Hurricane George: how the White House drowned New Orleans
It's been two years. And America's media is about to have another tear-gasm over New Orleans. Maybe Anderson Cooper will weep again. The big networks will float into the moldering corpse of the city and give you uplifting stories about rebuilding and hope.
Now, let's cut through the cry-baby crap. Here's what happened two years ago - and what's happening now.
This is what an inside source me. And it makes me sick:
"By midnight on Monday, the White House knew. Monday night I was at the state Emergency Operations Center and nobody was aware that the levees had breeched. Nobody."
The charge is devastating: That, on August 29, 2005, the White House withheld from the state police the information that New Orleans was about to flood. From almost any other source, I would not have believed it. But this was not just any source. The whistle-blower is Dr. Ivor van Heerden, deputy director of the Louisiana State University Hurricane Center, the chief technician advising the state on saving lives during Katrina.
Now, let's cut through the cry-baby crap. Here's what happened two years ago - and what's happening now.
This is what an inside source me. And it makes me sick:
"By midnight on Monday, the White House knew. Monday night I was at the state Emergency Operations Center and nobody was aware that the levees had breeched. Nobody."
The charge is devastating: That, on August 29, 2005, the White House withheld from the state police the information that New Orleans was about to flood. From almost any other source, I would not have believed it. But this was not just any source. The whistle-blower is Dr. Ivor van Heerden, deputy director of the Louisiana State University Hurricane Center, the chief technician advising the state on saving lives during Katrina.
The nanny state
The “ahhh” of familiar pleasure I felt as I accelerated cut off abruptly as I watched the gas-mileage readout on my sister’s new Camry plummet.
How dare the requirements of fuel-efficient driving presume to contradict the habits — and unacknowledged godlike joys — of a lifetime of gasoline consumption? I looked at my sister, a “hypermiling” neo-enthusiast, who seemed to be wagging her finger at me (she wasn’t, but I’m sure the impulse was there), and said, “Nanny state.”
At least I uttered it as a joke — that grating, illuminating expression of adolescent politics and individual triumphalism. Libertarians. You gotta love ’em. They survey the human landscape and wince at . . . a government that cares too much, in a bumbling, overreaching way, of course, and tries to protect us not merely from thieves and terrorists and snake oil salesmen but from ourselves. They hate seatbelt laws and anti-smoking laws and picture government not as a shifting coalition of organized, often malign interests, but as a self-righteous scold.
How dare the requirements of fuel-efficient driving presume to contradict the habits — and unacknowledged godlike joys — of a lifetime of gasoline consumption? I looked at my sister, a “hypermiling” neo-enthusiast, who seemed to be wagging her finger at me (she wasn’t, but I’m sure the impulse was there), and said, “Nanny state.”
At least I uttered it as a joke — that grating, illuminating expression of adolescent politics and individual triumphalism. Libertarians. You gotta love ’em. They survey the human landscape and wince at . . . a government that cares too much, in a bumbling, overreaching way, of course, and tries to protect us not merely from thieves and terrorists and snake oil salesmen but from ourselves. They hate seatbelt laws and anti-smoking laws and picture government not as a shifting coalition of organized, often malign interests, but as a self-righteous scold.
Let’s face it: the warfare state is part of us
The USA’s military spending is now close to $2 billion a day. This fall, the country will begin its seventh year of continuous war, with no end in sight. On the horizon is the very real threat of a massive air assault on Iran. And few in Congress seem willing or able to articulate a rejection of the warfare state.
While the Bush-Cheney administration is the most dangerous of our lifetimes -- and ousting Republicans from the White House is imperative -- such truths are apt to smooth the way for progressive evasions. We hear that “the people must take back the government,” but how can “the people” take back what they never really had? And when rhetoric calls for “returning to a foreign policy based on human rights and democracy,” we’re encouraged to be nostalgic for good old days that never existed.
The warfare state didn’t suddenly arrive in 2001, and it won’t disappear when the current lunatic in the Oval Office moves on.
While the Bush-Cheney administration is the most dangerous of our lifetimes -- and ousting Republicans from the White House is imperative -- such truths are apt to smooth the way for progressive evasions. We hear that “the people must take back the government,” but how can “the people” take back what they never really had? And when rhetoric calls for “returning to a foreign policy based on human rights and democracy,” we’re encouraged to be nostalgic for good old days that never existed.
The warfare state didn’t suddenly arrive in 2001, and it won’t disappear when the current lunatic in the Oval Office moves on.
"Nuke Nuggets" glow for the Senate's radioactive rip-off
Gargantuan loan guarantees for a "new generation" of nuke reactors define the Senate's version of the Energy Bill that Congress will consider right after Labor Day.
Its backers say the $50 billion-plus in radioactive pork will give us "inherently safe" reactors…
...which is what they said about the last crop, including Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and hundreds of billions in cost overruns and abysmal failure.
Nuke reactors are no safer than those coal mines just littered with fresh corpses, than that collapsed Minnesota bridge, or than the levees that let Katrina swamp New Orleans, and are poised to do it again.
The first "new generation" nuke is already swamped with cost overruns and absurd miscalculations. Finnish regulators are screaming at Areva, the French-based nuke pushers, about corner-cutting and costly delays.
Its backers say the $50 billion-plus in radioactive pork will give us "inherently safe" reactors…
...which is what they said about the last crop, including Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and hundreds of billions in cost overruns and abysmal failure.
Nuke reactors are no safer than those coal mines just littered with fresh corpses, than that collapsed Minnesota bridge, or than the levees that let Katrina swamp New Orleans, and are poised to do it again.
The first "new generation" nuke is already swamped with cost overruns and absurd miscalculations. Finnish regulators are screaming at Areva, the French-based nuke pushers, about corner-cutting and costly delays.
Where Congressman Jerrold Nadler stands on impeachment
Rep. Nadler attended a meeting of the Village Independent Democrats Thursday night in Greenwich Village. I was there, along with several other NYC impeachment activists.
Nadler spoke at length about the Iraq war, warrantless surveillance, and impeachment. He said that the Democrats will have their last opportunity to stop the war during Bush's term when it comes time to vote in September on the Iraq supplemental providing funding for 2008. The Democrats are saying they will vote against the bill unless it sets a date certain for beginning and ending a withdrawal, and only if the funds are to be used for the following purposes the process of withdrawal, diplomatic negotiations, and reconstruction. He said that if Bush vetoes the bill that they will keep sending it back to him and saying that he is the one who's not funding/supporting the troops--not them. And that if the Republicans are sufficiently scared of the electoral consequences of continuing to support this war that they override Bush's veto, then this strategy will succeed. He didn't explain why such a strategy wasn't tried in May, when plenty of people were advocating for it.
Nadler spoke at length about the Iraq war, warrantless surveillance, and impeachment. He said that the Democrats will have their last opportunity to stop the war during Bush's term when it comes time to vote in September on the Iraq supplemental providing funding for 2008. The Democrats are saying they will vote against the bill unless it sets a date certain for beginning and ending a withdrawal, and only if the funds are to be used for the following purposes the process of withdrawal, diplomatic negotiations, and reconstruction. He said that if Bush vetoes the bill that they will keep sending it back to him and saying that he is the one who's not funding/supporting the troops--not them. And that if the Republicans are sufficiently scared of the electoral consequences of continuing to support this war that they override Bush's veto, then this strategy will succeed. He didn't explain why such a strategy wasn't tried in May, when plenty of people were advocating for it.
National Lawyers Guild calls on Congress to repeal warrantless domestic surveillance
Congress put its stamp of approval on the unconstitutional wiretapping of Americans by amending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in the "Protect America Act of 2007."
The new law takes the power to authorize electronic surveillance out of the hands of a judge and places it in the hands of the attorney general (AG) and the director of national intelligence (DNI). FISA had required the government to convince a judge there was probable cause to believe the target of the surveillance was a foreign power or the agent of a foreign power. The law didn't apply to wiretaps of foreign nationals abroad. Its restrictions were triggered only when the surveillance targeted a U.S. citizen or permanent resident or when the surveillance was obtained from a wiretap physically located in the United States. The attorney general was required to certify that the communications to be monitored would be exclusively between foreign powers and there was no substantial likelihood a U.S. person would be overheard.
The new law takes the power to authorize electronic surveillance out of the hands of a judge and places it in the hands of the attorney general (AG) and the director of national intelligence (DNI). FISA had required the government to convince a judge there was probable cause to believe the target of the surveillance was a foreign power or the agent of a foreign power. The law didn't apply to wiretaps of foreign nationals abroad. Its restrictions were triggered only when the surveillance targeted a U.S. citizen or permanent resident or when the surveillance was obtained from a wiretap physically located in the United States. The attorney general was required to certify that the communications to be monitored would be exclusively between foreign powers and there was no substantial likelihood a U.S. person would be overheard.
Creative destruction
Heckuva job, fellas!
The monster called Iraq that the Bush administration has bequeathed humanity was created with a breath-sucking mix of high-tech ruthlessness, messianic ideology and sheer, FEMA-quality incompetence — and, it turns out, a little help from the Italian Mafia.
I hope what has happened these last four years — this abominable exercise in what neocon theorist Michael Ledeen called “creative destruction,” back in those heady days immediately after 9/11 when most of the American public was intoxicated with vengeance and nationalism — is a lesson we don’t forget. That’s our only hope: that we smell the racism and self-interest the next time a demagogue pushes war, and that we remember not just the horrors of this one but the irony. The Bush administration’s “war on terror” is a terrorist’s best friend.
The monster called Iraq that the Bush administration has bequeathed humanity was created with a breath-sucking mix of high-tech ruthlessness, messianic ideology and sheer, FEMA-quality incompetence — and, it turns out, a little help from the Italian Mafia.
I hope what has happened these last four years — this abominable exercise in what neocon theorist Michael Ledeen called “creative destruction,” back in those heady days immediately after 9/11 when most of the American public was intoxicated with vengeance and nationalism — is a lesson we don’t forget. That’s our only hope: that we smell the racism and self-interest the next time a demagogue pushes war, and that we remember not just the horrors of this one but the irony. The Bush administration’s “war on terror” is a terrorist’s best friend.
An appeal for the hurricanes Katrina and Rita International Tribunal
Thanks David [Swanson], for flying your Impeachment banner over the Pelosi visit to New Orleans. This is exactly the kind of action we need. In fact, please convince as many anti-war and pro-impeachment organizations to endorse the Tribunal. I feel for the people of the Gulf States. New Orleans (NOLA) is a police state. It is horrible. Please come to NOLA if you can on the August 29 thru Sept 2 or any one day. This is truly an issue that can unite us all because it's just horrific. And I don't know if you saw it during the flyover, but right downtown Donald Trump has bought a building to offer $2 million condos for sale. They surely won't go to the survivors. Recently, a news story reported that the Gulf Enterprise Zone was being used by developers to build million dollar condos in Tuscaloosa for University of Alabama football fans! The City of New Orleans has bought palm trees to beautify downtown--they're installing them now--and you can't even breathe the air down there with the assurance that it's safe. It's a veritable police state which I've seen with my own eyes and dozens of darn military tanks are parked at the New Orleans Police Department headquarters!!!!!!!
Do the neo-cons need Karl Rove when they can count on the Democrats?
Karl Rove scoots off the sunken White House ship with his plans for future neo-con dominance safe and secure---in the hands of Democrats unwilling or incapable of challenging his dirtiest deeds.
Elected to end a lunatic war, the Democratic Congress has prolonged it, earning approval ratings even lower than those of George W. Bush, whom Rove designated as a "war president" long before the attack on Iraq.
The Democrats have also signed off on the GOP's all-out assault on the Constitution, meekly certifying a "unitary executive" with totalitarian demands for a blanket suspension of civil liberties, arbitrary detention, official torture and more.
Once again voters will approach a presidential election asking themselves---why vote for Democrats who won't challenge the most catastrophic GOP outrages?
That question must now be asked again about the illegal destruction of 1.5 million ballots from Ohio's stolen 2004 election. The mass shredding includes a wide range of official documents critical to conducting a valid recount in the state that gave Bush/Rove a second term in the White House.
Elected to end a lunatic war, the Democratic Congress has prolonged it, earning approval ratings even lower than those of George W. Bush, whom Rove designated as a "war president" long before the attack on Iraq.
The Democrats have also signed off on the GOP's all-out assault on the Constitution, meekly certifying a "unitary executive" with totalitarian demands for a blanket suspension of civil liberties, arbitrary detention, official torture and more.
Once again voters will approach a presidential election asking themselves---why vote for Democrats who won't challenge the most catastrophic GOP outrages?
That question must now be asked again about the illegal destruction of 1.5 million ballots from Ohio's stolen 2004 election. The mass shredding includes a wide range of official documents critical to conducting a valid recount in the state that gave Bush/Rove a second term in the White House.