President Obama Isn’t Shedding Any Tears Over Katrina Victims
By Ani on August 29, 2009 at 6:01 PM in CNN, Hillary Clinton, Louisiana, Obama Administration, Obama's Broken Promises, President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Stimulus Plan
Actor/author/director/satirist Harry Shearer wrote an excellent commentary for CNN about his “adopted hometown: “Does Obama Care About New Orleans.” First he discussed the encouraging news that the city is becoming a leader in charter school enrollment, working to clean up local politics and is a city once again “throbbing with energy” but then Mr. Shearer dropped the bomb.
New Orleans, hit so hard by what so many (including President Obama in his Sunday interview with the local newspaper) still see fit to describe, mistakenly, as a natural disaster, is making remarkable progress, while the agency that so disastrously failed at building a protective system mandated by Congress — the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — may be making some of the same mistakes in rebuilding that system. And the White House, for the second consecutive administration, seems not to care.
Snip
While the national media packed up and moved away after the initial orgasm of anger at FEMA, the local media reported something remarkable: The Corps was claiming that the flooding was due to the “overtopping” of its levees and floodwalls, while two teams of pro-bono forensic investigators were finding evidence that no overtopping had occurred.As the Corps started denigrating these investigators, they kept digging, and kept coming up with the real story, available now for all to see (though all too few have) as the ILIT report from the University of California at Berkeley and the Team Louisiana report from Louisiana State University.
Their conclusions: The “hurricane protection system” built by the Corps had serious design and construction flaws, baked into the system over 40 years under administrations of both parties, that caused catastrophic failure in more than 50 locations under storm surge conditions markedly less than the system was advertised to withstand.
You and I, federal taxpayers, had paid to flood New Orleans.
snip
Since the Obama administration took office, the Corps has: announced that one part of the new “system” will be built using a “technically not superior” solution, because of funding problems; and, defying a Congressional mandate, delivered a report supposed to offer a post-2011 plan for so-called Category 5 storm protection 20 months late and lacking a specific plan, offering only a menu of possible options. It’s almost as if the Corps is inviting someone else to do the job.
Mr. Shearer points out that “New Orleans architect, David Waggonner, has been convening a group of local architects and planners and engineers and their Dutch colleagues to mine the eight centuries of collective wisdom of the Netherlands about the challenge of living with water.”
They have come up with a new approach and sadly, it looks as though there is no “federal impetus” of adopting it.
President Obama, who has mainly limited his comments about New Orleans to feel-good boilerplate, did pledge to make good on President Bush’s promise on that eerie, floodlit night in a deserted Jackson Square in 2005, to rebuild New Orleans better and stronger. But he has yet to actively intervene to make sure New Orleans gets state-of-the-art flood protection and robust and timely coastal wetland reconstruction. Like President Bush, President Obama so far seems to be acting as if just saying it makes it so.
Granted, President Obama has his hands full, but he did want the job and the job requires multitasking. Could this be considered part of a stimulus plan? Putting people back to work rebuilding the levees properly?
I wish to point out only one thing that struck me when I read Mr. Shearer’s commentary – after the New Hampshire primary, and Hillary Clinton’s unexpected win over her rival, Barack Obama, his campaign co-chair, Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., commented on CNN that “Hillary Clinton never cried for Katrina victims.” His incendiary remark was clearly a tasteless attempt to alienate the African American community from Hillary since he had and has no idea what she cries about. Fast forward 18 months and one thing is absolutely clear. President Obama is the one who never cried for Katrina victims.
Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.
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I miss W. impeach obama. now
guess what obama and hillary have in common. another big democratic fundraiser thats just been indicted. Obama has acorn, and the clintons have the chinese. {loral group, norman hsu, johnny chung, who by the way is still a wanted man}. Amazing. simply amazing
What does this have to do with the topic?
Obots have run out of material. Amazing, simply amazing.
Jesse Jackson made that comment about Hillary in a moment of passion. I’m sure it was just a coping mechanism for Hillary’s defeat of Obama, the first Presidential candidate with a shared family history of slavery.
What? Oh, Obama didn’t have ancestors who were slaves?
No matter. Jesse knew that Obama was crying so hard about the people in New Orleans that he had to go on vacation or something because he was using up all the Kleenex in the house and Michelle got angry.
Im not even close to an “obot” thats laughable
I apologize for calling you an obot. But the “amazing, simply amazing” and the “laughable” ping my obot detection radar. I must update the software.
Another thing that pings the ODR is posts that begin “People, …” or posts that use “Wow. Just wow.” So you aren’t an obot. I’m so sorry I called such a nasty name.
But what did your comment have to do with Hurricane Katrins? I’ve always had a special place in my heart for Jesse Jackson since he referred to New York as “Hymietown.”
The corruption in new orleans is what I was talking about. I understand that this website has blinders on when it comes to the clinton’s and their numerous “misdeeds”. Just because you guys dont talk about it. Doesnt make it go away. {unlike johnny chung} and filegate, and travelgate, and whitewater, and vince foster, and hillarys cattle “investments” and web hubbel, and Billy Dale,. I am leaving out another 12 or so “misdeeds” but I am positive Ive made my point. ooops, I forgot Hillary taking files from foster’s office before capitol police arrived. And lets not forget the magical missing rose law firm billing records. Obama is catching up with the clintons mighty quick though. Darn. I almost forgot the 900 fbi files that “appeared in the clinton whitehouse”. craig livingstone…wasnt it?
This is Jesse Jackson Jr. who said this about Hillary — as Obie’s co campaign chair he was doing Hillary dirty. That’s all it was about. Trying to alienate her from the AA community, as I posted above.
You know, Mark, it would be really refreshing if you could refrain from trashing Hillary Clinton
at every drop of the hat.
But then I fear I’d be asking for a miracle. Afterall, you miss George W.
Gads!
how am I trashing hillary? She doesnt walk on water. She has had her share of “misdeeds”. I would prefer her over Obama. and yes. I do miss W.at least he didnt take a poll to find a direction. The man had his faults, but he still did what he felt was right.
Oh, I see. Steering us into the war in Iraq was “right?” And the Katrina response wasn’t a disgrace? And Cheney disclosing the identity on a CIA operative was okay?
We’ll have to agree to disagree on these specific subjects. As far as I’m concerned, we had 8 disastrous years of Republican rule and now we’re headed for 4 more rotten years, this time under the Dems. Hooray!
And no one on this site ever said HRC walked on water. But I’ve read your posts, Mark. You take every opportunity to knock Hillary.
So, from now on? I’ll simply skip your posts.
Or treat him like a two year old. “OK, mark. You can go ahead and dump everything out of Mommy’s purse. Go ahead and sit over there and do it while the grown ups talk.”
People, listen up. Amazing, just amazing - mark just cannot stop bashing Hillary. I guess he’s not a real Democrat or a liberal. Wow. Just wow.
You’re the winner, Arabella. You made the point much better than I did. And you made me laugh, too.
Maybe some are as tired as I am in hearing how Hillary is going to make this big comeback in 2012. Hey guys I was a Hillary supporter all the way till the inauguration.
I kept dreaming and wishing that by some miracle someone would realize Obama for the fraud he is and see that Obama stole the election. No one did and we got stuck with Obama. At one time prior to the election Bill did say he was going to spill some information, but he didn’t.
When Hillary jumped through all those hoops for Obama I lost the vast majority of my respect for Hillary. I also realized that Hillary just put herself off the block as any future presidential candidate especially in 2012.
IF 2012 does open up people it’s going to be because Obama really blew it BAD.
That means America will more than likely blame everyone in Obama’s administration.
If 2012 does open up due to Obama being a total screw up then the DNC will be really scrambling for someone America can trust. I just can’t that candidate being any of the Obama’s , the Czars, the cabinet members , top Democrats and the list goes on as a Presidential running mate.
Got to disagree here….
The State Department is apolitical.
Hillary left politics when she became Madame Secretary. Notice the shrill silence from Hill on domestic issues?
She is a diplomat ( and a damn great one). Her agenda is much bigger than Obama’s small world view.
Hillary is the the one rose in this stinking cabbage patch we call the Obama Administration.
Absolutely agree.
Amen.
Maybe she thought she did not want to be a divider like Teddy. Maybe she thought she might try and help Americans at the post she was given.
I don’t think she jumped thru hoops for Obama as much as she did not want to be another Teddy.
I agree, Ani: new boss? Just like the old boss. Although Pat had a link up to an Obama statement renewing his commitment to New Orleans [amazing what sinking polls and bad report cards can do]. Of course, for right now these are merely more words to add to the endless spew of words that go nowhere. But I’d really like to see the President keep his word on this one. If we can’t take care of our own, who are we kidding?
I’ve been reading about the “Dutch solution” for years. If there’s any people in the world who know about dealing with water, they’re in the Netherlands. But the will has to be there, instead of repeating the old mistakes and flawed designs. And right now the economy sucks, so I’m not sure how much help the old city can count on.
But I have found the number of critical articles about the Obama Administration flying out at record speed. Many, many from dedicated, liberal Dems, people with very public voices.
The glow is definitely disappearing. I read another piece at Huffy-poo, a severe critique of Obama’s financial plan, the bungling of healthcare reform. More startling than the article was the posters comments. I would say 80% of the responders [at least on the night I scanned the 5-6 pages of posts] agreed with the assessment and were hopping mad. We’ve been duped, they cried. He’s nothing but a corporate shill, they said with an amusing amount of angst.
Maybe if there’s any good to come out of this, the cries from the Dem side will push the WH into taking charge, standing for something.
I’m not holding my breath but I don’t know how long the country can hold on.
And New Orleans? They’ve been pushing as hard as they can to turn things around. But they cannot revamp those levees by themselves.
Good article. And btw, I thought Jackson’s statement was a disgrace!
Speaking of Katrina, Gen. Russell Honore is strongly considering a senate run. Hoo Rah!
I liked this quote, Doc:
“All he [Honore] has to say is ‘Stuck on Stupid’, and Vitter is toast.”
Should prove interesting!
What’s wrong with the Corps of Engineers? It’s as if they’re not interested in doing their jobs. Their lack of concern is disturbing.
Also, if Hillary had cried Rev. Jackson would have accused her of shedding crocodile tears.
Great article Ani!
I think watching what happened with Katrina (and having dealt with some similiar after affects of a hurricane where I live), had a profound affect on me and I think much of the nation. Oh, I’d been frustrated or up set before with our government, but what happened and continues to happen to New Orleans and the people who lived there is unforgivable.
Right … makes you want to have government take over healthcare, doesn’t it?
Considering Medicare cares for the sickest and infirm, with just a 3% admin. cost…then YES,
I would like to see the Medicare folks expand it to include ALL OF US birth to grave.
I always say even if goverment health care stinks , how’s that different from what we have now besides the fact I wouldn’t have to lose my house to keep alive if we had goverment health care? …sounds good to me. It’s not like what we have now is any good… yet we are still paying though the nose for it. I’m FOR way that has the 3% admin. cost
Hope you want to pay for that Medicare too. Its not free. I just had a stent inserted into a cardiac artery and will be paying on the bills for years. Remember Medicare only covers 80% of what Medicare decides the bill should be. And it doesn’t cover everything!!!!! Nothing in life is free!
Harry Shearer–the drummer in Spinal Tap–is this a strange world or what?
So far in the O presidency, there haven’t been any “black swan” incidents, such as Katrina or 9-11. What will happen if something big and unexpected occurs? I know I should feel comfortable knowing that Barack Obama and the 40 Czars are ready to leap into action, but somehow this story about post-Katrina New Orleans isn’t very reassuring.
If they requested funds to help “The East Bank of the Mississippi,” Obama would be all over it. With congress not too far behind.
Why bother missing W? Obama is Bush in blue.
Sad but so very true.
Except I think Obama is doing a better job of spending more more money and increasing the deficit. LOL
LOL!!
Ani, great article. Wasn’t Harry Shearer an Obama supporter? He writes for Huffy Poop sometimes, or used to. This, of course, is not surprising to many of us. However, maybe this will be a “teachable” moment for those who are surprised that Mr. “Yes We Can” has no interest in delivering on what he promised.
Yes, I’m sure you are right. That’s why I enjoy posting these articles. At least he didn’t have the temerity to sound surprised.
To the question, “why we need term limits?” Ted Kennedy’s picture should be plastered next to it.
Should the public believe that he was actually effective versus complacent and enjoyed luxury and privilege instead after 47 years?
The real question is, did he use and hide in the Senate as he got away with 1969 Chappaquiddick murder because of family name and monies compared to the average Joe on the street who would rot in jail for the same crime?
With Obama’s support, did Ted Kennedy faked his own death to distract the world from his specific role behind the scenes in the orchestrated murders and theft of targeted opponent and wealth accumulated for 7 generations and to celebrate (with new disguise and identity) with fellow culprits at upcoming G20 Financial Summit Meeting scheduled on September 25 in Pittsburgh, PA naturally attended by Obama?
Under close and independent scrutiny, it is people like Ted Kennedy that confirms our country can’t afford not to have “Term Limits” ASAP!!!
I think Harry has gotten involved and belongs to this group:
http://levees.org/
Oh and about this: eerie, floodlit night in a deserted Jackson Square in 2005
Jackson Square and the cathedral were illuminated by lights run by generators. After the speech, the generators were shut down.
Recalling Katrina is not likely to help the cause of health care reform or even health insurance reform. It only reminds us how ineffective government can be; how ineffective private contractors can be. We are enmeshed in a mass of big government that does not work effectively and efficiently and big corporations with the same syndrome. So what do we do?
When you talk to Katrina victims and/or the millions of Americans trashed by corporate greed and failure, the only thing that works is individual to individual—mano o mano. People helping people because they choose to do so. People helping themselves because it works and the more it works the better you feel about yourself and your ability. The one thing we need government to do is to create a level playing field and keep the corporations within boundaries that will ensure their greed and wanton risk-taking will not destroy us.
“Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.” Exactly, Ani - the similarities keep piling up and up…
JJJ,Jr.’s comment abt Hillary is one I will not soon forget.
Great post, Ani - and an important reminder (along with Pat Racimora’s excellent toon) that New Orleans is still struggling four yrs later…
Nothing else “we the people” try to do seems to end the circus in our government offices so maybe term limits could help. All I know is that we have term limits in CA. And how did that work out?
Maybe what we really need to do is rethink our ideas about government. Why is government about “power”? We all know the maxims about power and corruption. Maybe we need to think about how we take “power” out of the equation called government and substitute service, competence, integrity.
Is there a computer program that could do that for us?
Term limits in California just means that we have a bunch of people who have no idea what they’re doing.
We need publicly-funded elections. Nothing else will take the corruption out. Until that happens, and I’m not holding my breath, elected representatives will always be pleasing their big contributors.
why is anyone surprised. did obama even campaign in NOLA? I don’t recall if he did, he might have but I can’t recall if he did. Remember the state of the black union conference in NOLA that Clinton, Edwards and other dem candidates attended except obama although he was in Texas(right next door) campaigning??? Tavis Smiley criticized obama and was lambasted by the black community…..
and yet NOLA voted for the ohole….. so sad
It was beyond disgusting.
Tavis Smiley received so many death threats over that. He spoke the truth, and they tried to kill the messenger.
Black Agenda Report talked about how so many Black people simply gave Obama their support, without even making him work for it.
Those people that criticized Tavis should feel really small.
They’ve been duped! Bamboozled!
Too bad it was by Obama.
He had already gotten their votes, so he felt no need to show up for this event.
I went out with a friend of mine the other night, and she decribed how she initially supported Hillary, but she said that Hillary “started making all of these racial comments, so I started looking at Obama’s policies, and I voted for him.”
sigh.
I just didn’t even feel like debating with her. I’ve lost a cousin over this election, so now I say forget it. They will see this clown’s true color’s eventually.
But my friend summed up how Obama took the Black vote away from Hillary, and so many of us fell for it. Hook, line, & sinker.
He could care less about Katrina. He says what people want to hear, to get what he wants, then backtracks on everything he said that he would do.
An interesting article from a NO resident
Everything you know about Hurricane Katrina is wrong.
http://hotair.com/greenroom/archives/2009/08/28/everything-you-know-about-hurricane-katrina-is-wrong/
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If you live in a neighborhood that is close to the sea, a river and a swamp you can expect to be flooded out when it rains.
In really bad weather like a Hurricane well you can really expect a flood.
when the flood arrives and you are flooded out that is mother nature telling you it’s time to move permanetly to higher ground.
If you choose to stay then what ever happens after is your fault.