I'm late, too late. Sadly I'm not alone, but I have to revisit some quotes from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina lest we forget what a terribly strange people we are to have allowed one of the most noble forms of government in the history of man to descend into incompetence and indifference. Democrats and republicans have displaced "We the People" at every level of government, and here we sit looking at them dumbly. Our "public servants" live in splendor while some of us drown like rats? We need to get our hands around this thing, because things will never go well as long as we have a federal democracy of around 600 people instead of around 300,000,000 people. Don't take my word for it...
-"I must say, this storm is much bigger than anyone expected." -- FEMA Director Michael Brown, on CNN, Aug. 31
-"Excuse me, senator, I'm sorry for interrupting . . . for the last four days, I've been seeing dead bodies in the streets here in Mississippi. And to listen to politicians thanking each other and complimenting each other, you know, I got to tell you, there are a lot of people out here who are very upset, and very angry, and very frustrated . . .
"And when they hear politicians . . . you know, thanking one another, it just . . . cuts them the wrong way right now, because literally there was a body in the streets of this town yesterday being eaten by rats because this woman had been laying in the streets for 48 hours . . ." -- CNN's Anderson Cooper cracking down on Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), Sept. 1
-"It was chaos. There was nobody there, nobody in charge. And there was nobody giving even water. The children . . . they're all just in tears. There are sick people. We saw . . . people who are dying in front of you." -- CNN producer Kim Segal, describing conditions in the New Orleans Convention Center, Sept. 1
-"Considering the dire circumstances that we have in New Orleans, virtually a city that has been destroyed, things are going relatively well." -- FEMA chief Brown, Sept. 1
-"From here and from talking to police officers, they're losing control of the city . . ." -- CNN's Chris Lawrence, Sept. 1
-"We just learned of the convention center -- we being the federal government -- today." -- FEMA Director Brown on "Nightline," Sept. 1
-"Don't you guys watch television? Don't you guys listen to the radio? Our reporters have been reporting on it for more than just today." -- Ted Koppel's response.
-"Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job." -- President Bush speaking to FEMA chief Brown, Sept. 2
-"I'm satisfied with the response. I am not satisfied with the results." -- President Bush, later that day.
-"Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house -- he's lost his entire house -- there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch." -- President Bush, easing the minds of the masses in Mobile, Ala., Sept. 2
-"What I'm hearing which is sort of scary is that they all want to stay in Texas. Everybody is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this, this (slight chuckle) is working very well for them." -- Former First Lady Barbara Bush being the compassionate christian that she is at the Houston Astrodome, Sept. 5
"I understand there are 10,000 people dead. It's terrible. It's tragic. But in a democracy of 300 million people, over years and years and years, these things happen." -- Republican strategist Jack Burkman, MSNBC, Sept. 7
-"Go fuck yourself, Mr. Cheney. Go fuck yourself." -- Off-camera citizen heckling the vice president during a live interview on CNN and MSNBC
-"We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans. We couldn't do it, but God did." -- Rep. Richard Baker (R-La.), Sept. 8, speaking to lobbyists and quoted by the Wall Street Journal. Baker is denying the quote; the WSJ reporter stands by his story.
-"How, then, did we get here? How did the richest country on Earth end up watching children cry for food in putrid encampments on the evening news? How did reporters reach crowds of the desperate in places where police, troops and emergency responders had not yet been--three days after the storm?" -- Time magazine, Sept.12
We must pay attention. Voting based on advertisements and talking heads floating in a gargantuan cesspool of mass-marketing is not an enlightened, nor even a "civilized" society. Yes, the government is incompetent, but the fault is ours. We've been told...
"Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action" -- George Washington
:: Damien 9/23/2005 [+] ::
