I was out most of the day, and only just had a chance to view the clip (courtesy of Think Progress) of former FEMA director Michael Brown, giving my blog a free plug before a congressional subcommittee. Oh my. I had thought he was just blaming me for his downfall… I hadn’t realized he was actually blaming me for FEMA’s ineffectual response.
Here’s the full transcipt, again, courtesy of Think Progress:
While FEMA was trying to respond to probably the largest natural disaster in the history of this country, a catastrophic disaster that the president has described covering an area the size of Great Britain — I have heard 90,000 square miles — unless you have been there and seen it, you don’t realize exactly how bad and how big it was — but in the middle of trying to respond to that, FEMA’s press office became bombarded with requests to respond immediately to false statements about my resume and my background.
Ironically, it started with an organization called horsesass.org, that on some blog published a false, and, frankly, in my opinion, defamatory statement that the media just continued to repeat over and over. Next, one national magazine not only defamed me, but my alma mater, the Oklahoma City University School of Law, in one sentence alone leveling six false charges.
[snip]
But I guess it’s the media’s job. But I don’t like it. I think it’s false. It came at the wrong time. And I think it led potentially to me being pulled out of Louisiana because it made me somewhat ineffective.
So… um… it’s all my fault? What a prick.
Once again, I stand by the reporting in my original post, and I decry Brown’s defamatory statement that I made a defamatory statement.
Yeah, if only he was a superhero, then he’d be able to save the people of New Orleans from your villianous schemes!
Seems to me that Mike (your doing a heck of a job) Browie just proved to America (at least to those of us actually paying attention, who is the real horses ass. One other question, who let Brown out without coaching him on how to fall on a sword. At least Oliver North had enough honor to take one for the Gipper.
Republicans seem to be, to para-phrase General Honore, “stuck on stupid”. The problem for the rest of us is that they are still in charge.
Perhaps if you were to label the state and local officials that lacked proper and prudent future preparedness after so many years of scenarios warning of this possible level of disaster as the real “horses asses,” you’d be closer to the truth than blaming one man and one governmental agency with limited powers. No single person, nor single federal governmental body should be held accountable for the failers of you or I not being prepared ahead of time for what we all knew loomed as coming oneday to our front door. I believe the true blame lies in the people more interested in commerce than that of future preparedness. And to those of us as private citizens hiding our heads up a horse’s ass believing we are not responsible in being ready ahead of time, while living in an area of high risk, and thinking “Oh well. When it does happen FEMA will save us and bail us out.” How shallow is that form of thought!?!
When all of the screaming names at one another quiets down and facts are laid on the table, this disaster will lay blame at the feet of many private citizens, local officials, state government offices, and federal agencies. I would prefer to hear plain talk now… someone stepping up to the plate and saying honestly, “I take specific responsibilty for this/these part(s) of our response.” I was stunned to hear President Bush say, “we could have done better”…I give his speech writers and his strategists high marks on that, however, that highly generalized comment is also sufficient to cover every-day activity in Washington, but NOT something of this magnitude.
Ultimately people will pay for what happened during and after the Katrina hurricane…the key word there, is ‘pay’. The next time that you hear someone say that the federal government will pay for this or that, replace the words ‘federal government’ with ‘taxpayer dollars’. So, regardless of blame, american taxpayers will ‘pay’ for the disaster and the events that surround it. It will ultimately be US voters (a minority group that I subscribe to) to see who (and if) any elected officials will seek their ‘pay’ elsewhere.
I find it interesting and informative that you <> the part showing the actual lies you posted and the media latched on to. Seems you are afraid of truth…no surprise there…bedwetters are ALWAYS afraid of the truth.
Hey Goldy, just a note to let you know that Faux News has picked up on this story. The three hosts of Fox & Friends just spent five minutes discussing Brown’s mention of horsesass.org. Also, defending his resume, and attacking your domain name. That should driver some traffic, eh?
Goldy are you the only one that is answering your own blogs? As I read your site, it seems as if you’re the only one who is answering your own posts!
Anyways I think at this point Mike Brown – FEMA as a whole, Gov Blanco and Mayor Nagin and the whole system is too blame. I am sure that each of these individuals and the federal govt could have done more or better if given the second chance! But we are also forgetting about the people in Mississippi! Over in MS they didn’t start to loot when they weren’t getting food and water. No one talks about the police that were seen shoplifting at the walmart and how 40% of the New Orleans Police left their posts! YES, there are problems and the SYSTEM as a WHOLE is the PROBLEM!
Sounds to me like a lot hype and bulshit being said now on fox T.V. news and programs at this present time. It sounds to me like they are now trying to change this staggering disastrous happening, that no one seems to want to take the blame or responsibility for, all the while pointing their fingers at their other Colleagues.
They are trying to convince people that all these crimes did not take place after this hurricane, (such as rapes & murders) and everything is going to turn out for the better for all who lost everything. Things will turn around to the better, and in the future of this unified control and command, they will handle all disasters better next time they occurs.
How can they say this when the police chief had just resigned and a lot of the law enforcement had left and won’t come back. This seems to leave a little different impression on myself, while not being there, and that what was said before and now being said in the news, don’t really make much sense. Myself, I would say the ones there would have a completely different story to tell,… if they could get it in sideways.
Kind regards
Bob Miller– vanrijngo. com-edy
Watch, read and listen on the web, as congress, republicans, democrats, the media and bloggers tear off Micheal Brown’s metaphorical limbs one by one: 5 News Sites The facts didn’t back him up so Brown engaged in some revisionist history.(Brown’s R…
Congrats on the free plug. Now milk it for all it’s worth.
-Dave
Congratulations!!!!!!!!! Please do the same for bush now!!!!!!!
It seems some of the traffic that was generated here is sympathetic to Brown. It also seems they have been watching the MSM and the interviews etc.. defending Brown and his position. You folks need to understand something. Nobody is solely blaming Brown. There is plenty of blame to spread around. If you look at the timeline however, you can see that he suffered from and acute lack of leadership. He did not break protocol and launch the recovery effort and has distorted, misled and even flat out lied about events that took place to cover his horses-ass.
Nagin, Blanco and others will have their day to answer as well when the voting public decides if they will be their leaders again or not. But Brown was an appointed official who had no creditials or credibility. It was all cronyism favors. Look at the record.
Bottom line here is that you new folks that have come in (if you are new, I have not seen your names before) are not saying anything new. Goldy just called it as he saw it and I completely agree with his assessment of Brown.
But Michael Brown is the archetypal horse’s ass. Sheesh.
Now let’s see here…
An incompetent administration has an unqualified appointee in a disaster relief position and when the disaster hits the unqualified appointee can’t do the job and then blames the person who found out he was unqualified for the job for the unqualified appointee’s lack of qualifications.
Ok.
Just Checkin’.
I find it interesting that this country has gone from the period of “rugged indivudalism” where people were able to take care of themselves to an era where they expect and blame government for not taking care of them. I agree that Brown is partially at fault but it is time for the citizens, local & state officials to take some the blame as well. The mayor of New Orleans appears to be so out of it that he doesn’t even realize that he has done anything wrong.
Brown has a point. In the middle of the crisis is hardly the time to start questioning his resume. It is fair game to ask if he is doing the job at hand, but the nit-picking can begin after the people are rescued. He was removed from his post because he was beyond his capabilities in the task at hand, not because of some disputed job in Oklahoma.
Re new rightie bloggers on HA: We’ve been hashing things out on Goldy’s blog here for quite some time and your asinine renewal of the finger pointing game at local and state officials (largely Democrats) is just another disheartening return to square one with you perseverating righty bastards. In the immortal words of the vice pres.: “Why don’t you go fuck yourselves.”
Don’t think you’re that important there Goldy………….
Lucy @12:
You lady, are the direct defintion of a hypocrit. You are so naive it is almost comical. How’s that Prozac working out?
John @ 11
You are entirely correct. The White House made a BIG mistake in appointing Brown, but he isn’t the only one to blame. The problem is that the Lefty apologists refuse to see anything they’re not told to see by the mothership (
MoveMorOn.org).Remember, there are Democrats (who can be reasonable folks) and there are “Lefties” like lucy, rujax, et al. who give Democrats a bad name.
Mark1 @ 14
Prozac? CLEARLY, lucy is off her meds.
#14-
Hey brain surgeon what’s a hypocrit?
I KNOW what a hypocrite is…looks a lot like Mark1
A few month ago I discovered some local boards which ultimately led me to follow two in particular. HA and SP…both on opposite sites of the spectrum (or so it seems). Reading them it’s quite interesting to see what’s important to the originator (Goldy and Stephan), as well as the posters.
I made some observations from an outside point of view and from an independent point of view as well. (in no order of occurance or true importance)
1. HA tries to list national issues as long as they are anti-Bush, Anti-Republican or Anti-Christian. SP tries to be more true to their name and work on Seattle/WA issues. As I don’t think many outside the Seattle/WA area would care to read a Seattle blog still mixing in lots of Seattle issues, this is not beneficial for HA.
2. Both sides have their die hard followers, but I find the readers/posters on SP more civil than the posters on HA. Language can turn people off and HA posters are doing this to many indepentant readers. Even the esteemed leader of HA is very quick with the F word, which I have seen the leader of SP to us. Not everyone who disagrees with one post is automatically a f..idiot or other name (Lucy and Roger seem to be very good at that, on SP there are some as well, but fortunately not to the same extent).
3. Facts: Limiting the posts to local issues and providing more visible and provable facts will help. Hearsay, assumptions or other blaming without follow up does not give one credibility.
4. Goldy seems to be pre-occupied with Stephan…I have no clue why. Instead of working his side of the issues, posting topics which are near and dear to his heart, he continues to compare his blog/himself to Stephan. I don’t understand why, but I have some ideas.
5. Half of the posts from Goldy and his followers are what I would call blatent masturbation :-). Just thinking about the frequent posts about his rankings in the “Best of Seattle Polls” (with him asking to be listed etc..) to his claim to have broken the story about Michael Brown to so many others…why this obsession with self importance ? But it seems to be eaten up by many. I don’t see this on SP.
6. Facts, Facts, Facts: That’s what I look for. Yes both sides are partisan and I have no problem with it, and both sides spin.. but please, provide facts or at least pointers to more information. And no, I don’t want to have another link to another blog which says the same (Hearsay your honor, Hearsay).
I will continue to read both and in my mind, credibility is important. MSM is loosing it quickly, internet news are important, like it or not…the less shouting, name calling, the more credibility one has.
Food for thought ?
Terrible @ 9
‘Please do the same for bush now!!!!!!! ‘
What do you think this is all about? The HA team has been trying to tar Bush with everything and anyone that has some link to him. If you look at the timeline of Goldy’s rants you will see that HA was looking for blood even as there were people still dying in the streets of N.O. The fascination with Brown took priority over the floating corpses and true human tragedy.
In other words – While Goldy pried, poor people died.
Actually, if you look at the timeline you’ll see that Goldy’s post was on FRIDAY Sept 2, after FEMA had allowed people to sit without food or water for 5 days.
Mike Brown is claiming that Goldy’s post prevented FEMA from getting aid to people — AFTER THEY HAD ALREADY GONE 5 DAYS WITHOUT RELIEF.
He also seems to feel that having FEMA’s press office distracted by calls seriously impacts actual relief work on the ground. Since when is a press office being distracted important enough to affect life-saving efforts?
NoWonder, you’re typical of the Bush administration apologists — attacking the messenger.
A plug before Congress?
Guess you’re a blog star now!
Congratulations you can now sue brownie. Im sure a deflamation lawsuit could get you a few bucks if you really wanted to hire a non republican lawyer… (if there is such a thing). Aside from that congratulations you are a true international star now.
Janet S @16,
First, it was not the middle of the crisis… it was five days into it, after the federal response had already proven to be insufficient and chaotic. Second, it was exactly the time to question his resume… it got the ball rolling that eventually got him removed from his on-scene role, and replaced by somebody competent.
On 8/30 Goldy started playing politics!!
read his blog; he said looting cuz Bush had the troops in iraq
http://www.horsesass.org/index.php?m=20050830
To All My New Righty Friends…
…driven here by Fox News and other reports in the MSM and the blogosphere: welcome.
HA is an unabashedly liberal blog, but unlike most partisan blogs, I have always encouraged a passionate debate in the comment threads. So please, don’t be shy… you won’t hurt my feelers.
And To My New Liberal Friends…
…don’t let the righties have all the fun. Feel free to grab a rhetorical stick and start hitting back.
g @ 25
‘NoWonder, you’re typical of the Bush administration apologists — attacking the messenger.’
There was no defense of Bush in what I said, and what I said is true. The drooling and spasms the lefties were having over the possibility of tarring Bush, while dead floaters and soon-to-be-dead poor people were looking for help says all you need to know about HA.
Goldy:
If it’s truly false and defamatory, then Brownie should sue you for libel. Then, of course, you will get to take his deposition, on video if you like. Sworn testimony under oath, and not a friendly repub asking the questions. Remember how stupid Bill Gates looked saying “I don’t remember.” time and again in his video testimony in the MS antitrust case afew years back? Brownie will get to join him.
On the other hand, if Brownie doesn’t sue you, it what you said must betrue, because he wouldn’t be able to find a single one of those pesky, frivolous-suit-bringing tassel-loafer-wearing plaintiffs’ lawyers to bring his frivolous suit against you.
And you win the argument, because what you said was true.
Just thought you’d like to be reminded of that.
Hey someone’s stolen my handle! And it’s someone to the right of me.
Oh well I haven’t claimed it in a while. I won’t get all territorial about it like Mark who is also so so over-obsessed with moveon.org.
Goldy is again to be commended for exposing the cronyism of the Bush regime and the unfathomable incompetence of “heck of a job” Brownie.
The wingnuts gnash their teeth and cook up even more tortured rationalizations for this corrupt and incompetent administration.
I, for one, wish the story could have been broken earlier… How much time could have been saved if they’d had a competant leader in there earlier?
Also! Its funny watching new trolls come on here, echoing the same verbiage that we’ve been fighting for weeks (in this case) or months. Get some creativity, guys!
Finally, I think they should keep Brownie around in the administration… as a mascot. He’s such a wonderful example of their ‘I’m blameless, its that guys fault, the buck stops somewhere else, HEY! LOOK OVER THERE!’ ethic that we see so much with the Bushies. He’s such a wonderful example of everything thats wrong with this administration, they should erect a statue of him in front of Bush’s ‘ranch’.
a few points
-I thought the whole idea of a Press Office is to deal with the press so the office can stay focused on the job at hand? Stupid reasoning Brown…ur a putz.
-Handwringing over the few people too stupid and lazy to leave or prepare when they all were warned to get the heck out is so overdone. I say let Darwin do a little cleanup on the gene pool and to hell with them. If they don’t even have enough sense to start running the faucet and collecting some fresh water, go to the evacuating next door neighbors and ask them for spare canned goods…etc. then to HELL with them
lucy@17 good word (perseverating) 1 point, but that’s about all the post is worth, a new word. Looks to me like you just wanted to hear yourself swear.
john@15 has it right, this country has become a weak spineless irresponsible welfare state thanks to the big society and events like Katrina just bring it out
PAC
What do you think this is all about? The HA team has been trying to tar Bush with everything and anyone that has some link to him.
Goddammit Goldy!!! I’ve been a loyal reader for a long damn time. You go and start a team, and I have to hear about it from a winger?!?! WTF?!
We’ll see how well your blog grows when I stop sacrificing infants by the light of the full moon. Ungrateful bastard…
Some day Goldy’s gonna be famous…
Does Goldy have talent…..well NO.
These days he don’t really need it
Thanks to reality shows.
Goldy can’t wait to date a supermodel
Goldy can’t wait to sue his dad
Goldy can’t wait to wreck his Ferrari
On his way to rehab!
Cuz when Goldy’s a celebrity
It’s adios reality.
Goldy acts just like a fool
And people think he’s cool
Just cuz he’s on a Blog.
Goldy throws a major fit
When his latte isn’t just how he likes it.
They say Goldy’s gone insane
Goldy blames it on the fame
And pressures that go with
Bein’ a celebrity!!!
Goldy falls in and out of love
And marriages that barely last a month.
When they go down the drain
Goldy blames it on the fame
And pressures that go with
Bein’ a celebrity.
So Goldy hitch up your wagon
And head out West
To the land of the fun and the sun
Goldy’s a real world asshole
A horsesass millionaire
Hey, Hey Hollywood
HERE GOLDY COMES!!!!
Brad Paisley obviously had self-absorbed LEFTIST PINHEADS like Goldy in mind when he wrote his song “Celebrity”. Everytime Goldy tries to capitalize knocking down someone else’s success (Eyman) or capitalize on tragedies in the midst of suffering, I think of this theme song. Goldy is in denial about the consequences of the timing of his destructive acts. Goldy’s personal celebrity is obviously more important than actually helping people.
windie @ 33
‘I, for one, wish the story could have been broken earlier…’
You might ask why it did not break earlier, perhaps during any of the other disasters Brown worked on. Oh, perhaps he worked those other ones OK? That would be a hard conclusion for any of Goldy’s one-note Johnys to swallow.
‘Finally, I think they should keep Brownie around in the administration… as a mascot.’
It appears that they are keeping him on for a bit, surely dictated by Karl Rove. This whole campaign the lefties have waged against Bush has actually been planned by Rove. He has had you guys chasing your tail and ranting to high heaven for 5 years. How does it feel to have the tail wagging the dog?
Keep up the good work!
Libs; No rebuttal that as early as Tuesday, 8/30, Goldy was falsely claiming the Iraq efforts screwed up the N.O. relief?
Thought “perfect” goldy said it was 5 days after the flood, not the day after…
Who was the boob saying Goldy was perfectly honest all the time?
Another TJ @ 34
‘We’ll see how well your blog grows when I stop sacrificing infants by the light of the full moon.’
This is no time to change the topic to abortion. There is still a possibility that Brown may implicate Bush. Back in line please.
NW @ 36
The Florida hurricane before the 2004 election was another triumph of Brownie’s “competence”. Writing out hundreds of checks to people who didn’t need them! Why I wonder?
Keep up the good work attacking Goldy and his fans, NoWonder! It helps take the heat off the most corrupt incompetent administration this country has ever known.
righton @ 37
‘Who was the boob saying Goldy was perfectly honest all the time?’
C’mon righton, that was a lie. Some things can just go without saying.
nowoder; naw, was either dj or windie; had me tied down for a day or so when i called bs that goldy had written over 1000 articles and all were accurate…
NoWonder@33
duuuuuuuuuh~
So you’re saying that he’s competant because he can (kinda) handle smaller emergencies (yay for giving away money! now thats conservatism!)? You realize thats insane/stupid, right?
The story broke because his pathetic performance got peoples attention. If we’d had a real press for the last 5 years, maybe it wouldn’t have gotten to that point.
How can you stand being such a hopeless shill, NoWonder?
righton: nah, I was just makin’ fun of the fact that you don’t know what the word ‘article’ means.
But thats offtopic ;)
Brownie was never qualified to begin with, and I spent last night going over the full testimony uninterrupted, had some red wine, then watched it again, and in both my sober and soaked up state I have to say… the guy is truly the Horse’s Ass.
I checked online and saw absolutely nothing, and I mean nothing, from any credible organziation of any kind, that showed he even had a smidgen of experience.
As to the question of doing one’s job: I, too, have worked at the federal, the state, the municipal, the county, and the parish level in both Texas and Louisiana and I can tell you this… when the whole thing goes to hell, as it did here, someone just has to step up. To hell with bureaucracy, just step in AND DO THE JOB OF SAVING LIVES.
Don’t muck with red tape, don’t muck with forms and sending trucks back and forth – just start getting things done. I have served under countless mayors, county comissioners, ajdunct this and that, and I have always told the red tape to go stick itself when a situation warranted action.
If I, a low and mid level government servant, can do it, “Brownie” can do it at that high level. In a crisis situation, you just have to rise up – especially in his level and at his post. Maybe not by rule of law, but by rule of conscious. You have to go above and beyond the job, and he failed to even start by opening his office door. He was oblivious to what was happening, he was an idiot, and he was a complete failure.
We forget that sometimes, in a crisis, action is more needed than forms. Brownie clearly forgot this. It may not have been his “responsibility” according to the org boxes, but it sure as heck was his office’s moral responsibility, and he failed on that one (which is far more important in every way).
As for his coordination skills, he lacks severely. Having aided on drafting the emergency plan in Houston following Tropical Storm Allison, let me tell you something: “coordination” goes far and beyond a few phone calls and pleading. It means getting things done IN SPITE OF the idiocy of bureaurcracy. It means going above and beyond – it means moving resources and getting things where they need to be, not cajoling a bunch of bickering folk around.
Brownie lost it – he failed. Simple as that. Yeah, sure, from a civil service standpoint, he may have met all his responsibilities, and on paper he may have been fine and dotted all the “i’s” and what have you… but the reality is, he failed the true litmus test of what it means to head an organization like FEMA: can you be there when it counts? He was not.
The Original John @ 39
‘It helps take the heat off the most corrupt incompetent administration this country has ever known.’
Hello…who was talking about Clinton? Stay on topic please.
‘Writing out hundreds of checks to people who didn’t need them!’
This is always terrible, and one of the reasons that many think the government has too much money to spend. Closer to home there were dairy farmers in Vancouver, WA that received “disatster relief” money due to an earthquake in Olympia.
Hey Goldy:
If you’re lucky, maybe Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter will blame FEMA’s disastrous performance on you. Then you know you’ve made the big time. Just remember us little people when you get your nationally syndicated talk show.
It’s a time honored tradition, blame the messenger. War not working out? Blame it on media coverage and anti-war protestors undermining our armed forces. FEMA’s director can’t find his ass with both hands? It’s because he was preoccupied with responding to negative coverage of his qualifications.
windie @ 42
‘How can you stand being such a hopeless shill, NoWonder?’
My question to you as well. Have some more kool-aid.
nowonder@46
aww c’mon, can’t you even come up with your own thoughts? When you’re not parroting party line, I swear you’re playing tape-recorder and playing back something that one of the lefties on here says to you.
Actually… it just occurs to me! You could do Brown’s job! Its perfect! Mindless loyalty, the ability to say and do exactly what you’re told… a natural!
You might actually be better, too… we know you’re at least able to turn on a computer.
damn, said a bad word in there.
Come up with your own insults/comments Nowonder! This whole ‘parrot’ schtick gets really old~
Jimmy, you been here long? Look at some of the animal hind parts archives and you will see a select few on the left who put the whole blame on Mike Brown. Even when it was discovered that FEMA has seven truckloads of food and water ready for Red Cross and Salvation Army disbursement to the people at the Superdome, Convention Center and the I-10 bridge, but were blocked by Governor Blanco’s orders not to use the food to force the people out of there, these leftists continued to blame Mike Brown. There is an abject hatres for GWB and through their hatred comes blindness to the facts as presented.
windie–
Plagary is a form of flattery.
You are such a clever SOB….who wouldn’t want to be you windie???
Perhaps you are just getting your chain pulled??
Go with the flow windie…
It ain’t that important.
@49
“plagarism”, moron.
Good question! Everyone would want to be me, if they only knew… I’m so smart and pretty and perfect!
anyways, thats the saddest part about you goofballs… YOu’re not even creative trolls. Just the same ol’ crap. (Example: your ‘haha! You’re mad! You’re taking it too seriously!’ Like I haven’t seen that 10000000000000000 times before…)
windie–
Lighten up! You are way too intense. Your arteries are going to explode on you.
When you get all would up and uptight, it would take an International Harvester Tractor to pull a pin outta yer ass!
PS–It’s actually P-L-A-G–I–A-R-I-S-M not plagarism you fucking nimrod! If you are going to correct someone, you may take a moment to use spell-check since you are too fucking stupid to correct someone correctly without it. Comprende asshole?
I find it interesting that this country has gone from the period of “rugged indivudalism” where people were able to take care of themselves to an era where they expect and blame government for not taking care of them. -Comment by John— 9/28/05 @ 7:22 am
Welcome to a country suffering the after effects of 40+years of rampant LIBERALISM, John…ain’t it great?
@22 rujax:
You sir, are barely worth a response. Maybe we should arm wrestle; that is, if you can stop hugging your tree long enough.
Irrelevant@55
just read that again, and the funny thing is that you say I’m too mad… Classic Rightie Projection
Yer just pissed I have you pinned as the useless, run of the mill troll you are.
PS: not that it matters, but my bad on the spelling. At least I was going for a real word
windie@58–
Ahhhhhhhh, I forgot. You LEFTIST PINHEADS are into the “close enough” and “you get an ‘A’ for showing up and trying” form of education. I shouldn’t have harmed your already fragile self-esteem windie by pointing out that you incorrectly corrected me on the spelling of plagiarism. Perhaps some hypno-therapy and good old-fashioned New Age mumbo-jumbo will help prop you up again.
I see you are working hard on your anger management.
That’s good….important to show a teensy-bit of slef-control once in a blue moon. But you and I both know that underneath your new found pacifism boils anger and bitterness that is not warranted. It will be interesting to see how long you maintain your calm, reasonable facade….Remember your favorite mantra……..Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, IHATEBUSH IHATEROVE IHATE THEREFORE IAM Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!
Perhaps you need this kind of counseling windie http://www.shantimai.com
but my bad on the spelling. Comment by windie— 9/28/05 @ 10:53 am
“my bad”
Ah, now we know we’re dealing with a child… or, at the most, a poorly educated teenager.
damned cheap ASS filter.
Why argue with them?
I used to do this until I really started understanding what motivates them. They don’t care about policy, they don’t care if Bush pisses away ever last cent in this country, they don’t even care if he can manage to come to basic level of competance of any form of government: Keeping it’s citizen’s alive.
What they care about is the enemy, they have been fighting this shadow war in the dark for years and years against this terrible cabal that own the media and academia. It’s the exact same conspiratorial mindset from Germany circa 1927 except now it’s just liberals instead of Jews and liberals (except among a few who can’t be broken). There is a cartoon from that era, it’s got a tied up Germany, a journalist smearing ink on poor Germany, a ball and chain tied to it’s leg called “the league of nations”, and a black man beating his ass. There is a nazi tied to a pole looking like if he could just get those ropes off He’d sort their ass out.
Substitue Uncle Sam, the same damn journalist, same damn black man, and update the league of nations to United Nations, and put these folks in there instead of the brownshit.
Now obviously Bush isn’t a nazi. He’s obviously not much of anything, but you think these people are motivated to come out lick an obvious idiots ass because they love Bush? They hate you. There is absolutely no point in arguing with them, the drive here six years into this obviously has little coherent political ideology. No conservative in their right mind would look at the massive graft and cronyism that has been the hallmark of all this as something great. All they have left (and possibly all they need) are these guys and the only thing that gets them going is the fact that you exist. There is no way to argue with that.
Brownie blames everyone and everything but himself, what a man you are. Hey Brownie little man, there has been a lot of blood spilled for OUR RIGHT to have a free press and the right of citizens to have their opinions of public officials. You apparently voluntarily took the FEMA appointment, which made you, your background, your bio, as well as your performance at FEMA, public record. I don’t really care what you think of the mayor or governor, that will rest with their constituents, FEMA was designed to step in when the local and state governments were overwhelmed. The buck stops there, Brownie. Why did you leave your ten year tenure at IAHA, immediate past, off of the official FEMA bio page? Being in Arabian horses for a very long time it was also news to me that IAHA was an ‘international subsidiary of the US Olympic Committee.’ Well Brownie, it would have made no difference if you hadn’t looked like a deer in the headlamps, when asked about the innocent folks trapped at the convention center for example. Chris Shays sure got the ‘deer in the headlamps’ right. Although I’ve seen many deer who looked less bewildered than you in the headlamps. Anyway, Brownie welcome to HorseASS, even if you only have the courage to lurk!
puddy @ 52
your facts are incorrect in that post. Blanco did no such thing.
ass:
whats it like being a stuffy prig that can’t handle lighthearted use of the vernacular?
I suppose the fact that I have you losers frothing at the mouth so hard is a mark that I’ve done something right.
windie–
You seem to take yourself oh so seriously….
YOU, WINDIE, have us “frothing at the mouth so hard”????
You poor pathetic SOB.
Most of us do this for fun….bantering back & forth….but don’t lay awake at night LIKE YOU DIMWIT believing that America will somehow be changed by what Windie posts on HorsesAss.org!!!
Get a life sucker.
turn off the echochamber cyincal, its kinda sad.
Seriously tho’. (and I don’t know why I try even halfheartedly to discuss things with you straight) Who throws around CAPSLOCK statements? who uses atleast 15 question marks and 20 exclamation points in each post? Who’s visibly angry?
Hint: its not me.
I think Mr. Irrelevant’s and Ass’s problem reflect the problem that the thugs who’ve hijacked the republican party have. They think their statements DEFINE reality. Intead of accepting facts, they try to change them by yelling, bullying, hurling insults, and relying on misdirection.
Just like Brown did in his testimony. Repetition doesn’t make reality, guys…
Maybe once you people, and the Rightwing/Conservative/Republican/Neocon/whatever you wanna call it movement figures that out, and gets their feet firmly back on solid ground, we can work at moving forward and improving things again.
No, our problem is we are attempting adult arguements with CHILDREN.
I know of NOT ONE SINGLE, RATIONAL, THINKING ADULT that employs the slang, the euphanisms, the getto/rap talk, the ‘text talk’ of their pre-teen CHILDREN…. which is probably what makes us CONSERVATIVE parents: we actually want to be the ADULT PARENTS of our children and not their ‘pal’, their ‘homey’ or their ‘best bud’ and our children expect it of us and are far better for it.
damned cheap ASS filter.
Windie; speaking of hijacking a party…
Where can i get info on Democrats opposed to abortion? Democrats for keeping some religion in public places?
righton@70
Try google? Damned if I know… I’m not a Dem.
ASS@68
Is that the best you can do? Have you so totally abandoned the facts that you have to rant about your opponents being children, along with some crazed rant about that “Newfangled intrrnet language”? I mean seriously, is resorting to invictive “Rational, Adult” conversation? Geeze.
And where the hell did the “What makes a good Parent” bit come from? You’re losing your grip there, man.
Fo’shizzle
You may as well be trying to have an argument with Terry Schiavo.
I’ll argue with people about other issues, but I’m not going to try and talk to the sort of room temperature IQ, automaton who could be roused to defend Mr. Brown.
re 23: I read down to your “Anti-Christian” remark and no further. Your bias and agenda are known to me already.
Torridjoe: You are joshing me right? Yes she (Governor Blanco) did do that thing. Then when caught on camera telling an aide she screwed up she went national last week saying she screwed the pooch. You need to move off mooron.org. Check the Houston Chronicle, Dallas Morning News, Washington Post and LA Times. Your left-wing newspapers all covered albeit begrungingly the original story broke by Major Garrett of Fox News. Blanco DID order the LA National Guard to stop the food shipments, the American Red Cross put this on their web site and the President of the Red Cross and the Commander of the Salvation Army went on national news and repeated it. But then I suppose Torridjoe, you were reading and wathcing what. So I included the newspapers for your Googling enjoyment. Search my entries on this animal hind parts blog, and you’ll see the links and the Red Cross website statement.
Remember I said long ago on this blog that Mike Brown was bad. You can search animal hind parts and you’ll see I’m consistent. So try again Torridjoe!!!!
Bush is the one responsible for this whole mess. He created the conditions that made it possible.
BUSH IS RESPONSIBLE, AND NO ONE ELSE!!!!!
And s-choir what conditions did Bush create?
I knizzow of NOT ONE SINGLE, RATIONAL, THINKING ADULT tizzy employs tha slang, tha euphanisms, tha getto/rap talk, tha ‘text T-to-tha-izzalk’ of they pre-teen CHILDREN… ya dig?. which is probably what makes us CONSERVATIVE parents: we actually want ta be tha ADULT PARENTS of our children n not they ‘pal’, they ‘homey’ or they ‘best bizzle n our children expect it of us n is far betta fo` it cuz Im tha Double O G.
Puddy@76
Well, he created a condition where loyalty (or $$$ donations) is (are) more important than skill and talent…. You know, Cronyism.
In addition, his anti-environmental agenda greatly hurt programs like the efforts to rebuild the wetlands outside of NOLA, which are/were useful in mitigating the effects of hurricanes. Whether or not they would have been enough to withstand Katrina either way, (we’ll never know at this point) his cutting of the levee upgrade/repair project to fuel his Iraq war has to at LEAST be considered as increasing the risk of a levee failure in the event of the storm. Also, altho’ there were Nat Guard left in Louisiana, but they were very much undermanned and underequipped compared to what they should have been, again due to Bush’s policies.
S-choir might be going overboard saying Bush is ‘responsible’ for the disasters, but alot of his policies had the consequence of making the damage far worse, and for making catastrophe far more likely.
windie–
You are saying the “wetlands” outside of New Orleans were hurt by Bush to the extent they were useful in mitigating the effect of hurricanes?? Then you say “we’ll never know” if this damage could have held back the effects of Katrina?????????
BAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
Did you take Ecology at Evergreen?
It sounds like something a flower-child would babble.
You know windie–I believe that you honestly believe that….which is scarier than shit!
You’re so easy mr. irrelevant.
I knew my post on the other thread would bring you back.
I can see why you follow these guys now. You’re exactly the kind of person they want in the voting public… Easily manipulated and led, prone to self-righteous anger, its PERFECT
And you’re either misunderstanding or misrepresenting what I said (with you it could be either).
Its been covered on HA before, so I’m not going to recite the sources. Basicly, the receding marshes south of NOLA act as a buffer, reducing the impact of storms. Back in the ’90s there was a program proposed (and possibly started, but I don’t think so) to work on rebuilding those marshes, which have been dissapearing for decades due to dredging on the Mississippi river. Of course I never said they would have prevented the storm, but the buffer helps… really.
Exactly like I said, I would never say it was Bush’s fault… But so many of his policy decisions made the damage so much more severe (and so greatly increased the risk of failure as well).
Oh my… did a little preliminary research on the wetlands issue, and came upon this.
(from National Geographic ~ it’s not dated, but from the text is pre-katrina)
“The Louisiana bayou, hardest working marsh in America, is in big trouble—with dire consequences for residents, the nearby city of New Orleans, and seafood lovers everywhere. ”
not gonna quote the whole thing, its LONG… don’t wanna get filtered ;)
(risking getting filtered, I don’t trust the righties to actually click the link to read)
…
Yet just as the risks of a killer storm are rising, the city’s natural defenses are quietly melting away. From the Mississippi border to the Texas state line, Louisiana is losing its protective fringe of marshes and barrier islands faster than any place in the U.S. Since the 1930s some 1,900 square miles (4,900 square kilometers) of coastal wetlands—a swath nearly the size of Delaware or almost twice that of Luxembourg—have vanished beneath the Gulf of Mexico. Despite nearly half a billion dollars spent over the past decade to stem the tide, the state continues to lose about 25 square miles (65 square kilometers) of land each year, roughly one acre every 33 minutes.
A cocktail of natural and human factors is putting the coast under. Delta soils naturally compact and sink over time, eventually giving way to open water unless fresh layers of sediment offset the subsidence. The Mississippi’s spring floods once maintained that balance, but the annual deluges were often disastrous. After a devastating flood in 1927, levees were raised along the river and lined with concrete, effectively funneling the marsh-building sediments to the deep waters of the Gulf. Since the 1950s engineers have also cut more than 8,000 miles (13,000 kilometers) of canals through the marsh for petroleum exploration and ship traffic. These new ditches sliced the wetlands into a giant jigsaw puzzle, increasing erosion and allowing lethal doses of salt water to infiltrate brackish and freshwater marshes.
While such loss hits every bayou-loving Louisianan right in the heart, it also hits nearly every U.S. citizen right in the wallet. Louisiana has the hardest working wetlands in America, a watery world of bayous, marshes, and barrier islands that either produces or transports more than a third of the nation’s oil and a quarter of its natural gas, and ranks second only to Alaska in commercial fish landings. As wildlife habitat, it makes Florida’s Everglades look like a petting zoo by comparison.
Such high stakes compelled a host of unlikely bedfellows—scientists, environmental groups, business leaders, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers—to forge a radical plan to protect what’s left. Drafted by the Corps a year ago, the Louisiana Coastal Area (LCA) project was initially estimated to cost up to 14 billion dollars over 30 years, almost twice as much as current efforts to save the Everglades. But the Bush Administration balked at the price tag, supporting instead a plan to spend up to two billion dollars over the next ten years to fund the most promising projects. Either way, Congress must authorize the money before work can begin.
To glimpse the urgency of the problem afflicting Louisiana, one need only drive 40 minutes southeast of New Orleans to the tiny bayou village of Shell Beach. Here, for the past 70 years or so, a big, deeply tanned man with hands the size of baseball gloves has been catching fish, shooting ducks, and selling gas and bait to anyone who can find his end-of-the-road marina. Today Frank “Blackie” Campo’s ramshackle place hangs off the end of new Shell Beach. The old Shell Beach, where Campo was born in 1918, sits a quarter mile away, five feet beneath the rippling waves. Once home to some 50 families and a naval air station during World War II, the little village is now “ga’an pecan,” as Campo says in the local patois. Gone forever.
…
willing to admit you’re wrong on that issue yet, Mr. Irrelevant?
Windie, he’s a blowhard and a bully. He’s intellectually dishonest and basically makes shit up to support his tired little canards.
Nice article winded. Now you are asking Bush to replace in his administration something that “Since the 1950s engineers have also cut more than 8,000 miles (13,000 kilometers) of canals through the marsh for petroleum exploration and ship traffic.” has occurred over 50 years.
You are asking Bush to pony up “Drafted by the Corps a year ago, the Louisiana Coastal Area (LCA) project was initially estimated to cost up to 14 billion dollars over 30 years,” to perform the repairs now? Where was the great senator mary landrieu on this? Hmmm… intersting analogy mr. winded!
rujax@83
I know… thats why I”m trying to twist the knife. I have a fantasy in my mind where I shame his propagandizing ass off of the blog…
The problem is, how do you shame someone who has no shame?
Also, I get a guilty joy out of making him look dumb.
puddy@84
well we’re wandering a bit offtopic, but…
the article was just too unbelievable, so I had to post it (October ’04, by the way)
Doesn’t matter where she is, silly. The republicans control all 3 branches of Government. No shifting of responsibility when the Dems’ are Powerless :p
I am not shifting my argument. All I am saying is now you want instantaneous reparations to the marshes and wetlands that have been damaged by the same group who wants to repair it. Looks like a double standard and somewhat an obtuse demand.
He IS such a jackass.
puddy@87
I’m sorry, I meant that I’m offtopic, not you :p
My point is that although the repairs will take Decades, the Bush administration specifically derailed (defunded) them, thus increasing the longterm risk to the NOLA region. It was just another example of how he was increasing the risk to New Orleans.
Hope thats a bit clearer ;)
windie—
Interesting read.
Do you have the resume and background of the author, Joel K. Bourke, Jr.????
I was looking to see what his credentials are but couldn’t find anything with a Google Search.
Can you help me out….
Since you are citing him and his article from National Geographic, I suppose you must know his credentials. Don’t you??
irrelevant@90
good to see you’ve calmed down… I was worried for a while.
As to your rhetorical question, of course I haven’t. I trust National Geographic though. They’re a reputable magazine, and have never shown much axe to grind. If you want to show that the Nat. Geo. Society has some anti-Bush agenda, I hope you do. I’d LOVE you to do that. Either way, all the article says is that the Wetlands erosion is real.
Let me ask you this back: Do you dispute the statistics, history, and science of the article? If so can you cite references to this refutation? And if you can’t when can I expect your admission that you were wrong?
I can’t wait :D
Windie: I love how you use the word defunded. If there was no fund, how can something be defunded? They asked for a level and they receiveed another level. That is not defunded. I used to manage a department. I budgeted at a level. If I got more, I was funded for the next year. If I received less, then I could honestly say I took a budget cut. But if I asked for 15% increase and I received 8%, I still received an increase.
It’s like how your side who for years funded budget items way over the inflation rate claimed something was “cut” because it was funded at the inflation rate. That’s bs speak.
puddy@92
would deemphasized work for you?
how about “decided it wasn’t worth supporting against the advice of scientists, environmental groups, business leaders, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers”?
Face it. Regardless of the semantics, he simply doesn’t care. A longterm project to protect New Orleans and preserve a rich, unique natural area simply didn’t warrent Bush’s attention.
You can twist all you want, but you can’t avoid this.
I can accept deemphasized. Was there a hue and cry over the wetlands? Did the Interior Department say NO would collapse if we don’t perform this ACoE improvements. They may be a great thing to do but your claim of instantaneous reparations to the marshes and wetlands now is hollow. I can see it now, the marshes are being repaired and who will sue? The Sierra Club.
But you ignored my question? Is that a budget cut when a program is funded at the inflation rate? Yes or No?
puddy@94
Missed the question; In my opinion, if funding is being held steady to inflation it isn’t a budget cut. Hows that?
I never said it was instant, I said it was a symptom of Bush’s disregard. I mean I can see how you could get there from here, but its a stretch.
Wow, a civil conversation windie. Thanks for the repartee!!! Regarding the stretch, if you need $14 BB over 30 years, how much do you ask for up front. Regarding the disregard, that may be your opinion regarding priorities.
windie–
National Geographic didn’t write the article…Bourke did.
Let me know if you find out more about his background, ok?
Rugrat602: Even though GWB has made mistakes, I’d take him in a heartbeat over scary kerry, alloutbore gore or wipeyourassclean dean. Since he is Dr. Howard Dean, why didn’t he give his doctorin’ services to dem po black peeples FREE? Cause he’s an ass!!! During the past eight year administration we had: A H Khan of Pakistan pass nuclear secrets, North Korea go nuclear again, Qaddafi create chemical weapons. So much for Dr. HAlfbright! Well a little show of force, these have turned around.
Chris Hitchens said it best about peaceniks: “Saddam would still gassing his Kurds (and whey), Milosovic would have ethnically cleansed Bosnia, Al Qaeda would still be in Afghanistan, and the Taliban would still be in power.” I add the French, Germans, and Russians would still be selling Saddam illegal weaponry.
irr@97
Thats the best you can do? Pathetic.
I trust them to vet their articles.
I repeat: challenge the science of the article, or admit you’re wrong
still waiting…
Windie;
If 100% of Gov Blanko’s issues are in Lousiana, and 100% of Ray Nagins’ are in New Orleans, why does Bush, who only has say 5% of his country down there, end up bearing 100% of the blame?
righton@101
dunno why I even bother…
I guess you either didn’t read or didn’t understand what I typed… So I’ll make it simple for you.
1) Bush isn’t 100% to blame, but he did alot that either didn’t fix the problem, made it worse, or increased the longterm risk.
2) We should talk about Bush, not Blanco and Nagin, because Bush’s incompetance can hurt us in Washington. Blanco can’t hurt us at all up here. Considering that the whole reason you bring those 2 up is to give Bush cover, therefore trying to make it so he doesn’t have to fix the the mess he’s made of our emergency preparedness (and our country, but I digress…) If talking about Nagin & Blanco removes us at all from problems that could touch us here, then we need to not do it.
That make sense? or Shall I type slower?
damn sentence structure (repairs bolded):
“Considering that the whole reason you bring those 2 up is to give Bush cover, therefore trying to make it so he doesn’t have to fix the the mess he’s made of our emergency preparedness (and our country, but I digress…) it’d be actively harmful to focus on them.“
This has already been commented above, but Mike Brown’s claim that your breaking the news about his background somehow prevented him from doing his job flies in the face of the fact that by Sept. 2 it was already obvious that the Federal response was a total clusterf*ck.
What the heck, let him rave. The more this windbag sounds off, the more he makes clear his own incompetence and lack of character. This in turn reflects right back on the administration that hired him.
It’s been more or less stated above, but Brown is trying to claim that your having broken the story about his background prevented him from doing his job. The greatest absurdity of this is that by Sep. 2 it was already apparent that the Federal response was a total clusterf*ck.
IT’S ALL BUSH’S FAULT. That’s the bottom line. He took responsibilty, didn’t he? Or was he lying again? Aside from all the weasely evasions and and finger-pointing from the traitors on the Republican IRRESPONSIBLE EXTREME RIGHT, the buck stops right at Bushes door and the polls reflect that Americans know this and are beginning to rewind the whole Bush tape for a closer and more thoughtful look.
THE EXTREME RIGHTIES’ FLOP-SWEAT IS PALPABLE! IT’S STINKIN’ UP THE WHOLE PLACE!!