The Next Hurrah

Louisiana's 9-11 Kiosks

By DHinMI

The New Orleans Times-Picayune is keeping their community forums running, and reading these comments evokes the same feelings I had when, several months after 9-11, I saw the flyers posted on kiosks after the WTC collapse on display in Grand Central Station.

These messages were posted on the Plaquemines/St. Bernard forum:

11229. diane wells nina selvage

by jennbobjulie, 8/31/05 22:14 ET

my name is jennifer grathouse. i am looking for my mother marguerite diane wells. my grandmother nina selvage. here is a list of people i know were in st bernard parish when the hurricane hit. ola fayarrd eddie selvage, rob duzat alex duzat bruce bailey tammy bailey stacey bailey bruce bailey jr. george bailey, chris holmes brittany cavet. if anyone has any idea where these people are please e mail me at[email protected]my mother, grandmother, and grandpaw are sick and need medicine to live.

11214. Message for Shane and Chrissy Bergeron

by cookkb, 8/31/05 22:11 ET

Hi Shane and Chrissy,Please ask Felix or Joel to contact Kimberly, Derek's sister or Keith's daughter Mandy at 985-285-2696 or 985-640-5362. The last we heard about Keith, Sandra, and his brother and friends, were that they were stuck on Gorbity Apt roof due to flooding,, and unable to be rescued due to high winds. We heard some people from Chalmette were evacuated to BR where we are. His daughter, Elyse, went to 7 shelters today trying to find them, with no luck. She and Sandra's daughter will be searching the shelters again on Friday. Please contact us or have Felix contact us if he hears anything else. We so very much appreciate it and so glad all of you are safe. With much appreciation, Kimberly

11200. rescue

by Bano1, 8/31/05 22:07 ET

in a message below there are people trapped in Tommy Tammaso's house behind winn dixie on Paris Rd. His son Rocky and Friends in the attic in the Big white house they are crying for help Denise Montalbano

11236. prisonners

by alannalatham, 8/31/05 22:14 ET

where were the Plaquemines Parish prisonners taken. i am specifically looking for ryan freeman or any of his family that might know where he is and if he is still being released sept 1.[email protected]

11071. looking for Laura Gonzalez and Alice Sheasby

by lgonzalez, 8/31/05 21:35 ET

Laura Gonzalez is a CMC employee and was on the roof with her three children, James, Savannah and Katie Berndt. Please call if you know of anything. 985-876-5818. Also, Alice Sheasby is a patient at CMC and we need info on her as well. Thanks.


I don't know what I can say.

The American Refugee Crisis

By DHinMI

It's a pretty safe bet that 80% or more of the residents of the New Orleans, Gulfport-Biloxi and Pascagoula Metropolitan Statistical Areas have been displaced by Katrina and in need of somewhere to live until they can return to their homes, if they ever can.  With a combined population of around 1.7 million people, that means that if the 80% guess is correct, then about 1.3 million people are displaced, a population roughly equal to the entire population of Manhattan except Washington Heights. 

Think about that: the United States has almost as many refugees caused by Katrina as it there are residents of Manhattan. 

There are eleven states with fewer residents that there are people displaced by Katrina. 

This is staggering.

Do People Realize How Bad This Is?

By DHinMI

In the comments to DemFromCT’s earlier post Mimikatz said she’s been numb for days. I know the feeling. Katrina hadn't registered on my radar until I awoke Sunday and discovered she was a category 5 storm headed straight at New Orleans. Even without New Orleans’ uniqueness, both as a city and as a disaster waiting to happen, it was immediately clear to some of us that a storm with 175 to 200 mile winds slamming into the Gulf Coast would be catastrophic. Trapper John summed things up in an email Sunday evening: “even with a slight slackening of the storm, this will easily be the worst natural disaster of our lifetimes, and may be more devastating in terms of human, economic and cultural costs than 9/11.” I sensed he was correct, and like Mimikatz, it made me numb.

But as my numbness turns to a mix of awe, sorrow and anger, I’ve been wondering: why aren’t more people feeling this the way we have? I don’t want to be Bob Dole asking where’s the outrage, but I’m really stunned at how life has gone on for so many people in ways that would have been unfathomable in the aftermath of 9/11.

Thousands, probably tens of thousands have died. We’ve all seen the devastation along the Mississippi coast, and in the best case scenario that cost hundreds of lives. New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin has estimated the deaths in New Orleans add up to “minimum, hundreds. Most likely, thousands.” The Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture flew over affected areas where he knew there had been 150,000 head of cattle, and he only saw one man in a boat, and not a single animal, dead or alive. In Plaquemines Parish, where Katrina made landfall, aerial views have only shown cattle, but no human activity, and the communities at the mouth of the Mississippi River are completely devastated. And Senator Mary Landrieu,

viewing the destruction and human misery Tuesday from a helicopter, traced the sign of the cross across her head and chest as she looked out at St. Bernard Parish east of New Orleans, where only roofs peeked out from the water.

“The whole parish is gone,” she said in disbelief.

This all leaves me numb. But when I watched local news last night, I didn’t get the sense the newscasters were numb or stunned.  (I did, however, get that impression from watching Nightline.) I’m not sure the news people not on the scene have processed the enormity of Katrina’s toll on the Gulf Coast. And until the media pick up on this, I’m not sure that many of the people I’m seeing in my daily travels about town really understand what just happened, that our country most likely just experienced what could be the worst natural disaster of our lifetimes, something more devastating in terms of human, economic and cultural costs than the attacks on New York and Washington almost four years ago.

I Don't Know What to Say

By DHinMI

This just makes me want to puke:

                                                 
Bush hasn't even done a damn thing, and they've already got a logo?  Where is that photo from, and who is it in the photo with Bush?  It sure as hell isn't someone whose home and community was just devastated by Katrina, because Bush didn't even bother to leave his fake ranch in Crawford until long after it became clear that Katrina might be the most deadly natural disaster in U.S. history, and he still hasn't bothered to travel to Louisiana, Mississippi or Alabama.

After four and a half years in office, the Bush administration has to work hard to surprise me.  But this is just obscene. 

The Aftermath

by DemFromCT

Katrina is a true disaster, the magnitude of which we are just learning. New Orleans is uninhabitable, but there are folks still trapped there, and the rest of the Gulf Cost east of LA is in similar shape.

As parts of flooded New Orleans slip into chaos and Gulf Coast communities struggle to deal with the devastation left by Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana's governor is declaring Wednesday a day of prayer.

Officials in New Orleans have not even begun tallying the dead -- there hasn't been time. With waters rising from broken levees, all efforts have been focused on rescuing survivors.

Those survivors are facing dire conditions -- no power, little drinking water, dwindling food supplies, gunfire in the distance -- with no way to get out.

And the waters are still rising, at times dotted by the bodies of those who perished when the hurricane roared into town Monday morning.

Authorities were having to evacuate the thousands of people at city shelters, including the Louisiana Superdome, where a policeman told CNN unrest was escalating.

If you want to help, send money (not goods) to the American Red Cross if you can. Donate by following this link, or donate by phone at 1-800-HELP NOW.

There will be  a political dimension to this, but now is not the time to dissect that. Bush had better get his butt out of Crawford and roll his sleeves up. Americans are already unhappy about his performance, and they have fresh doubts about his personal attributes. They will forgive incompetence before they forgive laziness.

The Next Open Thread

by DemFromCT

Continuing a theme started by Kagro X, this is a completely open TNH thread. Ask anything you want, and you'll get a TNH answer. The correct answer, however, is another thing altogether.

But here's a heartwarming story about NYC and Katrina. It seems that the American Red Cross office in NY has been swamped with calls from LA... folks stuck in their homes, folks not knowing where to turn, etc. Naturally, they've responded by increasing their phone banks. So if you're in the NY area and want to help, don't go to LA... go to NY and volunteer for the phones (and send money) to the American Red Cross.

This is an open thread.

Cindy, Iraq and America

by DemFromCT

Later today, a WaPo poll will be out to show that if you dislike Bush and the war, you like Cindy Sheehan and vice versa.

Like the war and Bush's overall handling of the situation in Iraq, attitudes toward Sheehan divide along sharply partisan lines. Seven in 10 Democrats say they support Sheehan's position on Iraq while an equal proportion of Republicans oppose her.

In the three weeks since she began her protest, Sheehan has quickly become the most visible symbol of the anti-war movement. Fully three in four Americans say they have read or heard about Sheehan and her protest.

The survey also suggests, however, that Sheehan's anti-war vigil has failed to mobilize large numbers of Americans against the war. If anything, her opposition has done as much to drive up support for the war as ignite opponents, the survey found.

Eight in 10 Americans--including overwhelming majorities of Democrats, Republicans and political independents--say Sheehan's protest has had no impact on their attitudes toward Iraq. While one in 10 say she has made them less likely to support the war, the same proportion say she has made them more likely to back the conflict.

Two in ten of Americans are completely clueless. If they can't have an opinion about the war without watching cable to see what some complete stranger thinks, I'm not sure what their opinions are worth. Interesting, however, that this small segment oif the population is equally divided and cancels each other out.

In any case, this is not new. Rasmussen had it at

Cindy Sheehan, the grieving mother who maintained an anti-War protest outside of President Bush's ranch, is viewed favorably by 35% of Americans and unfavorably by 38%.

Helen Thomas Joins Those Seeking Dem Spine

By Meteor Blades

I can't really say I know Helen Thomas. However, twice about ten years ago, I had dinner with her and enjoyed myself immensely. We talked about Reagan, Bush Sr. and Clinton, and if I were to transcribe and post her remarks I'd have to find a sheet of asbestos to   type them on. She was not tepid.

Thomas's writing doesn't have the sparkle of a James Wolcott or the needling ability of Molly Ivins, but her firsthand grasp of the presidency makes up for any lack of style. Today, she's joined a still small but growing chorus calling on the Democrats to move in a direction that seems like poison at the moment. My guess is it will seem like divine wisdom nine months from now. It's not that she's the first to say what's in her column, just that she's the one saying it. Some excerpts:

Democrats still backing senseless war

By HELEN THOMAS

WASHINGTON -- It's time for the Democratic Party to take a courageous stand and call for the withdrawal of troops from the senseless war in Iraq.

Its human cost and the billion-dollars-a-week tab in Iraq should give all Americans pause.

Would the Republicans have hesitated to challenge the Democrats if the shoe were on the other foot? Did the opposition party give President Clinton any slack while he was in office?

What is the logic of Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., Joseph Biden, D-Del., and other so-called moderate Democrats still backing the unprovoked war in Iraq when they know they were sold a bill of goods?

Furthermore, they are urging that more troops be sent to Iraq. And they are doing so at a time when the generals in Iraq are giving mixed signals. Some are talking about a draw-down of troops in a year, others in four years. ...

White House reporters have noted that in addressing military families, Bush is citing statistics on Americans killed in Iraq -- a figure now approaching the 2,000 mark. But the candid test will be when he notes the numbers of Iraqis who have been killed since the United States invaded their country.

Democrats have gone about their lives after giving the president a blank check to do anything he thought was necessary. They think they have absolved themselves of responsibility. It's somebody else's war.

But they might find that if they don't get some backbone and take a stand soon, the voters might not be that forgiving.

I know that I am growing less and less forgiving.

Louisiana 2005

What has happened down here is the wind has changed
Clouds roll in from the north and it start to rain
Rained real hard and rained for a real long time
Six feet of water in the streets of Evangeline

The river rose all day
The river rose all night
Some people got lost in the flood

Some people got away alright
The river has busted through clear down to Plaquemines
Six feet of water in the streets of Evangeline

Louisiana, Louisiana
They're tryin' to wash us away
They're tryin' to wash us away
Louisiana, Louisiana
They're tryin' to wash us away
They're tryin' to wash us away

President Coolidge come down in a railroad train
With a little fat man with a note-pad in his hand
President Coolidge say, "Little fat man inn't it a shame, what the river has done to this poor cracker's land."

Louisiana, Louisiana
They're tryin' to wash us away
They're tryin' to wash us away
Louisiana, Louisiana
They're tryin' to wash us away
They're tryin' to wash us away

--Randy Newman, "Louisiana 1927"

What Hope Has Privacy in GOP Hands?

by Kagro X

Tasty item at Connecticut-based Second Congressional District Watch, found via The Stakeholder:

Lately I've been noticing a number of one or two line anonymous comments supporting the Congressman or responding negatively to articles quoted that are critical of him.

After pouring through The Watch's web logs, I discovered these posts are all coming directly from an IP address assigned to the U.S. House of Representatives! Watch insiders are working diligently to track down the IP to a specific House office, but it's clear it is likely coming directly from Simmons' office.

Funny. But it gets better.