New Orleans

[ysengrin]

Yelling at the President now will not speed up the recovery efforts, so I'm putting this behind an LJ cut. It's allegations that will need to be addressed later, though.

Senator Mary Landrieu (Louisiana), in a press release dated 03 Sept:

But perhaps the greatest disappointment stands at the breached 17th Street levee. Touring this critical site yesterday with the President, I saw what I believed to be a real and significant effort to get a handle on a major cause of this catastrophe. Flying over this critical spot again this morning, less than 24 hours later, it became apparent that yesterday we witnessed a hastily prepared stage set for a Presidential photo opportunity; and the desperately needed resources we saw were this morning reduced to a single, lonely piece of equipment.

And, something that needs to be verified:

There was a striking dicrepancy between the CNN International report on the Bush visit to the New Orleans disaster zone, yesterday, and reports of the same event by German TV.

ZDF News reported that the president's visit was a completely staged event. Their crew witnessed how the open air food distribution point Bush visited in front of the cameras was torn down immediately after the president and the herd of 'news people' had left and that others which were allegedly being set up were abandoned at the same time.

The people in the area were once again left to fend for themselves, said ZDF.

EDIT: The ZDF story was apparently a combination of two stories, mixed in translation. The first was President Bush visiting a food distribution point in New Orleans, the second report reported (in translation) "But what has happened in Biloxi all day long is truly unbelievable. Suddenly recovery units appeared, suddenly bulldozers were there, those hadn't been seen here all the days before, and this in an area, in which it really wouldn't be necessary to do a big clean up, because far and wide nobody lives here anymore, the people are more inland in the city. The President travels with a press baggage [big crew]. This press baggage got very beautiful pictures which are supposed to say, that the President was here and help is on the way, too." Details can be read at respectful of otters and War and Peace.

Comments

[schnee.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen the ZDF report in question, but I can generally say that the quality of reporting, as far as ARD and ZDF are concerned, is very high - comparable to that of the BBC, for example, I'd say.

If they don't agree with CNN, then I'd definitely be more inclined to trust the ZDF or ARD than CNN (and that's not because they're German stations, either :)).

[porsupah.livejournal.com]

This story appears to bear out at least some of the weblog report, but you might fare better in digging through ZDF's site, not needing to decode Babelfish's mangling. :)

I wonder what sort of medal and raise Chertoff will get later this year..

[schnee.livejournal.com]

*noddles* Do try Google Translations - they usually give better (i.e., more readable) results than Babelfish.

Outside of that... I'm not sure what to say really. I don't watch CNN etc., so I can't compare the whole thing, but the overall impression the reports give is that the whole thing's quite a disaster indeed - and I'm not just referring to the hurricane itself. They (that is, the ZDF etc.) don't judge anything themselves, of course, but the facts reported seem to make it quite clear that the critics are right - there's not enough that's being done, not in the slightest, and it certainly seems that Dubya is (was) more interested in putting up a nice show for the propaganda machine than anything else, too.

Which is a shame. Or, as Dan Gillmor put it, it would if shame was a meaningful concept to the people at the top of the pyramid. (On a side note, Dan Gillmor's blog is syndicated on LJ as bayosphere_dg, just in case you're interested in it.)

[noble-reloaded.livejournal.com]

bah >> i am speachless over what is going on >>

[bosn.livejournal.com]

It doesnt matter. The American people have come to expect it and wont even think its news. They wont care. there sheep. This president has done shit that would have got presidents in the past shot. He knows America is brainwashed and he will continue to write his legacy on lies and falsehoods.

[thiagope.livejournal.com]

Bosn, I´m not american, but I can say that I agree with EVERY word you said.

[sk-1.livejournal.com]

The people in the area were once again left to fend for themselves, said ZDF.

Was tacking this line onto the end of the report really necessary? The story looks like it stands well enough on its own without the pot-shot at the President. That last line taints the rest of the article and draws into question its objectivity.

Staged photo ops are nothing new. President Clinton was seen laughing as he exited a funeral, then when he noticed the TV cameras, he suddenly started crying. During the 2000 presidential campaign in the middle of a national drought, Al Gore had a reservoir filled up so he could paddle a canoe across it. The recent photo of Al Sharpton kneeling in prayer at the Bush's Texas ranch was a cropped photo. All those people in the background are reporters and photographers. There were more press people there than actual protesters. In this media-driven age, actions like these will be continued by all sides. The only defense is healthy skepticism.

The "problem", if you can call it that, with President Bush is that he knows the big underlying truth. Even if he did everything that all his critics said he should have or could have done with regards to Katrina, they'd still find something to blame him for. There is absolutely nothing he can do in any situation which will please his political opponents - not now, not ever - and he knows it. So he just ignores them and continues doing what he believes is the right thing. He doesn't care what the Congressional Democrats think. He isn't influenced by Gallup or Zogby or Washington Post editorials. He makes up his mind and sticks with it, be it right or wrong.

[ysengrin.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I think it's going to come down to horrible mismanagement and territorial pissing contests in FEMA and the DHS as far as the slow response to the flooding. Events and decisions that lead up to the levee failure stretch back many years - and many administrations.

Al Gore did get burned for that photo op, or at least he did with me. I'd hope that outrage about pulling needed resources away to stage a photo op would have an effect on future brainless photo ops, but I doubt it.

That DHS, FEMA or the CoE would allow those needed resources to be used so frivilously - now or in the past - is the real problem.

President Bush is working against the inertia of the rescue now to have any effect - at this point whatever he does will take days to trickle down to the streets. That's just the reality of the size of the operation.

speaking up

[jugularjaguar.livejournal.com]

I don't normally post to stuff like this but this is Huricane Andrew all over again but worse. When Andrew past Bush Sr. ask then Fl Gov if Federal assistance was needed. Gov. Chiles said no that it could be handled in state. Well time passed down there and they realized Florida needed more help than was expected. Chiles later blasted the federal government for not assisting fast enough. Bush lost South Florida big that year and it really was not his fault.
Now I see this sort of happening again the Governor of the state and the polititians of the state not doing their job and passing the blame buck to the federal Government. Heck it is Cat 5 Hurricane there is no reason why you cannot mobilize forces to come in before the hurricane not waiting till afterwards. Simply it is that we still have not learned from Hurricane Andrew.

Re: speaking up

[ysengrin.livejournal.com]

Oh, I think the governor will get roasted this time - she hasn't come across well at all the few times I've seen her in interviews.

And much I as don't like President Bush, I don't think the screw ups on the relief efforts are his fault.

Re: speaking up

[ysengrin.livejournal.com]

... But I do see problems with DHS. Homeland Security's response time and actions *have* been horrible, considering this is the sort of thing (major disaster, manmade or natural) that they were created to handle more efficently.

Re: speaking up

[smashwolf.livejournal.com]

Umm, The National Guard is controlled by the state, and the governor. THAT is thegovernor's single biggest resource for events lik this. The federal government activated 50% or so of the NG to federal work in Iraq. So, Ya, the governor really didn;t have the ways to respond, and with FEMA being under DHS now, FEMA's essentially got it's nuts cut off, because all the money is going to DHS war on terror crap, and not on FEMA...

[thakur.livejournal.com]

bush is a crook! Enuf said

[mrianti.livejournal.com]

show me a Politican thats not a crook ; )

[doco.livejournal.com]

The report in question is still available at their web site, at http://www.heute.de/ZDFmediathek/inhalt/23/0,4070,2370903-7,00.html (RealVideo and Windows Media, I recall). German language only, though.