Political Irony

17 Comments

1. Don wrote:

   Ron Paul was saying yesterday (or perhaps earlier) that the federal government shouldn’t be involved in protecting its citizens from the storm. Oh, I forgot, no one pays any attention to Ron Paul.

   Sunday, August 28, 2011 at 10:00 pm | Permalink
2. Falkelord wrote:

   Obama lets 18 die during Irene, George Bush let almost 2000 people die during Hurricane Katrina. Oh wait I forgot Bush is white and Republican.

   Sunday, August 28, 2011 at 10:58 pm | Permalink
3. No u wrote:

   Yeah evacts and preps were done quite well.

   @Falklord: You cannot compare a category 5 hurricane landing a direct hit on a major city to a category 1(it was a 4 in bahamas, no america) that swept up the coast line. Not that this justifies Bush and FEMA’s awful response, but you’re comparing apples to oranges

   Monday, August 29, 2011 at 3:32 am | Permalink
4. A REGULAR READER wrote:

   NO U: Obama and FEMA this time were much better prepared than Bush and FEMA during Katrina. That ain’t apples & oranges.

   Monday, August 29, 2011 at 3:39 am | Permalink
5. starluna wrote:

   NO U – you are right that a category 1 (or tropical storm as we experienced it in New England) is not a category 4.

   But the risks and hazards of hurricanes are different in different parts of the country. It all depends on the direction and where it makes landfall. Here in New England, people are displaced and killed by floods, uprooted trees or branches that turn into missiles (we have a heavily wooded landscape in the areas that experienced the worst of the storm), and loss of electricity. There would have been more injuries and loss of life even here in New England if people hadn’t been prepared and taking it seriously. And there were a lot of close calls but people didn’t die this time and there were fewer injuries because everyone took preparation seriously, and that included the President. Sadly, there was still a lot of displacement and loss of homes, especially in the western part of the state that received the brunt of the storm and where people are already struggling.

   Monday, August 29, 2011 at 8:13 am | Permalink
6. Thought Dancer wrote:

   Part of the problem is the hype. Sure, we all know that a Cat. 5 hitting NYC would be catastrophic. We also “knew” that such a storm hitting New Orleans would be catastrophic; but before Katrina, no one really thought it would happen.

   Then it did. And the local news got amazing ratings.

   So, here’s a situation where it looks like the same situation could happen, and the media jumped on it. They are not neutral observers: they want those ratings, and were going to hype this hurricane up so as to hope to get the viewers. Even worse, they can, and should, justify some of the hype as legitimate warnings to the public. The problem was that they can’t see when they’ve gone past justifiably warning the public, and scare-mongering.

   (On a side note, at least the local news outlets for both Katrina and Irene didn’t care about those ratings and provided free live feeds. My husband is in Boston this last weekend and today for a job interview, and I could watch one of the local stations’ live feeds from home. But CNN? Forget about it. Best I was going to get there was old, pre-recorded stuff.)

   Monday, August 29, 2011 at 8:33 am | Permalink
7. No u wrote:

   @A REGULAR READER: It really is. Obama and FEMA were better prepared yes, but you cant say “Oh we experience less damage cuz we were better prepared” bullshit dude. The storm was 5 times weaker then Katrina

   Monday, August 29, 2011 at 8:53 am | Permalink
8. ebdoug wrote:

   Katrina was a catagory 3. The damage in New Orleans was to the levees that corruption has prevented from being fixed for 100s of year. Lots of thugs in New Orleans.

   Craig Fugate is a Republican. He managed the hurricanes in Florida through Andrew so well that Obama tapped him for the whole country. Fugate is a man to go to.

   Monday, August 29, 2011 at 8:55 am | Permalink
9. PatriotSGT wrote:

   FEMA and Obama and all the Govenors of effected states were IMO better prepared this time. The message got out to prepare for the worst and people actually listened. All this had to in part come from the catastrophe that was Katrina.
   In Katrina, people were urged to leave and evacuate, many chose to disregard the warnings and stay. This time they listened. Perhaps the storm didn’t quite live up to the hype, but I’d rather be more prepared for something less eventful then the opposite. Of course FEMA and the State EMA’s were more on it and they should have been. Anything less would have been the equivelent of mal-practice and negligence.
   To those who say there should be no FEMA, they are completely wrong IMO. This type of situation and response is EXACTLY what governement is for, protecting the lives and property of it’s citizenry. I believe a smaller government is possible and better serves the public, but the parts that can be smaller are not necessarily the parts that perform the services a government should be providing.
   One example of this is the IRS. Simplify the tax code and get rid of most of the IRS. We shouldn’t need tax programs and paid preparerers to file taxes. It doesn’t need to be that complicated.

   All in all, I think the whole system FEMA, NOAA, State EMA’s, Govenors, Mayors and President did a pretty darn good job. Carry On!

   Monday, August 29, 2011 at 9:42 am | Permalink
10. Don wrote:

    Michelle Bachman has weighed in on this question. She’s quite sure that the hurricane was divinely created to warn politicians to return to the god-path as only right wing conservatives can. “I don’t know how much God has to do to get the attention of the politicians. We’ve had an earthquake; we’ve had a hurricane. He said, ‘Are you going to start listening to me here?’”

    I’m always fascinated by mere mortals that claim to be channeling the will of their god – a creature so all powerful and complicated that they will also tell you mere mortals simply cannot fathom the creature’s power and complexity. To me, the Pat Robertsons, Glen Becks, and now Michelle Bachmans of the world are nutty as fruitcakes when it comes to this ‘their god has spoken’ craziness.

    Monday, August 29, 2011 at 10:27 am | Permalink
11. chinagreenelvis wrote:

    Hurricane Irene went straight for New York City. That must mean God is angry at everyone who remembers 9/11.

    Monday, August 29, 2011 at 10:44 am | Permalink
12. TENTHIRTYTWO wrote:

    The question that occurs to me out of all of this is: is it possible for an event to happen that will be unable to be politicized?

    Bachmann’s comment is disgusting, and right on cue, her campaign said she was joking. I’m not sure what would be worse, her comment being serious or her really thinking that was a joke as she said it.

    Monday, August 29, 2011 at 11:38 am | Permalink
13. Falkelord wrote:

    EBDOUG hit it right on the head. I’m from New Orleans, and Katrina was not a Category 5 when it struck land. The eye passed right over our house. I’m not saying it wasn’t a destructive storm, but this is not apples and oranges. Hurricanes is hurricanes. The only justifiable reason that would prevent me from comparing Katrina to Irene is that Katrina made sure FEMA would be more prepared for every subsequent hurricane so as to avoid ANOTHER disastrous response.

    Category means almost nothing. Hurricane Fifi is one of the 5 most destructive hurricanes in history, and it peaked at Category 2. Also, we have had so many hurricanes here, the consensus has been for a long time that it’s no problem to stay here. Unfortunately, too many people gambled on shoddy workmanship and the perfect storm just happened to come along and that 1:100000000 chance just happened to be the straw that broke the levee’s back.

    Monday, August 29, 2011 at 11:56 am | Permalink
14. PatriotSGT wrote:

    Like Ross Perrot, the idiots never seem to be able to keep themselves from ….. exposing themselves

    1032 – You’re right. First the media was looking for an event to improve ratings and sell more advertising and they almost seemed dissappointed it wasn’t as bad as expected, second the anti-Obama political machine was chomping at the bit for a mishandled disaster and were equally dissappointed in mother nature it seems.

    Monday, August 29, 2011 at 11:59 am | Permalink
15. starluna wrote:

    1032 – right on point.

    A friend who lives in Brooklyn posted this on Facebook yesterday:

    Best joke about Hurricane Irene after it got downgraded from Category 3: “Anything that hits Wall Street gets downgraded automatically”!

    Monday, August 29, 2011 at 1:39 pm | Permalink
16. Dan wrote:

    Well, I experienced the “north wall” of Andrew, and after a couple days we left to go to Tampa. We met the guard on the drive. We came back with a U-Haul full of water, canned goods, etc., that we took to Homestead AFB for distribution. What I’m saying is, a week after the storm hit, the government response was still very limited, private individuals and groups were doing some heavy lifting, but it still wasn’t near enough. To use a disaster like this for political gain is heartless. Shame on everyone is does.

    Monday, August 29, 2011 at 1:40 pm | Permalink
17. ebdoug wrote:

    Dan, after Andrew, Craig Fugate took over disaster preparedness in Florida. “The Great Deluge” by Douglas Brinkley reads like a novel but is about Katrina. He brings in Fugate to show how it is done right.

    Monday, August 29, 2011 at 4:38 pm | Permalink