Well, I tried. I wanted to, but, that doesn’t appear to be a possibility. I wanted to put politics aside just for a moment, but I find impossible.
I was going to write an apolitical post about Sandy and the response to it. One week ago today, extratropical cyclone Sandy hit Atlantic City, New Jersey, moved northward in created havoc up the sea board. Over 100 deaths have been attributed to the cyclone. This is a damned shame because we had over a week to prepare for this. But, one can’t ever be entirely prepared for these acts of nature. Last week I was critical of the residents in that area not showing enough patience. But, this is ridiculous.
NEW YORK Falling temperatures on Sunday put more people at risk in a region already battling gasoline shortages, stubborn power outages and spasms of lawlessness in the wake of Superstorm Sandy.
With overnight temperatures in the 30s and nearly a million people still without power in the area, New York City opened warming shelters in areas without power and Mayor Michael Bloomberg urged older residents without heat to move to them. The city also was handing out 25,000 blankets to residents who insist on staying in powerless homes.
Nearly one million, that’s 1,000,000 are without power and they’re going to hand out 25,000 blankets?
He said “it’s going to become increasingly clear” that homes without heat are uninhabitable as temperatures drop. He said that means that residents who have been reluctant to leave their homes will have to, and that they’ll need housing.
Bloomberg said the city expects that it will have to find housing for 30,000 to 40,000 people.
He also said that resolving gas shortages could take days.
The storm killed more than 100 people in 10 states, including 41 in New York City. More than 2.2 million customers in several states remain without power days after Sandy came ashore.
Lines curled around gas stations for many blocks all over the stricken region, including northern New Jersey, where Gov. Chris Christie imposed rationing that recalled the worst days of fuel shortages of the 1970s. Queues of honking cars, frustrated drivers and people on foot carrying containers were just the latest testament to the misery unleashed by Sandy.
“It’s chaos; it’s pandemonium out here,” said Chris Damon, who had been waiting for 3 ? hours at a site where the National Guard was giving out free gas in an effort to alleviate the situation. “It seems like nobody has any answers.”
Now, I know this is impossible. Christie went on a photo-op tour effusively praising Obama for his great leadership in reaction to the storm. Look, I don’t know who’s fault this is, and I don’t know what the holdup is. Perhaps, the unions should not have turned away non-union help for the people of New Jersey. But, here is what I do know. We knew Sandy was coming. We had over a week to prepare for this. It has been a week since Sandy came ashore. We’ve known for some time that the temps would be dropping tonight. No one can say this is acceptable. Tonight, we face the very real possibility of people freezing to death.
CNN reports essentially the same thing with this anecdote…..
One woman yelled, “When are we going to get some help!” while a man talked about “old ladies in my building who have got nothing.”
Supplementing and, in some cases, dissatisfied with the government response, neighbors and volunteers from afar to hard-hit areas Saturday to offer food, clothing and whatever else to those who are still cold and hungry.
“We covered two children with a blanket freezing and shivering here trying to get food last night,” Rockaway resident Lauren O’Connor told CNN affiliate NY1. “We said we had to do something.”
And here’s my problem. Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Whale were doing a photo-op, pretending they had a handle on all of this. It turns out they didn’t. Had people known we have a good possibility of children freezing and starving alone, and that the feds and states didn’t have a handle on things, more help would be there today.
From turning back help to criticizing Romney for gathering food and supplies, we see that politics and appearances took precedence over the welfare of our fellow Americans. Do they believe the children give a damn about whether the help came from a union or not? Do they think the food collected by Romney wouldn’t help now? The people most hard hit by the storm were sacrificed for political ambitions. Who in the hell puts their political future in front of the very lives of the people they are governing? Clearly Christie and Obama do.
It’s been a week! We have looting, we have people starving, and we have the very real possibility of people freezing to death tonight. But, thankfully, we had some photo-ops telling people all was well. All is not well, and we have fellow citizens suffering.
suyts space 
Reblogged this on Climate Ponderings.
BUt But But…You can trust your healthcare to this Government…..
It is Charitable Organizations who are reaching the people.
I’m pissed about the airbrush these political jackasses painted. We’re going to lose people because they wanted to paint on a happy face.
I agree!
Obama is weird. He poses as a Big Statist and would fit right in with our local social democrats but he doesn’t DO anything – the first thing a real Big Statist does is rush in a lot of troops and get all the people outta there into some heated place, a gym or something. Instead he flies to the next bash in Vegas; just like after Benghazi.
What do you do when you see Obama in Vegas? Turn on the TV, something bad must have happened.
No doubt. Things turn to crap, go to Vegas and forget about it.
I don’t leave my house because I know half of Las Vegas streets will be blocked off for Obama’s massive motorcade. Seriously, his motorcade is huge! Romney’s is one bus and the roads don’t get blocked off. I would rather have Romney visit.
Note to self: If the empty suit gets reelected, it’s time to leave Nevada and go somewhere where people have more common sense.
We’ve got room in the heartland!
The Red Cross said they prefer cash so they can “stimulate” the local economy. Would that not be the same community that is out of supplies?
The very first semi loads of food to arrive on the seen were actually from Glenn Beck’s company, and not FEMA or the Red Cross.
Exactly, millions are suffering because the politics, greed, and a complicit media.
“But, here is what I do know. We knew Sandy was coming. We had over a week to prepare for this. It has been a week since Sandy came ashore. We’ve known for some time that the temps would be dropping tonight. No one can say this is acceptable.”
My concern is that this inability to efficiently respond is simply one more example of a much larger problem. As the powers of government have become increasingly both more intrusive and more centralized over the last half century or so, likewise the structures of most large organizations have done the same. Just as governments increasingly micro-manage and legislate, corporations and charities do the same. Top down rule is the most inefficient type of rule. Fifty years ago, you would have had local mayors organizing temporary shelters in high schools, local churches opening their facilities and local parishioners doing the same. The local power company would be coordinating the quickest repairs based on where the need was greatest. Now we have centralized command which has no way of knowing what the immediate demands are at a local level. During Katrina we saw deliveries of food and water by nearby, better supplied, independent groups actually turned back because of federal or state mandates. Even if you have truly dedicated and magnanimous officials (a huge assumption) they CANNOT know the local conditions better than a decentralized command structure operating on what is right in front of them. Fifty years ago you could have a small town decide whether it needed to reinforce a levy. Today it may take (literally) an act of Congress to permit such a thing.
Agreed, even if we wanted to help, it would probably be turned away.
“likewise the structures of most large organizations have done the same. Just as governments increasingly micro-manage and legislate, corporations and charities do the same. Top down rule is the most inefficient type of rule.”
I know several very large, very successful German and international corporations from within. And some less successful ones. The successful organisations are the only ones that manage to grow to gargantuan size, and they share one thing – they have competent managers on all levels who are responsible for their own part of the operation. It’s a company culture thing. I’m not on management level but I had enough contact with them. It’s not simple top down rule; you don’t stay successful with that.
Only when you’re a government – as you have the local monopoly.
You make some very good points. Certainly, in a free market, the companies which grow to gargantuan size will be the ones that are well managed. Equally certainly, the companies that grow to gargantuan size in a government controlled economy will be those which are best at currying favor with the government. At present, every national economy in the world is some mixture of free market plus governmental control. This does make it difficult to tell just what factors are most responsible for either success — or failure.
The interesting thing about “gargantuan” companies is the people that run them are not the people that grew them. So they are actually very government oriented. They WANT the government to protect them (too big to fail), so will curry favor to whomever is in power.
The growing companies (those on the way up) want nothing to do with government as the government is usually a hindrance to startups.
It is not America – it is the current administration.
The story of Anna Bligh, Premier of Queensland last year is a good one.
In late 2010 before the Brisbane floods she was completely on the nose with an approval rating in the twenties (as I recall), and her party the ALP was mired in corruption and cronyism. For example she appointed her own husband as boss of the Climate Change department in 2007.
But then the flood disaster came….as a result of her policies (it was avoidable)…but she did the same thing: be seen helping ordinary people on every TV news bulletin for days and weeks on end. Her approval rating shot up into the 60’s.
Then in March in the Qld state election her party was trashed, losing more than 90% of their seats. After the election the ALP opposition could fit in a Prius. As one of his first acts the new state Premier required the Climate Change boss to abolish his own department (heh!).
Moral of the tale: being seen on TV helping people is not the same as actually helping people. And if your government is incompetently run by maniacs for maniacs you will be voted out. Voters are not fooled. They don’t take head fakes for spit.
Time is on the side of Obama, for now. We’ll see how it plays out.
Haha figures this is what is unacceptable to you! Those 7-hour-long voting lines in Florida are perfectly acceptable though, right!?! Because they were caused by an incompetent tea bagger Governor, who will definitely find the door hitting him on the ass on his way out. What’s his approval rating now 27%?
Ph, I’m not talking about a political squabble. There’s a real danger that we’re going to have some people freeze to death tonight because some people would put appearances over actual help.
Hahaha political squabble? YOU do realizing having the ability to vote is integral to the entire Democracy and the American way of life?
Sure, can you show me where one person was denied the right to vote?
Personally, I don’t equate having everyone playing by the same rules to letting people die in the cold.
Hahaha yes I can show you where people had to wait 7 hours and had their cars towed in ordered to exercise their right to vote.
You’re truly a partisan hack aren’t you? You claim that you’re all for protecting the integrity of the vote (voter id laws), but then with news that people are having to wait 7 hours to vote you say “no problems”. If you truly cared about democracy and the integrity of our voting system then you would have a big problem with this. Should we be voting like we live in Afghanistan?
I’m glad to see you’re revealing your true colors for all to see!
You were challenged to show where people were DENIED. instead you cry pity me to some who had their cars towed. That is not denying them the right to vote. That is denying them the ability to obstruct traffic.
You failed. Can you comprehend the written word?
Ph, if you can show where someone got turned away from voting who should have been able to vote, then I would join with you in trying to ensure that never happens.
So 7 hour lines and towed cars are acceptable voting conditions in your vision of American democracy?
Take a bus – PARK LEGALLY. And yes, if you go at the wrong time, be prepared to wait. I hate waiting, so I go when the wait is the shortest. It is called CHOICES. Intelligent people make intelligent ones.
But again, you have yet to provide a single scintilla of evidence of anyone being denied the right to vote.
I’d have to see how that came about. I just got done writing about your link you offered for Ohio. It’s starting to look like this stuff is for show….. a built in excuse for losing the election.
Haha man you really a blind partisan hack!
Did you read the article you posted? It clearly states that the Dem controlled counties have it within their authority to extend the hours if they wanted to. Instead, they want to generate news stories about voter suppression.
In the case of Florida, how many days have the voting areas been open? What was the turn out on prior days? Were there lines every day? What are their hours?
Actually it doesn’t suyts. In your rush to try and put out another conservative hit piece you’ve misunderstood the article.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/11/no-one-in-america-should-have-to-wait-7-hours-to-vote/264506/
Why don’t you post about Florida? Because it makes your team look like the incompetent asses they are?
Ph, your blame is misplaced. Here, read this…… http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/11/04/3081614/florida-democratic-party-files.html
You guys really need an Electoral Commission. We don’t get lines like that, and since we’ve got compulsory voting the turnout is usually over 80%. The AEC’s job is to make sure there’re enough voting places and are federally funded. So no buck passing the costs.
When I say compulsory voting I actually mean ‘compulsory turning up’, since you can do whatever you like to the blank voting paper once they give you it.
We have Election Commissions out the wazoo. Which is part of the problem. There is no uniformity. But, as I’ve alluded, its starting to sound like an excuse to lose rather than a legitimate complaint. I haven’t looked at Florida, but in Ohio, the booths were open 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. for the last two weeks of October.
What most foreigners fail to realize is the US has NO federal elections. Only state elections. So as Suyts states, every state has its own commission (and some localities as well).
The country was founded by 13 independent colonies, which combined to form the United States (note the S on the end). It would be like your Commonwealth uniting to form a strong central government and calling itself one nation.
Still slamming gays with your homophobic bigotry I see.
Actually it does Ph. It explicitly states, “Mr. Redfern said if Mr. Husted won’t grant additional voting hours, county commissioners — mostly Democrats in urban areas — can order additional voting hours on their own for the board of elections.”
I’m out of touch with the kids these days so I don’t know if this means he likes Romney or not:
Jay-Z says, “I got 99 problems but Mitt ain’t one”, at an Obama rally.
Is this code?
http://www.sheknows.com/entertainment/articles/976019/jay-z-has-99-problems-but-mitt-aint-one
Well, given that J-z replaced the word “bitch” for Mitt I’d say it was a bit derogatory.
But I think he means girl when he says b***h.
Yeh, well, he was doing for Obama, so I’m guessing it means like he’s not worried about Mitt, like he’s inconsequential or something. IDK…..LOL
MUST READ:
http://www.humanevents.com/2012/11/06/election-day-shenanigans-ballots-shredded-voters-ferried-black-panthers-return/
“Update: Tough break, Democrats! Fox News is reporting “a Pennsylvania judge is issuing an order to reinstate Republican election officials across Philadelphia who allegedly were ejected or refused entry by on-site Democratic voting chief judges.” It looks like “just under 70″ of those Republican observers got booted out by Democrats, a total considered “rare even for Philadelphia” by a Republican official. I’m hearing reports that sheriff’s deputies are being sent to escort the Republican observers back into those polling places. Looks like it just got harder to steal that election, Philly Dems!”
“Update: It turns out one of those Philadelphia polling places that’s been kicking out GOP observers has a giant mural of Obama painted on the wall, along with his logo and slogans. It’s awesome that certain parts of Philly don’t even pretend to hold fair elections.”
Update: A judge in Pennsylvania has issued an order to cover up that Obama mural in the polling station depicted below. Strange that it would take a judicial order to make anyone understand the necessity of doing so.
Update: Guy Benson at Townhall.com reports that the former Digital Director of the National Republican Congressional Committee is complaining that his ballot was stolen. He went to vote this morning, only four minutes after the polls opened, and was told he had already voted. ”The idea that my vote may not be counted is a very big concern, and I don’t know how to confirm if my vote will even count,” he said. Interestingly, he’s voting in the same district where Democrat Rep. Jim Moran’s son was forced to resign after being caught on undercover video giving lessons in how to get away with vote fraud.”
Yes, I’ve seen that. Philly is like a third world country when it comes to ensuring a free and fair election. They are a national embarrassment. No word from the blue helmets on this?
Kim could you post anymore voter irregularities here? https://suyts.wordpress.com/2012/11/06/us-democracy-in-peril/
Bruce says:
November 5, 2012 at 11:14 pm
“You guys really need an Electoral Commission. We don’t get lines like that, and since we’ve got compulsory voting”
=====
Compulsary voting? That is just nuts. WRT the FEMA response, I find it astounding. They did not have just a week to prepare, that have had since Katrina. Not only that, but they had virtually unlimited budget.
Oh PHD, nice thread hijack. James must let you go on just to prove how quickly a PHD mind, when infected with liberal theology, can readily assume an untenable position. (Pretty dam quick)
The problem with PhD’s argument:
He assumes Democrats are Leftists just like him.
Anti-religious – Pro-homosexual – Pro-abortion as convenience.
They [ The PhDs ] think this, because they’ve allowed the Democrat Party to take over and speak [Or out speak ] for the party. You see them at places like the DNC.
The Democrats, in power have , in the last four years, turned from moderate to far left.
This Democrat Party does not speak for it’s base anymore – it speaks left of base.
Mr Obama and PhD, think they speak for the Democrat Party They speak to / for the Leftists WITHIN the Democrat Party.
How do I know?…ask Mr Suyts Place 🙂
My family have been, for many generations, registered Democrats…………….. Standing in that 7 hour line….. Voting straight Republican.
They will be remembering these:
“Remember Ambassador Chris Stevens, Consular officer Sean Smith and Navy SEALs Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty; and remember the casual mendacity of Obama as he changed his rhetoric about the Benghazi, Libya, murders on a virtually hourly basis.
Remember Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, Immigration official Jaime Zapata and the unknown hundreds of Central Americans murdered by narcoterrorists deliberately armed by the Obama Administration in the disastrous Operation Fast and Furious. And remember Attorney General Eric Holder as he blatantly lied under oath to Congress and the American people about the gunrunning nightmare that cost hundreds of millions of dollars and hundreds of lives.
Remember the dozens of ventures led by Obama cronies that dove into bankruptcy one after another, like the swimmers in an Esther Williams film. And remember the billions of taxpayer dollars which disappeared forever beneath the surface of solvency.
Remember the record numbers of Americans needing government assistance to survive, our society sliding into the abyss with them.
Remember the brazen hostility displayed by our enemies as they sense Obama’s fumbling weakness the way a coyote smells a nearby lamb.
Remember the record rise in our national debt.
Remember the millions of illegal aliens roaming our land, safe from law enforcement as they spread misery and crime.
Remember the hate. Never before has America been so deliberately divided. Never before has a President directed his accomplices and minions to show such overt disrespect and disdain for those among their fellow citizens who labor to make America exceptional despite Obama’s belief that exceptionalism is something to avoid. Remember every time some liberal has slandered you with baseless charges of racism — or worse — because you expect him to strive to contribute something worthwhile to the Nation.
Remember the violence of the union thugs who went so far as to deny their fellow citizens aid in the wake of Sandy.
Remember the dream that is the real America. Remember the gift of liberty which we share.”
AND REMEMBER WHAT THE DEMOCRAT PARTY USED TO STAND FOR:
That’s exactly true. This is why there is no such thing as a bluedog Democrat anymore. The Dems drove them to the Repubs. Catholics used to overwhelmingly vote Dem. It isn’t so anymore.
And, thanks! 🙂
PhD and Mr Obama should have taken notice in 2010… Did they really believe all those Republicans got elected by Republicans?
Many Democrat families believe, the only way to clean up the Democrat Party – is to vote them all out – and start over — rebuilding back to a moderate base.
I truly believe there is a great opportunity for a 3rd party. It may come, in part, from disenfranchised Dems.
Yes, they should have. It’s an interesting side story to this. Depending upon the outcome I will write about it.
O’kay 🙂
I think you have the wrong angle here. Why is it that people can’t buy their own stuff. US is not a poor developing country and even those on financial aid would be able to scrape together $50 per person I think. Does the US state governments give out warnings that power and natural gas lines may fail and you should purchase appropriate sleeping protection and in the case of this storm have some food supplies? If this hasn’t been done this would be my criticism and not that the government is literally meant to cloth and feed you when aid is already provided. This storm was not even a surprise. $50 will cover a sleeping bag and enough food for a week. http://www.walmart.com/ip/Everest-Mummy-5F-15C-Degree-Sleeping-Bag/2581360 For those who can’t get $50 due to social problems I would suggest some support to regular charities (which I am guessing already happens) would be better than the Gov doing it. I might also have criticisms of the 100 deaths if some of them involved getting electricuted in flood waters when power should have been cut.
Kelly, some of these people have lost their homes. So even if they had purchased their own stuff it could be in the middle of the Atlantic by now.
I am not talking about those who have lost everything. The article is not either as power would not be of concern either to someone who had lost their house. Loss of water and sewerage would be a larger issue in my opinion than loss of power because can lead to disease, with loss of power to utilities and damaged pipes etc. this may have happened. So indirectly loss of power in this way I am guessing is an issue.
On the way in to work, I heard a black conservative call in on my local talk radio station. He told of how he was in a long line of voters this morning, and heard four black women talking ahead of him. He said one had her ten year old son with her and told the other three “Last time I voted for Obama, this time I am voting for my son. He’s going to need a job and Obama can’t get it done, so I’m voting for Romney.” The caller said that the other three women all nodded in agreement. He went on to say that he believes that Obama will only get about 80% of their vote this time around.
I live in between two villages of about 400 residents each. The polling station in the village I pass through on my regular commute had traffic all jammed up, and vehicles circling for parking spots. I have never seen anything like it there before.
That’s the way I see it, too. Many Black Americans had higher hopes for Obama.
Sad to say, but Obama is simply a Quota kid. The black community so wanted to demonstrate they were equal, they chose an inferior candidate. There are many Blacks that would have done better. Unfortunately, they chose an incompetent inexperienced man for the job. (Well, they did not, the liberal establishment did).
I once would have voted for Powell, but now I am very pleased that his wife told him he could not run.
That political desk jockey never had me fooled.
Having kids does that to you.
Forward Downward: Stocks Crash After Obama Win
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost nearly 250 points in the first hour of trading on Wednesday morning, the day after President Barack Obama won re-election to a second term in office. News of poor economic forecasts in Europe also drove the steep decline; the European Union is now predicting that it will slide into recession.
European markets had actually greeted the Obama win with a brief rise, before economic reality set in. Growth is too slow in the U.S.–an anemic 2% at best, driven largely by third-quarter defense acquisitions–to take up the slack in the global economy. With the U.S. headed toward a fiscal cliff, and the balance of power in Washington essentially unchanged, with the president promising more tax hikes, markets see little reason for optimism.
Renewed job creation, strong retail performance in the fourth quarter, and a political solution to the long-term debt problems of the U.S. government would all combine to create a sunnier outlook. But for the moment, those goals are uncertain, and the economic outlook on the morning after Obama’s triumph looks dim for now.”
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/11/07/Forward-Downward-Stocks-Crash-After-Obama-Win