The storm that opened our eyes.

The intensive article in the Jan. 2nd edition of Newsweek about Katrina and New Orleans was a fascinating read. I'd read many articles on Katrina, but this one really gave the whole picture.

One thing is for sure. In the immediate aftermath just about everybody screwed up. From Mayor Nagin to Gov. Blanco, and without a doubt FEMA Director Mike Brown was the worst of the bunch. At one point Michael Chertoff, the secretary of Homeland Security shouted "What the hell is going on with the Convention Center?" After Brown had informed him that he had been told only 1500 people were at the Convention Center. Brown dropped the ball in so many ways he should be totally ashamed of himself. The communication breakdown that occurred is unacceptable.

The stories that have come out of the aftermath of Katrina will break your heart. The only thing that keeps my anger at bay about the whole thing is the way everyone in America stepped up to the plate afterward and gave and gave. I have never been prouder of my city, Houston, than after Katrina. The weekend I went to the Astrodome to help they had 1500 1st time volunteers in one day. It was astonishing.

I found it interesting how the article described how the African American community in New Orleans had for years been divided between Creoles, the light-skinned blacks who where skilled labors, and darker- skinned blacks who did the more menial work. Even though that seems to have changed to some degree, the article says these sharp divisions still exist, which may explain why the light- skinned wealthy Nagin was not very buddy buddy with Oliver Thomas, president of the New Orleans City council or the other council members who represented poor black wards like the lower Ninth. Communication between the two during the horror after Katrina was practically nil.

Which brings me to one of the the interesting parts of the article. In early October President Bush visited New Orleans to dine with Nagin's commission. Here is what Oliver Thomas had to say about him:

"I was ready not to like him because of what the Democrats said about him. But he likes people. He's not a mean dude. He's not a racist."

Then later after meeting Mrs. Bush as well:

"I got a sense that Laura and her husband really do care about us."

So here our President who Kanye West declared on national TV "didn't like black people" because of the Katrina disaster, and the man who represents the poorest black sections of New Orleans meets our President and comes away knowing that Kanye West doesn't know what he is talking about.

You can disagree with Bush's politics, his faith, and his policies, but you simply cannot say that he isn't a good person. (although I am sure some of you will)

The sad thing about New Orleans now is that it's "well deserved reputation for corruption" has prevented many things from moving forward. Not to mention political infighting. On the one hand, there are those who look at the situation from a practical point of view and say that places like the lower ninth ward should not be rebuilt. On the other hand, there are all those people who lived there. This was their home. What happens to what they had? To uproot a life and a family and give them no way to return is heart wrenching to say the least.

Looking back, I hope that our government, especially state and local government, learned valuable lessons regarding this kind of disaster. There is no doubt that the Federal government must be better prepared, but it is the local government that must respond first and know how to respond.

Democrats, Can you hear me now?

"Federal agents have launched an investigation into a surge in the purchase of large quantities of disposable cell phones by individuals from the Middle East and Pakistan, ABC News has learned."

"150 Phones in One Sale, 60 Phones in Another

The FBI is closely monitoring the potentially dangerous development, which came to light following recent large-quantity purchases in California and Texas, officials confirmed.

The Midland, Texas, police report dated December 18 and obtained by ABC News states: "Information obtained by MPD [Midland Police Department] dispatch personnel indicated that approximately six individuals of Middle-Eastern origin were attempting to purchase an unusually large quantity of tracfones (disposable cell phones with prepaid minutes attached)." At least one of the suspects was identified as being from Iraq and another from Pakistan, officials said."

"Police Report Identifies Terror Links

The Midland, Texas, arrest report police also identified the individuals as linked to a terror cell."


Interesting that these purchases occurred just after the NYT's leaking the NSA spying story, isn't it? Nothing like giving our enemies the heads up.

Update: Wow. I didn't get this from Michelle, but we are certainly on the same page. She has a bunch of good links though.

Hanson spells out our options with Iran.

This just does not look good. There are dark clouds on the horizon, I fear. via NRO

Shaking up the House.

House Policy Chairman John Shadegg today announced that he will seek the post of House Majority Leader in the elections on February 2. via Redstate

Heck, I just think his name is too cool.

Update: Blunt...no.

Mini Rant.

Oh look!!

My sweet Jeff is getting famous!

Anti-war?

I have known people against the war. But they aren't against the war for the same reason my lefty friends are. No, it's a whole different kind of reason. I mentioned this thing with Iran to one of them.

"We better not go into Iran," she said.

"Why not?," I asked. "Are you sick of war? I know I am too. I hate the thought of any more...but..."

"No, no. It's not that. It's just..why should we care about them? We proved our point after 9-11. Let's just focus on building some walls and securing our borders. Let's stop letting the Muslims come here and just let them blow themselves up over there. If we leave them alone long enough they will destroy each other. Good riddance"

Alright then. I see this attitude sometimes. The "who cares about them, let's focus on us" kind of thing and more people feel that way than you might imagine.

Many on the right might argue that if we don't do something about the Middle East now, then it will come back to haunt us later. They argue that if we retreat it will only give our enemy more of a feeling of power. To them it is all about keeping us safe by killing the enemy there.

But is it so hard to believe that many of us have been touched by what we have seen on our television screen? A world so backwards that at first you think you are watching a movie about the world long ago. The streets are dusty and people dress as Jesus did. Women are covered in burkas and there is no music in the air, no young girls putting on makeup or fixing their hair. Everyone has lost a loved one to brutality in one way or another. There is concrete and sadness. Has it always been this way. Will it always be?

And what about Iran? A world even worse than Saddam's Iraq. I read in Vanity Fair and posted here about the young girl hanged from a crane in the middle of the city for having sex. As much as I hate so many things about America, it's abortion and pornography, I would hate more an America where we aren't free to decide what we want in our country. I would hate an America that punishes it's sinners of the soul. We can scold them, we can protest them, we can vote them out, we can forgive them, and we can love them. But the sins of our souls is the sad slow dance we have with God and it is ours alone.

Is it so hard to believe that so many of us want a better world for those imprisoned in a desert void of dreams? Where a girl doesn't have to hide her life behind folds of cloth? Where men don't see heaven as a virginal brothel?

This world has held fast to a backward time for far too long. The birth into this century, I fear, will be a bloody and painful one. Even more bloody and painful than it has already been. Great things come at great costs. I don't have the answers and I wish to God they didn't involve war, but when a creature attacks you, do you hope to pacify it? Or do you fight like hell to kill it before it kills you? Especially when you know that beast has caused so much suffering of others and if you defeat it, then the suffering eases and the world is not so much afraid.

Don't try and tell me that we are just 2 faces of the same coin. We are not.

Because we are free.

And no one can ever convince me that being free isn't always....

right.

Like I said...

Iran is a problem, a big problem.

via Ace.

Could the co-creator of The Matrix real life truly be stranger than fiction?

Uhh....yeah.

Hmmmm....

This may explain Kennedy and Biden's behavior at the hearings.

The left weighs in on Mrs. Alito.

James Wolcott sums it up:

Then Mrs. Alito suffered a case of the weepies that was so dramatically well-timed and patently maudlin that I was reminded of the classic stage direction in Private Eye (takes out onion, wipes away tear), and suddenly the proceedings turned into a soap opera with Fox News commentators arriving on cue to deplore the toll taken on innocent bystanders in these brutal proceedings.

And his sympathy continues:

If Alito is confirmed, Mrs. Alito and Judge Clarence Thomas's wife can commisserate by exchanging monogrammed crying towels as their men folk roll back women's rights and civil liberties and go duck hunting weekends with Scalia."

I shake my head in astonishment that this guy acutually believes this.

And you can always count on the DU for...well...more sympathy:

What do you do when you cry? Do you hang your head, cover your eyes? Or
do you sit and stare at a camera so the whole g'damned nation can see your crocodile tears spilling over onto your haughty cheeks?

The DYSFUNCTIONAL WIFE of Alito was traumatized, oh please I'm so sick
of the right wing freaks. GOD I HATE THESE PEOPLE!

Maybe she was crying....because she got a good look at that get up she was wearing in a full length mirror. That was enough to bring tears to anyone's eyes.What a phony snake she is. Just like her husband.

Iran is a problem.

Even Europeans are getting a bit nervous.

From Reuters:

The foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany meet on Thursday to discuss Iran’s nuclear programme and EU diplomats said the trio would call for Tehran to be hauled before the U.N. Security Council.

The United States said on Wednesday it was “more likely than ever” Iran would be referred to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions and that it would seek to “change Iranian behavior” through diplomatic channels.

If the ministers agree to such a push, it would signify the end of 2-1/2 years of diplomatic efforts by the European Union’s three biggest nations to convince the Islamic republic to abandon its uranium enrichment program, which they suspect it intends to use to produce fuel for atomic weapons.

The meeting begins at 1430 GMT.

One diplomat from the “EU3” said the plan for Thursday’s meeting in Berlin was “cancellation and referral”—meaning ending talks with Iran unless it promises not to begin enriching uranium and referral to the Security Council, which could consider punitive economic sanctions against Tehran.

“Everybody agrees the point of no return has been reached,” the EU3 diplomat said, referring to what he said was an informal consensus reached among the bloc’s 25 member states.

I have to agree with Jeff at Protein Wisdom:

Too bad that “point of no return” thing couldn’t have been reached before a megolamaniacal, virgin-covetous, beatific zealot looking to be spirited to Allah’s cathouse atop the radioctive plume of the first-ever detonated Islamic nuke got his hands on everything he needed to make his dream of a Levant devoid of filthy Jews come true—but hey, beggars can’t be choosers, right?

Jeff just has a poetic way of hitting the nail on the head, doesn't he?

All I can say is that the only political way we can do anything about Iran is if Europe leads the way or Iran attacks in the region. Otherwise this can't be something we do on our own. And we all know why, don't we?

I'm guessing Team America is involved.

Kim Jong II is missing.

via Ace

In The Nothing Sacred Series.

Well, you knew planned parenthood would appear here eventually.

Teenagers these days......

The 16 yr old that went to Iraq on his own and interviewed the media relations officer for Hezbollah, sat down for an interview with Rita Cosby. Check it out.

I don't know what he expected to accomplish there. Teenagers are just....crazy. Some more than others.

God expresses support for Alito's confirmation by arranging the constellations into perfect geometric shapes.

via Caption This!

Let's lighten up here.

via Grouchy Old Cripple. Heh.

I imagine hearings are hard on the spouse.

This from NRO:

As you know, when Sen. Lindsey Graham apologized for the humiliating treatment Sam Alito received from the Democrats today, Mrs. Alito started crying and had to leave the room to regain her composure. I’m sure a lot of us share the sentiments of CNN’s Jeff Greenfield, who analyzed the incident in this clip from CNN:

The temptation for some of these witnesses must be enormous, particularly if it’s a more hostile situation, to just lean over the table and just let some of the senators know what you’re really thinking about their intellectual capacity, their hypocrisy. If they attack him for, I don’t know, being the member of a club, to say “Well really? Where’d you spend your time? How many restrictive clubs have you golfed at?” They can’t do that. It’s not part of the ethic, um… I have a lot of sympathy for these people no matter where they come from on the ideological scale

Awesome.

That's our boys. God, I love 'em. Keep them in your prayers.

via Ace.

The Kennedy Show

Political Teen has the audio of the Kennedy spectacle with Spector. But you will probably see most of it on all the networks. The media loves these stir ups.

The Captain has the transcript for the exchange between Kennedy and Alito.