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Monday, September 26, 2005

AS DEPICTED BY...

INTRODUCTION

This particular thematic umbrella ("AS DEPICTED BY... " the MSM) could have been invoked any time since the last post,


and could continue to apply for any length of time beyond the day it was started (09-22-05... the Autumnal EQUINOX). What makes this theme so enduring is the fact that it's not likely to go away any time soon. It refers to the notion that anything that an average citizen is likely to see in the MSM (Main Stream Media) is less likely to be a presentation of 'how things are' than something that is 'filtered, spun, and if necessary, made up' by the IDEOLOGICAL INFORMATION (DISINFORMATION??) OLIGOPOLY otherwise known as the MSM and therefore should be viewed by the average citizen with the caveat of "AS DEPICTED BY... " the MSM. 'Source Credibility' has always been a significant component of 'information' as we learn via SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, but most people tend not to be aware of it, or if aware tend to ignore it.


Of course, the antidote to this (or any other) kind of distortion or disinformation is to adapt an attitude of skepticism and/or cynicism and to consult alternative or contradictory sources. Such sources are more available today than in the past (TODAY we have: Fox Cable News, Talk Radio, various print vehicles such as the WSJ and others, and of course the INTERNET and its most recent manifestation... BLOGS) but these sources still require some effort to consult. Most 'ordinary citizens' either may not have these sources readily available to them, and/or are too passive and lazy to make the effort to seek them out.


Be that as it may, the MSM's oligopoly of information channels (a 90% 'Share of Voice'), and the effects this has had on public attitudes, is considerable and cannot be ignored. For openers, it would seem that the perceptions of the Bushies as 'measured' by opinion surveys purporting to gauge 'approval ratings' (Bush's 'approval rating' is currently in the 40's) has appeared to be eroding in the light of recent events.


Why so? Are the policies of the Bushies so deficient in the light of recent events? Have the leadership qualities of the Bushies changed that much since the 9/11 or the 2004 election?


Probably not. Our hypothesis is that since last year's election, there has been no 'counter information' (i.e. political ads for the Bushies and the GOP, or Bush using the presidential 'bully pulpit') to the onslaught of the DEMS' and their 'mendicant mouthpieces', the MSM's and the PUNDIT PUKE's assault on the Bushies. As a result, the impact of $150MM/per year of anti-Bush disinformation perpetrated by these DISINFORMATION OLIGOPOLISTS on a non-stop basis is beginning to take its toll.


THE DARK NIGHT OF THE POLL REDUX

First of all, we must question even the instrument that purports to measure the effects of all this.


The information contained in the preceding link illustrates the fact that ERROR in MEDIA SPONSORED POLLS (which is where 'presidential approval ratings' come from) is primarily due to SAMPLING ERROR (talking to the WRONG people) and MEASUREMENT ERROR (asking the WRONG or BIASED questions), and as a result of these two types of deliberate SYSTEMATIC and PERNICIOUSLY designed errors built into MEDIA SPONSORED POLLS, if the 'random error' (a function of sample size) is quoted as being plus or minus 5%, the REAL ERROR is more likely to be in the neighborhood of plus or minus 30%... in the direction of the POLITICAL PREDILECTIONS of the sponsoring MEDIA.


Although the effects of MEASUREMENT ERROR have been documented for over 50 years, it doesn't hurt to revisit the same conundrums in the context of a more recent example.


A month or so ago, the Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation conducted an interesting experiment.


Each year, Phi Delta Kappa (PDK), a professional educators association, releases a poll addressing, among other things, the issue of school choice and school vouchers, always concluding that a majority of Americans opposes school choice. Critics of the PDK contend that the wording of their questions is 'loaded' to get the anti-voucher result.


The Friedman Foundation commissioned a poll by Harris Interactive, in which 1000 adult respondents were asked either the PDK poll question (n=500) or a slightly reworded alternate question (n=500).


"The results are shocking." said Robert C. Enlow, executive director of the foundation. "Without the controversial question wording, 60 percent of Americans favor school choice, compared to 37 percent using the PDK question".


The two wordings of the question are as follows:


PDK question:


    "Do you favor or oppose allowing students and parents to choose a private school to attend at public expense?"


    37% WERE IN FAVOR



FRIEDMAN FOUNDATION question:


    "Do you favor or oppose allowing students and parents to choose any school, public or private, to attend using public funds?"


    60% WERE IN FAVOR


In a historical perspective, this is nothing new. However, it DOES illustrate how easy it is to FUBAR a poll.

For what it's worth, 'Presidential approval rating' questions asked by 'reliable' pollsters (but consider that they have SPONSORS, i.e. "AS DEPICTED BY... " the MSM) are usually the same for the sake of consistency over time. However, their volatility (close to 90% for Bush the ELDER after the first GULF WAR, 'Desert Storm')... but he lost the Presidential Election not all that much later.


Meanwhile KLINTON had 'approval ratings' in the 60's in the middle of his IMPEACHMENT. Some would say "It's the ECONOMY stupid", but today's economy is not all that different from the ECONOMY under KLINTON (UNEMPLOYMENT is 4.9% now [under BUSH] vs 4.5% [under KLINTON]).


Given the fact that POLLSTERS are provided with specs by their SPONSORS (the MSM et al), we can't ignore the effects of likely distortions caused by such specs in the areas of SAMPLING ERROR and MEASUREMENT ERROR.


At a minimum we should trust MSM SPONSORED POLLS as much as we trust MSM 'manufactured news'. With the MSM's recent record of serial mendacity, we'd be inclined to trust them about as far as we could throw a grand piano.


NEWS as GUERRILLA THEATER

The thing that drives the polls in the absence of any other informational inputs is of course 'THE NEWS'. This is where the notion of "AS DEPICTED BY... " the MSM really kicks in. Some instances of this are barely distinguishable from GUERRILLA THEATER. Let's see how this works in the context of several recent events.


HURRICANE RITA

Even as this is being written, hurricane RITA, which could potentially get up to level 5 (one would of course hope that it loses some of its power and virulence before it makes landfall), seems to be heading for the Gulf Coast and Galveston. According to the world "AS DEPICTED BY... " the MSM, the first and most important question asked is: "How quick will FEMA be to react?" Duuhhh. Aren't first reactions supposed to be at the local and state levels before the Federales get involved?


Apparently the locals immediately called for evacuation and called in the FEDS early. More than 2 million have been successfully evacuated before RITA has made landfall. Is FEMA to take credit for this, or should the credit go to local and state authorities?? Let's see how this will look "AS DEPICTED BY... " the MSM.


HURRICANE KATRINA

This tragic event "AS DEPICTED BY... " the MSM, was totally catastrophic (i.e. running with New Orleans [aka N.O.] mayor Ray Nagin's original politically motivated [to deflect attention from himself... whatever he did or didn't do in this crisis, he was no Rudy Giuliani] estimate of 10K DEATHS in N.O. [in reality we're looking at about 1K or so DEATHS covering ALL the affected areas, i.e. Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana], a degree of damage that would put everything in chaos for at least six months (including oil refineries). And of course "AS DEPICTED BY... " the MSM, all of this is totally the fault of Bush and FEMA, rather than city and state authorities, and of course, KATRINA.


What's more, the response lapses "AS DEPICTED BY... " the MSM, were due to 'racism' on the part of the Bush administration (never mind that 67% of N.O.'s citizens are black, and that therefore blacks would therefore most likely be in the majority of those to be affected... no one ever raised the issue of whether blacks were DISPROPORTIONATELY affected, given the racial composition of N.O.'s population). The MSM supported their presentations with selectively 'staged' and edited interviews with individual victims and officials who supported their politically biased views (GUERRILLA THEATER??).


The slowness to evacuate N.O., given that there was a warning 72 hours prior to KATRINA's landfall (in the same ballpark as RITA and other hurricanes, but unlike the disaster that 'came out of the blue' without any warning in NYC on 9/11), as well as the fact that a whole fleet of school and public buses that were available but were not used to evacuate those who did not have cars, was "AS DEPICTED BY... " the MSM, either irrelevant, or somehow the fault of FEMA and the Bushies.


Based on other disasters such as 9/11, several hurricanes per year, each year on a regular basis in Florida and the Southern Atlantic coastal cities, what happened vis-a-vis KATRINA in neighboring Alabama and Mississippi, and even the more recent RITA on the Texas Gulf Coast, we were always under the impression that the 'order of response' starts at the local level (i.e. mayors, local law enforcement etc.), then gets passed on to the state, and finally gets passed on to the Federales (such as FEMA and Homeland Security).


Nevertheless, Bush and FEMA "AS DEPICTED BY... " the MSM, got the blame, even for things like the non-use of N.O.'s school and public buses to evacuate those without cars, the herding of those who could not leave N.O., into the Superdome without any food, water or security from gangs, 40% of N.O.'s cops going AWOL after the looting started, and some of these same cops even participating in the looting, and local gangs (rather than poor starving citizens) looting stores that were more likely to be selling electronics than food, and shooting at volunteers and others who came to N.O. trying to help.


There is no doubt that the response in Louisiana was a bureaucratic (read that as synonymous with ubiquitous BIG GOVERNMENT) FUBAR of evacuation and crisis management plans available to EVERYONE prior to KATRINA (one wonders who actually read these plans... they were certainly not executed), and this debacle was perpetrated at the Local, State, and Federal levels. However, KATRINA hit Alabama and Mississippi just as hard, but somehow the response did not seem to be as disastrous there. That will probably also be true for the upcoming onslaught of RITA on the Texas Gulf Coast, and as was pointed out before, it's also been true for Florida this year and in previous years.


So what made Louisiana and especially N.O. so different? There are those who say that an apriori factor might be that N.O. as well as Louisiana has a legacy of poverty and corruption dating back well before the bizarre reign of Huey Long, and continues to be impoverished and corrupt today. The poverty is probably a direct result of the corruption, and the permanently entrenched class of POLITICAL MISERY MAGGOTS have been repeating the mantra of: "Vote for us and we'll take care of you." to the disadvantaged since time immemorial. Yeah right. When the time came to evacuate N.O., the official message from local politicians was: "You're on your own!".


What's more, when things don't work out, these MAGGOTS will immediately yukk and screech and bray "Not enough funding!" and "It's the FED's fault!" to the high heavens.


In recent years, the close to $3 billion of Federal (that's coming from ALL of us taxpayers in all 50 states) money allegedly allocated to the Army Corps of Engineers for building levees, is more than Federal money for infrastructure in any of the other 49 states. Did all of this money result in better levees (able to withstand category 3 or 4 or 5 hurricanes)?? Was all of it even used that way as it was supposed to be, or was it used to pay for bicycle paths in Baton Rouge and other local pork laden projects?? Who knows? The politics and finances of Louisiana and N.O. are seen by many as being less than honest and transparent.


This lack of transparency may partly account for the reluctance of governor Blanco to call in the FEDS until it was too late. The FED involvement may have ended up uncovering something that local politicians may feel should best be left unseen, and could ultimately prove to be embarrassing. Ditto for N.O. mayor Ray Nagin.


Both Blanco, and Nagin, after it was too late, seemed to be braying to the high heavens for material and manpower help from the FEDS after their own efforts had proved to be grossly ineffectual, but at the same time seemed to be unwilling to cede control to the FEDS over how these resources were to be used. The protocols for who had authority to do what and when were seemingly muddled, and everyone appeared to have one finger in their rear end and the other finger pointing at someone else. During the initial stages of the crisis, no one took effective charge.


One would also have to look pretty hard in the MSM's "AS DEPICTED BY..." reports to discover that both the Governor of Louisiana and the Mayor of N.O. are in fact DEMOCRATS. The MSM of course seemed to have no such problem in identifying FEMA and the FEDS with the GOP and the Bushies. Normally this would be a minor point and neither here nor there. Just more of the same old predictably slanted MSM BS.


However, there are those who can't help but detect some similarities between the Blanco and Nagin 'obstructionism' to FEDERAL (read that as Bushie) control over the emergency response effort, and other manifestations of DEM 'obstructionism' to Bush in any and all areas (as in Judicial and other appointments for example) that might suggest that this 'crisis foot dragging and apparent obstructionism' might be based on partisan motivations.


One would certainly hope that this hypothesis is untrue, and that the DEMS would not stoop to allowing people to perish by dragging their feet to call in the FEDS, all for partisan political gain. Then again, to watch the post crisis performance and finger pointing of DEMOCRATIC Louisiana Senator Landrieu in the Senate and on Sunday morning 'talking head PUNDIT PUKE' TV shows, one can't help but wonder.


Hopefully the bureaucratic FUBARS were attributable mainly to the inherent tendencies of elected officials and semi accountable bureaucrats to defend their territorial imperatives and adhere to 'butt covering' RED TAPE in an effort at self preservation. Bureaucracies of this kind are among the least efficient mechanisms for getting anything serious done when needed (i.e. your BIG GOVERNMENT in action [or is it inaction??]... as usual). What's more, their efforts were additionally challenged by bad communications and serious access difficulties.


There were certainly physical problems that made N. O. different and exacerbated the crisis. While KATRINA did plenty of damage as it was, the real disaster came when the levees broke. This resulted in massive flooding and access problems that were much more severe than in other hurricanes (after all, most of N.O. is below sea level). For all of those who were not evacuated ahead of time, the only way to get to them after the levees broke was via boats or helicopters (which did not have all that many safe places to land). Getting food and water and medical help to those who needed it, was very difficult as well.


There were also massive communications problems. Cell phone towers were destroyed, along with electric power and telephone lines. Information available even to FEMA and Homeland Security outside of N.O., was late and often inaccurate. Sadly, the head of Homeland Security first found out about the levee break in N.O. from MSM reports.


The MSM at first seemed to assure everyone that there was only a levee 'overflow' (nasty, but it could be coped with) rather than an actual breach, which proved to be much more catastrophic. There were conflicting and unconfirmed reports. What was reported apparently depended on which patch of high ground each particular journalist was reporting from. No one seemed to be 'on the ground' where all this stuff was really happening.


There's plenty of blame to go around at all levels. The only one who's been painted into a 'goatscape' and has paid with his career so far is Brown of FEMA, an agency with lots of resources but an uncertain mandate between those calling the shots from Homeland Security, and those requesting help but questioning FEMA's jurisdictional authority from the state and local levels. His replacement is a no nonsense EX MILITARY GUY. Good TV image. Lotsa luck with what he can actually do, given the same position for FEMA, relegated to the same bureaucratic purgatory that was there before.


Given all of this, the recovery seems to be progressing more quickly than the pessimistic estimates "AS DEPICTED BY... " the MSM. Bush went on TV, and in effect promised the moon (as if $200 billion was not already enough). There were no specifics as to how the money would be spent, where it would come from, and who would see to it that it wasn't wasted the same way as previous funds allocated to N.O. and Louisiana for ameliorating the effects of such debacles as KATRINA. Unleashing a tide of money on N.O. and Louisiana without any direction and accountability, is as likely to improve matters as additional spending on Public Education (inflation adjusted spending has tripled with no resulting change in test scores).


This type of 'Carte Blanche' generosity, if divided equally among those who escaped from N.O., would end up providing about $400,000 apiece if disbursed to each individual, enough to put each one in the 'Filthy Rich' category so reviled by the DEMS. There is little doubt that some of the money will still end up paying for bicycle paths. We've already seen that the couple of thousand provided by the FEDS in the form of personal debit cards for each victim's emergency needs, has been spent by some of them on drugs, liquor, strip shows, and Louis Vouiton fineries.


There are also some who question the wisdom of rebuilding N.O. to exactly what it was before KATRINA. Perhaps what is was before was part of the problem.


Unfortunately, these costs may pale into insignificance compared to what the PLAINTIFFS LAWYERS ('apres moi le DELUGE' of lawsuits???) will be trying to get on behalf of various alleged victims. There have already been attempts from this quarter to 'manufacture' unconstitutional EX POST FACTO interpretations of clearly stated flood exclusions from homeowners policies in the affected areas (i.e. insurers will be made to pay for what's not covered in their policies). If this is allowed to happen then ALL of us will pay via astronomically higher premiums.


An interesting footnote to KATRINA is reflected in a survey taken among those who had escaped from N.O. and had relocated somewhere else. Roughly 40% of them indicated a week ago that they had no interest in returning to N.O. (this could of course change as time goes on). Clearly "AS DEPICTED BY... " the MSM, the 'fully to blame' Bushies and FEMA and the Federales would be there with them no matter where they went.


While there would probably not be any levee breaks (though this depends on where they moved), there would always be the possibility of other natural disasters such as floods, tornados, hurricanes, earthquakes, meteors, snowstorms, droughts, pestilence, famines etc. as well as man made disasters such as riots or terrorist attacks in their new homes. Perhaps they feel more confident in the ability of their NEW local and state (and of course the SAME Federal) authorities to take care of them in the event of a disaster (and perhaps even poverty) in their new homes, than they might feel with the POLITICAL MISERY MAGGOTS (who are publicly lamenting the exodus of their clientele and voter base) running things back in Louisiana and New Orleans.


Free at last?


THE ROBERTS NOMINATION

Right now we should be experiencing international catastrophes of a magnitude comparable to KATRINA, if we paid attention to or actually believed the DEM's 'talking points', which are magically transformed into 'stories' "AS DEPICTED BY... " the MSM, of what would happen if Bush appointments such as Gonzales to AG, Condy Rice to head the State Department, Wolfowitz to head of the World Bank, and Bolton to the Ambassadorship of the UN were to go through. Each one of these Bush appointees "AS DEPICTED BY... " the DEMS and their lapdogs the MSM, would cause absolute disasters. Guess what? They were appointed after much obstructionism and character assassination by the DEMS and their MSM and PUNDIT PUKE lapdogs, and yet such disasters are nowhere to be found.


The same "AS DEPICTED BY... " treatment was accorded to John Roberts by the DEMS and their lapdogs the MSM (hey, this may be wrong... maybe the DEMS are the MSM's lapdogs, rather than vice versa).


Nevertheless, the Senate Judicial Committee approved the nomination of Roberts by a vote of 13 to 5 (DEM Senators Schumer, Durbin, Kennedy, Biden, and Feinstein dissented). This is pretty much as expected, except for the usually 'somewhat less than LEFTIST RADICAL' Diane Feinstein being an exception and a disappointment. A full Senate confirmation is almost certain.


Roberts' position is probably less to the RIGHT of CENTER in the political spectrum (there are even those who fear that he may end up being another 'stealth LIBERAL' over time... somewhat like Sandra Day O'Connor) than the positions of Ginsburg and Breyer are to the LEFT. Yet Ginsburg and Breyer sailed through the Judicial Committee with unanimous votes (18-0) when they were nominated by KLINTON. What's more, they were allowed to be 'evasive' and 'uninformative' in their responses regarding how they'd rule on key 'litmus test' issues.


Meanwhile, the DEM LIBERALS on the Committee who put so much stock in "The right to privacy", apparently believed NO such right applied to Bush's judicial nominees. While they paid lip service to judges "Not being tied to political agendas", they did their utmost to try to pry some hints out of Roberts as to whether he was opposed to THEIR political agendas. Apparently the "right answers" to their "litmus tests" trumped any concern for the candidate's "right to privacy" or "legal competence". Fortunately, their politically driven 'inquisition' was idiotic compared to Roberts' adroit and balanced responses. How's that for FAIRNESS and BALANCE??


Then there was also the (as we see it) premature announcement of "AS DEPICTED BY... " the MSM MAGGOTS' 'sainted' and 'moderate and reasonable' DEMOCRATIC SENATOR Barack Obama of Illinois that he would not vote to confirm Roberts.


Keep in mind that all this obstructionist BS was directed against a nominee who would replace Rehnquist, and would presumably not alter the 'balance' (4 LIBERALS, 3 CONSERVATIVES, 2 SWING VOTES) of the SCOTUS. How is that balanced??? Whatever happened to the notion of 'quotas' the DEMOCRATIC PARTY seems to love so much??


It's entirely possible that in the next stage of nominations after Roberts, even if Bush nominated Schumer or Hillary to replace Sandra Day O'Connor, the Bolshevik Wing who seems to have hijacked the DEMOCRATIC PARTY (Soros, MoveOn.org, Americans for the [SOVIET?] American Way, NOW, NARAL, etc. ad nauseam) would surely call such nominees TRAITORS and question their credentials simply because Bush nominated them.


Given that this will probably be the case (as was indicated by the 'hijacked' DEMS' reaction to Roberts), the Bushies might as well nominate a ROCK RIBBED CONSERVATIVE, and just roll over the minority DEM opposition with whatever it takes (i.e. the GOP majority in the Senate, and the ability to prevent a filibuster from blocking judicial nominees with a simple majority vote to alter the Senate Rules and Conventions that the DEMS have already abused anyway).



    * THE NUCLEAR OPTION vs DEM FUBARING OF SENATE RULES
    PART (1 of 1)



The net result would then be a composition of the SCOTUS consisting of 4 LIBERALS, 4 CONSERVATIVES, and 1 SWING VOTE. Although this would make the single 'swing vote' overly important, this kind of SCOTUS composition rather than what preceded it, would be a lot closer to a 'balanced SCOTUS'.



CINDY SHEEHAN

Here we have a true 'return to the days of yesteryear' (scum of the 60's),



and a PRIMA FACIE example of GUERRILLA THEATER masquerading as 'THE NEWS'. The body count in IRAQ is rapidly approaching 2000, and most of the deaths have been as a result of 'nation building' or 'police action' rather than straight out combat.



To put things somewhat in perspective, more of our National Guardsmen have died in domestic traffic accidents than in IRAQ. Yet Cindy Sheehan "AS DEPICTED BY... " the MSM is somehow made to 'appear' to be representative of ALL the parents and relatives of the Volunteer Armed Forces members who have lost their lives in IRAQ. That picture is somewhat misleading. Even Cindy Sheehan's own family is not on the same "scum of the 60's page" as she is. Her husband, the other parent of her lost son, is currently in the process of divorcing her. The MSM don't seem to have bothered to ask how he feels about all this.


It may well be that there are others among the families of the close to 2000 casualties who feel the same way as Cindy Sheehan does. If so, we don't seem to have heard from them. That's surely not for lack of LAWYERS and MSM types, and other RADICAL LEFTIST ACTIVISTS trying to contact them and asking them to enlist as 'shills' for their anti-war zealotry.


It may also be that there are plenty among that same group of families whose feelings are exactly OPPOSITE of Cindy Sheehan's. You can be sure that "AS DEPICTED BY... " the MSM, we'll probably NEVER hear from them if the MSM can get away with it. Fortunately, even the slanted MSM can't entirely ignore their presence.


This weekend, Sheehan and some of her supporters (fewer than expected) marched on Washington. This of course "AS DEPICTED BY... " the MSM was a "massive rally". This is classic 60's style GUERRILLA THEATER, but they could not ignore the fact that there were also COUNTER DEMONSTRATIONS of pretty much comparable size and intensity. Bare mention was made of this, but nevertheless, it managed to slip through in the newscasts.


This, and the entire history of reportage on IRAQ, is a perfect example of the MSM and PUNDIT PUKES in service to the DEMS, trying to perform a procrustean retrofitting of IRAQ to Viet Nam. After all, Viet Nam was not a US military failure but a political victory on the home front for the MSM friends of STALINIST Ho Chi Minh. The MSM has its heart set on trying to replicate this 'stab in the back' to the US in IRAQ.



The fact that the FACTS don't fit seems to be totally irrelevant. The MSM appears to operate in a FACT FREE ZONE when it comes to flogging their ideology. Of course this is mainly due to a tendency by the MSM and other LEFTISTS to ignore new information and to cling to the past.



    * FORGET RETRO RADS... LET'S LIVE IN THE 21st CENTURY
    PART (1 of 1)



HURRICANES and GLOBAL WARMING

This could almost be predicted. It was only a matter of time before Hurricanes in general and KATRINA in particular "AS DEPICTED BY... " the MSM, would be blamed on the THEORY of Global Warming (GW) and Bush's failure to cripple the US economy by signing us up for the Kyoto Treaty.


We just got finished reading Michael Crichton's STATE of FEAR, which pretty much anticipated these arguments in 2004. Although the embedding of an agenda (actually, more like the planting of a REASONABLE DOUBT) in this readable potboiler of a book seems rather less than subtle (though not much different structurally from what Brown does on a different theme in the DA VINCI CODE), it's still amazing that the kind of GW 'JUNK SCIENCE' portrayed in the book is actually given such prominence and credence by the MSM.



On ABC's Sunday morning 'talking head TV show', former KLINTONISTA apologist George (Skippy) Stephanopolous pretty much illustrated the whole syndrome. When confronted by George Will with a recent report by scientists that they could find no significant evidence that there were currently more frequent or more virulent hurricanes than in the past (presumably a past in which there was less industrialization and man made CO2 in the atmosphere, which allegedly accounts for GW), he responded by concluding that this was evidence that GW was at fault for KATRINA. Duuuhhh.


Interestingly enough it now appears that the Army Corps of Engineers was originally planning to build flood gates similar to those used in the Netherlands (which might have prevented the flooding in N.O.). However, a lawsuit by environmentalists (the same PUKES who are now blaming KATRINA on GW) stopped this project, and eventually levees were built instead.


So it goes.


THE PEOPLE SHALL JUDGE


posted by showme | 8:15 PM | 0 comments