I know they are few & far between on this board but they are out there.
On my already infamous talk with my play-grandma yesterday we both realized we don't have too many Right wing friends and don't know what their current opinion is of Bush, Fema and the administrations reaction to Katrina.
Left wingers:[/b] please don't attack these dudes for stating what they believe. I genuinely want to know what is being thought of the current situation. FALL BACK
I only voted for a Republican once and it was in 2004, to punish the democrats for not banishing the anti-war movement from the campaign. Also because I thought Kerry would (as he promised) leave Iraq to the armies of Arab dictators. So as a single issue, pro-war voter, I voted against Kerry. Now this. What is there to say? The former executive director of the Arabian Horse Association gets to run FEMA because he's a family freind. Red Cross workers are blocked from entering the super dome. The federal government is trying to censure news reports. Unforgiveable. It's a combination of incompetance, cronyism and fecklesness. It's also terrible that the White House is privately telling reporters that the failure in the rescue effort is the fault of the local and state authorities, while publicly saying it's not the time to point fingers. I suspect there is quite a lot of blame for the governor and mayor, but it doesn't matter. George W. Bush is the president of the richest, most powerful nation in the history of the world, a disaster of this scale is the federal government's problem. That's why we have FEMA. That's why we have a department of homeland security. Because when something like this happens, no one can expect the state or the city to handle it. So my current opinion of G-dub is doo-doo.
As for the Bush doesn't care about black people. That doesn't wash. I mean there is a better explanation for the fuck up here. The administration is corrupt and incompetant. So had Connecticut been flooded, I think there is a good chance that Michael Brown would have screwed up the evacuation of Greenwich as well. Did the levees, pumps and drainage system of New Orleans suffer federal budget cuts because of racism? I doubt it. The Army Corps of Engineers budget has been cut by democrats and republicans for years. This is not say that race is not an issue in America, or that Bush has not cut federal aid to poor, black and urban areas. But that's got nothing to do with the ham handed response in New Orleans. I mean ignoring dire warnings from NOAA and infrastructure experts is explained by the fact that the guy who is supposed to prepare for these emergencies is an overfed lobbyist with no experience in such matters. Unforgiveable!
Unforgiveable. It's a combination of incompetance, cronyism[/b] and fecklesness.
SPEAKING of cronyism, see below from CNN Firms with White House ties get Katrina contracts FEMA taps Halliburton subsidiary, Shaw Group, Bechtel for cleanup
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Companies with ties to the Bush White House and the former head of FEMA are clinching some of the administration's first disaster relief and reconstruction contracts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
At least two major corporate clients of lobbyist Joe Allbaugh, President Bush's former campaign manager and a former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, have already been tapped to start recovery work along the battered Gulf Coast.
One is Shaw Group Inc. and the other is Halliburton Co. subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root. Vice President Dick Cheney is a former head of Halliburton.
Bechtel National Inc., a unit of San Francisco-based Bechtel Corp., has also been selected by FEMA to provide short-term housing for people displaced by the hurricane. Bush named Bechtel's CEO to his Export Council and put the former CEO of Bechtel Energy in charge of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.
Experts say it has been common practice in both Republican and Democratic administrations for policy makers to take lobbying jobs once they leave office, and many of the same companies seeking contracts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina have already received billions of dollars for work in Iraq.
Halliburton alone has earned more than $9 billion. Pentagon audits released by Democrats in June showed $1.03 billion in "questioned" costs and $422 million in "unsupported" costs for Halliburton's work in Iraq. Watchdog groups take notice
But the web of Bush administration connections is attracting renewed attention from watchdog groups in the post-Katrina reconstruction rush. Congress has already appropriated more than $60 billion in emergency funding as a down payment on recovery efforts projected to cost well over $100 billion.
"The government has got to stop stacking senior positions with people who are repeatedly cashing in on the public trust in order to further private commercial interests," said Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight. Bush appointees at Halliburton
Allbaugh formally registered as a lobbyist for Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root in February.
In lobbying disclosure forms filed with the Senate, Allbaugh said his goal was to "educate the congressional and executive branch on defense, disaster relief and homeland security issues affecting Kellogg Brown and Root."
Melissa Norcross, a Halliburton spokeswoman, said Allbaugh has not, since he was hired, "consulted on any specific contracts that the company is considering pursuing, nor has he been tasked by the company with any lobbying responsibilities."
Allbaugh is also a friend of Michael Brown, director of FEMA who was removed as head of Katrina disaster relief and sent back to Washington amid allegations he had padded his resume -- which he denies.
A few months after Allbaugh was hired by Halliburton, the company retained another high-level Bush appointee, Kirk Van Tine.
Van Tine registered as a lobbyist for Halliburton six months after resigning as deputy transportation secretary, a position he held from December 2003 to December 2004.
On Friday, Kellogg Brown & Root received $29.8 million in Pentagon contracts to begin rebuilding Navy bases in Louisiana and Mississippi. Norcross said the work was covered under a contract that the company negotiated before Allbaugh was hired. Cheney's relationship with Halliburton
Halliburton continues to be a source of income for Cheney, who served as its chief executive officer from 1995 until 2000 when he joined the Republican ticket for the White House. According to tax filings released in April, Cheney's income included $194,852 in deferred pay from the company, which has also won billion-dollar government contracts in Iraq.
Cheney's office said the amount of deferred compensation is fixed and is not affected by Halliburton's current economic performance or earnings.
Allbaugh's other major client, Baton Rouge-based Shaw Group, has updated its Web site to say: "Hurricane Recovery Projects -- Apply Here!"
Shaw said on Thursday it has received a $100 million emergency FEMA contract for housing management and construction. Shaw also clinched a $100 million order on Friday from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Shaw Group spokesman Chris Sammons said Allbaugh was providing the company with "general consulting on business matters," and would not say whether he played a direct role in any of the Katrina deals. "We don't comment on specific consulting activities," he said.
Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Unforgiveable. It's a combination of incompetance, cronyism[/b] and fecklesness.
SPEAKING of cronyism, see below from CNN Firms with White House ties get Katrina contracts FEMA taps Halliburton subsidiary, Shaw Group, Bechtel for cleanup
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Companies with ties to the Bush White House and the former head of FEMA are clinching some of the administration's first disaster relief and reconstruction contracts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
At least two major corporate clients of lobbyist Joe Allbaugh, President Bush's former campaign manager and a former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, have already been tapped to start recovery work along the battered Gulf Coast.
One is Shaw Group Inc. and the other is Halliburton Co. subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root. Vice President Dick Cheney is a former head of Halliburton.
Bechtel National Inc., a unit of San Francisco-based Bechtel Corp., has also been selected by FEMA to provide short-term housing for people displaced by the hurricane. Bush named Bechtel's CEO to his Export Council and put the former CEO of Bechtel Energy in charge of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.
Experts say it has been common practice in both Republican and Democratic administrations for policy makers to take lobbying jobs once they leave office, and many of the same companies seeking contracts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina have already received billions of dollars for work in Iraq.
Halliburton alone has earned more than $9 billion. Pentagon audits released by Democrats in June showed $1.03 billion in "questioned" costs and $422 million in "unsupported" costs for Halliburton's work in Iraq. Watchdog groups take notice
But the web of Bush administration connections is attracting renewed attention from watchdog groups in the post-Katrina reconstruction rush. Congress has already appropriated more than $60 billion in emergency funding as a down payment on recovery efforts projected to cost well over $100 billion.
"The government has got to stop stacking senior positions with people who are repeatedly cashing in on the public trust in order to further private commercial interests," said Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight. Bush appointees at Halliburton
Allbaugh formally registered as a lobbyist for Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root in February.
In lobbying disclosure forms filed with the Senate, Allbaugh said his goal was to "educate the congressional and executive branch on defense, disaster relief and homeland security issues affecting Kellogg Brown and Root."
Melissa Norcross, a Halliburton spokeswoman, said Allbaugh has not, since he was hired, "consulted on any specific contracts that the company is considering pursuing, nor has he been tasked by the company with any lobbying responsibilities."
Allbaugh is also a friend of Michael Brown, director of FEMA who was removed as head of Katrina disaster relief and sent back to Washington amid allegations he had padded his resume -- which he denies.
A few months after Allbaugh was hired by Halliburton, the company retained another high-level Bush appointee, Kirk Van Tine.
Van Tine registered as a lobbyist for Halliburton six months after resigning as deputy transportation secretary, a position he held from December 2003 to December 2004.
On Friday, Kellogg Brown & Root received $29.8 million in Pentagon contracts to begin rebuilding Navy bases in Louisiana and Mississippi. Norcross said the work was covered under a contract that the company negotiated before Allbaugh was hired. Cheney's relationship with Halliburton
Halliburton continues to be a source of income for Cheney, who served as its chief executive officer from 1995 until 2000 when he joined the Republican ticket for the White House. According to tax filings released in April, Cheney's income included $194,852 in deferred pay from the company, which has also won billion-dollar government contracts in Iraq.
Cheney's office said the amount of deferred compensation is fixed and is not affected by Halliburton's current economic performance or earnings.
Allbaugh's other major client, Baton Rouge-based Shaw Group, has updated its Web site to say: "Hurricane Recovery Projects -- Apply Here!"
Shaw said on Thursday it has received a $100 million emergency FEMA contract for housing management and construction. Shaw also clinched a $100 million order on Friday from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Shaw Group spokesman Chris Sammons said Allbaugh was providing the company with "general consulting on business matters," and would not say whether he played a direct role in any of the Katrina deals. "We don't comment on specific consulting activities," he said.
Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Republican? Yeah, I would consider myself to be one. "Right wing Christian guy?" Yeah, one of those too. --- Is there such a thing as a "fair and blanced" (no Fox) news report? You can get two different stories from two different places that contradict each other. Which one do you believe and why? Is it the one you WANT to believe that you lean to?
Pacman,
When i saw this question posted in the thread, I didn't think there would actually be a convervative republican to speak up. I seems like most of the music boards I visit are openly anti-Bush and the conservatives who visit those sites, if any, do not care to join the conversations. How many other Republican Christians do you know who do not support Bush right now? My parents are Christian, my mother in particular a Republican, but she did not support Bush in 2004.
To answer your question about fair & balanced news reports - since I think you're talking about television, I have thought about this a lot, and I hate to be pessimistic but I think the answer is no. I believe that the tv news is far more conservative then conservatives will admit, but TV news seems like a beast that not even it's producers and anchors can control. The exceptions are few: Lou Dobbs on CNN is one of the only tv news shows I can stomach. This guy comes from a conservative republican point of view, very pro-capitalism of course ("moneyline"), but his show is one of the few where there is lengthy non-sensationalist reports on issues like job outsourcing, and a complete disinterest in things like missing blondes in Aruba. I'm sure Lou's ratings are low. Another respectable newman is Jim Lehrer, who's show is boring as fuck. I'll admit, I've seen way more Bill O'Reilly than Jim Lehrer, and why? O'Reilly get my blood boiling. I want to punch the guy. Anyway...
Responding to ODub ...
"Fair and balanced" news reporting is possible but it's not at Fox. I personally think NPR comes closest but I know many who would dismiss such a claim.
NPR isn't TV news - big difference. I'm an NPR fan myself, and the fact that they can have good and interesting news while totally disregarding fluff human interest stories (like the Aruba girl and Lacie whatshername) but I question their impartiality sometimes. I wonder, do I like them becuase they report from an angle that I want to hear? That's why Fox is popular. I'm certain that NPR's audience is mostly liberal Democrat.
also ...
The two things, in this case, are not easily separable: the fact that many in this population were black also was why they were also poor. You can't split that.
agree. you don't hear this a lot becuase it's much more fun and exciting to say "bush doesnt care about black people". and ..
The problem with finger pointing is that it presumes there's any ONE party that's accountable and as far as I'm concerned EVERYONE looks bad in this: city, state AND the feds.
This is an example of a more impartial view than is reported on TV lately, but the news here is not that the city, county, and state didn't react well, which is true - the IMPORTANT story is that the federal gov's first test of homeland crisis since 9/11 and they failed in a way that is shocking and bewildering to both Bush supporters and detractors. Bush's lack of meaningful leadership exposes the weakness of his administration in a way that they can't seem to get ahold of (maybe because TV news reporting is rarely out of their control right now). A lot of the news coverage has been sensationalist of course, but at it's best it seems like these guys just got jolted out of a coma that they've been in since 9/11 - they're actually reporting, questioning, and analyzing.
Comments
welcome back.
SPEAKING of cronyism, see below from CNN
Firms with White House ties get Katrina contracts
FEMA taps Halliburton subsidiary, Shaw Group, Bechtel for cleanup
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Companies with ties to the Bush White House and the former head of FEMA are clinching some of the administration's first disaster relief and reconstruction contracts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
At least two major corporate clients of lobbyist Joe Allbaugh, President Bush's former campaign manager and a former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, have already been tapped to start recovery work along the battered Gulf Coast.
One is Shaw Group Inc. and the other is Halliburton Co. subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root. Vice President Dick Cheney is a former head of Halliburton.
Bechtel National Inc., a unit of San Francisco-based Bechtel Corp., has also been selected by FEMA to provide short-term housing for people displaced by the hurricane. Bush named Bechtel's CEO to his Export Council and put the former CEO of Bechtel Energy in charge of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.
Experts say it has been common practice in both Republican and Democratic administrations for policy makers to take lobbying jobs once they leave office, and many of the same companies seeking contracts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina have already received billions of dollars for work in Iraq.
Halliburton alone has earned more than $9 billion. Pentagon audits released by Democrats in June showed $1.03 billion in "questioned" costs and $422 million in "unsupported" costs for Halliburton's work in Iraq.
Watchdog groups take notice
But the web of Bush administration connections is attracting renewed attention from watchdog groups in the post-Katrina reconstruction rush. Congress has already appropriated more than $60 billion in emergency funding as a down payment on recovery efforts projected to cost well over $100 billion.
"The government has got to stop stacking senior positions with people who are repeatedly cashing in on the public trust in order to further private commercial interests," said Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight.
Bush appointees at Halliburton
Allbaugh formally registered as a lobbyist for Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root in February.
In lobbying disclosure forms filed with the Senate, Allbaugh said his goal was to "educate the congressional and executive branch on defense, disaster relief and homeland security issues affecting Kellogg Brown and Root."
Melissa Norcross, a Halliburton spokeswoman, said Allbaugh has not, since he was hired, "consulted on any specific contracts that the company is considering pursuing, nor has he been tasked by the company with any lobbying responsibilities."
Allbaugh is also a friend of Michael Brown, director of FEMA who was removed as head of Katrina disaster relief and sent back to Washington amid allegations he had padded his resume -- which he denies.
A few months after Allbaugh was hired by Halliburton, the company retained another high-level Bush appointee, Kirk Van Tine.
Van Tine registered as a lobbyist for Halliburton six months after resigning as deputy transportation secretary, a position he held from December 2003 to December 2004.
On Friday, Kellogg Brown & Root received $29.8 million in Pentagon contracts to begin rebuilding Navy bases in Louisiana and Mississippi. Norcross said the work was covered under a contract that the company negotiated before Allbaugh was hired.
Cheney's relationship with Halliburton
Halliburton continues to be a source of income for Cheney, who served as its chief executive officer from 1995 until 2000 when he joined the Republican ticket for the White House. According to tax filings released in April, Cheney's income included $194,852 in deferred pay from the company, which has also won billion-dollar government contracts in Iraq.
Cheney's office said the amount of deferred compensation is fixed and is not affected by Halliburton's current economic performance or earnings.
Allbaugh's other major client, Baton Rouge-based Shaw Group, has updated its Web site to say: "Hurricane Recovery Projects -- Apply Here!"
Shaw said on Thursday it has received a $100 million emergency FEMA contract for housing management and construction. Shaw also clinched a $100 million order on Friday from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Shaw Group spokesman Chris Sammons said Allbaugh was providing the company with "general consulting on business matters," and would not say whether he played a direct role in any of the Katrina deals. "We don't comment on specific consulting activities," he said.
Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
a little see also on the head of Shaw group here
Pacman,
When i saw this question posted in the thread, I didn't think there would actually be a convervative republican to speak up. I seems like most of the music boards I visit are openly anti-Bush and the conservatives who visit those sites, if any, do not care to join the conversations. How many other Republican Christians do you know who do not support Bush right now? My parents are Christian, my mother in particular a Republican, but she did not support Bush in 2004.
To answer your question about fair & balanced news reports - since I think you're talking about television, I have thought about this a lot, and I hate to be pessimistic but I think the answer is no. I believe that the tv news is far more conservative then conservatives will admit, but TV news seems like a beast that not even it's producers and anchors can control. The exceptions are few: Lou Dobbs on CNN is one of the only tv news shows I can stomach. This guy comes from a conservative republican point of view, very pro-capitalism of course ("moneyline"), but his show is one of the few where there is lengthy non-sensationalist reports on issues like job outsourcing, and a complete disinterest in things like missing blondes in Aruba. I'm sure Lou's ratings are low. Another respectable newman is Jim Lehrer, who's show is boring as fuck. I'll admit, I've seen way more Bill O'Reilly than Jim Lehrer, and why? O'Reilly get my blood boiling. I want to punch the guy. Anyway...
Responding to ODub ...
NPR isn't TV news - big difference. I'm an NPR fan myself, and the fact that they can have good and interesting news while totally disregarding fluff human interest stories (like the Aruba girl and Lacie whatshername) but I question their impartiality sometimes. I wonder, do I like them becuase they report from an angle that I want to hear? That's why Fox is popular. I'm certain that NPR's audience is mostly liberal Democrat.
also ...
agree. you don't hear this a lot becuase it's much more fun and exciting to say "bush doesnt care about black people". and ..
This is an example of a more impartial view than is reported on TV lately, but the news here is not that the city, county, and state didn't react well, which is true - the IMPORTANT story is that the federal gov's first test of homeland crisis since 9/11 and they failed in a way that is shocking and bewildering to both Bush supporters and detractors. Bush's lack of meaningful leadership exposes the weakness of his administration in a way that they can't seem to get ahold of (maybe because TV news reporting is rarely out of their control right now). A lot of the news coverage has been sensationalist of course, but at it's best it seems like these guys just got jolted out of a coma that they've been in since 9/11 - they're actually reporting, questioning, and analyzing.