What the media want us to see

What the media doesn't want us to see

BTW, did anyone hear about Al Sharpton's limo driver getting arrested by the Texas HP for going in excess of 110mph while taking Al to the airport after the Sheehan event?

Rev. Al Sharpton's driver arrested near Dallas

Sorry Ms. Dolan, I'm sure you wrote this letter several days ago when it may have been relevant, but there is a new girl in town for the fickle media to focus on, her name is Katrina. Cindy Sheehan is not going to be the flavor of the month anymore. We have been praying for all the victims of this storm, but at least it gave one silver lining in taking Cindy Sheehan out of the spotlight.

I'm sure the leftie loonies will blame the hurricane on Bush, global warming, not enough reservists to keep order since a lot are in Iraq, Bush got Halliburton to steer the hurricane away from Texas, just wait & see. You may think I'm kidding, but sadly I'm not.

Speaking of the War, U.S. says air strikes kill Iraq al Qaeda fighters

Are we to believe that if Bush meets with Ms.Sheehan that she will just go away and mourn her son in silence? I doubt Michael Moore, and now the reverand Al Sharpton, will allow that.

"Maybe the shock of the death of her son,Casey,and the meeting with the president was too much to handle at one time". Maybe. Then again maybe,just maybe, Michael Moore & co. saw a mother's grief as as chance to advance their own agenda: to bash Bush. imo,the last thing these people want is to meet with Bush as it may put an end to the invites to the Al Sharptons by the likes of Chris Mathewes and Larry King.

Sheehan now looks to take on Congress

Hugh,

Thanks for the link. It's interesting that Ms. Sheehan is standing in front of a huge painting of her son. Why not stand in front of a huge picture of herself? It's not her son's fight. He fought his fight and died for it.

Mr. Editor,

Please, please stop the insanity. No more letters about " Camp Crazy" and the manical rantings of Cindy Sheehan.

She is a disgrace. She's unhinged, unblanaced, looney, whacko, a fruitcake, nuts, daffy and her act has become tiresome.

hugh, dan, yard dog - together again - the three stooges show. This is the absolute dream thread - the three stooges defending a letter by toni moshetti - 4 people who are nutty as a squirrel's lunch discussing foreign policy - hooboy.

Yallerstreak,
Hey,hey,whattya say?
Spit on any GIs today?

Does Cindy Sheehan have a question to ask the President that he hasn't already heard?
Could he possibly have an answer that he hasn't already given to the American people?
The answer to both of these questions is "No."
So why should he meet with her?
The liberal anti-Bush/anti-war crowd are hoping to force a face-to-face confrontation complete with
Sheehan screaming and crying at Bush so they can beam it around the world in support of their cause. Their intent has nothing to do with questions, answers, or policy. It's all about trying to destroy the conservatives they love to hate.
Ain't gonna happen.

What about Osama bin Laden;"Wanted: Dead or Alive"
-- George W. Bush, Sep.12, 2001
to "I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and I really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority."
-- George W. Bush, March 13, 2002
Talk about a flip-flopper.
"...not that important"? This is who attacked us,or have we forgotten Sep. 11,2001.
For you 'I'm righties,you're wrongies' who must resort to grade school name-calling;
"You can support the troops but not the president."
---Rep Tom Delay (R-TX)
FYI, I'm an unafilliated American voter who prefers educated decision making over party loyalty.
"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."
-Theodore Roosevelt

Chuck, swallow your contempt. Bush is your daddy for another 3 years.

"Contempt"? Not sure where that comes from.Maybe you can explain.
My "daddy" toured Vietnam three times (Special Forces-Navy)- a service, to you and all americans, that claimed his life, thank you very much. His name never was G.W. Bush.
Did you hear what W's daddy said about Iraq?
"Extending the war into Iraq would have incurred incalculable human and political costs. We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in effect, rule Iraq. The coalition would instantly have collapsed, the Arabs deserting in anger and other allies pulling out as well. Exceeding the U.N.'s mandate would have destroyed the precedent of international response to aggression we hoped to establish. Had we gone the invasion route, the U.S. could still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land."
-- From "Why We Didn't Remove Saddam"
by George Bush [Sr.] and Brent Scowcroft, Time Magazine, 1998

What grade are you in?

At least he knows who his daddy is, Hugh.

As for your insinuation that the media glorifies Sheehan's cause, here's some common sense for you. Why would a photographer include camera men, light boys, and the like in a picture that is supposed to capture CINDY SHEEHAN at her son's grave?

"What the media wants us to see" is nothing but a cropped image of "what the media doesn't want us to see." And it was cropped because the various crew teams were extraneous. And why should it matter that many news groups attended the event? It doesn't say anything about Sheehan or her cause.

If I'm taking a picture of a dove sitting in a tree for an ornithology project, would I need to include the part of the picture that included the truck that drove by on the highway behind the tree? No. I want the focus to be on the dove itself.

You didn't prove anything by juxtaposing those pictures, except to show that you don't understand the most basic aspects of photography. Congrats.

And I'm not expecting an "answer" for Sheehan about Iraq from Bush. I know that she just wants to get back at Bush out of spite (she may even like the attention). Her son fought and died because it was his job and he was paid to do so. She doesn't bring him back with this, and I refuse to believe that she's doing it for anybody else's child.

However, I'm happy that she's creating more unrest over the war in Iraq. Anyone with any sense knows it was bullshit from day one. I don't really care about the means through which the war ends. I just want it to end and I want this monkey in the White House to leave with the greatest amount of disgrace possible, and if that means I have to hear about Sheehan, so ****ing be it. More power to her, I say.

Chuck,

I'm with you. Unaffiliated and only interested in the truth. It's getting harder and harder to find beneath the spin and propaganda. Even direct quotes are suspect. The machines just keeps getting louder and louder and the people are falling right to one side or another.

Here's to freedom of thought, freedom from parties, and a true search for the truth.

"Sorry Ms. Dolan, I'm sure you wrote this letter several days ago when it may have been relevant, but there is a new girl in town for the fickle media to focus on, her name is Katrina. Cindy Sheehan is not going to be the flavor of the month anymore. We have been praying for all the victims of this storm, but at least it gave one silver lining in taking Cindy Sheehan out of the spotlight."

You're thankful that dozens of people dead and several cities devastated is taking the attention off of one protesting American?

That is low, Dan. But I guess all of us are cannon fodder to Fearless Leader Bush anyway, right? None of us matter. All we are here for is to glorify Bush forevermore, hallelujah amen.

No wonder Bush supporters really do not care about the soldiers in Iraq. There's no tears shed for them when they die, none at all. Just empty "oh we're sending our prayers" crap. Bush does not mourn, his supporters do not mourn, because they have no damned concept whatsoever about the preciousness of human life. To them, ALL life is expendable for sake of their own selfishness. And implying that God sent a hurricane to move the spotlight off of Bush is entirely part of that mindset.

Twenty years from now, Bush and his entire cabal of supporters are going to be scorned and sneered at as the worst possible example of Americans that there's ever been. And I'm going to be right there, telling my children how bad they really were. I'm going to tell them about some of the comments like this one that were made. And there's not a thing that any of you can do about it. History will be about as kind to Bush as it's been to Lyndon Johnson, Josef Stalin and Neville Chamberlain.

Rethink your comments Dan, please. The people of Louisiana and Mississippi deserve that much, don't you think?

Christopher Knight. That was pretty nasty. Just think, we have 3 more days until the weekend.

Wow, nice comments. Anyone listening?

Shalom

"Christopher Knight. That was pretty nasty. Just think, we have 3 more days until the weekend."

Take a look at the stuff coming in from New Orleans and Mississippi on your TV. Try to tell me that this is a good thing because "it gets the heat off Bush". Try telling that to the families of hundreds believed to be dead from Katrina. To the hundreds of thousands who have had life as they've known it utterly destroyed after this thing. Tell them that this thing was all too convenient for the "distraction" it provided.

People who would believe this are cold-blooded ghouls of the lowest kind. I really hope and pray they'd see how wrong they are to think this way of a calamity.

Chris, I was wondering if someone would not be sharp enough to understand my post. Congrats you won. I'm simply saying the hurricane is a big story and it will take the spotlight off Sheehan. I don't enjoy hurricanes or the suffering they cause. Good attempt at spin though it didn't work.

Dan,
If you were attempting some saracasm it was a pretty poor way to go about it. This isn't the kind of thing that should be used for something so meaningless and trivial in the greater scheme of things. You really did come across as pretty ghoulish with it.

Dan you sound embarrassed a bit - you shot your big mouth off without thinking again- well it's not the first time you and the other two stooges have screwed up. You guys (Yard Dog and Hugh) are the comic relief on this blog. I really appreciate the humor you and the other 2 goobers bring us each day. So Dan don't worry about wishing a few of your fellow citizens dead -- you voted for dubya so you get to share in his guilt for all the death in Iraqnam - now that is
something to worry about.

Hey dubya whatta you say
How many troops will you kill today.

"Cold blooded ghouls". Man,talk about spin. This goes off the scale. Never heard this kind of talk from anyone in here before. (exceptions to yallerstreak who sees blood on everyone's hand who is to the right of Ted Kennedy or Jane Fonda).

I too am glad to see the Sheehan circus off the tube for a while. Does this mean anyone is thankful for the hurricane? CK,you are smarter than that.

Yallerstreak,

Hey,hey whattya say?
Spit on any GIs tioday?

Just cause yellowdog's nasty every day doesn't mean you have to respond with the same negativity.

Though I can definitely understand not being able to help yourself. I have those days as well.

It is still in very poor taste, even in sarcasm, to relate that Katrina has taken center stage over Cindy Sheehan.

Or could this be a subtle way for the Christian God telling us that there are still things out there that go beyond our mortal minds.

And Eric, with all due respect, I hope that my comment will be taken positively as I realize the stand taken on Christian faith.

Shalom

Chris, last attempt in English. There was a hurricane, it is big news. It is going to switch media focus from Cindy Sheehan. Get it? I am not a hurricane supporter, get it? I am also not a Sheehan supporter, understand? The fact that the hurricane happened is horrible but it happened, see? But it will take focus off of Sheehan. Get of your holier than thou high horse ok?

Yallerdawg, For you to conclude that I wish fellow Americans dead so the media will not focus on Sheehan reveals the depth of your intense hatred and ignorance. But that is your normal state of mind, so I'm not surprised.

Don't give the libs any ammunition.
Next thing you know, the Dems will be claiming that President Bush conjured up the hurricane to take attention away from Sheehan.
Sheesh!

I'm not that big a Sheehan supporter either. Do I support her right to protest? Yer darn tootin' I am. Do I think other people are silly to protest her protesting? Yup.

But your tone was one that sounded too much of gloating that the hurricane pushed her off the radar screen though.

God causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust. And it still reeks of too much pride to assume - in the least bit even - that this hurricane was sent by Him to take the attention off of Cindy Sheehan.

The sad thing is, I have it posted to the net by plenty of other people that it really is supposed to be a good thing that Katrina knocked Sheehan off the headlines. If you aren't one of those that are so glad for this, then you have my apologies. But it still looked pretty low to attribute anything "good" from your perspective to what is likely to be the worst natural disaster in American history.

Cindy Sheehan does not need a second visit with President Bush, it would be in her own best interest to be interviewed and evaluated by a mental health professional.

Sigmund Freud had a concept he called
"projection", which is defined as a defense where the ego deals with unacceptable impulses and/or
terrifying anxieties by attributing them to someone in the external world.

Perhaps Cindy Sheehan, whose hate rhetoric aimed at President Bush, is really meant for someone else who she can't admit even to herself is her real target.

Cindy Sheehan is exhibiting behavior, that would suggest projection...she is projecting her rage at George Bush, when the one she really despises
is her late son Casey, who died as a hero in Iraq, precisely because he did die a hero in Iraq.

When listening to Cindy Sheehan and considering her past actions and past words, it occurs to me
she has always been a liberal, anti-war, anti-Republican. It appears that she raised Casey in such an environment, yet despite that, what does Casey do? He not only joins the military engaged in a war she bitterly opposes, but to add insult to injury when his enlistment runs out, he re-enlists, although he knew that by so doing it meant he would be sent to Iraq, where a war his mother despises is being fought.

What Casey did was to reject not by words but by deeds his mothers closely-held beliefs.

To make matters worse (in Cindy's eyes), he volunteers to go on a dangerous mission even his superiors warned him against, and he dies as a result.

Casey Sheehan's heroic action has in turn embittered Cindy Sheehan. A now embittered Cindy Sheehan, throws caution to the wind, as she seeks to exploit her son's heroic death in behalf of her political extremism, would serve to further alienate her own family, as well as her former husband.

As a result, the family must enter this "public"
drama. The family, as well as her former husband, side with Casey, and will honor his memory, by respectfully grieving. The Sheehan family goes on to say, "She (Cindy) now appears to be promoting her personal agenda and notoriety at the expense of her son's good name and reputation."

"Cindy Sheehan says she wants to ask the president, Why did you kill my son?" She knows that George Bush did not kill her son. She then
says of her son, "He died for oil. He died to make your friends," Bush's friends, "richer."
"He died to expand American Imperialism in the Middle East." (Cindy is a quick learner)

Cindy Sheehan doesn't need to talk to the president. A talk with a therapist would be more appropriate.

Jaycee,

The libs are already blaming Bush & MS. Gov. Haley Barbour for the hurricane for global warming not signing on to Kyoto:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-f-kennedy-jr/afor-they-that-sow-the-_b_6396.html

These people are so sick. Rescue crews are still looking for survivors and Robert Kennedy Jr. is already making political hay out of this disaster. It must be Haley Barbours fault that the hurricane made a right turn towards MS. Makes you proud huh Yallerdawg?

Chris, sorry if you thought I was gloating, that was not my intention. You just have to realize that the media will tire of Cindy Sheehan and when another story comes out, especially this big, she will drop off the radar screen.

You guys paint this as if we think Sheehan has no right to protest, that is not the argument. She certainly has the right to protest.

It is that the media doesn't report that she is in bed with Micheal Moore, she said Bush is the worlds biggest terrorist, she said that Israel is a terrorist state comparable to Iran, and many other inflammatory remarks. Not a good way to get support from the Jewish community.

She is an anti-war activist, not just a mom from Vacaville, CA who is simply upset over the loss of her son as the media portray her. She also does not represent the views of many other families who lost loved ones in this war, as the media portray her. That is my problem with the whole thing. Protest away, but don't cloak the truth of who she really is.

Lest we get off subject, which seems to be the norm on blogs where politics or religion comes into play; Ms. Dolan brings up a valid point. Had the President met with Ms. Sheehan, she would be a non-issue.We wouldn't need a hurricane to take our minds off it
Thanks to all for your remarks. I agree that a meeting between W & Sheehan won't bring an answer to the problem at hand.What it would do is, show a 'Commander-In-Chief'who is willing to explain why these sacrifices are neccessary. Perhaps, he could explain how faulty info can reach the highest level of American Government,maybe not.As the facts show, the former meeting between "W." & Shehann was before the truth came out that the justification for war was based on faulty intelligence. Then Sec. of State(Powell)seeing that intel was bad,resigned;Then National Security Advisor(source of info,Rice)gets promoted? So,President gets bad info -starts a war -finds out it's bad info- messenger gets promotion. Is THIS America? When our Government can answer these questions, then all of America can "get on with(their)lives". I agree with our president that pulling troops prematurely would be a mistake. If only there was accountability after mistakes are recognised, It would show honorability in the administration. Isn't it about time?

Giving a timeline for pulling out of Iraq is like giving a timeline for when New Orleans will be up and running.
War is a volatile entity, you have to take it as it comes and deal with it. You have to move in the directions that events take you. The absolute best answer is the one given by the President and his Cabinet: We'll leave when the time is right, and not before.
No one on this earth can predict when that will be, just as no one can predict when New Orleans will be habitable and stable again.
We have to be strong and persevere until the situation is stable and we can move on.

Dan and others
You keep talking about how the libs blame everything on Bush;from gas prices to hurricanes.
I also agree many go overboard in the finger pointing at Bush
BUT
Lets not forget when Clinton was in office the repubs were doing the very same thing. Heck five years down the road and many still blame everything going wrong today on him.
So my question is if the repubs could and still play this blame game on Clinton why is Bush off limits to the dems?

"Because with Clinton it is true", Some sarcasm here.
Dan,
Just to let you know what I think your first thought would be.

Nice reply to your own question Hayes. Bush is not off limits. He is imperfect like every other human being and has not done everything perfectly while in office.

But, when you have liberal spewmerchants like Robert Kennedy Jr., the DAY after a major natural disaster where people are working 24/7 to save lives, go out place blame on Bush & Barbour, well need I say more?

OK, call me ill-informed. What has RFK, Jr. said/done? I have seen no reports in the written media that I have read. Please provide with information and resources.

Shalom

Darryl, look at the website link on my 9:27 post last night. Of course you will see no media reports on this, even they realize what a political hack scumbag RFK Jr. is.

OK, I read the "Blog" referring to RFK, JR. While it is in poor taste to even think that it was due to stupidity of Gov. Barbour that Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, narrowly missing a direct hit of New Orleans, what is the point?

That is no worse than what was stated in the article regarding Pat Robertson's comment some years back. Or, even more recent, the comments that Dan made about Katrina taking some of the wind out of Cindy Sheehan's sail (my terminology).

The point is that RFK, JR. was making a point in the whole issue. However, to take one small paragraph out of the entire article gives no weight to the meaning of the article. I thought I was going to read volumes about how he tied connected someone's actions to the hurricane. Instead, one paragraph is taken as the abstract of the article.

Shalom

Scuse me Darryl, I don't agree with RFK Jr. or Pat Robertson, I condemn what both of them said. If you haven't read my past posts read them, I merely make a point that a big story like the hurricane will eclipse the media focus on Cindy Sheehan. Less media focus on her is no skin off my teeth, regardless of the reason. Please don't subscribe to the yallerdawg mentality the I wish people dead just so Cindy Sheehan will not be a media focus. That is warped.

If you cannot accept that fact, go look in the paper for Cindy Sheehan stories versus Katrina stories. Comparing my statement of this fact versus Pat Robertson's call for assasination of a president is disengenious on your part Mr. peacemaker.

On a related note, I nearly fell out of my chair in laughter last night watching Fox News when they showed Jesse Jackson meeting personally with Chavez. What an opportunist.

Dan
I have not heard the comments from kennedy but would like to know where I can read or hear it.

But it just shows how completely wacky this country is getting in politics and in our society and I would agree if he did this then he needs a realilty check on life. NOw if it hit one the states that voted for Kerry then I would blame it on Bush.

Also I understand your point about how this sad event in New Orleans will remove sheehan from the front page. It is sad when any person,dem or repub, tries to get any political mileage out of this. This is a disastor and no one is to blame. The magnitude of it trumps any persons ability to deal with it in a perfect way.

Hayes, look at the link on my 9:27 post last night. It's a site created by Arianna Huffington, a well know far leftie.

One a side note: last year Arianna & Sean Hannity were talking about global warming and Arianna was saying how horrible SUVs were. When Hannity questioned her about use of her personal jet, she replied that the jet was going somewhere anyway so she sees no problem with riding along. Liberal hypocrisy at it's finest.

I do agree with you, the mangnitude of this storm should unite all Americans and not be subject to political blame gaming to the likes of RFK Jr. Please donate relief money, I did this morning.

Dan
That is called not standing for principles. I dont understand how any politician,again dem or repub, can go out and attack what an opposing politician is doing and then turn around and do the same thing and then stand act like "what me!!".

I will give two repub examples as I am sure you will be happy to provide the dem examples,just a note I do recognize the dems are just as guilty at this.
Both are around clinton and his cigar exploits. The repubs were very hard on Clinton but became extremely quiet around Packwood and his exploits. The man should have been on americas most wanted sexual harrasment list and most repubs say nothing. Yes where things took place is different but what they both did was similar and if you stand on principle you condemn for all to hear BOTH. And that senator prior to the impeachment hearings who was so critical of clinton and yet himself had an affair,but it was a youthful indescretion on 45?, the man should had zipped his mouth and his fellow repubs should have told him to shut up as he hurts their cause.

Killian, This is the second thread in which you have tried to compare a natural disaster and the intentional disaster in Iraq. I say intentional because the Iraqi war was not an act of nature.

Bush took us into Iraq. A wind from the heavens did not. In one we have a human action causing chaos while in the other instance nature created the devastation. Like comparing apples and oranges again.

While the governors of LA an MS had no way of stopping the force of nature and cannot predict when the states will be "stable" again, Bush has the opportunity every day to start working toward the end of our involvement in the "conflict" in Iraq. He engaged us in it so IMO he needs to disengage us from it.

The Iraqi people did not invade our country, we invaded theirs. So let's start withdrawing from the invasion. It is total lunacy to think we have no control over our actions personally or as a nation.

Yvonne, according to Robert Kennedy Jr. if MS Gov. Haley Barbour had supported the Kyoto treaty then his state would not have had a hurricane. I looked at the blog on the Huffington Post website and most of the bloggers agreed with him. Some even want him to run for prez!! I hope he does with Howard Dean as his running mate.

I love it when these elitist liberals like RFK jr. opens their mouth. They think there are still only 3 network news stations and all of those are in the hip pocket of the democratic party. They fail to reliaze that other people are listening to their idiotic remarks now and will not edit their insane statments for them.

I can just see him and uncle Teddy sitting around the pool and Teddy telling him about the good old days when one could kill a girl and not even get a traffic ticket for it! Ah,those were the days,eh Ted?

Dan, There are extremeist on both sides of the fence. My point was comparing a natural disaster and projecting a timetable for stabilizing those areas is not the same as making a conscious decision to do something about a manmade disaster.

We are in Iraq because of a conscious decision made by Bush for us to be there. There is nothing preventing him from making the decsion to extricate ourselves from the disasterous situation in Iraq except pride (one of the seven deadly sins).

Although we have created a greater problem than we have solved in Iraq, we have the capacity to right wrongs. To keep spending money we don't have, sacrificing our troops for pride and creating even greater problems worldwide is morally wrong.

It's really ironic that Nixon has turned out to be a morally superior man to Bush. He bit the bullet and made a good decision to stop all the sacrifice in Nam. Did the world end? Did we cave in to communism? Are we worse off because he made that decision?

All the hysterics by some of the right about what will happen if we withdraw from Iraq is the same speculations made when the announcement to withdraw from Vietnam was made public. Don't we have enough to concern ourselves with without concerning ourselves with speculations?

Dan
I will admit at being disappointed at Bush for not signing the Kyoto agreement. It is not perfect but it could have been a major step in which to work out the kinks. And I do believe that many of the extreme weather events around the world is connected to Global Warming including the increase in hurricanes. I read recently that these increased hurricanes go in cycles and the last decade is more like the 50s and 60s but I still believe in Global Warming is playing a part.

BUT saying that even if Bush had signed the agreement Katrina still would have smashed into the US. Katrina was a train wreck that was going to happen regardless of what BUsh did or does. And for any one to put this on Bush is just reaching desperately for anything negative. BUT it seems many people are wondering why the national government has been slow to react to what is taking place. I am asking questions,ie like if they were projecting a major disaster why were not national guard and military troops not in place to go in at the first available moment?
But I will wait before making in final judgement on this.

Yvonne
Sorry dear but I must disagree with your comparison with Vietnam. I do also see some legitimate comparison with vietnam but not here. Forget the insurgents for a moment,if we leave now there are the three major groups who are at the moment more interested in their groups interest than they are in a greater Iraq regardless of all the great pep talk about it. The hatred and distrust among these groups is high. What I fear, and did so from the first minute we went in, is this can just as easily be another Bosnian civil war. About 6 months ago I was a little more optimistic but given some recent events and the constitutional talks I have grown less optimistic. And this possibility of a civil war didnt exist in vietnam by the time we pulled out.

ya know - I don't read this ...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-f-kennedy-jr/afor-they-that-sow-the-_b_6396.html

.... like this:

"The libs are already blaming Bush & MS. Gov. Haley Barbour for the hurricane for global warming not signing on to Kyoto"

I find Robert Kennedy Jr. a pretty thoughtful guy without concern for political hay but very studied and active in environmental concerns. His "controversial" statement was in the same paragraph and immediately after a cynical Pat Robertson comment - so my take is he was being tit-for-tat with Pat - sarcastically. Pat will make Politics for Jesus, and the Robert Kennedy Jr. post was ill timed, but again, I sense he is pretty thoughtful guy.

More from that blog link:

"It is false to say any ONE hurricane was caused by Global Warming, but it is NOT false to say that the substantial increase in the number and frequency of hurricanes are caused by global warming.

"NASA scientist showed a visual display of the extremely high surface water temperatures that exist from Africa all the way acrross to the Gulf of Mexico in the hurricane "zone". These are record temperatures, never before seen with this frequency.

"Hurricanes are to put it simply just "heat pumps" over water. Parts of the Gulf of Mexico have average water temperatures over 90 degrees. This is why Katrina "accelerated" from a CAT 1 hurricane to a CAT 5 Hurricanes in 48 hours time (in itself extraordinary!)."

More from that blog link:

"This is not a case of Kennedy braying "I told you so" but rather a case of 'I am telling you: politics is determining our scienftific view of the world with disasterous results for many, many years to come.'

"Haley Barbour's actions were transparently focused on benefitting a cadre of wealthy Republican donors, and when Robert F. Kennedy Jr. points this out it is not to dismiss the suffering of those in Katrina's path: it is to point out all of the suffering to come to anyone in the path of lousy policies when ideology and short-term greed trumps science."

Haley Barbour and the rich republicans are causing the hurricanes. Man,I've heard some spin before but this takes the cake. RFK jr.is a spoiled brat who has learned his lessons well from the democratic leadership- make political hay when the oppurtunity arises no matter what the situation is. The scary thing is there are people gulliable enough to swallow this bull****.(and they breed too)

According to Joe Bastardi(sp?)of the national weather service, we are in a "40 yr. cycle" and the intense weather we are experencing is a normal cycle,not Haley Barbour and the rich republicans. Also,he points out that the precious "Kyoto treaty" that liberals love would stop the world temprature from warming 0.4* C over a period of the next 50 years. BIG Fing DEAL!

RFK jr. is a cheap political hack of the worst kind to use all the suffering in N.O. to try to score political points.

And the rant goes on while countless lives are gone forever, SENSELESSLY!

Shalom

Hayes, Since I seem to remember you saying you either taught history or majored in history I am interested in your take on this potential civil war in Iraq. How will this impact us in the long run?

The middle east has always been unstable so how does our pulling out change things? That is one of the reasons I objected to this war so strongly. I did/do not understand how we thought it was a good idea to stick our nose in their business and try to change the way they do things.

The Kurds, Shiites and Sunnies distrusted each other before we were ever there. How do you propose we fix that? And why should we attempt?

Jon, good post. Hurricane activity does run in cycles over decades, we are in an active cycle.

JDR: RFK Jr. can spew his mouth as much as he wants. While people are starving, dying, homeless, instead of helping he tries to politicize it. There were many posts in the Huffington blog from liberals who agreed with him but thought his timing was pathetic and will be used against him. They are right.

Personally I hope these idiots keep blaming Republicans for this natural disaster. It just provides yet another example of how the very vocal kook fringe left is completely off the cliff.

You gonna help him with his '08 campaign?

Hey folks lets face it Ms. Shehann has the right to say anything she wants.That doesn't mean we have to agree with it.What you have to understand is Ms. Shehanns greif has probably clouded her judgement and since of right and wrong. Unfortunatly she has been preyed upon by people who care more about their agenda than there country or fellow man.Isn,t it strange how life works.Casey Died giving the Iraqi people the thing his mother is trying to take away. Freedom.