He probably was part of the problem

McCain is 71 years old. He doesn't know the difference between Shiites and Sunnis. He is almost as bad of a speaker as Bush. He struggles to get support from the Christian Right. He has married himself to Bush's policies and his 30% approval ratings, and he still supports the illegal OCCUPATION of Iraq.

Any Neo-Cons out there that still think he has a chance?

Better get the hackers ready you cheating, traitorous, tax evading, bigotted scum. Or maybe your the other type of republican; dumb, dumb and dumb.

Doubled the debt again(see Ronald Reagan), raided the Social Security fund, continues to allow a $500 billion dollar per year deficit to China, give tax breaks and loopholes to the top 2% and inernational corporations, and spend 12 billion per week on an illegal OCCUPATION of a country that once served as a counter force to the dreaded Iranians. Hey, these Republicans sure are fiscally responsible. They are also pretty good at foreign policy.

As a victim of the failed manmade levees in New Orleans and I might add we received no federal assistance in any form, I find it disingenuous and appalling that McCain would have the nerve to come here and pander for my vote. Since like Ron Paul, he opposed all help for us. I'm a Viet Vet like McCain and spent 10 months in the VA recovering from my wounds where I met my wife, and never thought of McCain as my hero. I also refused any disability from the military too. My father was a WW2 Vet and a Japanese POW for over 3 years and in the Bataan Death March. He never discussed it and we both felt the heroes are the ones that never returned or were gravely injured. I'm an Independent but I will sit out this election. I don't want another 4 years of Bush, but I live in a Red State and my vote won't actually matter. The GOP has lost it's way and sold out our country. Maybe McCain needs to release his wife's tax returns too. Who knows, maybe we'll see her connection to Keating in there too? Let McCain be elected, then the country won't blame the Dem's for the mess Bush left and we'll stay in Iraq too!

Sean, don't sit out the election just because you live in a red state. Those big margins of victory are why states are considered red or blue. If everyone voted, many states would be a closer reflection of what people really think. Besides, it's only April. Don't go conceding states already! Especially since president isn't the only important race on the ballot. You still need to vote for Congress, and you should pick candidates who support getting rid of the electoral college so everyone's vote can count, not just voters in the majority in their state.

Eric -

Hear, hear! Everyone eligible should vote, or representational democracy will be a farce (as it has been for so long), and as I have said here before, if you don't vote, you have no right to complain about the results.

great article..was wondering how you research the material? Thank you..

Is this the newest version of "Let Them Eat Cake?" I sincerely doubt (Hopeful, wishful spirit that I am) that the American public can even THINK about voting for another republicon.
However, I was disappointed in 2000 and 2004 after 4 years of proof of presidential idiotic comments and speeches...

I firmly believe, that in the future, we need a basic IQ test before we swear ANYONE in as pres.

Who would be vp under Bush-lite McCain? He would end up being our pres before the 4 years is up. If politics and bending over to kiss the repugnant machine's A$$ won't kill him...his way-too-young trophy wife will.
Then who would "rule?"

Wilka

At the time of Katrina the unhero McCain was chair of the Senate Commerce committee ... where he was well positioned to DO something. Sadly he is a selfish hack. Did a "Gingrich" to his first wife too!!!!

I am curious as to why the mainstream media (yes, that liberal entity) has not bothered to reveal Grandpa's initial reactions to the plight of the Katrina victims.

Please don't vote for McCain. He won't change a thing and we'll still have a government that is full of lies, corruption and be in a war that was started for the purposes of securing oil not democracy. He is too old and way out of touch with society. I wouldn't be suprised to hear that he actually could have done something to help before the hurricane hit, but decided to do nothing instead. Most everyone did that exact same thing then fell back on the excuse that a warning was given for people to leave. People pointed out the problems with the levees before the hurricane hit, but I'd bet that our congress decided to spend the money on other things, like the war, earmarks, and everything else that has increased our national debt by several trillion.

I read McCains book and he suffered badly at the hands of his Veitnamese captors. At one point they pinoned his arms behind his back and heaved him up off the floor, up-side-down! Then they shackled him spread-eagled to the wall and beat his testicles with a bamboo rod. That acconts for the limited mobility he has in his arms, visible even today, as well as the wild-eyed look he get's in his eye that's visible when he takes off his sun-glass's. What's the diffence between Maverick and Loco?

I think the citizens of Nawlins would have made out OK if someone had said from the get-go, 'youre on your own, don't expect help, because those people just can't get the job done', they'd probably be done rebuilding, by now. But, land battles are ugly, and with all the housing that got destroyed, the real estate opportunists saw a goldmine,
and then the government got in its' own way, and some 3,000 people died. FEMA should be renamed FEBL, and abolished as yet another failed government program that no one had the moxy to stand up and take charge of. How many billions got flushed out to sea, there? 9.4 trillion, and counting...

To Franklin: You read John McCain's book....and now you know all about the injuries he received due to the horrific treatment he (bravely?, heroically?, stoically?) endured at the (monstrous) hands of his (evil) captors. Too bad it doesn't become "The Truth" simply because it's written down in a book-or, at least not while there are still people alive that can tell a different story-it's the opinion of many a-good folk that John McCain is not merely an incredibly scheming, black-heart'd liar, like most politicians, but far, far worse--and that after suffering initial crash-related injury(s), his captors, rather than what you've read, treated him very, very well...why, almost like one of their own officers.

Check out "Veterans Against John McCain" (google it) for a little different take on the Senator--it might just surprise you--especially if all you know about him is what you learn here, in the MSM.

For instance, it was he that pulled the plug back in '92 on all funding for all POW/MIA ops.,--why would he do that?

Also, why would he have his Vietnam in-country military records permanently sealed? Why doesn't he want anyone...& everyone...to see them?

Why did he just recently push heavily & aggressively for AIRBus to win a multi-billion $ Air Force contract over Boeing? He'd rather send our tax $ to France?

That Keating 5/collapse of the Savings & Loans business/criminal activity he ramrodded is barely a scratch on the surface...btw, it cost America Billions of (1980's)dollars to fix that bit Fraud-

Let's not forget his BFF w/LIEberman lately...and I'd bet Newt took lessons on how to be a heartless creep from Johnny-boy...

He graduated 3rd from the bottom at the Naval Academy...considering his father's & grandfather's pull there, that's reallllllly bad.

On & on & on...there is so much about this man that is being withheld from the public's eye--much more than any other candidate easily.

If there could ever be a worse pres. than our current buffoon, it would be McCain--only he'd be worse in a far more sinister, & intentionally destructive way...

We all agree the situation leading up to, during, and after Katrina should have been handled differently. However, blaming President Bush and Senator McCain exhibits a general misunderstanding of something called “states rights,” disaster response, and related protocol.
Disaster preparation, response, and recovery responsibilities in this country fall according to this hierarchy: 1. local government, 2. state government, and 3. then federal government. Only when asked, can the next level of government intercede. Our Founding Fathers set it up this way to prevent federal troops from entering a state under the guise of help when in fact their motives were more nefarious. This is why the National Guard in each state is under the command of the governor, not the U.S. military. The governor can call out “troops” to maintain order without involving the federal government.
In regards to Katrina, both the Executive (the President) and Legislative (Senate and House of Representatives) branches of government could NOT get involved until asked to do so by the governor of Louisiana.
Looking then at the hierarchy, Mayor Ray Nagin had the first and primary responsibility to prepare New Orleans for the storm. How well did the city agencies prepare and respond?
Next, Governor Kathleen Blanco waited several days after Katrina before asking for federal assistance. How well did the state agencies prepare and respond?
Finally, the federal government was asked to step in and it took them several days to get launch their recovery efforts. Clearly, FEMA was not prepared as well as it should have, for which President Bush took responsibility.
An interesting article along these lines was written in Blacknewsweekly, an online news outlet, by Christopher Ruddy on 9/5/2005.
http://www.blacknewsweekly.com/news187.html
To back all this up, I checked what the State of Louisiana Emergency Disaster Plan says about who is responsible. The following is copied verbatim from their plan, page 5:
“The initial actions of prevention, mitigation, preparedness, and response and recovery operations are conducted by the local government. Local authorities will exhaust their resources, and then use mutual aid agreements with volunteer groups, the private sector, and/or neighboring parishes. State assistance will supplement local efforts and federal assistance will supplement State and local efforts when it is clearly demonstrated that it is beyond local and State capability to cope with the emergency/disaster.”
Public discourse in these forums should provide opportunity for collegial discussion of the published articles. People of differing political persuasions can enjoy collegial repartee and not resort to name calling, which is a violation of MJ forum rules.

well well written..Im no Bush fan at all, but, dammit, people should get the facts correct as you have done here..thank you

Sir,

If you sit out this election you will help elect Sen. McCain. It will cost you nothing to vote, but everything not to vote.

This reptile wants to continue with Bush's disastrous economic policies, which means stealing from our children. Of course, if you are a war criminal who has dropped napalm on other human beings, like McCain, stealing from children must seem like a rather small offense.

Please DO NOT SIT OUT this election! After the last 7 yrs, we are in dire straits and cannot afford another 4 yrs of like-wise "Upper Crust Politics as Usual"! Many of my family members are also "survivors" of Katrina, but are barely surviving the BUSH AFTERMATH! Please VOTE and change the mess the Re-Dubs have gotten America into! God Bless you and AMERICA!

To Eric Ferguson:

"you should pick candidates who support getting rid of the electoral college so everyone's vote can count, not just voters in the majority in their state."

What candidates actually support eliminating the electoral college?Can you name them please?

Thank you Barry for shining a light on the Katrina situation for me. I will look further into it and try to understand how Louisiana could have failed it's citizens so miserably. Was it just b/c they were poor? Or poor and black combined? Yes I do know that not all of the citizens were black.

Shari B

“I will look further into it and try to understand how Louisiana could have failed it's citizens so miserably. Was it just b/c they were poor? Or poor and black combined? Yes I do know that not all of the citizens were black.”

I really believe that race and economic status had nothing to do with government officials behaving as they did. As you said, the disaster befell all people and creatures. "God…sends rain on the just and the unjust" Matthew 5:45

The issue was that the responsible officials were not prepared for such a huge natural event and in hindsight, failed to take timely actions for both evacuation and restoration.

From what I have read, Mayor Nagel and former Governor Blanco were slow in their responses. The same day Blanco asked Bush to declare an emergency he did (August 27). Local police did little to maintain civil order. You recall the terrible scenes from the Superdome? That was the local city official’s fault, not FEMA’s, not President Bush’s, and not Senator McCain’s. That said, FEMA was not well prepared either, for which they were soundly and appropriately criticized.

Katrina was simply a very large natural disaster and we must understand that the government cannot protect us from everything.

It should be noted, however, that Florida was hit with four major hurricanes in one year and the leadership and infrastructure there responded much better. Uhm… is it ok to mention the Florida governor’s name at that time?

Correct we can not depend on government to protect us from all things. However where government responsibility came in it failed at all levels in Katrina. And for sure "good job Brownie" was the tip of the spear.

Yes, vote or we get four more years of Bush-heavy with McCain. Vote for all the offices as we need change within congress just as much as in the White House.

Please don't stay home. Anyone with a "D" by their name needs your vote. Just remember........the supreme court. Do we really want the GOP to appoint any more Alitos or Roberts? Those kind of appointments will continue to erode our rights. Give the Dems a chance....they can't do worse. We need complete control of congess and the white house if we are to repair the horendous damage done to our country. We can't afford 4 more years of the GOP.

Considering what Berry Wallace wrote, it still stands to say that the system failed all Katrina victims and still are. Praise goes out to all the volunteers and all others that helped. The government gets a grade0 from me. These people are still suffering becasue of the failed government. When it was first televised, the government had an obligation to step in whether asked or not, but they didn't. Right now, Iraq is getting more help than the victims of Kitrina. That's how much this government thinks about their own people.