Why didn't Hollywood save New Orleans?

Wow! Great link, HM! What an appalling story written by two visitors to New Orleans. How damning are their words. Enough said.

[Hobbs]

Purhaps this has already been addressed in this thread, so I'll just reiterate the obvious.

Why didn't Hollywood save NO, or better put why did it take Hollywood so long to save NO? Becuase it took them that long to figure out how to capitalize on this disaster. Any celebrity worth their weight in helping would be better doing it on the sly. When you drag a shit-load of cameras, and production crews with you, your efforts become suspect and smacks of self-promotional material. It happens all the time. Being a celebrity is a desease. They need the spotlight. If they want to truely help, shut the cameras off, push the producers out of the boat and pack it full of food and water. Right now everyone is cashing in on this situation from Richard Simmons, Sean Penn, to President bush and Channey.

Historical story of interest:

One late night a fire broke out on the Paramount back lot. William Shatner was first on the scene. Seeing the fire, he rushed to a phone. Only he wasn't calling the studio fire deparment, but his publicist and a photographer. When they arrived, he then called the studio FD and then lent a hand putting out the fire. Lots of good pub shots of him fighting the fire along side the professionals. The building/set invovled in the fire was a complete loss btw. That's it in a nut shell.

[BigV]

[quote=NICOTINEGUN]

Originally Posted by BigV

Or, if you're just showing your frustration at not getting the answer you expected, perhaps you could ease your discomfort by signing off.

V are you really this anal? I see you dont' respond to humor at all. There is no discomfort, thank you. Stop being such an Anal Andy and smile.

In <strike>1964</strike> 2005, <strike>Justice Potter Stewart</strike> Dwellar BigV tried to explain "hard-core" , <strike>pornography</strike> humor, or what is <strike>obscene</strike> funny, by saying, "I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced . . . [ b]ut I know it when I see it . . . "

This quote, and the intent behind it, is well known as summarizing the irony and difficulty in trying to define <strike>obscenity</strike> humor. For at least <strike>fifty</strike> five years, the <strike>Supreme Court</strike> cellar has been struggling with defining what speech is <strike>"obscene"</strike> funny.

I'll laugh when I see it. Otherwise, laughing at your posts is just mean.

Emphasis mine, edited for clarity.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by Hobbs

Any celebrity worth their weight in helping would be better doing it on the sly.

Exactly. The only ones you hear about are the ones who did have media coverage. But asking why Hollywood in general didn't respond before FEMA did is like me asking why Hobbs and NICOTINEGUN haven't contributed to the Red Cross.

[tw]

Originally Posted by Happy Monkey

Cutting communication lines? Turning aid away? WTF?

Cutting communications lines is why I have been asking, "Why?" for so long. The only logical reason I can find is that the Sheriff of Jefferson Parish was getting relief and rescue organized himself because FEMA was doing nothing for three days. For example, a private citizen organized a flotilla of 500 shallow water boats per a request directly from the Jefferson parish sheriff. The NYPD arrived with something like 400 officers - again on a direct request from the Jefferson Parish sheriff. FEMAs actions to stop 'third party' requests may have been s to cut the communication lines from Jefferson Parish. This would be consistent with the attitude and competence of Michael Brown, Director of FEMA. Michael Brown is a benchmark example of political appointees by management that has not a clue.

What is woefully obvious in the Thursday night Ted Koppel interview was that FEMA was still planning rescue and relief operations. Planning - not executing. Why FEMA would cut communications cables? Maybe because Brownie assumed he could do it and not get blamed. After all, Michael Brown - "Brownie" - is George Jr's man.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by Happy Monkey

That seems to be a recurring theme across the board. No aid should be given because it might attract people to use it. Like the C-130s full of food for airdrops that remain grounded because they think dropping the food will cause riots.

More refusal of individual assistance.

[warch]

Ooops, bet the left didn't mean for that to get out.

Speaking from proudly, deeply in the left, I want it ALL out. To recycle a quote, Bring it ON! Lets learn where the mayor screwed up, what the governor did wrong, where the other government employees failed to do their jobs adequately. Democrats, republicans, independents, whatever. The only politicians I see calling for anindependent(not lead by members of congress or fed admin itself) investigation are democrats, I believe Clinton suggested this on his Superdome visit. And there may be a few republicans up for re-election willing to stand up to independent investigation- if you know of any, name them.

But certainly not Bush. He'll investigate himself. That is telling. He doesnt want to play "the blame game". Me neither, I want accountability and to learn how to design a better response for the next natural disaster or god forbid, enemy attack, so that our body count might be less than 10K.

[richlevy]

Really, even Kofi Annan had the guts to accept responsibility for hiring crooks and incompetents.

I also love the idea of blaming 'Hollywood' for not responding fast enough.
1) They have probably done things you have not heard about.
2) If they did something good and publicized it so that you did hear about it, you would of course accuse them of grandstanding.
3) It isn't their f**cking job. It's the job of the lawyer that Bush appointed as head of FEMA, instead of someone with actual disaster management experience.
4) Is this good enough for you?

[Urbane Guerrilla]

John Gibson, on O'Reilly, just told somebody he was "unjustly playing the race card." I think he was correct to call the guy on it.

[Brett's Honey]

Wow. I just read HM's link on more "refusal of individual assistance". When I heard that the Falls Creek camp was going to be used, I thought "what a great place to stay for a while". Now it sounds like a damn scary place to be. The churches are NOT going to be happy.....

[jinx]

Well it's not Hollywood, but Williams-Sonoma is helping NOLA with cookbook sales.

When you purchase our Foods of the World: New Orleans book from September 16 through October 16, Williams-Sonoma will donate the full retail price of $24.95 (excluding sales tax and shipping charge) to the American Red Cross in support of its hurricane-relief efforts.