Obama's "Katrina on Ice"
More than 700,000 homes are still without power in Kentucky due to a massive ice storm that struck the state six days ago, forcing Gov. Steve Beshear to mobilize his entire state's Army and Air National Guard, a total of 4,600 men and the largest call-out in Kentucky's history.
FEMA has apparently been a no-show. Our Hawaiian-borne President, basking in the glow of an overheated Oval Office and dining on $100/lb steak, has been utterly disinterested, indulging himself in vodka martinis at cocktail parties, as he continues to talk up the need for the $1.1 trillion dollar "stimulus" while simultaneously trying to lower expectations of its impact, knowing how little it will actually accomplish for the economy even as it furthers his political agenda. So please pardon some of my friends if they engage in a little hyperbole as they notice that our Freshman Senator cum President is a bit too giddy with his newfound power and the D.C. cocktail circuit to notice that as many as 1.5 million Americans are in dire straits at this moment. After all, Barack Obama probably doesn't hate white people no matter what 20-years in the pews of a racial separatist church suggests. It's just far harder to see a bunch of white people against ice and snow. And Caleb, while I don't doubt that the sage of hopenchange has a distinct preference for the refined metropolitan areas of the nation over areas those that bitterly cling to the Bibles, guns, and snowshovels, I'm pretty sure even he doesn't consider Kentucky "southern", even on his 57-state map.
Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 12:13 PM
Comments
Posted by: twolaneflash at February 01, 2009 12:36 PM (05dZx)
I think this could be a good blog to set up: a spoof of the news coverage of the Bush years.
I personally am going to consciously hold off on major attacks against Obama until he does stuff that warrant it. I'm specifically trying hard not to get into the "future telling" business that was the norm for the media in the first two years under Bush.
For example, the choice of Penetta for CIA concerns me a good bit, but I haven't said much about it.
I'd rather avoid the conservative blogsphere imitating not just the liberal one but the media itself.
But --- it might be nice to see a whole blog set up to mimic the Bush press as issues come up - like this ice storm one - complete with the type of hyperbole and doom-saying coverage in the Bush years.
Posted by: usinkorea at February 01, 2009 01:03 PM (DCtzE)
Posted by: Stan at February 01, 2009 01:06 PM (r8IAB)
Mason Dixon: http://www.sonofthesouth.net/slavery/slave-maps/mason-dixon-line.htm
Posted by: Caleb Howe at February 01, 2009 01:13 PM (VyIhp)
The kicker here is that Nagin was re-elected New Orleans' mayor a few months after Katrina. What the heck were they thinking?
Marianne Matthews
Posted by: Marianne Matthews at February 01, 2009 02:24 PM (doHlr)
Posted by: Al Reasin at February 01, 2009 02:27 PM (GAf+S)
Kentucky? Not so much.
Posted by: Confederate Yankee at February 01, 2009 02:45 PM (HcgFD)
Posted by: Larry Sheldon at February 01, 2009 03:00 PM (OmeRL)
Posted by: Caleb Howe at February 01, 2009 03:25 PM (VyIhp)
Re: Obama's Katrina On Ice. When I read how much suffering there was I too thought about Obama's apparent lack of leadership during a weather disaster, but only as it compared to the coverage of Bush's in a similiar situation. However, unlike people who blame Bush for everything that's ever gone wrong, I know better.
That white people may be camouflaged by all that snow and ice didn't occur to me ... Funny stuff right there!
Posted by: DoorHold at February 01, 2009 03:47 PM (sw+43)
Honest Democrat is a contradiction in terms.
Posted by: Ken Hahn at February 01, 2009 05:04 PM (nHlbs)
Posted by: HatlessHessian at February 01, 2009 05:42 PM (7r7wy)
Bush isn't in office, and they don't want to point any bad fingers at Obie-1-Kanobee......
so guess what..... IT NEVER HAPPENED......
people in Kentucky suck and should eat shit and die, as far as the press is concerned......
Posted by: danpa at February 01, 2009 06:01 PM (/vFCA)
http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=47383
Why the press doesn't want to mention it much is another story.
Posted by: arb at February 01, 2009 07:38 PM (x1CDD)
And I have to ask, was Mason-Nixon a typo, or did you actually think that was the name of the line?
Posted by: SPW at February 01, 2009 08:05 PM (VftLx)
Posted by: Tim at February 01, 2009 08:09 PM (sp1sQ)
That's a Robin Williams line. He's always felt comfortable throwing gratuitous insults at Southerners. First of all, he's usually in New York or California. Second of all, he thinks they aren't smart enough to understand him.
Posted by: pst314 at February 01, 2009 10:14 PM (XP0Bd)
Posted by: Tim at February 01, 2009 10:38 PM (sp1sQ)
Posted by: arb at February 01, 2009 11:25 PM (tzgwl)
Posted by: arb at February 01, 2009 11:27 PM (tzgwl)
Posted by: Tim at February 01, 2009 11:36 PM (sp1sQ)
My question is why is the MSM not covering this one way or the other.
Posted by: OldDog at February 01, 2009 11:50 PM (CRC5/)
So, the public does not hear about this, and no one is saying "why isn't Obama doing something." The press sucks.
Posted by: Sally at February 01, 2009 11:57 PM (N0hv7)
"President Obama has declared Kentucky a federal disaster area in the wake of an ice and snow storm that left 600,000 residents without power.
Obama approved Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear’s request for the declaration, according to a news release from the governor’s office. That will activate federal programs to assist the state in its recovery effort."
The article is dated Jan. 29th.
Posted by: Sara (Pal2Pal) at February 02, 2009 12:15 AM (nas9l)
The point still holds. If this was Bush eating steak, watching football etc, he'd be crucified for it.
But it's Obama. So most people don't even know that these people are hurting
Posted by: sally at February 02, 2009 12:18 AM (N0hv7)
OTOH, my neighbor from deep-in-the-woods Kentucky claims she grew up in the Midwest. We always considered Kentucky part of the South.
Border state identity crisis. If you warrant a star on the Stars and Bars, I suppose you can go either way.
But back to the issue at hand...have there been any Sean Penn sightings?
Posted by: JohnL at February 02, 2009 06:37 AM (ywtR/)
Fortunately, the people of Kentucky, like most Southerners, already have rather low expectations of Washington. Here in Alabama, ice storms are particularly destructive. Couple people who drive too fast and have no experience with "winter" conditions with a wooded, mountainous terrain and you see extended periods of lost power. I bought a generator that powers my house as long as a propane truck can get in every 5 days. My neighbors know that when the power goes down, they can come to my house to get ice, take showers, do their laundry, check their email or cook a hot meal. It's like a block party. FEMA is for wards of the state.
If I were a Kentucky conservative, I would be helping my neighbors and quietly asking my conservative democrat friends how they feel about all democrat government now. It worked for Bobby Jindal in Louisiana.
Posted by: arch at February 02, 2009 08:19 AM (ZZW37)
Posted by: Tom Seaver at February 02, 2009 11:55 AM (T4dLI)
My criticism of CY is that he publishes a post saying that FEMA has been a "no show" when that is clearly not the case. He hasn't taken anytime to look into the situation other than to cruise other blogs. Essentially his comment on FEMA is completely unsubstantiated. Hence it is 'weak sauce.'
The notion that this natural disaster is on par with Katrina seems a stretch. As of a couple of days ago, the total death toll for the ice storm was at 46. Katrina killed a little more than 1800 people and 700,000 people were displaced from their homes. Katrina was on a completely different level in terms of destruction.
I wouldn't be surprised if Obama's engagement for this ice storm is equal to what Bush has done in the past for other natural disasters. He's declared it a federal disaster, when the weather clears he'll survey the damage and meet with the citizens. It will be your standard fare, and Bush would have not done much more.
If you want true comparisons then pick any low to moderate level natural disaster during Bush's term, examine how he treated it, and then compare that to Obama's actions.
Bush's biggest mistake was he treated Katrina, from a press standpoint, like a regular low to moderate level disaster instead of the high level one. Many in the Republican party have said it was the moment Bush lost his credibility and the party started it's downward slide.
CY would like this to signal the end of Obama's political career, but that isn't gong to happen in this case. Maybe later, but not with this.
Posted by: SPW at February 02, 2009 02:01 PM (VftLx)
How can nearly 2 million blacks get into Washington DC in sub zero temps in 1 day,
when 200,000 couldn't get out of New Orleans at 85 degrees with four days notice?
Posted by: JosephineSouthern at February 02, 2009 04:26 PM (AKl3/)
As a resident of Houston, Texas, I think I probably know more than most folks who only listened to the mainstream press about this. The US Coast Guard, the only Federally controlled agency which is empowered to respond to local emergencies without having to be requested, did a magnificent job rescuing folks from the rooftops of their flooded homes by helicopter, and by boat, while Gov. Blanco was still "thinkin' about it."
We have always known that Louisiana is a politically corrupt state, and they acted as we expected -- too little and too late. We sheltered more than 75,000 of New Orleans refugees here in Houston with only 24 hours' notice to prepare. That's the way we do things in Texas. The right way.
Marianne
Posted by: Marianne Matthews at February 02, 2009 06:28 PM (doHlr)
I stated he treated it "from a press standpoint" as low to moderate, i.e. he sat in Crawford strumming a guitar and when he did come to New Orleans he made a fool of himself at a press conference where he joked about coming to N.O. in college to party. He did not have his game face on and that's what people remember. His "your doin' a heckuva job Brownie" to the FEMA director was pure comedy and undercut his legitimacy and leadership ability. Period.
Posted by: SPW at February 02, 2009 08:21 PM (VftLx)
Posted by: arch at February 02, 2009 09:56 PM (ZZW37)
Posted by: Ornithophobe at February 02, 2009 11:39 PM (axnX5)
Posted by: Confederate Yankee at February 02, 2009 11:42 PM (HcgFD)
Posted by: l at February 03, 2009 08:23 AM (KquNY)
On another note, I have never understood why people think that a particular location (say New Orleans) that took several centuries to build should be back up and running again within a few weeks or years for that matter. And what do you expect is going to happen when you build it BELOW SEA LEVEL?
Posted by: Razorgirl at February 03, 2009 12:09 PM (gHNO5)
Posted by: Ornithophobe at February 03, 2009 03:10 PM (axnX5)
that was weird
Posted by: energon international homerule strategies at February 03, 2009 10:50 PM (T0NfL)
I wouldn't be surprised if Obama's engagement for this ice storm is equal to what Bush has done in the past for other natural disasters. He's declared it a federal disaster, when the weather clears he'll survey the damage and meet with the citizens. It will be your standard fare, and Bush would have not done much more.
Please.
First of all, the primary responsibility for disaster response lies with the community and the state. FEMA has always been an "after-the-fact" agency that handles the long-term effects. Their minimum response time is 3 days.
Secondly, what else would you realistically expect the President to do? Disaster response isn't his job, that's what the state governors and FEMA are for! Bush did precisely what he was supposed to do, which is stay out of the way of the first-responders and offer moral support.
Where the heck do people get this idea that the Federal government, much less the President, is supposed be the first responder?
Posted by: PaulB at February 04, 2009 02:36 PM (tfMGP)
Because the "press standpoint" is the trooth! But I notice they didn't eviscerate Nagin who spewed idiocy after idiocy in the wake of Katrina, nor did they eviscerate Blanco the Blockade.
Getting things done is irrelevant. Gotta manage the press standpoint.
Posted by: Pablo at February 04, 2009 02:37 PM (yTndK)
From the "press standpoint". That's inoperative for the next 4 years, though.
Posted by: Pablo at February 04, 2009 02:39 PM (yTndK)
We've been all over two counties, clearing roads and doing welfare checks. Other than the thousands of electric company personnel who responded from all over the South (our heroes) we've been on our own.
In ten days, here's what I HAVEN'T seen: FEMA. The Salvation Army. The Red Cross. The National Guard. The mobile units of ANY insurance company.
The single moment we were a blip on Obama's radar, he promised to send AmeriCorp (?!) to help clear roads. I guess they got lost, because they damn sure didn't show up here.
Posted by: lady red at February 06, 2009 10:27 AM (6R27R)
Posted by: helen at March 31, 2009 08:46 PM (D1uNu)
Posted by: grgr at April 15, 2009 02:46 AM (eeU6w)
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