Wherein I use the word 'fuck' a lot

[butterfly]

Several people on my flist just mentioned that Chief Justice Rehnquist is dead.

*sigh*

They say that horrible things come in threes. We've had two so far.

Excerpt from above link:
His friends described Rehnquist as warm and witty, with a love for poker.

Jorgensen recalled a small party Rehnquist hosted at his home with former clerks.

"We were playing charades, and he was very good at it -- funny, animated and enormously sharp," he said, "but also a stickler we play by the rules, and ensuring the fairness of the game. That sums up what kind of person he is, inside and outside the court."

About Katrina:
I have been exceedingly grateful to the many wonderful people on my flist who are providing links. It's... still so horrifying. I can't even. I knew that Bush wasn't a good man, but I never dreamed that he was this indifferent and callous.

I never expected him to fuck up this badly. For the government to fuck up this badly. And yes, they have. I don't do political posts often (the last major ones were back around the election, I think), but I'm making one now -- the current government of my country is seriously fucked up. I love everyone on my flist, no matter what, but I can't pretend that I don't feel this intensely strong level of disgust and anger towards Bush.

Bush failed to protect the people of my country (his people) from a foreseeable (and foreseen) disaster. And if there isn't a procedure in place to impeach on grounds of sheer bloody incompetence, there damn well should be.

ETA: Yes, Bush is not at all entirely to blame and there were failures on all levels. But his personal failures are so overwhelming that I do feel they deserve individual mention.

And I'm not blaming just Bush. And the word government up there, I don't prefix it by saying Republican. I'm with the Dems because I think that they're moderately less fucked-up, but I certainly don't think that they're shining white knights who can do no wrong.

Also, it is very natural for people to want to know why something has happened. Especially when there is nothing else you can do. There's so little that I can do to help the people hurt by Katrina. Trying to figure out the whys, it gives people something to do. And it helps people cope. Knowing the reasons can help people deal with the aftermath. And to prevent another fuck-up from happening.

Comments

[librarianstales.livejournal.com]

Uhm...don't get me wrong. I am not really found of Bush and I think that the Federal Goverment really messed up horribly on the relief effort, but Bush wasn't actually responsible for failing to protect those in New Orleans from this. The city government is what messed up and didn't evacuate people from the city, didn't have an evacuation plan and didn't make sure that those unable to get out of the city by their own means were taken out. This falls under the responsibility of the local government. If Bush (or any previous president) were to try enact an evacuation plan, he'd be in considerable legal trouble. Let me do some research and get back to you on this.

However, I must state that how sluggishly he and the Federal Government responded to this disaster is intolerable.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

The federal government is responsible for cutting the money that New Orleans had to shore up the levees and using it for Iraq instead. I'll go search out the links on that if you'd like.

And there's this rather exhausting list (http://www.livejournal.com/users/naomikritzer/61552.html) of the FEMA not allowing people to help.

And they've turned down several foreign offers of aid.

Now, is Bush the only person to blame? No, of course not. But he's shown a very casual disregard for the people of New Orleans that shocks and horrifies me.

[librarianstales.livejournal.com]

I don't disbelieve you. I also believe Bush is to blame for much of what is going wrong in New Orleans. I'm simply stating that I don't think the failure to evacuate citizens from New Orleans is among his (many) mistakes.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

I certainly agree with you. Bush is not the author of the evacuation plan that seemed to forget about the masses of people who didn't own cars, had no place to go, and couldn't afford to leave.

But there's a hell of a lot that he could have done that he didn't. He's the head of the government. He appointed a vast majority of the people who have screwed up. Including, I believe, the current director of FEMA, which is the group that has messed up so very much and so very obviously in the wake of Katrina. And FEMA is authorized to act in the event of natural disasters. That's their whole purpose, the reason that they exist. But now that Bush has folded them into Homeland Security, they apparently haven't a clue what to do about homegrown emergencies anymore.

And incompetence at the top trickles downward.

[librarianstales.livejournal.com]

But there's a hell of a lot that he could have done that he didn't. He's the head of the government. He appointed a vast majority of the people who have screwed up. Including, I believe, the current director of FEMA, which is the group that has messed up so very much and so very obviously in the wake of Katrina. And FEMA is authorized to act in the event of natural disasters. That's their whole purpose, the reason that they exist. But now that Bush has folded them into Homeland Security, they apparently haven't a clue what to do about homegrown emergencies anymore.

Hon, I feel the same way. You're preaching to the choir.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

But it feels kinda nice to preach to someone, even if they agree.

This is so frustrating, you know? It just really makes me feel so many types of helpless. I've donated money, and I've read so much information that my head is spinning. And I just feel so helpless.

[librarianstales.livejournal.com]

I know how you feel. I wish there was something I could do to make this all better, but the simple truth is, there isn't. We can only offer what we can and try to help these people put their lives back together. I've recently got involved with the_fund which is raising money for lostgirlslair and her fiance, that had to flee New Orleans. They are safe, but they may have lost everything.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

We never can go back, can we? Only forward.