More Bush Administration Hypocrisy

Luis Posada Carriles is an anti-Castro Cuban émigré who is alleged to have been involved in numerous violent terrorist plots. The Wikipedia entry elaborates on a lifetime of terrorist activity, including blowing up a Cuban airliner, killing 73 people, and bombing a string of hotels in Cuba.

He immigrated to the United States in 1961, served one year in the US Army, then continued separate military training with anti-Castro exiles in Florida. He was also on the CIA payroll from the 1960s until 1974.

A naturalized citizen of Venezuela, he escaped from jail there in 1985 and became an international fugitive. During those 20 years, he supplied arms to the Nicaraguan Contras, organized the bombings of luxury hotels in Cuba in 1997, in order to discourage tourism there, and was convicted in Panama of plotting the assassination of Fidel Castro. He sneaked across the Mexican border this year and sought asylum in the U.S. He was arrested by the Department of Homeland Security.

The Venezuelan Government requested extradition, since they want to retry Carriles for his role in the 1976 airline bombing. On Monday a Texas judge ruled that Carriles will not be deported to Venezuela because of fear of torture.

Elena Freyre, executive director of the Cuban American Defense League, said there was no proof Posada would be tortured in Venezuela and that he should have gone there to stand trial. She said the decision undermines the Bush administration's war on terror.

"It seems to me that this would have been exactly what this administration would not have wanted in this particular case," she said. "What we have here is a very elegant, if you want to call it that, or sneaky, if you want to call it that, maneuver to allow him to remain in this country."

Once again the Bush administration proves that its "War on Terror" is, in reality, a war for self-interest, greed and personal gain. The miserable failure of the federal government in responding to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina proved that this country is ill-equiped to respond to a terrorist attack. Now the Bush administration and the Department of Homeland Security prove that special interests take precedence over bringing international terrorists to justice. You don't want to alienate those Cuban-American voters, and you certainly don't want to cooperate with Hugo Chavez.

Assault With A Deadly Chicken....

From our What Was She Thinking??? Dept. A 61-year-old Florida woman driving the wrong way on a one-way street apparently decided there was no reason for that awful policeman to stop her, so she pelted him with fried chicken, a Coke bottle and her fist.

Maybe Bush should recruit her for his War on Terror.

I Don't Even Know What To Say

Bulletin: The Bush administration has decided to prove it's own insanity. Either that, or this is a big ol' lie.

CBS News correspondent Gloria Borger reports that Michael Brown, who recently resigned as the head of the FEMA, has been rehired by the agency as a consultant to evaluate it's response following Hurricane Katrina.

UPDATE: It appears that the wording on that report was deceptive. Brown is admitting his errors in the handling of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, while simultaneously continuing to blame state and local officials. Meanwhile, he is getting full pay from FEMA until his resignation takes effect in two weeks. In reality, he is being paid to tell FEMA what a miserable job he did.

WASHINGTON — Former FEMA director Michael Brown said Monday he should have sought faster help from the Pentagon after Hurricane Katrina hit, and blamed state and local officials for failing to order an immediate evacuation of New Orleans, congressional aides of both parties said.

Brown is continuing to work at the Federal Emergency Management Agency at full pay, with his Sept. 12 resignation not taking effect for two more weeks, said Homeland Security Department spokesman Russ Knocke.

During that time, Brown will advise the department on "some of his views on his experience with Katrina," as he transitions out of his job, Knocke said.

Brown spoke to congressional aides from both parties a day before he is expected to testify in front of a special House committee investigating the government's response to the Aug. 29 disaster.

Brown came to symbolize the halting federal efforts to rescue victims of the storm and flooding that followed in which more than 1,000 people died in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff removed Brown from his on-site role overseeing the disaster response on Sept. 9. Brown announced his resignation from FEMA three days later.

Hundreds of Thousands Protest the War in Iraq!

REUTERS/Jim Bourg

A large rally of anti-war demonstrators gathers on the Ellipse near the White House, as seen from the top of the Washington Monument in Washington D.C. September 24, 2005. Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in the nation's capital in support of anti-war protestor Cindy Sheehan, who lost a son serving in the U.S. armed forces in Iraq, and demonstrated for the withdrawal of U.S. troops and an end to the war in Iraq.




AP Photo/Charles Dharapak

More than 100,000 protesters flooded Washington on Saturday to stage dual demonstrations against the U.S.-led war in Iraq and economic globalization, before coming together to demand that U.S. President George W. Bush bring troops home.


AFP/Alessandro Abbonizio

Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets of London to voice their opposition to military action against Iraq, and in Glasgow and in Belfast. Police said it was the UK's biggest ever demonstration with at least 750,000 taking part, although organisers put the figure closer to two million. Wow!!

On The Sauce?

Rumors are flying that Dubya is drinking again. I have the proof.

Something To Stare At

I had to post this, just 'cause it's cool.



For a larger view, click here. It works better.

Hurricane Katrina--The Aftermath

Kudos to CNN, for filing suit against FEMA over their statements barring the press from covering the search for victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. The Bush administration gave in on Saturday and dropped the media ban.

An article titled How Bush Blew It in the September 19, 2005 issue of Newsweek magazine will be read in homes, businesses and doctors' offices all over the country. Key phrase:

"President Bush knew the storm and its consequences had been bad; but he didn't quite realize how bad. The reality, say several aides who did not wish to be quoted because it might displease the president, did not really sink in until Thursday night."

And, 25 mind-numbingly Stupid Quotes about Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.

Yesterday Bush told reporters that his decision to declare a State of Emergency before the storm hit was "extraordinary". Unfortunately, he got a few of his facts wrong. He claimed to have told us all that a big storm was going to hit on Monday. Monday? The day it hit? That was useful to all of us who already knew for days that it was going to hit? He did declare several counties in Louisiana to be national disaster areas before Katrina made landfall. Unfortunately, however, they are all NORTHERN counties. None of the actual coastal counties were included in his pre-hurricane disaster declaration.

So, Mr. President, you state that this storm was so ginormous that you took these extraordinary steps before it struck land. Can you please elaborate on all the extraordinary steps you took afterward?

Not only is George Dubya Bush detached from reality, and almost functionally illiterate and frighteningly stupid, but he seems to be insane. Maybe it's brain damage from alcohol abuse. Maybe it's a genetic predisposition to idiocy. Whatever it it, we can't take three more years of it. Even conservative Paul Craig Roberts agrees. Impeach Bush!

Today Bush declares that he takes responsibility for the federal government's failures in responding to Hurricane Katrina. Too little, too late, Dubya. Do we feel safer from the threats of terrorism now? Does the whole world feel safer with your finger on the button? That would be a NO.

Is Bush Drinking Again?

Reports of Bush's profanity-laced tirades against anyone who opposes him, including White House aides, and his increasing bitterness over mounting opposition to the war in Iraq have prompted a prominent Washington psychiatrist to say that the President's behavior "is all too typical of an alcohol-abusing bully who is ruled by fear".

Dr. Justin Frank explains Bush’s behavior as typical of an alcoholic who is still in denial.

Another Victim of Hurricane Katrina

AP photo

Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, singer, guitarist and fiddle player, died Saturday in Orange, TX. He got out in time to escape the wrath of Katrina, but he was devastated to learn that his home in Slidell, LA, was destroyed. In ill health this past year, he probably died of a broken heart.

I saw him locally a couple of times at the old Back Room in Delray Beach, FL. He was a cranky old bird. He didn't like to be called a bluesman, because he didn't limit himself to blues, but he sure as heck could play them.

"Gatemouth" made a lot of feet dance in his long career. May he boogie in Heaven.

Begonia nelumbiifolia

One of several forms of B. nelumbiifolia, a species from Mexico and Central America with a large, peltate leaf. The leaves actually get larger than the ones in the picture next to the disembodied hand. It's quite easy to grow here in South Florida, and often used in the landscape.



It's profuse white flowers on tall stalks appear from mid winter to late spring.

Radical Russ, On Bush Apologists

If George W. Bush sped through California on a meth binge in a white Ford Bronco loaded with the severed heads of sixteen girl scouts, waving a flaming torch in one hand and a bloody machete in the other as the live news helicopters filmed him burning down the Redwood forests and running over disabled Iraq war veterans in a Wal-Mart parking lot, ...probably at least 25% of the country would say the New York Times planted the meth, the girl scouts were terrorists, Northern California's environment will be healthier now that all those big useless trees are gone, the war vets should've made better decisions not to recklessly wheel around in parking lots, and it's all Bill Clinton's fault because Clinton once owned a Ford Bronco. Besides, li'l George couldn't have done all that -- he's a good Born-Again Christian!

Radical Russ, love ya! :D

Jon Stewart Sorts It Out

For a little comic relief, check out some videos of Jon Stewart, from the Daily Show. Click on Inarguable Failure for his comments on the monumental post-Katrina F**kup. Tome Delay and Meet The F**kers are also funny.

The First Four Days

A young Nicaraguan resident of New Orleans has produced the best visual documentation of the first four days of the disaster I've seen yet. It's a bit long, 197 captioned photographs, but well worth taking the time to view. It's a personal story too, and, consequently, a much more credible account. You can't help but shift your previous perspective on the situation while viewing these pictures.

Worst Disaster

The media finally gets it right.

They Can't Say They Didn't Know

Further proof that the federal government must carry the greatest blame for the lack of response to Hurricane Katrina. FEMA's own Hurricane Pam project, begun last year in Baton Rouge, LA, reveals:

"Federal support must be provided in a timely manner to save lives, prevent human suffering and mitigate severe damage," the report says. "This may require mobilizing and deploying assets before they are requested via normal (National Response Plan) protocols."

On the defensive, White House officials have said Louisiana and New Orleans officials did not give FEMA full control over disaster relief. The so-called Hurricane Pam plan, which was never put into effect, envisions giving the federal government authority to act without waiting for an SOS from local officials.

Katrina Timeline

Think Progress has the best one I've seen. Lots of backup links for proof.

Incredible Hand Paintings

Check them out.

A Little Bright-Eyed Hero

One of the most amazing stories to come out of the aftermath of Katrina is about Deamonte Love, a six-year-old boy who was seen walking down the road carrying a 5-month-old baby and followed by five toddlers, all holding hands. I can't even read about it without tearing up.

The Los Angeles Times reports.

So Many Questions

George W. Bush has been asked why it took the federal government so long to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Now we're wondering why it's taking him so long to answer the question. The Washington Post asks a lot more questions. Spin as fast as you like, Dubyuh. You'll never spin your way out of this one.

How To Help

With so many pictures of the disaster in the Gulf swirling in my mind, and so many heartbreaking words on so many blogs and news reports, I can't put it all together to make a decent post. Focus for days has been on the rescue efforts (and lack thereof). Much help has been mustered, millions of dollars collected. More is needed. This is The American Institute of Philanthropy web site, listing twelve top-rated charities currently offering relief services to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Brendan Loy has probably the best Katrina blog, while Instapundit explains the Katrina relief Blogburst effort begun on Thursday.