Gimme that remote!

OK so the bat story will have to wait, I gotta ventilate here. I have been reading and listening and yelling and pounding my fist all week about what's happening in the southeast corner, and I have to share my day with y'all.

First, this came in from my cousin, whom I adore:

"Where are all of our resources for this disaster in Louisiana? THEY ARE IN IRAQ! A good friend said it best; the Terrorists must be having quite a laugh at us right now at how vulnerable we are, cannot even take care of our dying people. It is a disgrace.

Now that I am done with my soapbox. We have just finished donating to the Red Cross. The point of my email is for you to please be careful when you donate. Make sure it is a reputable organization that will send at least 80 % to where it should go. NBC Today did a piece on what to watch out for when you donate. More info on NBC Today website if you need to know where to send a much needed donation. Thanks for your time. How lucky we all are."

Oh yes, I yelled, you go girl!

Then, I listened (twice) to the Mayor of New Orleans, who made the most lucid and brilliant comments with regard to the way his part of the state/country was being treated by the "haves"

Later in the afternoon, my cousin sent this,

"My apologies for my am email. This is no time for expressing views on Iraq, that was not my intentions. I received a beautiful email from a very close friend who, although, believes as I do in many ways, reminded me this was no time to express ideas that divide. It is a time to be thankful for how blessed we are, send what we can. Again, I am sorry it was out of frustration watching these poor suffering people. I simply should have just sent the info on where to send donations. "
apparently because some right wing fundamentalist, (who, I am embarrassed to say, I am related to...) got on her case.

Then, My Favorite Michael said this:

Friday, September 2nd, 2005
Dear Mr. Bush:
Any idea where all our helicopters are? It's Day 5 of Hurricane Katrina and thousands remain stranded in New Orleans and need to be airlifted. Where on earth could you have misplaced all our military choppers? Do you need help finding them? I once lost my car in a Sears parking lot. Man, was that a drag.
Also, any idea where all our national guard soldiers are? We could really use them right now for the type of thing they signed up to do like helping with national disasters. How come they weren't there to begin with?
Last Thursday I was in south Florida and sat outside while the eye of Hurricane Katrina passed over my head. It was only a Category 1 then but it was pretty nasty. Eleven people died and, as of today, there were still homes without power. That night the weatherman said this storm was on its way to New Orleans. That was Thursday! Did anybody tell you? I know you didn't want to interrupt your vacation and I know how you don't like to get bad news. Plus, you had fundraisers to go to and mothers of dead soldiers to ignore and smear. You sure showed her!
I especially like how, the day after the hurricane, instead of flying to Louisiana, you flew to San Diego to party with your business peeps. Don't let people criticize you for this -- after all, the hurricane was over and what the heck could you do, put your finger in the dike?
And don't listen to those who, in the coming days, will reveal how you specifically reduced the Army Corps of Engineers' budget for New Orleans this summer for the third year in a row. You just tell them that even if you hadn't cut the money to fix those levees, there weren't going to be any Army engineers to fix them anyway because you had a much more important construction job for them -- BUILDING DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ!
On Day 3, when you finally left your vacation home, I have to say I was moved by how you had your Air Force One pilot descend from the clouds as you flew over New Orleans so you could catch a quick look of the disaster. Hey, I know you couldn't stop and grab a bullhorn and stand on some rubble and act like a commander in chief. Been there done that.
There will be those who will try to politicize this tragedy and try to use it against you. Just have your people keep pointing that out. Respond to nothing. Even those pesky scientists who predicted this would happen because the water in the Gulf of Mexico is getting hotter and hotter making a storm like this inevitable. Ignore them and all their global warming Chicken Littles. There is nothing unusual about a hurricane that was so wide it would be like having one F-4 tornado that stretched from New York to Cleveland.
No, Mr. Bush, you just stay the course. It's not your fault that 30 percent of New Orleans lives in poverty or that tens of thousands had no transportation to get out of town. C'mon, they're black! I mean, it's not like this happened to Kennebunkport. Can you imagine leaving white people on their roofs for five days? Don't make me laugh! Race has nothing -- NOTHING -- to do with this!
You hang in there, Mr. Bush. Just try to find a few of our Army helicopters and send them there. Pretend the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast are near Tikrit.
Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
www.MichaelMoore.com
P.S. That annoying mother, Cindy Sheehan, is no longer at your ranch. She and dozens of other relatives of the Iraqi War dead are now driving across the country, stopping in many cities along the way. Maybe you can catch up with them before they get to DC on September 21st.

And finally, the icing on my day, where a picture and it's caption is more powerful, telling and reinforcing of the absolute truth of what is the basis of the problem:



OK, so why is it that everyone I know (who isn't in charge) can come up with a plan, and those morons who are in charge are still trying to figure it out, 5 days and hundreds of lives later? I am ashamed.