New Orleans, page 6: Pictures

Having forgotten my camera (well, to be precise, leaving its memory card in my laptop in the room), I’m left with pointing you to pictures from today over at First Draft.

Athenae did say I could steal her pics if I wanted, so at least I want to share the group pictures with you. Here’s one from the start of our day, in front of ACORN’s New Orleans offices:

Left to right: Ray in New Orleans, Tom, June, Athenae, Mr. A, me, Cynthia, Mike Danablog; in front, Cheri and Harry (archeop). spork_incident was the photographer.

And here we are afterwards in front of the house and the debris pile, along with the kids from Elon University and the other volunteers:

What a day. What a group of terrific people. Next time (and I’m sure there will be a next time), I hope you’ll make plans to come, too.

New Orleans, page 5: Emotions

I don’t know exactly where today ultimately will rank on my list of life-changing experiences (note: list does not actually exist), but I do know I have a lot of emotions running through my head today.

I’m angrier at the Bush crime syndicate than I’ve ever been. I know there wasn’t anything they or anyone else could have done to stop the hurricane from coming, but I keep thinking that if we didn’t have so many soldiers and National Guardsmen in Iraq, we could have sent them here to respond more quickly and assist in the cleanup and help restore this great city to her former splendor. Instead, we’re trying to prop up a city thousands of miles away in a country embroiled in a civil war that we started …

I’m saddened that the people of this city have had to endure such hardships and tragedy. There were such poignant moments today, like finding a hand-drawn Lord’s Prayer, probably done by a grandchild … a wedding picture, stained by water and time … termite damage that made some of the wood look like coral …

I’m heartened that there are people (outside the Bush cabal) who care, like the locals who joined us, and people here who appreciate what we’re doing, like the man next door who shared his stories with us and then went out and bought us 125 chicken wings, enough to feed the whole gang.

And I’m wearily gratified that I had this opportunity to do something to help, even in some small way.

We worked somewhat silently at first, challenged by both the enormity of the task and the respirator masks we wore. As time went on, we loosened up a bit, but there still wasn’t a whole lot of laughter. Yet there has developed an indescribable sense of community, of shared experiences and making a difference.

So, to ACORN, thank you for the chance to volunteer. I will be back. To Athenae and scout prime, thank you for including me in the First Draft Krewe. And thank you, New Orleans, for showing me spirit and determination beyond anything I’ve witnessed before.

And now, I need a shower … and a nap.

New Orleans, page 4: 1773 Sere St.

A checkbook: Roscoe A. Allen, Jr.
A picture of a young girl.
Alphabet magnets on the refrigerator.
A Mickey Mouse figurine.
An old Cadillac Fleetwood in the driveway.

Memories of lives lived at 1773 Sere Street in New Orleans, immediately beside the London Avenue Canal and in sight of a steeple at Dillard University. All the houses here were virtually submerged when the levee and canal wall gave way just north of here..

I’m taking a break from gutting the house to write a quick post. We’ve torn down sheetrock walls, shredded ceilings, and carted out wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow full of debris: insulation, wooden slats, sheetrock, paneling …

Our blogger group now includes a few New Orleanians, and we also have a group from Elon University in North Carolina, on a “Weekend After Spring Break” science trip.

Incongruously, an ice cream truck is approaching, playing of all things a tinny rendition of “La Cucaracha.” I’m reminded of the enormous cockroaches that scattered from the walls in the kitchen as we tore them down. They reminded me of the Bush crime syndicate, except that the cockroaches stayed here.

The gentleman from next door has stopped by to show us pictures of when he lived in Chicago after he evacuated. He’s kindly offered us use of the bathroom in the FEMA trailer he calls home, in the front yard of his house. Otherwise, we’d have to drive somewhere (as some just did) or find a convenient area outside.

The trash pile grows taller. I need to get back to work. Four hours to go.

UPDATE (7:08 pm 3/31/07): Athenae, being a trained journalist, naturally got more facts than I did. Go see her excellent post.

UPDATE (10:31 am 4/2/07): spork_incident has more commentary and pictures.

Correction

The quote previously attributed to spork_incident actually was performed by Mr. Athenae.

Steve Simels regrets the error.

Whoops

So much for pictures. I left the camera’s memory card in the laptop at the hotel. I am a certified dumbass.

Will you accept a narrative?

We’re at ACORN’s hq awaiting our assignment. Lots of talk of respirators and masks (thanks Spocko!) and goggles.

Weather is pleasant but humid. Sounds like a good day to gut a house …

New Orleans, page 3: Breakfast of champions

And the First Draft Krewe said, let there be work.

We are heading out this morning to … well, we really don’t know where yet. Chances are they’ll send us to gut a house somewhere, but as spork_incident Mr. A. said last night, once they get a look at us, they may just have us pulling nails out of boards or something. Ha! (We’re not the most imposing lot, let’s put it that way …)

I’ll take as many pictures as I can and post them this afternoon when we return. In the meantime, just send us good thoughts and hope that we can keep the hammery thing on our hammers. (That’s one of our new catchphrases — they’re flying fast and furious here.)

Your morning New Orleans picture for today is breakfast. It’s a tradition, after all.

Does anyone have any good ideas on how to get powdered sugar out of a laptop keyboard?

New Orleans, page 2: photo log

This afternoon we drove around some of the hardest hit areas in the city, beginning up near Lake Ponchartrain. This is where the infamous 17th Street Levee failed and swamped thousands of homes in a fairly middle- to upper middle class neighborhood (Lakeside) and a more working-class area (Gentilly).

Then, we saw the Lower Ninth Ward, the hardest hit area of all. You cannot believe the devastation until you see it for yourself. A thriving, teeming neighborhood is utterly barren, with entire blocks nearly devoid of homes or with only concrete slabs to show that a house once existed there. I saw many stoops with steps leading to … nothing. Only a handful of people – perhaps six houses’ worth – still live in an area that once was home to thousands.

We completed our tour by going a few miles into St. Bernard Parish, which for all intents and purposes no longer exists, at least farther downriver from where we were. In the towns of Arabi and Chalmette, there seemed to be more houses still standing than in the Lower Ninth, but that was deceptive, as the houses were largely brick rather than the wood of the Lower Ninth. The houses themselves still were mostly empty, standing as silent sentinels over a scene of utter destruction.

Here’s some of what we saw today.

This was just across from the breach in the 17th Street Levee, in the Lakeside neighborhood. The levee was behind me as I took this picture. The dumpsters are literally all over the place, as containers for the houses themselves as they are torn down. The empty spaces (no grass) mark where houses once stood.

Here is a typical house near the breach of the 17th Street Levee. Remember, this occurred well over a year and a half ago. And also remember, houses standing are outnumbered by sites where houses once stood.

This is the actual site of the 17th Street Levee breach. Note the change in color of the wall (if you can see it).

FEMA trailers in the Civic Center parking lot in Chalmette.

The sign at the Chalmette Civic Center has yet to be repaired. Also, note another of the ubiquitous trailers out front.

This is tough to see, as I was taking it from the van while we were driving, but in the center, you might be able to make out a house, the upper floor of which fell onto the bottom floor. And yet, this is one of the few houses still standing at all in the Lower Ninth Ward. (Click on the picture for a larger view.)

More to come.

New Orleans, page 1: Sobering

I’m with scout prime, Athenae, and others in New Orleans. I’m posting by email right now, but I will have pictures to share later.

As I type this, we are driving through the Lower Ninth Ward, and the devastation is astounding and heart-wrenching. I may not take pictures here for fear of offending residents (if there are any) or relief workers. But there are few buildings left here.

More to come. I feel like crying.

Worst. Headline. Ever.

Direct from the Daily Tribune of Cartersville, Georgia, comes this gem:

Yes, if you can’t see it, it reads:

Men threatened with gun while working on one of them’s car

Words fail me. But, apparently, they also fail the staff of the Daily Tribune. (I captured it in the event they actually do get around to changing it at some point …)

(h/t to Eschaton commenter sekmet)

UPDATE (11:25 pm 4/1/07): I’m glad I did get the screen-capture. The headline now says “… one of their cars,” which still isn’t totally right, but it’s an improvement.

Today’s Daily Schadenfreude: Kyle Sampson

Kyle Sampson, 37, the former chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee nearly all day today about the firing of the U.S. attorneys. His grim expression (right) pretty much sums up the whole day for him.

First, he gave a rambling opening statement that basically said there’s no distinction between politically-motivated firings and firings for performance reasons, and he forewarned that he wouldn’t remember all the facts. Um, okay. No surprise there. Later, in response to questions from Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), he essentially had to admit that Gonzales lied when he testified that there were “no discussions” of the firings within the department. Sampson said that there were “several” such discussions, and that the AG either knew about them or participated in them. Um, Berto, you’d better be doing more than updating your résumé … you’d better clear your calendar for, oh, the next 18 to 24 months …

See, in Kyle’s world, U.S. attorneys should uphold the President’s policies, and that includes being a “loyal Bushie.” The performance for a Senate-confirmed presidential appointee than for a civil service job, sez Kyle. They have to “support … the priorities of the President and the Attorney General.” He clearly feels that any U.S. attorney who fails to do so should be subject to termination.

And that’s where his logic fails.

Kyle’s actions seem perfectly rational to him, and to all “loyal Bushies,” because they have grossly conflated politics and government. Governmental duties are not and should not be political. Yes, of course politics plays a role in government, but there’s a real, not artificial (that’s Kyle’s word) distinction between between politics and performance for all governmental employees, whether presidentially appointed or not.

Sampson understandably was nervous, but in trying valiantly to fall on his sword, he ended up throwing his boss under the bus. If for no other reason than that, li’l Kyle deserves all the schadenfreude I can stand to enjoy. So, congratulations, Kyle — today’s Blast Off! Daily Schadenfreude is for you!

But wait … there’s more!

While bouncing through the tubes today, I came across a gem from our good friend Ripley of The Zen Cabin. He wrote a diary on Daily Kos over a year and a half ago about the plethora of Utahns and specifically Brigham Young University graduates in the executive branch. In fact, says Rip, there are a lot of them in the Department of Justice alone:

Last week I stumbled across this article on the newswire.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 23 [2005] – Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales today announced the appointment of D. Kyle Sampson to serve as Chief of Staff at the Department of Justice. Sampson will succeed Theodore W. Ullyot, who will step down from the position to return to the private sector.

“Kyle is an outstanding lawyer, a strong manager, and a trusted counselor,” said Attorney General Gonzales. “His service to the President and to me has been exceptional. I appreciate his leadership and loyalty, and I am pleased that he has agreed to serve as the Justice Department’s Chief of Staff.”

Sampson earned his law degree, with honors, from the University of Chicago Law School, where he served as Articles Editor of the University of Chicago Law Review. He earned his undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University.

Which led me to this, from the BYU website:

Although he may consider his role to be of small importance, some BYU graduates may not agree. Taylor Oldroyd, a friend of Sampson and member of the Bush Administration, feels he has been instrumental in assisting the Church. “Kyle has played a key role in many of the Administration’s personnel decisions and is the reason so many BYU alumni, including myself, have positions in the Bush Administration.”

Well, that just made me curious. So, I thought I’d do some poking around to see if there was anything to it.

[...]

So, in the Justice/Judiciary system, I’ve found:

• D. Kyle Sampson
• Timothy Flanigan
• Thomas B. Griffith
• Jay S. Bybee
• Michael O’Neill
• Robert Clive Jones
• Sheldon Bradshaw
• Ted Stewart
• Michael Mosman

Make sure you remember some of the players – you’ll see them again.

(emphases mine)

Ripley. Nailed. It. Tip o’ the Blast Off! Cap of Prescience to ya, Rip.

The tentacles of the Bush crime syndicate (or, if you prefer, Cabal) stretch far and wide, past and present. Let’s stamp it out for the future.