From Louisiana: "We are expendable to these people. We do not matter."

[Karmadillo]

http://www.correntewire.com/any_questions_0

Any questions?
Fri, 06/25/2010 - 9:10am — lambert

Susie has an awesome transcript from Kindra Arneson of South Plaquamines Parish, LA. The video is below the fold, but I want to set the context and pull out the money quote:

Just to give you guys kind of perspective of where I’ve been, four weeks ago, I set up at a town all meeting at IND pinned down all involved (inaudible 1:16 ) and I am disturbed bye the end of their speech. At any rate, I was invited the following week to go behind “enemy lines.” They gave me, of all people, security clearance to go into the base of operations meetings in Venice, Louisiana eight days in. Open door invitation to sit like a fly on the wall. Can you believe it? It’s really going on. They also gave me security clearance to go up to the Homer Incident Command Post which is over the entire region of Louisiana. I’ve been in Coast Guard planes all the way out to the site itself. Helicopters. Boat rides. I have been everywhere that anybody could ever want to go to get an inside look at what’s really going on.

The bottom line:

First we gotta understand this phrase: “Ponies and balloons.”

<edit>

Well, the only place I've ever seen “ponies and balloons” is at the circus. Right? At any rate, about a week and half in, I learned what “ponies and balloons” meant. “Ponies and balloons” means that every time an official is headed anywhere near here, they get a heads up.. All assets are deployed into the hardest hit areas. The official comes in, flies over, “good job, fellas” (waves), pats ‘em on the back. When that official disappears out of the hardest hit area, so does 75%-80% of the response.

It’s happening. It’s happening every day. I’m watching it. I’ve seen it. I don’t agree with it. Anyone in this room’s not gonna agree with it. Anyone in our great nation’s not gonna agree with it.

We are expendable to these people. We do not matter.

more...

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Ward 9 is now the entire Gulf Coast.

[OneGrassRoot]

4. What a powerful statement of truth. :( n/t

[BeFree]

7. We all live in Ward #9

We are 'small' people, and BP does care about us.
But they care only so far as to be worried what might happen if we all ganged up on them.

[hedgehog]

2. Who are " these people" ?

[Oregone]

3. The owners of the means of production

And no, Im not referring to loyal 401Kers who have a few peanuts in the trough

[hedgehog]

8. In truth I think you are seeing an extension of the attitude that

caused the disaster in the first place: Given a choice between spending a little money and possibly getting away with no problem vs spending a lot of money to do things properly, unfettered capitalism always favors going cheap.

[Catherina]

5. The greedy, short sighted ones who support profit over people n/t

[Uncle Joe]

6. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Karmadillo.

[grasswire]

9. just a cost of doing business

It's an accounting term, cold hard fact. Another way of putting it is "collateral damage."

[juajen]

10. I believe you meant "Houma" instead of "Homer".

Houma is the operation center for BP for this disaster. This is the name of the native Americans, many still living there. Neat small town near and west of New Orleans. Of course, the town will grow exponentially with this disaster, though I can guarantee they much prefer anonymity.

[gratuitous]

11. "Because it's wreckable!"

Remember the Gordon Gecko character from the movie "Wall Street"? He's got everything he could possibly want; he's a captain of industry, women dripping off the end of his dick, more money than God. He looks to buy up a regional airline, strip it, and sell off the parts for more money that he doesn't need and can't spend anyway. One of his underlings, contemplating the loss of livelihood for the employees of the airline and the curtailment of plane service for the area, asks why Gecko needs to wreck this company. Gecko's full-throated roar is quoted in the subject line.

What did BP stand to gain by cutting corners? How much more money did it need to make? It's extraordinarily profitable, but that wasn't enough. Shortcuts and other little "economies" taken are like running every stop sign. You'll make it through some of them, no doubt. But sooner or later, you're going to get t-boned by a tractor-trailer rig or worse. How much more money did BP make, money it didn't need and couldn't spend?

Poor Tony Hayward just wants his life back. If it were up to me, he and his executive suite cronies would be out there today, hand skimming the inevitable product of their business practices off the beaches of the Gulf Coast.

[supernova]

12. I transcribed that speech yesterday, FYI

:hi:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=385&topic_id=478663&mesg_id=478844

[Subdivisions]

14. Yes, you did. And I posted the video. Here are the links:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=385&topic_id=478663&mesg_id=478844

And I posted the video, which was very popular, in the video forum:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=385&topic_id=478663&mesg_id=478663

[supernova]

15. And a wonderful video it is.

:applause: to you for finding it.

[Tsiyu]

16. thank you so much for that transcription

i very much wanted to read what she had to say and you came through

you get a new star on your Permanent Record O8)


:headbang:

[Karmadillo]

19. Thank you. It's inspiring to know there are people like that out there who know

when not to shut up.

[amborin]

13. K&R

[Raksha]

17. K & R - thank you for posting this.

I just posted the link on my Facebook page. We might as well know what we're up against.

[Poboy]

18. Thank you!

I thank you for giving this the attention it deserves.
Thank you very much.

[Poboy]

20. kick

"ponies and balloons'- Son of a bitches.

[QC]

21. KICK!

[Lilith Velkor]

22. kicky wicky

[ladjf]

23. The majority of the people know the true but the minority holds

the levers of power. The need to change that is the number one problem faced by the human race. (IMO)

[Odin2005]

24. TPTB are sociopaths. To them we are merely "Human Resources" to be used and discarded.