I’m the 5th“here”..

There are workers making loud banging noises outside waaaay too fuckin’ early in the morning, particularly since I totally threw off my sleep schedule this weekend and was up until four. Anyway, I woke up at nine to the sounds of someone hammering. First, I figured it was the folks upstairs — then the hammering increased fifty-billion-fold. I don’t know what those effin’ HenWeb contractors were doing but — fuck! — so much for sleepy-sleepy.

In any case, surfed Apple Movie Trailers and came across this, I don’t know if it’ll be any good or not, but it seems to have a sort of Elmore Leonardish vibe to it (maybe?) …

*BANG!*

“You … you put a live round in that gun?”

“Well, yeah … there was like an eight percent chance it would fire!”

“Eight? Who taught you math?”

Speaking of movie trailers, this one is also worth scoping — it’s the story of a revenge-minded dude who enjoys two things: wearing a Guy Fawkes mask, and punishing the agents of the fascist British government in a world where Nazi Germany won the War.

There’s a lot of blame to go around, isn’t there?

The Mayor or New Orleans calls for a mandatory evacuation, yet seems unworried about the residents of the city who lack the mobility to evacuate — the old, the very young, the sick. Yet, photos of a large lot filled with drowned school busses, taken after the flood, show the capability to evacuate those people.

But let’s say, I don’t know, too much traffic on the roads. No where to evacuate these people to. What then? Load ‘em in the Superdome! Good plan, poor execution — no water? No food? Too little security — kudos to the low-paid cops who stuck around, The Big Easy has a reputation for a corrupt police department resulting from one of the lowest pay-scales in the nation — time to hike that rate, especially for the men & women (2/3rds of the force) who didn’t flee.

It’s very clear, though, that the local governments involved in this disaster failed — big time. Much is made of the fact that New Orleans is one of the three most likely natural disasters in the United States, yet the city seemed to get caught flat-footed, like a resident of Charm City surprised at the year end murder rate.

It’s fair to say that disaster planning begins at home. It’s fair to say that a local government should at the very least be prepared for a disaster on which they (one would think) would be well aware of. There’s a great deal of responsibility on the shoulders of Mayor Ray Nagin & Governor Kathleen Blanco … that, however, in no way excuses the pathetic response of the Federal Government.

The job of FEMA is to head into a devestated American city and begin relief efforts to besieged citizens. Once the disaster has occured, it doesn’t really matter if it’s a hurricane in New Orleans or a nuclear bomb in Baltimore — it’s the job of the Feds to jump in and start saving lives. And FEMA didn’t drop the ball — FEMA had the ball, shot some hoops with it, then threw it in the trash and got all surprised Wednesday morning when everything wasn’t honkey-doorey.

I voted for George W. Bush in neither election, motivated primarily by a belief that the only reason he was pushed to run for office was because GOP political handlers hoped his familiar name would cause voters to remember the “glory days” of Reagan and Bush Sr. and give them a needed push in the polls. Bush’s joke about Trent Lott’s home certainly doesn’t do much to convince me I was wrong — his appointment of Michael Brown to such an important agency as FEMA makes me seeth with anger.

There was a great post at Right-Thinking about Bush’s position as CEO of the United States. The point was made that if Brown is not fired, it is because our President approves of the work being done. I don’t see how that’s possible, and it isn’t like Bush has any credibility with me to salvage but for God’s sake, fire the man! If nothing else, New Orleans has shown why its important to have more than a political-appointee in FEMA’s Kirk chair.

Chaos in New Orleans — yeah, again, a large part of responsibility on the local government — but what about a situation where there was no early warning? Consider: What if a nuclear bomb were to be detonated in Baltimore? This same, slow, bumbling response? Anarchy in the streets? Citizens being raped while the government turned away trucks of water and food?

I don’t know about you, but my old thirty-eight, tucked into the back of my kitchen’s junk-drawer, just doesn’t seem quite as big and impressive as it did last week.

You see those previews for “Lord of War?” Nick Cage as an arms dealer — asked a question about his supply, “I want the gun of Rambo.”

Me too buddy, me too. Plus: water. Lots of water.