The politics of Irene.

[Ishmael]

After all the hype, the storm was a bust. 26 people died, so what? When the stories all come out I'm certain that most of them died from terminal stupid.

Even after the hurricane became a moderate storm the media treated us to pictures of Barry manning the disaster response center in DC. Regardless of the severity of the storm that is NOT presidential. It was a joke, a 'B' flick out of Hollywood. Was his appointments so poorly qualified that his presence to personally oversee the response to this non-event required he micro-manage the response?

All involved with this fiasco have been left with egg on their face and their only response has been, "Well, it could have been worse."

The most damning evidence came from NHC itself which was still reporting Irene as a hurricane long after the eye-wall had collapsed and the winds subsided to tropical storm strength. Have we reached the point where weather is politicized too?

All the evidence was there that the public was being 'played' Neither the government, their scientists, nor the press can be trusted anymore.

Ishmael

 

[Joeybagadonuts]

Yes it’s always wiser to totally ignore a potential disaster.

“You’re doing a heck of a job, Brownie.”

 

[Ishmael]

Yes it’s always wiser to totally ignore a potential disaster.

“You’re doing a heck of a job, Brownie.”

Well idiot, disaster is always around the corner. We don't need manufactured disasters courtesy of the government, it's scientist, and the press. The facts might serve just as well instead.

You're merely parroting the, "It could have been worse" line.

Ishmael

 

[Hallow_Ed]

im surprised all that gulf oil didnt wash up on the boardwalk...lol.

 

[phrodeau]

No paranoia here at all.

 

[Ishmael]

im surprised all that gulf oil didnt wash up on the boardwalk...lol.

It's kinda like having the mumps, once you've had it you're immune. The problem is that more and more are going to ignore (found poetry) the warnings in the future. And their reasons for doing so are not without merit.

Ishmael

 

[Ishmael]

No paranoia here at all.

Where was the paranoia induced, and how?

Ishmael

 

[eyer]

http://moonbattery.com/obama-irene.jpg

 

[Hallow_Ed]

It's kinda like having the mumps, once you've had it you're immune. The problem is that more and more are going to ignore (found poetry) the warnings in the future. And their reasons for doing so are not without merit.

Ishmael

actually sitting thru a hurricane makes a lot of converts. sorta learn by doing.

 

[Morcheeba]

It's kinda like having the mumps, once you've had it you're immune. The problem is that more and more are going to ignore (found poetry) the warnings in the future. And their reasons for doing so are not without merit.

Ishmael

Agreed, fellow Floridian.

There were some upstate being interviewed with smiles on their faces while saying it would be best to sleep on their 35 footers. All the while knowing it was a bust of a media-crazed storm.

 

[Ishmael]

actually sitting thru a hurricane makes a lot of converts. sorta learn by doing.

Been there, done that.

Ishmael

 

[Hallow_Ed]

Been there, done that.

Ishmael

still, everyone should experience it, for perspective. then its there own damn fault then on.

 

[Ishmael]

Agreed, fellow Floridian.

There were some upstate being interviewed with smiles on their faces while saying it would be best to sleep on their 35 footers. All the while knowing it was a bust of a media-crazed storm.

Heya Morchy.

Ever since the media storm over Katrina no politician is going to miss the opportunity to order the public around. "I'm in charge and I know best."

I no longer have to concern myself with hurricanes. I've traded it all for volcanoes.

Ishmael

 

[Morcheeba]

still, everyone should experience it, for perspective. then its there own damn fault then on.

If you feel this way, everyone should also

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCEeAn6_QJo

 

[Hallow_Ed]

If you feel this way, everyone should also

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCEeAn6_QJo

now your toying with me, but your right...

 

[Ishmael]

Like a hurricane

Ishmael

 

[Morcheeba]

Learn To Swim

Ishy, I was on a mild tirade about Brian Norcross recently. Another sensationalizer...

Guess my link to Tool pretty much sums it up for me now.

Relink...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCEeAn6_QJo

Irene and her politics, you know it, Ishy.

Good night.

 

[Hallow_Ed]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xg-zwba7l5w

Jimmie Buffet "Tryin to Reason with Hurricane Season"

 

[Ishmael]

Ishy, I was on a mild tirade about Brian Norcross recently. Another sensationalizer...

Guess my link to Tool pretty much sums it up for me now.

Relink...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCEeAn6_QJo

Irene and her politics, you know it, Ishy.

Good night.

I watched your link Morchy. I took a different tack. Some embrace sensationalism, others are repulsed.

I'm at that, "Show me something new" stage of life.

'Night Morchy.

Ishmael

 

[phrodeau]

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/08/hurricane_irene.html

 

[Joeybagadonuts]

Well idiot, disaster is always around the corner. We don't need manufactured disasters courtesy of the government, it's scientist, and the press. The facts might serve just as well instead.

You're merely parroting the, "It could have been worse" line.

Ishmael

Ish, you're a funny guy.

 

[SuprSalor]

Over-hyped in the media? Yeah, I gotta agree. Particularly in hindsight as it turned out. I'm of the mind this one was blown (no pun intended) out of proportion was it went up the East Coast. Much more densely populated than Florida and the Gulf Coast. And who really gives a flying fuck about those people anyway. Redneck trailer trash. Not the VIP's of D.C., New York and Boston. I'm pretty sure thats way the media sees it. Not that they won't hesitate to show dramatic footage of the poor suffering under the calamity all the while wholly sympathized by the perfectly coiffed news anchor.
Obama at the DRC in Washington. Did he need to be there? Hell no. But then again, if he hadn't, the Right would have been clamoring that he wasn't. He was off safe and sound while millions were in potentially terrible peril. Once again, he was in a no-win situation. I do believe your right in that the hyping of the 50 year storm or whatever the press so cleverly names these things just makes people fail to heed the warnings when a real disaster threatens. yea,yeah. I heard the same shit about that Irene rainstorm a few years ago. fuck that. I ain't leaving... The press makes its living on sensationalism. Reporting cold hard facts loses market share.

 

[Ishmael]

Over-hyped in the media? Yeah, I gotta agree. Particularly in hindsight as it turned out. I'm of the mind this one was blown (no pun intended) out of proportion was it went up the East Coast. Much more densely populated than Florida and the Gulf Coast. And who really gives a flying fuck about those people anyway. Redneck trailer trash. Not the VIP's of D.C., New York and Boston. I'm pretty sure thats way the media sees it. Not that they won't hesitate to show dramatic footage of the poor suffering under the calamity all the while wholly sympathized by the perfectly coiffed news anchor.
Obama at the DRC in Washington. Did he need to be there? Hell no. But then again, if he hadn't, the Right would have been clamoring that he wasn't. He was off safe and sound while millions were in potentially terrible peril. Once again, he was in a no-win situation. I do believe your right in that the hyping of the 50 year storm or whatever the press so cleverly names these things just makes people fail to heed the warnings when a real disaster threatens. yea,yeah. I heard the same shit about that Irene rainstorm a few years ago. fuck that. I ain't leaving... The press makes its living on sensationalism. Reporting cold hard facts loses market share.

So that's why NHC 'lied' to everyone?

Ishmael

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Many years ago I was a fireman. On one occasion I was required to drive thru a patch of fresh asphalt. Halfway thru the asphalt the firehouse cancelled the call. The officer beside me said, KEEP THE LIGHTS AND SIREN ON FOR A WHILE TILL WE GET OUT OF SIGHT.

IRENE was Obama's fire call. The NHC had to keep the lights and siren ON. Didnt want no Emily Latella NEVERMIND! moment spoiling the fun.

 

[Frisco_Slug_Esq]

Hurricane Irene and the Financial Crisis
Two disasters, partially of the government's own making
Ira Stoll | August 29, 2011

Watching Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey and Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York order businesses to close and citizens to evacuate their homes in advance of Tropical Storm Irene reminded me of the actions taken by President George W. Bush, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, and the Federal Reserve during the financial crisis.

The similarities are striking. In both the financial crisis and Irene, the government actions taken were exceptional and involved depriving people of private property without the due process required under the Fifth Amendment.

In the financial crisis, Bush and Paulson seized Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in what Paulson later described as an ambush. They did in essence the same thing at AIG, without shareholder approval, in what AIG’s former chairman Maurice Greenberg, a large shareholder, has called a violation of the law of Delaware, in which AIG was incorporated.

In Irene, the mayor and the governor took away not a company that belonged to shareholders, but rather the use of apartments and houses and commercial properties that had been owned or rented by individuals.

In both the financial crisis and Irene, the justification for these extraordinary actions was the ultimately un-provable contention that without them, things would have been even worse. Paulson wrote that he had “no other choice” to “protect free enterprise capitalism” from the risk of a catastrophic global meltdown. Bloomberg reportedly “decided that the risk of inaction was intolerable,” with his defenders evoking New York City underwater in a Katrina-style deadly disaster.

In both the financial crisis and Irene, political party labels were largely irrelevant. The fact that Paulson and Bush were from the putatively pro-free-market Republican Party did not stop them from seizing companies, and the fact that Christie is a Republican and Bloomberg is a Democrat-turned-Republican-turned-independent did not stop them from ordering people out of their homes.

In both cases, the actions were spurred and facilitated by a pliant press. With Irene, the Weather Channel played the role that CNBC did in the financial crisis, the wind-blown reporters in waterfront storm gear standing in for the business reporters reporting from stock-exchange trading floors. Just as Paulson’s actions attracted little criticism from major press outlets across the political spectrum, Mayor Bloomberg’s shutdown of New York City was hailed, with a news article-valentine in The New York Times describing him as “a decisive crisis manager” and “a reassuring father-figure” who “had done much to repair his reputation for C.E.O.-style leadership.”

In both cases, there was a display of faith in central planning as opposed to Hayekian distributed knowledge. Rather than letting shareholders or market forces decide the fate of AIG, Fannie, or Freddie, the government stepped in. And rather than letting individuals decide whether to stay or go ahead of Irene, the government made the decision for them.

In both situations, there is an argument that the government’s actions actually made things worse. In the financial crisis, the seizures probably contributed to the sense of crisis and panic and made it harder for other financial institutions to raise capital. Layoffs and the stock market decline both got worse after the AIG and Fannie and Freddie seizures. Bloomberg argues that the evacuations saved lives, and perhaps they did. But there was a large cost to shutting down New York City and the Jersey shore for an entire weekend. Some individuals may have left New York City or the New Jersey coast for other places, such at Vermont or the Catskills, that turned out to be hit even worse by the storm.

In both events, unelected technocrats played a big role. In the financial crisis, it was Ben Bernanke and Timothy Geithner, who stayed on after the Bush administration to serve President Obama. In Irene, it was the meteorologists and the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, William Craig Fugate, an Obama appointee whose prior job was as director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management under Florida’s Republican governor, Jeb Bush.

In both cases, critics of the government’s actions are marginalized in the political and press conversation as a wild-eyed extremist, anarchist, fringe. Yet who were the real destroyers of order here—the skeptics, or those in government who use a predicted emergency to seize property and power, close businesses, or force people from their homes?

Reason.com (Libertarian)

Thoughts?