*insert middle finger here*

[digitaldiscipline]

Eight years later, there's still a big fucking hole in New York.
Four years after Katrina, New Orleans is still a disaster.


I am still filled with rage at the incompetence of failed prevention, the innumerable indignities foisted on us by the administration in the wake of 9/11 (PATRIOT, unjustified wars, etc), and the ineptitude with which "recovery" efforts have been handled.



Heck of a job, Dubya.

Comments

[timswar.livejournal.com]

NOLA being a disaster area isn't too big of a surprise, the Gov'ts never been great about post-Hurricane cleanup. It takes around 5 years or so after a big hurricane hits Eastern NC for most everything in the devastated areas to be back to working order, and that's smaller hurricanes affecting a much less developed area than NO.

At least they have plans in place in NO. They've got designs for new pump systems and enough leftover political will to actually get them built. NO won't ever be the same, it'll be something different eventually, but at least it's getting worked on.

The gaping hole in Manhattan? That's just inexcusable. Has someone finally stepped up and made decisions about that or are they still just bickering back and forth with nobody willing to make a decision that might upset a few people who don't get their way.

[theonebob.livejournal.com]

Maybe 100 years from now, some post-apocalyptic villagers will build a settlement there, but until then, it will still be a hole.

[dogsbody01.livejournal.com]

I really don't believe, that anything should be built there.To me,Ground Zero is just the world's largest mass grave.

[ruefullyamused.livejournal.com]

[adding middle finger to the chorus]

..|.

[razerwolfe.livejournal.com]

Wait. So it's Bush's fault that there are innumerable people from both major parties and loads of special interests sticking their dicks in the big hole and not letting someone build something there?

It's Bush's fault that the state and local government hasn't gotten out of the way and let people easily rebuild in NO?

Wow. Be mad at Bush for letting 9/11 happen (or causing it, if that is your bent) but to blame him because 8 years on other people are jockeying for whole gets the big backslap for doing something 'important' with that piece is far, far off the mark.

And as for NO; the State and Local govs FAILED to provide adequate upkeep on the levees (something that is part of a civil suit working through right now) because as we've seen, it's always better politically to do something ribbon-cutting and visible rather than maintain existing infrastructure. Yet, Bush is culpable for flagging efforts to rebuild 4 years on?

There is no magic wand of recovery that the federal government can wave. The is no fairy dust to put things back the way they were before. The best the government could do in both cases is to get the fuck out of peoples way and let them rebuild. That should be freaking obvious by now, but go ahead and blame Bush.

[etcet.livejournal.com]

1. It's Bush's fault for letting, or at least not acting more intelligently to prevent, 9/11.

2. It's Bush's fault for shoving FEMA into the process of NOLA recovery, and hiring or appointing incompetents to run it.

3. There's plenty of blame to go around for the shitty maintenance of the levee system. The fact that repairs, under the jurisdiction of the ACOE, are hampered by bureaucracy which could have been gotten out of the way, can arguably be laid at Bush's feet (see item 2).

4. There is a magic wand that was waved. It's shaped like a dollar sign. But when people who wanted to work couldn't get any of it, and the people who could get it were more interested in keeping it and subcontracting it out to their buddies (or applying for it when they didn't even need it, as has been the case in altogether too many instances)... that's a failure on the part of the folks trying to do right by distributing it. Again, see item 2.

So, yes. Simplistic though it may be, I *do* blame that coddled jackass for a whole raft of the fuckmuppetry that persists in his wake.

[y2kdragon.livejournal.com]

Don't hold back, man. Tell us how you really feel about the Shrub. And yes, Shrub, because he's about as intelligent as a house plant. And worse, he treated the American People like they weren't even that smart.

[ilcylic.livejournal.com]

Flying fighter jets isn't a job for idiots. God knows the man has failings galore, but trying to pin "stupid" on him is just foolish.

[moth2theflame.livejournal.com]

True. He was smart enough to go AWOL from the Texas ANG for months and not get court-martialed for it. ;-)

[ilcylic.livejournal.com]

See, the problem is, when people make stuff up (http://www.factcheck.org/new_evidence_supports_bush_military_service_mostly.html) about the guy, it detracts from the perfectly factual problems with the guy's performance.

[moth2theflame.livejournal.com]

LOL. Yeah he "barely" met his requirements. Certainly explains why he was barely a President. And what about him being grounded for missing a required physical exam? Honestly, this FactCheck article doesn't go very far in explaining why he was allowed to take so much time away from the Guard. I bet lots of soldiers currently in Afghanistan and Iraq would love to come home for six months to work on a political campaign; I suspect few of them have that luxury though.

[ilcylic.livejournal.com]

And all of those are accurate observations.

"AWOL" has a specific meaning, and using it in this context muddies the discussion. When you make claims that are specifically factually inaccurate, you grant his supporters a legitimacy they should not be granted.

[y2kdragon.livejournal.com]

Ok, then let me rephrase. Bush "sounded" stupid, and it felt like he treated the American People like they were no more intelligent than a potted plant.

[dogsbody01.livejournal.com]

Eight years later, there's still a big fucking hole in New York.
Four years after Katrina, New Orleans is still a disaster.


I am still filled with rage at the incompetence of failed prevention, the innumerable indignities foisted on us by the administration in the wake of 9/11 (PATRIOT, unjustified wars, etc), and the ineptitude with which "recovery" efforts have been handled.



Heck of a job, Dubya.

Thanks for summing it all up.That dumbfuck,dug us into such a pit,that somedays,I seriously have my doubts, that this country, as well as the world, can ever claw our way out again.

[moth2theflame.livejournal.com]

I understand where you're coming from, but I have to disagree that incompetence was the primary cause. For eight years (more, if you count Bush I and Reagan) there were people running this country who despised government and did everything in their power to make it fail, not the least of which was putting "incompetent" lackeys in charge of essential agencies like FEMA, the FDA, and so on. They knew exactly what they were doing and in large part succeeded.