A SPIKE LEE FILM... When the Levees Broke

[Guest trancepriest]

I'm watching this on HBO right now. I love the portrayal of Condoleeza Rice... her people are dying in New Orleans and she's shopping for shoes and playing tennis. Anyone else viewing this?

And don't get me wrong... I see some of this from the neo-con racist point of view. These people should have done more for themselves.

[Guest HouseJunkie]

Why do you feed your mind with so much negativity, you are living in the greatest country on planet earth where everyday a million positive things are happening.

I know a dozen people right now who would give up every thing they own to be in your shoe and be able to call America their home.

Take it from someone who grew up in and came from a third world country, you have it really good in America.

You should limit the amount of negativity that you expose yourself to, if for no other reason, do it for your health...

[Guest trancepriest]

Why do you feed your mind with so much negativity, you are living in the greatest country on planet earth where everyday a million positive things are happening.

I know a dozen people right now who would give up every thing they own to be in your shoe and be able to call America their home.

Take it from someone who grew up in and came from a third world country, you have it really good in America.

You should limit the amount of negativity that you expose yourself to, if for no other reason, do it for your health...

What third world country are you from (that is so negative... third world... you are 2 worlds backward...thats like being a Neanderthal or a demon)? Do you hate yourself... do you have an inferiority complex?

Are you saying the Spike Lee documentary on New Orleans is negative? I'll agree that the governments response to Katrina was very negative... I agree with you on that one. So basically you are happy to be in America... congratulations to you... have you done anything for this country? Do you feel like an american or just a third world person happy to be living in america? Also are you saying that immigrants should just be happy to be in America and not to care about issues dealing with government and foreign policy?

AMERIKA

Refrain:

We're all living in America,

America is wunderbar.

We're all living in America,

Amerika, Amerika.

Wenn getanzt wird, will ich führen,

auch wenn ihr euch alleine dreht,

lasst euch ein wenig kontrollieren,

Ich zeige euch wie's richtig geht.

Wir bilden einen lieben Reigen,

die Freiheit spielt auf allen Geigen,

Musik kommt aus dem Weißen Haus,

Und vor Paris steht Mickey Maus.

We're all living in America...

Ich kenne Schritte, die sehr nützen,

und werde euch vor Fehltritt schützen,

und wer nicht tanzen will am Schluss,

weiß noch nicht, dass er tanzen muss!

Wir bilden einen lieben Reigen,

ich werde Euch die Richtung zeigen,

nach Afrika kommt Santa Claus,

und vor Paris steht Mickey Maus.

Refrain:

We're all living in America,

America is wunderbar.

We're all living in America,

Amerika, Amerika.

We're all living in America,

Coca-Cola, Wonderbra,

We're all living in America,

Amerika, Amerika.

This is not a love song,

this is not a love song.

I don't sing my mother tongue,

No, this is not a love song.

We're all living in America,

Amerika is wunderbar.

We're all living in America,

Amerika, Amerika.

We're all living in America,

Coca-Cola, sometimes WAR,

We're all living in America,

Amerika, Amerika.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=-Kmde49TNY4

Housejunkie,

I love America... Macintosh... coca-cola... sometimes war... wunderbar. Spike Lee... internet... wonderbra... its wunderbar.

This is not a love song,

this is not a love song.

I don't sing my mother tongue,

No, this is not a love song.

HouseJunkie, HouseJunkie... i'm delirious... wunderbar... wunderbar. I am living in the greatest country... on planet earth... where everyday a million positive things are happening.... its wunderbar.

[V. Barbarino]

Hi I live 10 feet under sea level and a cat 5 storm is 3 days a way, what should I do?

a. Leave

b. rely on the goverment

c. use the race card and blame bush

[Guest trancepriest]

Hi I live 10 feet under sea level and a cat 5 storm is 3 days a way, what should I do?

a. Leave

b. rely on the goverment

c. use the race card and blame bush

Well it shows that large pockets of our nation are "third world." Because obviously these people were very poor and ignorant. Didn't it look third world to you Barbarino? These people said they didn't have any money or transportatition to leave. Am I hearing that correctly... they live in the richest nation on the planet and they have no money to leave and no car? What is wrong here? Is this nation prosperous? If so then why were a couple hundred thousand people living like rats in just one city?

Now HouseJunkie you are all self described third world and shit... didn't this look third world to you?

So Barbarino what I want to know is this:

1. Are these people just lazy?

2. A bunch of animals.

3. Poor as fuck.

4. They are not really Americans.

5. All 4.

[Guest JMT]

Hi I live 10 feet under sea level and a cat 5 storm is 3 days a way, what should I do?

a. Leave

b. rely on the goverment

c. use the race card and blame bush

d. ride it out so you can loot 80 aaron brooks jerseys. then get a free debit card to blow on booze and lap dances.

[V. Barbarino]

Hi I live 10 feet under sea level and a cat 5 storm is 3 days a way, what should I do?

a. Leave

b. rely on the goverment

c. use the race card and blame bush

Well it shows that large pockets of our nation are "third world." Because obviously these people were very poor and ignorant. Didn't it look third world to you Barbarino? These people said they didn't have any money or transportatition to leave. Am I hearing that correctly... they live in the richest nation on the planet and they have no money to leave and no car? What is wrong here? Is this nation prosperous? If so then why were a couple hundred thousand people living like rats in just one city?

Now HouseJunkie you are all self described third world and shit... didn't this look third world to you?

So Barbarino what I want to know is this:

1. Are these people just lazy?

2. A bunch of animals.

3. Poor as fuck.

4. They are not really Americans.

5. All 4.

How come it's America's fault that these people are poor? American is about pulling your self up by the boot staps, not looking for hand outs. President Regan once picked up the LA Times and there were like 15 pages of open jobs, so when people complained about there being no work, he was puzzled. Poor people for the most part are lazy, whether they are white or black or blue.

I'll admit older blacks had it much much much harder than their kids or grand kids, but like Cosby says, they are wasting the rights their grand parents died for.

[Guest obby]

???

[Guest slamminshaun]

I watched the special last night....for the most part, it was pretty decent. But as soon as it went off on the "blame Bush" tangent, it lost credibility. No balance, no equal time. I mean, c'mon...interviewing Belafonte and Sean Penn?? That's like interviewing Pat Robertson. Just a blatant attempt to politicize a tragedy. Michael Moore did it, now Spike Lee. The film had its good points, but would've been better had it been done by someone with a neutral point of view.

[Guest james stratus]

I watched the special last night....for the most part' date=' it was pretty decent. But as soon as it went off on the "blame Bush" tangent, it lost credibility. No balance, no equal time. I mean, c'mon...interviewing Belafonte and Sean Penn?? That's like interviewing Pat Robertson. Just a blatant attempt to politicize a tragedy. Michael Moore did it, now Spike Lee. The film had its good points, but would've been better had it been done by someone with a neutral point of view.

[/quote']

OK, so who was at fault? Seriously, line them up and name them. It is certainly more than one person for sure, so I want to here it from you.

[Guest JMT]

i didnt think spike lee made films. he makes joints.

[Guest slamminshaun]

I watched the special last night....for the most part, it was pretty decent. But as soon as it went off on the "blame Bush" tangent, it lost credibility. No balance, no equal time. I mean, c'mon...interviewing Belafonte and Sean Penn?? That's like interviewing Pat Robertson. Just a blatant attempt to politicize a tragedy. Michael Moore did it, now Spike Lee. The film had its good points, but would've been better had it been done by someone with a neutral point of view.

OK, so who was at fault? Seriously, line them up and name them. It is certainly more than one person for sure, so I want to here it from you.

You nailed it. It is more then one person, including some of those that rode the storm out. But if you watch the film, it really makes you feel like only one person was responsible and makes pathetic excuses for the mayor and governor of the state like they tried and their hands were tied. They make Mayor Nagin seem like he was the reason New Orleans' residents were saved. WTF? Then they try this theory about how Nagin supported a Republican candidate for governor, and that's why he didn't get the help he needed since the Republican didnt win....WTF? Spike Lee was trying to drive the point that it wasn't even the FEMA director's fault that it took so long to respond....its because Bush dont like black people, period.

There is plenty of blame to go around. It's his movie, he can make it the way he wants....but he shouldn't have tried so hard to pin things entirely on Bush with all this racist talk. These Michael Moore movies are getting old quick. I could turn on Air America if I want to hear this crap....next time, perhaps he should interview at least one Republican and not interview 100 Democrats for his movie. What type of answers do you think he was fishing for when he only interviews reputed liberals?

[Guest trancepriest]

I'm viewing the 3rd and 4th act right now of this documentary. I'm glad that Spike Lee did something to document this... properly. It really makes you think of things that normally doesn't go through a persons mind. Like losing loved ones, losing your home, losing your neighborhood and losing your city. Somehow I'm able to gain a little consciousness of what that experience is like from watching this. The extreme extent of the emotional devastation.

I'm amazed by the incompetence of the Army Corps of Engineers in building those levees. Levees my ass... that shit was pathetic. When they compared the levees in the Netherlands to the ones in New Orleans... my God... what an embarassment.

Here's how the British hold back the waters from flooding London:

And the Dutch solution to protecting an entire nation that mostly rests below sea level:

The Italians are defending their city on the sea, Venice:

And...

Here's how the richest, most powerful and technologically advanced

nation on earth protected against the long-forecasted flooding of New Orleans:

We are living in america its wunderbar.

[Guest xmuzik]

30 years from now the government cover-up of health problems and birth defects because of the pollution in new orleans should make for a interesting read to say the least.........

[B-SIDE1414779017]

Usually Im not a big fan of TV or comment much about it however when compelled. I have to speak out / write something. I feel the uncontrollable urge to tell it Like It Iz. Last time it was Crash movie wise and now it it Spike Lees WHEN THE LEVEES BROKE: A REQUIEM IN FOUR ACTS. I stongly recommend watching it, and for the faint of heart or the weak stomach, try to watch it in small doses it gets quite disturbing. But not nearly disturbing as what one of the most un-respected and unappreciated cities in the U.S. had to go thought to show yet another example of what politricks is all about. Now true New Orleans could just as easily be the worst experience, depending on that spirits were out the nigh you visited. All in all N.O. is my home and I am honestly reporting that this series, by Spike Lee is one of the most brutally honest piece of work I have seen in years. Spike Lee will def get an award for this one, if not several awards Although it would prob not be as big as Fahrenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore it is definitely as exposing.

Please watch it

http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/whentheleveesbroke/index.html

60% my entire family lived down there

30% of which were not able to leave. I don't care what color you are or where you're from... if this was happening in any other place in the world something would have been done sooner than later.

Yes I take this shit personal

Pix from my Moms House

[Guest james stratus]

I watched the special last night....for the most part' date=' it was pretty decent. But as soon as it went off on the "blame Bush" tangent, it lost credibility. No balance, no equal time. I mean, c'mon...interviewing Belafonte and Sean Penn?? That's like interviewing Pat Robertson. Just a blatant attempt to politicize a tragedy. Michael Moore did it, now Spike Lee. The film had its good points, but would've been better had it been done by someone with a neutral point of view.

[/quote']

OK, so who was at fault? Seriously, line them up and name them. It is certainly more than one person for sure, so I want to here it from you.

You nailed it. It is more then one person, including some of those that rode the storm out. But if you watch the film, it really makes you feel like only one person was responsible and makes pathetic excuses for the mayor and governor of the state like they tried and their hands were tied. They make Mayor Nagin seem like he was the reason New Orleans' residents were saved. WTF? Then they try this theory about how Nagin supported a Republican candidate for governor, and that's why he didn't get the help he needed since the Republican didnt win....WTF? Spike Lee was trying to drive the point that it wasn't even the FEMA director's fault that it took so long to respond....its because Bush dont like black people, period.

There is plenty of blame to go around. It's his movie, he can make it the way he wants....but he shouldn't have tried so hard to pin things entirely on Bush with all this racist talk. These Michael Moore movies are getting old quick. I could turn on Air America if I want to hear this crap....next time, perhaps he should interview at least one Republican and not interview 100 Democrats for his movie. What type of answers do you think he was fishing for when he only interviews reputed liberals?

The way I saw it was that the film portrayed the Mayor, the Governor, and Bush's whole administration as being at fault for what all happened. The Mayor and Governor for twiddling their thumbs, Bush for being oblivious to a crisis and disaster, same for Rice, Bush's inept friends in heading key agencies that should have been on the ground and in action within 24 hours, and local law enforcement in neighboring towns for obvious racism.

When you are pretty much dirt poor, which a majority of New Orleans population was, it certainly can be hard to pick up and leave on a moments notice. The issue of transporation is there. Having a car, buying plane or bus tickets for your whole family, even the availability of air or ground transportation. Even if the local goverment had the forsight to organize a mass evacuation of New Orleans previous to the storm, something like 80-85% of the population still would have been stuck there. It was figured out a long time ago in the Cold war that if there was a Nuclear attack on major cities it wouldn't even make sense to let the population know since most people wouldn't be able to get out anyway. People would be stuck in bumper to bumper traffic on highways inside and just outside of major population centers. This is because our road systems can't handle a mass influx of cars. The funny thing is that our interstate highway system was mostly created as evacuation routes from targeted populated areas to rural areas. Anyway....

Bottom line is that an organized evacution and relief effort should have been underway withing 24 hours of the storm passing. The fact that Bush said he didn't know how bad it was days after Katrina happened is just inexcusable. That's clearly an entire administration dropping the ball no matter what your political view is.

[Guest trancepriest]

The fucked up thing is that they aren't improving the levees. You heard that right the levees are not being improved. They are just redoing the same shit all over again. I don't care about the politics and who gets blamed. The fucken levees are being rebuilt the same way. What the heck is wrong with our government? How many other cities are just disasters waiting to happen? This type of cheap... put something up quick engineering cannot be tolerated when hundreds of thousands of peoples lives are on the line.

[V. Barbarino]

Bside, I've been thru a major flood my self, I know what it is like. It was the 100 year flood after Hurricane Floyd, some might remember my school ECU beating the U at NC State, since our town was flooded out..

The problem is this, your family has lived there their whole lives. 10, 20, 30, 50, 60 years, living under sea level for the most part, and in that 10, 20, 30, 50, 60 years, no one had a plan on how to get out?? No resources?

To top it off, they vote Nagin back in, who let those buses sit there?

Personal responsibility is lacking in the hurricane destroyed areas.. If you rely on the goverment you will get screwed.

If Clinton was in office, FEMA would have done just as poor job as this admins FEMA...

Then think about this. Take those who stayed, then divide them up. Those who could have gotten out but CHOOSE to stay, and those who couldn't get out. We wasted so much time, money and resources bailing people out who could have very easily gotten out.

[Guest coach]

So, closer to home, does anyone know how Miami's disaster plan is working? You know that Miami is actually a poorer city than N.O.? What if we got hit by a Cat 5 and a 20 foot storm surge?

[V. Barbarino]

So, closer to home, does anyone know how Miami's disaster plan is working? You know that Miami is actually a poorer city than N.O.? What if we got hit by a Cat 5 and a 20 foot storm surge?

We would celebrate in the streets of broward...

[Guest obby]

Some fail to acknowledge how our Governments chain of command works. How our Government works period! Shame!

It is against the law for the president to order troops into a city or across state lines without the authorization of the governor of that state.

Good day!

[Guest trancepriest]

So, closer to home, does anyone know how Miami's disaster plan is working? You know that Miami is actually a poorer city than N.O.? What if we got hit by a Cat 5 and a 20 foot storm surge?

Most of Miami is 3 feet under sea level. If it got hit by such a big storm surge then most people would say the same thing... people should have left or moved out from the area... no insurance should have been issued to homes under sea level... and of course its only affecting poor people so who really cares.

They probably would be happy... cheaper real estate. Civics in America... ??? it's all about capitalism. The people of New Orleans thought that the government of America had a responsibility to take care of them. They thought they were American citizens... had some special place... lol... America doesn't give a fuck. That's the lesson to learn from New Orleans. Capitalism... doing the most efficient financial thing.... from the building of the cheap ass levees, to the failure to mount a proper evacuation (heck even cuba takes care of their people better)... to the dismal repsonse by the government.

America doesn't hold those people in any regards. They were all in some illusionary dream. This country is all about doing for yourself and getting yours by any means possible. I myself don't really have a problem with that. But someone should tell those poor fuckers that their nation doesn't really give a fuck. Someone should tell them that they are nothing but third world citizens.... despised and constantly excluded. They still believe that they are a part of the greatest nation on earth. They're a part of nothing... this country doesn't want them and doesn't love them. Heck this country wouldn't even let them walk out on foot. They are still slaves.... America is afraid of them.

[Guest coach]

So, closer to home, does anyone know how Miami's disaster plan is working? You know that Miami is actually a poorer city than N.O.? What if we got hit by a Cat 5 and a 20 foot storm surge?

We would celebrate in the streets of broward...

It could hit your bitch asses, too! How are you guys prepped up there?

[Guest JMT]

Most of Miami is 3 feet under sea level.

no, most of it is 3 feet above sea level.

[Guest xmuzik]

I can see the uneducated in the streets with pockets full of credit cards chanting .......

We're # 1 !!!!!

We're # 1 !!!!!

We're # 1 !!!!!

We're # 1 !!!!!

We're # 1 !!!!!

We're # 1 !!!!!

We're # 1 !!!!!

We're # 1 !!!!!

We're # 1 !!!!!

We're # 1 !!!!!