Daily Kos

Outrage at the superdome.....

by lrhoke

Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 09:13:01 AM PDT

and with me...

I just saw a video on MSNBC(I don't think live, but shot this morning) of thousands of very angry people outside of the superdome.  They showed one younger person sweating profusely, obviously very ill.  They also showed an elderly person on the verge of fainting.
People have died there and Harry Connick Jt is on a cell phone with MSNBC pleading for help.

I do not understand why a country of our resources, THREE DAYS OUT, cannot
manage to have food/water/toilets/medical personel AT LEAST outside of the
superdome, not to mention in the other devestated areas.

On the day of the Oklahoma City bombing, I was down there, and the red cross had food and water available for ANYONE who needed it by early afternoon.

This is just unbelievable.

And now the big dick is saying he's going to visit on Friday, just what they need.

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Permalink | 53 comments

  •  How many people (4.00 / 2)

    have to die of deydration on national tv before we our allowed to question the leadership in this country?  

    by LauraC on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 09:13:31 AM PDT

    •  How many TENS OF THOUSANDS (none / 0)

      of people have to die in Iraq?

      THAT is the real question.

      It has been clear to many of us that the powers that run this administration do not particularly care to WHAT nationality people belong.

      All they care about is how much those people can or cannot, will or WILL not, contribute to the thieving goals of corporate interests.

      They step in now that the unrest on the Gulf Coast has reached proportions that threaten to damage their war effort and the balance of a country that is (increasingly umwillingly) supporting that war effort.

      Not before.

      It's about power, not people.

      And if prior evidence is any indication, they will do a piss-poor job at that, just as they have et everything else that in not all front and no substance.

      There were comparisons made all over the world between the US and Florida when the first election was tipped over to Bush by foul means...the state where it happened is ruled by the candidate's brother (wink wink); the candidate himself is the son of yet another powermonger and thief (nudge nudge) and so on.

      But all fat and not so happy, we gluttonous Americans didn't get it.

      NOW, however...now that the bodies washing up on the shore are AMERICANS (Even black ones, sad as that word "even" is in this middle class, predominantly white, largely insulated from the reality of poverty, peculiarly American  context), now that our SUVs are starting to cost more to run than it does to buy the groceries that we use the hogs to collect...NOW the outrage comes.

      It's a little late, folks.

      To me, the most important words yet written about what America is doing to the world were written by bin Laden (Supposedly written by him, anyway. WHOEVER wrote them, they are still important. And still true, as well.)

      "By what measure of kindness are your killed considered innocents while ours are considered worthless? By what school [of thought] is your blood considered blood while our blood is water?"

      Precisely that.

      Rational estimates of the human costs of the Iraq war and preceding economic actions brought against Iraq by the U.S. range in the hundreds of thousands. And that's just the DEAD!!! Multiply that number by hundreds to find out how many lives were seriously fucked up.

      Where was the outrage THEN!!!???

      Well, as a much reviled diary I wrote only yesterday (New Orleans. Malcolm X's chickens come home to roost. In the Super Bowl.)  stated, the chickens are coming home to roost. And when they shit on OUR heads, it's harder to ignore.

      Ain't it the truth.

      And friends...I'm telling you.

      This is only the FIRST flock.

      More enroute.

      Bet on it.

      Charles

      by Charleslives on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 09:45:02 AM PDT

      [ Parent ]

  •  Word of a much worse situation... (4.00 / 4)

    ...CNN is reporting that there are as many as a thousand people at the Convention Center and the situation there is is far worse. CNN's Chris Lawrence is reporting multiple dead bodies, feces, trash, sick individuals, all jammed into the Convention Center.

    They all seem to think they are going to be taken out by bus, or by riverboat. They have no food, no water, no facilities. They are dying.

    This is a tragedy that did not need to happen. Not this way. Someone needs to be held accountable. But that's not for right now. Right now these poeple need help. Now.

    WhatsTheQuestion.org
    NewsHunter.Org

    by lsoderman on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 09:14:04 AM PDT

  •  You know what? (none / 1)

    Where the hell is Bush going to do his photo op?  Can't do it in NO, it's too violent right now.  And hell, by Friday, honestly, if I had behaved like Bush had, I'd be scared shitless to talk to any of the hurricane victims, no matter what state they're from.

    This is going to be like Cindy Sheehan times a hundred.

    Bush/Cheney - in your guts, you know they're nuts.

    by Lufah on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 09:14:22 AM PDT

  •  Not to take away from your point (none / 1)

    which I agree with, but the scale of the Oklahoma City bombing is hardly comparable.

    by peregrina on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 09:14:45 AM PDT

    •  Two different situations. (none / 0)

      On a human scale, however, there is absolutely no sense in comparing the two.

      This is immense.  Thousands are dead and thousands more could die if Bush doesn't get off his ass and speak to this country as a LEADER!

      . 'Liberal' is a good word. Say it as much as you like! Reveal with the rath of God the liars and their lies.

      by ssolice on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 09:18:29 AM PDT

      [ Parent ]

    •  Of course..... (none / 0)

      the scale of the OKC bombing doesn't even begin to compare, but I would think that three days out, they could at least get aid to areas where large numbers of people are congregating.

      by lrhoke on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 09:19:37 AM PDT

      [ Parent ]

    •  how is OC.... (none / 0)

      not comparable?  Is it too small?  Too big?

      Regardless, the response from the Feds has been inept.  You got Chertoff on Fox talking up hurricane awareness (why isn't his arse coordinating the relief effort??).  You got Bush flying over the devastation and then spouting some statistics in DC, two days after the hurricane hit.  You got the National Guard not being called in until Wednesday, and even then probably not enough because so many are off in Iraq.

      What does it add up to?  You have two days where people are stranded, with a vastly undermanned rescue effort, while one of our greatest cities rots under water, and no real sense of urgency from the highest levels of our government.

      It's so frickin' frustrating.  I feel helpless.

      -7.63, -5.79 Work like you don't need the money, Love like you've never been hurt, and Dance like nobody's watching.

      by sfluke on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 09:22:16 AM PDT

      [ Parent ]

      •  smaller.... (none / 0)

        Well, obviously the OKC bombing was on a much smaller scale.  I went down there after feeling the blast 40 blocks away as I am a photojournalist.

        As I exited the highway in downtown OKC, probably 30-40 minutes after the blast, I found myself surrounded by emergency vehicles from, I think, all over the region.  I though, "this is someones plan being implemented."

        Of course, OKC's hospitals, rescue, law enforcement, and overall infrastructure was not impacted.  But the FBI was closing off the area within 2 hours, and like I said, the Red Cross, probably local, was down there by early afternoon.

        But if we can have that much organization in OKC, I can't believe the most powerful nation in the world (I guess) can't manage to get supplies to, at least, the areas where large numbers of people are congregating in three days.

        by lrhoke on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 09:36:13 AM PDT

        [ Parent ]

  •  Relatively Simple Solution: (none / 0)

    Every business owner, with the coordination and support of the police, should offer everything they have to the people. There should be no "looting" of life essentials necessary or punishable. No one should be barred from any viable shelter. What insurance doesn't reimburse for later, government should offset, and people should voluntarily repay.

    by NewDirection on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 09:16:46 AM PDT

    •  even simpler solution (4.00 / 2)

      use the damn helicopters to drop crates and crates and crates of water everywhere.  invade the city with 15,000 troops, flooding be dammed.  carry people out, feed them, give them water, then worry about other needs.  20,000 troops, maybe.  

      they need ABLE BODIES AND WATER.  THATS IT FOR NOW.  WHERE ARE THEY?

      Republican recruitment for the 82nd Chairborne at an all-time high...

      by topicalstorm on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 09:21:55 AM PDT

      [ Parent ]

    •  "protect the store" (none / 0)

      I know someone who has a granddaughter that works for some sort of retail chain store in LA(she didn't say which one).

      Her grandaughter's boss was trying to make her go to New Orleans "to protect the store" from looters.

      How clueless can anyone be?  Like a young unarmed twentysomething  is going to stand a chance against armed looters?

      by lrhoke on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 09:41:01 AM PDT

      [ Parent ]

      •  Plus, My Point.... (none / 0)

        ...Who the hell cares about goddamned dollars at a time like this? It's not worth lives. There is insurance, anyway, no doubt.

        by NewDirection on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 09:45:07 AM PDT

        [ Parent ]

        •  The insurance will pay (none / 0)

          Yes it will, but the insurance companies have been hit really hard in their reserves for the past couple of years by all these hurricanes hitting the South.  Since the insurance industry is deeply tied into our overall economy, expect their payouts to affect the economy, too.  We are all going to pay for this disaster, in many different ways, not just in gas and FEMA tax dollars.

          "A bad government is elected by good people who do not vote in elections." -- Unknown, pg 342, "The Shell Game" by Steve Alten

          by sockpuppet on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 09:56:33 AM PDT

          [ Parent ]

      •  stunning (none / 0)

        HOW much more CLUELESS and CRUEL could one be? Protecting property in this situation is a military and police enterprise.

        I hope the boss is not serious in even thinking that. Horrifying. Why doesn't he go himself, if he's so set on someone guarding the place?

        by Elizabeth D on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 09:59:30 AM PDT

        [ Parent ]

  •  Blaming the victims... (none / 1)

    A friend made a comment to me this morning:

    "And now, if initial reports are accurate, the really stupid are out. Small arms fire at the helicopters?!"

    My reply:  

    Yeah, the really stupid are out.  Like that's surprising.  It's turned into madness, as people who couldn't get out try and do whatever they can to survive, having to fight with the gangs, the thugs, even the cops who joined in (well documented cases of police doing major looting operations themselves).  Not surprising at all that the situation has descended into chaos.

    This was predictable.  This could have been planned for.  Anytime you have a natural or man-made disaster on this scale, there's going to be looting as civil society breaks down.  That's why the National Guard is usually put on the streets, partly to keep looting to a minimum, but also to help bring aid and a semblance of civilization.  But gee, that didn't happen this time.  Why?  Poor planning at many levels, including our much-vaunted Homeland Security Authority.  Yeah, that name sure proves to be accurate, doesn't it.  And also due to the fact that large numbers of National Guard troops, complete with the necessary equipment to deal with such a crisis, are bogged-down in the fiasco in Iraq.

    This catastrophe was caused by a hurricane, and there isn't much we can do about that.  But those responsible, from W on down, for doing the basic business of government must be held accountable for their failure to prepare and respond in a timely fashion. Pre-positioning of aid and military units would have been basic prudence in the face of a cat-5 hurricane headed towards one of our largest cities.  It don't take a genius to figure that out.

    Idiots shooting at choppers out of frustration, aggravation, meanness or just plain boredom isn't the half of the stupidity here.

    Read or *listen to* my SF novel for free. (-7.13/-7.33)

    by Shadan7 on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 09:18:34 AM PDT

    •  Sounding entirely too familiar... (none / 1)

      Seems to me, about two and half years ago, another region was devastated, leaving behind lawless looting, without any plan for how to contain it.

      Except, that was no natural disaster. It was the invasion of Iraq. And yet, the results have been the same. No plan for getting control of the situation, no organization for keeping law and order in place, and the thugs are running amok. Rescue services have been halted, because they're afraid of being hurt or killed.

      This is just par for the course for the gang of rocket scientists that are running the ahow from the top.

      WhatsTheQuestion.org
      NewsHunter.Org

      by lsoderman on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 09:33:36 AM PDT

      [ Parent ]

  •  He won't visit on Friday. (none / 0)

    The rescue workers are scared to go into the Superdome now, can you imagine the Yellow Elephant himself going?

    -9.0, -8.3. History is more or less bunk.--Henry Ford
    Henry Ford is more or less bunk.--history

    by SensibleShoes on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 09:20:30 AM PDT

  •  Utterly unbelievable (none / 1)

    I also just heard the report on CNN re: the convention center. Can't they make airdrops of food and water? Where's the Red Cross? Why has FEMA stopped rescue missions?

    I can't help but think that if this were Salt Lake City, and not New Orleans, underwater that the Bush administration might be trying just a bit harder.

    Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.

    by thebes on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 09:21:07 AM PDT

    •  You ask good questions, and so does the media (none / 0)

      HOW is it that no one in the government seems to be able to "get it"??

      I mean there must be hundreds of people working at FEMA, Louisiana state government, Feds, etc...

      Is EVERYONE up and down the line so incompetent??

      Oh my God

      Let's be honest.

      by diplomatic on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 09:23:07 AM PDT

      [ Parent ]

    •  OKC Red Cross (none / 0)

      Well, I've heard that a group from the Oklahoma Red Cross left for LA on Monday.

      I can understand an initial delay due to the flooding and breakdown of communications.  But
      by Tuesday, the governor of LA and Sen. Landreau(?) as well as other officials had been to the superdome.  I just can't believe that by this morning they couldn't have managed, SOMEHOW to get some aid in there.

      by lrhoke on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 09:25:23 AM PDT

      [ Parent ]

    •  I saw that on CNN (none / 1)

      and I was shocked by the utter lack of empathy in the voice of Daryn Kagan as she broke the report off.  No wonder her and Rushbo are doing the mattress mambo - two people who have found their no-soulmates.

      See you at the debate, bitches!

      by calipygian on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 09:28:26 AM PDT

      [ Parent ]

  •  This has now reached that point where... (none / 0)

    screenwriters start writing a movie.

    Folks I've never seen such a debacle in slow motion happening right before our eyes.  (Except Iraq)

    Let's be honest.

    by diplomatic on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 09:21:48 AM PDT

  •  how many people (4.00 / 3)

    can you allow to die of drowning, hunger, thirst and lack of medical attention and still be considered "pro-life"?

    fact does not require fiction for balance

    by mollyd on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 09:22:07 AM PDT

  •  Friday may work.... (none / 1)

    most people will be dead by then.  

    The big question is why aren't the helicopters dropping food and water to the people.

    No this isn't Oklahoma City, but after the tsunami, Australian helicopters had food and water there in 36 hours.....and I think that was a little bigger, but this will wind up being larger than the tsunami.

    Republicans are not a national party anymore.

    by jalapeno on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 09:23:39 AM PDT

  •  What you said... (none / 1)

    "I do not understand why a country of our resources, THREE DAYS OUT, cannot manage to have food/water/toilets/medical personel AT LEAST outside of the superdome, not to mention in the other devestated areas."

    From the nation that brought the world Shock 'N Awe, the Bush admin stands around hemming and hawing helplessly, as if this is all just so difficult to figure out.

    WITH ALL OF OUR SUPER, MEGA RESOURCES WE CAN'T GET BASIC LIFE-SUPPORT/SAVING NECESSITIES into this AMERICAN area of catastrophic devastation in like, a matter of HOURS after it's needed??!!  OUTRAGE.  International OUTRAGE, eventually, no doubt.

    Could it be that the Bush admin wanted to make the Dem Governor of LA look bad for a while, so that come next election time they could be sure she or another Dem would not be voted into LA again?   Just a thought I had last evening, watching them all during the Whitehouse statement.   That would have Rove written all over it, and he is so off his game of late...

    If that could possibly be a factor, I'd say they've lit the fuse that will burn all the way to detonate under them at the Whitehouse, metaphorically speaking.

    No American watching this mega-tragedy unfold, slowly, deadly, relentlessly can fail to wonder:  where is our government to protect American citizens?  Who cares about "the Iraqi people" when thousands of our own are dying for lack of care and protection??!!

    Katrina appears to have struck the first blow of The Revolution.  Can it be??

    Thank you for this diary entry.  We needed to know this media overview.

    "A bad government is elected by good people who do not vote in elections." -- Unknown, pg 342, "The Shell Game" by Steve Alten

    by sockpuppet on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 09:24:19 AM PDT

    •  Oops, correction (none / 0)

      "We needed to know this media overview."

      Sorry, when I wrote that I was thinking about a previous diary entry I had just read.

      What I meant to say is thanks for saying out loud about this travesty occurring at the Convention Center.  I saw on The Today Show a report from Martin Savich (sp?) where he said that a police officer from the Center (the police are now in retreat from there in helplessness) broke down in tears reporting to him about the conditions in there.

      God help us.  

      "A bad government is elected by good people who do not vote in elections." -- Unknown, pg 342, "The Shell Game" by Steve Alten

      by sockpuppet on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 09:28:41 AM PDT

      [ Parent ]

      •  yeah.... (none / 0)

        Thats how I feel.  The initial chaos was understandable, but they should have been able to get their shit together by now.

        All the money, all the resources have been going to Iraq for over two years and the rest of the country is going to hell.

        by lrhoke on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 09:47:15 AM PDT

        [ Parent ]

    •  the revolution... (none / 0)

      Katrina appears to have struck the first blow of The Revolution.  Can it be??

      Well, I wouldn't wish this on anyone, but this could be the final straw.

      I don't usually watch Faux, but I have some during this crisis and even some of the conservative pundits ALMOST seemed incredulous.

      Charles Krauthammer was implying that he thought Bush's response was late (as usual) and was strongly suggesting that Bush NOT go to the scene until everyone had been rescued.

      by lrhoke on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 09:51:13 AM PDT

      [ Parent ]

  •  Scotty is on now from the WH (none / 0)

    I think I'm going to be sick!!!!!!!!!

    The White House will be The People's House--B.Obama

    by Phil S 33 on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 09:29:15 AM PDT

  •  if it weren't a largely african-american crowd (none / 0)

    there I have a sneaking suspicsion that help may have already been there by now.  Think if this had happened in Orange County, CA...

    All you read and wear or see and hear on TV is a product begging for your fatass dirty dollar -Tool

    by Blood Clot on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 09:29:48 AM PDT

    •  If this had happened on OC, CA... (none / 0)

      or how about in Jeb's state.  Sure, they had a hell of a time when 5 storms hit Florida last year, but we didn't have any reports of days and days of people without food, water, and shelter.  NOT.

      I wondered, too, about the reports that as well as the hospitalized being evacuated first, the tourists are going next.  Mostly white folks, is my guess?  I've tried to reason this one out, maybe somebody can explain it better to me?

      "A bad government is elected by good people who do not vote in elections." -- Unknown, pg 342, "The Shell Game" by Steve Alten

      by sockpuppet on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 09:34:51 AM PDT

      [ Parent ]

      •  the south is still segregated. n/t (none / 0)

        All you read and wear or see and hear on TV is a product begging for your fatass dirty dollar -Tool

        by Blood Clot on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 09:42:57 AM PDT

        [ Parent ]

      •  Charity hospital.... (none / 0)

        Doctors and nurses from Charity hospital have been calling in to the cable channels begging for help.  They only had a few evacuated earlier in the week.  

        In the meantime, they've had some of their critically ill die and several more are at risk.

        How hard is it?  Every helicopter in the country ought to be there.

        by lrhoke on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 09:44:03 AM PDT

        [ Parent ]

        •  Yeah (none / 0)

          I totally understand and agree with the evacuation of the medically needy first, but then the tourists next?  I just can't understand this one.  Why would "tourists" take precedence over anyone else in that dangerous disaster zone?  I just can't reason this one out...

          "A bad government is elected by good people who do not vote in elections." -- Unknown, pg 342, "The Shell Game" by Steve Alten

          by sockpuppet on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 09:48:43 AM PDT

          [ Parent ]

          •  right..... (none / 0)

            I would think it would be based on need and the current situation of those needing rescue.

            In other words, someone stranded on a rooftop should go before someone in a relatively comfortable hotel room(even without a/c and plumbing, a dry hotel room would be preferable to a rooftop).  Status of tourist shouldn't have anything to do with it.

            by lrhoke on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 09:55:31 AM PDT

            [ Parent ]

        •  where are the Chinooks?? (none / 0)

          Land a couple and you could have the bulk of those people out of there by night fall

          I fear that nightfall at the Superdome could be a nightmare of epic proportions.

          All you read and wear or see and hear on TV is a product begging for your fatass dirty dollar -Tool

          by Blood Clot on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 10:40:14 AM PDT

          [ Parent ]

  •  young white blond girl....... (none / 0)

    Amazing, just saw, added to the footage aired earlier, an equally angry, sweaty, exhausted young white blond girl with a sweaty baby.

    Wonder if that will get anyone's attention?

    by lrhoke on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 10:08:35 AM PDT

  •  You are BOTH wrong. (none / 0)

    There IS only one question.

    Are we going to recover some semblance of honor as a country or are we going to go down under an attack that will come both from without and from within? An attack spearheaded by those who we have oppressed and used.

    Until we realize that the attitudes of our leaders...elected AND corporate...are presently no different from those who ran and profited from the slave trade in this country (Which is that people...ALL people who cannot resist...are chattel to be used up and then callously thrown away.), we are at great risk of a terrible defeat.

    And every time I read some holier than thou "liberal" beating his chest about the thousands who have died in this mess or the thousands that died in 9/11...terrible as those events were...I see the literally MILLIONS of people in the Third World world who have died at our hand, the millons of Americans whose lives have been taken or at least destroyed by unnecessary poverty and racial discrimination, and I think "Yeah. They are coming to get us, the sons and daughters of these people. The leaders of this country are so stupid, such gluttonous pigs, that every move they make fails. Every move simply compounds the problem. And ^THESE people, these "liberals" are so hypnotized by what they are given as "news" that they literally cannot see the forest of the dead from an stand of isolated dead trees.

    Now I don't know about you folks, but to me, three or even six thousand deaths do not mean as much as hundreds of thousands of deaths.

    These three thousand dead or whatever the number comes out to be...and it will be SPUN, that number, right out of whole cloth, because the census has NO IDEA who lives where or even how MANY live in poor neighborhoods, and it is the poor who will be doing the dying, not the middle class or rich. The poor will be doing the dying (as always, it seems) and they will neither be missed, found, counted  and/or buried, many of them. Not in the chaos that is plainly building in the region....these thousands will be dead because of the ongoing incompetence and callousness of our leaders. Just like the hundreds of thousands in the Third World. And once again, the same forces that have produced the Islamic resistance will be at work producing an INTERNAL resistance.

    Death, destruction, oppression and the lust for revenge.

    And a larger external resistance as well.

    South America.

    Central America

    Africa.

    Asia.

    It's coming, you two.

    Ann Arbor calls this "one of the worst tragedies ever to strike this country." BUSHCO is one of he worst tragedies ever to strike this country. This country and the whole world. A REAL tragedy. Giant sized, with a potential death toll of millions or even BILLIONS if it goes to the nuke option.

    Spit says "Stop trying to quantify human suffering" and then follows it with a cutesy  "mmkay?" (God forgive me, I am coming to hate cute people of ALL varieties in this time.)

    I WIIL quantify human suffering.

    The larger number of people suffer, the worse it is.

    I have a friend who is suffering as we speak. It is terrible to see.

    Three thousand people is three thousand times WORSE, even though it is not so up close and personal. We are ALL moved by the human tragedy going on in the Gulf Coast at the present time. As moved as we are capable of being, anyway. (I have my doubts about people like Bush and Cheney, who only "emotions" are ones of greed, avarice and power.)

    But MILLIONS?

    Millions of times worse than even that. Suffering that is made even LESS up close and personal by managed news.

    So I print bin Laden's words once again:

    "By what measure of kindness are your killed considered innocents while ours are considered worthless? By what school [of thought] is your blood considered blood while our blood is water?"

    and leave it at that.

    If those words do not directly touch your heart, then you are without hope.

    And if they do not touch your HEAD...well then you are without a future as well.

    Good day to both of you.

    Charles

    by Charleslives on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 12:15:27 PM PDT

    •  This post was supposed to be a reply (none / 0)

      to comments by Ann Arbor Blue and Spit above. I hit the wrong reply button. But I'll let it stand here. (As if I had any other option...)

      Charles

      by Charleslives on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 12:22:29 PM PDT

      [ Parent ]

    •  asdf (none / 0)

      I'm not going to bother to reply to most of this.

      You have absolutely no idea whether or not I am quite aware of all of the issues you're discussing here. In fact, I'm fairly well versed in geopolitics and America's responsibilities in huge amounts of global suffering.

      Convince yourself all you want that this shit can be measured -- that the scale of human tragedy is based on raw numbers only. That's your opinion, and I personally disagree with it and frankly find it a pretty amazing position for someone who so clearly thinks he is the Paragon of Human Compassion.

      But don't you dare inform me with your condescending crap that "it's coming, you two" as though your conscience and awareness of world events is superior to mine.

      Now I don't know about you folks, but to me, three or even six thousand deaths do not mean as much as hundreds of thousands of deaths.

      Good for you. Tell that to mourning friends and family members. "Oh, yeah, well, it's not as many as the dead Iraqis." Like this is some global fucking tragedy competition.

      I find particularly these three or even six thousand deaths, which were likely largely preventable and have everything to do with race and class in this country, combined with the many thousands of people in need in the area being ignored in spite of the fact that this fucking country knew this would be devastating well before it hit, to be a sickening testimony to the deep, deep flaws in this country right now. And yes, it means a hell of a lot to me -- partially because so much of this is shit that was so easily preventable.

      Done. I won't be bothering to read another thing you respond with; my head is already going to explode from fresh outrage today. So don't bother on my account.

      by Spit on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 01:02:27 PM PDT

      [ Parent ]

      •  Well, since you are not going to bother (none / 0)

        reading this, I will make it short and sweet.

        The world is too small today for ANYONE to consider his or her own country (or its citizens) to be more important than anywhere else.

        Sorry.

        You are living in the past.

        We are in a holistic world now.

        EVERYTHING is connected.

        Ask not for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for THEE.

        And when it tolls a MILLION times, it is more important than when it tolls a thousand.

        Charles

        by Charleslives on Thu Sep 01, 2005 at 01:31:20 PM PDT

        [ Parent ]

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