Happy New Year: NOLA survivors suck, the Plains rule

"Happy New Year" is the lead in this spam-a-lot email making its round-about over the internet. It landed in my email this afternoon and I am still furious after reading it (and responding), so thought I would share it with the community here.

We are, after all, the reality-based community. And, the NOLA fiasco left deep scars. We haven't forgotten.

So, to Colorado and all the snowbound areas, the snow will melt and life will spring back.

There is no comparison with the tragedy of New Orleans. Yet, this "Weather Bulletin" from a county emergency manager in central Colorado lashes out his thoughts on the subject.

[UPDATE: This "Weather Bulletin" is nothing more than an old spam "urban legend" email that circulates from time to time across the internet. Seems someone jazzed it up a little and updated it with current events and then sent it out across the internet again. Snopes has debunked  this.]

HAPPY NEW YEAR -------- Here is something to think about in 2007. THINK ABOUT THIS FOR A MOMENT. Denver Post: This text is from a county emergency manager out in the central part of Colorado after todays snowstorm. WEATHER BULLETIN Up here, in the Northern Plains, we just recovered from a Historic event--- may I even say a "Weather Event" of "Biblical Proportions" --- with a historic blizzard of up to 44" inches of snow and winds to 90 MPH that broke trees in half, knocked down utility poles, stranded hundreds of motorists in lethal snow banks, closed ALL roads, isolated scores of communities and cut power to 10's of thousands. FYI: George Bush did not come. FEMA did nothing. No one howled for the government. No one blamed the government No one even uttered an expletive on TV Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton did not visit. Our Mayor did not blame Bush or anyone else. Our Governor did not blame Bush or anyone else, either. CNN, ABC, CBS, FOX or NBC did not visit - or report on this category 5 snowstorm. Nobody demanded $2,000 debit cards. No one asked for a FEMA Trailer House. No one looted. Nobody - I mean Nobody demanded the government do something. Nobody expected the government to do anything, either. No Larry King, No Bill O'Rielly, No Oprah, No Chris Mathews and No Geraldo Rivera. No Shaun Penn, No Barbara Striesand, No Hollywood types to be found. Nope, we just melted the snow for water. Sent out caravans of SUV's to pluck people out of snow engulfed cars. The truck drivers pulled people out of snow banks and didn't ask for a penny. Local restaurants made food and the police and fire departments delivered it to the snowbound families. Families took in the stranded people - total strangers. We fired up wood stoves, broke out coal oil lanterns or Coleman lanterns. We put on extra layers of clothes because up here it is "Work or Die". We did not wait for some affirmative action government to get us out of a mess created by being immobilized by a welfare program that trades votes for 'sittin at home' checks. Even though a Category "5" blizzard of this scale has never fallen this early, we know it can happen and how to deal with it ourselves. "In my many travels, I have noticed that once one gets north of about 48 degrees North Latitude, 90% of the world's social problems evaporate." It does seem that way, at least to me. I hope this gets passed on. Maybe SOME people will get the message. The world does Not owe you a living.

George Bush did not come.
Yes, indeed, Mister Bush did not come. He was too busy goofing around with his new gee-tar.

Families took in the stranded people - total strangers.
The elderly were abandoned. Left alone and helpless. Nursing homes became deathtraps, as did hospitals.

"We did not wait for some affirmative action government to get us out of a mess created by being immobilized by a welfare program that trades votes for 'sittin at home' checks."
Nope, NOLA survivors had to break holes in the ceilings and crawl to the attics and rooftops, waiting and hoping to be rescued.

"Maybe SOME people will get the message. The world does Not owe you a living."  
"Here lies Vera." She is proof of the inhumanity in your message.

So, Good Morning, America, How are You?   "Don't you know me? I'm your favorite son." "I'm the train they call the City of New Orleans..." I'll be gone 500 miles before the day is done."

•  Who has no need...

  He who is unable to live in society, or who has no need because he is sufficient for himself, must be either a beast or a god.
      --Aristotle

  A state is not a mere society, having a common place, established for the prevention of mutual crime and for the sake of exchange...Political society exists for the sake of noble actions, and not of mere companionship.
          --Aristotle

  Our... constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men's minds. Thurgood Marshall

  by bronte17 on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 04:14:53 PM PDT

  •  That's so wierd.

    Nobody - I mean Nobody demanded the government do something.

    Nobody expected the government to do anything, either.

    Here in the Northeast, the government clears snow off the roads, and people would complain if they didn't.  We pay for it with our taxes.  

    You mean the government doesn't do that in Denver?  Weird.  Does everyone take their own trash to the dump in Denver?  Who maintains the streetlights, etc.?

    by Boston Boomer on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 04:49:14 PM PDT

    •  Naw, they're totally self-sufficient

      and obviously forget the myriad ways in which they benefit from various public services.  What atrocious judgmentalism.

      by vigilant meerkat on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 04:52:59 PM PDT

      •  It's not just judgmental -- it's a pack of lies

        I know a lot of people in Colorado, and I've talked to several of them in the past couple of weeks.

        Of course "the government" clears snow off the roads. And a lot of people complained "the government" didn't clear the roads quickly enough, or get the abandoned and wrecked cars and trucks off the road quickly enough.  (There were so many stranded vehicles on some of the highways, the snow plows couldn't get through in places.)

        And who the bleep does this e-mail liar think is airlifting food and medical supplies to people in eastern Colorado and western Kansas?  Or all of that hay being dropped in the vicinity of snowed-in cattle so that farmers don't lose their entire herds?  Is it Rush Limbaugh?  Is it Michelle Malkin?  Uh, no, kids.  It's "the government".

        "Families took in the stranded people?"  Maybe in a few instances.  But thousands of people stranded by the storm were fed and sheltered by... you guessed it... "the government" in schools and public buildings.

        "Maybe some people" will be interested in the truth rather than another pack of right-wing lies.  We can only hope so.

        by MJB on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 05:04:42 PM PDT

  •  Re-hashed BS

    You should forward this link from snopes to your "friend" that sent you this http://www.snopes.com/...  A similar e-mail was going around right after Katrina.

    by kutunel on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 05:03:35 PM PDT

    •  fixed link

      http://www.snopes.com/...

      by kutunel on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 05:06:53 PM PDT

      •  Thanks for fixing the link,

        but the snopes message on the erroneously link was well worth the trip.  Got quite a chuckle out of it.

        by Endangered Alaskan Dem on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 07:42:01 PM PDT

    •  yep, it's an evil urban myth

      Or is it a "rural myth"? I got the Marquette MI version from my "up north" MI family. Just a few days before xmas, I couldn't believe how cruel & pathetic it was & did a reply all with the snopes link to tell them so. Not surprised that the fake attribution has now morphed into "Denver Post" since there is NO snow anywhere in the entire L.P. (lower peninsula) of MI & very little in the U.P.
      I hope someone has forwarded the updated version to snopes.
      And I think we should send it in to KO as a nominee for "worst person in the world" (the anonymous author of the myth).

      by spiraltn on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 05:27:11 PM PDT

      •  You can forward the copy YOU got to Snopes:

        The more examples they get, the more likely they are to update it, I think: LINK

        by Nonie3234 on Sun Jan 07, 2007 at 11:17:51 AM PDT

  •  aristotle lived below 48 deg N

    "In my many travels, I have noticed that once one gets north of about 48 degrees North Latitude, 90% of the world's social problems evaporate."

    am i the only one who noticed this?  last time i checked, denver was also below 48°N, so this clearly isn't about the US.

    this email originated from a white supremacist.  no two ways about it.  in polite company you might hear them say an innocuous version which goes something like, "well they have guns in switzerland and sweden and places like that, but they don't have a crime problem. because they're a homogenous [meaning white] society you see."

    by zeke L on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 06:18:49 PM PDT

    •  Hmmm, so the hordes of bigots have been released

      upon the internets this past week?  A link to that quote you provided appears to be yet another ugly play on the Colorado/Plains vs NOLA disasters.

      Is this the Rovian playbook to whip up hatred before the Democratic Congress begins its work?

      Our... constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men's minds. Thurgood Marshall

      by bronte17 on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 06:52:37 PM PDT

•  I got this from a friend a week ago and,

  I sent it back to her and stated  I would not pass on bigoted material.  I also told her that there was no similarity between a snowstorm and a flood.  She got mad and told me that she didn't know who I was anymore and she was taking me off her e-mail list. I reminded her that at one time she needed help from the Gov. and had she forgoten?  I also stated that I was not about to judge people.

  by Owllwoman on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 04:20:19 PM PDT

  •  Yeah, I just received this from a relative

    and fired off a response similar to yours.

    But, I was so angry after reading it that I had to put this ugliness out here so others can see the message being sent in a "weather bulletin."

    Our... constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men's minds. Thurgood Marshall

    by bronte17 on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 04:26:40 PM PDT

  •  Did your "friend" respond

    when you pointed out her hypocrisy?

    My Dad is an anti-government type.  Don't need 'em, wants to keep his money, hates paying taxes.  Til I remind him how much he depends on government - including his unemployment checks, during winter when there's no construction work, and for his elderly mother's social security checks, etc. etc.  Then he shuts up.  Usually.

    by PeteyP on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 04:59:46 PM PDT

    •  But it's so deeply entrenched

      in their thought processes, it has to openly discounted and rejected. Over and over again.

      Our... constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men's minds. Thurgood Marshall

      by bronte17 on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 05:07:29 PM PDT

    •  And, to answer your question. No.

      I will telephone tomorrow to have a discussion on the subject.

      Our... constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men's minds. Thurgood Marshall

      by bronte17 on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 08:36:22 PM PDT

    •  Another "Chain Email" - this time from our side!

      Send THIS to the anti-government people on your list:

      A Day In the Life of Joe Republican

      Joe gets up at 6 a.m. and fills his coffeepot with water to prepare his morning coffee. The water is clean and good because some tree-hugging liberal fought for minimum water-quality standards.

      With his first swallow of water, he takes his daily medication. His medications are safe to take because some stupid commie liberal fought to insure their safety and that they work as advertised.

      All but $10 of his medications are paid for by his employer's medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance - now Joe gets it too.

      He prepares his morning breakfast, bacon and eggs. Joe's bacon is safe to eat because some girly-man liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry.

      In the morning shower, Joe reaches for his shampoo. His bottle is properly labeled with each ingredient and its amount in the total contents because some crybaby liberal fought for his right to know what he was putting on his body and how much it contained.

      Joe dresses, walks outside and takes a deep breath. The air he breathes is clean because some environmentalist wacko liberal fought for laws to stop industries from polluting our air.

      He walks to the subway station for his government-subsidized ride to work. It saves him considerable money in parking and transportation fees because some fancy-pants liberal fought for affordable public transportation, which gives everyone the opportunity to be a contributor.

      Joe begins his workday. He has a good job with excellent pay, medical benefits, retirement, paid holidays and vacation because some lazy liberal union members fought and died for these working standards.

      Joe's employer pays these standards because Joe's employer doesn't want his employees to call the union. If Joe is hurt on the job or becomes unemployed, he'll get a worker compensation or unemployment check because some stupid liberal didn't think he should lose his home because of his temporary misfortune.

      It's noontime and Joe needs to make a bank deposit so he can pay some bills. Joe's deposit is federally insured by the FSLIC because some godless liberal wanted to protect Joe's money from unscrupulous bankers who ruined the banking system before the Great Depression.

      Joe has to pay his Fannie Mae-underwritten mortgage and his below-market federal student loan because some elitist liberal decided that Joe and the government would be better off if he was educated and earned more money over his lifetime.

      Joe is home from work. He plans to visit his father this evening at his farm home in the country. He gets in his car for the drive. His car is among the safest in the world because some America-hating liberal fought for car safety standards.

      He arrives at his boyhood home. His was the third generation to live in the house financed by Farmers' Home Administration because bankers didn't want to make rural loans. The house didn't have electricity until some big-government liberal stuck his nose where it didn't belong and demanded rural electrification.

      He is happy to see his father, who is now retired. His father lives on Social Security and a union pension because some wine-drinking, cheese-eating liberal made sure he could take care of himself so Joe wouldn't have to.

      Joe gets back in his car for the ride home, and turns on a radio talk show. The radio host keeps saying that liberals are bad and conservatives are good. He doesn't mention that the beloved Republicans have fought against every protection and benefit Joe enjoys throughout his day. Joe agrees: "We don't need those big-government liberals ruining our lives! After all, I'm a self-made man who believes everyone should take care of themselves, just like I have."

      by Nonie3234 on Sun Jan 07, 2007 at 11:26:54 AM PDT

      •  My all time favorite. Thanks

        for posting it.

        It never gets old.

        Our... constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men's minds. Thurgood Marshall

        by bronte17 on Sun Jan 07, 2007 at 12:05:48 PM PDT

      •  I love this one!

        Funny, I've never gotten it by email but read it first here, I think. Clearly, I'm running with the wrong crowd! Maybe I should take the opportunity to send it around?

        -5.88, -6.82

        by Debby on Sun Jan 07, 2007 at 02:00:46 PM PDT

  •  I suggest doing a "reply all"

    to all of these broadcast emails and letting them all have a taste of outrage.  It's what I generally do when I get a bigoted email.  It not only clears up what side of the blue/red demarcation line I stand on to the sender, it also educates everyone else who got the email.

    by DMiller on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 09:11:31 PM PDT

  •  People who send this kind of crap

    around to fill up peoples' mailboxes just hate it when challenged.

    by Sharoney on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 09:54:43 PM PDT

•  Wow. Almost 4 Ft. Of Snow

  That's the same as 20 feet of swampy water, right? I mean, those people had 4 feet of snow in their houses, right? And gas and oil and all kinds of crap in the snow. And they couldn't drink the snow because of the contamination, right? And everybody in New Orleans had restaurants prepare food that the Government delivered to them. I'm glad that wizard in Colorado explained it all to us. What a genius he is.

  by Ky DEM on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 04:23:25 PM PDT

  •  Reason just flies out the window for some people

    when their bigotries are stroked.

    Our... constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men's minds. Thurgood Marshall

    by bronte17 on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 04:29:47 PM PDT

  •  And I'm certain that the 4 feet of snow

    ALSO contained water moccasins, copperheads and other venomous reptiles, didn't it?

    by LynneK on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 08:36:57 PM PDT

  •  I feel bad for Denver

    for getting one snowstorm after another, but YEAH. I've dealt with feet of snow before and it sucks but it didn't fill my house, it drown my entire city. It might have taken a day but vehicles could get through and business went back to normal.

    -5.88, -6.82

    by Debby on Sun Jan 07, 2007 at 02:12:14 PM PDT

•  How nice for this guy.

  At least his house was still there after the snow melted.

  Special Place in Hell.

  by Joes Steven on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 04:23:29 PM PDT

•  Don't

  get

  me

  started.

  Let's pretend that a similar storm hit the cattle country of Colorado 80 years ago.  Let's pretend that the federal government, seeing the danger of it happening again, took full authority--and responsibility--over snow fencing in the area.  Let's pretend that a president named Junior started a war no one wanted that sucked up so much money the snow fence budget had to be cut by 80%.  Let's. . .

  Oh, hell, you know the drill.

  by Crashing Vor on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 04:26:59 PM PDT

  •  Oh yeah, and those folks in Mississippi?

    

    Bunch of damn whiners, too.

    by Crashing Vor on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 04:43:29 PM PDT

    •  Wasn't that where the doctor got arrested

      for speaking up to Cheney (or someone)? The doc called them on their lies.

      Our... constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men's minds. Thurgood Marshall

      by bronte17 on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 04:47:37 PM PDT

      •  Ben Marble lives in Biloxi

        That's my friend C in front of the remains of his mom's house in Bay St. Louis, about 25 mi. west.

        by Crashing Vor on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 04:54:51 PM PDT

  •  Fact is...

    Something similar has happened. According to an NPR report I heard earlier in the week, the CO National Guard helicopters and trucks, etc., weren't available to help like they should have been because much of their equipment is in Iraq.

    Okay, maybe not exactly similar, but same effect.  

    by RonV on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 04:52:22 PM PDT

    •  Good point,

      but I'm speaking of the cause of the disaster.

      The feds took control of our levee system in '27.  In 2003/2004, Junior cut the budget for inspections and repairs by 80% because the war cost too much.  In '05 the storm came.

      How would those ranchers feel if the government had dumped all that snow on their stock?

      by Crashing Vor on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 05:14:56 PM PDT

      •  That's an excellent point.

        I've borrowed it to spread around.

        Our... constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men's minds. Thurgood Marshall

        by bronte17 on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 05:42:26 PM PDT

•  The Most Ridiculous thing

  I've read in a long time. To compare the two events really defies logic and to use this faulty analogy to renforce racist, "work or die" rhetoric is laughable if it weren't so seriously screwed-up, terrifying, frustrating, and sad.

  Oh no! Some cows died. Some people were snowed-in. More people die in summer heat waves than this blizzard. Not to undermine the situation, and I do feel sorry for the cows, but seriously...

  by artofstarving on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 04:31:03 PM PDT

  •  I see this as a trend of (some) white people

    ...to try to one-up the suffering of people of color, mostly people of color. I sincerely don't understand it except to say that it seems to me that the whole point of human suffering is not to make a contest out of it regarding who wins in the pain category, but, instead, to reach a point of empathy wherein all suffering brings humanity closer together and inspires everyone to help relieve it.

    by bic momma on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 04:41:27 PM PDT

    •  sadly

      Some people can't resist a suffering contest.

      by saucy monkey on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 04:42:56 PM PDT

    •  Nicely said, bic momma.

      "Man's inhumanity to man" seems to have reached critical mass under the bush regime.

      Our... constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men's minds. Thurgood Marshall

      by bronte17 on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 04:43:49 PM PDT

    •  Let's Face It - -

      Whether you are a Sunni Iraqi in Fallujah -
      Or an African American in New Orleans -
      Or a Hispanic in East L.A. -
      There are many in power who would just as well see you dead.

      Call it Fallujahfication - if you will -
      I truly believe that the right-wing Republican elites and their supporters see the urban poor, the rural poor, single mothers, gay people etc,. etc, as surplus population.  
      We are on the brink of an exterminationist regime.

      by johnnygunn on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 10:08:04 PM PDT

  •  Many parts of Co.

    have been declared disaster areas by the state.  That means government help will be provided.  Plus the National Guard was involved in saving livestock.  

    If conditions worsen, I'm sure Bush will declare  it a federal disaster area.  For this guy to pretend no one is getting any help from the government--it's just ridiculous and offensive.

    by Boston Boomer on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 04:54:39 PM PDT

    •  Disaster area

      Why hasn't it already been declared a disaster?  3 large storms in less than a month is pretty damned huge.  Of course, the person who wrote this email neglects to complain that the people of Colorado stayed, knowing that the storms were coming.  

      by fabooj on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 05:27:18 PM PDT

  •  Murder of Helen Hill, filmmaker, in New Orleans

    
    The poor die first. Those that try to help them are to die next?
    Helen Hill was recently murdered at her front door at about 5:30 AM. Her husband, a doctor who was involved in providing medical care to the poor was also shot at the front door but survived this "random act of violence."
    Though Katrina was a random event, the casualties of Katrina were hardly random, but came from the ranks of the poor and powerless. And what could be a better cover story for murder or targeted killing of progressives, then the label "random act of violence."
    And just an aside - who is benefitting from all the   seizure of houses and apartments previously owned and/or lived in by the poor and working poor black people of New Orleans who are now displaced? I bet it isn't the poor black people who lost them!
    Let us keep our eyes and ears open for untoward "random acts of violence" silencing progressives.

    by Liag Richstone on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 05:14:58 PM PDT

    •  OMG, she was the 5th killed in the past 14 hours

      What's up in New Orleans?  The devastation and abandonment has brought nightmares.
      Filmmaker becomes 5th New Orleanian slain in 14 hours

      Sad news from New Orleans, where during a recent spate of violence one of the victims was Helen Hill, filmmaker and animation teacher who worked for many years in the Halifax scene and the Atlantic co-op, and friend of many in Toronto's indie film.

      Thanks for posting that info.

      Our... constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men's minds. Thurgood Marshall

      by bronte17 on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 05:30:26 PM PDT

  •  They dropped hay for the cows....

    from Army National Guard helicopters.  fox news link

    Colorado and Kansas were trying to find enough helicopters capable of hauling hay bales weighing up to 1,300 pounds, said Don Ament, Colorado's agriculture director. Many helicopters in the state's National Guard fleet are in the Middle East.

    "These cattle have already gone a number of days without food and water. They're just going to lay over dead if we don't do something soon," Ament said.

    Two Huey and three Black Hawk helicopters dropped 400 bales of hay Tuesday to feed cattle in the hardest-hit areas, Colorado officials said.

    National Guard helicopters in the state also dropped Meals Ready to Eat, or military rations, just outside people's houses so they could reach the bundles, Sgt. 1st Class Steve Segin said.

    In the Oklahoma Panhandle, a dozen troops went door to door in Humvees, checking on rural residents snowed in without power for days. Col. Pat Scully said the priority was to reach people on ranches and farms who might have medical problems.

    "We have no reason to believe anybody is hurt, but we did think it was necessary to do some welfare checks," said Michelann Ooten, spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management.  Members of the Kansas National Guard and the Highway Patrol helped the Haskell County Sheriff's Department also went door to door.

    At least 25 emergency shelters had been set up in western Kansas, said Sharon Watson, spokeswoman for Kansas Emergency Management.

    And if you think those ranchers won't get a state of emergency declared and federal funds for losses of cattle, then you don't follow agriculture news.

    FEMA came to their aid too in 2003 as ordered by Bush and Michael Brown!Link for FEMA aid to Colorado counties

    link

    Following the declaration, Brown designated 22 counties eligible for federal funding to pay part of the cost for emergency protective measures undertaken as a result of the snowstorm. This includes state and local government operations needed to protect public health and safety and to prevent damage to public or private property.

    The designated counties include Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Clear Creek, Custer, Denver, Douglas, Elbert, El Paso, Fremont, Gilpin, Grand, Huerfano, Jackson, Jefferson, Larimer, Las Animas, Park, Summit, Teller and Weld.

    Under the emergency declaration, FEMA will provide reimbursement to state and affected local government agencies for 75 percent of the total eligible costs of equipment, contracts and personnel overtime related to emergency services in dealing with the snow over a 72-hour period. These are the crucial hours when work crews clear snow from emergency routes and roads to critical facilities to permit the passage of emergency vehicles. Related emergency protective measures such as sanding and salting, search and rescue, shelter operations, and police and fire department response will also be eligible for reimbursement.

    Brown named Justin Demello of FEMA to coordinate the federal assistance in the affected areas.

    by murrayewv on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 05:20:13 PM PDT

    •  Wasn't a tremendous amount of livestock

      Left stranded and dying in the Gulf Coast?  I remember seeing a video of stranded cows and no one was helping them!

      by Hummingbird on Sun Jan 07, 2007 at 07:30:30 PM PDT

•  Well, if an emergency manager

  has time to be composing essays on how he's not needed on the day of a snow-storm, then perhaps he's not needed and should, in good conscience, fire himself.
  There is a class of bureaucrats who believe that their sole function is to tell people what they should be doing, rather than doing anything themselves.  They should be ashamed taking money for flapping their lips.

  by hannah on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 04:33:18 PM PDT

  •  Excellent point.

    I'm sure there were needs that weren't met in many areas during this snowstorm.  But, he had the luxury of sitting in a warm room and composing his rant.

    Our... constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men's minds. Thurgood Marshall

    by bronte17 on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 04:37:07 PM PDT

  •  Actually, it's just a lie.

    And an old one at that.
    See snopes.com

    by emmasnacker on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 04:55:45 PM PDT

    •  Recycled hate.

      and redirected toward NOLA.

      Just what this nation doesn't need.

      Our... constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men's minds. Thurgood Marshall

      by bronte17 on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 04:59:48 PM PDT

    •  Good find.

      So, the emailer isn't just a bigot, he's a lazy bigot. Can't even make up his own bullshit email.

      by RonV on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 05:00:08 PM PDT

      •  I wish I could rec that a

        brizillion times. Made me lol. Thanks.

        by emmasnacker on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 06:00:13 PM PDT

        •  Got here too late

          To rec the post you rec'd, so you got the rec!

          by Hummingbird on Sun Jan 07, 2007 at 07:31:59 PM PDT

    •  Thanks for posting.

      It doesn't change the fact that the people who are forwarding this around are bigoted, but I'm glad to know the letter wasn't real.

      It's ironic that North Dakota was used in one of those e-mails, since they also had a terrible flood that caused incredible destruction.  Unlike the Gulf Coast, ND got terrific help from FEMA.  But that was when Clinton was president.

      by Boston Boomer on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 05:00:35 PM PDT

•  I hate chain letters/spam

  Of any kind.  People who forward crap deserve to be crapped upon.  And it is an exponential hate.  The sappy stuff is an irritant.  These kind of lies go way beyond.

  by sheddhead on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 04:34:04 PM PDT

  •  The ignorance of these hate spam-mails

    should be exposed. It will sterilize them.

    Our... constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men's minds. Thurgood Marshall

    by bronte17 on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 04:39:36 PM PDT

    •  ignorance indeed!

      Just this summer I got this doozy forwarded to me by my crazy aunt. I replied all with the snopes rebuttal. Haven't gotten another since. People take an emotional comfort in this kind of shit, for some reason. It fills the place of high school pep squads or something. Ick.

      by Albatross on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 04:43:21 PM PDT

      •  I got that from a co-worker last spring.

        My "reply to all" included a lecture about bigotry (and the Snopes link). Needless to say, I got a testy reply that said something like: "So what! It's all in fun." Like bigotry is funny stuff to some people.

        The good news is, I seem to have been taken of her list.

        by RonV on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 05:02:59 PM PDT

•  Had I not admonished

  my wingnut sister-in-law for sending me similar shit, I'm sure this would be in my inbox.

  They just don't ever get it, and probably never will.

  by Coldblue Steele on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 04:36:09 PM PDT

  •  This probably will be

    in my inbox. My sister always sends me garbage email. The worst so far was the American-flag-painted Hummer picture. So far, I've just quietly deleted these, but if I get this one, I'm sending out a smoking Reply To All.

    I'm from the part of Kansas that got hit with the snowstorm, and I've been in those kind of storms before. For almost everyone who lives there, these are a minor annoyance and a conversation starter. There is NO comparison with what happened in New Orleans.

    by motherlowman on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 04:41:03 PM PDT

•  He misspelled

  the Sean in Sean Penn and the O'Reilly in O'Lielly.

  by calipygian on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 04:37:34 PM PDT

  •  LOL. What do you expect from

    a wingnut?  

    Sorry for laughing. This "bulletin" wasn't a laughing matter. It made me sick to my stomach to read it.

    Our... constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men's minds. Thurgood Marshall

    by bronte17 on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 04:40:55 PM PDT

  •  asdf

    Yeah, boy, that Sean Penn is so evil for going out in a boat to save disabled people.

    by saucy monkey on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 04:44:07 PM PDT

•  What a fucking asshat

  Sent out caravans of SUV's to pluck people out of snow engulfed cars.

  But they sent out helos and planes to save fucking cows that don't taste a tenth as good as Argentinian beef.

  by calipygian on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 04:40:06 PM PDT

  •  Hey! It's not the cow's fault.....n/t

    by high uintas on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 07:58:40 PM PDT

•  Good God

  Did that blizzard permanently destroy homes, hospitals, jobs, schools, and churches? Did it contaminate the water supply? Did it scatter hundreds of thousands of people to the four winds? Did it separate families? Did it kill almost 2,000 people? Did it shatter the region's economy?

  Stupid fucking bigots. Please excuse my language, but anyone who forwards that damn e-mail should be forced to go gut houses along the Gulf Coast for a week.

  by saucy monkey on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 04:40:12 PM PDT

  •  oh and BTW

    It cannot be repeated often enough to these wingnut idiots that Katrina did NOT cause most of the destruction in New Orleans. The failure of the levees did. People relied on a FEDERAL project to protect their city. The shoddiness of this project cost people their lives and their homes.

    These dopes can try to rewrite history all they want, but we owe the citizens of New Orleans something because the FEDERAL Army Corps of Engineers failed them.

    by saucy monkey on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 04:48:06 PM PDT

    •  yep...

      The failure of the levees did.

      The failure of the levees did.

      The failure of the levees did.

      by bic momma on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 04:52:11 PM PDT

  •  What people who forward this garbage should

    be forced to do is spend 6 months in the New Orleans area, doing mandatory volunteer work for Habitat for Humanity...maybe, in working for a group that shows "humanity", the aforementioned idiots might acquire some.

    by LynneK on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 08:30:47 PM PDT

•  too bad e-mail isn't like snail mail in the

  regard you can send back a big box of horseshit for having been sent one containing bullshit like this... i hope the roof over this asshats head caves in  from having too much snow on it, would serve him right.

  by playtonjr on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 04:45:35 PM PDT

•  Wow, that's the same mail

  that caused a 20 year friendship to end. I got it from said old friend, and responded, saying it was bigoted and untrue. She replied  "I'll never send you another e-mail." I called her, and got her machine, and said that I did not mean to upset her, and to please call me and we could talk about it, or not talk about it.  Her reply (on my answering machine)was that she and hubby had talked it over, and decided that we could remain fr..fr..fr..friends, but .......I would have to stop sending that kind of shit to them!

  I figgure that anybody who stutters like that when calling me friend, isn't, and does not need to be in my life. It also amused me that my response to an offensive mail caused her to tell me to stop sending  "that shit" to her. I was actually pretty selective about what I sent her, usually news articles that debunked some of the talking points she had spouted during our conversations.

  That was last year. They must all keep that kind of shit in their mailboxes to alter when a new disaster strikes Redish States. Last year, it was ND.

  I missed her some at first. Now, not at all. I am free from having to listen to her Thuglican bullshit.

  by emmasnacker on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 04:46:01 PM PDT

•  And Denver Wants the DNC?

  I guess that guy didn't get the memo.

  by Frederick Clarkson on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 04:46:55 PM PDT

•  Self-congratulation run rampant

  The mere fact that the person who wrote this could truly believe there is any comparison between a snow storm and what happened in New Orleans is enough to let you know where he/she is coming from.  

  by vigilant meerkat on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 04:50:29 PM PDT

  •  a more relevant comparison

    might be made of the floods in the midwest several years ago.  Wonder how much FEMA intervention was needed there?

    by LAMaestra on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 05:08:17 PM PDT

    •  Crashing Vor notes the distinction between

      cause and effect in this comment:

      ...but I'm speaking of the cause of the disaster.

      The feds took control of our levee system in '27.  In 2003/2004, Junior cut the budget for inspections and repairs by 80% because the war cost too much.  In '05 the storm came.

      How would those ranchers feel if the government had dumped all that snow on their stock?

      Our... constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men's minds. Thurgood Marshall

      by bronte17 on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 05:36:31 PM PDT

•  de ja vu?

  I swear I've seen this same text somewhere before?  last year?

  by vivian darkbloom on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 04:59:34 PM PDT

•  I hope you forwarded the email

  to snopes.com and other debunking sites.  Usually when I get something like this that's the first place I go, then reply with the link to debunk that junk.  
  For some reason my friends and family have quit sending me crap like that.

  by LAMaestra on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 05:00:23 PM PDT

  •  Forwards and Snopes

    I had a similar experience.  Whenever I would get these emails I would forward the sender the snopes link with some text feigning ignorance like "when I first read your email I coudn't believe it!  But when I went and checked it out at this really cool site called snopes.com, turns out it's not true... I always check there before forwarding."  I haven't gotten anything like this in over a year.

    by kutunel on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 05:19:32 PM PDT

•  It's interesting

  how some "conservative" thinkers manage to turn every single case of another person's need into an assault on their tender sensibilities.

  It's hard to think of a more self-centered attitude.  

  by LithiumCola on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 05:01:40 PM PDT

•  Thank you for bringing this to dkos

  I got this email a few days ago.  A member of a local club sent it out to the entire club membership using the club's mailing list server.

  Of course, like all material that is at the core simply a racist right-wing trash piece, it is full of lies.  The biggest and most fundamental falsehood in the piece, is the comparison of what happened to Denver and Colorado, with what happened to New Orleans.

  • no one in Colorado is out of their home with their home still totally destroyed 18 months later
  • no one in Colorado watched 75 percent of their neighbors having to flee to another city just to survive
  • no one in Colorado lost their homes, their cars, their entire neighborhoods, and the office buildings and factory buildings where they work
  • no one in Colorado had their misery and trouble just starting after two weeks

  This lie is typical of a deeply racist right-wing flier that celebrates the misery of fellow Americans, as long as they are "not like us," you know, black, brown, yellow, or some other kind of color other than white.  We can laught at them and their misery in the Superdome.  

  It's the big lie.  It is ignorant.  It is not worthy of America.

  by Dustbowl Observer on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 05:04:47 PM PDT

  •  Infrastructure

    Gas, electricity, sewerage, water, pumping, transit - nothing works in NO.  I would go on and on!!

    by chigh on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 06:45:57 PM PDT

•  What idiocy

  As bad as that storm in Colorado was, to compare it to Katrina is complete idiocy.  How else can you describe someone who fails to take into account the fact that the entire region's infrastructure was nearly wiped out?  That (IIRC) nearly 200,000 homes in New Orleans alone were destroyed?  That they were without power for weeks?  God, I could go on and on.  And to suggest that people didn't step up and help others?  Oh.  My.  Fucking.  God.  

  by BarbinMD on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 05:07:14 PM PDT

•  Heartless Bastard.

  I am SO appalled by this I'm speechless. And THAT is a fucking feat!

  by Elise on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 05:09:41 PM PDT

  •  LOL Elise of the Wonder Action Diaries.

    May you never fall silent.  

    Our... constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men's minds. Thurgood Marshall

    by bronte17 on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 05:45:12 PM PDT

    •  Well thank you!

      I'll try not to...

      but this makes me want to find some action items for NOLA now...I'm gonna see what I can find for tomorrow's diary.

      by Elise on Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 10:02:34 PM PDT

      •  Please do, Elise. Let's not forget them.