter that was down at the
Super Dome - I wondered why his cameraman
had charged up camera every day???
Seems they were in a motel figuring to
ride out the storm and get a few pix.
They could walk to the Super Dome,
they slept and ate and recharged their
batteries (back up power system in the hotel)
at night while the people they exploited
for their own political purposes were in
the dark without restrooms, light or water all night.
He showed people griping
thatnobody was helping yet he
witheld his own stuff he had.
As soon as he could, this reporter LEFT
New Orleans, when vehicles could get into
town from outside.
Sorry, it is a Bush Bashing Press problem,
not a federal government problem.
BTW, living in Central Oklahoma i also have
access to interviews of what the people
in Edmond really told Time about the head
of FEMA that they unjustly got kicked out
of his task (fortunately the Federal Government
knows how to select scape goats to take
the heat -
I say they should be levied a special tax to pay for the repairs ...
-
I remember the late 70s.
CBS reported "EXXON Doubles income
since last year". This was true but
if you figure the rate of return on
investment (ROI) Exxon went from
0.2% (2/10 of 1%) the year before and
0.4% (4/10 of 1%) that year.
The ROI for CBS that year was like
14.5% - that is 36 times the ROI of Exxon. -
As it turns out the response of the Federal Government is the quickest on record. Not any hurricane response was faster.
-
-
-
Jack Kelly: No shame
The federal response to Katrina was not as portrayed
Sunday, September 11, 2005
It is settled wisdom among journalists that the federal response to the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina was unconscionably slow.
"Mr. Bush's performance last week will rank as one of the worst ever during a dire national emergency," wrote New York Times columnist Bob Herbert in a somewhat more strident expression of the conventional wisdom.
But the conventional wisdom is the opposite of the truth.
Jason van Steenwyk is a Florida Army National Guardsman who has been mobilized six times for hurricane relief. He notes that:
"The federal government pretty much met its standard time lines, but the volume of support provided during the 72-96 hour was unprecedented. The federal response here was faster than Hugo, faster than Andrew, faster than Iniki, faster than Francine and Jeanne."
For instance, it took five days for National Guard troops to arrive in strength on the scene in Homestead, Fla. after Hurricane Andrew hit in 2002. But after Katrina, there was a significant National Guard presence in the afflicted region in three. -
Jack Kelly: No shame
The federal response to Katrina was not as portrayed
Sunday, September 11, 2005
It is settled wisdom among journalists that the federal response to the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina was unconscionably slow.
"Mr. Bush's performance last week will rank as one of the worst ever during a dire national emergency," wrote New York Times columnist Bob Herbert in a somewhat more strident expression of the conventional wisdom.
But the conventional wisdom is the opposite of the truth.
Jason van Steenwyk is a Florida Army National Guardsman who has been mobilized six times for hurricane relief. He notes that:
"The federal government pretty much met its standard time lines, but the volume of support provided during the 72-96 hour was unprecedented. The federal response here was faster than Hugo, faster than Andrew, faster than Iniki, faster than Francine and Jeanne."
For instance, it took five days for National Guard troops to arrive in strength on the scene in Homestead, Fla. after Hurricane Andrew hit in 2002. But after Katrina, there was a significant National Guard presence in the afflicted region in three. </font>[/QUOTE]Do you mean "Beam me up Scottie." doesn't work? :confused: :rolleyes: :D -
carpro
Of course you know the truth will not ever get out since most people get their news from the mainstream media! -
-
-
The only hurricane I remember from the Clinton era that even came close to the size and scope of damage of Katrina, was Hurricane Floyd in 1999.
FEMA was roundly criticized for their response to Floyd and it was not nearly as hard to deal with as Katrina. -
Bertha was an early-season Cape Verde Hurricane that moved across the islands of the northeastern Caribbean Sea as a category 1 hurricane on the Saffir/Simpson scale and made landfall on the North Carolina coast near Wilmington as a category 2 hurricane. Bertha's one-minute winds reached their maximum value of 100 knots on 9 July, while located to the north of Puerto Rico. The last Hurricane to reach this strength, this early in the season, was Alma in 1966 (117K GIF) in the eastern Gulf of Mexico with 110 knots. Bertha is responsible for an estimated eight deaths and $250 million in U.S. damages.
Doesnt match the size nor scope of Katrina. -
-
Carpro:
You do realize that you are quoting from the American Spectator?
Even when I was a hard-core right winger, I never considered them to be a credible source.
Regards,
BiR -
You put on a good front but I doubt you were ever "a hard-core right winger". Sounds more like an effort to reinforce the validity of your comments. Ya know, give yourself some credibility that you seem to lack otherwise. -
Remember this description:
That was utterly foolish of you to write.
First of all, this is cyberspace. I don't know you and you don't know me. In all probability, we will never actually meet face to face. A good piece of advice is to refrain from making such assertive statements about someone you don't know.
Secondly, I have written several times how I used to be a hard-core right winger, and had an epiphany. This is common knowledge to anyone familiar with me. Despite gracing us with your presence for almost a year now, you still managed to get it wrong.
How interesting that you would simultaneously speak of credibility and then make such an erroneous observation..........
Notwithstanding your vacuous observations, I trust that God is blessing you and your family,
BiR