Cronyism, Bill Marr, And the GOP Agenda

It appears that Dubya’s good old boys are at it again, giving their friends and relatives some of the most important jobs in the country regardless of their actual qualifications for said job. At the moment, the résumé of Bush's most recent appointee to direct the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), Julie Myers (left), is being examinedand and criticized by both Democrats and Republicans.

Thanks DC Media Girl for encapsulating this juicy little Washington Post tidbit which has the likelihood of affecting the future of every American from a number of aspects.

Kudos to Crooks and Liars for highlighting her posting. This is one we better stay on top of or we may end up regretting it later.

SOME QUOTES FROM THE WASHINGTON POST:

[Many immigration advocates, ICE employee representatives and homeland security experts said they were troubled by the nomination of Myers to take over an agency with so many problems.]

[Sen. George V. Voinovich (R-Ohio) went so far as to tell Myers that her résumé indicates she is not qualified for the job.]

["It appears she's got a tremendous amount of experience in money laundering, in banking and the financial areas," said Charles Showalter, president of the National Homeland Security Council, a union that represents 7,800 ICE agents, officers and support staff. "My question is: Who the hell is going to enforce the immigration laws?"]

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As usual Bill Marr does a superb job of beautifully summing up the Bush administration's deeply flawed philosophy of cronyism which continues to be SOP (standard operating procedure) for the feds. With his usual biting wit and scathing satire he hits the mark with his portrayal of true "evil" in his latest New Rules segment which you can download here at Crooks and Liars .

More Bill:

Watch Marr debate Tucker Carlson on his MSNBC show. He slams President Bush in the wake of the hurricane Katrina disaster. "....there's also huge federal responsibility, George Bush should have been on this case, again he didn't leave his vacation, he appointed Freedo Corleone to be the head of FEMA...if this was a lawsuit, privately, I would say people would have a case of negligence against the federal government."

Bill Marr highlights how differently the reaction would've been with President Clinton in office during this disaster. "That would not have happened under Bill Clinton, you can't tell me that you think that FEMA would have not have been a completely different agency, and that Clinton would have been all over this situation from minute one, like white on rice. You don't think that's who Bill Clinton is? He would not have slept from the moment this hurricane started to hit until we could do the best we could with the situation."

Carlson makes the argument that George W. Bush is not a conservative and echoes the many comparisons being put forward likening him to Lyndon Johnson. "Consider what he said in the last couple days... we are going to spend at least 100 billion probably 200 billion to rebuild this, he's come out for affirmative action, he said in his speech the other night that racism causes poverty. These are all liberal ideas, he is behaving like Lyndon Johnson." After a couple of conciliatory speeches, apparently the conservatives want to frame their lame-duck president as a liberal in the hopes of distancing themselves from him.

Download the video clip of Tucker Carlson's show on MSNBC here courtesy of Crooks and Liars

Over at Talkleft they highlight exactly what the Bush administration and the Republicans are up to these days. According to a Wall Street Journal article, they're using the Katrina disaster to shamelessly put forward the GOP agenda. Apparently offering no-bid contracts to subsidiaries of Halliburton wasn't enough, now they're suspending wage regulations and affirmative action protections in the name of expediency and efficiency. Republicans are also working on legislation to limit the rights of victims to sue. Apparently they're thinking is along the same lines as Bill Marr's, and are trying to head off the flood of lawsuits that is sure to ensue.

Additionally conservatives want to offer school vouchers, lift environmental restrictions on refineries and create tax advantaged enterprise zones in order to maximize private-sector participation in the coming reconstruction. Some of the ideas they're considering in the hopes of promoting "free-market solutions" would eliminate regulatory barriers in the awarding of federal funds to religious groups housing hurricane victims, waving the estate tax for deaths in the storm affected states, and making the entire region a "flat-tax free-enterprise zone." Amzingly they seem to have include almost all the GOP's pet projects in their proposals.

The 40 member study group pushing this agenda met in a closed session Tuesday night at the headquarters of the ultraconservative Heritage Foundation. The Republicans will also be pushing for incentives to expand offshore drilling and approval of an energy bill that would revive provisions that were dropped from last fall's bill.

Hurricane Katrina New York Times Timeline (plus additions and updates)

(This is the New York Times timeline published on September 11, 2005, I'll be making additions and updates as the information becomes available).

================================================================

(Events, statements and circumstances preceding the storm which had a direct bearing on events.)

FEMA

[In 2002 Joe M. Allbaugh, then the FEMA director, said: "catastrophic disasters are best defined in that they totally outstrip local and state resources, which is why the federal government needs to play a role...."]

[The American Federation of Government employees which represents FEMA employees, wrote to Congress in June 2004 complaining, "seasoned staff members are being pushed aside to make room for inexperienced novices and contractors."]

[Colonel Terri J. Ebert, director of homeland security from New Orleans since 2003, said he never spoke with FEMA about the state disaster blueprint, so New Orleans had its own plan.]

================================================================

FRIDAY, August 26 -- hurricane Katrina passes into the Gulf of Mexico.

STATE

Governor Kathleen B. Blanco -- Declares a state of emergency and request additional forces from the federal government.

FEDERAL

FEMA

[As early as Friday, August 26, as hurricane Katrina moved across the Gulf of Mexico, officials in the watch Center in FEMA headquarters in Washington discussed the need for buses.

Some said, "We should be getting buses and getting people out of there," recalled Leo V. Bosner, an emergency management specialist with 26 years at FEMA and president of employees Union. Others nodded in an agreement, he said.]

=================================================================

SATURDAY , August 27 -- New Orleans residents board up their homes.

STATE

Governor Kathleen B. Blanco -- Asks the federal government to declare an emergency for the state and help save lives and property.

Mayor C. Ray Nagin -- Declares a state of emergency and issues a voluntary evacuation order.

National Guard -- The state National Guard is in the process of deploying 4000 troops to prepare for the storm.

FEDERAL

George W. Bush -- declares a state of emergency in Louisiana, authorizes FEMA to provide aid.

Secretary Michael Chertoff, Department of Homeland security -- Now known action taken.

Director Michael Brown, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) -- urges those on the coast to heed warnings and prepare for storm. Dispatches teams to Louisiana.

================================================================

SUNDAY, August 28 -- Lines form at the Superdome.

STATE

Governor Kathleen B. Blanco -- Speaks with President Bush. Urges residents of New Orleans and surrounding areas to heed mandatory evacuation orders.

Mayor C. Ray Nagin -- orders a mandatory evacuation and opens 10 "refuges of last resort." City buses bring some to shelters.

[As hurricane Katrina bore down on New Orleans, Mayor C. Ray Nagin largely followed the city plan, eventually ordering the city's first-ever mandatory evacuation. Although 80% of New Orleans’ population left, as many as 100,000 people remained.]

National Guard -- Assists state police with evacuations, conduct security and screening at the Superdome.

Superdome -- 10,000 people.

[Colonel E. Britt decided to make the Superdome the city's lone shelter, assuming the city would only have to shelter people in the area 48 hours, until the storm passed or the federal government came and rescued people.]

National Guard troops on active duty in Louisiana – 3500

FEDERAL

President Bush -- urges people to heed evacuation order. Hold a teleconference with disaster management officials and speaks with Governor Blanco.

[While local officials assumed that Washington would provide rapid and considerable aid, federal officials, weighing legalities and logistics, proceeded at a deliberate pace.]

Secretary Chertoff -- Participates in a daily video teleconference on the approaching hurricane.

Michael Brown, FEMA -- Positions water, ice, food and resource teams to move into stricken areas as soon as it is safe.

Coast Guard -- Closes ports and waterways. Positions boats and helicopters for rescue operations.

Department of Defense -- Activates an army crisis action team, begins to coordinate with FEMA and civil authorities.

===============================================================

MONDAY, August 29 -- hurricane Katrina makes landfall, levees breach.

STATE

Governor Blanco -- Repeats a warning for the people not to reenter the city. Tells the president, "I need everything you've got."

Mayor Nagin -- Has police begin search and rescue operations and heavily flooded areas.

National Guard -- Assist with rescues, relocate its headquarters to the Superdome because of flooding.

[The Louisiana National Guard, already stretched by the deployment of more than 3000 troops to Iraq, was hampered when its New Orleans barracks flooded. It lost 20 vehicles that could have carried soldiers through the watery streets and had to abandon much of its most advanced communications equipment, guard officials said.]

Superdome -- 10,000 people.

National Guard troops on active duty in Louisiana -- 3500.

FEDERAL

President Bush -- Declares a major disaster in Louisiana, releases federal funds to supplement local and state aid.

Secretary Chertoff -- Monitors the impact of the storm.

Michael Brown, FEMA -- Arrives in Baton Rouge, FEMA teams wait to enter New Orleans.

[FEMA appears to have underestimated the storm, despite an extraordinary warning from the national hurricane Center that it could cause "human suffering incredible by modern standards." The agency dispatched only 7 of its 28 urban search and rescue teams to the area before the storm hit and sent no workers at all into New Orleans until after the hurricane passed on Monday, August 29.]

Coast Guard -- Begins rescuing people from rooftops with its helicopters and boats.

Department of Defense -- No action known.

================================================================

TUESDAY, August 30 -- Widespread looting; most of the city is under water.

STATE

Governor Blanco -- says everyone must be evacuated from the Superdome.

[When the water rose the state began scrambling to find buses. Officials pleaded with various parishes across the strait for buses. But by Tuesday, August 30 as news reports of looting and violence appeared, local officials began resisting. Governor Blanco said the bus drivers, many of them women, "got afraid to drive. So then we looked for somebody of authority to drive the school buses."]

Mayor Nagin -- Evacuates the city government to Baton Rouge. Camps out in hotel and remains in New Orleans.

National Guard -- governors from Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi have called up 7500 National Guard troops.

Superdome -- 12,000 people.

National Guard troops on active duty in Louisiana -- 3800.

FEDERAL

President Bush -- Cuts his vacation short.

Secretary Chertoff -- Declares an "incident of national significance" and activates the national response plan.

Michael Brown, FEMA -- Sends more supplies to the region.

Coast Guard -- Has rescued more than 1000 people.

Department of Defense -- Continues to assist FEMA. Orders five ships to the region.

=================================================================

WEDNESDAY, August 31 -- police try to halt looting. Flood and water dwindle.

STATE

Governor Blanco -- With looting and violence escalating, she and her staff search for buses to evacuate people from the city. Calls for a Day of prayer.

Mayor Nagin -- calls for a total of evacuation. Says that some sick or ill people may be moved to the convention center.

National Guard -- additional forces arrive in the area.

Superdome -- 20,000 people plus.

[Two thirds of the 24,000 people huddled inside the New Orleans Superdome were women, children or elderly, and many were infirm, said Lionel C. Swain, an assistant police superintendent overseeing the 90 policemen who patrolled the facility with 300 troops from the Louisiana National Guard. And it didn't take long for the stench of human waste to drive many people outside.

Chief Swain said the guard supplied water and food -- two military rations a day. But despair mounted once people began lining up on Wednesday for buses expected early the next day, only to find them mysteriously delayed.]

National Guard troops on active duty in Louisiana -- 4700.

FEDERAL

President Bush -- Cabinet over New Orleans on his way to Washington. Convenes a federal task force and authorizes Mr. Chertoff to coordinate the response.

Secretary Michael Chertoff -- Holds a news conference, says he is "extremely pleased with the response" of the federal government.

Michael brown FEMA -- Has deployed 39 disaster medical assistance teams in 1700 trucks and supplies to the region.

Coast Guard -- Has rescued 1250 people.

Department of Defense -- establishes joint task force Katrina at Shelby Mississippi led by General Russell L. Henri Honoré.

===============================================================

THURSDAY, September 1 -- Violent lawlessness in New Orleans.

STATE

Governor Blanco -- Says death toll is in the thousands. Calls for 40,000 troops.

Mayor Nagin -- lashes out at the federal response: "They're thinking small, man. And this is a major, major, major deal."

National Guard -- Assists with the evacuation of the Superdome and helped curtail lawlessness.

Superdome -- 20,000 people.

National Guard troops on active duty in Louisiana – 7400

FEDERAL

President Bush -- asks Congress for 10.5 billion relief funds. Appoints his father and former President Bill Clinton to lead a fund-raising effort.

Director Chertoff -- Starts national preparedness month. Hold the second news conference.

Michael brown, FEMA -- First hears about conditions at the convention center. FEMA has rescued 350 people across the city.

US Coast Guard -- Has rescued 2900 people.

Department of Defense -- Begins assembling active-duty troops for joint task force Katrina.

===============================================================

FRIDAY, September 2 -- Military vehicles bring food and supplies.

STATE

Governor Blanco -- Meets with President Bush, who proposes to assume control of the state National Guard forces.

Mayor Nagin -- Meets with President Bush.

National Guard -- Secure the convention center brings convoys of food and water to the city.

Superdome -- 1500 people.

National Guard troops on active duty in Louisiana -- 8600

FEDERAL

President Bush -- Flies to the region, speaks at the New Orleans airport and visits the 17th St can breach. Meets with Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin.

Secretary Chertoff -- No action known.

Michael D. Brown, FEMA -- Is praised by President Bush. Urges patience.

US Coast Guard -- has rescued 4000 people.

Department of Defense -- No action known.

==============================================================

SATURDAY, September 3 -- Evacuation from New Orleans speeds up.

STATE

Governor Blanco -- Rejects the White House proposal. Asks the National Guard to focus on security. Says she has hired James Lee Witt, a former FEMA director.

Mayor Nagin -- Reports that two police officers have committed suicide, including the Department spokesman.

National Guard -- Has evacuated tens of thousands of people from the city by land and air.

Superdome -- ostensibly evacuated.

National Guard troops on active duty in Louisiana -- 12,000

FEDERAL

President Bush -- Activates more than 7000 active-duty troops to the region.

Secretary Chertoff -- No known action taken.

Michael Brown, FEMA -- Sets up a morgue outside of Baton Rouge.

Coast Guard -- Rescues continue.

Department of Defense -- 4600 active-duty troops arrive in the region by Saturday morning.

===============================================================

SUNDAY, September 4 -- Troops patrol the streets, regain control of the city.

STATE

Governor Blanco -- Her staff chides the White House: "They wanted to negotiate an organizational charter," while the state was waiting for emergency aid.

Mayor Nagin -- Begins offering five-day vacations to city emergency workers.

National Guard -- Assists police officers who begin to urge holdouts to leave the city.

National Guard troops on active duty in Louisiana -- 12,000.

FEDERAL

President Bush -- Visits a Red Cross center, orders American flags around the world flown at half staff until September 20.

Secretary Chertoff -- Appears on Sunday talk shows to give status reports.

Michael Brown, FEMA -- Announces that the Superdome has been evacuated, and 5900 FEMA personnel have been deployed.

Coast Guard -- Rescue evacuations continue.

Department of Defense -- Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld visits New Orleans.

==========================================================================

MONDAY, September 5 -- 2 levies are fixed: Mr. Bush returns to the region.

STATE

Governor Blanco -- Is surprised to learn of Mr. Bush's visit while preparing to leave for Houston.

Mayor Nagin -- Estimates that "it wouldn't be unreasonable to have 10,000" dead in the city.

National Guard -- With looting and violence subsiding, National Guard officials declare New Orleans secure.

National Guard troops on active duty in Louisiana -- 16,000

FEDERAL

President Bush -- Flies to Baton Rouge and visits evacuees. Meets with Governor Blanco.

Secretary Chertoff -- No action known.

Michael Brown, FEMA -- Releases an official death count; 71.

Coast Guard -- Says it has rescued more than 18,000 people from flooded areas of New Orleans.

Department of Defense -- More than 7000 active-duty troops are in the region.

===============================================================

The blame game vs. an ounce of prevention.

"The blame game," has been mentioned by the media and politicians in regard to the recent tragedies along the Gulf Coast and in the city of New Orleans. After careful consideration of the facts and contemplation of the chain of command I believe I have definitively arrived at the answer to this question of who exactly is to blame. Fair warning, the answer may surprise you.

In light of Michael B. Brown's recall to Washington and reassignment, it would seem that they administration has found their scapegoat. But is this really where the bulk of the blame lies?

True, Bush chose to hire someone whose qualifications were to say the least insufficient, and the president must bear the preponderance of the culpability for that act. There is little doubt that if the state and local governments had been provided with the logistical support and organizational strategies which they required, lives would surely have been saved. But unfortunately the buck does not stop with the president.

In the end it is the people of the United States, the electorate and those that choose not to vote as well, who bear the ultimately responsible for those lives lost along the Gulf Coast and within the city of New Orleans which could otherwise have been saved. That's right the people of the United States are to blame for the circumstances which compounded this disaster, for it is the people who allowed George W. Bush to become the president of the United States, not once but twice. Therefore in the final analysis the responsibility lies with us.

Although a number of factors conspired to create this sorry situation, that in no way excuses us or relieves us of the responsibility for allowing people to die needlessly within the borders of most powerful and economically sound country on the face of the globe. WE THE PEOPLE are wholly culpable for electing a leader who apparently genuinely believes that cutting taxes is of greater importance then maintaining and reinforcing our country's vital infrastructure.

In an undeniably real sense the redistribution of tax money to the wealthy is in large part responsible for the multiple failures of our disaster relief system which occurred across the Gulf Coast and in New Orleans. Sadly those tax rebates not only cost us lives, but will undoubtedly cost the country's overall economic base far more over the long term, not to mention the enormous expenditure of taxpayer funds it's going to take to get the south back on its feet.

Simply viewing the current situation from a cost-benefit analysis, it would've been vastly cheaper to have applied those tax dollars to the reinforcement of the levees in Louisiana and the buttressing FEMA's resources and organizational structure, then it will ultimately be to pay for the additional cost of fixing this current, in many ways preventable, mess.

For my part I don't exactly remember what I did with my tax rebate, but in hindsight, if I could go back and donate that money to the state of Louisiana to help them reinforce those levees, I would surely do so.


Washington tries to evade political responsibility for Katrina’s devastating impact

Interview with Mayor Ray Nagin

(This morning CNN rebroadcast the audio interview that the Mayor of New Orleans, C. Ray Nagin, gave to the local radio station WWL in New Orleans. Here are some of the most important and heartfelt excerpts from that interview.)


Mayor Nagin -- I need reinforcements, I need troops man. I need 500 buses, man we're talking about, you know one of the briefings we had they were talking about getting public school bus drivers. I'm like, you've got to be kidding me, this is a national disaster, get every doggone greyhound bus line in the country and get their asses moving to New Orleans! That's their thinking, small, and this is a major major major deal! I can't emphasize it enough man!

I've got 15 to 20,000 people over at the convention center, it's bursting at the seams...

Radio Host -- Do you believe that the the president is seeing this, holding a news conference on it, but can't do anything until Kathleen Blanco request him to do it, and do you know whether or not she has made that request.

Mayor Nagin -- I have no idea what they're doing but I will tell you this, you know, God is looking down on all this and if they are not doing everything in their power, they are going to pay the price, because every day that we delay people are dying, and they are dying by the th-, by the hundreds I'm willing to bet you. We are getting reports and calls from people that is breaking my heart, from people saying I've been in my attic, I can't take it anymore the water is up to my neck, I don't think I can hold out. And that's happening as we speak.

You know what really upsets me Garland? We told everybody the importance of the 17th St Canal issue. We said please please take care of this, we don't care what you do, figure it out.

Radio host -- who'd you say that to?

Mayor Nagin -- everybody, Governor, you know homeland security FEMA you name it we said it. And you know they allow that pumping station next to pumping station 6 to to go underwater. Our sewage and water boy people (unintelligible) stayed there and endanger their lives. And what happen when that pumping station went down, the water started flowing again in the city, and it started getting to levels that probably killed more people. In addition to that, we had uh' water flowing through the pipes in the city, that's a power station over there, so there's no water flowing anywhere on the east bank of Orleans Parish so a critical water supply was destroyed because of lack of action....

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Mayor Nagin -- ... there is nothing happening, they are feeding the public a line of bull and it's spinning, and people are dying down here.

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(Responding to a question about martial law from the host)

Mayor Nagin -- I've already called for martial law in the city of New Orleans we did that a few days ago.

Radio host -- Did the governor do that to?

Mayor Nagin -- I don't know, I don't think so. But we called for martial law when we realized that the looting was getting out of control and we redirected all our police officers back to patrolling the street, they were dead tired from saving people but they worked all night, because we thought this thing was going to blow wide open last night. And so we redirected all of our resources and we held it under check. I'm not sure if we can do that another night, with the current resources.

-----------------------------------------------

(Speaking about the looting)

Mayor Nagin -- ...people are desperate and they're trying to find food and water, the majority of them. Now you've got some knuckleheads out there and they are taking advantage of this lawless, this situation where you know we can't really control it and they are doing some awful awful things, but that's a small majority of the people. Most people are looking to try and survive.

One of the things people have, nobody's talked about this, drugs flowed in and out of New Orleans and the surrounding metropolitan area so freely it was scary to me, and that's why we're having an escalation in murders. People don't want to talk about this, but I'm gonna' to talk about it.

You had drug addicts that are now walking around this city looking for a fix and that's the reason why they were breaking in hospitals and drugstores, they were looking for something to take the edge off of their jones, if you will. And right now they don't have anything to take the edge off. And they've probably found guns, so what you seeing is drug starving crazy addicts, drug addicts that are wreaking havoc and we don't have the manpower to adequately deal with it...

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Radio host -- You and I must be in the minority, because apparently there's a section of our citizenry out there that thinks because of a law, that says the federal government can't come in unless requested by the proper people, that everything that's going on to this point has been done as good as it can possibly be.

Mayor Nagin -- really?

Radio host -- I know you don't think that.

Mayor Nagin -- Well did the tsunami victim's request, go through a formal process to request? You know did Iraq, did the Iraqi people request that we go in there? Did they ask us to go in there? What is more important?

I'll tell you man, I'm probably going to get in a whole bunch of trouble, I'm probably going to get in so much trouble that you won't even won a deal with me after this interview is over.

Radio host -- You and I will be in the funny place together.

Mayor Nagin -- But we authorized $8 billion to go to Iraq lick-ity quick, after 9/11 we give the president unprecedented powers lick-ity quick to take care of New York and other places. Now you mean to tell me a place where most of your oil is coming through, a place that is so unique when you mention New Orleans anywhere around the world everybody's eyes light up. You mean to tell me, that a place where you probably have thousands of people that have died, and thousands more that are dying every day, that we can't figure out a way to authorize the resources that we need... come on man, you know I'm not one of those drug addicts, I am thinking very clearly.

I don't know who's problem that is, I don't know whether it's the governor's problem, I don't know whether it's the president's problem, but somebody needs to get there ass on a plane and sit down the two of them and figure this out right now

-----------------------------------

Mayor Nagin -- This is ridiculous, I don't want to see anybody do any more god damn press conferences, put a moratorium on press conferences. Don't do another press conference until the resources are in this city and then come down to this city and stand with us when there are military trucks and troops that we can't even count. Don't tell me 40,000 people are coming here, they're not here. It's too doggone late!

Now get off your asses and lets do something, and lets fix the biggest god damn crisis in the history of this country!

Radio host -- I'll say it right now, you're the only politician that's called, and called for arms like this. And if, whatever it takes, the Governor, president, whatever law precedent it takes, whatever it takes, I bet that the people listening to you are on your side.

Mayor Nagin -- Well, I hope so Garland I am just, I'm at the point now where it don't matter... people are dying, they don't have homes... they don't have jobs... the city of New Orleans will never be the same... and it's time.

(This statement is followed by a period of silence where you can just make out both men sobbing. )

To listen to the entire interview, download here .

Thanks crooks and liars

Plea for the People of New Orleans

Wake up America there is a Holocaust occurring right here in the heart of our country. Americans are dying on a daily basis. Tens of thousands of US citizens are trapped and abandoned in the heart of New Orleans, in the state of Louisiana, in the great nation of the United States of America. Women, children, babies, the elderly, the sick and the infirm all left to die while small minded bureaucrats and pseudo leaders endlessly debate what is to be done.



To President George W. Bush, where are you? The people of your country are dying. The children of New Orleans call out to you for help Mr. President, do you hear their cries?
http://nbc4la.feedroom.com/iframeset.jsp?ord=448834

To the Congress, the Senate and House of Representatives, the people you speak for are dying, they've been waiting patiently for your assistance, when will you aid them?

To the Armed Forces of the United States, where are you? The people you have sworn to protect our dying? In your hands is the power to stop this tragedy from continuing. Step forward and demand action of your leaders!

To the people of the United States of America, remember who we are, and where we came from:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

"That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

"WE THE PEOPLE" have the power, the right, and the duty to step forward and demand an end to this travesty. Get on the phone to your congressman, e-mail your representatives, congregate around your journalistic entities and media providers, let them hear your voices.

Remember that what's happening in New Orleans today can happen in your town. Speak up now so that one day you will not watch your children go without food and water and security tomorrow.