No on Roberts
Stygius quotes an article in the Seattle Weekly that argues,

On Roe v. Wade, for example, Roberts has said in a previous confirmation hearing that he considers that to be settled law. And yet ads are airing featuring the words of a young Roberts calling for its removal. Liberals who know Roberts say that he is a best-case scenario, someone who, given the proclivities of the Bush administration, is a straight arrow, as good (or at least as harmless) a nominee as we could hope for. Why, then, the attacks?

In part, they are purely reactionary. Roberts is being challenged because of who nominated him.

...and concludes that Democrats are simply outflanked.

I disagree. To expand on a responding comment at Stygius' blog, I agree with the Washington Post's E.J. Dionne -- if not the editorial board -- that on nonresponsiveness alone, Democrats are entitled to a party-line vote against Roberts. As I've said before, I'd be perfectly supportive of Republicans were the shoe on the other foot. Hearings like those that have just taken place are a ridiculous farce, and for the sake of real checks and balances, Democrats should draw a line in the sand against such farces ever taking place again.

What little light does shine through the peephole shows me a Roberts willing to approve of sending a 12 year old girl away in handcuffs for a french fry, give "private advice" to Dubya's brother Jeb during the 2000 Florida recount,* decry important upgrades to a Voting Rights Act being end run by updated Jim Crow gimmickry, and generally grease the skids for unquestioned state power and ignore the rights of individuals.

I expect not just the Kennedys, but the Bidens, not just the Leahys, but the Durbins and Schumers to vote against this nominee. And I urge the Democrats (and Republicans of conscience) in the Senate to do so as well.

Oh, and Senator Tom "The Sterilizer" Coburn: cry me a river.

=====
* As digby pointed out, Jeffrey Toobin noted in the "where are they now" chapter of his"Too Close To Call" account of the 2000 election crisis:

The president's first two nominations to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia curcuit --- generally regarded as the stepping-stone to the Supreme Court --- went to Miguel Estrada and John G. Roberts, Jr., who had played important behind-the scenes roles in the Florida litigation.

NOTES: "farce" -- RudePundit; "french fry" -- Kim Lane Scheppele, "Balkinization"; "Voting Rights Act" -- publius, "Legal Fictions"; "cry me a river" -- Paperwight, "..Fair Shot".
posted by Thomas Nephew at 11:15:00 PM -- |    

 
Shakespeare in Kabul
A bit of nice news for a change. The Associated Press' Daniel Cooney reports (via the Boston Globe):

Four centuries after the famous bard's death, one of his plays has been adapted for the local culture in an effort to help revive a once-thriving theater scene and to promote peace in a country riven by ethnic hatred and still wracked by violence after decades of war.

"Theater is the best way to communicate messages in Afghanistan, whether it be about peace, democracy, or women's rights. It's much more popular than television,' said Aziz Elyas, an Afghan playwright. ''But during the Taliban's time, it wasn't allowed. They said Islam forbid it.' [...]

In the past week, ''Love's Labor's Lost,' a Shakespeare comedy, has been performed in the capital to packed audiences of local royalty, diplomats, aid workers, residents, and street kids.

"Love's Labor Lost" turns out to be an interesting choice -- it's about men who initially forswear women to devote themselves fully to learning and books, only to be convinced that some remarkable women they meet are of far greater value. Given Afghanistan's recent reign of terror by blinkered scholastics, its history of repression of women, and the still unsatisfactory status of women there, this is a nicely chosen play. Good for its producers -- I just hope at least a few women were able to attend the performances.

I saw this first at the wonderfully named "Truth and Beauty" blog, whose proprietor Baraka quotes some relevant lines:

From women's eyes this doctrine I derive.
They sparkle still the right Promethean fire;
They are the books, the arts, the academes,
That show, contain, and nourish all the world...

Let us once lose our oaths to find ourselves,
Or else we lose ourselves to keep our oaths.
It is religion to be thus forsworn,
For charity itself fulfils the law
And who can sever love from charity?'

Baraka limns this as decrying "the stupidity of blind adherence to vows or books, and the ultimate need for compassion & love to suffuse all actions," and adds:

I'd rather like to be a part of the crowd in that garden in Kabul, under the stars, listening to Shakepeare in Pashtun, dreaming of & planning for new days to come.

In the spirit of those new days, I'll close with one of my favorite photographs ever -- of women in January 2002 waiting at the gates to apply to northern Afghanistan's University of Balkh, for the first time in years.

posted by Thomas Nephew at 9:40:00 PM -- |    

 
Louisiana mayor, police chief, sheriff wanted for questioning
By me, anyway. I've noted the story told by Lorrie Beth Slonsky a couple of times already (9/8/2005, 9/9/2005) and I'm just not ready to let go of it.

Here are excerpts of a transcript of the September 9 "This American Life" broadcast ("After the Flood," minutes 21:05-38:45), compiled by "bellatrys" at "Nothing New Under the Sun." Slonsky is speaking with producer Alex Blumberg:

SLONSKY: So we are going through town and people *saw* us and thought, "Hm, you know, here come some folks, they must know something," so our numbers doubled, from probably about 200 and then doubled again, so we were probably about 800 to a thousand people, marching up to the bridge. When we got to the bridge, there was the armed Gretna sherriffs, and they had formed a line at the foot of the bridge--

BLUMBERG: Uh-huh--

SLONSKY: --so even before we could *explain* what we wanted or what we had heard, that's when they began firing the weapons. Gretna police *shot* at us and said, "Get away, get away, you *cannot* come on the bridge."

BLUMBERG: This bridge goes across the Mississippi River, to a town called *Gretna*, in neighboring Jefferson Parish. The entire region across the river is called the West Bank. Debbie Zelinsky, a 24-year-old sales agent from Boston, was *another* guest at the Monteleone [sp]. She'd been on vacation in New Orleans with a group of five: her friends Shirann and Rashida, Rashida's mother and thirteen-year-old brother, and Rashida's brother's fifteen-year-old friend.

ZELINSKY: The cops were just firing into the air to get people back, they had guns pointed in people's faces, telling them to get back down or they will shoot you. [...]

SLONSKY: What I thought was, "Are they *SERIOUS*? They must be mistaken, they could *not* be shooting at a group of *desperate-ass* people." But, apparently, they were serious. But we were so *desperate*, you know, we *gotta get out* of here, this is our only way *out*, we *can't* go to the Superdome, we *can't* go to the Convention Center, we're *scared to death* of all the - for our lives, and for the people around us' lives, that we *had* to approach them, so my partner, Larry, had his badge with him, his fire department badge, so he would raise it up, lay it on the ground, put our hands up, and walk backwards and say, "May we approach?"

BLUMBERG: Mm-hm.

SLONSKY: And when we approached and had them in conversation, the sherriff informed us that there *were* no buses, that the police commander had lied to us, and when -- Larry questioned, it's like "Can we just ask you *why* we can't cross the bridge?" because there was *no* traffic, very little traffic on this six-lane highway, and they said that -- [sighs] "You are *not* crossing this bridge. We are *not* turning the West Bank into another Superdome." [fierce] And to *us*, when they said that, that was *absolutely* these were code words for, "If you're poor, and you're black, you are *not* getting out of New Orleans, you are *not* coming to our territory."

[long pause]

BLUMBERG: It--it does seem - hard to avoid - sort of talking about - *race* here--

SLONSKY: Yes. We're white, and, uh, everybody else that - not everybody, *most* every other person was African-American. And, that is what they *saw*, and that is what they were responding to, that this group of people of color were *not* going to come into their neighborhood.

Via the "Recording Katrina" blog. The story has also been confirmed in the New York Times, which adds:

Arthur Lawson, chief of the Gretna, La., Police Department, confirmed that his officers, along with those from the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office and the Crescent City Connection Police, sealed the bridge.

"There was no place for them to come on our side," Mr. Lawson said.

Via Gary Farber. But all is well now:

Gretna Mayor Ronnie Harris said residents could look forward to near-full city services.

'We have lifted the boiled water alert,' he told the radio station. 'Debris pick-up will begin from our private contractor.'

I hope that mayor, his police chief, and the sheriff and his elected county superior stand trial for ... what? Attempted manslaughter? Hate crimes? I don't know, I'm no lawyer, so I'll let the folks at Law & Order work it out -- I doubt any United States attorney will touch it, not with the current Department of Justice and White House in charge.

But if you ask me, these people belong behind bars. For sheer depraved indifference and utter dereliction of civic and human duty, this is the Kitty Genovese story of our times.


=====
UPDATE, 9/16: L.A. Times story "After blocking the bridge, Gretna circles the wagons":

Little over a week after this mostly white suburb became a symbol of callousness for using armed officers to seal one of the last escape routes from New Orleans — trapping thousands of mostly black evacuees in the flooded city — the Gretna City Council passed a resolution supporting the police chief's move.

"This wasn't just one man's decision," Mayor Ronnie C. Harris said Thursday. "The whole community backs it."

Via Majikthise. But see also the inevitable and richly deserved arthurlawson.com.
posted by Thomas Nephew at 12:50:00 AM -- |    

 
Recording Katrina
Recording Katrina is a "collection of survivors' stories and non-traditional reporting on the recovery effort in the Gulf" that eRobin ("fact-esque") and I have been compiling.

Generally speaking, I think we both intend to get out of the way and let the stories do the talking, as opposed to adding a lot of our own commentary. I see this as simply an online repository of Katrina survivor stories, with a special interest in personal accounts -- an oral/electronic history of the storm and its aftermath. For eRobin's description, see her announcement in the "American Street" blog.

Tips, stories, and especially a few more collaborators -- most especially ones with connections to the region -- are welcome. You can leave suggestions as comments here, or e-mail RecordingKatrina@gmail.com. posted by Thomas Nephew at 9:45:00 PM -- |    

 
Guaranteed to raise a smile
Sell The Ranch -- an open letter to President Bush.
Sung to the tune of "Tom Dooley" -- a ballad by Bob Harris -- and richly linked, too! Inspired by this VIP visit to the Gulf coast.
Stupid Texas Song -- by the Austin Lounge Lizards ("the world's oldest boy band") so it's OK:

One more stupid song about Texas
For miles and miles it rambles on
Biggest egos, biggest hair, biggest liars anywhere
Let's sing another stupid Texas song

I want to sit on Trent Lott's Porch -- the bumpersticker; proceeds go to groups assisting Katrina survivors
Bush administration promises speedier response to national disasters -- The Poor Man: "In future - whether dealing with a hurricane in the Gulf, an earthquake in California, or a terrorist attack against our cities - we will be pro-active in our approach to evading responsibility."
As The World Spins -- Stryker turns his talents to soap opera:

“There, there, Georgie, ” Barbara said, patting the elder Bush on the arm, “It wasn’t that bad.”

“Oh yes it was! We could’ve had a fine regatta, but they said there were bodies floating in the water and we couldn’t sail there.”

“I asked them why they just couldn’t paint their heads red and green?” interjected Barbara.

Convict Colony (sung to the tune of "Yellow Submarine") -- a "Barmy Army" England cricket song. Somewhat anti-Australian, but all in good fun. I think.
The Laugh Judgment -- religious jokes by religious folks, so it's OK. Top 10 jokes, and top 10 most offensive, where #8 is "Jesus walks into a motel, throws a bag of nails on the counter and says, "Can you put me up for the night?" Badaboom.


=====
NOTES: "Sell the Ranch" via Jens Scholz, "Stupid Texas Song" and "Trent Lott's Porch" via Patrick Nielsen Hayden, "Convict Colony" via Crooked Timber commenter otto, Laugh Judgment via Teresa Nielsen Hayden , where commenters add their own jokes.
posted by Thomas Nephew at 9:31:00 AM -- |    

 
"It Was as if All of Us Were Already Pronounced Dead"
The Washington Post's Wil Haygood and Ann Scott Tyson report about the chaos and disgrace of the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. They spoke to survivors, National Guard members, and police. Excerpts from the first page:

For five eternal-seeming days, as many as 20,000 people, most of them black, waited to be rescued, not just from the floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina but from the nightmarish place where they had sought refuge.

During that time, the moon that hovered over the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center seemed closer than anyone who could provide those inside the center with any help. [...]

"It was as if all of us were already pronounced dead," said Tony Cash, 25, who endured three nights of hunger, violence and darkness at the convention center. "As if somebody already had the body bags. Wasn't nobody coming to get us." [...]

...what happened in the convention center stands as a harsh indictment of government's failure to help its citizens when they needed it most. That futility was symbolized by the presence in the convention center for three of the most chaotic days of at least 250 armed troops from the Louisiana National Guard. They were camped out in a huge exhibition hall separated from the crowd by a wall, and used their trucks as a barricade when they were afraid the crowd would break in.

This is a front page report, followed by two full pages within the paper. Among the findings that fill in the picture for me, anyway:

• the Convention Center was filled with people turned away from the official Superdome refuge site
• officials estimate about 10 people died there
• the report documents numerous crimes and deaths seen by eyewitnesses
• a SWAT team removed the (white) wife and relative of a Jefferson Parish police deputy from the center
  
• 250 Louisiana Guard troops, from the 769th and 527th Engineering Battalions, were assigned to set up a base at the center from the outset, but did not intervene to provide security in the Convention Center out of concern for their own safety:
  

  "We were told they couldn't help us unless the order came down from the top, from a lot of people," [Convention Center president Jimmie] Fore said. "The only time they partnered with us was when there were gunshots in the area where they were actually staying. They protected themselves."
  
  Maj. Keith Waddell, commander of the 769th Engineer Battalion, said his unit was never asked to quell the violence at the convention center. "The idea of helping with the convention center never came up," he said. "We were just preparing ourselves for the next mission."
  
  Waddell said he believes that, if so ordered, the Louisiana Guard forces present would have been adequate to get the center under control.
  
  "I feel confident we could have controlled it, with the numbers we had," Waddell said.
  
  But senior commanders indicated they had ruled out that possibility. Col. Stephen C. Dabadie, chief of staff of the Louisiana National Guard, said the engineer units were "not designed to secure the convention center."

Well, I'm told we go to war with the army we have, not the one we might want or wish to have at a later time. The Louisiana National Guard ought to have provided security with the men they had. And if those troops were able to "order more weapons and ammunition" as soon as they arrived, they might have ordered some supplies and more help for the citizens they were supposed to serve.


=====
EDIT, 9/15: "army we have" quote expanded, link added. posted by Thomas Nephew at 9:30:00 AM -- |    

 
Katrina body counters secretive, corrupt
As James Wolcott has pointed out, quite apart from the human grief and misery of Katrina, it might well become politically significant whether the Katrina body count exceeds the 9/11 death toll of about 3,000 people. But that presumes that a full and accurate accounting of deaths will actually happen. Two developments don't give me confidence on that score.

First, while CNN was able to face down a federal Katrina task force directive preventing news organizations from covering the recovery of bodies, Josh Marshall forwards a San Francisco Chronicle report by Cecilia M. Vega that journalists are still running into resistance -- from the Army:

Outside one house on Kentucky Street, a member of the Army 82nd Airborne Division summoned a reporter and photographer standing nearby and told them that if they took pictures or wrote a story about the body recovery process, he would take away their press credentials and kick them out of the state.

"No photos. No stories," said the man, wearing camouflage fatigues and a red beret. [...]

...The 82nd Airborne soldier told reporters the Army had a policy that requires media to be 300 meters -- more than three football fields in length -- away from the scene of body recoveries in New Orleans. If reporters wrote stories or took pictures of body recoveries, they would be reported and face consequences, he said, including a loss of access for up-close coverage of certain military operations.

In a second post, Marshall points out that on its face, this suggests that Army war zone regulations are trumping US court decisions on American soil.

Second, Raw Story's Miriam Raftery reports that FEMA and then Lousiana have hired Kenyon International to set up a mobile morgue in Baton Rouge. The problem is that Kenyon Intl. is a subsidiary of SCI, a firm involved in mortuary scandals in Florida, Texas, and Georgia in which its subsidiaries lost track of burial plots, dumped bodies in fields or crammed them into the same burial space, and of course concealed these frauds from the families of the deceased. Raftery:

In other words, FEMA and then Blanco outsourced the body count from Hurricane Katrina -- which many believe the worst natural disaster in U.S. history -- to a firm whose parent company is known for its 'experience' at hiding and dumping bodies.

Not exactly the corporate capabilities the American public is looking for, I think. Ms. Raftery did find one qualification: SCI is a major contributor to George H. W. Bush, President Bush's father. While SCI is apparently the 800 pound gorilla in the funeral home business, there was no need to go corporate in the first place:

Why FEMA chose to outsource mortuary services to a paid contractor is also mystery to Dan Buckner, co-owner of the Gowen-Smith Chapel in the Gulf area. Buckner had planned to serve with the Disaster Mortuary Operational Responses Team, which reportedly told Buckner's partner, Gary Hicks of Paducah, KY, to expect up to 40,000 deaths from Katrina in Louisiana and Mississippi.

Upon learning of Kenyon’s contract, Buckner expressed puzzlement. He told the Shelbyville Times-Gazette, "Volunteers would have gone at no charge."

I don't hope the death toll is high just so Bush gets a black eye; I'd much rather learn that the death toll isn't much higher than around 450 (the latest rough figure I've heard, and quite bad enough already). On the other hand, if it is much higher, I don't want that concealed by sloppiness or malfeasance. Neither of these developments is reassuring on those scores.


=====
EDIT, 9/14: Title simplified from "Katrina body count not tranparent, body counters corrupt." posted by Thomas Nephew at 12:50:00 PM -- |    

 
Reality check
From the famous excerpt of the Ron Suskind article ("Without a doubt") for the New York Times Magazine, where he's talking to a White House aide:

The aide said that guys like me were "in what we call the reality-based community," which he defined as people who "believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality." I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. "That's not the way the world really works anymore," he continued. "We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality -- judiciously, as you will -- we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do."

White House: "We create our own reality."



Katrina: "ha." posted by Thomas Nephew at 9:00:00 AM -- |    

 
If that's not incompetence, what is it?
Gary Farber forwards a map of the Louisiana parishes included in George W. Bush's August 27th state of emergency declaration. I trust you'll see the problem.

Is there a possibility this might have slowed down FEMA? "No authority, not one of the parishes." Back to pinochle.

(Map and title by Bob Harris.)


=====
UPDATE, 9/14: Mrs. Coulter comments that the parishes in South Louisiana were "already under a state of emergency related to damage from Tropical Storm Cindy (declared on Aug 23)." (link)
UPDATE, 9/15: Hold on. The parishes involved in the August 23 declaration were only a small part of South Louisiana. As Bob Harris observes (in an update to the same post), "Only five coastal parishes -- Jefferson, Lafourche, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, and St. Charles -- seem to be covered here, and only on a limited basis at that." In particular, Orleans Parish (New Orleans), St. Tammany Parish (north of Lake Pontchartrain) and several other parishes were apparently never covered by a federal state of emergency declaration before Katrina hit . I'm still unclear what effect this may have had on relief operations. posted by Thomas Nephew at 5:17:00 PM -- |    

 
"Georgia's New Poll Tax"
It's not often enough that I want to say it, but right on, New York Times! They're coming out strongly against the voter ID law in Georgia (mentioned previously in this blog) on their editorial page. From Georgia's New Poll Tax:

Until recently, Georgia, like most states, accepted many forms of identification at the polls. But starting this month, it is accepting only government-issued photo ID's. People with driver's licenses are fine. But many people without them have to buy a state ID card to vote, at a cost of $20 for a five-year card or $35 for 10 years. The cards are sold in 58 locations, in a state with 159 counties. It is outrageous that Atlanta does not have a single location. (The state says it plans to open one soon.) But the burden is also great on people in rural parts of the state.

The Republicans who pushed the law through, and Gov. Sonny Perdue, also a Republican, who signed it, say that it is intended to prevent fraud. But it seems clear that it is about keeping certain people away from the polls, for political advantage. The vast majority of fraud complaints in Georgia, according to its secretary of state, Cathy Cox, involve absentee ballots, which are unaffected by the new law. Ms. Cox says she is unaware of a single documented case in recent years of fraud through impersonation of a voter at the polls.

Citizens who swear they are indigent are exempt from the fee. But since the law does not define who is indigent, many people may be reluctant to swear and risk a criminal penalty. More important, the 24th Amendment, which outlawed poll taxes in federal elections, and the Supreme Court's decision striking down state poll taxes applied to all Americans, not just to the indigent. A Georgian who votes only in presidential elections, and buys a five-year card to do so, would be paying $10 per election. That is no doubt more than many people on fixed incomes, who struggle to get by but are not legally indigent, are willing to pay to vote.

I think it would be a great idea to ask John Roberts what he thinks about this. posted by Thomas Nephew at 5:15:00 PM -- |    

 
My 9/11 Freedom Perp Walk
Reporting on the "Freedom Walk" yesterday from the Pentagon to the Mall, the New York Times' Glen Justice and John Files noticed a few notes of discord. One lady had her anti-war sign taken away, and a protester along the march route held up a "Bush is a liar" sign, to be met by "USA" chants -- coached by Allison Barber, a Rumsfeld aide. And there was also this:

One man who registered for the walk was detained by a Pentagon police officer after he slipped a black hood over his head and produced a sign that read, 'Freedom?'

The other side said:

For Them, For Us, For Our Troops: Never Again
Support the McCain and Levin Amendments

I know, because that's the side I displayed first. Just as I had done at the inauguration, I was wearing a black poncho along with the hood the reporter noticed, an allusion to the infamous Abu Ghraib photo. My single alteration was to cut a couple of eyeholes in the pillowcase, a decision for safety over verisimilitude -- I wanted to be able to maybe avoid a punch.

I had registered for the march soon after noticing it, but was frankly apprehensive about the whole thing. I gathered my equipment -- poncho, file clips and twine for the sign -- in the hood and carried it on my shoulder into the staging area for the march, the south parking lot of the Pentagon, arriving around 9 AM. While my bag was searched, there was obviously nothing of concern in it.

The scene that greeted me was fairly strange. A prominent sign declared "Signs and banners prohibited" -- which may or may not have seemed like a non sequitur to the other "freedom walkers," but I didn't talk with any of the walkers to find out. Everyone was issued a "Freedom Walk" t-shirt and required to wear it -- a signal, along with a tape wristband, that one had been processed and deemed safe. Along with people bearing large organizational signs -- "AOL," "HUD," "Justice," and so forth, so groups could find to each other -- the whole thing looked homogeneous, hyperorganized and somehow infantilized. I found myself thinking of the old TV series "The Prisoner." On a small stage, an Air Force band played tunes, with a pretty good female vocalist singing country and other favorites, in dress blues.

I went over to a booth describing the Pentagon 9/11 memorial, which does look like it will be quite nice. There was an inscription book, where after a bit of thought I wrote "The best memorial to the 9/11 victims will be an America that preserves its freedoms." (In case anyone is ever bored enough to check, this may not be the precise wording, but it's close -- I jotted down some notes on that and other things, but eventually lost that scrap of paper).

As the start time approached, a pastor in uniform (I think, I wasn't close enough to the stage) led the crowd in prayer, which I did not join. Then Undersecretary of Defense Gordon Something gave a brief speech, in which he recalled Bush's first visit to the Pentagon, and the (perforce) unforgettable moment when Bush looked at all the generals in the room and said "Never forget." This was presumably inspirational.

A large gateway had been built, with "Freedom Walk" painted on the arch, under which walkers were to file out of the parking lot and on to the walk. Barricades to either side of the gateway funneled the walkers under the gate. Out of some concern for my safety from gung-ho types, I decided to stand behind those barricades and wait until the march had just begun to don my costume and hold up my sign. It didn't hurt that it was near a photographer and a TV man, and within a short distance of some uniformed police officers.

I was shaking a bit as I put on the poncho and hood and slung the sign around my neck. I first showed the "For them, for us..." side. Within maybe 15 or 20 seconds, an officer approached and told me that I would need to go to a designated protest area. I flipped the sign around at that point and said I didn't see why, I had a right to say what I was saying. Without further ado, I was handcuffed and marched off. The vocalist was actually singing the refrain "freedom" to some syrupy song at that moment. The crowd of walkers cheered for the police.

I was treated professionally by the Pentagon police. Frisked, put in a car, watch your head, latched behind a safety belt, out of the car, pockets emptied, transfer to a van, drive to a holding facility in a nondescript warehouse near the Pentagon City Metro stop, 13th and Fern or so if I recall correctly. Stood around for a while there -- they weren't sure which door was the entrance -- and once inside, there was more standing around. Finally some more officers appeared. We sat down at a table, and they began doing the paperwork for the arrest. It was hot, and one of the fellows at the table asked for a portable fan to be pointed more directly at them. "You sure? It's going to blow the papers all over the place." "Yeah." Papers blew all over the place.

I was eventually read my rights, and then the arresting officer got on the phone with a DA to see whether to add a charge because of the hood -- I learned that wearing a mask is potentially a "class 6 felony." But they decided not to press that charge.

Instead, I was cited for "failure to obey a lawful order," and will have a court date in early January in Alexandria. I was fingerprinted, photographed, and then, finally, released. It was around noon.

I did this to to remind people of the wrongs that have been committed in this so-called war on terror, to counter an organized, regimented official demonstration with a real demonstration of my own, and basically to rain on Rumsfeld's little parade in my own small way.

I do not at all disrespect the impulse to memorialize the victims of 9/11. I do object to using that impulse as a blatant political rallying tool by people who have botched so very much of the response to that attack, abused that attack to start another war to botch, and brought so much dishonor on this country in the process. I don't feel especially noble about my protest, and I was distressed about the possible felony charge. But not so much that I would have regretted anything.


=====
NOTE: In the interests of complete disclosure, I should say that I also added a small "hrwatch.org" to the "For them" side of the sign. I wouldn't do that again, since I'm not affiliated with the group and didn't discuss this with them, let alone get their approval. It was a blogger's impulse: give onlookers a place to look stuff up.

For more of my own discussion of the McCain and Levin amendments, see Three Senate detainee abuse debates , Torture commission, detainee treatment votes expected soon, Independent torture commission vote expected soon. See also Look pretty similar to me (re the Durbin flap this summer). If you would like to read even more of my incomparable discussions of Abu Ghraib and the wider topic of prisoner abuse and torture at Baghram, Guantanamo, and elsewhere, use the search box at the upper left of this page.
posted by Thomas Nephew at 9:00:00 AM -- |    

 
The next 9/11: still not ready
The Washington Post's Sari Horwitz and Christian Davenport report ("Terrorism Could Hurl D.C. Area Into Turmoil: Despite Efforts Since 9/11, Response Plans Incomplete"):

On the fourth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, the nation's capital lacks a comprehensive way to tell people what to do in a state of emergency, especially a terrorist attack with no warning, according to law enforcement and Homeland Security officials involved in emergency preparations.

"What we lack is a coordinated public information system in the event of a major incident," said David Snyder, a member of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments' homeland security task force. "What we need is a system that will function instantaneously and automatically every time. . . . That doesn't exist now."

Local leaders are taking note of the bungled Katrina response:

"For four years, we've been hearing from the feds that they are going to take charge so we can respond to any catastrophe that comes our way," said Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan (D). "And here's the first major test, and it's a failure. . . . I've lost confidence in [the Federal Emergency Management Agency] to come in and be part of the solution.

"We've got to take all the plans that relied on the federal government and throw them out and start over again," Duncan said.

Local emergency responses to what turned out to be false alarms have not helped build confidence, either. While the nation's attention was captured by the helter-skelter response to hapless pilots flying into the restricted airspace, there have been more serious lapses. For instance, an anthrax scare in March resulted in hundreds of Pentagon employees receiving antibiotics -- yet no local health authorities were informed. If the attack had been real, many people would have died who might have been saved, given the rapid progression of the disease.

The article points out that for some kinds of emergency, the best option may be to "shelter in place" -- not try to evacuate, but stay where you are.

But some local leaders are worried that the notion of staying put goes so strongly against human nature that in an emergency, people would flee no matter what they were told -- especially after seeing how long it took to get help to the disadvantaged in New Orleans.

"I think people will look at Katrina and think of 9/11 and think what you're supposed to do in an event of an attack is to run," [DC delegate Eleanor Holmes] Norton said. "And I think it's a failure that that's what people think. The best thing to do most of the time is to stay in place."

No, no, no, no, no, Ms. Norton! Get with the program! The best thing to do will be whatever "Drownie" and his FEMA flunkies decide is the best p.r. move for Master.


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UPDATE, 9/11: How FEMA delivered Florida for Bush, by Charles Mahtesian, govexec.com, 11/03/2004:

Seldom has any federal agency had the opportunity to so directly and uniquely alter the course of a presidential election, and seldom has any agency delivered for a president as FEMA did in Florida this fall.

Via digby. Nice to know they can deliver when it really counts. posted by Thomas Nephew at 1:04:00 AM -- |