What the hell taco bell?

A tear has been brought to my, and it is the saltiest tear of sadness. I have been persuaded. I shall give up posting for a single day, to symbolically support our president, also in a last ditch effort to keep Gavin out of MJ”s turtleneck. It is written that dark and light will come together in an unholy union, the spawn of this union will be the downfall of humanity. I fear that this union may well be between Gavin and MJ’.

Also Yosef has destroyed all of Blogger.

Dood, she embedded a link? There’s no way that’s MJ!

I must take MJ at her word. I don’t fear that Gavin would cockblock us from the real MJ with subterfuge. He is above that. He is a true friend. Friends don’t lie to friends about MJ’. MJ’ has been the cause of much drunk wrestling and pain at Three Bulls! Just the other day, the Uncanny One cast aspersions on MJ”s neck, he said it was the whitest white of a thousand snowflakes. Of course, it is whiter than that, he deigned to give it a shade, and there could be no brooking that behavior. Yosef was forced to Suplex him from the top rope to defend the honor of our sweet Marie.

Hey man, have you guys gotten some hits from us lately? It’s been a hella-slow couple of weeks here for some reason.

My main question is was retards a horrible MJ’ misspelling of regards?

Becaues otherwise she says, “I really do not find any pleasure nor will I engage in being mean and attacking anyone” and then two sentences later calls us all “Retards!”

Would Brad consider sharing the Steel Reserve, at least?

Is that the MJ’ link? My comp still has the cookie for shortssniffer, so I was taken here

Apparently shortssniffer was non appropos (shocker!) for H/N

I LOVE HER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

…the honor of our absoulutely sweet Marie.

eeniegay olacay!

My main question is was retards a horrible MJ’ misspelling of regards?

I emailed her about that about 1/2 hour ago. I honestly don’t know; I thought ‘retards’ was actually kind of cool.

Does the HotOrNot link not work unless you have the right cookie?

Dag, let me fix that….

I love it! You have an absolutely hilarious Krugman /Tierney post and you get one comment. And yet a MJ’ post (also hilarious) gets 10 comments almost instantaneously. Lesson? Sex sells*.*I actually think that Paul Krugman is sort of hot for a dude.

Wha what wha?

I never got a frickin’ party hat.

Speaking of Wha? Where is Wha? And Ukko?!!?!?

I love it! You have an absolutely hilarious Krugman /Tierney post and you get one comment. And yet a MJ’ post (also hilarious) gets 10 comments almost instantaneously. Lesson? Sex sells*.

Oy, don’t rub it in.

You know, it took like three hours to track down the software to convert a found MIDI file of “Officer Krupke” from West Side Story into musical notation, in order to slice off the very last couple of bars and Photoshop it into that LGF thing below.

But as soon as Marie hits the stage…

We are in no way to judge what hits we get,its probably four peopel checking 100 times each. You guys were rolling for awhile there- every thread was over 50 comments. Since the latest round of carpet bombings we got we are at about 2-300 hits a day. But that is from 5 people. My best guess is the kids are back in school. Also, you guys have been posting fast and furious. It’s like there is no time for the thread to breathe. And MJ and Dr. BLT were HUGE draws, it’s hard to book that kind of talent on a regular basis.

haven’t seen wha? ukko/tapio, lots of people in awhile. I think people are just bored with the internets or chronically depressed. To tell you the truth, the whole Katrina thing has people in a little bit of shock, yet there still doesn’t seem to be any traction for anything to get done. I think people are starting to realize we still have three more years of Capt. Cobag, and the last year has felt like 5 in and of itself. Everything’s going to shit,a dn making fun of the crazies is less fun since they are in charge of everythign and have screwed up so many things. As if Iraq weren’t enough of a blow, now we have Katrina on which to bury our country’s finances. uh oh, I’m getting serious, better go work on the proposal that will pay me for the next three years, too bad I use the G.D. internet as a procrastination tool.

Oh, I logged out of H,N and the linky worked for me.

I did laugh my ass off at that music. I basically thought wow, that one note’s pretty high, maybe if someone had one of those fishing line lassos the Rude Pundit was talking about today around Chazmo’s little guy he could sing that high. I want him to reach that note, I really do.

Gavin, I think that PP brings up some valid points as to why there’s a lull. I can personally attest to being too depressed by Katrina to do much commenting. I also think that people like me just have natural rhythms where I’ll comment/visit a lot and then give it a rest. One of the best things about your site (in addition to the fantastic posts) is that you have incredible commenters that are fun and easy to play off of.

The SiteMeter thinger should be logging unique visits. I looked before and saw that it was up to a couple-few hundred a day.

Next time we get a big flood, like when Atrios links, I’ll try to get a bunch of eyeballs over. The site is rocking hard.

before I hit the sack-

it is weird, we have about 10 regular commenters, and most of them comment here, and they are still the ones that are showing up both places, the people that don’t ever comment at our place (probably because of the boy stink) but comment here, those are the pople that seemed to have dropped off. I do think it is so random how I ran into Vlagi G under his other name at his place, then it turns out that there are only like 7 people on this entire internet.

But if I dont where my party hats, the nasty BUTTER TROLLS will find me and eat me GLRBGLARBLGLUR. wHY? It is a mystery.

But if I dont where my party hats, the nasty BUTTER TROLLS will find me and eat me GLRBGLARBLGLUR. wHY? It is a mystery.

We’ve lost a bunch of people too, since Katrina hit. I think you’re right about people wanting serious commentary during emergencies and pivotal times.

GLRBGLARBLGLUR

Joo can’t spell, mang.

Gavin, if you really want more visitors we can always bail the trolls out of jail in Mexico.

How did the trolls end up in…?

“It is written that dark and light will come together in an unholy union, the spawn of this union will be the downfall of humanity.”It is? Where, somewhere in Marvel Comics?

If that’s really Marie, tell her to unblock my e-mail.

Or at least explain what “dissentious” means.

You know, it took like three hours to track down the software to convert a found MIDI file

Worth every second.

I’m reading. I’m actually even giggling at a bunch of it. Punko’s right, though.

It’s just that everything, even the hot Mr Krugman, makes me sick lately. Someone commented somewhere else recently that watching these guys be in charge has now gone from even snarky-epitath-funny to outright horrifying, like watching molesters with your kids.
They’re fucking up my country, and they’re killing people, and it’s just depressing the holy shit out of me, because I can’t do anything about it.
So, knowing that if I even try to comment, it’s going to end up in a rant about how we’re all dead within the next three years but that’s a good thing because frankly I hate us as a species now, and other variations on that theme, I’m pretty much just trying not to say anything.

Also, I loathe the trolls. Sorry, guys. I know you think they’re funny, and I tried to look at it that way for a while. But with NOLA and the fact that there’s probably fuck-all we can do about global warming at this point even if we could convince the bastards in government to try, it’s like, to go back to that earlier analogy, watching the molesters rub against your kid in front of you just to make the point that the cops are on their side.

Weren’t you happier when I wasn’t commenting? Jesus Christ, I’m on three antidepressants right now, and isn’t there *anything* stronger.

I know. But when there’s nothing you can do, you still have to do what you can.

If all I can do is to throw tomatoes at conservatives, right now, I’m going to do that with alacrity until a better option comes up.

And, inter alia, they’re not nearly the angry, scathing tomatoes they could be — to mix a metaphor. New Orleans broke something that’s left an acid wound.

maybe the lurkers lurk because they don’t think that they can contribute anything witty enough. It’s hard to think of something other than ‘that is really offensive, I’m quite horrified’ for most of the things that these wingnut columnists write. I know I usually leave it to the experts.

D Sidhe, this would be a good time to stop taking anti-depressants, if you are getting the well-known paradoxical response off of ’em.

p.s. What do you look like? Do you have noodly appendages? Is there a picture of you anywhere onna web?

p.p.s. Rita is gonna demolish texas, perhaps.

Gavin, I think SN! needs a cool vision statement, like the one at People Political (or PeePee, as it is known in the biz). The SN! vision statemement could be something like “We Play and We Get Things” or “We Pray and Then We Have Snacks.” Whatever.

While the Seinfeld lines are great, they fail to reflect the mission of Sadly, No! You need to locate Brad, and then you two and Seb should go on a retreat and stay locked away from outside distractions while you hammer something out.

Oh, and I think you should also have some kind of Christian bikini wrestling between Marie and Amber. That would also bring in the viewers.

Am I allowed to address Donna Brazile’s insipid column?

Mr. President, I am ready for duty. I am ready to stir those old pots again. Let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work.

This nauseating treacle, to my mind, is why the Democrats are wandering in the wilderness. She could have easily made the point that a noble reconstruction effort will occur, not with the aid of, but in spite of the miserable failure of a president (and his administration) she’s now claiming to be so proud of. That would demonstrate resolve, focus, perspective, solidarity with real victims and some wisdom born of experience (…ie, don’t get suckered again.)

But no, the swelling emotion, the lofty rhetoric, the high drama of every American starring in his or her own little passion play just has to come first. Retch….retch, retch, retch!

People get the government they deserve.

Donna helped manage a campaign for a candidate whose predecessor in the White House presided over the longest economic expansion in American history. Somehow, she managed to lose the fucking race. That should tell you all you need to know.

I agree with the Katrina reasoning for why things slowed down. I know I didn’t comment a lot then. It got to the point where the only thing I wanted was some pure silliness, and to try to have some fun after that, but everything was so serious.

Sometimes I get sick of reading the wingnuts, too. Turns out they all say the same thing all the time anyway, and it just gets to be boring seeing it again. Note, I’m not saying what anyone writes about them in response is boring, just that I have to swear them off for a while occasionally.

Marie is fun, mainly because of her interaction with S,N! I don’t care for it when she posts huge articles in the comments, but when she actually leaves real comments, she can be fun. BLT is just annoying.

D., sorry about those trolls from before. I believe they’re all still somewhere down in Mexico, but it seems like every once in a while they get access to a computer long enough to leave at least one comment. I know they can’t do that much, but they’ll probably leave the occasional turd of a comment around.

Anyway, just keep having fun, and keep fighting for the cause (which is to promote the gay agenda to get the UN to start the NWO and make everyone sin whilst forcing abortions and taxing dead people.)

maybe the lurkers lurk because they don’t think that they can contribute anything witty enough.

Sadly, yes. Long time lurker, first time poster.
But I come here every day. I need a little humor to take the edge off.

Rowan, believe me, we’ve been screwing with the antidepressant slate for several years now. This is a new one, brought about by some unnecessary dicking around with the prozac. Turns out if you stop taking it for a few months because the doctor thinks you should, it doesn’t work so well when you start again.
I’m actually supposed to see a specialist and see if we can’t trade two or even all three for one that works. But after the last few months, I’m pretty much sick of doctors for a while. I’m at least waiting till the whole surgery thing is healed.

No, I do not have noodly appendages. I’m not entirely sure what makes you ask. I do have a *t-shirt* with the FSM on it, though.

And as far as I’m aware, the only existing photos of me are the one on my ID card, the handful of “before” ones taken for the insurance company committee that approved the eighteen thousand dollar surgery surgery, and a couple of really old Polaroids taken by a total pervert I used to know. The latter may be on the web, but, trust me on this, you wouldn’t recognize me. Though the insurance guys might.

The good thing about being convinced we’ll all be dead in three years or less is that I’ve pretty much abandoned the “diet” and “savings” concepts and am going through the inheritance I just got (all four bucks and two twenty-thirds of a thimble collection of it) as fast as I can give it away.

I have to agree on the need for silliness. I’d be terminally angry and depressed without these outlets. I also think Krugman is cute as a button.

Here’s my view, which is of course the One True Answer. It is tiring (and tiresome) to read the wingnuts all the time — for which I thank the proprietors of this bog a thousand times over — and it is especially discouraging to have no real way to disabuse them of their wingnuttery. Comments on the sites where they leave their verbal droppings are blocked, ignored or met with abuse. That leaves places like this which, to be perfectly honest, can be wearing in and of themselves. Yes, it’s fun to make fun of the funless, and it’s always a good thing to make each other laugh. But places like this run the risk of becoming as bad an echo chamber as LGF. Also, excessive exposure to anything toxic can have nasty side effects, so I think some people may be taking a breather, spending some quality time with their brains and the brains of those they love and respect, slapping on the mental mudpacks to try and detox.

Oh, and also there has not been enough Finnish swearing. Without that, the Intarwebs are a lonely, desolate place.

Well, I normally lurk because someone has beaten me to a joke or punchline. I agree with the general sentiments expressed though, Bush and his buddies have pushed the envelope of indecency out so far that there aren’t really any responses left, just “there they go again”. I’m just wondering why (in a country that seems to have so many people interested in politics) it takes a death in the family to get people to actually do something about changing the situation.

Yeah, I still read S,N! every day (every work day anyway, which is why I miss events like the drunken comment party weekend before last) but my commenting as fallen away to almost nothing in recent weeks (and I wasn’t that prolific a commenter before). I can only scream “Fuckwit!” so many times before it gets old even for me. Fortunately, the rest of you are both funny and prolific and it makes my day much better knowing there are like-minded people out there.BTW, anything new from that speed freak of hate, Rev. Swank?

You know, it took like three hours to track down the software to convert a found MIDI file of “Officer Krupke” from West Side Story into musical notation, in order to slice off the very last couple of bars and Photoshop it into that LGF thing below.

Posted by: Gavin M. at September 21, 2005 08:05 AM

Gavin, we appreciate the hard work. Next time, use your favourite P2P and do a document search.

If you care about America, you will remove the party hat and get behind your President for the good, and not mock the man

Can’t i get behind him *and* mock him? It’s funnier that way, ’cause he can’t see you doing it.

Is this what this once fine blog has come to?When is Seb coming back full time?

“I think you’re right about people wanting serious commentary during emergencies and pivotal times.”

I think you are right, Gavin. Its getting a bit towards normal now, but I haven’t been to S.Z.’s site in some time, and even when I go my heart is just not into it. (Sorry, S.Z., it ain’t personal).

Its just too crazy now, and too serious. Just after Katrina I couldn’t even click over there, and even now it just seems…trivial.

Sn Vision statement? Good idea. It hsould involve Death Kittens somehow.

I wonder myself what it actually will take for people to throw these assholes out of power.
I can’t count on two hands the number of times I’ve shook my head and said to myself “Well shit, if they don’t impeach em over this it’ll NEVER fucking happen.”
Time and time again it happens the same way, from the downing street memo to the outing of an undercover CIA agent to the hole in the desert Bush seems to be quite happy to continue to pour money into, it allways happens the same way, the media underreports it (CNN) or outright lies or misinforms about it (I’m fucking looking at you FOX news). That leads to the important questions being ignored or obscured, which leads to an opening for right wing asshats to get on tv and emit more white noise. That leads to public apathy and misinformation about it (Over half of fox news viewers think they found WMD’s in Iraq??!?!?! are you shitting me?) which leads to a lack of public concern because A) it doesn’t seem to be that important when put in contrast with the missing white girl of the week and B) They don’t know who to believe anymore. And to top it all off, even though it just makes sense to hold an independant investigation, it just ends up being a paid-off GOP circle jerk masquerading as an inquiry.
Nope…. I think Fitzgerald may be America’s last ray of light in the coming three years. There is a chance that might fall through, but I’m just hoping beyond all hope that Rove and Bolton (a new focus on the investigation) end up being cellmates with a large inmate who knows what Turdblossom *really* means.

All I can say is, yeah, I agree with all of the above. Especially the immediately above, and including “Where’s my party hat?”

Yeah, sex certainly sells. But if MJ still thinks prez. empty flightsuit is an insightful leader, she obviously doesn’t know port from starboard. Wake up MJ, the guy is a fuck-up. Oh yeah, and so is Donna Brazile.

There is an other reason I’m here. These guys are probably the best looking leftists that I never saw! I’m waiting for them to take my breath away by showing me their pictures. We are probably all within the same age bracket.

I always have believed that even though I’m from the right and they are on the left, opposites attract.

Jeebus! I see her nefarious plan now! She intends to ravish our S,N! boys and breed a race of super-mutant moderates! It’s just too horrible to contemplate! There’s only one thing to do in light of this insidious aggression, guys–vasectomies for all three of youse. Do it for your country. Plus, then you can wear “Former Breeder” tee shirts, causing sitcom-like misunderstandings everywhere you go–wackiness will ensue. Or, possibly, some Texans will drag you to death behind their pickup truck. But, fortunately for you, gas is expen$ive these days, and it ain’t getting cheaper. And pickup trucks get shitty milage.
Regarding the dropoff in comments, I admit I’ve been cutting back quite a bit, though where I’ve mostly been pulling back from are blogs other than S,N! and WO’C. And in my case, it’s been somewhat Katrina, but mostly personal stuff that has put me in a bad mood/humor-impaired status. And I’m damned physically tired. So I guess I shouldn’t have gone out drinking last night. 😉 But there have been times I was reticent to jump into a given thread–for instance, I was very reluctant to mix-it-up with Dr. BLT in that longish thread talking about what it meant to be gay (well, it didn’t start out on that subject matter, but it … evolved). I just knew that I was going to regret directing a comment at him, water off a duck’s back and all of that. And, in spite of what I would deem a bounty of ignorance in his reply to my post, I knew that responding to his response would accomplish about as much as smacking my cranium against a cinder-block wall. Fortunately, Bill S and others smacked the good doctor around for a while, so I didn’t have to. It still didn’t do any good though. *Sigh*
And Pinko–you’re saying that S,N! doesn’t have “boy stink?” But all the writers of this bog are… boys. Unless there’s something you know about Seb, Gavin, Brad, and/or jeff-perado that you’re not sharing with the rest of us. ‘Fess up.
Also, I want to reiterate the question, “What happened to ukko/tapio and wha?” At least I’m assuming that ukko morphed into tapio–the post wherein tapio introduced himself was somewhat vague, but hinted at this. Not that there’s any way for me to know if they’ve been posting under other screennames, but I am curious. I don’t recall anyone flat-out offending them. Strange.

I guess our gracious hosts should accept the challenge and reveal at least one of their visages, with a turtleneck.

In the same time, MJ should be dared to show more. Have you read that Japanese viewed nape of a female neck to be exquisitely erotic?

Damn Marq you were paying attention! I think Wha? just wandered off. Ukko/Tapio probably went back to college and got busy – that’s my pet theory at least.

Hey cheer up guys! Remember Rome wasn’t burnt in a day.

um…that didn’t really help did it? Perhaps if I did a funny little dance instead?

Oh fuck it. Pass the Steel Reserve.

Dammit, the Steel Reserve isn’t helping.

We had Katrina, and now Rita is bearing down on us. This isn’t funny, and has put blogs everywhere on serious relief alert.

We do need some light-hearted commentary to get the topical depressions down. But the news is so crummy that it’s so very, very hard to be amusing.

Do your funny dance, Nabakov. We do really need it, as much as we need the serious comments about our disastrous government.

So here’s a joke. A priest, a rabbi, and a golfer float into a New Orleans bar…. Oh, damn, that’s just sick. OK, let’s say it’s a bar in Houston…. Oh, shit.

Ummm. How ’bout those killer cats, huh? Yeah. And the Flying
Spaghetti Monster reminds you to donate to the Red Cross.

OK. Hand me another Steel Reserve. And let’s see if the trolls do any funny dances too.

all this navel gazing,

Yarr.

it be drivin’ me nuts.

Dude, the hurricanes: ‘Funny’ is a bit difficult this month, contextually. Although honestly, it helps when you put the diacritical over the ‘a.’ It’s like a hat.

Timothy,your e-mail can be sent to me again. However you be good or I’ll block you again. You do not ask questions that you do not want real answers for. You waste a girls’ good time. Gezoo, you load questions up in one e-mail ten blocks long with insults intermingled. I do not answer to those who have a closed mind. My family were Democrats. I know grown both ways of thoughts.
Mom and dad voted for Gore. We got President G. W. Bush instead. I like him very much.
God bless our troops and God bless our president and America. It would not hurt if all on this blog would pray also. We are seeing terrible days befall us with all of nature’s fury.
Have any in here adopted a troop in prayer? You could do that much. Let me know if any are interested in praying for a troop. I will give you a name to do so. I’m just checking in to see what the boys are doing. It’s all good. WINK!
Marie Jon’

“WINK”?!? Yoiks! OK, breeder boiz, do your duty and flirt!

Can I adopt a pagan troop? I mean, the Christian ones would likely be offended by my praying to the Mother Goddess for them.
Maybe I should just send more Oreos.
Never mind, it was just a thought.

Letters To Marie

Dear Marie,

LET’S BE HONEST ABOUT KATRINA.
Is it just me, or do you wonder about the folk who seem to think President Bush whipped up hurricane Katrina & had it released into the atmosphere to kill Americans?

Is it just me Or does anyone wonder why the “celebrities” who are carping & criticizing the government don’t open their spacious mansions to some of these refugees, & open their multimillion dollar bank accounts & give out of their own pockets?

Is it just me Or does anyone else wonder why these celebrities, if they are so concerned, don’t get on the front lines & if nothing else start giving out water? The press seems to be carried away when some famous person is rescued from the rubble (Fats Domino) I’m sure their faces would inspire people.

Is it just me, or does anyone wonder why intelligent people would expect that our government could be Johnny-on-the spot so quickly, when this wasn’t a 10 mile-wide storm or a tornado, but rather a 200 mile wide demon That actually ripped steel doors down?

Is it just me, Or does anyone wonder why the good folk in New Orleans didn’t see this thing coming when it was all over the TV, & even the poor have TVs? As a wind-whipped & weary, lifetime resident of Florida, I understand that when one of these things is aiming at you, YOU DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO-YOU BOARD UP & GET OUT OF TOWN.

Is it just me Or does anyone else wonder why the good Mayor of New Orleans hightailed it out of town & left his weather wearied constituents behind, knowing (I heard it 40 years ago) that his city was unsafe; a bowl that sat lower than the Sea around it, & likely to flood? In light of that, why wasn’t there a plan on the books to quickly bus at least some of the people out? I wonder If New Orleans might have been sitting on their own resources, waiting for Washington to foot the bill for them??

Is it me Or does anyone else wonder how & why the people didn’t understand that death was on the way when the Mayor left town? Again, even the poorest people have TVs. Part of the answer is stubbornness; having seen a foot of water occasionally, they refused to see there’s a difference in a foot of water that will quickly recede & eight feet of water that is filled with feces & dead bodies that’s not going to recede on its own.

Is it just Me or does anyone else wonder why it took Louisiana’s governor so long to declare Marshall-law after the other involved states did? How many lives would that have saved? Not to mention the rapes, & the general rape of the city?

Is it just me Or do you wonder why the Mayor has blamed everyone else for the catastrophe when with a little leadership he could have organized a BUS BRIGADE early on & started getting his people out? After all, he could get himself out. When & how did he know it was going to be necessary for him to leave?

Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that the folk hurt worst by this tragedy, who indeed have lost everything, haven’t blamed anyone, much less our leaders in Congress, & our President?

Is it just Me or do you marvel at how quickly the call for help was answered when you consider the magnitude of the devastation? It takes time to roll big guns Into position. I’ve watched consistently & I stand amazed at how the country has raised itself out of shock & responded like the great people we all know we are.

Death & destruction is “good TV” & some of the news folk have milked that part of the story way too much. I didn’t see one News anchorman who did a thing to try to help the needy people he talked to, when every news organization in this country is a multibillion dollar operation. Their only interest seemed to be to have the victims continually recite the horror they went through.

A news woman ask a refugee in Houston if “she felt she’d make it through all of this.” The refugee told the shocked & chagrined news woman, ( that you just knew wanted to hear her complain), “Praise God, I’ve already made it through,”

Is it me or do you sometimes think that when people criticize & blame the government, they forget that WE THE PEOPLE Are the government? Not only that, the part of that government that will do the most hurting to pay for this, & every disaster, are the middle class.

WE DON’T DRIVE FANCY $200,000.00 AUTOMOBILES.
WE DON’T LIVE IN THE LAP OF LUXURY.
WE ARE AT THIS WRITING PAYING CLOSE TO $3. OO A GALLON FOR GASOLINE.
WE LIVE FRUGALLY TO MAKE OUR BOOKS BALANCE.
WHEN WE WANT TO GIVE, & BELIEVE ME, WE DO, WE DON’T THROW A PARTY LIKE CELEBRITIES DO & MEET WITH OUR RICH FRIENDS TO MOAN, GROAN & GRIPE, WE JUST MAKE OUT A CHECK & GIVE IT.

If the celebrities, some of whom are calling our president a racist, are serious about helping in this long painful struggle, ( and some of them are) many could donate a house OR TWO to the homeless or at least sell one & donate the money. These folk have more money than the President will ever have, but instead of dipping into their pockets they have telethons, where they can cry & appear compassionate.

They say never criticize unless you can offer a plan, so here’s one;

I’d like to see the press start being more uplifting & do more stories that encourage the country. After all press, it’s your duty to report honestly & responsibly, not to try to report in such a way that a horrible situation will be made worse.

Before it’s over, every American will feel the sting of this tragedy, most already are. As Abraham Lincoln so aptly put it during his tenure, “if we don’t hang together, we’ll likely hang separately. “Lets be honest about Katrina!”
Your friend always,

John

Letters To Marie

Dear Marie,
What I have seen since Katrina:

The poor and the wealthy hurt by the storm. Black, white, Hispanic, Oriental and Indian all hurt by the storm.

Christian people giving, giving, giving. Churches going all out to minister in Jesus’ name. Neighbors going door to door helping one another. Thugs and hoodlums going door to door looking for someone vulnerable.

Ice and water being fought over as police tried to keep the peace. People coming up from New Orleans taking over empty houses because shelters are full. Out of town volunteers coming with food and staying for now a week still serving it. The Churches all over this part of the country doing what Christians do in a crisis.

The Red Cross doing a great job in the shelters. The Salvation Army doing a great job in the community.

Four Hundred crewman from everywhere bring back the power to our homes, churches and businesses.

Lines at service stations a block to a mile long. National Guardsman patrolling the streets of Mc Comb along with Kentucky policemen protecting us from the hoodlums and thugs of Mc Comb, Pike County and New Orleans (the most dangerous city in the world before Katrina.)

Drug dealers working outside shelters. Doctors, nurses and other hospital personnel working tirelessly, even sleeping in the hospital to do the job God called them to do.

WHAT I HAVE NOT SEEN; The ACLU setting up a feeding line. People for the American Way helping in the shelters. The NAACP doing any work whatsoever. The American Atheist organization serving meals in the shelters. Jesse Jackson directing traffic at the gas stations.

I could go on but you get my message. Its the Christian people with love and compassion who do the work.

The gripers in Congress should come on down and get in line to pass the water and the ice. Are you listening Hillary, Chuck, Teddy and all the sorry loafers we call Senators and Congressmen. They don’t have a clue as to what this life is all about here on the Gulf Coast.

Boy I feel better now.
Your friend Lowis

Letters To Marie

Marie,

I’m a novelist. Although I?m French (sorry for that?), I?m a die-hard reader of PeoplePolitical. Actually, some time ago, an American friend of mine (a good guy, a Republican) who has been living in Paris for twenty years or so
told me I should visit Peoplepolitical.org. I did so and, now, I?m a Marie Jon addict. I find your articles to be amazingly witty, judicious and gutsy.

?EXPLOITING HURRICANE KATRINA AND RACE? hit the bull?s eye, I wish I could have written it. Obviously, like you, Marie, this New Orleans tragedy took me aback. Speaking of it, I heard or read a lot of bad things about the
handling of this humanitarian crisis by the Feds, either on American networks or, surprise, surprise, on three of the main French networks like Le Monde, Lib?ration and Le Nouvel Observateur which this week headlines were, for instance, ?Titanic Bush?, ?Katrina : Bush de plus en plus critiqu??, ?Barbara Bush a peur des r?fugi?s?, ?Un nouveau scandale pour

Bush?, ?Popularit? : Bush est au plus bas?, you don?t need any translation, it?s just Bush bashing as usual. May I take the liberty to laugh, now? I?d like to laugh about the way French authorities would have coped with a
hurricane and a flood the size of Great-Britain or, to be fair and proportionate, the fifth of the size of Great-Britain (French population is the fifth of American population), say ten per cent of French territory, I bet the casualties wouldn?t have been ?only? hundreds of dead people, but much more and it?s a former French civil servant who?s speaking to you, you can believe him. So, you, lesson teachers from Le Monde, Lib?ration and Le Nouvel Observateur, please shut up, thank you? Anyhow, there is no question that the Feds share a responsibility in what went wrong in New Orleans (the three years old United States Department Of Homeland Security, which
includes the now famous FEMA, has to be fixed or thoroughly reformed or replaced or whatever WITHOUT DELAY before another Nine-Eleven or Katrina occurres in the USA and John Gibson agrees with me:

http://media2.foxnews.com/090605/views_gibson_090605_300.wmv). Nonetheless, on a Houston radio, I also heard some pretty disturbing things about the scandalous inability of Kathleen Babineaux-Blanco, the democrat governor of
Louisiana (see http://media2.foxnews.com/090705/sr_garrett_090705_300.wmv: hey, Bertrand, what do you expect from a woman who shaked hands with Mr Fidel Castro in Cuba in 2004?!…), and the incompetence and carelessness
(the big-easyness?) of Ray Nagin, the outspoken democrat New Orleans mayor who appears to try by any means to put the blame on the republican White House. Hey, Mister Nagin, don?t tell us that, would you have opened your big
mouth before the hurricane, POUNDING FIRMLY YOUR TWO FISTS on the CNN or CBS tables and asking OUT LOUD for buses and trains in order to IMMEDIATELY evacuate the population YOU WERE IN CHARGE OF, hundreds of lives wouldn?t have been saved, don?t tell us that (see ,
http://winmed.tvc.cbsig.net/cbsnews/2005/09/10/video832629.wmv,
http://media2.foxnews.com/091105/pol_kendall_091105_300.wmv).

Furthermore,Mister Nagin, I?ve got a scoop for ya: A PERSON WITH NO CAR CAN?T FLEE. And, please, Mister Nagin, don?t pretend this horrendous disaster wasn?t PREVENTABLE, or just have a look at this video from PBS aired last January, mms://video.pbs.org/general/windows/wgbh/nova/nsn-3204-02-220.wmv. When you?re a metropolis mayor (or a state governor), one of the first meetings you hold at the beginning of your tenure has to address the major SPECIFIC RISKS at which your city (or state) is put and the best ways to deal with them (and, chiefly, how to evacuate, shelter and feed your population in case of any kind of emergency, a fire, a volcanic eruption, an arthquake, a hurricane, a tsunami, a large-scale pollution, a nuclear or chemical attack or a massive UFO landing). Does it take a Yale diploma to roughly calculate how many buses, blankets, MREs and bottles of water you?ll need?! No, it
only takes some grams of guts and common sense. Your problem, Mister Nagin?

Like Mrs Babineaux-Blanco, you?re a ? small, midget, microscopic ? politician, you?re not a leader. Mister Bush isn?t only a politician, he?s also a leader. In lifethreatening trouble times, a leader is needed, not a Nagin, a Blair, not a Annan, a De Gaulle, not a Chirac. So, Mister Nagin, it?s one thing for you to be just and only a politician, it?s another thing for you to be a pretentious vocal prosecutor blaming everybody apart from you in the wake of the deaths of people YOU WERE IN CHARGE OF. Although time for fingerpointing hasn?t come yet, I?m convinced that, as a Nine- Eleven Commission truly showed who failed and who didn?t, a Katrina Commission will, the faster the better, show who truly failed and who didn?t in this matter. For the time being, let?s not polemize, let?s just help the survivors (as concerns the rapper Kanye West who tried ? with success ? to cash in on this tragedy by saying that ?Bush doesn?t care about black people? and that ?[Government authorities] have given them permission to go down and shoot us?, he qualifies for The Bitchiest Man Alive Of The Year and his mother can be a heck of an ashamed-of-her-son mother). No surprise: as always, Bill O?Reilly was right on in his comments on the Katrina crisis.
Please, watch these five videos:
http://media2.foxnews.com/090605/views_oreilly_090505_300.wmv,
http://media2.foxnews.com/090605/oreilly_ginsberg1_090505_300.wmv,
http://media2.foxnews.com/090705/views_oreilly_090705_300.wmv,
http://media2.foxnews.com/090705/orf_race_090705_300.wmv,
http://media2.foxnews.com/090805/views_oreilly_090805_300.wmv. Now listen to what I have to say: Bill O?Reilly is a genius when he claims that ?If your poor, you?re powerless. Not just in America, but everywhere. Danger will
find you if you don?t have enough money to protect yourself from it. If you don?t get educated and work hard, you?ll be poor and helpless. Don?t count on help arriving?. I think, like Bill O?Reilly, that, if there is a country somewhere where, absolutely or proportionately, THE GREATEST NUMBER OF PEOPLE have the chance to have a chance, having effectively access to food, housing, education and healthcare (and entertainment!), no matter their religion, gender or skin color, it?s America. Of course, just like everywhere else, there are inequalities and iniquities in the USA, of
course, just like everywhere else, there are intolerance, sexism or racism in the USA, but LESS IN THE USA THAN EVERYWHERE ELSE. One more thing before I go: two weeks ago, six hundred thousand people ? including a former French Prime Minister ? attended La F?te De L?Humanit?, the French Communist Party annual feast, an all-time high: you see what I mean, don?t ya? God bless you, Dubya and the USA,
Americanly yours,

Bertrand Latour

Oh, great. Now MJ’ has hijacked this thread and turned it into her letters column. Her fan mail bage. Spew! Whooshing her fan mail about, she’s become a fan dancer–isn’t that sinful or something? What actual Frenchperson would apologize for being French? Doesn’t really strike me so much as “authentic” as it does “forged.” It’s possible, I suppose, but it would be nearly unprecedented. If only there was some sort of HTML tag the S,N! crew could put in that would allow one to tab past MJ”s lenghty and tiresome posts. Ugh.