Okay, but that's the last straw.

It's official. We're now just hop, skip, and a jump from theocracy. The Religious Right has come up with a plan to slip government funds to religious groups, and some of them don't even want the money!

"Volunteer labor is just that: volunteer," said the Rev. Robert E. Reccord, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's North American Mission Board. "We would never ask the government to pay for it."

This plan would allow churches to get "reimbursed" for all kinds of things not related to emergency shelter of hurricane victims. Being "reimbursed" for volunteering is a new one on me. I kind of thought the whole point of it being a volunteer effort was the part about doing it for free. But what do I know, I'm just and evil liebrul.

Anyway, this has prompted me to use one of my very dusty categories called Theocalypse Now! for the first time. I have a feeling this category is going to have a lot of entries as long as Bush and his merry band of idiots are in office.

That NY Times article is craptacular

This is the one I'm referring to: David Carr More Horrible Than Truth: News Reports.

Not only is most of it not true, it's insulting to every victim of this tragedy. Maybe more rape victims haven't come forward because they were either murdered, or don't want their names plastered all over the news like Charmaine Neville. The 7-year-old that was raped? Found. Other victims of crimes in the Superdome? Found here and here. It seems that Mr. Carr is projecting. He appears to be guilty of the exact thing he is accusing others of...printing stories without the facts.

Who confirmed the sniper shooting at rescue helicopters? The victims? Are these the same victims who told stories about rapes and murders...stories we aren't to believe because they ARE NOT confirmed? WTH? And, how did I know that the congressman who hitched a ride was a Democrat? However, there is no mention of the photo ops or many "PR" visits by Bush and others that halted relief efforts at the most critical time for evacuees. What am I talking about? No one else could fly in NOLA airspace while the President was there - for security reasons. So, every time he or anyone in his merry band of idiots went to visit, they halted rescue operations that had already taken FOUR days to start.

But, let's not mention that. By all means, let's continue to cover our eyes and pretend none of it ever happened. Yeah, that'll make it go away.

The NYT should print a retraction. David Carr should be fired. Maybe he can go work with Mike Brown.

You know you can't disguise. You're just telling lies.
Wild Orchid

WMD-Gate Day 900; Katrina-Gate Day 7

The First Fucktard is a busy man. No...wait...actually, he isn't. Perhaps that's part of the problem. Today marks the 900th day since the war in Iraq began. More importantly, it's the 890th day after we located the WMD's and...what? Lost them? I mean, with all the satellite technology we have, and the thousands of tons of WMD's that were there, I'm thinking Rummy would have noticed them moving on a satellite, no? Guess not.

And now, it's been 7 days since news broke of the devastation in New Orleans. And lil' Mr. Can't Be Wrong, still won't admit his mistakes. Fucking bastard has even more blood on his hands, but I'd be willing to bet my Ipod he's only thinking about how he had to cut his vacation short and not the thousands of lives his delay caused.

The crazy thing is, he's got people blaming the victims! "Don't depend on the federal government for all your needs"? Well, no...that would be stupid. But when they tell us they've got our backs in situations like this, and then don't, it is their fucking fault. But by all means, let's blame people for a natural disaster that our government said they would help us with should we need it. While we're at it, why don't we go back to the days of blaming rape victims?

I can't believe some people. I seriously think that Bush is the antichrist. I can think of no other reason why someone so obviously full of evil could have so many people turning a blind eye to it.

Katrinagate Day 5: Human stupidity is infinite

Well, I haven't been able to add my two cents to the whole hurricane (lack of) relief efforts. I have dial-up...yes, I'm the last person on Earth who does. I don't know what went wrong, but my home phone was dead without any sound whatsoever, and when I called it from my cell phone, someone else answered the phone. And boy was she pissed. I guess getting a phone call at 2 a.m. will do that to you. So, I called the phone company and told them I thought my line was crossed with someone else's (I didn't realize that even happened anymore) or something. Anyway, it got fixed today. Hooray!

So, on to this disaster. I don't think I've ever heard so many people flapping their gums who are basically completely full of shit. (And here we all thought it was the Superdome that was full of it). Yeah, yeah...opinions are like assholes, and here's mine:

#1 Why make it racial when it really isn't?/ That Kanye West is an idiot for saying that.
Cha-ching (my two cents): It is so racial. It's been proven. I've seen one person after another blame the hurricane victims for their plight. They should've just gotten out. The response was very different for the hurricane Andrew victims. The overwhelming response was to help, whereas the overwhelming response to Katrina victims has been to blame. Blame the vicitms. Blame their local/state government (most of whom are black). Now, I'm the last person to "pull the race card". Even when Jesse Jackson came out and said that help was coming too slowly, I refused to believe it had anything to do with race. Now I agree with him.

#2 Why didn't they just leave?
Cha-ching: Many were dirt poor. They couldn't leave. That's hard for most of us to imagine. Just imagine if you had no...family or friends with money, credit cards, car, etc. How would you get out of the city on a few days' notice? Where would you go? Remember, before the storm hit, there was nothing set up for them. Most places don't allow loitering. Most shelters aren't equipped to handle ginormous groups of people. Yes, some people stayed despite having the means to leave. Many, many more had no choice.

#3 Well, it's not my fault those people were so poor and helpless. It's their own fault for being in that situation!
Cha-ching: It also isn't your fault that the people in Iraq were being killed. We are a country that helps those in need...no matter the situation that lead them to need help. Why stop when it's the people in our own backyard?

#4 Let's not politicize this.
Cha-ching: You're kidding, right? I'll direct you to DailyKos. Most of the Republicans voted into office since 2001 used 9/11 to get there. Saying that Bush dropped the ball on this isn't politicizing this disaster. It's telling the truth.

#5Things don't happen overnight. Give everyone time to help.
Cha-ching: They didn't/don't have time! The minute word got out that New Orleans, yes the entire ing city, was flooded, help should have been on the way. blaming the NO mayor or other government officials in LA who "didn't know what they were doing" or "were too inexperienced". all that. Help should have been en route. Now, we all know that didn't happen. And in the midst of the blame game, I'd just like to point out that the military can't just up and decide to go help people...even when they are the only ones smart enough to figure out that's what needs to be done. Nope, they need orders from those in charge. I'll let you figure out where those orders have to come from. Or, here's some help from AMERICAblog.

#6 We tried to help, but they shot at the rescuers, so we had to leave.
Cha-ching: WTF? Okay, there are people in Iraq blowing our troops the hell up, all day every day. Does that mean we can pull them out now? No? I mean, if we're going to pull our military out of every situation in which people shoot at them, that's a logical step, is it not? Don't get me wrong. I think anyone who shoots at our military should be shot point blank...especially when so many lives are at stake. My point is just...that comment/line of thinking is idiotic at best. But, thanks for playing.

A couple of other things have bothered me...like, why couldn't we parachute food and water to the people at the Superdome and Convention Center in NOLA, or any of the other places people sought shelter? We do that everywhere else. At least until a plan could be devised for evacuation, people wouldn't have starved/dehydrated to death. Also, a US Navy vet friend of mine told me about ships stationed in FL whose sole purpose is to set up tent hospitals in disasters or wars. Why weren't they sent? They were two days away. Am I missing something? Why didn't these yahoos (Dick, Condi, and the First Fucktard) end their vacations sooner?

One thing I haven't heard is the "what Kerry would have done" contingent. You know the ones. Kerry would have handled 9/11 the same way or worse. Kerry would have hugged the Iraqi terrorists and told them they were naughty boys. Surely, you remember those. Are they absent now because they'd have to admit that Kerry wouldn't have ignored the plea for help? That he would have paid attention in the first place, as one of us tree hugging Liberals? That Kerry would have had help down there much sooner and that many lives would have been saved? That this tragedy probably wouldn't have even happened under Kerry (or wouldn't have been as bad) because he wouldn't have waged war on Iraq and he wouldn't have diverted the money from New Orleans in the first place?

All I can say now is that I am flabbergasted and saddened by the news and pictures coming out of NOLA. People being treated like criminals and locked in the city...people dying IN AMERICA because they have no water...people being raped and beaten in the place their leaders told them to go for help...so many dying.

I actually cheered today when I read that buses were being sent from New York, more food and water had arrived, and things were finally starting to look up for the victims down there. I had been crying every time I watched the news the past couple of days. I just pray they continue to get help.