Dems rest hopes on Ike...

Gustav did not deliver. So, Democrats are hoping--and dare I say praying--that maybe hurricane Ike will kill many thousands of people; thus, advancing the Democrat agenda against Boosh and Global Warming.

Gustav did not deliver. So, Democrats are hoping--and dare I say praying--that maybe hurricane Ike will kill many thousands of people; thus, advancing the Democrat agenda against Boosh and Global Warming.

So is this part of your wit, your quirky sense of humor?

I see nothing here but partisan B.S.

Do you use your pastorship to promote these hateful ideas?

TerryRC wrote:Gustav did not deliver. So, Democrats are hoping--and dare I say praying--that maybe hurricane Ike will kill many thousands of people; thus, advancing the Democrat agenda against Boosh and Global Warming.

So is this part of your wit, your quirky sense of humor?

I see nothing here but partisan B.S.

Do you use your pastorship to promote these hateful ideas?

Michael Moore, Jabba the Butt, said last week prior to the GOP convention that Gustav was a "God send." Why, TerryRC? Was he hoping that Gustav would be another Katrina--both in its intensity and lethality?

Michael Moore, Jabba the Butt, said last week prior to the GOP convention that Gustav was a "God send." Why, TerryRC? Was he hoping that Gustav would be another Katrina--both in its intensity and lethality?

I missed that. I have just your say so and that taken out of context, very likely.

I don't like Moore and think he is somewhat of a hack. I certainly don't know what he is hoping.

I DO, however, know what you were saying. Do you use your church to promote these hateful ideas?

When someone like me calls you out do you use the kindergarten excuse of "well, they were doing, also"?

A little research would have shown TerryH is right about Michael Moore and Gustav

TerryRC wrote:Michael Moore, Jabba the Butt, said last week prior to the GOP convention that Gustav was a "God send." Why, TerryRC? Was he hoping that Gustav would be another Katrina--both in its intensity and lethality?

I missed that. I have just your say so and that taken out of context, very likely.

I don't like Moore and think he is somewhat of a hack. I certainly don't know what he is hoping.

I DO, however, know what you were saying. Do you use your church to promote these hateful ideas?

When someone like me calls you out do you use the kindergarten excuse of "well, they were doing, also"?

It is my opinion that not only would some Democrats like to see a Katrina-like hurricane hit New Orleans; but, Democrats have a vested interest in defeat in Iraq--in fact, Mr. Reid already conceded defeat. Let me say, furthermore, nothing would delight some Democrats more than to see our country attacked by Jihadists like the 9/11 attacks.

Michael Moore, Jabba the Butt, said last week prior to the GOP convention that Gustav was a "God send." Why, TerryRC? Was he hoping that Gustav would be another Katrina--both in its intensity and lethality?

Michael Moore's witty satire exceeds even that of the famous Keli. Here is what Michael Moore actually said:
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An Open Letter to God, from Michael Moore
Sunday, August 31st, 2008

Dear God,

The other night, the Rev. James Dobson's ministry asked all believers to pray for a storm on Thursday night so that the Obama acceptance speech outdoors in Denver would have to be cancelled.

I see that You have answered Rev. Dobson's prayers -- except the storm You have sent to earth is not over Denver, but on its way to New Orleans! In fact, You have scheduled it to hit Louisiana at exactly the moment that George W. Bush is to deliver his speech at the Republican National Convention.

Now, heavenly Father, we all know You have a great sense of humor and impeccable timing. To send a hurricane on the third anniversary of the Katrina disaster AND right at the beginning of the Republican Convention was, at first blush, a stroke of divine irony. I don't blame You, I know You're angry that the Republicans tried to blame YOU for Katrina by calling it an "Act of God" -- when the truth was that the hurricane itself caused few casualties in New Orleans. Over a thousand people died because of the mistakes and neglect caused by humans, not You.

Some of us tried to help after Katrina hit, while Bush ate cake with McCain and twiddled his thumbs. I closed my office in New York and sent my entire staff down to New Orleans to help. I asked people on my website to contribute to the relief effort I organized -- and I ended up sending over two million dollars in donations, food, water, and supplies (collected from thousands of fans) to New Orleans while Bush's FEMA ice trucks were still driving around Maine three weeks later.

But this past Thursday night, the Washington Post reported that the Republicans had begun making plans to possibly postpone the convention. The AP had reported that there were no shelters set up in New Orleans for this storm, and that the levee repairs have not been adequate. In other words, as the great Ronald Reagan would say, "There you go again!"

So the last thing John McCain and the Republicans needed was to have a split-screen on TVs across America: one side with Bush and McCain partying in St. Paul, and on the other side of the screen, live footage of their Republican administration screwing up once again while New Orleans drowns.

So, yes, You have scared the Jesus, Mary and Joseph out of them, and more than a few million of your followers tip their hats to You.

But now it appears that You haven't been having just a little fun with Bush & Co. It appears that Hurricane Gustav is truly heading to New Orleans and the Gulf coast. We hear You, O Lord, loud and clear, just as we did when Rev. Falwell said You made 9/11 happen because of all those gays and abortions. We beseech You, O Merciful One, not to punish us again as Pat Robertson said You did by giving us Katrina because of America's "wholesale slaughter of unborn children." His sentiments were echoed by other Republicans in 2005.

So this is my plea to you: Don't do this to Louisiana again. The Republicans got your message. They are scrambling and doing the best they can to get planes, trains and buses to New Orleans so that everyone can get out. They haven't sent the entire Louisiana National Guard to Iraq this time -- they are already patrolling the city streets. And, in a nod to I don't know what, Bush's head of FEMA has named a man to help manage the federal government's response. His name is W. Michael Moore. I kid you not, heavenly Father. They have sent a man with both my name AND W's to help save the Gulf Coast.

So please God, let the storm die out at sea. It's done enough damage already. If you do this one favor for me, I promise not to invoke your name again. I'll leave that to the followers of Rev. Dobson and to those gathering this week in St. Paul.

Your faithful servant and former seminarian,

Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

P.S. To all of God's fellow children who are reading this, the city New Orleans has not yet recovered from Katrina. Please click here for a list of things you can do to help our brothers and sisters on the Gulf Coast. And, if you do live along the Gulf Coast, please take all necessary safety precautions immediately.

What a wingnut. He and Dobson deserve each other. If there is an afterlife I hope they are eternally joined at the hip.

Major Political Gaffe by Former Chairman of DNC Don Fowler Speaking About Hurricane Gustav
http://www.clevelandleader.com/node/6631

The Democrats, who had been able to portray Republicans for their poor response to Hurricane Katrina, may be in a world of hurt as former Chairman of the DNC Don Fowler seemed to find delight in the fact that Hurricane Gustav is heading towards New Orleans on the day that the GOP is set to start their National Convention and formally elect John McCain their candidate for the general election.

Fowler, who was Charmain of the Democratic National Committee from 1995-1997, stated on camera

"The hurricane’s going to hit New Orleans about the time they start. [Chuckle] The timing is — at least it appears now that it’ll be there Monday. That just demonstrates that God’s on our side. [Laughter] Everything’s cool."

Since God was on George W. Bush's side 8 years ago, and wanted him to be President, who could blame Him for changing sides in 2008?

I'm sure no one could, Ziggy.

However, some of us still take offense when people laugh and make light of the misery and misfortune of others, without regard to what somebody's god thinks about it.

Stephanie, Michael Moore isn't my favorite public figure. But he didn't cause the human miseries of Katrina.

But when politicians claim that they are on God's side (or that God is on their side), the related spoofery, even sacreligious spoofery that springs forth in response to that political sanctification is quite in order, in my opinion.

And don't forget, Brownie was doing a heckova job, too.

Fowler, who was Charmain of the Democratic National Committee from 1995-1997, stated on camera

"The hurricane’s going to hit New Orleans about the time they start. [Chuckle] The timing is — at least it appears now that it’ll be there Monday. That just demonstrates that God’s on our side. [Laughter] Everything’s cool."

I was referring more to this quote, Ziggy.

I realize a lot of people blame President Bush for much of the loss of life and suffering Katrina left in her wake. I most certainly do NOT.

I firmly believe primary responsibility for the evacuation of the residents of New Orleans rest on the shoulders of New Orleans and Louisianna officials, not the President. I'm speaking specifically of Mayor Ray Nagin and Governor Kathleen Blanco, along with all of those government bureaucrats who sat around with their thumbs up their rumps for days, weeks, months, years....even decades prior to Katrina.

Next time, I will blame all those elected and appointed officials, all the community activists, and all those demanding the return of "their" public housing in New Orleans. Rebuilding that city is a disaster waiting to happen. It doesn't matter if a catagory 4 or 5 hurricane hits New Orleans next week or next year or next decade, at some point the elements will rage against man and man will once again lose the battle.

I don't think the taxpayers should be perpetually bound to finance reconstruction of New Orleans, or any other location not suitable for human habitation. Even more disturbing to me is that parents would choose to raise their children in such a place. That is wreckless.

I mostly agree, Stephanie. It is just a hell of a place to have a large concentration of people.

But as to emergency preparedness, I think they showed- at both local and federal government levels- with Gustov that comparatively good such preparedness is possible. And while they didn't get the flooding in New Orleans last week that they did with Katrina, they might get another chance to see how well it all goes with Ike.

Hopefully people will not fall victim to the "they cried wolfe last week" mindset

Well Zig what do you base your analysis on that they were better prepared this time?

The circumstances were not even remotely the same.

Well Zig what do you base your analysis on that they were better prepared this time?

The circumstances were not even remotely the same.

From what I can tell, they got almost everyone the hell out of there this time- so if the levies failed there simply would not be as many people there to drown in their own homes. And they had enough troops of some kind on the ground to ward off the would be looters, apparently. But again, I am mostly at the mercy of the "news media" for information, so maybe there were things happening and not happenieng that I do not know about.

Isn't it just awful, the sad state of affairs, Ziggy? You and I and millions of other Americans have lost all confidence in the US news outlets and feel victimized and deceived to the point we make statements like:

I am mostly at the mercy of the "news media" for information, so maybe there were things happening and not happenieng that I do not know about.

To quote old Sherm on the previous forum the so-called mainstream news media could all be lumped togethor and called the Spoonfed News Networks.

They are lazy and content to more or less just "forward" the news as they receive it.

The Mayor, the new republican Governor, and the FEMA folks all claimed they were better prepared this time and it was dutifully reported as such.

If you recall, they were all patting themselves on the back over their response to Katrina also.

(remember Brownie was doing a "heckova job?")

It was not until the next day that the levies started to fail and the shortcomings became evident.

I suspect that the biggest difference was that Katrina was a worse storm and hit NO more directly.

If you do a quick google it looks like the estimates of those who "rode it out" were about ten %.

Which translates into a hundred thousand or more.

So if Mother Nature had not lightened up Gustav could have been just as deadly.

Just my opinion.

Well SD, I did as you suggested and googled and this is what I came up with from MSMBC.

Like Jindal and Chertoff, Nagin took pride in a massive evacuation effort that succeeded in urging people to leave or catch buses and trains out: Almost 2 million people left coastal Louisiana, and only about 10,000 people rode out the storm in New Orleans.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26451955/

That's .5% riding out the storm, not 10%. I'm not sure where you're getting your numbers.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/08/hurricane_gustav_expected_to_m.html

Well Aaron they pull these numbers out of thin air.

Fact is no one knows for sure.

The above link indicates about 100,000 as of Sunday night (the storm hit Monday morning.)

"Late Sunday, Gov. Bobby Jindal issued one last plea to the roughly 100,000 people still left on the coast: "If you've not evacuated, please do so. There are still a few hours left."

Also I would point out that your 2 Million evacuee figure does not just include NO.

I will keep snooping for my 10% figure.

But I am pretty sure the population of NO is well under 1 million. Not 2.

I also saw one quote from officials that they would not know how many stayed till the 911 calls started coming in.

I suspect that was pretty truthful.

(not to mention they had thousands of illegal immigrants who were afraid to leave,,,,

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/03/MNER12MQ7Q.DTL

p.s. estimating the population of New Orleans is itself an inexact science.

The following link indicates maybe 250,000 to 300K, but perhaps lower.

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0108567.html

I agree the 2 million mark is high for the NO population, probably even before Katrina.

And I also agree that NO not taking a direct hit and Gustav being a much smaller hurricane made the situation much easier.

Even with all of that, I think it's pretty hard for anyone to argue that this evacutation went much smoother and was much more successful then Katrina was, at least, imho.

Well you are right it is hard to argue, given we are comparing apples and oranges and doing so with figures made up or guesstimated.

Politicians always pat themselves on the back.

I agree it's apples and oranges S but it's still hard to argue with 2 million people being evacuated from the gulf coast of LA.

And considering the devastation, misery and death of Katrina, had all public officials responsible foe the evacuation not gotten it any better, that would have bordered on criminal, at least in my opinion.

I don't understand what anyone expects Jindal to do with people who will not evacuate. As incompetent Nagin and Chertoff are, the fact that some people are too stupid to live is not their fault or their responsibility, whether the number is 10K or 100K or 10% or .5%.

Clearly there were some improvements over the previous evacuation. One such example is that evacuees were not treated like cattle and penned up in the Super Dome. Of course, there were far fewer people to evacuate this time around to begin with.

Also, hospitals that had lost power during Katrina now have new generators. There have been some improvements.

None of that alters my view that the areas of New Orleans devastated by Katrina should not be rebuilt for residential purposes.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080909/ap_on_re_us/ike_gulf

This link indicates only about 80% left.

So who knows.

But in any case I see no reason to assume as much as some do.

Just because politicians say so and the media passes it on.

So I credit the Good Lord and/or fate more than grandstanding credit-taking politicians.

I just hope the next one blows itself out and peters away before hitting the coast.

I do not believe Democrats want people to die or be hurt any more than republicans do.

I am sorry to see that people believe that or would make such a statement.