9/11 Changed Nothing

[EarlG]

I need to rant.

Let's pretend for a moment that this catastrophe was caused not by a hurricane, but by terrorists who planted bombs which blew up the levees. The situation would have been somewhat different, yet the result would have been essentially the same.

The differences: there would have been no hurricane damage. Nobody would have been evacuated beforehand. This would have left hundreds of thousands more people stranded in the city.

The similarities: the entire city of New Orleans would have been devastated by flooding. Thousands would have died.

But it is now crystal clear that there would have been no difference in the emergency response. What we are seeing is the Bush administration's handling of a massive terrorist attack, without the terrorists. Since 9/11 we have been told that national security is our number one priority, but we are now finding out exactly what would have happened if terrorists had attacked us again.

The Bush administration's facade has been torn down and we are learning just how unprepared they were to protect this country, despite years of assurances that "9/11 changed everything." How much money has been diverted to FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security since 9/11? Where has it gone? Where is the planning, the infrastructure, the resources?

There is one, very important difference between the hurricane aftermath and a terrorist attack: if this diaster had been caused by terrorists, the Bush administration would have had someone to blame for their abject failure. They would have had an unseen enemy to point the finger at. We would have heard endless calls to rally round the president. We would have been told that criticism of the administration's response amounted to un-Americanism. We would have heard pundits crying out for Bush to invade some random middle-eastern country.

If this had been a terrorist attack, the people currently dying in New Orleans would all have been martyrs to Bush's grand vision, and we would all have shaken our heads and wrung our hands and wondered why the terrorists hate us for our freedoms. And George W. Bush would have ridden the wave of popular support all the way to his next war in the middle east.

But the truth is that thousands of people are dying in New Orleans right now because the Bush administration has done NOTHING of any material value to protect us since 9/11 - that much is now plain to see. America is now discovering that Bush has failed to protect them, and has instead relied on the fact that in the event of a massive diasater like this, he would simply place the blame on someone else - it's been a trait of his administration since day one. That's why you're seeing administration officials lying their asses off on live television about how they "couldn't imagine this would happen." That's why you're seeing them making disgusting attempts to point the finger at people who were simply not capable of evacuating.

It's bullshit. America learned this week that 9/11 didn't change a damn thing, and this time there's nobody else to blame. The emperor is butt naked.

</rant>

[BlueEyedSon]

1. No, it gave an incompetent administration political capital

which it has used to rape our treasury, start a generational war, gut every government progrem... and then get reelected.

[Faygo Kid]

2. Nailed it. The emperor has no clothes.

Rank incompetence. All 9/11 was to this administration was a green light to go into Iraq and bash the Dems as being weak on terror, when they themselves were AWOL on terror. Only solution? More tax cuts for the rich, naturally.

[JimmyJazz]

3. If it had been a terrorist attack, there would not have been a four day

warning, either. A mandatory evacuation of a city should be just that: everyone who wants to leave should have transportation provided to them. They could have been busing people out of the city for days and not had this 11th hour push to put people in the Superdome. :(

[Democrat 4 Ever]

4. Lordy, great minds think alike! I just posted my own rant about

the same subject.

Ditto. What you said.

[Lost4words]

22. Great point JimmyJazz!

but then people were warning us way before 9/11. Cathleen Rowley, Operation Dagger, and the list goes on and on and on.

Can we take 3 more years of this crap?

[jonnyblitz]

30. you should come out of the lounge more often...

yup. that. :thumbsup:

[progressoid]

61. This deserves one more vote!

[tavalon]

42. That's right!

That's the thing that gets me. People keep talking about the folks who didn't have cars and so couldn't leave. Excuse me!?! There should have been all forms of public transportation brought in to transport those people!

And now that FEMA moron is blaming people who "chose" to stay. Those people didn't have any way to get out and they were failed by their government and yes, by FEMA!

[Walt Starr]

BINGO! Well said!

:thumbsup:

[OhioChick]

5. Very good post......... and nominated. n/t

[sniffa]

6. here here

and :cry:

i think i'LL go write a LTTE - he needs to be heLd responsibLe.
there are a myriad of reasons to caLL for his impeachment but this one is too Large to Laugh off as a bush-hating thing.

nominated too. good rant.

[Junkdrawer]

7. I don't think the Feds have the troops they say they have...

Every military organization has a 90/10 ratio of "support personnel" versus "on the ground with weapons personnel".

I submit the 60% of the NG that is still here has a WAY larger ratio and finding anything like a sufficient number of TRAINED Guardsmen with weapons so that order can be restored may well be an impossible task.

The muscle is in Iraq. The fat is stateside.

[GreenPartyVoter]

8. Thanks, Earl. Our new meme.

-----------------------------------------------------
Save New Orleans, then save this country!
http://timeforachange.bluelemur.com/electionreform.htm

[DoYouEverWonder]

9. Unfortunately

a lot of people are going to die as a result.

It's the fundies new method of birth control.

[kliljedahl]

Needs to be LTTE sent to every newspaper in the country

Well said, EarlG

[NoPasaran]

10. Tell it like it is!

recommended

[Just Me]

11. I was having similar thoughts, yesterday.

We are fucked!!!

[indepat]

12. When what you say is fully digested by the populace, his ratings will drop

a point or two, but the religious zealots and other faithful RW ideologues will find others to blame and still chant: four more years, four more years.

[crispini]

13. YES.

Thank you for putting it far better than I could have.

[alarimer]

14. Homeland Security ought to be about more than terrorism

It should also include preparation from natural disasters. But the govenment is so focused on the terrorism thing that they forget that other things can happen. FEMA determined that a hurricane in NO was one of the three worst possible disasters that could happen, yet they cut the budgets for flood control?? They are idiots who do nothing but line their own pockets.

I am hearing some calls not to politicize this, not to criticize the President, etc. Just like last time. But now no one is falling for that nonsense.

[tavalon]

43. I hate to break it to you but,

the response to a terrorist attack would have been just as poor. This government is focused on robbing us blind, not on terrorism.

[jokerman93]

51. focused on terrorism?

"It should also include preparation from natural disasters. But the government is so focused on the terrorism thing that they forget that other things can happen."

At this point I'm ready to say that the government has been more focused on "the propaganda of terrorism". As far as any substance to back up all the tough talk? I'd say that the wizard's curtain has been fully pulled back by this disaster.

There is no national preparedness for anything. Not natural disaster. Not a terrorist event. There is no homeland security. It's smoke and mirrors. We've been ripped off.

Are we safer than we were four years ago?

"ARE WE SAFER THAN WE WERE FOR YEARS AGO?"

[alarimer]

54. that's true

The government only appears to care more about terrorism. We are not safer than before. We could not handle a major disaster of any kind. As is obvious by now.

[Lost4words]

15. I believe the reorg of security orgs have made us more vonerable

To reorganize the nations security after 9/11 befor analizing what went wrong was the first criminal act following that tragic day. And democrats and Republicans are equally to blame IMO.

You cannot fix something when you dont fully understand whats broke.

The emperor is not only naked but transparent also.

We are worse off I totally agree, and nothing says it louder than whats happening now.

Homeland Security is like a boot, a hole in the water you through money into, but at least a boot will floot, Homeland InSecurity is sinking by the bow, head first into the abyss.

[Catherine Vincent]

16. Word!

Nice rant.:thumbsup:

[Beetwasher]

17. Yup, There Is No Turning Back, The Flood Gates Have Opened

The scales have dropped. Bushco. criminal incompetence/negligence and corruption are now blaringly evident for anyone who is not braindead.

[MO_Dem]

18. FEMA and Bush using SPITBALLS

I wonder how happy Zell Miller is now?

[TahitiNut]

19. Another 'difference': They KNEW (even better) this was coming!

This time, they even knew the seat assignments of the terrorists. :grr:

[Kindigger]

20. Great post!

I noticed Scotty enunciating the word "natural" quite unnaturally, many times during his press conference yesterday. I hope it didn't stick, and the connection is made as you did above.

May we hijack your post for LTTE?

[underpants]

21. or the war in Iraq

I heard several experts say that after the initial invasion they should have had airlifted in mini semi-conductors to keep the power on as well as other no brainer things that emergency response people know about.

I posted yesterday that I talked with a former FEMA type employer and he was amazed at how Iraq apparently taught them nothing.

[Generic Other]

23. We gave up our freedom for this level of security!

Guess we Americans can all sleep better knowing how well the government can protect us.

[Jacobin]

24. I hope you submit this as a LTTE to the NYT

With expletives UNdeleted.

[unblock]

25. to them, "security" is all about going going to war afterwards

whether it's crime or terror or natural disasters:

it's always about punishment afterwards (death penalty, war on the enemy).

it's never about anything else. prevention, recovery, sympathy for victims (other than stoking their desire for vengeance), rehabilitation, etc. that's for democrats; banana republicans deride that stuff as wimpy.

[Zenlitened]

26. Exactly. This has been a test of our readiness to respond to an attack.

And it's been a complete and utter failure.

[jokerman93]

53. Bush's glaring incompetence

Bush's glaring incompetence, that is, the incompetence of this entire corrupt, criminal administration is now revealed in all its mind blowing stupidity and cruelty.

It's now been made clear to the entire world how utterly unprepared and vulnerable our incompetent "leadership" has rendered this country. George Bush has helped the terrorists (whoever they are now) immeasurably. Can anyone deny that now our weakness is plain for all enemies to see? If another attack came on American soil this week or this month - we would be utterly paralyzed. Who can refute that now?

George Bush is helping the terrorists. Why does he and his followers hate America?

[johnnie]

27. I mention the naked emperor also

I think this needs to be copied and sent to everyone's email list. I have a feeling that the majority of Americans are witnessing with their own eyes the incompetence of this administration. The American people were lied to once again and we are no safer now than we were on September 10, 2001.
There is no doubt in my mind that this is the worst "leader" this country has ever seen in its 200 plus years.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

28. Actually in your sense 9/11 changed nothing but it did change everything

Prior to 9/11 communities had the CAPACITY and emergency personnel to respond to these sort of disasters..to wit, NYFD, NYPD and the Port Authority all had the resources to respond on that day.

Prior to 9/11, Louisiana, Miss and Alabama had THOUSANDS more NG's to call to the scene to provide security not just to law enforcement but to the refugees.

9/11 was the silver lining that allowed Bush and his ilk to suck the life out of municipalities in the name of protecting us from terror.

9/11 gave America FEAR and that fear was used on them to trust this larcenous bastard like a paternal figure.

9/11 made us FAR less safe because we allow the dishonest, untrained, ill willed and incompetent to hold our lives in their hands.

[EarlG]

38. You're right

In that sense, 9/11 indeed changed everything - it allowed the Bush administration to make things much, much worse for America. Check the homepage tomorrow, I have a great article by punpirate that I'll be running over the weekend which makes this exact point.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

40. On another thread, someone brought up the point

that Grover Nordquist has always said he wanted to shrink the federal government to the point that it would drown in a bathtub. It just did.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4579527

[Kurovski]

29. protection 9/11: a failure. Iraq: a failure. Katrina rescue: a failure.

It is now clear that if America fails to remove the administration from office, there will be more of the same.

[tk2kewl]

31. Unfortunately it changed EVERYTHING

while the criminals have done nothing to improve our safety they have:

• looted the treasury


• skyrocketed the debt


• killed tens of thousands


• alienated all of our allies


• taken away individual rights and freedoms


• shit on the environment


• etc, etc, etc

[KittyWampus]

32. The communications systems were never upgraded. that's why emt's

had such difficulty. even WITH well trained response on 9/11

[Festivito]

33. And not talking about * acts and histories is MORE partisan than...

... than, YES, talking about this admins acts and histories.

If it had been terrorism, it is sad to think the response would have been this much a monsterous and deadly embarrassment.

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

34. Big Difference In Your Analysis

If Nobody would have evacuated, then the death toll would have been MUCH MUCH HIGHER. Can you imagine how many people did actually leave in time, and if 10% of them had perished, it would have pushed the toll in the High 10's of Thousands.

[Crankie Avalon]

35. This was a great message you wrote...

...and rightwingers should take note that it's not criticism of the incompetence of our "leadership" that "emboldens the terrorists," it's the incompetence, itself.

After all, is there any dount that terrorists dreaming up an attack on the US are not even more eager and encouraged to carry one out right away after witnessing the complete inability of this administration to respond to an emergency? This event proves we're sitting ducks under the Bush administration.

[Blue_Roses]

36. Well said

:applause:

Anybody ever tell you that you should run for office:D

:applause:

[Misunderestimator]

37. That's a good, though horrifying, point....

if terrorists had destroyed the levees... this tragedy would be a thousand times worse. We are completely unprotected in this country. Sticks and stones do break bones... and words do nothing to save us.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

39. 911 was used by the NeoCon Junta to consolidate their power.....

...and the rest was all very expensive window-dressing.

[Plaid Adder]

41. It's going to be very interesting to see what happens now that

something has happened that they can't blame on the terrorists. Unless they plan to argue that if the mean old terrorists weren't FORCING us to put all our money into drawing up no-fly lists and infiltrating peace groups, we'd have had more money to fix the levees, and I don't think anyone's gonna buy that at this point.

You're absolutely goddamn right: if there ever IS another major terrorist attack in an American city, we're fucked. This is a situation where we had plenty of warning. It's not like with the tsunami, where nobody knew it was coming in time to get ready for it. We knew Katrina was big, we knew exactly where it was heading, and we knew the levees would be in danger. And this is the best we could do.

We've always known that Bush and his corrupt government were the real threat to American security. The only good thing to come out of this disaster will be that more people figure that out. But it's too high a fucking price to pay for that.

Sigh,

The Plaid Adder

[ismnotwasm]

44. My husband and I we're talking about the same thing

What if this had been a major terrorist attack? How safe are we feeling now? Every major city has it's weak and vulnerable points. Mayors across the country have been saying they haven't been getting enough federal support. Homeland security should be able to respond NOW to ANY crisis. It's had several years to prepare. We supposedly learned from 9/11. We've had a couple of silly "disaster drills" up here in Seattle. This is complete bullshit. There are NO excuses for the response in New Orleans. And that goddam idiot sat on his ass for a couple of days before saying the response was "not acceptable"?

[renate]

45. A plan for NO should have been a priority

immediately after 9-11. Like you and your husband were talking about, this COULD--easily--have been a major terrorist attack. A major port, oil refineries, a city below sea level, protected by levees susceptible to damage (say, from a deliberate plane crash--oh, wait, that kind of thing is unforeseeable)... NO was a perfect target for terrorists. Huge loss of life, the economy on the ropes throughout the country because gas and other goods can't be delivered through the port.... We just have to turn on the news to see why terrorists would have been drawn to attack New Orleans.

Scotty can talk about "natural" disasters all he wants as if that were some kind of excuse, but there should have been a federal response plan all ready to implement just as if this were a terrorist attack.

[slay]

46. My friends and I have been talking about this very thing today

And that was before I read your excellent rant. Great minds and what not.. :)

[Coexist]

47. amen. n/t

[kick-ass-bob]

48. I was saying the exact same thing today re: bombs & levees.

I was saying "what has Homeland Security done?" This is how we respond?

This is the most ironic part of the entire sad saga.

[jokerman93]

49. link to related post

I posted this earlier, but it got swept away quickly. Curious if any responders here remember this particular sidebar of the $18BB supplemental last year.

Thanks to any who can reply.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4584228

[Generator]

50. Well except for getting us into an elective, uneccesary war

that we may take years to get out of, that is.

But I love your rant and your title. And for me, personally, it's kinda deja vu all over again,September 11th part deux-the nightmare goes on.

NYC & the WTC will always be more personal to me because I once lived and worked there. Still remains the greatest city on earth to me.

New Orleans I visited once, and loved, loved the people, the music, the buildings, the vibe, the Cajuns, the food, the everything. It's one of the most unique cities on earth. And here I sit in my safe Portland home once again with beautiful blue September skies while a city I love is destroyed and I'm helpless to do anything.

I don't think these images of those helpless people in New Orleans-one of the WORLD's great cities-not just America's- will be out of our minds anymore than those of planes hitting buildings. Once again, the American people are on their own, fed lies and left to bleed and wonder why.

[understandinglife]

52. 9/11 was a symptom of the malignancy that invaded America on ...

.... December 12th, 2000.

What Katrina did, that even the illegal war in Iraq has not yet achieved, is that it has forced all our fellow citizens to realize that it is not only New Orleans that needs to be rebuilt -- it is the entire Republic.

The whole world is not only watching, but totally clued to the scope of the catastrophe -- America's catastrophe, not just New Orleans'.

Your 'rant' is well stated. Thank you.


Peace.

[nickgutierrez]

55. Even worse: There was advance warning for this storm.

I mean, they knew it was coming two or three days in advance. There is no advance warning for a terrorist attack.

So that response we're seeing now might have been two or three days later. :(

[Redstone]

56. It did change something. The Federal Gov't got LESS competent.

Redstone

[wiggs]

57. This is how it's been in every policy area for 5 years!

All policy areas have been infected by this administration's incompetence and radical ideology. Has been for 5 years, before and after 9/11.

A single minded drive to concentrate wealth and power into the hands of fewer and fewer people supercedes any other effort.

Environmental protection, health, homeland security, foreign policy, education, national infrastructure, social security, economy.....ALL HAVE BEEN DEGRADED OR SACRIFICED for pursuit of the ideology.

Every policy area will have its Katrina disaster sooner or later.

[stickdog]

58. EXACTLY. Thanks for the insightful post, Elad.

You are 100% correct.

The whole "protect America" Motherland Insecurity crap was nothing more than another Repuke porkfest -- just like prison buildups and S&L bailouts except on an even greater scale.

It's now become patently obvious that the ONLY things that BushCo isn't inept at are spinning, stealing and bullying.

[bloom]

59. It's "Disaster Capitalism"

Posted April 14, 2005
LOOKOUT by Naomi Klein


The Rise of Disaster Capitalism

Additional research was provided by Aaron Maté and Debra Levy.

Last summer, in the lull of the August media doze, the Bush Administration's doctrine of preventive war took a major leap forward. On August 5, 2004, the White House created the Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization, headed by former US Ambassador to Ukraine Carlos Pascual. Its mandate is to draw up elaborate "post-conflict" plans for up to twenty-five countries that are not, as of yet, in conflict. According to Pascual, it will also be able to coordinate three full-scale reconstruction operations in different countries "at the same time," each lasting "five to seven years."

Fittingly, a government devoted to perpetual pre-emptive deconstruction now has a standing office of perpetual pre-emptive reconstruction.

Gone are the days of waiting for wars to break out and then drawing up ad hoc plans to pick up the pieces. In close cooperation with the National Intelligence Council, Pascual's office keeps "high risk" countries on a "watch list" and assembles rapid-response teams ready to engage in prewar planning and to "mobilize and deploy quickly" after a conflict has gone down. The teams are made up of private companies, nongovernmental organizations and members of think tanks--some, Pascual told an audience at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in October, will have "pre-completed" contracts to rebuild countries that are not yet broken. Doing this paperwork in advance could "cut off three to six months in your response time."
...


In January Condoleezza Rice sparked a small controversy by describing the tsunami as "a wonderful opportunity" that "has paid great dividends for us." Many were horrified at the idea of treating a massive human tragedy as a chance to seek advantage. But, if anything, Rice was understating the case. A group calling itself Thailand Tsunami Survivors and Supporters says that for "businessmen-politicians, the tsunami was the answer to their prayers, since it literally wiped these coastal areas clean of the communities which had previously stood in the way of their plans for resorts, hotels, casinos and shrimp farms. To them, all these coastal areas are now open land!"."

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20050502/klein

[Independent_Liberal]

60. Right!

9/11 changed absolutely NOTHING! The only thing it changed was the way we look at terrorism.

:)

[rocktivity]

62. You certainly got the "pretend" part right

Terrorists who are smart enough to figure out how to plant bombs in New Orleans levees are smart enough to figure out that so much of NO's urban population is black, Bush wouldn't care if they got blown up.

:(
rocknation

[bvar22]

63. 9-11 did change one thing.

Bush* and his merry band of Sociopaths were able to direct BILLIONS of DOLLARS of Public Money into the pockets of his Cronies and Profiteers.

[govegan]

64. Right. It's Clinton's penis at it again.

Didn't the neo-fascist bastards have an aerial view of the storm that showed it bore a remarkable resemblance to the Presidential Member?

. . . . . . . . . . .

Seriously, neoliberal capitalism is the handmaiden of fascism, as any critical look at the twentieth century should reveal.

And fascism has no interest in the protection of its citizenry.

As a matter of fact, the common citizen is inevitably seen as an enemy of the state. The fascist state is an end unto itself, and those who are not servile to its every whim are its enemies.

The ruse of propagandistic "news" will never reveal anything, even the naked butt of the king.

...............

"Too late to fix another drink -
The lights are going out -
I'll listen to the darkness sing -
I know what that's about. " Leonard Cohen "That don't make it junk"

..............

Shake your chains to the dust like dew,
For you are many, and they are few.

..............

It's bullshit, indeed.