Tom Rants

Yeah...I could imagine the outcry. It would be...Wow...George Bush is actually doing his job and is paying attention to domestic emergencies. That would be shocking indeed.

September 06, 2005
“Instead of relying on a ‘Good Samaritan’ policy ※ the fantasy in New Orleans that everyone would take care of the neighbors ※ the Virginia rescue workers go door to door. If people resist the plea to leave ... rescue workers give them Magic Markers and ask them to write their Social Security numbers on their body parts so they can be identified.â€?
John Tierney NYTimes columnist

Snore. Just imagine the outcry?? I am so tired of the Republicans' pathetic persecution complex. The right has controlled the congress, the white house, the courts and the media for so long now, and GW Bush is routinely given a pass by the MSM in a way that no other president in modern times has. And yet the right persists in whining about how unfairly persecuted they are. Woe is you.

Just imagine the outcry? Jeez, it's about time the media finally woke up to what a joke we have as president. About freakin time.

Bull. All three of you. The Bush bashing crowd complains when Bush does anything, but that statement is exactly the sort of thing the media's number one punching bag - Don Rumsfeld - would say. I'm not saying that she shouldn't have said it - frankly it makes sense and kudos to her for having the guts to say it. But the double standard is amazing and the three comments above are just proof of it.

Imagine if W had the temerity to simply pick up the phone on Sunday the 28th to make sure people were taken care of in the path of Katrina.

Hey Tom, I think what you meant to say was:

The Bush bashing crowd complains when Bush FAILS to do anything.

That would have been more accurate, given the dead granny count in NOLA, don't 'cha think?

Johnny and Steve are a little confused, so I'll help them out.

http://www.thevillagenews.com/story.asp?story_ID=7134

http://english.ohmynews.com/TALK_BACK/bbs_view.asp?ba_code=63&bb_code=308794

«President Bush spent Friday afternoon and evening in meetings with his advisers and administrators drafting all of the paperwork required for a state to request federal assistance (and not be in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act or having to enact the Insurgency Act). Just before midnight Friday evening the President called Governor Blanco and pleaded with her to sign the request papers so the federal government and the military could legally begin mobilization and call up. He was told that they didn't think it necessary for the federal government to be involved yet. After the President's final call to the governor she held meetings with her staff to discuss the political ramifications of bringing federal forces. It was decided that if they allowed federal assistance it would make it look as if they had failed so it was agreed upon that the feds would not be invited in. «

Well, since it looks like they changed the links, here is the full article. Again, please look at date and time of release.

Mandatory evacuation ordered for New Orleans
8/28/2005, 10:48 a.m. CT
The Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) ※ In the face of a catastrophic Hurricane Katrina, a mandatory evacuation was ordered Sunday for New Orleans by Mayor Ray Nagin.

Acknowledging that large numbers of people, many of them stranded tourists, would be unable to leave, the city set up 10 places of last resort for people to go, including the Superdome.

The mayor called the order unprecedented and said anyone who could leave the city should. He exempted hotels from the evacuation order because airlines had already cancelled all flights.

Gov. Kathleen Blanco, standing beside the mayor at a news conference, said President Bush called and personally appealed for a mandatory evacuation for the low-lying city, which is prone to flooding.

«There doesn't seem to be any relief in sight,» Blanco said.

She said Interstate 10, which was converted Saturday so that all lanes headed one-way out of town, was total gridlock.

«We are facing a storm that most of us have long feared,» Nagin said.

The storm surge most likely could topple the city's levee system, which protect it from surrounding waters of Lake Pontchartrain, the Mississippi River and marshes, the mayor said. The bowl-shaped city must pump water out during normal times, and the hurricane threatened pump power.

Previous hurricanes evacuations in New Orleans were always voluntary, because so many people don't have the means of getting out. Some are too poor and there is always a French Quarter full of tourists who get caught.

«This is a once in a lifetime event,» the mayor said. «The city of New Orleans has never seen a hurricane of this magnitude hit it directly,» the mayor said.

He told those who had to move to the Superdome to come with enough food for several days and with blankets. He said it will be a very uncomfortable place and encouraged everybody who could to get out.

Nagin said police and firefighters would spread out throughout the city sounding sirens and using bullhorns to tell residents to get out. He also said police would have the authority to comandeer any vehicle or building that could be used for evacuation or shelter.

The Superdome was already taking in people with special problems. It opened about 8 a.m. and people on walkers, some with oxygen tanks, began checking in.

In a neighborhood in central city, a group of residents sat on a porch. It was almost a party atmosphere.

«We're not evacuating,» said Julie Paul, 57. «None of us have any place to go. We're counting on the Superdome. That's our lifesaver.»

She said they'd spent the last couple of hurricanes there. They would wait for a friend who has a van to take them, because none has cars.

At a nearby gas station, Linda Young, 37, was tanking up her car.

«I'm really scared. I've been through hurricanes, but this one scares me. I think everybody needs to get out,» she said.

She said they planned to leave Saturday but couldn't get gas, and didn't want to go without it, so got up early and got in a gas line.

In the suburbs, evacuations were under way.

«That sun is shining too bright for this to be happening,» said Joyce Tillis, manager of the Holiday Inn Select at the airport in the suburbs as she called the more than 140 guests to tell them the hotel was under a mandatory evacuation. «It's too nice a day.»

Tillis lives inside the flood zone in the community of Avondale. She said she called her three daughters and told them to get out. «If I'm stuck, I'm stuck,» Tillis said. «I'd rather save my second generation if I can.»