Judgement Day: No Justice for New Orleans

It's now official.
U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval ruled today that the Army Corps of Engineers

"squandered millions of dollars in building a levee system ... which was known to be inadequate by the Corps’ own calculations."

And then he ruled, as most everyone expected he would, that the Corps couldn't be sued for it: The Corps is immune under the 1928 Flood Control Act.

"it is not within the Court’s power to address the wrongs committed. It is hopefully within the citizens of the United States’ power to address the failures of our laws and agencies."

Is it within our power to address those failures of our laws and agencies? With Edwards out of the race, will anyone continue to speak for New Orleans on the national stage?

•  Throw 'em something

  anything.

  by commonscribe on Wed Jan 30, 2008 at 07:27:17 PM PDT

•  no big surprise...

  but I'm glad it's on the record that the CoE is a bunch of fuckups.

  Now, what's interesting is that the Jefferson Parish lawsuit is heating up.  PI/plaintiff's attorney Darleen Jacobs has a couple of clients suing Aaron Broussard and the Parish for evacuating the pump operators and putting a foot of water in my house, along with a lot of other folks.  Broussard did a full-180 from his MTP interview and other statements in 2005 and before his re-election campaign.  Seems that now he claims he knew nothing about the evacuation, the parish's emergency plan, and the "doomsday" plan.

  Gotta love a liar as brazen as this sack of crap.

  by YatPundit on Wed Jan 30, 2008 at 07:51:03 PM PDT

•  Heh ...

  ... beat ya to the punch.

  In answer to your question, no I don't think anyone is going to put NOLA and the Gulf Coast first the way Edwards would have.

  It's up to we, the citizens.  Lord help us all.

  by Nightprowlkitty on Wed Jan 30, 2008 at 07:58:06 PM PDT

  •  well, damn

    yer fast.

    by commonscribe on Wed Jan 30, 2008 at 08:25:09 PM PDT

    •  Great minds ...

      ... think alike, dontcha know ...  :)

      by Nightprowlkitty on Wed Jan 30, 2008 at 08:53:40 PM PDT

  •  Well said---

    I just commented under your diary something similar to

    I don't think anyone is going to put NOLA and the Gulf Coast first the way Edwards would have.

    Great minds think alike!

    by Louisiana 1976 on Thu Jan 31, 2008 at 10:49:07 AM PDT

•  Good To See Some People

  are able to tear themselves away from candidate candygrams to confront actual crucial national issues.

  New Orleans was not some transient TV Special, that simply ended two or three years ago. Those things really happened then, many more tragic things really followed, and there is an ongoing tragedy which really should not be ignored. Many more people were affected than in 9-11, on a greater scale, in a major US city, so why has there been such a lack of focus?

  If issues like these are shunted aside, issues like the devastation of one of this nation's major cities, and we witness the abandonment of concern for these thousands of American victims on a macro scale, in favor of empty slogans, what does all the campaign rhetoric really count for?

  by Existentialist on Wed Jan 30, 2008 at 08:08:38 PM PDT

  •  It Speaks Volumes

    to find that, seven hours after the comment above, and seven and a half hours after this diary was posted, there have been no more comments, and a total of 4 recommending what seems to be the only significant diary on the latest New Orleans travesty, and the endless suffering of people who need others to help them, not forget about them 'cause they're last year's news.

    Clearly people here are all focused on recommending diaries like "I had an inspiring phone call from a paid campaign fund raiser," by the hundreds. A mutual admiration society.

    Speaks volumes about everything here. How long ago did it all stop being sincere? The Daily Kos about-face on the Paul Hackett Campaign, maybe? The same kind of abrupt and inexplicable change of direction? The sudden inflow of "organized supporters," seeming to come in large numbers out of nowhere? They all left again, pretty soon after they got what they wanted, so we forgot about them.

    The guy who won instead of Hackett, Brown, is now so effective and dynamic a "Fighting Dem" Senator that it took a minute even to remember his name. I bet I would be aware of Hackett now, if he had been allowed to win. Better, for some people, to have a Pelosi Dem there instead, for sure.

    This New Orleans diary has already rolled away, so no one will read this comment, but it's polite to say goodbye anyway, even if no one notices.

    by Existentialist on Thu Jan 31, 2008 at 03:27:31 AM PDT

    •  Why thank you

      Sadly, those of us who diary about the Gulf Coast are used to a low turnout.

      by commonscribe on Thu Jan 31, 2008 at 08:16:39 AM PDT

      •  Thank You, And Please Don't Stop

        It just came to me today that New Orleans was really a much huger disaster than 9-11, and should get as much or more attention in a just world.

        I've had the bad experience of being in several destroyed cities, a couple for quite a long time. It seems to me that the memories of all these cities are deserving of the greatest respect. Some, like Seoul and Tokyo and Kobe, are in better shape than they ever were before now, but New Orleans just keeps sitting there, neglected by the govt. of its own nation, and that is a world-class disgrace, in my opinion.

        Pleae keep posting about this, maybe better on other sites, like TPM--but you know best, and probably already are doing so.

        I'm moving to European Tribune, where some other former and present Kos people post. Maybe I'll encounter you over there sometime later on.

        With Best Wishes and Respect

        by Existentialist on Thu Jan 31, 2008 at 09:11:05 AM PDT

        •  Does European Tribune....

          accept posts on domestic American matters such as New Orleans? If so, I might be interested in crossposting there, too.

          by Louisiana 1976 on Thu Jan 31, 2008 at 10:52:55 AM PDT

          •  Yes, There Was A Pro-Edwards Diary There

            a couple of days ago, but the etiquette there didn't allow for the kind of heavy-handed candidate endorsements on Kos these days. Instead, the diarist presented the factual cases supporting Edwards, mostly on energy and climate change.

            The diarist later posted it over here, openly pro-Edwards, and the diary disappeared pretty fast.

            The main thing is that the ET people probably would appreciate it if you got interested in Western European issues as well. Many, like crumbling banks, attempts by ultracons to destroy the social safety net, swindles by pro-Bush leaders like Sarco in France and come-back Beloni in Italy, etc., mostly are congruent with our issues here, and there's a mutual synergy potential for us here.

            by Existentialist on Thu Jan 31, 2008 at 07:47:01 PM PDT

        •  P.S.--About the difference between....

          9/11 and New Orleans (how they've been handled) I've been planning on writing a diary for the longest time--but I keep getting too sad and angry to feel like doing it.

          by Louisiana 1976 on Thu Jan 31, 2008 at 10:54:58 AM PDT

          •  Even Better To Write A Book

            If you registered and waited a short while, you could probably post it on ET. It might be fairly interesting for a European audience. Some there may think Americans are so obsessed with Sept. 11 that they really think of nothing else. It might be great to let people there that some here have better balanced priorities.

            I still remember the photo of the lady left to float dead in the water--in fact, I'll never be able to get that image out of my mind. She and many other simple, trusting people, who waited for rescues that officialdom never even bothered to attempt--an officialdom that took its own sweet time even getting around to dealing with their corpses decently.

            I don't think the ET people mind as policy if you post diaries elsewhere, if you let them know first as a courtesy. There's an intro for new members that explains it all, where you can check to be sure.

            The rating system there is more like Kos was long ago--since I never understood it very well, I have to get used to it.

            Your NO/NY Tale of Two Cities Diary would be likely to stay up on ET for quite some time, and then if you thought it right you could put it up later on DK, where it likely would be more short-lived.

            by Existentialist on Thu Jan 31, 2008 at 08:02:00 PM PDT

            •  What I Meant Re The Book Is

              maybe you could get it published by The Nation, or Verso Books.

              If you are there in New Orleans as a "prophetic witness," and can link the past to the present to the future, it could be a very valuable contribution.

              Verso Books:
              Verso has offices in England and the United States.

              United Kingdom
              Verso
              6 Meard Street
              London W1F 0EG
              Tel [phone]
              Fax [phone]
              e.mail: [e-mail]

              USA
              20 Jay Street, 10th Floor
              Brooklyn, NY 11201-8346
              Tel [phone]
              Fax [phone]
              e.mail: [e-mail]

              If you would like to submit a proposal, please follow our submission guidelines.

              Why not? That's what RFK used to say, I believe.

              by Existentialist on Thu Jan 31, 2008 at 08:13:01 PM PDT

              •  I hadn't been....

                planniing on writing a book. I wonder if you got that idea because at Daily Kos we call blog posts "diaries." Actually, ever since I started here, I'd been thinking on contrasting response to 9/11 with that to 8/29--just haven't gotten around to it yet with everything else I've been working on.

                by Louisiana 1976 on Sat Feb 02, 2008 at 08:45:54 AM PDT

    •  Another New Orleans diary.....

      was posted this morning and scrolled rapidly off the front page. Please don't miss Bush's NOLA Surprise!

      by Louisiana 1976 on Thu Jan 31, 2008 at 10:51:18 AM PDT