The President's Speech

I thought Bush did a good job at taking ownership of the problem and commicated a great releif plan.

I watched the Primetime special prior which gave a fair an accuate time line which was informative prior to the speech.

After the speech on ABC they interviewed a couple of people that were directly affected and have been relocated to the Astrodome in Texas. They all had positive commets on the speech and all seemed to blame the Mayor for droping the ball. Was it only me or did the repoter from ABC seem a little disappointed that he could,nt find a person to rip apart Bush.

There was also an old woman in a wheelchair when asked, blamed herself because she did'nt leave to evacuate when asked.

God bless her for blaming herself when she had so many others to point her finger at.

I didn't hear the speech so I don't know the context of the following quote from the AP: 'Bush said Katrina "was not a normal hurricane-and the normal disaster relief system was not equal to it."

This just strikes me as a dumb thing to say. What is a "normal" hurricane. They're all basically normal. They have high winds and lots of rain. Do we say that Hurricane Ophelia isn't normal because it didn't move for two days? In other words if it was "normal" there wouldn't have been any relief problems. I really want to support the President, but every day he makes it harder to do.

How about it isn't normal to build a city below sea level.

$200 billion. Dammit. Too bad we can't just have the people who voted for Bush to pay it.

I fell asleep.

I have to give him credit for not being suicidal yet. Less than 1/3 of the country approves of him, his handling of Katrina, and the Iraq War. He doesn't know the difference between a statement and a question, as you can see in Turi's thread. Ha. I am loving it.

Are you saying that the goverment should not rebuild and help the many Americans who were affected by Katrina, or that another leader could offer the same recovery for less

In context I did not take the statement as an excuse or dumb. Bush wanted to point out the severity of the hurricane itself, but I admit it sounds kinda dumb if you read a transcript or hear a sound bite.

I thought it was rather clear that I said the people who voted for Bush, the man who messed everything up, should have to pay off the $200 billion that will be used to rebuild.

I thought it was rather clear that I said the people who voted for Bush, the man who messed everything up, should have to pay off the $200 billion that will be used to rebuild. [/quote]So George Bush is directly responsible for all the devastation cause to the Gulf Coast by Hurricane Katrina

I thought it was rather clear that I said the people who voted for Bush, the man who messed everything up, should have to pay off the $200 billion that will be used to rebuild. [/quote]So George Bush is directly responsible for all the devastation cause to the Gulf Coast by Hurricane Katrina [/b][/quote]George took the blame, so yes.

Let's try and be a little more precise here, Pat, before you dig yourself an even deeper hole.

President Bush is not responsible for the damage caused by the hurricane. The hurricane is responsible for that.

What he is responsible for is the response by Fema to the the damage caused by the hurricane.

Correct suhh.

A failure on all levels, too. Though Bush is at the top, so he takes the biggest fall.

Regarding his speech, I only saw small bits of it, flipping whenever there was a commercial during the Yankee game. However, I thought it presposterous that part of his plan is for these people to rebuild the city with low-interest loans from the SBA. These people don't have any underwear, much less collateral to pledge to start a new business. And given the success rate of new businesses, that seems like a particularly brilliant way to go. :rolleyes:

I was impressed, however, that he correctly used the plural of Inspector General by saying Inspectors General. Given his frequent mangling of the English language, that, at least, was a pleasant surprise.

I agree. And I "misunderestimated" your dorkiness and thought I'd be the only nerd to notice that and actually care.

Zia, I noticed IMMEDIATELY. Of course, you are far more nerdy than I am, having scored 9 points higher on the spelling test! :p

Mmm, since, after all, they aren't taxpayers too.

Of course, if you listen to your party's chairman, Howard Dean, Republicans such as myself have never worked an honest day in our lives.

Then again, we can't all marry ketchup heiresses.

:rolleyes:

Let's think of some other poor presidential ratings...

Lincoln, well, half the nation hated him, enough to kill him.

Andrew Johnson, hated him, enough to impeach him.

LBJ, yeah, his approval rating was in the shitter.

Nixon too, he had to resign.

Jimmy Carter...energy crisis? 'Nuff said.

Because, after all, a bad approval rating clearly means you should go shoot yourself.

Hell, by your logic, Clinton could've done us all a favor after we all learned of his blowjob by doing himself in, but...oh no, I've besmirched the sacred and unimpeachable (gasp) name of William Jefferson Clinton.

Yes, after all, since you clearly show a superlative grasp of grammar and syntax. :rolleyes:

Oh, good, then you liberals can pay for 9/11 and all the welfare cases in the US, because, after all, it was defense cuts that caused the security problems, and you all support welfare, right? That should be a few hundred billion, at least.

Ooh, yeah, he huffed, puffed, and blew New Orleans down!

Why stop him? He's gonna need a steam shovel pretty soon.

Well, I do think that we should try and employ some of the ideas of the Roosevelt administration, like the CCC or the WPA, where we hire the natives of New Orleans and pay them, so that they all have jobs and are rebuilding at the same time. The loan idea is to get them cash, SB, after all, they will rise again.

I agree. And I "misunderestimated" your dorkiness and thought I'd be the only nerd to notice that and actually care. [/b][/quote]If I had watched the speech, I would have noticed it.

It drives me crazy when my GF talks about her "son-in-laws"

Here's one that bothers me:

In a football game, the announcer might say "The Giants have three time outs left".

According to the dictionary, the singular is either "timeout" or "time out", so shouldn't the plural be "times out"?

Haha. DJ, when you can make a post without trying to make a joke or using sarcasm, than I will reply to it. Thanks buddy. I counted 7 attempts in that post alone. :p

There's some sarcasm.

Attempt to crack a joke...failed. It might've been funny during the campaign.

Hmmm.

That was a little better than the ketchup comment.

Some more sarcasm.

Guess that means you republicans owe atleast $400 billion for Iraq and New Orleans. That post was ok, DJ. You're getting a little better.

We aren't talking about the '3 Little Pigs' here.

You're going to be waiting for quite some time, since most of the posts I read on here are just ripe for the picking.

BTW - I'm glad your math skills are far better than your interpretation of US history and both foreign and domestic policy.

Still, those courses with the Count must be helping.

Once again, not funny. You're actually starting to remind me of Chris Rock. A comedian can only make fun of people so long until people just sit back and say, "You know what? That's not right for him to do that." So if it makes ya feel better at night that you are making fun of a teenager in high school, than you do what you have to do, DJ.

Well, I appreciate your honesty. Actually, my policy is just that one asinine statement always deserves some form of rebuttle, and I frequently choose sarcasm in your case. And just because I happen to utilize sarcasm in much of my sentiments certainly shouldn't lead you to dismiss them automatically...after all, I'm sure there are a great deal of things you have to learn.

I was going to watch the speech and did have the tv on, but my brother called from Michigan so I sort of half listened to it. I picked up on the highlights later. Nothing special in my opionion. He did what he had to do, whether it was successful or not, time will tell.

Anyway, I know my righty friends don't watch Bill Maher, but did anyone see it tonight? Of course the speech and the Hurricane were big topics. Bill was thrasing Bush for the slow response to Katrina and said Bill Clinton had -----(don't remember the name)as head of Fema and who does Bush pick? Fredo Corleone One of the other guests said "even Fredo Corleone would have done a better job.

TIS

I learned two important things after the hurricane that I obviously missed in my school classes: (1) Contray to my Earth Science course, apparently hurricanes are NOT colorblind and can differentiate between black and white! Wow! and (2) Contrary to what I learned in Civics class, the President is not only the President of the U.S., but he's obviously also supposed to be the mayor of every city and the governor of every state! :rolleyes:

New Orleans had a PLAN for this disaster over two years ago. Someone dug up a year-old interview with the governor and asked should this scenario occur, who would be responsible for search and rescue, finding shelters, and most importantly, evacuations. Guess what she said? "You're looking at her." Well, no DUH!! You can't "save" people from themselves. And don't give me that what-about-those-who-were-too-poor-to-leave crap. If the mayor would have had any sense, he could have used everything with four wheels to get folks out, period.Good God, he had a week to do it in! No, he'd rather piss and moan and blame Whitey and Bush.

Yeah, I have a heart and I DO feel for those folks. But let's just be frank here: Many (if not most) of them thought they could ride the storm out, and they were wrong. The same damn thing could happen here in Memphis with an earthquake. They've been predicting it for decades, and some day, it'll hit. Everyone knows about it. So, when it hits and I die, who's to blame? ME, that's who. And if our ignorant mayor survives, you know who he will blame? The President (unless he's a Democrat) and Whitey. Turns my stomach.

It's a sad day indeed when a natural disaster is blamed on a man, and it's even sadder when it's turned into a racial and political issue. Get up, get over it, and move on already.

I saw that, TIS. That was a good episode.

I especially enjoyed the skit before hand of the abortion clinic and his "republican porn" books. Good stuff!

I don't think Bill gets enough credit. It seems I agree with him on so much, and I know people who feel the same way.

WELL SAID, Snake. I hate to say it but a lot of blacks want to just place the blame with anybody but themselves. I feel sorry for everybody, but like Snake said, how can you blame a hurricane on the President.

WELL SAID, Snake. I hate to say it but a lot of blacks want to just place the blame with anybody but themselves. I feel sorry for evrybody, but like Snake said, how can you blame a hurricane on te President. [/b][/quote]You can't blame a hurricane on a president. Many extreme liberals feel the need to blame it on the president. The president isn't to blame for the hurricane, but for the reaction. Just because the local and state governments couldn't handle the situation doesn't mean the federal government shouldn't step in, however it seems people are too busy blaming the blame game with the local and state governments. I say, fuggedaboutit the blame game, and cut to the chase, restoring order in some of our southern states.

Of course hurricanes cannot distinguish between black and white citizens. However, to feel as if that's what's being said is foolish. Many of these 'blacks' from New Orleans are in desperate poverty, and many of them didn't have a way of getting out because they either didn't have a car, or relatives up north, etc. To believe this as a false is naive. Sure, not everybody's going to react the same way, and some did stay down there. But to blame povertized leagues for not leaving New Orleans is stupid.

I don't think the president is racist. I just think he didn't have Louisiana on his priority list.

Well, now I have to fear for my safety with some of the New Orleans criminals, rapists and drug dealers fleeing to my state.

True! Kind of like the white town some of them fled to and were fired upon.

Of course, I'm not how safe I would feel if some of them came up here to Little Chicago.

The Presiden't speech was pure poetry!

DS

DS, dirty limericks are poetry too.

The speech merely added to the sewage they are trying to pump out of New Orleans. The phony backlit church and Andrew Jackson statue....the stupid little walk to the microphone....JAYZUS!!! The man is an embarrassment. He ain't gonna get a "bullhorn moment" this time around.
Look at his poll numbers.

I have to disagree. His speech came from the heart and I feel that he is deeply hurt by the unspeakable damage and death that he saw in new Orleans.

DS

The major/governor should have had a better way to get those people out. Instead, the were locked up in the Superdome and Convention Center. Why did they have checkpoints around the city, so if someone tries to leave they turn them back to the Superdome and the Convention Center? Not that many people just wanted to "ride out the storm". Everyone is well aware of the NOLA bowl.

No, not on one man. But it seems that this one man appointed a director of FEMA has no experience with disasters....his passion is Arabian horses! Oh. That fits.

After the levees broke?
FEMA would not accept Amtrak's help in evacuations
FEMA turned away experienced firefighters
FEMA turned back Wal-Mart supply trucks
FEMA prevented Coast Guard from delivering diesel fuel
FEMA wouldn't let Red Cross deliver food
FEMA barred morticians from entering New Orleans
FEMA blocked 500-boat citizen flotilla from delivering aid
FEMA failed to utilize Navy ship with 600-bed hospital on board
FEMA to Chicago: Send just one truck
FEMA turned away generators
FEMA: "First Responders Urged Not To Respond"

Perhaps the best example of why meaningful debate at the BB has become nonexistant. Rather than actually point out logical reasons or disagreements with what the President said, all you do is criticize his walk, and cite poll numbers as "evidence" that he is an embarassment.

I confess, I didn't see the whole speech, so I can't comment. However, I do vaguely remember a previous President who felt the need to indict the witch hunting conservatives and point his finger at the camera and lie about his sexual activity in the Oval Office.

Funny, now THAT would be considered an embarassment in my book.

Amen Snake Amen!


Lets not forget that a parking lot full of school buses that should've been used to transport people to safety were left there to get flooded.


Tony Love DC posted something about this awhile back. The federal government can't just step in. Unless the governor gives them the authority. And by the time this inept governor gave the authority(if in fact she ever did) it was way to late.

President has the authority to declare an emergency situation with or without a request from a state's governor.

^^^

I think you're misunderstanding me SB. I'm fully aware that the president has the authority to declare an emergency. But I'm talking about the federal government stepping in and actually taking control from the state government. As what Tony Love implied.