Kanye West Comments last night

[Slamminc11]

Kayne West seems to be the real racist here and even worse, using publicity during the disaster to try to further his career.

As far as the government knowing this was a disaster... I first blame the Mayor of New Orleans, he was a total failure in both preparing the city, how he enforced the mandatory evacuations, and how he handled the crisis afterwards. Now he tries to blame everything on the Feds. What a joke.

I believe there is more than enough blame to go to local, state and federal authorities on this one! This is how our government on all levels is prepared to handle a national disaster. It's time for the American people to demand better from our employees. It's time for us to take control back from those who coddle to the special interests. The people in each of our local state and national government had better start stepping to the plate for us, not them. They are public official, not special interest officials! If we demand better from them and just don't accept their bullsh*t, then things will change. But for now, what happened this week shows what less than 50% voter turnout does, it shows what happens when the people don't pay attention to what is happening in their own country. I hate to say this, but the way things were handled this week is as much our fault as anyones. It's time for a revolution people, it's time the American PEOPLE take back the government that was built for the people by the people, not for the special interests, by the special interests!
Rant over

 

[Madtown HD Junkie]

correct me if im wrong but as president hes the commander in chief, he can put troops wherever he wants. They knew before this ever hit that it was going to be a national disaster, they should have started making provisions then.

The President, whether Democrat or Republican, CAN"T deploy troops to American soil without the Governor of the state making a formal request. That request Came no earlier than Wed. This is why we have the National Guard. People need to rememeber the National Guard do not sit in barracks ready to go they are citizen soldiers. Many of whom brave defend our country everyday.

The President gave the Gov's of the LA & MS the ability to use federal resources (FEMA) by declaring each state a disaster BEFORE the storm hit.

Questions that need to be asked are...
1. Why New Orleans ordered a mandatory SUNDAY morning at 10 am CST when it takes 72 hours to evacuate the city and the storm had been forecast to be a CAT 4 or 5 and hit very close to, if not on top of, New Orleans for more than 24 hours prior to that.
2. Why the Gov (LA)did not deploy the national guard sooner?

Did it take to long to get help to the people of New Orleans? yes. But let's try and put aside political partisanship. Time will allow the answers to come out. For my money it will come out the Gov. of LA especially failed to plan for the potential scope of the problem & the Mayor of NO should have tried to get people out sooner with a mandatory Evac order. And when you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

As for the freak who blathered about Bush hating african american's...I think rational people see it for what it is and to comment further on such mindless jibber jabber wastes my fingers movements. I would like to see before I die one time for an african american to recieve the same level or furor as a white guy would if the color of their skin had been reversed. MY goodness could you imagine if Bush was black and Mel Gibson had said Bush hates whites. There would be riots in the streets led by the Rev. Jackson.

And before anyone thinks I am just sitting here in a Suburb of Madison drinking my Johnny Walker Black and have no basis for my thoughts nor concern for the suffering people, My wife has 2 great aunts who we heard from today that were at the superdome and got out, a great uncle who is a policeman in NO who we have not heard from and my brother-in-laws realtives live(d) in Gulfport MS and he has no word on them.

God speed to ALL the people of the area as they recover.

 

[Van]

Normal hurricane damage path is anywhere from 10 - 20 miles wide at its worst, this one was 80 miles wide at its worst not including outside of the main path of distruction. Sure they had tv's but if you yourself have been watching the weather channel you would know that the projected potential path's gave the center of this storm the possibility of hitting texas all the way over to pensacola. To add further to this its been estimated that 8 million people along the gulf coast have recieved water and or food and ice, this kind of disaster has never been experienced before on this scale in this country and no amount of finger pointing is going to solve anything period. Instead of laying blame it should be more important to support the rescue efforts taking place by all branches of goverment, aid orginizations, and every day individuals. All that finger pointing blaming others is doing is putting more negative spin on this and is heightening emotions that are already exploding.

 

[CPanther95]

Madtown is dead-on. The President cannot simply deploy the US Military on US soil. And after the disaster, Posse Comitatus prevents the US Miltary from acting in any police enforcement role within our borders.

FEMA picked a bad time for a learning experience, and their performance was dismal - at least from the perspective of their reaction time.....but the most blatant incompetence lays squarely at the feet of the New Orleans officials who either poorly planned, or poorly implemented their evacuation.

 

[vurbano]

Did anyone see the look Mike Meyers gave Kanye West right before they cut away? I just saw it on Headline news. I know this isnt "funny" but I couldnt stop laughing. it was an "are you out of your mind?" look.

 

[Bunnyman]

I don't understand how West's comments are going to advance his career. I don't think millions of Democrats are going to run out and buy his albums just because he called Bush a racist. The people who listen to West are already convinced Bush is a racist.

What I did think was funny was Bill Maher's comments on "Real Time" last night. He said he could imagine Bush back at the White House after his tour of New Orleans listening to all the criticism on TV and saying, "I just spent the day hugging Negroes. What the hell else do people want from me?"

 

[mperdue]

correct me if im wrong but as president hes the commander in chief, he can put troops wherever he wants. They knew before this ever hit that it was going to be a national disaster, they should have started making provisions then.

Actually it's the Governor who has the authority to activate the National Guard for local disasters. The Governor of LA seems to be wanting to deflect the blame to the president when she is the one who has really screwed the pooch.

Mario

PS

I'm no fan of Bush and can think of several things he's screwed up, but the bulk of the blame for this one belongs with the state and local officials.

MP

 

[jollygrunt]

Madtown is dead-on. The President cannot simply deploy the US Military on US soil. And after the disaster, Posse Comitatus prevents the US Miltary from acting in any police enforcement role within our borders.

FEMA picked a bad time for a learning experience, and their performance was dismal - at least from the perspective of their reaction time.....but the most blatant incompetence lays squarely at the feet of the New Orleans officials who either poorly planned, or poorly implemented their evacuation.

I concur. If Bush was a dictator, like Kim jung Il of North Korea, then he could've orderd troops wherever and however he wanted. But, then Kanye West presumably wouldn't have the freedom to make his stupid racist statements.

There just wasn't a strong leader running the show in NO like Giulianni did in NYC during 9/11. The mayor was a dumbass in not enforcing the mandatory evacuation and using all available means to get people out. Did you see the pics of all the school buses flooded out and sitting unused in NO?

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/050901/480/flpc21109012015

Louisiana disaster plan, pg 13, para 5 , dated 01/00

'The primary means of hurricane evacuation will be personal vehicles. School and municipal buses, government-owned vehicles and vehicles provided by volunteer agencies may be used to provide transportation for individuals who lack transportation and require assistance in evacuating'...

 

[EEJay]

Back to Kayne West's point - http://www.blogd.com/archives/001452.html

 

[CPanther95]

It would be a more valid point if both photos and captions were from the same source. Also, the non-looter photo portrays a black woman along with the white guy.

 

[korsjs]

i did not realize i had it taped. i set a recording to watch dateline, but the concert was on and i had a chance to reveiw what that idiot said. more than anything, he made a fool out of himself.

good luck to him getting anymore air time on live tv again.

 

[EEJay]

No, they don't have to be from the same source to show the disparity. The problem is with the press in general. And that woman's skin tone looks the same as the guy if you ask me.

 

[CPanther95]

Two sources may have two different policies about it. One always says "looters", the other always says they "found" food - regardless of race. They absolutely have to be from the same source to show a disparity - if you really want to show that the difference is due to race.

If someone is just looking to stir the pot, the standard is much lower apparently.

 

[EEJay]

Fine. If you had read the article, you would have read:

"It should be noted that while Yahoo News Photos has removed--at the request of AFP, which provided the caption--the images of the two white people walking away with groceries, the image of the black 'looter' (image and caption provided by AP) is still up with the exact same caption."

As you can read (you can read?) the AFP provided the caption and requested they be taken down. So there, the captions are from the same damn source if that makes you happy.

 

[EEJay]

Oh wait, wait, wait. I forgot to add a . Now my point is valid, right?

 

[chieftwan]

Kanye's remarks

I don't think that Kanye's remark were racist. When the Tsunami struck Asia the government was able to amass and mobilize enormous amounts of aid thousands of miles away. Now when disaster strikes in our own backyard, the citizens of New Orleans didn't receive the same attention as the Tsunami victims, and the 9/11 victims. Kanye's remarks did have substance. Now we have to ask ourselves the question why can we occupy a nation send billions of aid all around the world annually, yet we can't give attention to our tax paying country men when they are in dire need. Is this because the victims were black? Because they were poor? Or because we weren't prepared.

 

[vurbano]

The Black Guy looks like he took 1/2 the store with him in that trash bag.

 

[chieftwan]

The looting problems shouldn't take presidence. The issue at hand is how the United States federal government bungled its response to its victims. Poor, black United States citizens didn't receive the response that was given to Tsunami or 9/11 victims. The media shouldn't focus on the looting. They should continue to monitor the efforts of the government and focus on the thousands of bodies that are going to be discovered when the water level drops in the city. That is the real issue. Businesses and homeowners alike are going to write off any assetts as losses. I don't condone stealing but seriously, everyone is eventually going to have to leave the city. I can't see a guy lugging a 32 inch television with him.

 

[vurbano]

The looting problems shouldn't take presidence. The issue at hand is how the United States federal government bungled its response to its victims. Poor, black United States citizens didn't receive the response that was given to Tsunami or 9/11 victims. The media shouldn't focus on the looting. They should continue to monitor the efforts of the government and focus on the thousands of bodies that are going to be discovered when the water level drops in the city. That is the real issue. Businesses and homeowners alike are going to write off any assetts as losses. I don't condone stealing but seriously, everyone is eventually going to have to leave the city. I can't see a guy lugging a 32 inch television with him.

No the issue is how the Mayor bungled the evacuation and the governor bungled arranging for national guard troops and federal aid. IMO when she finally asked for troops, a question that she fell on her face on when asked, the troops rolled in and kicked ass.

 

[CPanther95]

Fine. If you had read the article, you would have read:

"It should be noted that while Yahoo News Photos has removed--at the request of AFP, which provided the caption--the images of the two white people walking away with groceries, the image of the black 'looter' (image and caption provided by AP) is still up with the exact same caption."

As you can read (you can read?) the AFP provided the caption and requested they be taken down. So there, the captions are from the same damn source if that makes you happy.

You crack me up. You question quoting Wilkipedia, but you'll quote some idiot posting on some moron's blog and refer to it as an "article". How dare we question the credentials of "luis"

If you'd bother to look beyond only what you wish to see - you'd realize that the AFP photo and caption was pulled at AFP's request - but the AP's photo and caption are still on Yahoo photos. Two separate companies - still completely irrelevant to the case of racism. It could simply show that the American at AP considers all stealing looting and the French guy at AFP considers them all foraging for food.

Of course that explanation would not synch up with your talking points, now would it?