KEITH OLBERMANN OWNS NATIONAL TV!

[Black Dragon37]

Everyone has to take a lot at this (http://media.putfile.com/OlbermannSwings) video.

Considering that he's an American news reporter of NBC, I don't know who the fuck he is, but he's just been awarded a lot of respect from me. :headbang:

What do you think of the video?

[Pro A.]

I still say he was at his best cracking great one-liners on Sportscenter with Dan Patrick.

He's right, though. The government failed to serve the people of the New Orleans and the citizens that were also affected in Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi. They did not get on top of the situation and let chaos and anarchy rule the day.

[IEatFriedPikmin]

seriously, why are people still putting such a heavy blame on bush for this? i know he is suppose to protect the country, but really, what can he do in this case? Blame FEMA. i think that guy is an idiot, and this kinda crap is getting on my nerves.

How come we didnt put a heavy blame on Clinton during 9/11? The twin towers got bombed during his administration, and maybe if he would have put more effort into stopping it, the WTC would still be standing and people would still be alive. Thats just one example.

[Pro A.]

Its very simple, really. If you are in charge and are the President, you get credit for all the things that go right in the country, but if things go horribly wrong, you get all the blame because you are the guy on top and the leader of the country. Right or wrong, fair or not, that is the way it works.

And getting with Clinton, yes, he made quite a few foreign policy fuck-ups in his day (Somalia, Bosnia, Rwanda, North Korea) and there was the WTC (although that was barely a few months into his administration) and he did take flak for it, no question.

[cpiasminc]

How come we didnt put a heavy blame on Clinton during 9/11? The twin towers got bombed during his administration
Ummmm... no they didn't. Clinton's run was from 1992 - 2000. 9/11 was in 2001.

Seriously, though, the main point he makes is not about Bush at all. It's about the fact that the government (and yes FEMA included) completely failed and continues to be complacent. And the government's role in such times, regardless of who the president is, is not up to question.

[Dorbin]

His attempts at acting like he isn't blaming the administration because it's republican and headed by Bush are pathetic. What a bullshit "editorial commentary". Regardless of whether the government was horrible with their relief efforts or not, this idiot has only made things worse. Yes, let's condemn our entire government on national television....brilliant. Let's suggest with a straight face that New Orleans might be doomed till 2100.

The idiot even says first something along the lines of 'we can't blame the government for not stopping natural disasters and their destruction'....and then later on he does just that.

I could go on and on and rewatch the video and tear this man apart, but I'd rather not.

[Pro A.]

cpiasminc, the World Trade Center was bombed in 1993 by Islamic fundamentalists. They drove a truck into the basement of, I think, the North tower. The idea was to blow it up and cause a teetering effect and have it hit the South tower. Luckily, the blast didn't do as much damage as they had hoped and fortunately less than 10 people were killed.

[Alpha Rioja]

Obviously some of you still don't get it so let me copy some things have been already said.

the whole blaming President Bush for being too slow on helping the victims... Here is a link to the City of New Orleans Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan
http://www.cityofno.com/portal.aspx?portal=46&tabid=26

Did this ever come up in any of the news broadcasts you saw? If you read it, you will see that it spells out specificallly the procedure that should happen if such an occasion like Hurricane Katrina should occur. This has been up for quite a while. Why wasn't this put into action? Why didn't the governer or mayor set this plan into action? This plan takes into account everything, including those who don't have cars, those who are disabled, those who collect welfare... (well, maybe not the welfare people... hehehe) EVERYONE who lives in New Orleans is covered under this plan. and it could be FORCED evacuation. President Bush even CALLED the governor and asked them to put this plan into effect but was rejected. WHY? because from stupid liberals they decided it was better to make a political statement and ignore Bush than to save the people of their city and state or whatever...

What it all comes down to is liberal left wingest pplz wanting to turn everything around and mess stuff up. They are stupid stupid people (just like the welfare junkies in New Orleans) who think they can toss any junk they want to out in their newspapers and get away with it. It took me probably 3 minutes to find that emergency plan... How come the New Orleans governer and mayor couldn't seem to find it?

Well... I guess Darwin was working overtime this last week.

I agree with him ^ lol though don't get angry about his continual use of the words "stupid liberals" hehe

PS The reason we have Mayors and Governers etc etc etc is so that THEY can take the responsibility of preparing for things like this so the President doesn't have to nit pick at every little detail. That's their job. They failed.



The sad part of all of this is that if the authorities at be IN New Orleans (not the President) had done a forced evacuation when they were supposed to as per laid out in the plan in my first post (which I know with the exception of possibly Mach and Viper that non of you have read) this wouldn't even be a crisis at the moment or at least half as much of a crisis as it is now. They had at least three days warning before they were hit. If they would have followed the emergency evacuation plan everyone would have had a way to get out safely before the hurricane hit. It's their own damned fault by way of their voted in authorities that they are in the condition they are in at present. Quit trying to blame every little thing on the President because you have some un named vendetta against him. It's pathetic. At least stick to the things which could possibly have some salt against him ie the war in Iraq. Don't spread into this area as well. You just make fools out of yourselves.

Gov Blanco - Failured to call on the National Guard for more than 48 hours after she had the ability to.

Mayor Brown - Failed to implement "New Orleans Evacuation Plan" that would have used hundreds of busses and other means. The plan had been worked on for the past year and wasn't enacted at all when it was needed.

President Bush - On the Friday before the storm hit, Bush took the unprecidented step in declaring Louisiana a Federal disaster area, before the storm even hit.

The Robert T Stafford Disaster Relief Act does not allow the president to "take control" of relief efforts when declaring a federal disaster area


Here is a reference to the law http://www.fema.gov/library/stafact.shtm


Any questions because I damn sure just gave you Bush haters something to thing about.

[IEatFriedPikmin]

Ummmm... no they didn't. Clinton's run was from 1992 - 2000. 9/11 was in 2001.

Seriously, though, the main point he makes is not about Bush at all. It's about the fact that the government (and yes FEMA included) completely failed and continues to be complacent. And the government's role in such times, regardless of who the president is, is not up to question.
pro a already corrected you there. what i am saying is clinton could have prevented 9/11 after the towers were already struck once by terrorists.

[Pro A.]

Yes, he very well could have. The Sudanese government on no less than three occasions offered us Bin Laden's head on a platter during the nineties and we turned him down every single time. Interesting how history works. The CIA trained Bin Laden and he went against us. We did nothing when Saddam used chemical weapons. We could have stopped Vietnam fifty years before it became a disaster. History: an endless cycle of the same damn mistakes over and over again.

[cpiasminc]

cpiasminc, the World Trade Center was bombed in 1993 by Islamic fundamentalists.
Ah... You're talking about the bombing. When you said 9/11, I assumed you were talking specifically about 9/11. Well, that, Clinton did get some flak about even during 9/11. The thing is, though, is that nobody ever considered Clinton a "homeland security" president. He was mainly an economy and foreign policy president. Besides which, the American people are largely stupid, and can really only associate a political figure with one or two key characteristics. With Clinton, that will forever be Monica Lewinsky. With Bush, it will always be 9/11.

You could just as easily argue about how Kennedy was forgiven like nothing happened with the disaster that was the Bay of Pigs and/or the Cuban missiles. People are stupid, and they'll only continue to be more stupid.

What a bullshit "editorial commentary".
I don't get what's so non-editorial about it. Editorial commentary is about opinions. So he gave a leftist opinion... that's what it means to be editorial. He didn't try to veil anything -- he says pretty straight out (albeit with sarcasm on his tongue) that he is blaming the administration for failing to react to the situation.

[Black Dragon37]

And shit, he's got his own blog (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6210240/)!

[IEatFriedPikmin]

Ah... You're talking about the bombing. When you said 9/11, I assumed you were talking specifically about 9/11. Well, that, Clinton did get some flak about even during 9/11. The thing is, though, is that nobody ever considered Clinton a "homeland security" president. He was mainly an economy and foreign policy president. Besides which, the American people are largely stupid, and can really only associate a political figure with one or two key characteristics. With Clinton, that will forever be Monica Lewinsky. With Bush, it will always be 9/11.

what??? Now you are denying the main argument by many liberals about how presidents are suppose to proect their country. thats their job. It doesnt matter what kind of president clinton was, he could have prevented something that would have protected his country. he got flak, but not nearly as much as bush is getting right now. but once again, thats just an example and i dont want to get into a big debate about it. And everyone gave credit to how bush handled 9/11. I dont see what you were trying to say with that last statement.

[cpiasminc]

what??? Now you are denying the main argument by many liberals about how presidents are suppose to proect their country. thats their job. It doesnt matter what kind of president clinton was, he could have prevented something that would have protected his country.
Okay... I'm not the one arguing that. I was saying that Olbermann was arguing that. Either way, I'm not saying anything could have been prevented. This is more of a matter of how they're handling things after the fact. You can talk about 9/11, and how everybody said so and so knew things ahead of time that could have prevented 9/11, but I seriously doubt all that. How it was handled after the fact was certainly an example of running a tight ship (leaving aside the eventual twisting of the situation into a Saddam-hunt)... This time, not so much.

In the case of Clinton, throughout the majority of his administration, that was just the story of what was going on in the states. If 9/11 had happened during Clinton's administration, we'd be talking of him differently now, but it's a simple matter of the timing.

he got flak, but not nearly as much as bush is getting right now. but once again, thats just an example and i dont want to get into a big debate about it.
There's a simple reason why that is the case -- Bush is still president right now. It'll be no different if some other disaster hits during someone else's presidency. And we'll then be talking about how Bush had it easy.

And everyone gave credit to how bush handled 9/11. I dont see what you were trying to say with that last statement.
I'd give more credit to Giuliani myself, but that wasn't really the point. Once Bush is out of office, what are people going to remember him for? It'll be 9/11 and the oil war. Maybe some people will continue to rehash the immeasurable hilarity that is his failed attempts at speaking English for a while, but that will die out quickly. Clinton will always be remembered for Monica Lewinsky. Will people remember any of his foreign policy dictates? Will people remember line-item veto? Will people remember the deficit shrink? Of course not! People remember TR for the Panama Canal. People remember JFK for... well... dying... Expecting more than that would be asking people to think -- out of the question.

[Alpha Rioja]

^Actually I believe most of the ignorant people that believe this war was about oil have come to an enlightenment and see the error of their ways. Bush will be remembered for 9/11 and the war on terror. Not the war on oil. I can guarentee it. And New Orleans will be remember not because of Bush but because of it as a natural disaster. Just like Kobe in Japan, and the California Earthquake.

[Black Dragon37]

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/9/6/145854/8198

[Alpha Rioja]

Yet another person who doesn't get it. poor guy. I kind of feel sorry for him.

[IEatFriedPikmin]

i think its sad that they are doing that. i will never understand why liberals think bush and many conservatives are just careless people who only worry about themselves. thats what i feel when i see this kind of stuff. it boggles me.

[Viper]

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/9/6/145854/8198
To the author of that blog.

It's people like you that make me regret the Internets' release into the public domain. Now idiots with no knowledge of topic may speak to worldwide audience of other people with little knowledge of the topic.

Some idiots see you with your own blog as if you have some kind of journalistic credibility and education and use your blog to 'teach' the masses whilst they unkowingly spread the knowledge of ignorance to others.

Beautiful. As if the mass media didn't subliminally twist things enough, now we have these underground journalists spouting their uneducated opinions as facts confusing people far more than they already are.

Pathetic would be complimentary.

[Blaksmoke]

The president fucked up. The governers fucked up. The mayors fucked up. FEMA fucked up. Everyone with any kind of real power was completley caught off guard when they shouldn't have been. It is their fault that so many people have died and will die.

[IEatFriedPikmin]

alright, what wrong did the president do? i just want to know. was he suppose to run down there and carry every person one by one on his back before the hurricane so they wouldnt have to leave themselves? There was plenty of notice before this hurricane came, and they wanted to a mass evacuation(is that what it is called?) That way, the poor black people george bush hates could get out.

And why cant we blame the people. What are they doing in new orleans without any kind of preparation is my question.

[Megatron40]

alright, what wrong did the president do? i just want to know. was he suppose to run down there and carry every person one by one on his back before the hurricane so they wouldnt have to leave themselves? There was plenty of notice before this hurricane came, and they wanted to a mass evacuation(is that what it is called?) That way, the poor black people george bush hates could get out.

And why cant we blame the people. What are they doing in new orleans without any kind of preparation is my question.

Of course he was. What else was he supposed to do? (sarcasm)

Mayor-messed up really bad -> Governor-messed up bad -> FEMA-messed up -> President-told them they messed up real bad "not acceptable".

It's as simple as that... the concept anyway.

[plebben]

I must say you cant blame it on bush.
He was on vacation.
However the people in the administration shouldve taken things more seriously if they had information that sugested the hurricane might become as strong as it did.
Obviously a lot more couldve been done.
But i dont see how it can be bush's personal fault. He might be someone i dont like, but he is only human.
There are more people doing work in the government machinery that shouldve taken some form of preventive action.

But the Big blame is not on any party. Its the fact that noone did anything about those protective walls.
They knew this was gonna happen sooner or later, still noone did anything about the warnings that scientists have given for decades.
The draining of the Mississipidelta and the lack of investment in upgrading the protective walls were ticking bombs.
They couldve saved lives by evacuating faster. But the destruction was inevidable.
This is what wouldve happened to amsterdam a long time ago if the Dutch hadnt spent billions on building those protective walls around the dutch coast.

[Megatron40]

The city had a plan. They didn't initiate it. They rejected outside help. There are parties to blame. You stated the administration should have done something more. There are people under the federal government that are supposed to do that. Local government did a little, but hardly did enough. State government did little and the impression I got from the governor there was this *blank look* "umm... umm..". There are parties to blame, but you are right. Bush can not be responsible. Racist or not. Whether he cares or not. Just because it's a heck of a lot bigger storm than most anything else doesn't mean the government on a local level can't take measures to protect the people. I find it amusing they had a drill for this kind of situation a week before the storm hit. What happened? It wasn't like it came from nowhere.

[IEatFriedPikmin]

didnt mach say that they originally want to make stronger levees, but hippies didnt want them to or something? that just came to mind. i want to look that up.

[Alpha Rioja]

The Louisiana government struck down the strengthening the levees in order to save money. They have corrupt officials that they voted in. (noobs)

[Blaksmoke]

I'm fairly certain that every government in the country has corrupt officials in one form or another. Look at Pennsylvania. A few months ago the dumbfucks in Harrisburg shot down the bill to increase minimum wage, and a mere four days later they gave themselves a salary increase. Now they get free gas, too.

[Megatron40]

Doesn't give one any right to place most of the blame on someone else.

Jimmy fails the class. Who gets ripped? The teacher. Not the principle. Not the school board. Not the Superintendent. The teacher.

"That's a totally different situation." Of course it is... the principal isn't.