I just posted this comment to Making Light

[redbird]

To reiterate: The germane fact is not that [the president of Jefferson Parish] breaks down crying on Meet The Press, but that he breaks down crying after describing how FEMA refused his stranded community water and fuel, and then, in an astonishingly chilling flourish, cut their emergency communication lines. [The italics were quoting pnh quoting China Miéville (thanks for the correction, Patrick).]

I don't know details of Louisiana law, but in New York, that's not just vandalism, it's depraved indifference to human life, and murder charges against the people who did it, and whoever gave the orders to do so, if anyone died of hunger or thirst in that parish after that point.

I believe the New Orleans district attorney should be preparing indictments against the heads of FEMA and Homeland Security on charges of at least criminally negligent homicide--the image of them trying to bargain it down to manslaughter is darkly amusing--and possibly depraved indifference. They withheld food and water from hungry, thirsty refugees. They knew, or should have known, the effects of that.

There are witnesses--many of them relatives and neighbors--who can testify to those deaths, to the identities of those who died, and to when they died.

No wonder Bush doesn't want us seeing the bodies: they're evidence of crimes by his cronies.

Comments

[purpletigron.livejournal.com]

Have you heard of any groups starting legal proceedings on behalf of the victims?

[rysmiel.livejournal.com]

Is there any reason not to use the word "genocide" here ?

[lysana.livejournal.com]

Yes. First, not all of the poor in New Orleans who were caught by this are black. Many are white or Creole or some other ethnicity. Second, never attribute to malice what can be sufficiently explained by stupidity. Third, the mayor of NO and the governor of LA should be keelhauled for their own culpability in this.

[orangemike.livejournal.com]

Have you considered the possibility that the mayor of NO and the governor of LA...

had reason to fear that if the Feds took over things, they would see themselves in a colonial situation where all their local resources would be stripped for the benefit of other areas more reliably Bushy? It's become pretty clear that the present administration only believes in local government if they control said local government!

[lysana.livejournal.com]

But when it was still their game, especially before the Cat5 was spotted, they dropped the ball. They didn't have good evac plans in place.

[orangemike.livejournal.com]

Oh, the plans were in place.

Unfortunately, the place was on a shelf, along with all the other plans and government documents and studies that politicians of all ranks commission, and then ignore.

[shikzoid.livejournal.com]

The mayor of NO and the governor of LA?

If you read Redbird's post you'll see that it wasn't the mayor who blocked life-saving water from reaching the people who needed it, nor did he order the communication lines cut.

The governor was instructed by the White House to allow the National Guard to be nationalized so that they could be authorized to Shoot To Kill. She said no.

Please educate me on the culpability of which you speak.

Janice

[lysana.livejournal.com]

Their complete lack of intelligent evacuation plans.

Insisting the poor of NO had to find their own way out.

Claiming it's all the Feds' fault when they completely banjaxed the first two.

[adrian-turtle.livejournal.com]

Yes. "Genocide" has such tremendous value for designating particular categories of mass murder. There has to be racist intent. There has to be intent to destroy a people, whether by murdering all of them, or by murdering enough that the rest cannot sustain the culture. The whole point of the word is to have everyone know that genocide that kills 100,000 is *worse* than 100,000 homicides. It's worth something not to weaken the term by using it in such a nonspecific circumstance.

This situation clearly involves criminally negligent homicide, on an enormous scale. The intent appears to be much more class-based than race-based, insofar as there was any intent at all.

I don't see any particular value in using the word "genocide," to weigh against the value of saving it for times when it will be needed with full literal impact. Some people are horrified by the actions of FEMA and the US federal government. We're not going to become more horrified by an exaggerated accusation of "genocide." Some people get their news elsewhere, and regard the government as sincerely doing their best to help "those people" who "chose to stay." I have profound doubts that their minds would be changed by a word like "genocide," either.

[calimac.livejournal.com]

First I want to know why the communication lines were cut. There's got to be more to this story than simple malevolence.

[redbird]

There may indeed have been a reason. Nonetheless, their actions cost lives. They reasonably should have known that that result was likely. They are morally and legally culpable.

[calimac.livejournal.com]

Probably. Still, occasionally there are actions that cost lives but are still worthwhile. Or that cost fewer lives than the alternative would.

I have no idea if any of these possibilities applies here. Probably they don't. But it is the fact that cutting the communications lines is primae faciae so mindbogglingly stupid and culpable that makes me certain there is more to this story than I know about, and I wish to hold my denunciation until I know what it is.

[rainliver.livejournal.com]

Absolutely.

[pnh.livejournal.com]

Actually, the italics are pnh quoting China Mieville.

[dichroic.livejournal.com]

I didn't see Meet the Press, but had heard he broke down while describing an old woman to whom FEMA promised aid was coming day after day ... until she finally drowned on Friday. Did any of you see it? Can you report?

Though I think lying to someone in dire straits is a fairly heinous crime too, and there's no reason he couldn't have reported both stories.

[pameladean]

He reported three instances of FEMA's malfeasance -- FEMA turned back some truckloads of bottled water that Wal-Mart had sent at the behest of the President of Jefferson Parish; FEMA said the water wasn't needed. FEMA cut the communications lines. And the third story was the one about the old woman calling up her son, who was in charge of some subset of local emergency management, and asking when somebody was going to come and get her out. He told her, as he was told, that they were coming every day, but they didn't come, and she drowned.

I don't watch TV news, but I read the transcript, which was more than bad enough.

P.

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

from my personal "fuck-up" list (http://www.livejournal.com/users/pleonastic/110507.html):

2005-09-04 broussard's allegations on "meet the press":
We had Wal-Mart deliver three trucks of water, trailer trucks of water. FEMA turned them back. They said we didn´t need them. This was a week ago. FEMA--we had 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel on a Coast Guard vessel docked in my parish. The Coast Guard said, "Come get the fuel right away." When we got there with our trucks, they got a word. "FEMA says don´t give you the fuel." Yesterday--yesterday--FEMA comes in and cuts all of our emergency communication lines. They cut them without notice. transcript is here: http://www.bayoubuzz.com/articles.aspx?aid=4912; needs separate verification.

btw, while everyone feels sorry for broussard, jefferson parish has a separate entry on my fuck-up list:

2005-09-03 jefferson parish refuses to help neighbours:
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/09/03/the_bus/

[dichroic.livejournal.com]

What words do you use when "appalled" and "outraged" aren't strong enough?

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

"spitting mad"? *sigh*.

btw, i've seen a post talking about a walmart spokesperson in regard to those trucks, and she said FEMA didn't turn them back, they decided they had greater need for them elsewhere: http://mikewas.redstate.org/story/2005/9/6/114926/3369

still looking for where "elsewhere" might actually be.

it's really interesting to follow some of the rumours and see how they transmogrify. intellectual curiosity keeps me from being spitting mad all the time.

[dichroic.livejournal.com]

One thing I heard today was that those infamous photos showing a white (or at least light) couple who had "found" stuff and a black "looter" were actually taken and captioned by two different news agencies, so there's no pattern to show racism. Also, the agency that took the photo of the couple says they actually did literally find the food, as in it wasn't in a store or other building.

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

*nod*. yeah, i argued about that early on, at least about comparing photo captions from two different agencies -- one sample from one agency does not racism make. i am glad somebody went and interviewed the actual photographers.

not that i think there's no racism; i think there's plenty -- lots of it is oozing out the ugly underbelly in blogs that blame people for not evacuating. but i rather we not get distracted by things that aren't true.