Profiles in Tyranny: Contrasting Hurricane Bush versus Cyclone Than

[Octafish]

A contrast style, who's the bigger supertyrant?

George Bush and Than Shwe, Katrina and Nargis: A Study in Style

by Christopher Brauchli
CommonDreams.org
Published on Friday, June 6, 2008

“Comparisons are odious.”
- John Fortescue, De Laudibus Legum Angliae (1471)

It would be unfair to compare the response of Myanmar Junta leader, Than Shwe, to Cyclone Nargis to George Bush’s response to Hurricane Katrina. For one thing, the two disasters were separated by thousands of miles. Furthermore, Burma initially rejected all foreign aid whereas Mr. Bush only rejected aid from Cuba.

Of course, both Mr. Bush and Mr. Than knew in advance of the approaching disasters. On May 6, 2008, a spokesman for the Indian Meteorological Department said Burmese agencies had been given 48 hours’ notice of the cyclone’s advent, including its point of crossing, its severity and all related issues. There was no acknowledgement of the warning from the Myanmar government.

Mr. Bush was told the Sunday before the Monday Katrina struck that the city’s flood defenses could fail in such a storm. The National Weather Service issued a special hurricane warning saying most of New Orleans would be uninhabitable for weeks and “water shortages will make human suffering incredible by modern standards.” Unlike Mr. Than, Mr. Bush acknowledged these warnings. He said the government was fully prepared to help. He was wrong, of course, but not on purpose. (sic)

Monday morning Mr. Bush was again warned about the potential devastation of Katrina and was told the government might lack the capacity to deal with it. He did not let that interfere with the day’s planned activities. Mr. Bush talked about immigration issues with the head of the Department of Homeland Security. He then shared a birthday cake photo-op with his old friend, Senator John McCain, and, after learning that the 17th Canal levee in New Orleans had breached, went off to Arizona to promote Medicare Drug benefits. By late afternoon he was at a California senior center where he discussed the Medicare drug benefit. At 8 that night the governor of Louisiana told the president she needed everything Mr. Bush could provide to deal with the emergency. Mr. Bush said nothing. He went to bed.

Tuesday afternoon Mr. Bush joined country singer, Mark Willis, for a photo op, Mr. Bush holding a guitar and the singer smiling at the playful president. Mr. Bush then returned to Texas to finish up his vacation. He let it be known that he would begin work the following day with a task force to coordinate relief efforts.

CONTINUED…

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/06/07/9465/

Here’s what Supreme Father General Than Shwe had to say about the cyclone:

“Running for big buildings was the best people could think of for protection .”



Here's how he treats visiting fisherfolk and/or economic refugees from neighboring Thailand:

Burma: Than Shwe 'ordered troops to execute villagers'

General Than Shwe is referred to as the ’Great Father’

Richard Lloyd Parry, Asia Editor
Asia Times
June 7, 2008

The leader of the Burmese junta, Than Shwe, personally ordered the murder of scores of unarmed villagers and Thai fishermen, according to a senior diplomat and military intelligence officer who defected to America.

Aung Lin Htut, formerly the deputy chief of mission at the Burmese Embassy in Washington, described to a radio station how 81 people, including women and children, were shot and buried on an isolated island after straying into a remote military zone in the southeast of the country in 1998.

After one general hesitated to kill the civilians, fearing that the commander who had given the order was drunk, he was informed that it came from “Aba Gyi” or “Great Father” – the term used to refer to Senior General Than Shwe, the head of the junta.

A few days later troops from the same military base captured a Thai fishing boat that had strayed close to Christie Island in the Mergui Archipelago. The 22 fishermen on board were also shot and buried on the island. “I was a witness to the two incidents in which a total of about 81 people were killed,” Mr Aung Lin Htut, formerly a major in military intelligence, told the Burmese language service of Voice of America. “All of them were unarmed civilians.” In 46 years of military rule in Burma, there have been numerous reports of grave human rights violations but few have been attested by so well placed a source as Mr Aung Lin Htut. They come at a time when General Than Shwe and his regime are coming under scrutiny, after their refusal to allow a full scale relief operation for the victims of Cyclone Nargis.

Of course, Sen. John “Insane” McCaine did his bit in all the suffering in the Katrina aftermath. Doing his party-otic duty, he helped cover his pretzeldent’s pimply backsides.

Katrina Kerfuffle

June 5, 2008

McCain claims he "supported every investigation" into the government's role regarding the hurricane, when in fact he twice voted against an independent commission.


Summary

McCain was asked by a New Orleans reporter why he voted twice against an independent commission to investigate the government’s failings before and after Hurricane Katrina, and he incorrectly stated that he had "voted for every investigation."

McCain actually voted twice, in 2005 and 2006, to defeat a Democratic amendment that would have set up an independent commission along the lines of the 9/11 Commission. At the time of the second vote, members of both parties were complaining that the White House was refusing requests by Senate investigators for information.

The McCain campaign accused the Obama campaign of "tired negative attacks" for pointing out and documenting McCain’s gaffe.

CONTINUED…

http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/katrina_kerfuffle.html

All heart, these guys. And it shows.

[Octafish]

1. What does McCain have to do with Myanmar cyclone and New Orleans?

Nothing.
The dip does nothing.



August 29, 2005. "It's party time."

Just like the object of his affection did.

[Swamp Rat]

2. kick

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. Bush only rejected aid from Cuba.

Look folks they would have rejected ALL aid if things didn't go around State... nice fantasy here