I swear it feels like President Obama is always prepared for just about ANYTHING that might come our way.
Of course there are some who are criticizing the response to this storm as "overkill."
But as we all know if the President had not been so completely on the ball he would have been slammed for leaving the country unprepared for the damage left in its wake.
Hell they are already giving him shit for not ending his vacation earlier, even though it is clear he was able to handle both it and spend time with his family at the same time without a hitch.
Here's more awesome coverage of how President Obama and his team handled things:
ReplyDeletehttp://theobamadiary.com/2011/08/28/the-latest-2/
http://theobamadiary.com/2011/08/28/update-3/
http://theobamadiary.com/2011/08/27/take-care-and-thats-an-order/
http://theobamadiary.com/2011/08/27/national-response-coordination/
President Obama is head and shoulders (and hips) above President George W. Bush in his intellect and ability to multi-task and handle complex situations in a calm, efficient, and effective manner.
ReplyDeleteAnyone who does not vote for him in 2012 is a complete and utter fool.
Yeah, let's compare how well Bush handled Hurricane Katrina and Obama handled Hurricane Irene . . .
ReplyDeleteBush, after intentionally dismantled FEMA and appointed former horse-racing manager "yur doin a heckova job Brownie" was disasterously unprepared for the hurricane and left people to die.
Obama has been working to strengthen FEMA (while Republicans continue to undermine it)and the country is better prepared because of his leadership.
Sarah Palin, as a quarter term Governor who already agreed to pay the State back monies for makin up reasons for bringing her family on State business as a function of the First Family:
ReplyDelete"This is a big state, and I am obligated to -- and intend to -- keep Alaskans informed and meet with them as much as I can, from Barrow to Marshall to Ketchikan," Palin said in a written statement. "At the same time, I am blessed to have a large and loving family, and the discharge of my duties should not prevent me from spending time with them."
Sarah takes digs at Obama for taking vacation (golfing,) walking or breathing and doing anything that makes him accessible to 'real' Americans while attending to HIS family.
You mean he's not waiting eight weeks and then sending Samaritan's Purse to tend to devastated areas with cookies to make it all better?
ReplyDeleteThanks to the anon writer. Gryphen, please don't keep those posts buried in the old Broomfield Post. Most of us forget to check back there. If you would be so kind, the writer made a point of saying that the original purpose was to piss Sarah off. Now, there seems to be a motive to bring about the fall of the Palin Empire. You can help by keeping those comments front and center, maybe even feature them in a post while the anon writer takes a break.
ReplyDeleteLet's all follow the anon writer's advice and not try to guess the person's identity. Let's talk about the content, that Trig was born before Valentine's Day, and that Sarah figured she could fake a pregnancy for 2 months. This writer does not fear Sarah, only her crazed followers. The best disinfectant is sunlight. The more that is exposed about Sarah, hopefully she'll loss some of those Hounds of Hell as fans. Maybe some other brave souls with information will feel motivated to contribute. Look at Libya; they got rid of their dictator. Look at Syria; they're giving it their best try. Look at the example from Egypt. People don't want to live in fear. The truth will set you free.
The right is so afraid of Mr. Cool they are positively cowering behind Fox News and their 'journalists,' letting them throw boulders at the President. I was at a family gathering this weekend when I was the only sane one of 20 people. They started criticizing the President for his vacations, and I was too outnumbered to tell them the truth. I regret that! I love this guy...I don't love him approving the tar sands project, nor not closing Gitmo and shutting down the wars sooner, but he is a true leader, and in a crisis, I don't want anyone else in charge.
ReplyDeletePresident Barack Obama 2012! I stand with President Obama. He will be re-elected despite the haters who criticise his every move, not only because he is a great leader but also because the Republican field is full of loons who will not appeal to mainstream Americans, the REAL, "real" Americans.
ReplyDeleteIn Wasilla we had 4 episodes of 80+ wind last winter, sometimes combined with temps of 10F. We often have storms that leave us without power with temps below zero.
ReplyDeleteWe laugh in my house when the wind is hurricane strength but not titled a "hurricane". There are weather advisories that not one national weather channel or news person deems worthy of covering, except for the local guys.
I guess what I'm saying is that Irene was a created media event that got more coverage than it deserved.
Get a life people, weather happens.
What President Obama?! No Bush fly over? No cake for John McCain or playing air guitar in L.A. while people beg the government to pay attention to thousands dying. Is Tom Donilon trying on shoes in NYC or going to Broadway shows like Condi Rice did during the flooding? Is Joe Biden at his house secluded—torturing small animals like Dick Cheney probably was during the drowning of New Orleans?
ReplyDeleteWhat the hell? Competence is strange.
Those saying "overkill" need to say that to the faces of the millions without power and the hundreds of thousands (if not millions) impacted by the horrendous flooding. It's as if they wouldn't have been satisfied with anything less that the entire east coast falling into the Atlantic. So what if NYC wasn't inundated? If the mayor and governor hadn't insisted on the mandatory evacuation, there would indeed have been deaths in NYC since a lot of Zone A did indeed flood significantly.
ReplyDeleteThe fact there was flash flooding in New Hampshire -- tells you how big this was by how far inland the rain extended.
ReplyDeleteThe state issued no mandatory evacuation -- yet to use 'mandatory' IMO is a joke -- as the path was uncertain and they sure did not think it would be like that that far inland.
So Ron Paul, who I've always thought a total asshole and all the Pee-on Rethuglicans can go suck it.
Gryphen, I have noticed something as far as SP's intensity of hatred for our great leader and how it has obviously increased.
ReplyDeleteShe has always been a disrespectful harpy toward him. But if you notice......since the very day he said to baba wawa "what I'm saying is, I don't think about Sarah Palin"
She has been a thousand times worse. She can't stand that he doesn't give her a thought when she is obsessed with him!
In fact.....you could say, Bristol is to Mercedes as Sarah is to Obama, LOL. Jealous much??!!
I know, what's with the criticism anyway? Its not like we don't have cell phones, text messages, video conferencing and SPEAKERPHONES! He wasn't in the Himalayas, ferchrissake.
ReplyDeleteAs they say in the "hood" Don't hate the player, hate the game
ReplyDeleteJessi
Remember the newsweek cover?
ReplyDeleteEdgefitness is one of Sarah's friend's gyms.
Remember the newsweek cover?
ReplyDeleteEdgefitness is one of Sarah's friend's gyms.
The Repukes will bitch about anything. Yet if it happened to one of them -- they'd be on the blower to the WH for help & $$.
ReplyDeleteHere's a vid of flooding in Vermont -- yea -- Vermont.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRwdQYjC_OI
Who would have thought it would flood that far inland? People were not warned to leave.
I've heard several mayors and governors comment over the past few days about how responsive FEMA has been and how efficiently they're been handling this storm. There was a tremendous amount of preparation BEFORE the storm hit, and teams and supplies were put in place so they were able to react immediately to the local situation.
ReplyDeleteThank you President Obama and your administration for being there for the people who needed you most. You've clearly learned the painful lessons of Katrina and have made the changes necessary to help FEMA become the agency it needs to be.
To Anon. at 7:19 who compares Wasilla to the entire East Coast of the United States ... a couple of miles of tacky strip malls in Alaska is no comparison. How silly you are. You have obviously not done much traveling.
ReplyDeleteThe right wing doesn't know how to deal with it. Just a couple of days ago they were slamming him for not pre-emptively stopping the earthquake. Now they're slamming him for....doing his job with the hurricane.
ReplyDeleteThey are simply and completely knee-jerk reactively anti-Obama.
It's the newest racket...write a book, make a million...or not:
ReplyDeletehttp://theobamadiary.com/2011/08/28/five/
F.A.R. The "a" & "r" stand for "all republicans".
ReplyDeleteThis is promising.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/08/27/census-data-shows-people-are-moving-from-blue-to-red-states.html
OzMud said...
ReplyDeleteOk got whiplash here... which is it? That Pres. Obama was slack in not ending his vacation fast enough to deal with the crisis or that he responded too fast and put FEMA in overkill mode?
The mind boggles...
Thanks for posting the comments from anon. Who knows if they will be the breakthrough of Babygate - but what s/he is posting sure rings true. I've said it before - if I had information like this, I would pick you as a conduit.
ReplyDeleteIt is so reassuring to know that our federal government under this administration is working
ReplyDeleteto help those directly impacted by the storm as well as working with the states to manage the problems created by the destruction and disruption of Irene.
President Obama is doing one hell of a good job. It is really flooding in some areas - especially the northeastern states.
ReplyDeleteIf President Obama wasn't covering it as he is - with the help of his administration - he'd be slammed horribly for that.
He cannot win no matter what he does. But, he's got my vote this next election.
My son is with members of his National Guard unit in Philadelphia to assist today. I was stunned when he came home Saturday night and told me they were going, proud he's there, and proud that our President didn't wait to send them. I just kept thinking back to how slow things seemed to move for Katrina response.
ReplyDeleteIt's sad that so few people seem to be aware of everything that the Federal government does every day that helped make this a non-event. Without the satellites and the hurricane hunter aircraft (and their crews) and the forecasters and the decades of research that informs them no one would know that a storm was brewing until it hit the Bahamas and then no one would know where it was heading, or how fast, or how severe, or what the risks are or....
ReplyDeleteIn the meantime, the Repugnicants are saying we need to cut funding for this area by 30%.
For those who quibble about President Obama's vacation....LOOK what he has ACCOMPLISHED while on vacation....and we know what he has already done in office.Fema serves everyone ...I guess until it hits where it hurts...then these critics will shut up!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
ReplyDeleteIn Wasilla...We laugh in my house when the wind is hurricane strength but not titled a "hurricane". There are weather advisories that not one national weather channel or news person deems worthy of covering, except for the local guys.
I guess what I'm saying is that Irene was a created media event that got more coverage than it deserved.
Get a life people, weather happens.
7:19 PM
------------------------
What a silly comparison. Wasilla and environs is a few thousand people isolated from the vast majority of the American population.
Irene threatened 65 million people, in an area that included major cities of huge national importance in the areas of commerce, finance, and government.
The aftermath of this major storm would have been far worse but for well-coordinated and efficient advance preparation.
Too bad the people that died in your "media-created event" cannot take your callous advice to "get a life."
I guess what I'm saying is that Irene was a created media event that got more coverage than it deserved.
ReplyDeleteTell that to the folks who got flooded out. Tell that to the communities whose roads were washed out. Tell that to the barrier island communities who are completely cut off for days.
You may have ridden out windstorms and power outages in Wasilla, but if you or your family members needed emergency medical response, you'd probably have gotten it just fine.
Only in bizzaro Palin fairy tale land does Wasilla = the entire eastern seaboard and a few thousand people = 65 MILLION. Just another sad attempt at false equivalency by Palinscum. Give it up, it's not working. You look pathetic and braindead when you try.
ReplyDelete@slowhand 6:56 pm
ReplyDeleteI commented yesterday on Gryphen's "caption caption" contest thread that quickly morphed into trolls v bots v everyone else.
Reasonable people need to understand that GOP/Fox is pandering to the unreasonable. In the midst of hurricane Irene, Fox News had the gall to publish an editorial advocating the defunding of the National Weather Service (annual cost to each taxpayer $3):
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/08/27/do-really-need-national-weather-service/
Nate Silver at NYTimes' Five Thirty Eight blog tweeted:
Dumbest editorial ever? "Do We Really Need a National Weather Service?". http://fxn.ws/qwm8Vb NWS costs average American $3 per year.
The daft Fox News editorial also ignores the fact that private companies like AccuWeather get most of their data from the gov't (for free).
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Cantor just released a list of 10 regulations House GOP will actively repeal. Thank God Dems have a majority in the Senate, but all the pundits think that will change next year.
http://majorityleader.gov/blog/2011/08/memo-on-upcoming-jobs-agenda.html
Twitter URLs:
http://twitter.com/#!/fivethirtyeight/status/107609189173563392
http://twitter.com/#!/fivethirtyeight/status/107610462794940416
My worst experience happened during hurricane Rita and lived in county 30 miles from Galveston. We never ran from a hurricane before but did with Rita...Katrina fresh in our minds. After 12 hours of getting nowhere on I45N we heard the hurricane had turned towards Beaumont. We turned around and came back to Alvin....prayed we did the right thing as there was no one anywhere. We got some wind and rain but nothing else.
ReplyDeleteMany people will no longer evacuate due to hurricane Rita experience so when hurricane Ike came along, it got dicey. Mayor Bill White's voice over the car radio was like an angels voice....and Mayor White stood up to Bush's FEMA..supplies got thru.
I am thankful to NOAA, FEMA, local broadcasters and anyone else who cares enough to try to educate me.
It is time to stand up for our government and president.... The people in the flooded areas on the East Coast need help...they have enough worries just hoping to have electricity!
@noirlumen @2:15 am
ReplyDeleteMy only personal experience with a natural disaster was the 1994 Northridge earthquake.
Our company, headquartered in Northridge, had been planning layoffs for almost a whole year before ("Performance '94") and people getting were to get pinkslips on Jan 18. When the earthquake struck on Jan 17, I thought "Well, God had other plans" (I'm not religious).
I was one of a handful of people who got called into work on Jan 18, and it was eerie seeing the National Guard lining the streets of Northridge. Kinda felt like a police state; had never seen tanks and armed guards lining the streets before.
Kudos to your son. The folks in New England desperately need assistance now. I'm sure the National Guard will be actively helping people, not guarding against looting (which is the primary reason they were in Northridge, I think).
What a fool, 7:19 - don't tell that to the folks digging their way out of the devastation to roads, trees down, buildings damaged, power and communication outages, contaminated water, crops ruined, and massive flooding up and down the entire East Coast - lives lost, too.
ReplyDeleteYou may be one who would like to eliminate FEMA and Federal Disaster Relief, and I guess in Alaska cookies suffice for aid to starving people. But, in every other part of the world, disaster relief is needed since us little people don't have enough savings to rebuild infrastructure!
I take it you don't have the insight needed to understand that without that relief/assistance BUSINESS/CORPORATIONS would not be able to function either or engage in commerce. My little town in Central VT, friends and neighbors, have just been devastated by massive flooding - including some businesses.
If you don't care about your friends, neighbors, and communities should a disaster occur (and no community is immune to the possibility) - at the very least show some concern for the wealthy, businesses, corporations who use the very same systems the little people do to survive. How many more people would have died if we didn't have the early warning/detection in place? FOOL!
I love the snark the wasilla poster who said "It's weather, people, get over it", oh wait, W-a-s-i-l-l-a , ok, it's not snark, they're just stupid.
ReplyDeleteYes, the President did us proud, once again. Of course Bachman says the storm and earthquake were "signs from God", and Rick Perry says Rick Perry Crap, and Ron Paul says Fema isn't needed, and Cantor wants to offset aid with spending cuts.
The worst comment I heard from them so far, was that the President "read" the speech off of a paper. The man's on top of everything, doesn't want to skip thanking anyone on the "Team", so he refers to notes, and that makes him insenative or incompetant.
(and yes, he didn't mention you know who, AGAIN)
Four more Years!