tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7260692.post112587321543140289..comments2023-05-13T02:24:42.139-07:00Comments on Stones In the Field: It goes on...Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01846076773328384778noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7260692.post-1126077795513703302005-09-07T00:23:00.000-07:002005-09-07T00:23:00.000-07:00Mac, you have a wonderful blog here. I posted thi...Mac, you have a wonderful blog here. I posted this same story on my blog with the video after seeing it on the news. After watching day after day of lack of response and hearing Broussard break down during his interview was heartbreaking. His story of the woman calling her son day after day, being told help was coming, then drowning when no help came was unconscionable. This woman's death, the death of what will be thousands,the lack of immediate response, cutting of emergency communication lines, lack of direction, and total disarray was undeniable incompetence at its highest level. These victims will be displaced for months, possibly years. My heart goes out to them and those they lost. We can only pray that those being blamed for lackluster performance will learn from their mistakes and make sure they put into place a more effective and immediate emergency plan for the future of our United States.Joannehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04722780868620942044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7260692.post-1126026770484420932005-09-06T10:12:00.000-07:002005-09-06T10:12:00.000-07:00PNH at Making Light pointed out that when the resu...PNH at Making Light pointed out that when the results are this disastrous, the difference between incompetence and malice is indiscernable.<BR/><BR/>What I fear is that this situation is a glimpse at a dark future, where corporations and the government (functioning more and more LIKE a large corporation--and the property they've "claimed"--automatically receive priority over the lives of the public. I fear America's citizens are on the verge of being perceived not only as dispensable--but, on a deeply disturbing level, as probable enemies of the state.<BR/><BR/>We got a terrible vision last week of a government (on the local, state, and federal level) that concerned itself much more with preserving property. Did you know that private mercs were brought in to secure buildings--by some counts, before the hurricane made landfall?<BR/><BR/>While citizens were drowning in nursing homes, and sitting on their roofs waving white flags at passing choppers and huddling together in the Superdome with no supplies,no WATER for fuck's sake--The mayor is diverting resources to stop "looters"--FEMA is cutting local emergency communication lines and turning back truckloads of water...<BR/><BR/>This is a Hobbsian future where our government feels it owes us nothing, and the fabric of society unravels.<BR/><BR/>Now, a week late, help arrived. But the snapshot of the future we were treated to during that interminable week of waiting...<BR/><BR/>I'll never forget.Machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01846076773328384778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7260692.post-1126020412208642152005-09-06T08:26:00.000-07:002005-09-06T08:26:00.000-07:00I personally would hesitate to paint the entire go...I personally would hesitate to paint the entire government as well as all of FEMA with the brush of profound incompetence. I believe that for the most part the guys and gals "in the trenches" are dedicated and passionate about their work -- why would they do it otherwise? It doesn't pay that well and the work is dirty and dangerous. I would bet dollars to donuts that every 'regular' FEMA employee would have rushed to the scene as soon as it was practical, even if not safe, to help. The problem is they need leadership to be effective. So I blame the leadership. At the local level it's the ones who didn't just go do what was necessary regardless of lack of orders from above. At the highest levels it's your profound incompentence in action. We all know by now Mr. Brown's credentials. I'm apalled that nobody around him was able, or had the courage, to get him to do the right thing at the right time.ohdawnohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01995493308490806364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7260692.post-1125978799955898342005-09-05T20:53:00.000-07:002005-09-05T20:53:00.000-07:00The more news stories I read, the more I wonder wh...The more news stories I read, the more I wonder what we did as a country to deserve the un-leadership we are stuck with. Are 50% of the American people really so in love with their SUV's and their 401K's that they believe we're headed in the right direction? I shake my head in wonder. Even my own family sometimes gives me the feeling that they believe it's poor people's fault for being poor. Am I the last person in America who believes there are things in life more valuable than money? It's really lonely out here.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7260692.post-1125879148857045222005-09-04T17:12:00.000-07:002005-09-04T17:12:00.000-07:00I read the entire show's transcript on MSNBC.com (...I read the entire show's transcript on MSNBC.com (I think, I've been to so many sites via links from so many others today). I kept thinking, did Russert really have to be so abrupt with him? <BR/><BR/>Truly heartwrenching what Broussard went through.ohdawnohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01995493308490806364noreply@blogger.com