Adding insult to injury after Ike, insiders are now speculating that there might be an attempt to disenfranchise voters in areas worst hit by the storm. From Galveston east to Louisiana along the coast, many communities are being blocked from returning; other communities have simply been wiped off the map.
http://capitolannex.com/...
"One source has told Capitol Annex Monday that some of the state’s top Republican political operatives are already talking about gaming out scenarios that will disenfranchise the maximum number of potentially Democratic voters among the evacuee population because of the impact it would have on so many key races."
If TX Dems want to try to rescue these votes, we will have to mobilize an effort quickly.
"Getting evacuees to request mail-in ballots is one possibility. The deadline to do that is October 28. And, it is reasonable to think that a large number of evacuees will still be away from their homes by that point. However, if they are lulled into believing they can come back home sooner, and are only told to request mail-in ballots at the last minute, it will create tremendous confustion and a backlog of work for elections administrators."
There is a lot more to say on the subject of Ike. I have been up all night long looking at pictures from the region and scouring the MSM for any evidence of reporting on claims posted on Kos yesterday of "1500 bodies in the trees."
I didn't see anything about that claim. What I did see was widespread denial. Most MSM sources are claiming that there were only SEVEN deaths in Texas from Ike. I pray that is true, but it doesn't seem likely.
Most people concur that hundreds, if not thousands, stayed behind in these coastal regions. If these beach communities have nothing left but foundations...doesn't it stand to reason that the people hunkering down in those buildings did not make it? Also, there seems to be no MSM or government effort to create a clearinghouse of information about survivors or deaths.
This is my first diary ever and I have to admit that I am writing it at 7am after a night of lost sleep. There are many links and leads I could include here for information on the Bolivar/Crystal Beach/Gilchrist area that has been, literally, wiped off the map. For now, I'll just ask, where oh where is Anderson Cooper when you need him?
A little addition here...in answer to the comments:
There are a lot of people looking for loved ones who are very desperate and have no help at all for their efforts. As I said, I was looking around all night long because there are that many posts of pics and footage of the area. Everyone does concur with the "1500 bodies" post in that there is a no-fly zone over certain parts of the area and no one knows why.
If you want to follow the trail I followed, you should probably start here:
http://jakeabby.com/...
One local reporter--Wayne Dolcefino--cornered Gov. Perry at a press conference yesterday, demanding to know why there was a deliberate media blackout.
http://abclocal.go.com/...
More importantly, perhaps, though, is the fact that no one---not MSM or the government---is helping to gather names. When you go to look at pics and videos the comments section is always full of "Have you seen so-and-so, etc." and lots of despair.
Is it possible for 1000 people to be washed away into the sea and never be heard from again? If it is possible, then the way to do it would be to make it very difficult for survivors of the region to communicate with one another or to provide a central point of information gathering. Not to sound the conspiracy alarm....I'm just saying. This is weird.
Sorry to keep editing...I mentioned I'm exhausted and this is my first time, right?
....I forgot to mention something very important.
Many, many people in this region are reporting that they TRIED to get out of the region and evacuate, but they were trapped on the island. There are only two ways to get in/out of the area. One is a bridge---which was blocked almost as soon as the "certain death" warning was issued. The other way out of the Bolivar region was a ferry boat that was shut down. People were trapped. They stayed behind to help friends pack or to help elderly and disabled people get off the island and ended up trapped themselves with no attempt made by government to rescue them at the last minute or in the immediate aftermath.
I will post more later with links to some of these posts. For now, must sleep.