Category: Politics

I can’t believe that Google didn’t turn up anything with this title already.

For everyone who claims that racism didn’t have anything to do with the laggardly relief effort, I’d like to offer this tidbit that caught my ear when I heard the phrase “civil rights violation,” now that the transcript’s up. From MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews (2 September):

CHRIS MATTHEWS: Carl, when your family asks you about this week and your friends ask you for the war stories, what are you going to come to your mind with?

CARL QUINTANILLA, NBC CORRESPONDENT: It is going to come down to one kid. He‘s about 7 years old. He was sweating in 95-degree heat. He was walking on the interstate. He had walked about, I would say two or three miles to a bus that he did not know whether it would be there or not. And he was carrying his baby brother. We saw that and we realized that this—I think that was the turning point where we realized, this was no longer a hurricane aftermath story.

This was no longer a weather story, a devastation story. It was a human, almost a civil rights violation story.

MATTHEWS: Do you have a sense that this is going to go down—I know you have to be an objective journalist. We all do. But, in analyzing this story, from the reactions of the people in New Orleans, especially, do you have a sense that people feel that not only are they poor and they‘re a minority group, African-American, mostly, but that they were dissed, as we say in the big cities; they were disrespected by their own government this week?

QUINTANILLA: I think it is going to be a really interesting question, Chris, to look at over the coming years. What does it mean when you do not—when you fear your own populace, a populace that you have seen with your own eyes is hurting and you are afraid to get to get in the car, to get in an ambulance and come into a city that has been covered from the beginning by the media?

We have had photographers, Chris, go out outside the city limits to ambulances and buses, standing, running with the air conditioning on, and drivers saying, I can‘t go in there. I told my wife I would not go in there. It is a powder keg. That‘s—it was an interesting dynamic and something we had—I have never seen before.

MATTHEWS: Why were the ambulance drivers, rationally or irrationally, afraid to go in the city?

QUINTANILLA: Well, you did have reports of shots being fired at helicopters. And there was a natural fear that, if these people were denied resources long enough, that they would become desperate enough to do unique things.

The line here was, they‘ve lost everything, but they still have guns. And that could change things rather quickly. But once we—once we got to the Convention Center and once those pictures got out, it was clear. These were not troublemakers. These were simply people from poor neighborhoods and, in some cases, not even that poor, but just black neighborhoods, who were standing waiting for someone to pick them up.

Extra props to Matthews for “being down” with the current big-city lingo.

Friday, I noted that Richard Falkenrath — a CNN “security analyst” — replied “having it [flooding in New Orleans] occur simultaneously with a horrific hurricane … was I think beyond the planning parameters for the federal government,” in response to Paula Zahn’s question “How did the government blow it?” I wondered whose butt he was blowing smoke up, because the flooding of New Orleans was always connected to the impact of a large hurricane.

I ran across another reference to him yesterday. Prior to CNN, Falkenrath was a Deputy Homeland Security Advisor and Deputy Assistant to the President.

Note the lag time between event and response.

Terrorists Kill Thousands in An Attack On the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, September 11, 2001:

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
September 12, 2001

Honoring the Victims of the Incidents on Tuesday, September 11, 2001
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation

As a mark of respect for those killed by the heinous acts of violence perpetrated by faceless cowards upon the people and the freedom of the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001, I hereby order, by the authority vested in me as President of the United States of America by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset, Sunday, September 16, 2001….

Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist Dies, September 3, 2005:

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
September 4, 2005

Proclamation by the President: Death of William HR Rehnquist
A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America

As a mark of respect for William H. Rehnquist, Chief Justice of the United States, I hereby order, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States of America, including section 7 of title 4, United States Code, that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and on all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset, Tuesday, September 13, 2005….

Hurricane Katrina Kills Thousands and Causes Widespread Destruction on the Gulf Coast, August 26, 2005:

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
September 4, 2005

Honoring the Memory of the Victims of Hurricane Katrina Proclamation
A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America

As a mark of respect for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, I hereby order, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States of America, that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and on all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset, Tuesday, September 20, 2005….

From FEMA’s daily National Situation Update:

National Situation Update: Saturday, August 27, 2005

Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED).

. . .

State of Emergency Declared in Mississippi, Louisiana DueIn anticipation of a possible landfall, Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour and Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco declared States of Emergency Friday. In Louisiana, New Orleans is of particular concern because much of that city lies below sea level.

According to Gov. Blanco, Lake Pontchartrain is a very large lake that sits next to the city of New Orleans and if the hurricane winds blow from a certain direction, there are dire predictions of what may happen in the city.

Lest we forget that there’s a war on in Iraq, we’ve now reached 900 days since the invasion.

The Global War on Terror is 1,455 days old.

On Friday, the length of the GWOT passes that of the American Civil War.

Is there a domestic threat equivalent to the President’s Daily Briefing? The now-famous PDB (formerly prepared by the CIA Director and now under the auspices of the Director of National Intelligence) covers international intelligence and situations, but surely there’s something similar on the home front. I wonder what the ones from August 26-30 would have to say about Hurricane Katrina?

I was in the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans last fall for the Macromedia MAX2004 conference. I was only there for a few days, and it was my first and only time (so far) in New Orleans, so I don’t claim any expert knowledge.

But, as someone who has some problems walking distances once in a while, I do remember making the mistake after a day wandering around New Orleans’s cemeteries and the French Quarter of walking over to the Convention Center from my hotel and having to walk a looong way to find the registration desk, down at the far end of the building. The Morial Convention Center is over a half-mile long, not too far if you know where you’re going, but it seems much longer if you don’t.

One thing that came to mind as I was watching television coverage of the thousands of people waiting days for food, water, and rescue, was that US90 goes right over the south end of the center. As each correspondent asked why relief hadn’t gotten there yet, and people like FEMA chief Michael “Brownie” Brown expressed surprise that anyone was even there, I was thinking about the freeway ramps that dropped down from the freeway to practically the front of the building. Police were reportedly on the ramps preventing people from getting onto the freeway and crossing over to the unflooded eastern bank of the Mississippi River on the Greater New Orleans Bridge (or walking anywhere else). They would have been literally on top of the starving, thirsty throng, just a hundred-fifty feet or so up, there would have been no way to miss them or to see that they weren’t getting any supplies.

If security had actually been an issue, supplies could have been tossed off the overpass onto the area around the convention center in the kinds of high-impact containers they use to drop supplies from planes. But seriously, how much security was needed to get a truck down a half-mile ramp from the bridge overpass to the front of the conference center?

CNN Live Saturday co-anchor Tony Harris — apparently suffering already from disaster fatigue — offers his helpful survival skills to an obviously stupid victim of Hurricane Katrina (3 September).

HARRIS: Some New Orleans residents evacuated to Baton Rouge are wondering what next and they’re frantically searching for missing family members. One of them is Dorian Browder. She joins us on the phone from Baton Rouge. Dorian, hello, how are you?

DORIAN BROWDER, RELOCATED TO BATON ROUGE: Fine. Hi, how are you doing?

HARRIS: I’m doing well. Dealing with the how are you part of the question, the how are you part of the question, how are you?

BROWDER: Not well at all at this time.

HARRIS: All right, tell me what the last day or so has been like for you?

BROWDER: A living hell, a living hell. That’s putting it mildly. A living hell.

HARRIS: So describe for us your living hell.

BROWDER: OK. One of the first things I want bring forward (PH) is I’ve treated like I was less than human. It has been a very, very inhumane treatment. Everywhere I try to turn for help, no one is helping me. Be it FEMA, the American Red Cross, whatsoever.

They have treated me like I was not even a human being. You go there for any type of assistance, I was turned away. I went to the main facility here in Baton Rouge on Mayfair. They had boycotted the place and everything, I was inquiring about my elderly mother that’s been left in New Orleans and was missing. They said they couldn’t help us, that they had no database. However, I had just came from the state troopers here in Baton Rouge, and they said they had the database. It’s been a back and forth chaotic situation, no one knows nothing.

HARRIS: Dorian, how did you get to Baton Rouge?

BROWDER: In a car. I came in a car.

HARRIS: Where are you staying now?

BROWDER: I’m staying at a motel called Baymont Inn and Suites.

HARRIS: Do you have children?

BROWDER: Yes I do sir, I have two sons.

HARRIS: How old are they?

BROWDER: I have a 23-year-old and a 17-year-old. And it has been a devastation to them.

HARRIS: Do you have food and water?

BROWDER: No. No. Someone donated some moneys to us, and that’s how we’ve been serving.

HARRIS: Someone donated money to you and that’s how you were able to live?

BROWDER: That’s how I was able to — be able to get to the room. Up until last night, I was sleeping in a car.

HARRIS: So, you were sleeping in a car?

BROWDER: Yes, sir, for several nights.

HARRIS: Where will you go? Where will you turn to begin to put your life back together? What is the next thing you will do in this effort to put your life back together again?

BROWDER: Sir, at this time, I don’t know. I have no home to go to. I have no job. I have nothing at this time. Nothing that I can see.

HARRIS: All right, here’s — they’re small but they’re important questions. Do you have a bank account?

BROWDER: Sir. I had a small savings of maybe $8 in the account.

HARRIS: All right. So, FEMA, FEMA will ultimately have to help you. That’s where you have to turn for help, you understand that, correct?

BROWDER: OK, sir, we called and I did — I gave them some information, but at this time, we haven’t had no response.

HARRIS: And no family — I’m trying to help you move forward. Do you understand what I’m trying to do here?

BROWDER: Yes. I’m understanding.

HARRIS: I’m trying to help you move forward and get some help. You have been able to contact any family member in other states?

BROWDER: No, sir. None that can help me. I have no members outside of this state that can help me. They’re not financially able to help me.

HARRIS: OK.

BROWDER: So, it’s like I’m between a rock and a hard place.

HARRIS: All right, continue to think. All right, continue to stay in the moment. Continue to think and continue to find ways. Think of ways to move your individual situation forward. I’m sure there are people in Baton Rouge, if you can reach them, who will be able and willing to help you. Stay positive, and keep moving forward.

BROWDER: That’s the only thing I keep (UNINTELLIGIBLE), the thing is, it’s like every time you try to move forward here to go to these facilities for people to help you, they’re not really helping you.

HARRIS: All right, where are you staying right now? Just quick.

BROWDER: At the Baymont Inn and Suites.

HARRIS: All right, maybe someone will hear this, maybe we can make a call and get help to you and the others who are in a similar situation. Dorian, thank you.

BROWDER: Sir, I — OK.

HARRIS: Thank you, Dorian.

It’s been heartening to see that some of the news media — particularly the cable channels — have been willing to ask questions about what the hell is going on when it takes days for food and water to move just a couple of miles to people crying for help, when cameramen and reporters can get there.*

But I do have to wonder how long they’ll stick with it. CNN’s Aaron Brown was already talking about “disaster fatigue” on last night’s show.

And let us remember what the big story for most of the news programs was a week ago. On Friday, August 26, while the US was involved in a war in Iraq (which I think is still going on) each of the following prime-time cable news shows (there may be more) devoted significant portions of their programs to Natalee Holloway, who had disappeared nearly three months before.

• Hannity & Colmes (FOX)
• On the Record With Greta Sustern (FOX)
• Nancy Grace (CNN)
• Larry King Live (CNN)
• The Abrams Report (MSNBC)
• Rita Cosby Live & Direct (MSNBC)
• Scarborough Country (MSNBC)

Several of those shows have spent much of the summer on that one story. Here’s hoping that they’ll spend a comparable amount of time following up on the fate of victims of Hurricane Katrina.

* For that matter, if security for a supply caravan was seriously an issue (something I’m having a hard time imagining) food could have been dropped or lowered on the convention center area from the Greater New Orleans Bridge (US90), which passes directly over the southwest end of the Morial Convention Center.

Tom Foreman, a Washington reporter for CNN, reported on American Morning (3 September) that FEMA had boasted prior to Hurricane Katrina’s landfall that they had “pre-positioned” supplies and personnel in an arc throughout the South so that they could respond as soon as Monday evening.

They even put out a
press release about it.

Homeland Security Prepping For Dangerous Hurricane Katrina
Residents in path of storm “Must take action now”

Release Date: August 28, 2005
Release Number: HQ-05-173

. . .

“There’s still time to take action now, but you must be prepared and take shelter and other emergency precautions immediately,” said Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Emergency Preparedness and Response. “FEMA has pre-positioned many assets including ice, water, food and rescue teams to move into the stricken areas as soon as it is safe to do so.”

. . .

FEMA is moving supplies of generators, water, ice and food into the region for immediate deployment once the storm passes. FEMA’s Urban Search & Rescue (USAR) and Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMATs) are also staged for immediate response anywhere in the region. The funding and direct federal assistance will assist law enforcement with evacuations, establishing shelters and other emergency protective measures.

FEMA has deployed USAR teams from Tennessee, Missouri and Texas to stage in Shreveport, LA.. USAR teams from Indiana and Ohio are staged in Meridian, MS. Two teams each from Florida and Virginia and one team from Maryland are on alert at their home stations.

A total of 18 DMATs have been deployed to staging areas in Houston, Anniston and Memphis. There are 9 full DMATs (35 members per team) and 9 strike teams (5 members per team) in these staging areas.

. . .

FEMA prepares the nation for all hazards and manages federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident. FEMA also initiates mitigation activities, trains first responders, works with state and local emergency managers, and manages the National Flood Insurance Program and the U.S. Fire Administration. FEMA became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003.