Washington Part 2
This made me think of New Orleans
The rhetoric coming from the Powell Camp was pretty consistant with what we know the attitude towards New Orleans has been, Chairman Powell told us we had bad schools, poor drainage and we could not expect for those things to be fixed under The Stafford Act he tried to give the impression that the Federal Government was hamstrung by it’s own policies.
At that point the various members of the group began to question
1.Denise Thornton of Beacons of Hope remarked that the current Administration has spent billions of dollars to repair infrastructure in Iraq
2. Vince Pasquantonio of Levees.org challenged the Chairman on the issue of the Levees as a Federal Issue, not a local one, Chairman Powell attempted to silence him by questioning his credentials, and Vince did not flinch.
3. LaToya Cantrell of Broadmoor addresses the issue of Education by pointing out that the Public School system in the United States is in shambles especially in urban areas.
4. Charles Allen of Holy Cross spoke to our broken trust with the Federal Government when we were made promises by our Federal Government.
5. In response to Chairman Powells question “Where have you all been?” Sarah Elise Lewis pointed out how we have been working to repair our City,in spite of a multitude of obstacles placed in our way.
6.Ron McClain of Family Services of New Orleans spoke with tremendous focus abour our needs in the Mental Health arena while also informing Chairman Powell our focus was not just directed at the Federal Government, but at the State and Local Levels as well.
6. And finally Scott Darrah spoke from the gut and told the Chairman the Federal response has been bulls**t.
In fact I think Scott’s comment may have been the one that broke the ice as The Chairman seemed to begin, at that point to understand that we, the Citizens of this City are informed and passionate and determined.
After that we headed to a reception at the Aspen Institute and Dinner made possible by Mary Rowe of the blue moon fund ,the bmf has promoted the work of many small upstart non profits who are gaining strength of purpose as we recover.
September 18th, 2007 at 4:43 pm
“Where have you all been?”
Powell asked that? Really?
The gall.
September 18th, 2007 at 4:55 pm
Yes,
he really said that.
The first time I went to Walter Leger’s office to with a group from CHAT he said the same thing. It must be a technique to throw people off.
I guess the idea is to blame the victim on a massive scale.
Kind of blew up in his face.
September 19th, 2007 at 10:26 pm
incredible! I mean, we hear about this sort of stupid behavior in the media daily, but i think we all expect it’s an act for that very same media. It’s hard to believe they’re this foolish in a room full of New Orleanians…
September 20th, 2007 at 8:49 am
Thank you all!
September 20th, 2007 at 8:58 am
[…] Celcus tipped me to this post by Karen Gadbois. She’s been up in D.C with several other locals and they gave it to Donald Powell. I’ve said it before that I wish we had at least one local or state official with enough backbone to tell Mr. Powell that he is no longer welcome in our city. As usual down here, it takes a group of regular citizens to get the job done. […]
September 20th, 2007 at 11:19 am
Where the fuck are WWL-TV, WDSU,WVUE, ABBC26, WWL radio sidicate, Rob And the Chumps, WIST and Corrie and the Bloated Stinking Pelican when it comes to reporting on this? Powell- what a disgrace you are!
September 21st, 2007 at 9:28 am
It would be nice if they appointed someone who *likes* us to head our recovery.
September 23rd, 2007 at 1:21 pm
Karen and every other brave soul that attended:
Thank you, thank you from the very bottoms of our beaten and broken hearts to the top of our angry and tenacious heads!!!!!!
If they don’t ” like” us who the f$#@$ cares….we have a lot of great friends already.. We need action and constant humiliation seems to be the solitary tactic that gets response.
Mr. Powell, you can QUIT YOUR JOB, just like the rest of those monkeys up there. You are usless to us and to this country.
September 28th, 2007 at 7:04 pm
The question is not where have WE been, but where has Bush, and Powell, and all the money and resources promised been. Pre-K, where was the Army Corps of Engineers and the money appropriated but never budgeted for levee work.
But then, I guess Iraq had no problem with its infrastructure or school system pre-war, so we really cannot be considered in the same league as that shining star of progressive living.
September 30th, 2007 at 10:41 pm
Where still here..
February 3rd, 2008 at 9:25 am
@Jennifer Farwell: We know damn well where they’ve been; at board meetings and five-star hotels and “fact-finding” trips to the usual rich-boy hangouts.
The sooner we get Obama or McCain - I’m past caring which - in and they take a flamethrower to the tails of Lord Powell and all the other cockroaches of his ilk, the sooner we’ll have NO back on its feet - as well as the once and future United States of America.