re: It was a matter of time

2

Comments

  • Well, perhaps you can educate me!

    How can we possibly agree on who fits "Those who rip off the system and benefit from misery". While you may be justifiably critical of those you feel fit your description (Jackson), I have the same right to be justifiably critical of those who in my opinion fit the description (Bush).

    When you tell me how wonderful your governor is, I recognize it as your opinion which has been gathered by his fitting the things of importance to you.

    I count as admirable Jesse Jackson and Edward Kennedy who have faught battles of importance to me, and I do not see them in your light. And so on...

    Other than that, there was nothing else in your immediate post (above) that I disagreed with -- especially the part about liking and admiring me (and right back at'cha!).




  • Well, of course I can -- and that would still not solve our dilemma. Rather it would give you a list to work from that you would use to demonize two public servants I admire; and then I would have to give you a list (which I could also do) demonizing public servants you admire.

    So we are not going to go there right now.

    Actually, I consider myself a conservative Democrat, and even in doing so - so what. It would mean something totally different to both of us. And sometimes on some of your views you may even be a liberal Republican. The important thing is that we are both fine self-sustaining American citizens, contributing the best we can to the society we have been blessed to be born into.


  • Dash: This was on MSN today,

    "Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson said Brown became a scapegoat for a failed system. Even without Brown at the top, Jackson said thousands of evacuees were still sleeping in shelters, children were missing school and training for those without jobs remained lacking.

    “The decision to change leaders over a failed system is no substantial change,” Jackson said.

    This from one of the public (public??) servants you admire? All I see is JJ flapping his lips and adding to the mayhem.
  • Rita,

    I see nothing incorrect in the statement you have provided from Jesse Jackson. It seems perfectly sensible and reasoned to me. I stand firmly behind my declaration of him as a public servant whether you place a question mark behind it or not. As far as I am concerned he has marched in to many marches, assisted to many poor and needy persons, put his life on the line in too many instances for ideals that I hold dear not to be called such. No one else need agree with me for my opinion to be valid.

    In fact, in some instances some certainly could not hold my convictions -- for the things I find important are not the same as the things they find important.

    And to further substantiate my point, please see Postings No. 61 and 62. I read that litterae humaniores, and thought, how ridulous, and yet another poster read it and found it sensible and reasoned.

    And the beat goes on... and on... and on!
  • Well, I have to agree that Brown has become the scapegoat. Don't know about posts 61 and 62. They do make sense to me. So how are the two posts and Jesse Jackson linked?

    Yea, Brown and FEMA did some things wrong. Brown doesn't seem to be too intelligent, but... I still think FEMA is the wrong target. It's the Governor of LA and Mayor of New Orleans. Miss and Alabama did exactly what tbey were supposed to do, hence, not much news to report about them!
  • I purposefully did not delineate the things I find ridulous about that post. The poster is entitled to share the views they wish to make available for all to see. Sorry, if I am not cooperating by following the rules of the forum debates.

    You will recall that one of my New Year's resolutions was to call it the way I see it and not to hold back or follow anyone else's guidelines -- so stop baiting me. Should I determine that my posts are not honest, helpful, or credible I will stop posting (or at least only respond to the HR stuff).

    Now I gotta go and do a termination as a result of a sexual harassment investigation. You know that makes me crabby!

  • That is pure demogoguery along with all the rest, appealing to nothing but emotion, convincing to no one, other than the like minded.
  • Not so. I can't speak for others, but I'm not going to play the game. Any attempt at providing an "example" would just lead to further derision and rationalization about why the "example" doesn't satisfy. I see no interest in a discussion. Bush-bashing? What do you do - democrat and liberal bashing, of course. Tit for tat.
  • I'd like to see someone identify a conservative Republican. Let's see, conservatives are traditionally for small government, and fiscal restraint. We now have a Republican administration that presided over the largest increase in the size of the government since WWII. They wiped out the Social Security surplus, and created a huge defecit. Wasn't it the Democrats who were the free-spending, war mongers back in the 60's? Funny how things change. It might be nice to get back to conservatism.
  • That's correct, Crout. That is one of the reasons true conservatives are leery to claim Bush as one of their own. Fiscally, he is closer to a Kennedy.
  • No, they wiped out the surplus, not the Trust fund itself.
  • I don't understand how the deficit can be a partisan argument. We had our bubble burst on 9/11. As a result, we created a new federal agency, the Department of Homeland Security. Why? Because we demanded the government do so. We wanted protection, we got it. Along with it came another cabinet position, on down the line. States created their own DHS agencies and have been footing that bill as well. It had nothing to do with whether the Republicans or Democrats were controlling the government, it had everything to making Americans safer at home and abroad. Then we demanded to enact measures to make sure all of our intelligence agencies were able to talk to each other, because they could not before. This was a hold over from the Hoover days and the time when Republican was a "dirty" word. It was all about keeping control of your piece of the pie. Now we have an intelligence director that heads all of the agencies, the CIA, FBI, NSA. Again, not because Bush said, "let's spend more," but because we wanted it. Congress wanted it, he gave it to us. We have spent money on the war fighting terrorism and on relief efforts to a magnitude never seen before.

    The government took over making sure planes were safe by increasing the number of federal marshalls, Again, this was because we needed reassurance that we will be safe in the air. We asked, Bush gave. The government is now responsible for pre-fight security through the TSA because airports would not or could not afford to pay enough to get and retain qualified people. That cost money. We want the National Guard at airports carrying automatic weapons because idiots put plastic explosives in shoes and carry bombs into LAX. We want the Guard there to have a strong police presence to keep our citizens safe. That takes money.

    I agree that Bush has gone on a spending spree and I do not personally agree with where all the money has gone. I don't care for the No child left behind bill. But the leftists say that we should not tell children that they are not able to graduate with their friends, even though they have not shown a mastery of required skills, so we create legislation to "fix" the problem. I also do not think we are doing kids and teachers a favor when they are graded because we force schools to teach the test. I do not think it has improved education, but you wanted it, you got it.

    I do not think it is fair to say that Bush has wiped the surplus dry. We have taken measures, and continue to look for ways, to protect Americans. I believe that any President, whether Democrat or Republican, would have pulled the check book out in the same manner. Some probably moreso than others. Social Security has been in trouble for years, Clinton could not fix it, Bush hasn't fixed it. But he also does not try to scare my grandmother into believing that the Republicans are going to cut her benefits like some of the Democratic hopefuls. We have less people working to provide benefits for one person's SS benefits than ever before. Not that there are less jobs, just less working because we have a large number from the "greatest generation" that are leaving the workforce. I fail to see how Bush is responsible for that. Taxes have not been raised. I have received tax breaks for the past five years. Life is good!
  • I am utterly amazed that a group of HR Professionals are sorely lacking in hard knowledge about many issues of which they so eloquently speak. For Instance:

    1. The Social Security system is not broken. They are awash with surplus. This surplus is in the form of U.S. Government obligations which are as good as any of the other Treasury obligations that are held by many foreign countries. Depending upon which actuarial study you look at benefits can be paid from current receipts until 2017 or 2025 or somehere in between. After that benefits can be paid from the surplus until 2043 or 2056 or somewhere in between. The real problem with SS is that the surplus is included within the total government and makes our deficit look much smaller than it really is. If this surplus was removed from the government accounting it would scare the hell out of most people. THE REAL PROBLEM IS--When the SS ADMIN. has to start cashing in the GOVT. obligations to pay benefits this country based on its present course will not be able redeem their paper. SOCIAL SECURITY IS NOT ACTUALLY BROKEN BUT MEDICARE IS BROKEN and will become more broken with the new prescription drug benefits. That bill prohibits the medicare system from putting out for competetive bids the medicines that seniors need. Guess what will happen to drug prices.
    2. We asked for it we got it: Not quite true. We did not ask for the Iraq war that has created a tremendous drain on the budget. We did not ask for reductions in Estate Taxes unless your estate would be worth more than 1&1/2 million as a single person or 3 million as a couple or for that matter most of us did not ask for any tax cuts. If you want to find out who asked for the IRAQ war I would again recommend doing an in-depth study of PNAC. Go to their web site at [url]www.newamericancentury.org[/url].
    3. It is all Blanco's and Nagin's fault. Not true. They made mistakes like the rest but if you want to get a more balanced view please understand that Gov. Blanco declared a state of Emergency in Louisian on 8-26 and that she notified the President (through FEMA) in writing on 8-28. In her letter she said "I request that you declare an expedited major disaster for the State of Louisiana as Hurricane Katrina, a Category V Hurricane approaches our coast south of New orleans;" etc. She further stated; "I have determined that this incident will be of such severity and magnitude that effective response will be beyond the capabilities of the State and the affected local governments", etc. Also you should check out the Department of Homeland Security under EMERGENCIES & DISASTERS. You will find statements to the effect that emphasis should be made on local response with which I totally agree; however, you will also find when an event rises to the level of an "Incident of National Significance" that the Department of Homeland Security will become proactive to ensure critical life-saving assistance and incident capabilities are in place to respond quickly and efficiently to catastropohic incidents. Homeland Security also states that a Principal Federal Official(PFO) may be digignated during a potential or actual "Incident of National Significance." I believe any fairly intelligent person knew the potential of this storm so please don't defend Brown & FEMA and blame it all on the Gov. and Mayor.

    We need to "quit drinking cool aid" and start eating solid food about what the hell is happening to our country.

    Moon
  • [font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 09-14-05 AT 11:37AM (CST)[/font][br][br]1. I do not agree with having a federal prescription drug program. It is another way for the government to try and control decisions I should make and to try to keep people from buying their meds from Canada and Mexico. If people want to buy unregulated meds and save a buck, let them. Don't cry to me when your teeth fall out and your hair turns green. There is not a social service today that is not abused and needs to be fixed. This is becaused there are far too many people that are willing to live off your tax dollars instead of becoming contributors to society. They should be ashamed and their parent should have the s**t beat out of them for not raising them right.

    2. We did ask for this war. Why you may argue that we did not ask to go into Iraq, Congress did give Bush the power to initiate military action to root out terrorism, wherever we exist. Don't you remember all of Congress standing on the steps of the capitol singing "America the Beautiful," "Kumbaya," and whatever else they could remember from summer camp when they were twelve. You did not respond to any other of my, "we asked, Bush gave" statements. Rather, you started talking about Estate taxes and PNAC. I am so pi**ed that because I am not worth over 1 million that I got a tax break. Why could Bush not have raised taxes? I can't even logically respond to your statement. Bush would have been shot if he raised taxes, now you claim we did not ask for tax cuts, so we should all be mad we caught a break. ALl this talk about tax breaks for the rich, I am not rich, I simply stated that I have benefited from tax credits.

    3. Nagin and Blanco have the responsibility to protect their citizens first and foremost. Bush does not deserve a free pass, and certainly will not get one. He admitted responsibility yesterday and will address the nation this week to say it again. For some of you, I know it will be a little to late. But for tose of you that feel that way, can you let me know where I can find Blanco and Nagin accepting their responsibility. All I have seen is them provide the answer that a five year old gives when he breaks the living room lamp, "It wasn't me, it was my imaginary friend." I just want to hear "Pass the buck" Nagin admit that he screwed this up. Blanco is no better.
  • Dash:
    The sky's blue. The grass is green. And ....St. Jesse lives. I did not expect you to answer any other way. Opinions are like *******, everyone has one.

    However, I found your use of medival Latin amusing.

    Chick-a-boom, Chick-a-boom
    Chick-a-boom-boom-boom







  • It is delightful to provide amusement for you -- but that was not my intent. We can disagree and still not be disagreeable.
  • Oh Dash, did you find the chicka-booms unpleasant? It was my response to your "beat".




  • Gee Whiz, livindon I am surprised that you would think I would misrepresent what I post on this forum. You obviously are an intelligent person as can be discerned by you posts. Please go read my post again - It did not say anything about Blanco calling upon the President on 8-26. What it said was that SHE declared a state of emergency for Louisiana on 8-26. It did say as was quoted from her letter that she requested help in writing from the President through Fema on 8-28. That is truth and it will stand. Anyone who wants to take time to do some research and due diligence will find it to be truth. All I asked for was a fair and balanced treatment instead of laying all the blame on Blanco and Nagin. In addition the Department of Homeland Security provides for a PROACTIVE response by the Federal Government once a disaster rises to the level an "Incident of National Significance". So lets be fair as requested, even if the Governor and Mayor were so stupid that they would run and hide it did not relieve the Federal Government from taking a Proactive response as they are supposed to do. I am not defending Nagin but I do not doubt that drivers would have been hard to find and perhaps (I do not know for sure) that is why Gov. Blanco commandered school buses and drivers as far North as Rapides Parish.

    Propoganda will mess with one's mind but the truth will set you free.

    Moon
  • Does anyone else find this conversation eerily similar to the one(s) about the S.A.V.E program?

    Enter twighlight zone music.
  • >So lets be fair as requested,
    >even if the Governor and Mayor were so stupid
    >that they would run and hide it did not relieve
    >the Federal Government from taking a Proactive
    >response as they are supposed to do.

    It's my understanding that the federal government can't just step in and take over - federal level assistance has to be requested by someone in authority on the state level. Meaning a governor must request the president to declare the state of emergency before the president is free to release federal aid. Governors are free, however, to initiate a request to the president without first having received a request from a local authority.

    Maybe all that changed with Homeland Security?

    (Isn't "Proactive response" an oxymoron?)

  • I think he just means that moon is acting a bit like pOrk in that he refuses to believe anything bad about his governor or mayor. Also, apparently a lot of forumites are responding any way they want to. For example, I was not baiting Dasher, I just didn't understand how Jesse Jackson and the two posts were linked. I even agreed in part with her-that Brown is not solely to blame. What gives? I wasn't baiting anyone.
  • Hey National Guard, that post was for Don, who wanted me to give a list. Yours got between us. Sorry.


  • I didn't promise anything of the kind. The "Name a Congressperson" idea was yours. I declined to play. The sequence is 27,28,51,56 and 72. I haven't needed it myself, but you might pick up some Ginkgo Biloba. You can find it in your latest AARP catalog, 240 pills for $9.29. This is what it says "Each convenient capsule delivers 60mg of Ginkgo Biloba to support your mental alertness and short term memory". Just being helpful, you understand.
  • Right on! That's what I said - it was your idea. Third sentence in your response #1). Thanks for the acknowledgment, but it wasn't necessary.
  • Why are we still trying to blame someone for this instead of doing what we can to get the people of N.O. back to a reasonably normal life again.

    1) This was an act of Mother Nature. Truth

    2) The LA government did fail when for years they knew the levee would break at any Catagory 2 or higher hurricane and did nothing to try and fix it. Truth

    3) The LA government failed to respond to the threat quickly or ask for proper assistance from the Federal Govt. Truth

    4) The people who stayed in N.O had knowledge of the hurricane days before it hit and stayed there anyways. As far as I know walking is a mode of transportation and doesn't cost anything. Truth

    5) Most people rely tooo heavily on the govt instead of what should be their own survival instincts. The Govt will come for us don't worry they will save us. I am sorry but what ever happened to the days when you took care of yourself and your family.

    I would die for this country if they asked that of me but I will not let them run my life or depend on them to save me.

    **This is my own opinion and does not reflect that of any other forumite or M.Lee Smith.**
  • I'm not sure I agree with your point number 3, everything else I agree with completely. See the attached document published by the Congressional Research Service, a nonpartisan agency within the federal government. Their assessment indicates protocol was followed in the hours leading up to Katrina.

    [url]http://www2.dccc.org/docs/conyersgaokatrina.pdf[/url]

    Read the opening paragraphs then check down around page 8.
  • Hope you enjoyed your nap. Sorry if my tooting disturbs your rest.

    Blanco declared an emergency on 8/26 and on 8/28, per Stafford Act requirements, requested Bush to declare a state of emergency.

    [url]http://gov.louisiana.gov/Disaster Relief Request.pdf[/url]

    I am not a Bush basher by any means. I believe sorting through fact and fiction that people did take some of the proper steps leading up to the disaster, but then when Katrina hit, leadership fell apart. I equate it to your house catching fire. Do you call 911 then sit by the curb with a stopwatch timing the fire department response, as did Blanco and Nagin, or do you do everything safely possible to salvage what you can maybe even turning on the garden hose?

    Bush has publicly admitted to failures in the federal response and now Blanco has publicly taken responsibility saying the "buck stops in her office".

  • ) I don't want a list of anything from Dasher. She was singing the praises of Kennedy and I asked her to tell me one thing he had done other than hug trees, save whales and screw his babysitter. She declined. I provided a list! She needs only to provide one thing. One. It escapes me how people can support people and sing their praises but when asked to speak to their feelings rationally, all they say is, "Cause I want to, that's why."




    Don, Don, Don

    I accept your bait this time --
    One: Ed Kennedy hired my brilliant niece as an intern when she was in law school.

    Knowing how to select the best candidate for a job is a science and an art and reflects on the intellect of the selector, no?

    And don't say one more thing about it -- wouldn't want to confuse you with a "typical liberal democrat".

  • Not really a response to anyone in particular on this touchy subject.

    I just came across and read what I think is a truly unique perspective on a variety of issues, including how some of those folks behaved in the aftermath of the hurricane and Lord knows I don't know how I would behave....only how I hope I would behave.

    Anyway, if anyone was interested in this you can find it at [url]www.ejectejecteject.com[/url] and click on Tribes.

    Those with a liberal turn of mind probably won't like it - and I can't even say for sure those with a conservative turn will like it - I just found it interesting.

    Carole
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