The Opinionator

Thanks Bill, Now Go Away Again

This story about former President Bill Clinton's remarks regarding President Bush is typical. First, Mr. Clinton never lets the facts get in the way of a good story, (We have never borrowed abroad to support a conflict before? I am sure a few foreigners bought T-Bills during Vietnam. BTW, this reference to foreigners having a lot of our debt is a new Left talking point that I have seen in several places.) and the AFP story editorializes in several spots such as,

On the US budget, Clinton warned that the federal deficit may be coming untenable, driven by foreign wars, the post-hurricane recovery programme and tax cuts that benefitted just the richest one percent of the US population, himself included.

Really, only the top 1% benefited from the tax cuts? Hey honey, we are now in the top 1%! I should call my sister in Arkansas who cuts hair for a living and let her know that she is in the top 1% too. She used her tax cut to buy some new appliances. And she thought she was just working class. She is so modest. I should ask her for a loan. And wasn't the deficit revised downward several times recently?

Better hang on folks, this is only the start of the "Help Hillary Get Elected So I am Sopmbody Again Tour."

Congratulations to the Afghans on their Successful Elections. Bet They are Glad We Did Not Listen to Cindy Sheehan!

Today the people of Afghanistan went to the polls to select a Parliament. Good for them. They went to the polls despite the threats of violence from those "freedom fighters," the Taliban, of violence if they voted. Of course, the MSM focuses on the fact that the turnout was less than the last election. But given the threats we should be glad they voted at all. It gets tiring being lectured by the media about how Afghanistan or Iraq is doomed if every single voter does not show at the polls for whatever reason. And several commenter's from the left have said this is a sign that Afghanistan is a failure and a waste of lives and money. Freedom means a lot of things including not having to vote if you do not want to. We have lower turnout here in this country and the only threat we face that of inconvenience. The Afghan's and Iraqi's show up when the threat is real. That is taking ownership for their country and it is a great sign. And every suicide bomber represents a step backwards to oppression an tyranny, not freedom.  And Cindy " Occupied New Orleans" Sheehan and all her fellow travelers can put that in their pipe and smoke it!

September 11, 2001; Never, Ever, Forget

Republishing this post. It is as true today as it was when I wrote it.

In the midst of the Katrina aftermath, the fourth anniversary of a second day that will live in infamy is here. I urge all of you to remember those that were murdered that day and their loved ones in your thoughts and prayers... and to never forget what was done to us and by whom. Never, ever forget!

Be sure to stop by PoliPundit and InstaPundit as they have have a great rundown of posts remembering 9/11 and pictures from that day that the media no longer shows. It seems they only want to show dead Americans in New Orleans, Mogadishu and Iraq.

Picture courtesy of PoliPundit.

Update: Mudville Gazette has an amazing series of photos that document that horrible day. Just keep scrolling. They certainly helped refresh my memory.

This Pretty Much Sums Up the Katrina Response

Chris Muir sums up the Katrina response very succinctly in this strip from his  "Day by Day" cartoon. If it is not a daily read for you, then you are definitely missing out!

I Agree With Drudge, This Picture of New Orleans Tonight is Beautiful

Amidst all the emphasis on the negative in the press it is easy to forget the progress being made in New Orleans each and every day. This picture, via The Drudge Report is a sign that we have made tremendous progress and that better days are coming soon. Enjoy!

The Vultures of the Venomous Left

Wesley Pruden has a great piece outlining how the Left is attempting to lay the blame for all the post-Katrina woes at the feet of President Bush. Note to liberals, the Feds are not first responders. Get a grip. Here is a key excerpt,

The vultures of the venomous left are attacking on two fronts, first that the president didn't do what the incompetent mayor of New Orleans and the pouty governor of Louisiana should have done, and didn't, in the early hours after Katrina loosed the deluge on the city that care and good judgment forgot. Ray Nagin, the mayor, ordered a "mandatory" evacuation a day late, but kept the city's 2,000 school buses parked and locked in neat rows when there was still time to take the refugees to higher ground. The bright-yellow buses sit ruined now in four feet of dirty water. Then the governor, Kathleen Blanco, resisted early pleas to declare martial law, and her dithering opened the way for looters, rapists and killers to make New Orleans an unholy hell. Gov. Haley Barbour did not hesitate in neighboring Mississippi, and looters, rapists and killers have not turned the streets of Gulfport and Biloxi into killing fields.
    The drumbeat of partisan ingratitude continues even after the president flooded the city with National Guardsmen from a dozen states, paratroopers from Fort Bragg and Marines from the Atlantic and the Pacific. The flutter and chatter of the helicopters above the ghostly abandoned city, some of them from as far away as Singapore and averaging 240 missions a day, is eerily reminiscent of the last days of Saigon. Nevertheless, Sen. Mary Landrieu, who seems to think she's cute when she's mad, even threatened on national television to punch out the president -- a felony, by the way, even as a threat. Mayor Nagin, who you might think would be looking for a place to hide, and Gov. Blanco, nursing a bigtime snit, can't find the right word of thanks to a nation pouring out its heart and emptying its pockets. Maybe the senator should consider punching out the governor, only a misdemeanor.

Be sure to read it for yourself. But have also noticed how there has been little in the way of thanks coming from the Governor? In fact, has anyone seen the Governor? She is no Pataki.

Buses, Buses, We Don't Need No Stinking Buses!

New Orleans Mayor Ray "Peter Principle" Nagin accused FEMA of thinking small when they suggested he use school buses to evacuate the residents of his city. He said that every Greyhound bus in America should be headed his way.  As we now know, he was serious about not using school buses, as he left the City's school buses unused and resting in several feet of water (and as Mrs. Opinionator pointed out, to be replaced us, the taxpayer). Who knows what became of the NORTA buses. In any event, I could only be stunned by the irony of watching the evacuation being carried out over the weekend as I noticed that the bulk of the buses being used were school buses from other parts of the country including the Houston ISD. I wonder what "No Chagrin" Nagin thought of that...or was he too busy running to every microphone in town to blame someone else to give it a thought.

Hat Tip: Junk Yard Blog.

When the NOPD Returns from Vegas, Could they Put out an APB for Governor Blanco?

Via Blackfive we learn that New Orleans Mayor Ray "Peter Principle" Nagin has taken a break from blaming others for his failures to anyone in earshot to propose sending his employees to Vegas for a vacation. I guess he feels that since the Governor has finally gotten around to deploying the National Guard, and more troops are arriving daily thanks to the President, his guys deserve a break... on the taxpayer dime. Unfortunately, we have not been able to reach Governor Blanco for comment. She was last seen several days ago blubbering at a press conference. Perhaps when the NOPD returns from hiatus, they can issue an APB for the Governor. In response to a questioner that pointed out that maybe now is not the time to take the first responders off the street, the Mayor ended the interview by repeatedly shouting, "Where are the friggin' buses!"

P.S. In all seriousness, to those first responders who stayed at their posts and did their jobs despite working for incompetents, I salute you!

Yep, It's All Bush's Fault. Oops, Maybe Not; Update II

Update II: Via Junk Yard Blog we learn of this story in the Washington Post. Key quote:

"None of this has been planned," he said. "Not a single elected official has come down here in days to talk to us and tell us anything, not the mayor, not the police chief, nobody.

Leadership in action.

Update: Mudville Gazette echos some of my points in this post. I am proud to say one of the Arkansas Guardsman he mentions is a buddy of mine. He is an infantry platoon leader just back from Iraq. He is also a North Little Rock Police Sergeant so I am sure he knows what he is doing in this type of situation. Good work BK! I will also add that Col. David Hunt dropped the bomb on the Governor on The O'Reilly Factor tonight when he described the lack of planning and action of Governor Blanco as the main culprit in the slow military response. Last, I will add that the one area I am truly troubled about is that the militayr and first responders do not have reliable communications that can speak to one another. I work for a carrier that would have you believe that their walkie-talkie phone is all you need for first responders. Sorry, but that is not the case. Satellite phones and radios are needed and should be part of the communications equipment for all these agencies.

Clearly the government has not responded quickly enough in this crisis. BUT, is it  all Bush's fault? How about Mayor Nagin, a Democrat? He did not use the buses he had available to schools to evacuate anyone. And police, fire and other city services that have performed poorly report to him. Not to mention that the Superdome and Convention Center are city evacuation centers. When they sent people there, they should have insured there was food, water and police presence at both locations. He also let the looters run free at first, in contrast to Mississippi, which made it clear looting was not acceptable. How about Governor Blanco, a Democrat. She controlled the Guard and State Police. She has performed well? Governor Barbour has done much better, taking charge rather than waiting for the Feds.

Let me contrast this with another pair, Mayor Giuliani and Gov. Pataki. They acted decisively with the resources they had available under their control on 9/11 and in the aftermath. They coordinated with one another. They did not throw their hands up and say, "This is for the feds to do," and wash their hands of any responsibility while waiting for the Federal Government to take over. In a crisis, the local officials are the ones with the most ability to shape events and these two were overwhelmed and incompetent. It is fortunate for them that FEMA's director may also be incompetent thus giving them someone to easily blame. By the way, whose job is it to tell FEMA about the convention center evacuation center if not City officials?

Much has also been made of the fact that the Feds had not planned for a disaster that was an obvious possibility in a city below sea level. However, what about City, Parish and State planning. You mean to tell me that the City had no stockpiles of food or water to draw from? Neither did the state,  which has an entire coastline in a hurricane zone? And about those levees? People have been warning about them for my entire lifetime (40 years). Of course it is the Feds fault in general and Bush's fault in particular that they were not shored up, right? But what about the residents? In 40 years they could not have raised the money to do this themselves? Property owners could have paid more in property taxes and tourists could have paid more in hotel taxes and much of this problem could have been addressed.

Long story short, there is plenty of blame to go around and laying this exclusively at the feet of the Federal Government and President Bush ignores that reality. Some people would not be happy unless he flew down and started handing out water and food while warding off looters singlehandedly. And I am sure that someone would still find something to bitch about!