Yes, there really IS a difference

It doesn't always seem that way, but there is:

In numerous interviews in the low-income Alberta neighborhood here on Friday, shortly before President Obama and other officials toured what is now an unimaginable wasteland, residents said they had few complaints about the handling of the aftermath by state, local and federal agencies.

Many expressed mild frustration about limits on their access to damaged homes, the pace of road clearing and power restoration, and traffic jams caused by roadblocks and nonfunctioning signals. But most agreed that government and charitable agencies were coping as effectively as feasible with immediate demands for shelter, food, water and medical care, along with search and rescue operations.

“It ain’t like Katrina,” said Darius Rutley, 21, whose house in Alberta was obliterated. “We’re getting help.”

FEMA Trailers to be Seized By a Rutterless Agency; Elizabeth and John Edwards Again

First, I want to reiterate what Tata said here about the repossession of FEMA trailers in Louisiana by the end of May, and before most of the projects to restore housing are fully in place. This is another example of the bold insanity of our government at work. Contact the FEMA Leadership here, and Vitter, to urge him to stop blocking Obama's nominee for the post of FEMA head, here. This is storm season and, as Jill says, no one is in charge of disasters and emergencies. This sort of thing just makes you wonder where the media is considering the story below and this.
There are people in office who are seriously kinky and caught in ignored scandal, and the media is obsessed with the most irrelevant moral implications of what amounts to straight sex in the primary season, in their quest for ratings. Meanwhile the long suffering people of Louisiana and areas effected by Katrina are still not back in reasonable housing...and now will be on the street if the rudderless FEMA has its way. Is anyone paying attention? Again, go here and tell them what you think!


Yesterday I found myself absorbed in the (DVRed) Elizabeth Edwards edition of Oprah that aired this past Thursday. Elizabeth Edwards has alot of important things to say to us as human beings and as a country in her new book Resilience, but the whole thing ultimately made me just a little uncomfortable. As much as I like the Edwards' regardless of the disingenuous air that surrounds them these days, and the seemingly insane choices that they both have made along the way, my radar was buzzing. This is, after all, still politics.



There is an amount of crazy fairytale here, that is almost childlike in its construction, and there is a part of me (the New York City, glass half empty, Woody Allen part, I'm sure,) that doesn't buy that anyone really believes in those sorts of happy endings. At the same time that Elizabeth Edwards is telling us that life is messy, she holds forth the illusion that she created years ago that somehow her family could beat the odds. The fact that they have so extremely NOT beaten the odds, makes it even further fetched that this particular betrayal came as a huge surprise to her. Somewhere in the fateful family decision to become political after the death of their son, they gave up the ability to falter privately, and Elizabeth's only gift request, that he remain faithful, almost assured their eventual demise. I find that request sort of strange unless she had some reason to think he wouldn't...or unless she was having a realistic moment in the fairy tale. His request in response would have to have been that if he did somehow fail her, that she try to forgive him. But it feels to me like those thoughts are the territory of mere mortals, and this was a fairy tale.

If we just accept that they are both far from victims in this game, and I don't think that cancer, infidelity, or the subsequent lies, changes the facts and the rules of the game, then we can move forward with whatever bits of the underlying story here that can help people struggling with these issues that stretch beyond marital infidelity and into the cold fact that the entire construct of the American Dream and the happy ending is an impossible lie. If we accept that human nature is fragile and fallible, and that we have been lied to about what to realistically expect, maybe we can move to a place where we realize that our personal dream fulfillment is more about what we create internally, and less about what we've been told just happened naturally. The prize at the end is what screws everything up because it becomes more and more idealized until we are easily convinced that it can be bought with a credit card and that its something accessible without hard work, failure and forgiveness along the way.

I kept wondering why now? why this way? why Oprah? It all comes off as so weepy and touchy-feelie....and yet, it sorta worked. Elizabeth, the kids, the house, (alot of those square feet are part of some huge basketball complex, by the way, but how can you explain that away once the bulldogs in the media have their jaws locked on the lawyer with a huge house meme,) John skulking in the background looking thin and wan, and then finally having a quick heartfelt sit down at the end, it all worked; the despair and growth and learning....and then....



It was somewhere towards the end that I began the see the well oiled machine gears turning behind all of this. I began this new lil' Edwards cycle feeling sort of annoyed with Elizabeth for bringing this forward again, and then beating myself down with the internal response that its up to her as a dying woman. After all, Ive been told time and again by the media that Edwards is not eligible for his second act, ever, because THIS is just too bad. You would think that we don't live in the political climate that we live in; you would think that we haven't witnessed every disgusting scandal possible, save bestiality, (but so long as there are a few fundamentalist, holier-than-thou, creeps still out there, stay tuned,) none of which excuses John Edwards for what he's done. Its just that anyone who knows politics knows that what hes done, as it effects society and even the message the Obama carried forth, has more to do with being a champion for the poor than cheating on his dying wife. And the timing; how could the investigation into campaign funds begin just as the book is released? That couldn't have possibly been by design, but it worked out great, huh? Lets chalk that up to luck, OK?



Elizabeth is a formidable woman, and a wonderful human being, (or so we hear from those who have met her; I like her image but I don't know her personally.) She is dying of cancer pretty publicly and she speaks about the messiness of life in a way that is accessible and common. But to assume that she isn't every inch the powerful political wife would be to underestimate her. To think that her need to come out with a book now as opposed to later, (....after all, and again, who are we to judge the wishes and the medical condition of a dying woman?) doesn't also have some cathartic underlying healing of the cheated on woman in all of us, would be tragically naive.

And somewhere towards the end of the sister's sit down, it became clear to me that Elizabeth is giving John and ultimately the country, the greatest gift that she could; she is allowing us to walk with her on her path of forgiveness and her quest for truth in her life. It matters little that the details are far from what any of us will ever experience in our lives. In the end, we are all the disappointed child that Bush abused, and the abused wife that John cheated on. There is some part of the misplaced emotion of the past 8 years, and probably from our own dysfunctional families, that seems to land on the Edwards' shoulders. So to address that is ultimately probably more helpful than not.

If we are over identified with Elizabeth, she is allowing us an end to the story that is believable, because she isn't Barbie, and Ken doesn't just get a pass because he's the most popular boy in school. If we ever were blinded or offended by Edward's good looks, this puts a few lines on his face and takes him down a few notches. So whether this happens in the service of Elizabeth's legacy or the future of the country and breaking down the walls between the Two Americas, isn't really important. I don't feel like we are in a position to split hairs when it comes to what has to be done to bring this country back in the general direction of Americans at least having a chance at some sort of life, and I'm not in the business of ignoring an intellectual voice at a time of crisis, for moral reasons. Americans who are willing to put their entire lives out there for scrutiny, and who have the background and knowledge to speak on the issues, should not be silenced because of a set of bad decisions. If anything, we could hope that they learn from their mistakes and emerge stronger and more focused on what is important.

I'm not saying that this is something that happens immediately, but I can see the groundwork in its infancy here. I don't see the damage to message or the impact of the paternity of the child that others are bringing up. last thing I knew, Edwards had left the race with the agreement with the other players that his message would be carried through. Last thing I saw was that Obama is actually, in the quicksand of the messes hes been left with, trying to address it. It seems to me that if paternity is an issue, we will be informed. Its not like the mother of the child has held back as far as her pursuit of Edwards ("you're so hot!" ??? Could that be the line that brought down a Presidential hopeful?)




Nothing excuses John Edwards lies, (and I am more concerned with the deeply flawed decision by the two of them, to stay in the race after it was clear that this was coming out,)...but are we going to allow our perceptions to be shaped by a media that decides what to focus on, and pundits who dictate the future feasibility of the voices in our midst? I want to point out how incredibly and terribly wrong most of these media folks have been over the past 8 years, and how frantically they have been scratching for a perch from which to expound on our new socialist government. I was offended last Sunday to hear the various panels decide that Edwards is finished forever, no chance ever, ever, ever....how can they project how bad things will get or what will happen in this country? What have they been right about lately that didn't fall in their laps? What is the formula that they use to measure the feelings of the American people?...I want to point out that it matters little when they are wrong; they just move on with more predictions and tell-me-something-I-don't-know. Its when they are right that they take off running a victory lap, and it serves....who?

We've surely got more important issues to deal with than this, but in light of the government investigation and the book, here we are again. What can we take from this? Whatever applies; I don't turn my nose up at anything that could possibly help me process all that's gone on, and really, the Edwards thing is the very least of it.


c/p RIP Coco

Possibly the Definition of Self-Absorbed

New York Times:

Though more than 4,000 Louisiana homeowners have received rebuilding money only in the last six months, or are struggling with inadequate grants or no money at all, FEMA is intent on taking away their trailers by the end of May. The deadline, which ends temporary housing before permanent housing has replaced it, has become a stark example of recovery programs that seem almost to be working against one another.

Thousands of rental units have yet to be restored, and not a single one of 500 planned “Katrina cottages” has been completed and occupied. The Road Home program for single-family homeowners, which has cost federal taxpayers $7.9 billion, has a new contractor who is struggling to review a host of appeals, and workers who assist the homeless are finding more elderly people squatting in abandoned buildings.

Nonetheless, FEMA wants its trailers back, even though it plans to scrap or sell them for a fraction of what it paid for them.

“All I can say is that this is a temporary program, it was always intended as a temporary program, and at a certain point all temporary programs must end,” said Brent Colburn, the agency’s director of external affairs. He said there would be no extensions.

Well, that sounds organized and humane. We're all in this together!

Last year, the Louisiana Recovery Authority was supposed to unveil a more intensive caseworker system for people in temporary housing, but it never materialized. The authority has now asked homeless service organizations like Unity of Greater New Orleans and the Capital Area Alliance for the Homeless in Baton Rouge to help find stable housing for the hotel occupants.

FEMA officials also say that residents can buy their trailers, sometimes for as little as $300. But virtually all of the residents interviewed said they had offered to do so and been told they could not.

Residents said FEMA workers had started visiting them in the past two months, advising them not to move out and saying extensions would be available to those who showed hardship or progress in rebuilding. But agency officials said that was not the case.

This sounds like a call to direct action, doesn't it? I make a phone call, you make a phone call, we call the head of FEMA and voice our outrage. Maybe we call some senators and - what's this, then?

FEMA Leadership

* Acting Administrator - Nancy Ward
* Acting Deputy Administrator - David Garratt
* Associate Deputy Administrator - Robert Shea
* Chief of Staff - Jason McNamara
* Law Enforcement Advisor to the Administrator - Charles F. "Rick" Dinse
* Acting Director, Center for Faith-Based & Community Initiatives - Carole Cameron
* Acting Director, Office of Policy & Program Analysis - Robert Farmer

President Obama has been in office since - lemme check that provocative t-shirt - JANUARY, tornado season is blazing away in the south and midwest, Katrina survivors are about to be tossed out of what sub-standard housing they do have and NOBODY'S IN CHARGE? How is that even possible?

Craig Fugate, FEMA Nominee, Blocked By David Vitter

This asshole is the gift that keeps on giving, isn't he?

Fugate had sailed through his nomination hearing and Monday cleared the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee by a unanimous voice vote. Republican Sen. David Vitter said, however, that he'd blocked Fugate because of concerns he has with FEMA.

"I have a hold on the FEMA nomination because I sent a list of hurricane recovery questions and projects to FEMA, many of which have not been adequately addressed," Vitter said in a statement. "I'm eager to get full responses and meet with the nominee immediately."

That's right: Louisiana's notorious disgraced senator is blocking the confirmation of a director of FEMA to squeeze answers from the agency he doesn't head. So we could call FEMA to demand decent treatment of our fellow citizens but we can't be sure anyone will answer the phone, and Louisiana residents have their senator to thank for it. I bet they're appropriately grateful. The Times:

FEMA says it has done everything it can to help those in temporary housing. But, as is so often the case when it comes to Katrina issues, the agency’s clients give a different account. Agency officials insist, for example, that they have been working “extensively” to help families in trailers and hotels find permanent solutions.

“A lot of people are involved in the process of making sure that no one falls through the cracks,” said Manuel Broussard, an agency spokesman in Louisiana. “Everyone’s been offered housing up to this point several times. And for various reasons, they have not accepted it.”

But the dozen temporary housing occupants interviewed for this story said they had received little if any attention from FEMA workers and were lucky to get a list of landlords, much less an offer of permanent housing.

Well. There is one person you can call.

Vitter, David - (R - LA) Class III
516 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4623
Web Form

Another city drowns, and the Bush Administration does nothing

Another city. More images of men hauling sandbags. More families driven from their homes in boats to be deposited in emergency shelters with nothing but the clothes on their backs. More images of Michael Chertoff spouting platitudes like "When officials tell you to leave, leave."

The floods in the Midwest have been going on for a month, and the first steps in a disaster declaration began only yesterday.

It isn't just black people and the white poor being ignored by the Bush Administration anymore. These are the farmers growing the corn that's fed to cattle and used to make ethanol. These are the very white heartlanders that Republicans have been using as campaign props for a generation. And even they are seeing the government that's supposed to work for them turn its back on them.

This is what smaller government looks like. This is what happens when you leave everything to the states and the states are too overwhelmed to handle disasters on their own. This is what happens when you shovel money into the pockets of military contractors and the defense industry and run trillion-dollar defcits. This is what happens when you elect someone you think you'd like to have a beer with instead of someone with a half a brain in his head who's oriented towards problem-solving.

That John McCain, who promises more of what we've endured for the last eight years, is even competitive in this fall's presidential race shows how the Democrats have failed in demonstrating to the people now trying to rescue their belongings that programs like federal disaster assistance and Social Security and Medicare are the product of the very liberalism that Republicans have derided for a generation. With a wide swath of swing states now under water, and $4 gasoline, and skyrocketing food prices, and a dwindling job base, and foreclosures up 48% this year, it's hard to imagine Republican supply-side, feed-the-rich policies as being anything but completely discredited.

And yet, there's John McCain, with a tax plan that once again shovels even more cash into the pockets of the wealthy (when DOES that stuff start "trickling down", anyway?); a tax plan widely derided by economists as being -- dare I say it? -- McSame.

I would hope that by now American voters have begun to do the math. Meanwhile, the Cedar River is expected to crest today at 32 feet -- a full eight feet above yesterday's projections.

Blues for New Orleans

In a just world, folk singer Mary Gauthier would be making Britney Spears money.

Unfortunately, we’re living in a world where pop music has been kidnapped by teenagers. Instead of hearing adult music informed by hard-earned experience, we’re subjected to smug children rummaging in Mommy and Daddy’s closet and wearing clothes much too big for them.

Sure, they work hard pretending they’re grownups, but how much does Justin Timberlake really know about loss, betrayal and heartache?

Mary Gauthier does. This songwriter from Louisiana has been around the block a few times. In a husky growl sandpapered by shots of whisky, cigarettes, and yelling at the backs of lovers walking out the door, Gauthier sings bleak, unsentimental tales shimmering with a haunting beauty. Drunks, losers, and abused wives live in her songs, and Gauthier’s sorcery keeps these broken people lost in America chillingly authentic. And tragic.

Speaking of tragic, Mary Gauthier’s song “Mercy Now” is a grim soundtrack to this video directed by Demetria Kalodimos. It’s about what happened in New Orleans after Katrina came. Other than making rich people richer, the Bush Administration has been monstrously incompetent, and seeing New Orleans slowly drown as dozens of stupid politicians did nothing but make useless speeches was, and is, an American tragedy that will haunt this country for years. Even Osama bin Laden never managed to destroy an entire city. So please tell me why an useless idiot like Michael ("I'm not Skeletor, damn it!") Chertoff is being considered for Gonzo's old job? I haven't forgotten about what he didn't do, nor have I forgiven him for his stupid negligence.

Because of what happened at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, 9/11 aren’t just numbers anymore.

We have new numbers now to think about now:

8/29/2005.

Remember.