[IP] more on DHS' Chertoff: "We didn't plan for an A-bomb, either!"

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

-----Original Message-----
From: "robertslee@verizon.net"<robertslee@verizon.net>
Sent: 04/09/05 5:39:27 AM
To: "dave@farber.net"<dave@farber.net>
Subject: Re: [IP] DHS' Chertoff: "We didn't plan for an A-bomb, either!"

You have terribly ordinary people in extraordinarily important jobs, facing extraordinary events. I spent days watching news feeds on my computer and listening to Fox, ironically. And even this station, which is to the right of Atilla the Hun, was appalled, even as the storm bore down (before it struck and as it struck) by the sheer unreality of the governor and mayor.

I also have no doubt that racism was involved.  I noted that this time, as in all racially encrusted events in this country, the power structure was actually relieved when they saw black looters.  It gave them an excuse to do nothing so that all non blacks would see what animals blacks are. 

The hurrican did not fly into New Orleans at 400 miles an hour from left field.  It moved on them at 10 miles an hour and days before it struck they were saying the city would be under water, so why the hell do they then do nothing for days after and why do they make the evacuation voluntary and under your own steam instead of evacuating the city before hand.

I saw an interview of the governor with Bill O'Reilly during the storm and he asked her five times incredulously how long it would take New Orleans to recover and she said a few weeks, each time.

Not because she is a liar but because she is just a little person in a big job.

I listened to a high officer in some military organization say he had assembled from other states a force to send into New Orleans but never sent them because New Orleans had not called him and asked for them.  He protested that he can not force help on New Orleans.  What is the chance of tail being true?  Zero.  He is lying.  But that begs the question of why?  Racism?  Stupidity?  A military man assembles a force to do battle and then never sends them to battle?  Has New Orleans called him yet?

And the feds saying they could not send in troops because there was the phone lines were down? Do they need my sat phone?  How do they fight wars in the damned desert?  Do they get SBC to run telephone poles?  How do the navy and marines do it in water?  And the coast guard.  I will lend them my fins and my sat phone. And SCUBA gear if they need it.

These leaders of ours KILLED innocent people as surely as if they had taken their heads and pushed them below the surface of the water.

There have been floods in our history. But there has never been such a bizarre constructive refusal to ameliorate or prevent such suffering.

I hope, but doubt, that heads roll.  We have moved from the pass fail world of yesterday to the pass world of today.







>From: David Farber <dave@farber.net>
>Date: Sat Sep 03 18:49:16 CDT 2005
>To: Ip Ip <ip@v2.listbox.com>
>Subject: [IP] DHS' Chertoff: "We didn't plan for an A-bomb, either!"

>
>
>Begin forwarded message:
>
>From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren@vortex.com>
>Date: September 3, 2005 7:22:30 PM EDT
>To: dave@farber.net
>Cc: lauren@vortex.com
>Subject: DHS' Chertoff: "We didn't plan for an A-bomb, either!"
>
>
>
>Dave,
>
>My subject line above paraphrases a bit, but in case you missed it,
>Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff made a
>remarkable statement at a press conference today.  He was asked why
>there had not been sufficient planning for a strong hurricane that
>could cause failure of the New Orleans levee system.
>
>After first characterizing the question as argumentative, he
>appeared to plead that these two events were not reasonable to
>associate for planning purposes -- a ludicrous assumption to most
>observers.  And he noted that they hadn't planned for an atomic bomb
>being added to the mix either.
>
>Say what?  I was so startled by the bizarre A-bomb reference that I
>had to replay it -- but there it was, and here it is -- play it for
>yourself:
>
>http://www.vortex.com/dhs-chertoff-2005-09-03.mp3
>
>If Chertoff really believes that this is a valid comparison, then
>at least some of the Katrina response failure is explained, and
>we should all be even more concerned.
>
>--Lauren--
>Lauren Weinstein
>lauren@pfir.org or lauren@vortex.com or lauren@eepi.org
>Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
>http://www.pfir.org/lauren
>Co-Founder, PFIR
>   - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
>Co-Founder, EEPI
>   - Electronic Entertainment Policy Initiative - http://www.eepi.org
>Moderator, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
>Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
>Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
>DayThink: http://daythink.vortex.com
>
>
>
>-------------------------------------
>You are subscribed as robertslee@verizon.net
>To manage your subscription, go to
>  http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip
>
>Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/


-------------------------------------
To manage your subscription, go to
  http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip

Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/