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Saturday, September 03, 2005
Katrina: Live from Houston, TX
Posted by Bob BrighamI'm at the Houston airport, waiting for a flight into Birmingham, then driving south.
During Paul Hackett's campaign, I think we proved that being on the ground is a great fulcrum. "Showing up maximizes" the leverage and we need it now, more than ever. Bush failed America, so now the burden falls to each American to help do what needs to be done.
My specialty is using the internet, which is a perfect vehicle. From ABC News:
"When I put the listing on the Web site in the evening, I had five or six families respond by the morning," van Gelderen said while he was sending out e-mails to his friends challenging them to help. Van Gelderen had his entire staff mobilizing relief efforts, rather than focusing on business. "The private sector has to start doing just as much as the government."Van Gelderen listed his available housing through Moveon.org, a liberal-leaning non-profit political organization.
MoveOn launched its hurricane housing site on Thursday afternoon, and within 25 hours received offers for 45,000 beds — 11,500 within driving distance of New Orleans, according to MoveOn president Eli Pariser.
"Basically we were just racking our brains trying to figure out how we could help our members provide some help for victims," said Pariser. "We have a direct line to 3 million people and there might be a lot who might be able to open up their homes."
At Swing State Project, I will continue to examine the electoral implications of the second disaster: the response. When Bush's poll numbers dropped below 40%, I didn't think they could go lower. I mean, he would always hold the Republicans, wouldn't he?
Apparently not...
The right wing realizes Bush's decision to continue his vacation kick-started a chain of events that will haunt the Republican Party for a long time. Geographically, Bush's incompetence has put the entire south in play. As the harvest forces tough conversations about transportation, the Midwest will also come into play. Not only is the Republican congress corrupt, but voting Republican gives another vote to the incompetent Republican Administration.
Bush fucked up. And even rabid right-wingers know it. The Washington Times knows it; Fox News knows it. Hell, even the Bull Moose is talking about impeachment. These organizations have propped Bush up for years and now they are cutting him loose, realizing that it is impossible to defend Bush's response – it is a credibility killer.
The hurricane was a disaster, but Bush's vacation-based reaction has been the real catastrophe.
So I'm going in. We're bringing in a SUV full of supplies, I also have my laptop and video camera.
Please sign up for Hurricane Housing.
Additionally requests will be coming.
Posted at 03:26 PM in 2006 Elections, Activism, Culture of Corruption, Republicans, Scandals, Site News, Texas | Technorati
Comments
If you're driving into New Orleans, make sure you bring spare gas with you.
Posted by: Fran for Dean ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.swingstateproject.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at September 3, 2005 09:48 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment
Interesting description quoted in this entry of Moveon.org from the MSM (ABC News):
"Van Gelderen listed his available housing through Moveon.org, a liberal-leaning non-profit political organization." What happened to Moveon.org always being described as "radical", and "extreme left-wing"? A possibly hopeful sign, when we could use some.
Posted by: lindabee*mt at September 5, 2005 01:05 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment