We are out of touch, I understand all the Cindy talk, but the issue is N.O

[wndycty]

Let's be honest DU, we all feel for Cindy Sheehan and applaud her in for her courage in taking on the BFEE, however sometimes I think we get caught up in our pet causes that we can't see the forest for the trees. The big issue about last night's speech was how little attention was paid to Hurrican Katrina, especially New Orleans. Craig Crawford (who has a vested interest) was bitching about it all day, Brian Williams tried to get Obama to talk about it.

We lost an entire fucking city but the president basically ignored talk of rebuilding it in his State of the Union speech and we are all worked up because Cindy got kicked out and arrested. We should be pissed about that, but dammit the entire country should be up in arms with his diss of the Gulf region.

Again I don't doubt the sincerity of everyone's love for Cindy, but many of you must admit Cindy also represents an opportunity to bash Bush. But she is controversial and even some on the DU question her actions on occassion (I AM NOT ONE OF THEM, I SUPPORT HER). I think if we spent have the energy on calling him out on his diss of NO we can really do some damage.

[Name removed]

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[wndycty]

5. F Off? Because I said we need to talk about NO?

I did not bash Cindy, I said we need to put the focus on NO?

[LittleClarkie]

8. I don't know if you're a former resident of N.O.

And so the issue might seem like THE issue to you. And it is AN issue. But perhaps others consider something else THE issue.

That said, I didn't think the F Off was warranted either.

[wndycty]

12. No, but I raise it for a few reasons. . .

. . .more people (not in the liberal blogosphere) continue to be outraged about the WH handling of New Orleans and from a pragmatic political opportunity standpoint and I think Bush is more vulnerable in that area than he is with the Cindy Sheehan issue. We should continue to beat him up about Cindy and her treatment (begining in Crawford and continuing through last night) however we are missing an excellent opportunity to draw attention to his continued diss of New Orleans.

[LittleClarkie]

19. Ah, you mean in relation to the SOTU speech. Glaring omission.

I heard on public radio today a story about a group of people from N.O. waiting to hear from the prez on the issue. They were none to pleased when he didn't bring it up, esp. considering all the promises he made about helping them come back as a city. Promises as yet unfulfilled.

[philosophie_en_rose]

2. I think that we're out of touch, but I don't think we need to move.

Somehow, the issues that are important to DU seem to not be enough for the majority of voters.

Even a Hurricane can't shake the US (as a whole) from it's moral and political coma.

I think Cindy Sheehan is heartfelt; she's a lightning rod for criticism. However, it would be someone else if it wasn't her. That isn't the problem.

There's something deeper that is making all of the great things that many liberals accomplish just more struggle in the quicksand pit.

[movonne]

3. I am not so sure that some of the ones that have been writing these

posts against her are all Dems...

[wndycty]

7. And you do realize mine is not a criticism of her. . .

. . .just saying that while her removal was wrong and should be confronted there should be other priorities as well.

[movonne]

26. Yes I did ...this was not pointed at you...

[SmokingJacket]

4. Well, good point.

I guess a lot of us feel helpless about Katrina: but you're right, we should be knocking on the doors of the white house demanding more be done for the hurricane victims.

[wndycty]

6. And this is not meant as a diss on Cindy. . .

. . .but I see so many post about her and very few posts about the diss of New Orleans.

[Lars39]

9. We didn't just lose New Orleans.

There was a lot more area affected/wiped out than just one city.

[wndycty]

13. Very good and we should talk about that as well. . .

. . .I raised the issue and you raise a good issue as well that its about more than New Orleans, however we need more people to continue to raise these issues.

[SmokingJacket]

17. No, I agree. I support her and as a mother, I empathize.

But we should spend less energy arguing about her, for sure...

[wndycty]

21. Especially because most of us support her. . .

. . .it seems though that today its been a distraction when there are multiple issues from the SOTU address to be outraged about.

[stillcool]

10. If you would like a discussion about New Orleans...

I would suggest that you gather up some articles, or factoids, and start a thread with that title.

[cry baby]

11. I think NO is the shrub's achilles heel.

Nothing is happening there and many are suffering. The shrub in chief hardly notices.

[wndycty]

14. And he can be brought down by that very point. . .

. . .lets not ignore Cindy, but I think we can do multiple things at once, right?

[txindy]

15. We are not out of touch. We are capable of multitasking.

Why is it that people here feel the need to try to focus people's attention on only one issue? I'm capable of thinking and acting on multiple issues at once, thanks.

[wndycty]

16. I agree but don't you think the DU has been kind of focusing one 1

issue?

[txindy]

25. It happened less than 12 hours ago, so it's to be expected.

The Capitol police finally dropped the charges and apologized within the last few hours. Give it time to die down. NO, unfortunately, is a tragedy that won't go away anytime soon. Junior is seeing to that. We won't let that go. We can pound on that issue as well as point out the loss of Cindy's (and others) civil liberties.

I'm not downplaying NO or any other issue. But the dangers from the Cabal come in many forms. It helps to point them all out, especially since folks (not on DU) respond to many different issues. Even some of the RW blogs today were decrying Cindy's arrest, saying it just wasn't right. That is something they can relate to right now, so right now is when it needs to be talked about.

[pitohui]

18. 56 seconds

that's what i read was the amount of time * spent on new orleans

how do you discuss the state of the union and just forget to mention that entire cities and towns were wiped out?

i don't care abt a goddamn t-shirt, i hope cindy sues and wins a bundle, but people starting 9 million threads all on that topic, and it's really at the end of the day so trivial compared to the real battles we have to fight

[KamaAina]

31. That's 56 seconds longer than I thought he'd spend, actually

then again, about half of it just used N.O. as a springboard to more "blah blah blah better schools blah blah blah less crime" stuff.

I was going to propose the "Really Easy SOTU Drinking Game": Every time King Dumbass** said "New Orleans", you had to drink. I was certain that practicing Muslims, AA members and so on could have participated in complete safety.

I only read the transcript and didn't hear him. Did he at least say it right, or did he say "New Or-LEENZ"?

[LittleClarkie]

39. Oh, okay, I was under the impression he didn't mention it at all.

But he didn't say much about his promise to fix it did he?

[wndycty]

40. Kick

:kick:

[Swamp Rat]

20. kick and recommended!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you!

[wndycty]

23. You are welcome swamp rat. . .

. . .my heart goes out to Cindy, but it also goes to you and all of the people of the Gulf region and we need to scream until the region is made whole!

[uppityperson]

22. Katrina aftermath, NO, LA and MS coasts, will have major impact for long

long time. It has affected the general USA economy and will continue to do so for a long long time. I wish to hell that MSM would show more of what isn't happening there, how bad it still all is. I am looking forward to people going to NO for Mardi Gras and seeing how bad it is. On the one hand, they want people there to see the progress, on the other hand, do they have any idea of wtf people will think when they see all the destruction? Or perhaps people going to NO for Mardi Gras will be limited in where they can go? Saying that people need hope for jobs and homes and we are getting more hope doesn't cut it Mrbush. argh argh argh

ps, Cindy is a personal person, and this is what makes things real. 1 person being mistreated can get more attention than a city. How to harness that for the gulf coast?

[wndycty]

24. How about millions of people getting mistreated?

:kick:

[uppityperson]

35. Of course, the mistreatment of the first level affected is a given

I mean it will affect all of us in ways people don't realize yet. Of course everyone who lived there, visited there, had family or friends or etc there. And of course there are people mistreated in the USA every day. Those are givens. I meant to take it one step further and move it into the realm of directly affecting the rest of us also. Not to mention the loss of stature world wide for the grand old US of A, who tries to rule what the UN can do in helping others around the world.

[HeeBGBz]

27. It really is reprehensible

It's okay. It's only a flesh wound.

[G_j]

28. they also just screwed the poor once again with today's budget vote

which passed by two votes!

I think we need to practice a bit more multi-tasking at least.
:shrug:

[wndycty]

29. Multi-tasking! Exactly!

:kick:

[G_j]

34. I hesitate to criticize

the passionate discussions on various subjects and very often join in. It's just that there is a lot more going on out there and we can make a difference!

And yes, Bush has been 'rebuilding' NO about as well as has been 'rebuilding' Iraq!

[tlsmith1963]

30. I Agree With You

While I think what happened to Cindy is important because it is a freedom of speech issue, not mentioning NO in the speech is an important issue, too. What happened in NO thoroughly disgusted me. I even got into an argument with a freeper over it. This country should be able to save its' own better than that. NO a perfect example of how much Bush has destroyed this country.

Tammy

[FearofFutility]

32. The fact that he spent almost no time talking about NO was

disturbing. I kept waiting and waiting for him to address it in a meaningful way. On the other hand, I wasn't surprised that he barely mentioned it. It's par for the course.

The issue with Cindy is really not about Cindy. It's about each and every one of us. It's becoming more and more apparent that we are living in a fascist state, and when incidents happen that make it more and more obvious, we can't help but talk about it ad nauseum. We need to commiserate. It's happening right before our eyes, and it feels like we're powerless to do anything about it. The only outlet we have is to express outrage. Well, that's my take on it.

[FluxRostrum]

33. New Orleans is an opportunity

You can bash Bush all you want but you won't be winning new converts. You will be alienating people. The people of New Orleans are getting soooo screwed that it is an excellent opportunity to enlarge the numbers that THINK about their government policies.

I almost hate mentioning this opportunity to people who will try to turn this into a democrats vs republicans issue. ITS NOT. It's class war. New Orleans is a shining example of what happens to people when Profit is more important.

PLEASE watch some of these videos. yeah, they're mine. yeah, I'm pluggin'um.
Not because I'm so great, but becasue the issues are so important and IS a HUGE opportunity.
There are 8 afternath related videos available now and 1 more by the end of the day.

http://fluxrostrum.blogspot.com

Check it out and get involved in real social change.

[G_j]

36. Class and Race IMO

I agree that the first priority is helping people and addressing the underlying issues of this tragedy.
Using it as a political weapon may be fine in an election, but seeing this merely in a political frame is too simplistic.
These are our fellow citizens, they need support.

[fooj]

37. I've been on a rant about it all day.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2431633

Peace.

[sproutster]

38. I apologise for that -- There is no excuse.

I've been saying it all the time to anything I disagree with since the alito hearings. I am sorry. I am angry and I had no right.

[Pacifist Patriot]

41. How can someone report on the State of the Union and fail to mention

the loss of a major city and the economic impact in many states in the wake of the storm? You'd have to be a moron or an uncaring ass. Oh, well, there we have it.

[wndycty]

42. Exactly!

:kick:

[rman]

43. fair point. nt

[fishnfla]

44. The death of an American city on George Bush's watch

The storm was one thing, unavoidable.

But the stranglehold being placed on the city of NO by the federal goverments lack of attention to levee repair is a crime commited by man.

Bush stood in that square and promised the moon. They will never deliver

Nor will he be held accountable. We must talk about t=shirts.

KnR

[Name removed]

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