Letters to the Editor
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Obligatory reference
"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."
Apparently nobody knows what that words means.
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Yup, no one could have predicted 9/11...
...except the Phillipine government, which intercepted al Qaida documents detailing a similar plot in 1995; the CIA, which issued the PDB about bin Laden determined to attack the U.S.; the FBI field offices, one of which warned about Middle Eastern men enrolled in flightschools who showed no interest in landing planes and another of which desperately sought access to Moussaoui's computer in the summer of 2001; the NSA staffers who were criticized by Bushies for being "obsessed with bin Laden"; and, oh, um, anybody who remembered that al Qaida had already attacked the U.S. and its installations repeatedly.
And no one could have predicted Katrina except the U.S. Weather Service, which warned that the levees could give way, and the Army Corps of Engineers, which sought funding to shore up the crumbling levees and was denied by the Bush administration. That would have cost a staggering $75 million, as opposed to the multibillion-dollar tab wrought by the hurricane.
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NBC calls 9/11 and Katrina "inconceivable disasters."
They are not "falling hard", they are paid to repeat Bush's "desperate soundbites".
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Inconceivable Disaster
How can a hurricane hitting a coastal city be incoceivable? How can a flood in a city below sea level on the coats be inconceivable? How can a levee failing be inconceivable? The folks that call the results of Katrina inconceivable do not understand the word. They must be looking for a word to describe the size and scope of Katrina. Professional writers should know better. The should appreciate and honor definitions. Of course 9/11 is conceivable, Bin Laden conceived it.
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inconceivable
I do not think that word means what they think it means. The better word is incomprehensible, which definitely applies to the bush regime, as well as to the voters that voted for them. Come to think of it, it is inconceivable that bush or a bush voter has the curiosity or imagination to conceive of a hijacking, or a hurricane, which would make the use of the word inconceivable appropriate, at least to that portion of the population.
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Way to be stupid, NBC.
When I went to New Orleans for a conference about six months before the hurricane, my CAB DRIVER was talking about the possibility of the levees being breached. The lameness of the response is what's inconceivable, not the disaster.
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I do not think it means what you think it means
I emailed them. This is the response I got.
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"Inconceivable" as in the kind of disaster that had never happened before and that most people really never stop and think actually would happen -- and especially, happen to them. Thank you for reading. We appreciate it.
-----Original Message-----
From: Anastasi, Pat (NBC Universal, MSNBC)
Sent: Thursday, August 24, 2006 3:11 PM
To: Murray, Mark A (NBC Universal); Wilner, Elizabeth (NBC Universal);
Zaidi, Huma (NBC Universal)
Subject: FW: Inconceivable Disasters?
-----Original Message-----
From:
Sent: Thursday, August 24, 2006 2:58 PM
To: FirstRead
Subject: Inconceivable Disasters?
Yes, Katrina was inconceivable . . . except to National Geographic, emergency planners, and the Discovery Channel, all of whom predicted that this would happen. Heck, only a year earlier when people were wondering where Ivan was going to come ashore, the news was saying if NOLA took a direct hit the city could flood.
And 9/11? Let's see, the Hart Commission, Ramsey Yousef, and anyone who ever looked up at a tall building and wondered what would happen if terrorists hijacked a plane and slammed it into a tall building, like I did every day I worked in downtown Chicago during the 90s.
Not only were both scenarios NOT inconceivable, they'd both been predicted at least a year before the events took place. Is it necessary to have the memory of a goldfish in order to be a journalist?
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me email from NBC
On Aug 24, 2006, at 1:31 PM, Michael Anderson wrote:
My email to and response from NBC First Read.
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From: Wilner, Elizabeth (NBC Universal) [mailto:Elizabeth.Wilner@nbcuni.com]
Sent: Thursday, August 24, 2006 1:25 PM
To: mike@textyou.com
Subject: FW: Inconceivable?
"Inconceivable" as in the kind of disaster that had never happened before and that most people really never stop and think actually would happen -- and especially, happen to them. Thank you for reading. We appreciate it.
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From: Michael Anderson [mailto:mike@textyou.com]
Sent: Thursday, August 24, 2006 3:25 PM
To: FirstRead
Subject: Inconceivable?
9/11 and Hurricane Katrina were inconceivable disasters? Maybe from this Administration's point of view but certainly no one else. Please don't mindlessly parrot their talking points for goodness sakes. Think before you write.
Michael
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"Is it necessary to have the memory of a goldfish in order to be a journalist?"
Thank you for this delightful truth, Anonymous! You made my day!
Everytime I hear this administration or their mouthpieces say something is "inconceivable" or Condi Rice's "no one could have predicted...[whatever]", I can't believe how stupid these people are - and, yes, I mean the very rude word: stupid - frighteningly stupid.
So thanks for the belly laugh!
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If The President Says...
The words "Nobody could have predicted___________" in a plaintive voice on air in the obvious hope of excusing his administration's utter lack of foresight or preparation before and during, and ineffectuality after any crisis, you can be pretty sure that somewhere, someone probably DID predict exactly that outcome. And that their prediction is probably on record. Yeah, a major hurricane on the Gulf Coast in late summer devastating a city below sea level--Who'd a thunk it could happen?
Ever noticed that when emergencies are hot, this president is not?
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Pant Pant? Slurp Slurp?
The problem with lap dogs--if you're not in sight, you can't tell if the tongue noises are sweat or analinctus.
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Predictions
The earth is really flat,Noahs Arc floated up a mountain and Katerina Harris goes to heaven and there is no global warming. How could a hurricane dare to interrupt the presidents wood chopping spree in Crawford? and the leevies ? Who could predict they would break? Seriously, the billions wasted on the war in Irak would have build an unbreakable dyke around NO . And who would predict that NBC would tell the truth.