That's the message libertarian fucktard Ron Paul put out yesterday, saying "We should be like 1900; we should be like 1940, 1950, 1960."
Dude has his head so far up his doctrinaire ass, he doesn't even have the facts of history right. Here's a video I found over at David Mixner's site, detailing the much-needed federal response to the horrific 1938 hurricane that slammed the Northeast, later jocularly called the "Long Island Express." Judge for yourselves, boys, whether the federal involvement was worth it for the survivors or not:
Hope you fellas up there in the target zone have plenty of cold beer and candles on hand. Don't forget to fill the bathtub - for flushing - and all the ice chests too. God bless.
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8 comments:
What a moron he is. That's a great old video... very interesting.
I'd like to think that we've learned something over the previous decades in that we can learn from our mistakes. God knows, we've made plenty of them.
Thanks Russ, for that video.
Well, Irene seems to have fizzled out here in New England - lots of water and a little wind, some power outages and trees down but thankfully nothing like the 1938 hurricane. Not even close. But the TV weather-casters and reporters got lots of overtime!
While I am no fan of Ron Paul, I am not sure FEMA is entirely up to the task of helping out in a severe disaster as was the WPA with its thousands of able bodies willing to do actual work. And with much less paperwork to boot.
The newsreel does remind us about WPA, a federal work program that employed thousands during hard times - something it might be worth considering again in these hard times. But the ugly label of socialism will no doubt prevent such programs from ever being thought of, let alone proposed.
Who says we learn from the past? Ideology seems to trump rational thought far too often.
Yes, Frank, and welcome to the future.
I'm no expert on what FEMA does, though I seem to recall somebody was mighty damn slow to respond in New Orleans after Katrina. But of course it stands to reason that in a major diaster that spreads across multiple states, federal help is a no-brainer. The question is not whether there should be federal disaster help but how it can best be provided, where and when and so forth.
Paul, of course, is just singing another chorus of the tune Reagan started - oh let's all just go back to the good old days when the neighbors pitched in and helped out, and everything was just fine and dandy.
Which of course - it wasn't at all fine and dandy for millions of people. But as you said, dreamy ideology and fanatic political doctrines trump not only reason but the plain facts of history as well.
Which makes me think of the PPM song - "When will they ever learn?" But of course those types have no reason to learn a goddamned thing - they're all right, Jack - they have their pile - fuck you if you don't have one, loser.
My Dad worked in the WPA and the Conservation Corp during the depression. He said it was the best thing he ever was involved in. They need to start it up again since these kids now out of school have nowhere to get a decent job. Not everybody wants to work at Walmart.
Yeah, I just watched a documentary about the CCC here recently, and I remember some oldsters saying what a good thing it was, when nobody could find jobs. From all I've read, it was a really well-run operation and created a lot of public parks, etc., that we still enjoy today.
Of course that ended when the war started and the draft came in. I'm against a military draft, but I do think a year or two of National Service on the CCC model would be a really fine thing.
Survived hurricane Irene, over 5 inches of rain here and then the wind. Tree branches all over the place. A local man was killed when a tree fell on him. He pushed his teenage son out of the way. No power for over 6 hours but we were lucky as some locals still don't have power. We have had almost 14 inches of rain this month and over 50 inches this year. Not going to complain because I couldn't bear to be in Texas. Heat and drought are worse in my mind. I feel bad for you guys down there. Hope one of those storms finds its way to Texas and brings cooling rain and helps end your drought.
Thanks for the thought Mark, it has been pretty rough down here. Still over 100 every single day and my lawn is the color of toast. Glad you came thru the storm okay.
Doing OK, I am lucky that I live in town. A friend didn't get power back for 5 days and some people may still not have it. The start of school was delayed a couple of days but when they opened they had showers for the kids. Other places offered free showers and free water. Looks like Louisiana's drought will take a hit with this next storm but you guys are still waiting it seems. Warmest thoughts.
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