Uh, the Reliant complex only has about 7,188 people left in it as of 2:41. We're speedy in getting people out into more permanent homes.

Looks like there's already indignation there, but it's over debit cards from FEMA, not busses.

I'll ask again, since you have reading comprehension problems: Are you seeing stories about people who said they would have left before the storm had there only been transportation?

Jesus fucking Christ, I never, ever thought I'd see something this bad in the United States:

It makes my heart break.

eta estimates

you're the one who parks on the wrong side of the road.

you said why are there no reports on indignation. i said maybe they have heard much in the way of news on the subject.

you may be right that none of the 100000 people would have left if offered free transportation. Of course, that does shit on the Dem talking point of the poor black people being left there to die by an uncaring government.

Declare a pre-emptive State of Emergency and issue a mandatory evacuation notice. You either get on the buses or you get you arrested and are put on the buses. At the end of the day, if 25,000 lives had been saved instead of lost, the infringement, if any, on civil liberties could be discussed and appropriately dismissed.

I think Castro uses a similar approach. I had no idea you guys were so tight.

Moving away from the blame game for a minute, really? Are you accentuating the United States part of the sentence? If so, why? It's a natural disaster. Granted we are God's Chosen Country, but I think the intelligent design module is set to automatic on the natural disaster component.

Not that I think of this stuff with any frequency, but I would imagine that a major earthquake on the West Coast, the big one, iyw, will result in a far greater devastation. I am fairly certain that there are models that predict more than 25K deaths.

Unfortunately, but possible.

And, of course, it will be Bush's fault.

Means may be similar, ends are different. Didn't Clinton teach us that the ends justify the means?

You are very close to ending up on my ignore list.

ETA, forget it. I'm just leaving the politics board for awhile.

Most people are out of NO now, and there are plenty of human-interest stories being reported. Why none about people complaining that they could not find a ride?

Certainly some would have, but I'm guessing not many. Which would suggest that Penske's "primary responsibility" thing is a load of hooey, which is why he doesn't answer these questions.

No, not when we're talking about FEMA and the people left their to die while firefighters were sitting in the Atlanta Sheraton being told how to hand out fliers with FEMA's (800) number, and so.

I would respond to this if I thought you were serious.

You have to be kidding me. Could you be please be objective for a minute and explain why you continue to back end a defence of Nagin? The buses should have been there, they weren't. Maybe all of the people who wanted to complain died.

Why do you think I am not?

Son, I understand your point, really I do. I agree that Bush is a true patriot and utterly free of all responsibility as commander in chief with respect to our army boys not deploying. I also agree that the fact that a few states didn't send their national guard couldn't as Blanco requested because Washington hadn't processed the paperwork is probably just a bunch of Yankee double talk (hell, what do they expect, it was August vacation). And that Bus thing, well, Ty ought to know like you do that you got to pull the buses up and tell those people to get on, cause they don't take initiative on their own.

But the logic that saying anyone else is responsible will take blame away from Nagin - well, hell, boy, then how are we going to blame the victims?

I can't tell whether you are being stupid or being a troll. Either way, I'm sick of it. I'm not defending Nagin. I have yet to see a good explanation, anywhere, of what happened with those buses, notwithstanding asking you repeatedly. The pictures look damning enough, but I want to know more. In any event, if the city had made the buses available, my bet is that most of the people who ended up staying would have stayed anyway. One reason for this is that I'm not seeing complaints by people now that they would have got on those buses and were instead stuck in the city. There are a lot of reasons for people to try to ride the storm out instead of leaving. For example, if you don't have any money, and you get on a bus, then what? For this reason, no matter how lousy a decision Nagin made vis-a-vis the buses before the hurricane, I don't think that decision was ultimately as significant as, e.g., the abject failure of the federal government to do much of anything in the several days after the hurricane.