Louisiana right wing blames Obama for Hurricane Katrina response

[Skyhilist]

Obviously I'm not suggesting that Obama is a good person of some saving grace. But seriously, how can such a large portion of people be so stupid?

In case anyone not from the US is confused:

Bush = president 2000-2008
Hurricane Katrina = 2005
Obama first elected = 2008

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2013/08/21/2503281/louisiana-republicans-blame-president-obama-katrina-response/

EDIT: Lol sorry, the title should say "right wing", not "ring wing". Could a mod or admin please change this if possible?

[RedBen]

Obviously I'm not suggesting that Obama is a good person of some saving grace. But seriously, how can such a large portion of people be so stupid?

In case anyone not from the US is confused:

Bush = president 2000-2008
Hurricane Katrina = 2005
Obama first elected = 2008

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2013/08/21/2503281/louisiana-republicans-blame-president-obama-katrina-response/

EDIT: Lol sorry, the title should say "right wing", not "ring wing". Could a mod or admin please change this if possible?
i'm not surprised, i heard people suggest he was the anti christ, or a conduit for communism, that his policies were like america's "glasnost". :blink:

[ANTIFA GATE-9]

Wow stupidity these days surpasses any level previously known.
Maybe Obama could have done something about the remaining damage when he became president but that still dosent explain why the majority blames him. It's obvious they just trying to find excuses to blame him for stuff but even they are not that stupid to think people would believe them.

[Rusty Shackleford]

If his policies were like an american 'glasnost' then we'd be surely on our way to more market orientation and oligarchic domination, gilded age redux.

[MarxSchmarx]

EDIT: Lol sorry, the title should say "right wing", not "ring wing". Could a mod or admin please change this if possible?

Fixed.

[Red Commissar]

It seems that generally Obama can be blamed for anything nonsensical. Generally it seems to be the case that among more polarizing presidents the group and representative of said group in power are often blamed for odd things they have no control over, much less involvement as this scenario shows. I'm not really sure what it is about Obama that seems to illicit so much rage (not withstanding the legitimate criticisms of Obama) that overshadows the hysteria over Clinton. Is it his race? Warped perceptions of liberalism? I don't know.

Then again it's a safe bet to say that those who felt this probably are also responsible for putting Bobby Jindal in office, whose moron meter rivals that of Governor Perry next door in Texas, which in itself is an achievement.

[Le Libérer]

We are talking about Louisiana. Cue the dueling banjos.

[Misericordia]

Naaaah, Obama only creates humanitarian disasters in other countries.

[svenne]

We are talking about Louisiana. Cue the dueling banjos.

So. On Revleft you can't just sexist, racist, ableist, ageist, etc language, but language which is just that - but directed at the white underclass - is totally okay? And you are a socialist how?

[tachosomoza]

So. On Revleft you can't just sexist, racist, ableist, ageist, etc language, but language which is just that - but directed at the white underclass - is totally okay? And you are a socialist how?

I don't detect an iota of classism or racism in CoR's comment.

As for the OP, the American South is a reactionary bastion that is strongly against the notion of a black person or any other person of color having any semblance of power over them. They see the Presidency of the USA as a "white man's job" and hate Obama to the bone.

[Le Libérer]

I don't detect an iota of classism or racism in CoR's comment.

Because it wasn't any.

Thank you Tach. Anyone who has been here any amount of time, knows what my work has been over the years in LOUISIANA, which is hardly classist. Seems he likes to take swings at those of us in the BA. It must make him feel all gushy and anti-authoritarian. Yawn.

[DasFapital]

I once saw a booth set up outside my hometown post office that was handing out flyers stating that Obama was behind 9/11.

[Sea]

Why do I get the feeling that they lifted this from The Onion?

[Ocean Seal]

It's shit like this that really keeps the media saturated. I honestly think that the democratic party is meant to manage capital while the republicans entertain and distract the masses. This is actually a pretty decent conspiracy theory, I'm going to run with it.

[Zostrianos]

Why do I get the feeling that they lifted this from The Onion?

US right wingers blame Obama, democrats, gays, leftists, non-christians, etc. for everything you can imagine. E.g., Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell blamed 911 on atheists and gays:
H-CAcdta_8I

Ironically, Obama himself is nearly as right wing as the Republicans. But Fox News will never tell its viewers that

[Fred]

I never know whether to be scared or just laugh out loud when people refer to Obama as a leftist (lol), or a socialist (lmfao). I know it has a longer history, as people thought FDR was also a socialist -- although at least he did push for some social programs. I really started to hear this kind of idiocy when I would listen to some of the Rush Limbaugh show on the radio while working in a word processing center. He sometimes came on after the Yankee games and I found his show strange but mildly entertaining. He and his callers would refer to folks like Bill Clinton as leftists. The first time I heard that I almost fell out of my chair:lol:. People in this country, for the most part, have not a clue as to what Marxism, socialism, and communism are. This is more true today than it was thirty years ago -- and it was true back then.

[Fred]

Because it wasn't any.

Thank you Tach. Anyone who has been here any amount of time, knows what my work has been over the years in LOUISIANA, which is hardly classist. Seems he likes to take swings at those of us in the BA. It must make him feel all gushy and anti-authoritarian. Yawn.

Or maybe it is just Tach getting with the spirit of overly earnest, liberal, political correctness that sometimes occurs on these boards.

[Le Libérer]

Or maybe it is just Tach getting with the spirit of overly earnest, liberal, political correctness that sometimes occurs on these boards.
I wouldn't know what you are talking about. I doubt you do either.

[Le Libérer]

Why do I get the feeling that they lifted this from The Onion?
Unfortunately it isnt. The majority of Louisianians are either under educated or over incarcerated. They have a lack of health care, the highest AIDS infection rate in the country, again a lack of preventive education. Their politics comes from one of the church pulpits they can literally find on every street corner. They consistently vote against their own interests because their representative from God (their preacher) tells them to.

Louisiana's governor, Jindal, is committed to keeping health care from the poor. He has refused the medicaid expansion where the working class could at least get some health care, but even if he did that, he has privatized the largest hospitals in the state. Its such a clusterfuck its going to be a long time before the level of medical care will reach what it was, and that is eliminating all those poor patients who now have no where to go.

The prison system is the largest in the country, and the world for that matter, and a lot of non violent crimes are part of the 3 strikes your out formula. That means Fred or svenne could end up in prison for life with 3 charges of small amounts of marijuana. If they are black, they can count on it. In fact, once you are in the prison system you can be 150 miles away and get charged with murdering a prison guard and get 20 years in solitary confinement like Robert King of the Angola 3 (http://www.angola3.org/) did. Two others who were charged with the crime are still in solitary confinement 40 years later.

The white underclass that svenne referred to isn't the underclass. It is the ruling class that is responsible for murdering more black men right after the Voting Act was implemented. These are the same people that had the last Confederate Flag (http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2011/11/16/8843076-history-1-confederate-flag-0?lite) hanging in front of the Caddo Courthouse until a year.

There is no way to effectively describe the political climate here. You can read the words I have just used to try to paint a picture but there are no words to do that effectively. It is incredibly oppressive.

So when someone from Sweden calls these people the underclass who have created this hell hole, and who has never been here, it just shows how incredibly ignorant he is. Same goes for Fred. You just do not know what you are talking about unless you live here for any amount of time.

[TaylorS]

So they think Obama is a time lord? :laugh:

[TaylorS]

It's shit like this that really keeps the media saturated. I honestly think that the democratic party is meant to manage capital while the republicans entertain and distract the masses. This is actually a pretty decent conspiracy theory, I'm going to run with it.

Republicans have a lot of support from Petty Bourgeoisie with fascistic tendencies. The Tea Party is essentially a Petty Bourgeois movement.

[Brandon's Impotent Rage]

Sadly, I'm not too terribly surprised. The stereotype of the ignorant Southerner has some truth to it, I'm afraid.

But don't loathe us for it. Pity us. Our rulers KEEP us ignorant on purpose. Our region soaks up more government aid money then anywhere else in the country, and yet we have the highest levels of obesity, drug addiction, illiteracy, and teen pregnancy. Our politicians actively work AGAINST our interests and actively work to underfund our state services whilst pretending to be these great Southern populists. Crooks and liars, the lot of them.

But just to give you a little hope......remember, Eugene Debs was from Alabama. ;)

[Le Libérer]

But just to give you a little hope......remember, Eugene Debs was from Alabama. ;)
And there was actually a Eugene Debs society here in Louisiana, which still boggles my mind that there was a bit of light in such darkness.

[Lenina Rosenweg]

Sadly, I'm not too terribly surprised. The stereotype of the ignorant Southerner has some truth to it, I'm afraid.

But don't loathe us for it. Pity us. Our rulers KEEP us ignorant on purpose. Our region soaks up more government aid money then anywhere else in the country, and yet we have the highest levels of obesity, drug addiction, illiteracy, and teen pregnancy. Our politicians actively work AGAINST our interests and actively work to underfund our state services whilst pretending to be these great Southern populists. Crooks and liars, the lot of them.

But just to give you a little hope......remember, Eugene Debs was from Alabama. ;)

Not to take away from your otherwise good post but Debs was from Terre Haute, Indiana.

The CPUSA did some effective organizing work in Alabama in the 1920s

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/90004.Hammer_and_Hoe

http://www.thebellforum.com/showthread.php?t=21678

[Fred]

Unfortunately it isnt. The majority of Louisianians are either under educated or over incarcerated. They have a lack of health care, the highest AIDS infection rate in the country, again a lack of preventive education. Their politics comes from one of the church pulpits they can literally find on every street corner. They consistently vote against their own interests because their representative from God (their preacher) tells them to.

Louisiana's governor, Jindal, is committed to keeping health care from the poor. He has refused the medicaid expansion where the working class could at least get some health care, but even if he did that, he has privatized the largest hospitals in the state. Its such a clusterfuck its going to be a long time before the level of medical care will reach what it was, and that is eliminating all those poor patients who now have no where to go.

The prison system is the largest in the country, and the world for that matter, and a lot of non violent crimes are part of the 3 strikes your out formula. That means Fred or svenne could end up in prison for life with 3 charges of small amounts of marijuana. If they are black, they can count on it. In fact, once you are in the prison system you can be 150 miles away and get charged with murdering a prison guard and get 20 years in solitary confinement like Robert King of the Angola 3 (http://www.angola3.org/) did. Two others who were charged with the crime are still in solitary confinement 40 years later.

The white underclass that svenne referred to isn't the underclass. It is the ruling class that is responsible for murdering more black men right after the Voting Act was implemented. These are the same people that had the last Confederate Flag (http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2011/11/16/8843076-history-1-confederate-flag-0?lite) hanging in front of the Caddo Courthouse until a year.

There is no way to effectively describe the political climate here. You can read the words I have just used to try to paint a picture but there are no words to do that effectively. It is incredibly oppressive.

So when someone from Sweden calls these people the underclass who have created this hell hole, and who has never been here, it just shows how incredibly ignorant he is. Same goes for Fred. You just do not know what you are talking about unless you live here for any amount of time.
A case in point. I was actually trying to point out that there was nothing terribly wrong with your comment about dueling banjos. I would also point out that even in Louisiana, the population and its views are far from homogeneous. I have spent time in the deep south, and I agree that the general political/social climate is oppressive.

So I suppose you have earned your over-earnestness -- but why the thin skin? If you are living in LA, (much less doing political work in LA), you must be able to roll with the punches most of the time.

[Popular Front of Judea]

So there's a silver lining to climate change after all? :grin:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/06/climate-hurricanes-wetlands-global-warming/2595657/

[Le Libérer]

A case in point. I was actually trying to point out that there was nothing terribly wrong with your comment about dueling banjos. I would also point out that even in Louisiana, the population and its views are far from homogeneous. I have spent time in the deep south, and I agree that the general political/social climate is oppressive.

So I suppose you have earned your over-earnestness -- but why the thin skin? If you are living in LA, (much less doing political work in LA), you must be able to roll with the punches most of the time.

I have no interest in sharing personal information with you. At this juncture I would appreciate if you would not splinter the discussion by making more assumptions about me or Tach, or other members who post on this board.

[Klaatu]

Why do I get the feeling that they lifted this from The Onion?

It looks like Fox News gives The Onion some formidable competition!

[MarxSchmarx]

Just to set the parameters for this discussion - personal attacks are off limits, but discussion about how the people in Louisiana, USA should respond that takes into account their history and so on is fair game.

Along these lines, here are some comments I have to make.


So. On Revleft you can't just sexist, racist, ableist, ageist, etc language, but language which is just that - but directed at the white underclass - is totally okay? And you are a socialist how?

In case you are interested, Svenne, the Banjo in much of the American south started actually as an instrument of resistance to slavery by African slaves. It's etymology for instance is believed to derive from the Angolan mbanza, and IMO a damned good case could be made that the adoption of the Banjo by mountain whites was an early example of the sort of cultural cross pollination that credits Elvis with inventing Rock and Roll, essentially a black invention (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_impact_of_Elvis_Presley#African_American_ music_influence)

The language is not direct against the "white underclass". I don't intend to speak for CoR or others, but I gather comments like this to generally point out that different regions and cultures have their different ways of interpreting the struggle.

Not to get too historical, but the Banjo has played a major role in interpreting the class struggle in the American south. I don't think articulating this perspective is at all violating the spirit of the board.


Or maybe it is just Tach getting with the spirit of overly earnest, liberal, political correctness that sometimes occurs on these boards.

I don't think the issue is political correctness so much as historical accuracy. It is not "politically correct" to say that the African diaspora in America contributed in important ways to American civilization. It is historically accurate, much as it is historically accurate and not "politically correct" to point out, for example, that Buddhism originated in India despite the fact that few citizens of the Republic of India today consider themselves Buddhist.


A case in point. I was actually trying to point out that there was nothing terribly wrong with your comment about dueling banjos. I would also point out that even in Louisiana, the population and its views are far from homogeneous. I have spent time in the deep south, and I agree that the general political/social climate is oppressive.

So I suppose you have earned your over-earnestness -- but why the thin skin? If you are living in LA, (much less doing political work in LA), you must be able to roll with the punches most of the time.

If one were to take your argument seriously, people in Louisiana, America are any less able to in your perspective "roll with the punches" than say, people in Darfur or Srebenica. Surely you must realize the absurdity of this position?

[Os Cangaceiros]

Isn't the way contemporary phrases are used more important than their origins centuries ago? Everybody thinks of banjos nowadays as the sole domain of white hicks, and the phrase "dualing banjos" is obviously a reference of the film "Deliverance".

[Os Cangaceiros]

The racism in the US South (which usually refers to the US Southeast, really) is pretty bad, but you can find racism on par with it in many outside the South, I think...is racism in institutions (like prison systems, education etc) really much worse in many of the southern states than it is in, say, California?

[Popular Front of Judea]

Racism is endemic to American society. However the Reconstruction casts a long shadow over the South. An election of a black president brings it to the surface. (For anyone that wants to understand American politics Birth Of A Nation is essential viewing.)

[Le Libérer]

Just to set the parameters for this discussion - personal attacks are off limits, but discussion about how the people in Louisiana, USA should respond that takes into account their history and so on is fair game. This.


I don't think the issue is political correctness so much as historical accuracy. It is not "politically correct" to say that the African diaspora in America contributed in important ways to American civilization. It is historically accurate, much as it is historically accurate and not "politically correct" to point out, for example, that Buddhism originated in India despite the fact that few citizens of the Republic of India today consider themselves Buddhist. And don't forget "earned my over-earnestness".



If one were to take your argument seriously, people in Louisiana, America are any less able to in your perspective "roll with the punches" than say, people in Darfur or Srebenica. Surely you must realize the absurdity of this position?Quite insulting to say the least. I actually tear up explaining my experience living and working in this state. I'm watching through prison bars right now, as we are pleading for the compassionate release of Herman Wallace, Black Panther, who spent 40 years in solitary confinement for a crime he did not commit with only months to live because cancer has ravaged his body due to no medical care behind bars.

So, I am once again going to remind everyone that you will get an infraction to single out people to personally attack. As MarxSchmarx pointed out this has happened a few times in this thread. There was no need for this to happen.

Consider this to be a blanket verbal warning. An infraction is the next step according to our policies. Move along. Or we can close the thread, but I prefer hearing from others who have something constructive to say. I will delete off topic posts as well but I was really hoping for a semi-stress free evening.

[Fred]

I don't understand. No one was calling anyone any horrible names or making ad hominem attacks. Why as moderator can you alone be pointed in your response? Any thing that you are doing to support a political prisoner of US imperialism is extremely laudable. But does that make you beyond reproach? In a political forum there will be polemics, some of them pretty sharp. As long as it is civil, that seems okay. Any "higher" standard will tend to lead toward inhibiting the discussions.

[Fred]

Just to set the parameters for this discussion - personal attacks are off limits, but discussion about how the people in Louisiana, USA should respond that takes into account their history and so on is fair game.

Along these lines, here are some comments I have to make.



In case you are interested, Svenne, the Banjo in much of the American south started actually as an instrument of resistance to slavery by African slaves. It's etymology for instance is believed to derive from the Angolan mbanza, and IMO a damned good case could be made that the adoption of the Banjo by mountain whites was an early example of the sort of cultural cross pollination that credits Elvis with inventing Rock and Roll, essentially a black invention (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_impact_of_Elvis_Presley#African_American_ music_influence)

The language is not direct against the "white underclass". I don't intend to speak for CoR or others, but I gather comments like this to generally point out that different regions and cultures have their different ways of interpreting the struggle.

Not to get too historical, but the Banjo has played a major role in interpreting the class struggle in the American south. I don't think articulating this perspective is at all violating the spirit of the board.



I don't think the issue is political correctness so much as historical accuracy. It is not "politically correct" to say that the African diaspora in America contributed in important ways to American civilization. It is historically accurate, much as it is historically accurate and not "politically correct" to point out, for example, that Buddhism originated in India despite the fact that few citizens of the Republic of India today consider themselves Buddhist.



If one were to take your argument seriously, people in Louisiana, America are any less able to in your perspective "roll with the punches" than say, people in Darfur or Srebenica. Surely you must realize the absurdity of this position?
Again, I thought Cor's original comment about dueling banjos was fine -- that was my point. I was actually criticizing the comment by Svenne. I'm completely down with calling things by their correct name. That significant parts of the US South is politically very backward is impossible to deny. It is also true that the Louisiana prison system is brutal. I would add, as some other comrades have, that the prison system in some other places are notoriously brutal too, such as California.

My "argument" such as it was, was simply that it takes a lot of strength and backbone to do political work in such trying circumstances. That is true anywhere. I imagine in some places, such as Darfur or Srebenica, for a period of time it might be impossible (at least without some kind of armed militia).

[DasFapital]

I grew up in the countryside just 40 minutes outside of Seattle and it was common to have people around there flying Confederate flags and all that shit. There are pockets all over the country that have a fetish for Dixie land.

[Sentinel]

Infraction to Fred for continuing the offtopic discussion despite being warned.