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September 1, 2005
more katrina, rage
I don't know where to start.I'm a bit stunned that the programs that our government has put in place to protect us have failed so utterly and totally.
The fact that FEMA and related agencies could shuffle their feet and try to look busy for three fucking days while the nations 30th largest metropolitan area slowly filled with water is a crime against humanity. And that our President could hit a few fundrasiers and talk to some Californian seniors about social security while innocents drowned in their attics is the most galling act of a man who has been galling his electorate for years with unnecessary wars and mountainous corruption. May he never sleep soundly again.
And the chorus of "Well, they shoulda evacuated like they shoulda," and "Why should we pay for the risk liability of stupid people," and "How dare you politicize a tragedy" can suck an infinite number of dicks. They can wrap themselves in the smug complacency of a couple of years of legislative success all they want; they are on the wrong side of this, and there ain't no one with a human fucking soul that stands with them.
I'm just embarrassed and ashamed to be an American, and I wish it never fucking happened.
There's not so much of point to this post, and I'm sure it's nothing you haven't read a hundred times, but thanks for reading.
We'll attempt a return to levity.
Posted by mrbrent at 8:00 PM
August 31, 2005
katrina and her uses
Sometimes I write mean things about Gawker. Not that the leviatan that is Gawker ever notices, but I get all slappy, etc. etc. Gawker peddles gossip! They're slapable!In the Credit Where Credit Is Due Department, however, two of the deftest posts on The Thing Too Big To Conceive Of which is Hurricane Katrina have come from Gawker's poison pen, and I salute that pen.
Go here for today's post on the sensitivity of the coverage of the survivors, and then go here for what the American People were worried about when that fucker blew through on Monday.
Posted by mrbrent at 11:03 AM
August 30, 2005
holy shit
New Orleans is not getting better; it's getting worse. As in, they are now evacuating the entire city.It's breathtaking, in that kind of way that you don't like having your breath taken. And it's bitch scary, and I don't recall something like this happening in these United States in my lifetime. Yeah, I'm spooked.
Meanwhile, the President is ending his vacation. You know, so he can insinuate that Katrina and Saddam were in cahoots, or to claim that Katrina was smuggled in from the Iranian border. The kind of help he's good at.
Posted by mrbrent at 2:24 PM
no, pardon me
Kentucky, like most states, has a governor. His name is Ernie Fletcher, and he is a Republican. And also his first name is Ernie, which is self-fulfilling in a way?Well in Kentucky, as in many states, I hear, they've developed a "merit system" whereby state employees are supposed to be hired/fired on their merits, and not on political bias. It's intended to protect the state's civil servants and keep them from resembling the Bush Administration, where you, too, can be the Secretary of Interior if you raise enough GOP cash.
The Fletcher Administration has been accused by the State Attorney General of violating these hiring laws by engaging in blatant political paybacks in the form of sinecures with higher-than-usual salaries. The AG filed misdemeanor charges against nine of Fletcher's aides, including the head of the KY GOP.
Yesterday, Gov. Fletcher saw the writing on the wall and, after introspection, decided to do the right thing. He issued blanket pardons for his staff, claiming the AG was engaging in partisan politics, and comparing charges against his staff to noodling for catfish out of season. Plus also, he will refuse to cooperate with the AG's investigation.
I hope the great state of Kentucky is proud to be led by a man who will not hesitate to put patronage and graft before the rule of law.
But before I get all snarked out and righteous, the state is actually a bit up in arms. Read more about it here.
Posted by mrbrent at 10:44 AM
August 29, 2005
pervert 081805
To follow up on our friend Pervert 081805:In case you do not live in the greater NYC area, our self-exposing wankity friend made a very special appearance on the cover of Saturday's Daily News. The Daily News is one of those taboidy jobs that moves five hundred thousand or so copies.
So, as hopeful as I was that he would be recognized through mentions on this site and like-minded sites and then shamed into not jerking off at anyone anymore, now that the Daily News picked the story up, it would be pretty much guaranteed. Prepare for idenitification, public acts of contrition, book deals, etc.
So as a general rule for all of us to follow: No jerking off at strangers!
Posted by mrbrent at 5:05 PM
katrina
You, like me, are reading/watching up on Katrina right now. Not so much snark today, accordingly. Actually, lack of sleep from turning CNN on every two hours overnight also a proximate cause for lack of snark.Brief tip: webcams, with the last 24 hours of images saved, here, with the QuarterCAM and the BridgeCAM being my favorites. [UPDATE 11a: CAMs down.]
Good luck to those riding this monster out.
[UPDATE 10:45a] For a round-up of citizen journalists writing from the NOLA area as Katrina passes, go to this DailyKos diary.
Posted by mrbrent at 10:11 AM