t adores Cindy
t from afar
I'm thinking about buying something very expensive. Maybe an antelope.
Anya ,'Get It Done'
Natter .38 Special
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
Gus - Sep 11, 2005 12:35:42 pm PDT #6435 of 10002
Bag the crypto. Say what is on your mind.
aurelia - Sep 11, 2005 12:39:23 pm PDT #6436 of 10002
All sorrows can be borne if you put them into a story. Tell me a story.
I think they changed the phone number and never gave it to the cabinet or the Joint Chiefs. Only the political advisors have it.
tommyrot - Sep 11, 2005 12:42:51 pm PDT #6437 of 10002
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.
Um... Carl Rove dropped his PDA, the batteries popped out and he lost all his contact #s?
Either that, or the house elf that remembers his numbers ran away.
Topic!Cindy - Sep 11, 2005 12:42:55 pm PDT #6438 of 10002
What is even happening?
Now watch this drive...
Seriously, I don't necessarily think W's up to the task anyhow, but since when does any President need to be "Research Boy"? People ought to be reporting to him every 15 minutes when there's a big ass disaster in the making.
And right now? Heads ought to be rolling not only at FEMA and Homeland (although particularly there) but throughout the West Wing. Lots of people ought to be having their asses fired but good, right now. I have no hope of that happening though, because one thing we know this Presidency is great at is pretending failure doesn't exist, and given the mindset I suspect rules this administration, I suspect firing incompetents, who couldn't point him in the direction of a few crucial facts like (it's been three days, and people ain't getting out, and ain't getting no water, and the Mayor and Governor are in too deep to handle it) would feel like an admission of failure. It wouldn't be, but that's beside the point, sadly.
tommyrot - Sep 11, 2005 12:44:18 pm PDT #6439 of 10002
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.
Or, maybe Rove's owl died of mercury poisoning.
Emily - Sep 11, 2005 12:47:55 pm PDT #6440 of 10002
"In the equation E = mc⬧, c⬧ is a pretty big honking number." - Scola
I read somewhere that a whole lot of top people in some department that oughta have been on top of this were in Greece for somebody's wedding.
I remember no other details, but there you are.
Zenkitty - Sep 11, 2005 12:50:57 pm PDT #6441 of 10002
Every now and then, I think I might actually be a little odd.
Hell, I'm just an editor, and I can't go on vacation for two days without having somebody backing me up who knows my job. Top people in government going to Greece shouldn't cause the world to end. Or even a city.
brenda m - Sep 11, 2005 12:51:43 pm PDT #6442 of 10002
If you're going through hell/keep on going/don't slow down/keep your fear from showing/you might be gone/'fore the devil even knows you're there
Seriously, I don't necessarily think W's up to the task anyhow, but since when does any President need to be "Research Boy"? People ought to be reporting to him every 15 minutes when there's a big ass disaster in the making.
But when the Boss isn't interested in being bothered with the information, it doesn't get to him. When the Boss has replaced anyone who had both experience and authority so that the power structure of the various agencies is such that people have one or the other but not both, then the people who understand the importance don't have the authority to make waves and make sure the urgency of the situation get communicated at the top levels. The fact that the current president both mistrusts and disparages the idea of receiving anything through channels other than these just compounds the problem.
Topic!Cindy - Sep 11, 2005 12:56:38 pm PDT #6443 of 10002
What is even happening?
Hell, I'm just an editor, and I can't go on vacation for two days without having somebody backing me up who knows my job. Top people in government going to Greece shouldn't cause the world to end. Or even a city.
Exactly, because otherwise, the next time some foreign Head of State (or really popular guy, or whatever) dies, gets married, or what have you would make an ideal time for terrorists to strike us.
But when the Boss isn't interested in being bothered with the information, it doesn't get to him. When the Boss has replaced anyone who had both experience and authority so that the power structure of the various agencies is such that people have one or the other but not both, then the people who understand the importance don't have the authority to make waves and make sure the urgency of the situation get communicated at the top levels. The fact that the current president both mistrusts and disparages the idea of receiving anything through channels other than these just compounds the problem.I find this more likely and more damning than Koppel's "Don't you watch the news" chiding. I wish he'd asked, "Where are your advisors? Why weren't you kept abreast of the urgency earlier on?"
I want a commission er...commissioned, like the 9/11 commission.
Gus - Sep 11, 2005 12:57:31 pm PDT #6444 of 10002
Bag the crypto. Say what is on your mind.
You know, there was an article somewhere on the net a while back to the effect that everyone who ignored authority during the 9/11 thing did better. They like, survived and stuff.
Never mind, for a sec, who is in office. I am starting to think that government is just too far away from events as they occur, that government is all wrapped up in whatever crap is occupying its mind at the moment to be of use.