Author: Trish

Bayou Buzz Reports Hastert AWOL on Relief Vote

Trish

Dennis the Menace Hastert must have really meant it when he said rebuilding New Orleans is optional. Bayou Buzz reports the Speaker is planning to attend a Republican fundraiser rather than showing up for an emergency vote on aid to Katrina victims.

Hastert AWOL During House Katrina Vote

Republican Congressman and Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert who set off a firestorm on Thursday when he questioned the need to rebuild New Orleans might be making another major bonehead decision.

The legislation passed by the U.S. Senate of 10.5 billion to rebuild the Gulf Coast and New Orleans is moving to the House. Guess who will not be there when the vote occurs? Dennis Hastert. He will be at a fundraiser.

Think of the importance of his presence to lead this legislation. Instead, he is playing partisan politics—raising money for his party or for a fellow republican. Is this a show of leadership?

See update of this story GOP House Leader Denies Advocating Bulldozing New Orleans Despite Published Record of Statements.

Hey Mary Landrieu: You Go, Girl!

Trish

Seeing Anderson Cooper lose it with Sen. Mary Landrieu yesterday helped crystallize some things for me. Cooper, who was obviously distraught and even close to tears, was in full blame mode, focusing all his emotion at Landrieu.

Did she try to cut him off, to out-shout him? Did she pull a peevish Bob Novak and storm off camera? No, she simply remained in gratitude, waited quietly for her turn to speak, affirmed his feelings, and reminded him that this is her home, her loss. That’s why she wants to fix it.

Amazingly, Landrieu is taking heat for this, and the worst part is she is taking it from our team. As Landrieu said, there is plenty of blame to go around and plenty of time later to assign it. Right now, we need to focus on solutions.

None of this is different from our own lives. We all know people who are perpetual victims, taking no personal responsibility, attributing every situation to what someone else made them do. And we know others, like Landrieu, who own their behavior and stay focused on doing the next right thing.

Trying to find somebody whose fault this can all be led some people yesterday to criticize Condoleezza Rice for shoe shopping in New York while people suffered in Louisiana and Mississippi. Well guess what, kids? I jogged while those people suffered. I surfed the internet while they suffered. I ate a nice lunch and quaffed a glass of wine while they were dying. Didn’t you? And don’t tell me there was more Rice could have done personally. There was way more I could have done personally.

Bush was wrong to divert our current and future resources to his idiotic war on terror. He was wrong to deny global warming and allow wetlands to be drained. But I have a lot of neighbors who believe in global warming and drive Lincoln Navigators anyway. I know a lot of people who bought a house in a development built in former wetlands. So exactly how are we morally superior?

My PR colleague, Buck, yesterday said this is the time for Democrats to show some leadership. I believe that’s what Mary Landrieu was doing. But like good Democrats, we stand in a circle, guns blasting. Enough already. Who we are doesn’t depend on who they are. We can do the right thing, whether Bush wants us to or not.

Full transcript of the interview HERE.

‘Where the Hell’s the Cavalry?’

Trish

A Bush administration FEMA expert who left the agency six months ago joined a chorus of People Who Know About These Things in criticizing the government’s response to Hurricane Katrina.

Knight-Ridder:

The federal government so far has bungled the job of quickly helping the multitudes of hungry, thirsty and desperate victims of Hurricane Katrina, former top federal, state and local disaster chiefs said Wednesday.

…the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)…was enveloped by the new Department of Homeland Security with a new mission aimed at responding to the attacks of al-Qaida.

“What you’re seeing is revealing weaknesses in the state, local and federal levels,” said Eric Tolbert, who until February was FEMA’s disaster response chief. “…They’ve been weakened by diversion into terrorism.”

Yes, the global struggle against violent extremism is sucking us dry.
[…]

Flashlight, Batteries, Bottled Water, Hurricane Condom

Trish

We could all use some humor right about now, and this appears to be legit. The father of a Florida Atlantic University student is upset because his son received a condom in the hurricane supplies issued by the school in preparation for Katrina.

Palm Beach Post:

As Hurricane Katrina swirled toward Boca Raton, freshman John Lehman, 18, was surprised to be handed protection from more than the storm.

The boy’s father, Charles Lehman of Tequesta, checked with his son to see whether he was safe from the hurricane in his Heritage Park Towers dorm.

“And he said, ‘The RA passed out the hurricane supplies — a condom,’ ” the father said. “That was it. I was so taken aback. Did they give him a flashlight? No, they gave him a condom.”

Hey, stuff happens Dad. You gotta be ready at all times. Besides, maybe they meant for it to be used as a flotation device, or as extra rain gear. Get your mind out of the gutter already.

The school claims that one resident assistant, who was supposed to distribute the outer wear to dorm dwellers as part of a safe sex program, decided to kill two birds with one stone.

“The administration was not aware of it,” [school spokeswoman Kristine] McGrath said. “And we think it’s inappropriate to think that a natural disaster is a reason to have sex.”

The condoms, she said, had been sent in boxes to resident assistants in dorms, but they weren’t supposed to be passed out in this way. The school, she said, has a comprehensive safe-sex program, which includes a lecture and some printed material…

“A safe-sex program should be more than just handing out a condom,” McGrath said, “and I don’t know that this was a time or place to do something like that. However, there were a lot of social events happening in the multipurpose rooms.”

You really can’t make this stuff up.

Gas Prices Eroding Consumer Confidence in Florida

Trish

Floridians are getting worried about the economy, according to the Jacksonville Business Journal:

Florida’s consumer confidence took another hit in August, dropping three points to 92, as consumers worried about rising fuel costs.

The two components that measure perceptions of the national economy each fell five points — perceptions of economic conditions over the next year and the next five years.

Two of the other five components also fell. Perceptions of personal finances a year from now dropped three points, and perceptions of personal finances compared to a year ago fell one point.

“The consumer confidence survey is clearly reflecting concerns over energy costs, both in the short run and the long run,” said Chris McCarty, director of the survey research center at UF’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research.

I know I feel damn gloomy. I can’t believe how much I’m spending on gas now, compared to a few months ago, and I get 30 miles per gallon. I don’t even want to think about what will happen to my own personal finances if it keeps going up.

Bush Economy Plunges More Americans Into Poverty Every Year

Trish
“Most of that growth in the economy over the last couple of years has gone to higher income people and has taken the form of capital income — interest, rents, dividends.”

For the fourth year in a row more Americans slipped into poverty during 2004, according to a new Census Bureau report.

AP:

The nation’s poverty rate rose to 12.7 percent of the population last year, the fourth consecutive annual increase, the Census Bureau said Tuesday.

Overall, there were 37 million people living in poverty, up 1.1 million people from 2003…

The last decline in overall poverty was in 2000, when 31.1 million people lived under the threshold — 11.3 percent of the population. Since then, the poverty rate has increased steadily from 11.7 percent in 2001, when the economy slipped into recession, to 12.5 percent in 2003…

Let’s see, what else was different in 2000? Oh yeah, America still had a working president.

So if the poor are getting poorer, what’s Bush’s economic plan doing for the rich?

Tim Smeeding, an economics professor at the Maxwell School of Syracuse University, says the nation has experienced a shift from earnings income to capital income and capital gains, which aren’t reflected in the Census Bureau’s latest numbers.

“Most of that growth in the economy over the last couple of years has gone to higher income people and has taken the form of capital income — interest, rents, dividends,” Smeeding said.

That’s what I thought.

Mindless Idiots Protest Starbucks’ Treatment of Customers as Grown-ups

Trish

Strike a victory against the inane, “But it’s not fair” whining of a public trained to expect two sides (and only two sides) to every issue. Starbucks, which is printing quotes on its cups to get people thinking, isn’t going for it.

Seattle Times:

A national Christian women’s organization is accusing the Seattle-based coffee maker of promoting a homosexual agenda because of a quote by author Armistead Maupin…

Maupin’s quote — one of several dozen in “The Way I See It” promotion — says his only regret about being gay is that he repressed it for so long…

Concerned Women for America, which promotes itself as the antithesis of the National Organization for Women and boasts 8,700 supporters in Washington, says most of those quoted on the coffee cups are liberal.

The group believes corporations have a responsibility to reflect the diversity of their customers by taking a balanced approach — or staying out of divisive social issues altogether.

It’s not all the morons’ fault of course. The MSM decided a long time ago to stop presenting complex issues in all their complicated nuance and instead boil everything down to an argument between two equally simple and one-sided opponents. Now everyone expects that for any Anti-Defamation League member quoted, there will be some idiot who claims the Holocaust never happened given equal time and respect.

“Corporations have deeper pockets and therefore more influence than individuals do,” said Maureen Richardson, state director of Concerned Women for America of Washington.

“I think it’s wiser for them to stay out of these issues so that they don’t offend conservatives and people of faith.”

Richardson…cites possible support by Starbucks for pro-life clinics and the Boy Scouts of America as ways the company might offset its support of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and gay pride.

Yes, by all means, let’s “offset” support for our stance that the world is round by giving equal time to those who feel pretty darn sure it’s flat.

“The Way I See It” campaign does not set out to take a political stand but rather to encourage discourse, Starbucks spokeswoman Audrey Lincoff said…

Lincoff said the company does not characterize the personalities quoted on its coffee cups as liberal or conservative, but rather as a diverse group of artists, musicians, educators, activists and athletes…

The coffee company won’t be pulling the Maupin quote — or any other — from the campaign, but in fact will expand it to feature quotes from regular customers.

Sex Offender Hysteria Trumps School Safety

Trish

The fallout continues from hastily passed Florida laws to keep “sex offenders” away from children. The Jessica Lunsford Act, passed after the 9-year-old was kidnapped from her home and killed, requires everyone who could come in contact with children at school campuses to be fingerprinted and background checked by Sept. 1.

Everyone.

South Florida Sun Sentinel:

But most of the 10,000 or more construction workers at Broward County schools still have not been fingerprinted and screened, district officials said.

“I anticipate that 75 percent to 80 percent of our [building] projects will stop,” said Michael Garretson, the School District’s deputy superintendent of facilities…

The delay could stretch into November, meaning projects would take longer and cost millions more to finish than originally negotiated, Garretson said. The district already is under pressure to build hundreds of new classrooms to meet the state’s class-size reduction rules.

Construction workers are active at 211 sites, including most of the district’s 262 schools, Garretson said. Mainly they are repairing roofs and air-conditioning systems, renovating restrooms or fixing mold and mildew damage, he said.

Damage from Hurricane Katrina, which left some schools closed, will be left unmended, and kids will just have to wait until the massive investigation can begin. But since when has education taken a front seat to public hysteria?

The district plans to use Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, McFatter Technical Center in Davie and the downtown K.C. Wright administration building as the sites for fingerprinting.

Broward is buying four fingerprinting machines and hiring eight more clerical employees for the fingerprinting of thousands of workers.

The district is charging construction workers $47 for the service, but it is likely that general contractors will pay the fees and add the charges to the final price of each project.

Let’s just hope none of those workers ever got caught having sex with their high school sweethearts. “Sex offenders” include anyone of majority age (say, 18) prosecuted for having sex, consensual or not, with any minor (say, 17).

Americans Hate “No Child Left Behind” Almost as Much as “No Pump Left Behind”

Trish

A new poll shows most Americans aren’t sold on the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, testing standards, or any of the rest of the crap intended to undermine public schools dreamed up by the Bushes.

WJXT-4:

When asked directly about the testing being done as a result of the No Child Left Behind law, more than two-thirds said they don’t think a single test gives a true picture of how a school is doing.

Eighty percent said testing students only in math and English fails to show if a school needs improvement…

About a fifth of those surveyed said they’re worried about how schools will get the money they need.

Connecticut is suing the government for what Republicans, before they became the social activist party, used to refer to as “unfunded mandates.”

Regular PR readers will recall that we take a very dim view of Florida’s version of comprehensive testing, the FCAT. Recently, Florida students’ ACT scores were lower than the national average, despite Jeb’s redirecting of the entire public education experience into FCAT prep. See the earlier story.

Meanwhile the No Pump Left Behind (NPLB) campaign is going great, according to a group lobbying for repeal of the NCLB Act.

Unlike their NCLB program to raise test scores and take good care of all children in all schools – a program that has sputtered, faltered and produced little worth crowing about – NPLB has been a triumph of government engineering, achieving high prices at every single pump in every single state.

“We can announce with pride today that there are no malingerers, no laggards and no gas stations guilty of the soft bigotry of low expectations,” proclaimed Federal Gas Mogul, Mr. Donald Petrolowner.

“Unlike the principals and teachers of this nation who have been unable to lift the scores of all children so that all read above average, we have had 100 per cent success.”

“According to our data, every American family can now count on paying inflated gas prices no matter what station they visit and no matter what pump they select.”

Good stuff.

Florida Man “Felt Like Strapping on a Bomb and Attending Governor’s Meeting”

Trish

[Editor’s note: This news and opinion web site condemns violence in any form, and would find no humor whatsoever in the prospect of someone threatening the governor of any state but especially Florida in any manner, no matter how much he deserves it.]

A man who blamed privatization for trouble in obtaining his psychiatric medications was first treated, then arrested for threatening Gov. Jeb Bush.

Daytona News-Journal:

Nathan Wayne Stewart, 46, of Tallahassee, called the Governor’s Citizens Services Office several times last Thursday and complained about DCF [Department of Children and Families]. During one call, he said, “If I don’t get my meds soon, I will have to kill someone,” according to an affidavit signed by Special Agent Brian Gaynor…

The office reported Stewart to the FDLE, who interviewed him the same day. Stewart acknowledged he told the operator he “felt like strapping a bomb to himself and attending the next governor’s meeting.”

When asked about the comment again the next day, he told an agent, “I may not be able to afford C-4, but I can get a hold of some black powder and some nails.” He also told agents he was mad at Bush because the governor privatized Medicaid and he wasn’t able to get his medication.

Jeb, as always, immediately grasped his place in the drama, and found himself totally blameless and the victim of sheer caprice.

“When a guy wants to blow your head off it’s not related to politics, it’s related to issues going on inside his head,” Bush said. “There are a lot of people that have mental illnesses and they fixate on elected officials and they play out their problems on them. I have a lot of empathy for people who have those kind of sad issues going on in their lives.”

Yeah, we can all see that, Jeb.