It doesn't feel right because it isn't right. And it isn't new. Look at the "faulty" intelligence about Iraq leading up to justifying something they planned to do anyway. Look at the complete absence of culpability regarding Abu Ghraib. And now look at New Orleans. We have stories about water and food being deliberately turned away, survivors being deliberately rounded up, communications (at least in Jefferson Parrish) being deliberately cut... and yet we are still playing that cold comfort game of imagining that well-orchestrated events are just a series of "oopsies"! Ronald Reagan (all Alzheimer's jokes aside) managed to skip some pretty hefty criminal charges by playing "asleep at the wheel". Some arms for hostages, a wry chuckle from the populace and then it's back to business. The comforting thought that none of this is malicious is what keeps these guys in business. But apart from covering their asses, how does it benefit them to appear to be a bunch of well-meaning, but bumbling idiots? Let's think about this a moment. Aren't people now DEMANDING a more comprehensive and self-contained FEMA? Aren't they appalled at the "bureaucracy" that cost all these lives? Why, none of this would have happened if FEMA had the authority to be a self-contained police force that didn't have to wait for authorization from a higher power (They are, and they don't). But now they have a mandate from the masses to be jack-booted thugs. People are throwing themselves on the ground and BEGGING that FEMA come in swiftly, efficiently, and with no "bureaucratic" oversight (and with that, no accountability). A newer, harder, more militaristic FEMA that shoots first and asks for permission later would never have let New Orleans flounder for days. And a newer, harder, more militaristic FEMA is precisely what we are demanding and will get... and with a legitimacy that can only be bought for the price of a few thousand ordinary lives. A good fisherman does not jam a hook down a fish's mouth. A good fisherman makes that fish believe that is where he wants that hook to be. Am I giving the administration too much credit for cleverness? Sure, we sleep easier at night thinking that they are a bunch of incompetents. But I ask you, for the past five years, have they stopped inflating their own bank accounts? Have they been held responsible for one single atrocity or outrage that has been perpetrated at their behest? So who are the real incompetents here: BushCo or us "clever" commentators who keep letting them get away with it over and over and over...?

um, that actually did kinda work out pretty well immediately after the 14th century AW....society prospered, somebody discovered America, the Renaissance began, the crusades ended...

“On the plus side...does anyone have one?”

This will do wonders for our already-booming economy, eh PPJ? Supply and demand and the magic of free market and all that.

i work from the premise that there is no such thing as a completely secure system, and never will be.

What you are ranting about, I guess, is the so-called prevailing wage for that area, which in many cases is not accurate.

BTW - Are you now, or have you ever been a union member? You know, real life experience type of thing.

BTW - The unions are declining because they have lost leverage. They have lost leverage because they have pledged themselves to the Demos.

If any of you know a good reason why they are lowering the minimum wage, please enlighten me.

The Republicans are in charge. Figure it out.

1. Section 3142(a) of title 40, United States Code, provides that "every contract in excess of $2,000, to which the Federal Government or the District of Columbia is a party, for construction, alteration, or repair, including painting and decorating, of public buildings and public works of the Government or the District of Columbia that are located in a State or the District of Columbia and which requires or involves the employment of mechanics or laborers shall contain a provision stating the minimum wages to be paid various classes or laborers and mechanics." (b) The wage rates imposed by section 3142 of title 40, United States Code, increase the cost to the Federal Government of providing Federal assistance to these areas. (c) Suspension of the subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code, 40 U.S.C. 3141-3148, and the operation of related acts to the extent they depend upon the Secretary of Labor's determinations under section 3142 of title 40, United States Code, will result in greater assistance to these devastated communities and will permit the employment of thousands of additional individuals.

I didn't say anything about prevailing wages, I specifically said Bush suspended the minimum wage law. But you knew that. You chose to misunderstand.

To amend the Act approved March 3, 1931, relating to the rate of wages for laborers and mechanics employed by contractors and subcontractors on public buildings.

The unions have lost leverage, all right, but it's because they have been painted as greedy because they have had benefits that other workers haven't had.

And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them.

...under the Davis-Bacon Act, for construction in Orleans parish,laborers would make about $7-10 per hour. By suspending Davis-Bacon, Bush is now saying that Halliburton doesn't have to pay that much. To put this in perspective, a laborer with a wife and two kids, if he were the sole support, working full-time, would be at or below the Federal poverty level even if he received the Davis-Bacon wages.

Anyways, does anyone have any thoughts on why we cant let Castro send us some help? That whole thing bothers the hell out of me.

Those who work under Communism are slaves to the state. We shouldn't try to benefit from their enslavement, even in an emergency.

Anyways, does anyone have any thoughts on why we cant let Castro send us some help?

Money and votes from some slimy critters in Miami known as gusanos.

“So perhaps if we let them help, they'll come over here and decide they like the freedoms of our land …”

The citizens of Cuba don’t get to decide to help or not; the aid that would be sent is taken from them through force.

“And this will be different in the US than in Cuba?”

“If the Cuban people had wanted a different form of government they could have come up with one.”

“We may need their help sooner than we think”

So perhaps if we let them help, they'll come over here and decide they like the freedoms of our land are good enough to make them want to leave their "slavery

"We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans. We couldn't do it, but God did."

Violent authoritarian governments can stand for a surprisingly long time.

“Hey pigwiggle, did you know that if you went to Cuba and spent some money there that your government could throw you in jail?”

Anyway, what does this have to do with my post?

“you have little room to throw stones at Castro when your own government won't let you spend your money where you want.”

get it directly to gas station owners so they can reduce the retail price accordingly.

These New Orleans residents have been scattered across the United States and are now under the control of FEMA.

After all, SAVAK is one of the main reasons they figured life under the Ayatollahs' would be an improvement.