NFL radio station hosts joke about rape, tell Saints fans displaced by Katrina to stop whining and shut the hell up

Roger Goodell
NFL Commissioner

Dear Commissioner Goodell:

I know you have your hands full with the bad behavior of NFL players and coaches, so you probably didn't hear what the radio hosts from KSFO, the flagship radio station for the NFL Oakland Raiders, had to say about New Orleans Saints' fans displaced by Katrina flooding.

On the anniversary of 1,577 dead in Louisiana and tens of thousands displaced, Lee Rodgers and Melanie Morgan said this about New Orleans and the Saints' fans:

Rodgers: "I don’t wanna hear anymore of this crap from people in Louisiana saying.'Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, Gimme.' Shut the hell up. Solve your own problems. It’s been two years, grow up." (audio link WMA) (audio link MP3) (Windows Media Audio files. Mac users try Flip4Mac download plug in here)

Rodgers: New Orleans is "a sewer"
Morgan: Money going into New Orleans is going down "a rathole." (20 sec audio link WMA) (Audio link MP3)

Rodgers: "Maybe those people down there ought to stop their sniveling and whining...".
(20 sec audio link) (120 sec link for context) (20 sec audio MP3) (120 sec audio MP3)
(Transcript here or KSFO’s own podcasts from Aug. 29-30, Sept. 5-7 2007)

Why should the NFL commissioner care about the on-air comments of the hosts of the official radio station of the Raiders? Because they are tainting your brand with their horrific, cruel and crude comments. They are insulting the fans of another franchise and, to quote from the Fan Code of Conduct from another NFL franchisee, "Harassment of visiting team fans will be considered unruly behavior and grounds for ejection." Why should the hosts of the Raider flagship station be held to a LOWER standard than a fan attending an NFL football game?

Raiders' head coach Lane Kiffin appears every Monday and Friday at 7:45 AM on KSFO's morning program. In the lead up to Kiffin's Friday September 7th, 2007 interview, hosts Brian Sussman, Tom Benner ("Officer Vic") and Melanie Morgan joke about rape in prison right before Coach Kiffin's interview. This is what the coach and Raiders fans were subjected to when they tuned in to hear about a football game.

(Audio wma from 5 minutes before Kiffin interview. Audio MP3)

Sussman: Officer Vic and I just about lost our lunch when I mentioned, "What do you expect, one of these prisoners to snap on a condom in the shower just before he ramrods some weakling?"
Benner: (Officer Vic): (Laughter)
Morgan: Oh for gosh sakes.
Sussman: I'm serious you know, this is a jail! It's not a frat house!

(Audio WMA from 1 minute before Kiffin interview Audio MP3)

Benner: Would those be ribbed condoms for added pleasure?
Morgan: Stop it. Stop it. No. No No.. Zip it.
Benner: the basic kind? ..
Sussman: Let's get the coach on the line,
Benner: or with reservoir tips
Sussman: it's Hot Talk 560 KSFO

As you know, Commissioner, based on your own radio interview experiences, Coach Kiffin was almost certainly on the phone listening to the show prior to his interview. Is that the kind of lead in that you would want before an interview? Would you want your daughters listening to this while waiting for daddy's interview? Did the hosts hope Kiffin would join them in joking about prison rape? Sadly, this is not the first time that KSFO radio hosts have gone beyond the bounds of simple human decency, nor is it even the most egregious.

Lee Rodgers called for the torture and execution of a common criminal on broadcast radio -- but when 28 advertisers pulled their business due to comments like this, KSFO/ ABC Radio and Disney management shut up their critics and didn't demand that Rodgers apologize. (link) In fact, Rodgers brags about never having to apologize: he boasts that management strongly stands behind his comments and considers anyone who disagrees with him terrorists. (audio link WMA)
(Audio link MP3)

Please consider what that tells you about the values held by ABC Radio management, what they consider acceptable on-air broadcast behavior -- and what it means to the NFL for the Raiders to be affiliated with this station.

Melanie Morgan has called for journalists be hanged and electrocuted, and that people simply suspected of criminal behavior be hogtied and burned alive.(audio link wma link MP3) (With the recent passing of Richard Jewell --who was falsely accused of a bombing before all the facts were in-- I am reminded why responsible broadcasters don't incite the violent death of anyone suspected of criminal behavior.)

Recently you demonstrated that your organization will not condone abhorrent behavior in its players. There are some things fans will not tolerate. If your fans who are animal lovers need further proof of the depths that KSFO hosts will sink to, here is an audio clip of Lee Rodgers joking about lighting a dog on fire (audio link wma) (audio link MP3) I believe even Michael Vick wouldn't joke about lighting a dog on fire.

Of course KSFO wouldn't pass on any listener complaints to you. Morgan is married to the KSFO operations manager and if you disagree with Rodgers he suggests, "We'll trace you back, run you down and kill you like a mad dog." (audio link) (audio link MP3)

• I would like you to condemn these comments and ask Rodgers and Morgan to apologize to the fans, friends and families of the New Orleans Saints.

Coach Kiffin can speak for himself, but he might also seek an apology from Sussman and Benner and request that they refrain from joking about rape and other disgusting talk before his interviews on the Raiders' flagship station

• If all the hosts and management do not apologize on air and in writing, I would ask you to consider revoking their status as an official NFL flagship station.

Other radio stations take action when a host's comments cross into foul territory. Other stations don't tolerate this kind of talk. When a corporate partner doesn't respect you and your brand, maybe it's time for that partnership to be dissolved.

Of course ABC Radio, and their new parent Citadel Broadcasting, will say that it's just a numbers game and that all you care about is if they deliver the audience. Given your experience at NFL Ventures, you might want to verify the numbers and demographics they really deliver. KSFO's hosts constantly attack liberals, immigrants, non-Christians and the victims of natural disasters. Considering the diversity of the Bay Area, it's reasonable to believe that many Raiders fans fall into one or more of those groups being attacked. Is insulting the majority of your potential audience members a good way to attract listeners to your franchise? Rodgers even tells everyone who doesn't like his comments to not listen to the station.

I believe the head of your legal team, Anastasia Danias, spends a tremendous amount of time ensuring that companies don't state or imply an association with your brand unless you approve. Does an ongoing licensee with the NFL come with any responsibilities on the part of broadcasters? Or can they assume that once locked in, there is nothing they can ever say or do that would jeopardize their license with the NFL?

Finally, I know the temptation when reading these comments is to simply dismiss Rodgers and Morgan as ridiculous talk radio hosts whose views couldn't possibly represent the NFL let alone the Raiders. The station management may say I am complaining because I don't like the politics of the hosts and that they have no control over their "free speech". First, I will point out that these comments are NOT about politics but are repugnant comments directed toward fans, family and friends who lives were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina's flooding. Second, asking for an apology is not limiting the hosts' commercially-sponsored speech, but simply asking people working at the official station of a NFL team to maintain a level of human decency in their broadcasts in order to maintain the privilege of an NFL broadcast license.

My good friends in New Orleans and Louisiana tell me they feel the rest of the country have forgotten them, but some of us haven't. I challenge these disgusting comments and misinformation from the official radio station of the Raiders and I hope you will too.

Thank you very much for spending your valuable time investigating this issue and I look forward to hearing your response.

Sincerely,

P.S. Considering the Raiders #1 draft pick, JaMarcus Russell, played for Louisiana State University and hosted friends and family following Katrina, he might want to educate Rodgers on post Katrina problems.

cc
Anastasia Danias, Assistant General Counsel, National Football League Properties LLC

National Football League
Greg Aiello, Vice President of Public Relations
Peter Murray, Senior Vice President of Partnership Marketing and Sales
Jaime Weston, Director Brand Management & Integration Marketing & Sales
Beth Colleton, Director of Community Affairs

New Orleans Saints
Tom Benson, Owner Via Fax
Mickey Loomis, Executive Vice President/General Manager
Greg Bensel, Vice President of Communications
Ben Hales, Vice President of Marketing and Business Development

Oakland Raiders
Amy Trask, CEO
Chris Gargano, Raiders Director of Broadcasting
Mike Taylor, Director of Public Relations

ABC Radio Networks
James M. Robinson, President, ABC Radio Networks -- Phone (212) 887-1670

Entercom Radio Network
Ken Beck, VP, General Manager of Entercom New Orleans
Kenny Wilkerson, WWL, flagship radio station of the Saints
Bobby Hebert, WWL

KRON, Channel 4 San Francisco
Gary Radnich

LSU
Charles Baglio, Director of External Football Relations

Oakland Assemblymember Sandré Swanson

UPDATE: If you are having problems with the WMA audio files try the Mac plugin called Flip4Mac download from Microsoft here. Mac people I trust recommend it. I also have the same clips in MP3 format.

Katrina refugees are sniveling whiners and freeloaders says SF Radio Host for ABC Radio Station KSFO

Michael Marsh
Anchor, 5, 6 & 10 p.m.
WBRZ
mmarsh@wbrz.com

Dear Michael:

Last week while the rest of the country was wondering how the refugees from the Katrina flood were doing, Lee Rodgers of San Francisco radio station KSFO called them sniveling whiners and freeloaders and told them to shut the hell up and "Get off your butt and go to work." (audio link)

Rodgers: This two year pity party has gone on long enough and then some.

Rodgers: But two years later for god's sake people, solve your own bleeping problems, we're sick of hearing about you. And eh, and if you are sick and tired of the whining of the people in or from New Orleans about the government not doing enough for them and doing the rebuilding job for them. Maybe those people down there ought to stop their sniveling and whining and watch an example of self reliance right there in their own community. ( audio link)

Rodgers: I don't wanna hear anymore of this crap from people in Louisiana saying "Gimmee, Gimmee, Gimmee. Shut the hell up. Solve your own problems. It's been two years, grow up. (audio link)

Melanie Morgan, the co-host, called New Orleans "a rathole " (excluding the French Quarter). Lee Rodgers call New Orleans a sewer.

Rodgers asks, "Is one hurricane supposed to be a permanent life long ticket on a bleeping gravy train? Come on!" (audio link)

Rodgers suggests that the displaced people, "Get the hell over it!"

Morgan also alleged that, "...kids in the schools became the worst bullies and offenders and disrupted many of the fine Houston schools." I'm not really sure what evidence she has, but I doubt she has facts to back up her claims.

If you want any more information, see the complete transcripts and longer audio links below. Note: KSFO, 560 AM is an ABC Radio station and is owned by Citadel Broadcasting.

LLAP,

Spocko

P.S. Michael, I see you spent some time at KPIX in SF, they did a story about some of the other horrible things KSFO hosts say and the lengths they went to to shut up their critics.


cc Tony Jones
Whitney Vann

Complete KSFO Audio Links and Transcripts

I've provided links to the audio clips below for your convenience. I've also transcribed their comments. To verify that what I'm including is not out of context or manipulated in any way, I suggest that you listen to the audio podcasts that KSFO puts up on their own website. I've listed when the audio clips starts in real time as well as when the audio clips start on the KSFO podcast (The KSFO podcast doesn't include the first ABC Radio news broadcast).

NOTE:Melanie Morgan's 501 c. 3 group, Move America Forward, is embarking on a nationwide tour this week "fighting back against the anti-war left" and her concern that money is going down a "rathole" of New Orleans is rather ironic considering that she supports the money going into the war in Iraq and into a country that is NOT populated by US citizens.

---------------------------------xxx--------------------------

What do ABC Radio host Lee Rodgers and Melanie Morgan think of "those people" in New Orleans and people who had to leave during the two year anniversary of this massive tragedy? These are transcripts and audio from 8/29/2007 and 8/30/2007.

Rodgers: Save New Orleans? For what? The French Quarter..

Morgan: For another hurricane.

Rodgers: Now they got the French Quarter up and running again. Okay fine. It's a theme park, but that's what it's been for years anyway.
The rest of it's a sewer.

Morgan: Well the French Quarter wasn't even that badly hit. I mean..

Rodgers: No because it's on higher ground.

Morgan: Exactly so there wasn't much of a problem there to begin with. But they are trying to fix the unfixable in the rest of the city and in the mean time every politician in the country is pandering, spending billions of dollars and putting it in what? A rathole.

Rodgers: These transplanted New Orleans. [in whining voice] "Oh it's my home I gotta go back" No you don't. People have moved all over the world through out human history. You can do it too. Get off your butt and go to work.

Morgan:[laughing]

From KSFO on 8/29/07, broadcast time 7:44 am: (Audio link, MP3, 49 seconds )

( Longer audio link, MP3 1:50 seconds)

Location of clip in KSFO podcast # 2117503 on August 29, 2007 is at the 2 hours 40 minutes. http://www.ksfo560.com//sectional.asp?id=17750

---

Rodgers and Morgan 8/29/07 05:15 am ( Link MP3 9 minutes )

http://www.ksfo560.com//sectional.asp?id=17750

Rodgers: "Did you know that parts of New Orleans where some these silly people are trying to rebuild houses are 14 feet below sea level and sinking by another inch every year ? And nothing has been done really that would prevent another Katrina. Nothing. Now where in god's name is the logic about trying to rebuild a city in a location like that?"

{Snip. he blames the French and says keep the French Quarter as a Theme park'}

"I for one, I'm all in favor of helping needy people, but at what point do you say, 'Hey it's time that you people got off your asses went to work and earned your own way"? Two years later, Dallas Morning New, some of the refugees from New Orleans were settled in Dallas and the community had an outpouring of generosity and they were giving them all kinds of freebies housing, so on and do forth.

Morgan: Yeah

Rodger: Two years later, the people have been freeloading for two years are whining because the gravy train is slowing down. ( Link)

Morgan: Oh. No! That's terrible.

Rodger: It says, I'm looking here at the Dallas Morning News, say "Hurricane Katrina relief, once an outpouring of support for evacuees displaced in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, has slowed to a trickle on the second anniversary of the storm official figures are available, an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 evacuee households, [people from New Orleans and vicinity-this fragment was inserted by Rodgers and is not in the linked story text] still call North Texas home, [according to advocacy groups- he left out this phrase]. And countless evacuees still need help paying for basic necessities such as rent and utilities."

Ah at what point after a disaster and personal hardship are people expected to start taking care of themselves again? Is one hurricane supposed to be a permanent life long ticket on a bleeping gravy train? Come on! (link)

[Morgan then proceeds to tell about during her experience the Ruskin Heights Tornado in 1957 her family recovered and not one of us received a dime from FEMA or any other Federal agency (Note FEMA wasn't created until 1979 by Jimmy Carter) She of course doesn't count the National Guard that came in to help as a Federal Agency. Of course the Menorah Hospital , doesn't count either even though they cared for her (they reattached her toes) and her bother and mother.]

Morgan: People took care of each other and this kind of sentiment you don't hear expressed about the Katrina victims, what you do hear about are those people is those people who were transported to Dallas and brought with them all kinds of crime and just awful, awful behavior.

Rodgers: And Houston even worse

Morgan: In fact many of those kids in the schools became the worst bullies and offenders and disrupted many of the fine Houston schools.

Rodger: Well they brought the habits of the New Orleans public schools with them and those were widely and reliably reputed to be some of the worst schools in the country.

The President is going to be down there today and there's going to be endless babbling by him and other politicians, about "Oh we gotta rebuild New Orleans" Where is it written that we have to rebuild New Orleans so the whole damn thing can happen all over again?
Morgan: (crosstalk)

Rodgers: That's just plain simple minded stupidity

Morgan: I agree

Rodgers: And of course now it's come out. Big surprise, Louisiana er um which is a moral sewer in terms of political responsibility, one of the most corrupt states and New Orleans is one of the most corrupt cities in the country and big surprise yesterday or day before it was in the news that millions perhaps billions of dollars of aid that's gone down there has never reached the intended....

Morgan: Victims

Rodgers: recipients, the victims of Hurricane Katrina. No. No. No. Some how it got siphoned off by crooked contractors and crooked politicians you know the kind who go around bribe money in home freezers and stuff like that.

Get the hell over it! Rebuild New Orleans? Why? Why? Alright, it was a lovely charming old city it's gone and I don't care how much money they stuff into the pockets of crooked contractors down there, it ain't ever coming back. Never. Never. Never. 14 feet below sea level! For god's sakes think about that for a moment. ( Audio Link)

Another Katrina. It's isn't if, it's just when. And then you do it all over again. That's why I resent the government subsidizing flood plan insurance. People get flooded out, the government gives them a check to go back and build another house in the exact location to get flooded out again. The next time the Mississippi or the Missouri river is up or a Hurricane comes ashore what are we doing? This is insanity! Thank you.

Morgan: You are welcome very much, and truer words were never spoken.

Rodgers and Morgan 8/29/07 05:15 am ( Link MP3 9 minutes )

http://www.ksfo560.com//sectional.asp?id=17750

---

FROM 8/30/07 6:40 AM

Rodgers: Yesterday we have the orgy of media coverage of course that's spilling over into today about the second anniversary of Katrina. The elected leaders of in Louisiana and New Orleans and let's never forget they were elected.

Morgan: Mm hmm.

Rodgers: The people down their picked them, the elected leaders two years after hurricane Katrina. Still they can't seem to do much of anything beyond whine and beg. "Somebody come fix our problem." ABC's Steve Ocinsamie is down there in New Orleans as part of the coverage of the anniversary and talks about what NOLA, New Orleans Louisiana is like today today.

AUDIO from ABC News

"Two years after Katrina and much of this city still looks like it did the day the city was flooded. While many people have come back it just doesn't have the life that New Orleans have that we all remember. It seems that people are more distrustful of government people don't trust anything that they hear. There is very little faith in the levees, which supposedly have been mostly rebuilt but only to category 3 protection. That doesn't sit well with many residences.

Rodgers:: Then do this people, Get OUT!

Morgan: Yeah.

Rodgers: Move somewhere else. Hundreds of millions, billions of human beings before you have done exactly that. Conditions aren't good here, let's go somewhere else, why do you think you have to live in a bleeping swamp?

This two year pity party has gone on long enough and then some. And this may also help explain why so many people who left New Orleans after the hurricane have decided, no they are not coming back. Now the population of the city of New Orleans is only about two third what it was before hurricane Katrina, but boy one group that is back in force, the crime element.

The criminals, mostly drug dealers have certainly come back and taken up residence. One hundred and 60 people have died in street killings in the last year, many of them residences killed by thugs looking for money. This past weekend in New Orleans east a Vietnamese couple was gunned down in their home in front of their kids.

What a contrast between the endless whining and begging by the crooks who run Louisiana compared to the post Katrina rebuilding next door in the state of Mississippi. There is still more to be done there, but a whole lot of progress is being made along Mississippi's gulf coast two years after the Hurricane. ABC Robin Roberts reports from Pass Christian Mississippi

Eleven of Mississippi's thirteen casinos big employers are back. Employing 18,000 people. That's a thousand more than before Katrina. Almost every school is back, enrollment at 94 percent of what it was before the storm.

So long story short, while Louisiana keeps begging the federal government to come in and fix everything for them, Mississippians simply got to work and did it.

Morgan: Begging and blaming. That's their favorite pastime. To blame the Federal government for everything that went wrong in Louisiana and that it's all their fault that Katrina victims don't have any money, and God after two whole years, their benefits are running out.

Rodgers: At some point, at some point you gotta say, you people are gonna have to stand on your own two feet. Of course FEMA made a total bleeping botch of their what should have been immediate response to the hurricane it's like, it's not like they didn't know the hurricane was coming. So they screwed that up. But two years later for god's sake people, solve your own bleeping problems, we're sick of hearing about you. And eh, and if you are sick and tired of the whining of the people in or from New Orleans about the government not doing enough for them and doing the rebuilding job for them. Maybe those people down there ought to stop their sniveling and whining and watch and example of self reliance right there in their own community. ( Audio Link)

Now the only really surprising thing about this story is that USA Today ran it, they run a story with out the focus of beating up on the Bush administration, http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20070829/1a_coverside29_dom.art.htm

"While much of the rest of New Orleans is still the same disaster area it was the day after the hurricane two years ago. One neighborhood has rebuilt itself. It's the neighborhood of Versailles a few miles east of downtown New Orleans where the houses have been rebuilt and repainted, nearly all 7,000 residents of that neighborhood has returned. And you might ask what's different about that neighborhood. Here's what's different, it's made up of Vietnamese refugees who came to this country after the Vietnam war, they knew about untenable circumstances, they did something about it. They moved. And they, most of these people come from the Mekong river delta in Vietnam which is the rice growing area, why because it's lowlands and the Mekong river floods regularly so they know something about that. And they didn't wait for the government to come in and solve their problems for them. They just went to work fixing things. One of the early returning residences in the neighborhood a woman named Linda Tran, she is 55 she and her husband and their son slept on air mattresses while her family and other neighbors worked together to rebuild each other's house fix them up repaint them. She owns a restaurant in the neighborhood and she used money from her insurance to rebuild and she says, "I didn't want any money from the government. We needed our home. We worked all our lives for it," so she like her neighbors when to work and they did it themselves. And instead of Bush going down there and engaging in another hugathon and making more promises about how much more money we are going to pour in to that area. He should have said, "Hey people look at your neighbors the Vietnamese, see what they did and stop bitching and moaning, 'Oh the government is supposed to ffff fix things!' Here's a little footnote by the way, President Bush and the congress have committed over 127 billion dollars to relief for New Orleans and the immediate gulf cost region around there. Now to give you some perspective, adjust for inflation, so it's an apples to apples comparison. Dollars for dollar, 127 billion dollars is more than the 107.6 billion dollars we spent rebuilding 16 countries in Europe after World War II.

Morgan: Wow.

Rodgers: I don't wanna hear anymore of this crap from people in Louisiana saying "Gimmee, Gimmee, Gimmee. Shut the hell up. Solve your own problems. It's been two years, grow up.

It's 13 minutes before seven o'clock. Hot talk. 560 KSFO.

--X-X-X--

-------------------------

Rathole

Gravy Train
Rathole Sewer
Freeloading whiners
Permanent gravy train
Get over it
Sniveling Whining
Shut the hell up

Sniveling Whining

NOTE: If you want to send this to other media, use the brilliant Spotlight project!
http://www.thespotlightproject.org/

Just plug in the permalink from Spocko's Brain and pick a few TV, Radio and Print journalists in the states/cities that are mentioned.
Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, San Francisco, Phoenix, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arizona and California

Paying Attention to New Orleans Pumps. Corp mistakes that Might cost Lives

Scout at First Draft has a great post up titled, Army Corps of Engineers Report: New Orleans Pumps still have mechanical flaws; also found contract improprieties check it out and also check out Matt McBride's, excellent blog "Fix the Pumps" for his engineering rigor (or any of my buddies in the New Orleans blogger community in my blog roll at the right. I dig them all, with special props to Gentilly Girl, Dangerblond and Humid City v. 2.3.


There is a view formulated by right-wing think tanks that if only government would get off their damn backs with demands for safety that everything would be better. That the "free market" will fix it all. That there are too many damn rules that are just a burden already.

But here's the thing. Rules and regulation are GREAT for businesses. Businesses NEED a working government. They NEED a working legal system. Competent government oversight is GOOD for the health of business. Just like a working media are good for government and business. The corporations will never admit this because, well then they would have to acknowledge all the good things they get out of rules, regulations, laws and a working government infrastructure.

I've heard some corporate executives say, "All I need is an unfair advantage."

Of COURSE they won't talk about the tremendous benefit they get from worker safety rules or government oversight, or contract regulations. Instead they find the excesses to make a point.

"Look how ridiculous this rule is! See how inefficient government is? What stupid requirements they demand!" Yes, there are ridiculous excesses, but there often is a reason for each and every one of the rules and regulations. Some company (or multiple companies) got busted badly and people got sick, died or will die because of a serious transgression. Or the corporation did life -changing economic harm to millions of people.

And the people cry out for justice.

"Where was the government at? How could the businesses get away with this? What kind of greedy monsters want to hide and cover-up information about poison in food?"

So then people become reluctant activists. I explain to them that they are working against a mind set and structure that has been developed and nurtured for decades. This mind set has been fabulously successful and its practitioners are highly-skilled and well paid.

These companies won't admit a failure even when their noses are rubbed in it, or if they do, it will have to be pro-forma admission of guilt which is Latin for "I don't really want to say this, but I will because I have to and secretly I'm glad I have to." (High school Latin scholars feel free to jump in here and comment.)


Corporations That act Like Children

People who study childhood development tell us that children need structure. Children have to learn what things will hurt them ("Hot! Don't touch! Don't play with matches! Careful! You'll poke your sister's eye out with that stick!")

Children will resist the warnings until they achieve awareness that the rules and warnings are for THEM and not some other children out there who are really bad. The rules they break are often designed to protect themselves and others. ("Don't eat that! It's poison! Don't feed that to your sister, it will kill her!")

I don't expect to hear children say (until years later) "Thank you Mother for not letting me eat that poison. Thank you Father for insisting I always wear protective goggles when woodworking." They don't have that kind of insight. But they should be grateful that someone insisted they do the right thing.

I clearly remember walking with a friend with toddlers in tow through the Air and Space museum in Washington D.C.. It was like the kids had no idea that gravity worked! They were ready to fling themselves off of high places or slip through gaps in the bars of railings overlooking the airplanes and space capsules. It was exhausting keeping an eye on them because they were constantly trying to evade our watchful eyes. Their quest to have fun looked to me like a constant attempt to kill themselves.

I mention all this because whenever there are calls for any regulation the cries of "Nanny state!" start. Any attempt at sensible guidelines or regulation are loudly shouted down under the guise of "there is too much regulation already!" They are then quietly shouted down with donations in the halls of congress. When we looked at something like the pet food industry we see that regulation to them doesn't have the same meaning as it does to us. But they know that throwing around the words "highly regulated" will stem the tide of criticism and bring out the defenders of all things "free" market and anti-oversight with real regulation.

Like a child they would never come forward and say, "PLEASE regulate me. I need the discipline!" Instead they will say, "I don't want any stupid rules. I'm going to pick up my toys and go to somewhere were their aren't rules." And because there are plenty of people and countries to choose from with cheap labor they will pick the ones that lets them follow the least amount of rules.

And then when some of them grow up (usually after something bad happens) they realize that those pesky rules were there for a purpose. They can see that a working infrastructure legal system, food safety, human safety or financial guidelines were actually good for them. But now they are addicted to the rhetoric, stuck in the groove of decades. Fighting the previous battle and imaginary excesses and some rare real exceptions.

I use the"business as child" metaphor because if I didn't, it would be too hard to contemplate.

Imagine people in business or supporting businesses who actively work to make it possible for MORE horrible acts to happen? I can't imagine people sit around and decide to cover up or support poison in food. People who, instead of addressing the problem, argue that the problem doesn't exist or question the credibility of the critic. What kind of people would do that?

Can you imagine someone calculating that X number of people or pets might die because of this, then asking "What do we had to do so that we can get away with it?" I just don't think that most humans would say, "Who do we have to hire to cover this it up, to make it go away and shut up the critics?" Normal people don't think that way.

If these people exist, surely they must not be lionized. Surely people whose job it is to draw focus from the problem, aren't aware of what they are really doing. I think that those people, if they are involved, will make weak arguments in a desperate hope that that they will be seen as a sham. I would think that these people would quietly do the right thing to maintain their personal moral high ground. But I do understand the power and pressure of the child and their self-centered world view. The Child will scream "I hate you!" to the parent who tells them, "No! You can't feed your sister that. It will make her sick!"

If there are people at the highest levels making this all possible, how would you react to them? Should they be praised? Excused? Rewarded? Vilified? How should they be treated by other humans? And what about the people who assist them knowingly? What role do that play? What culpability do people with full awareness have? People who know something is wrong and do it anyway? But I'm just a brain in a box. I live in the internet. I don't get out much, so I don't know the ways of the world.

When time in measured in nano-seconds, I wonder how much time should be given to people to act in a manner that is befitting of the label, human being?

Heroes in the Government Accountability Office (GAO)

In San Francisco we have a budget analyst by the name of Harvey Rose (I'd refer to him as "the beloved" Harvey Rose, but that probably would embarrasses him). Harvey digs up stuff for the public in the SF Budget that looks wrong and points it out. I'm always in awe of his work and I hope we get someone as brilliant as him in the future.

Scout Prime over at First Draft loves the folks at the GAO because they are doing the thankless task of keeping an eye on government spending in multiple places (Hey, it occurred to me that I should thank them! Thank-you GAO folks! We love your work. It matters.)

I believe that there is good government spending and bad government spending.

The GAO helps spot the bad government spending. Of course the Bush White House hates them. When the White House sneers and spits out the word bureaucrats about the good folks at the GAO, it's because they want the public to hate them as much as they do. But Scout and I LOVE them. Why? Because these are the kind hard working public servants who hold people in power accountable. Their work is at the heart of the watchdog function of Congress. It might not be glamorous, but it's INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT.

They spot stuff and say, "Is this the best use of our taxpayer's money? Is there something fishy here?"

They pay attention to money and the people who spend it and get it. I'm proud of the work they do for me, the taxpayer. So besides thanking them I'll tell the rest of you what they are looking for now (I'm sure they've already found it. I'd LOVE to see a copy of it when they do, maybe they will provide it.)

If you are new to this story, Louisiana Sen. Landrieu called for an investigation of the flood control pumps involving Moving Water Industries and US Army Corps of Engineers. One important document will be the actual MWI contract with all the details. It's a starting point for them, they'll dig deeper. Good luck GAO, and thanks!
LLAP,
Spocko

Project Title: Emergency Procurement - Purchase of Temporary (Interim) Pumps for three outfall canals in New Orleans, LA

Solicitation Number: W912P8-06-R-0089

Contract Number: W912P8-06-C-0089

Type of Award: Firm Fixed Price

Name/Address of Contractor: MWI Corporation, 201 N. Federal HWY, Deerfield Beach, Florida 334441-3625

Contractor's Phone #: 954-426-1500

DUNS #: 004131512

Contract Amount*: $26,606,383.01 * total base and all options

Contract Award Amount: $26,606,383.01

Contract Award Date: 27 January 2006

Contracting Officer: Cynthia A. Nicholas

Contracting POC/Phone: Gayle Rose 504-862-1547

Dear David M. Walker:

Comptroller General of the United States
GAO

Tell your people thank you for your work on this project from Spocko, Scout and my New Orleans blogger friends.

LLAP,
Spocko

Iron Rings, Faulty Pumps, and Order of the Engineer

One evening about 17 years ago, over a glass of Romulan Ale, I noticed a small ring on the little finger of the right hand of a friend of mine, who is a registered professional engineer, a graduate from an engineering program at a Canadian University. I was used to seeing wedding rings on humans, but the location, shape and material stood out. I was told it was an iron ring from, "The Order of the Engineer."


I don't remember all the details, but the story as I remember it had to do with a huge bridge in Canada that collapsed due to poor planning and design. It also was a deeply moving story about engineers who didn't share information and didn't put the safety of people first over their employer or client. Additionally, it served as a reminder that their specialized knowledge brings with it an obligation to the public that transcends making money.

That story has always stuck with me. We always think that when it comes down to it we will "do the right thing" on the tough choices in life, but most people are good at making rationalizations for our own questionable actions. Or the questionable actions of our leaders.

Many people internalize the spin and excuses given us by our gifted entertainers or leaders who don't have the same ethical obligations as good engineers.

And by gifted entertainers who don't have the same ethical obligations as engineers,-I mean people like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O' Reilly, Lee Rodgers, Melanie Morgan and Brian Susman.

Who are the people who put politics and allegiance to an authority figure above the lives of their other humans? Of course these people try and show how it is all in service of some greater good, like their understanding of what national security requires.

People who demonstrate their obligation to their client first, before the safety of people, will tell us that we should trust them and everything will be fine. But we have been shown time and time again that when people have a history of violating the public trust, they need to have solid oversight. It's an obvious, logical thing to do. Even the right-wing's god, Ronald Reagan, said "Trust, yet verify."

It is HARD to do the right thing when you have people telling you every day that the right thing is really NOT following the guidelines your profession tells you are there for a reason.

That is why I always thought the story of the Iron Ring and the accompanying ceremony was brilliant. It was a reminder that real lives are in the balance from your words and actions. It also helped to bind together new engineers and experienced engineers, connecting them to a history that means something in a fashion they can remember forever and can remind them about your obligations every day.

I am in awe of the technical marvels that engineers can create and build. An iron ring might remind you of your responsibility to others, but it won't force you to take action. Especially if you have convinced yourself that "Those other people are worse!" or "It's not that big a deal, everything will be fine." or "Something that doesn't really work is better than nothing."

Rolling the dice with people's lives is something that politicians do all the time. They have no obligation to tell the truth if they think that it isn't necessary. That is who THEY are.
Who are you? What are YOUR obligation to others?

---------------------------------------------------

This post is dedicated to all the people who died in the flooding in New Orleans and the 86 bridgeworkers who died in the construction of the Quebec Bridge. With a hope that no more lives will be lost because of engineers who didn't share information or put the safety of people over their employer or client.


A body floats outside the Superdome in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
(James Nielsen AFP/Getty Images)
September 2, 2005

Landrieu Wants Flood Control Pumps Investigation

Louisiana Sen. Landrieu Wants Flood Control Pumps Investigation, Casts Votes on Iraq

Written by: BayouBuzz Staff

United States Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., on Thursday sent a letter to the Comptroller General of the United States, David M. Walker, requesting an investigation by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on a recent news report that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers knowingly installed defective flood-control pumps in Louisiana drainage canals.

“According to press accounts based on internal memoranda and eye witness testimony, the Army Corps of Engineers installed defective flood control pumps around the levee system that protects the New Orleans Metropolitan region,” Sen. Landrieu wrote. “Reportedly, despite awareness within the Army Corps of Engineers about the mechanical problems of the pumps provided by Moving Water Industries (MWI), installation continued.”

In addition to calling for an investigation into whether the Corps installed pumps they knew to be defective, Sen. Landrieu requested that the GAO determine if the pump design and installation contracts were given for any reason other than merit.

“The investigation should examine the contract arrangements with the company in question and should determine whether or not any improprieties exist in the award or fulfillment of these contracts,” Sen. Landrieu wrote.

Sen. Landrieu also requested that the investigation be completed within 60 days.

Earlier Thursday, Sen. Landrieu sought a full explanation on the issue from Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works John Woodley and the Corps Chief of Engineers Lt. Gen. Carl Strock. At a hearing of the Senate Appropriations Energy and Water Subcommittee hearing, Sen. Landrieu expressed her concern regarding the Corps’ budget, its projects in areas affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the Crops’ overall management.

[snip]

Emphasis mine, hotlink to internal memo mine.
--From the BayouBuzz.com

Now what is Landrieu alluding to regarding " any improprieties exist in the award or fulfillment of these contracts," ? Most likely that MWI has a documented history of improprieties in awards and fulfillment of government contracts. (Link to Saint Petersburg Times 2002 story) And who is DEEPLY connected to MWI? Jeb Bush.

U.S. fraud suit targets ex-partner of Jeb Bush

The Justice Department says a water pump company fraudulently helped Nigeria obtain $74-million in taxpayer-backed loans.

By ADAM C. SMITH, Times Political Editor

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 15, 2002

---

The Justice Department says a water pump company fraudulently helped Nigeria obtain $74-million in taxpayer-backed loans.

Gov. Jeb Bush's former business partner in a venture to sell water pumps abroad defrauded the U.S. government of more than $74-million, federal authorities contend in a lawsuit.

The Justice Department alleges that MWI Corp. of Deerfield Beach, a water pump company whose equipment Bush marketed to foreign countries, fraudulently helped Nigeria obtain U.S. taxpayer-backed loans during his father's administration.

Much of the loan money went for secret payoffs to Nigerian officials and equipment that was vastly overpriced and unneeded, the lawsuit says.

The company denies the allegations, many of which surfaced four years ago when a former MWI employee sued the company.

Bush, campaigning for governor at the time, shrugged off questions about the deal as little more than complaints from a disgruntled former staffer.

Now the Justice Department is making many of the same charges.

The pump deals occurred years before Bush became governor, and the lawsuit neither mentions him by name nor accuses him of wrongdoing.

But it suggests MWI used its political influence in the Republican Party to win the U.S. loans, and notes that MWI president J. David Eller went into business with "a member of a prominent national political family in an attempt to bolster MWI's sales abroad."

That's a reference to Jeb Bush.

In 1989, Eller, a major Republican contributor, formed a company with Bush, Bush-El, to market MWI's industrial water pumps abroad. Bush has described Eller as a "person of integrity."

Twice while his father was in the White House, Bush visited Nigeria as a water pump representative. He visited Nigerian dignitaries and was showered with attention, including a parade for him in 1989 with 1,300 horses.

Jeb Bush sold his share in Bush-El in 1994, and has said he earned about $648,000 from the company. [Spocko note: Compared to Cheney he's a piker! Where are the Whitewater screamers demanding we looking this deal?]

He has insisted that he received no money on the Nigerian deals, saying he took no commissions on sales backed by U.S. loans to avoid a potential conflict of interest. He said his earnings came from his work in other countries, including Mexico, Indonesia and Malaysia, but in 1998 declined to detail that work.

"You either trust me or you don't," he told the Miami Herald in 1998.

Emphasis mine.
[Snip] read the rest at the St Petersburg Times, including the methods and MWIs response.

According to the AP this Nigerian case hasn't been resolved. But you know something I noticed? Look at how people tiptoe around Jeb Bush's connection to this. Now why is that? Because if you EVER bring up a SPECIFIC and documented connection of wrong doings and the Bushes you get howls of "partisian attacks!" and "Politically motivated attacks!" by the right-wing enablers in the media.

But this tiptoeing around Jeb Bush's involvement ALREADY IS a partisan activity.
They have convinced the media, and maybe the DOJ, that you can't come out and SAY JEB BUSH IS CONNECTED TO MWI, even when their is documented proof.

They say, "Follow the money." they also say "connect the dots", I'd like to add, "pay attention to the people ".

[edited to add Spocko note and fix spelling errors]

The Money Flows. The Water Doesn't. MWI, New Orleans Pump Maker's Faulty Pumps

UPDATED BELOW

CAIN BURDEAU, an Associated Press Writer, did a story that is getting lots of play. Good. But as my friend Loki at Humid City points out, This section in the AP story is the "the money quote" It answers the question: Who made these defective water pumps? Moving Water Industries Corp. of Deerfield Beach, Fla. or MWI. Who is MWI?

MWI is owned by J. David Eller and his sons. Eller was once a business partner of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in a venture called Bush-El that marketed MWI pumps. And Eller has donated about $128,000 to politicians, the vast majority of it to the Republican Party, since 1996, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

MWI has run into trouble before. The U.S. Justice Department sued the company in 2002, accusing it of fraudulently helping Nigeria obtain $74 million in taxpayer-backed loans for overpriced and unnecessary water-pump equipment. The case has yet to be resolved. [Spocko. Note Maybe they were trying to get some money back after they fell for one of those email scams.]

Because of the trouble with the New Orleans pumps, the Corps has withheld 20 percent of the MWI contract, including an incentive of up to $4 million that the company could have collected if it delivered the equipment in time for the 2006 hurricane season.

Misgivings about the pumps were chronicled in a May 2006 memo provided to the AP by Matt McBride, a mechanical engineer and flooded-out Katrina victim who, like many in New Orleans, has been closely watching the rebuilding of the city's flood defenses.

The memo was written by Maria Garzino, a Corps mechanical engineer overseeing quality assurance at an MWI test site in Florida. The Corps confirmed the authenticity of the 72-page memo, which details many of the mechanical problems and criticizes the testing procedures used.

Loki also pointed out that Matt McBride at Fix the Pumps is the blogger that worked with the AP reporter to get this story out to a wider audience.

Check this out from the memo Matt McBride dug up. It's not "required reading at the academy" but maybe it should be (link)

1) Cause of the voluminous failures of the hydraulic pumps on the drive units is still unknown at this time - the manufacturer of the hydraulic pumps (Denison) has not yet provided any official input as to the failures being caused by a plethora of "bad" pumps, or, point to an as yet unknown design deficiency with the hydraulic system. This situation would provide for the possibility of future failures of the drive units at 100% until a design deficiency can be ruled out - in addition, there is the very likely possibility, more probable actually, that damaged hydraulic pumps starting the failure process have "passed" testing and are currently slated to be, or have been, installed.

2) The original contract specifications required 100% load testing of all pump assemblies - this requirement has subsequently been eliminated, and to date, less than 25% of all pump assemblies have been load tested (leaving potentially 75% not load tested), and, of the eight (8) pump assemblies that have been load tested, one has only been run for a few minutes at best and one other was run at 1/3 operating pressure (the hydraulic oil barely got warm enough to register). Of the remaining six (6) pump assemblies actually undergoing load testing (actually pumping water), three (3) - 50% - have experienced catastrophic failure. Of note, these three failed pump assemblies have also been the pump assemblies that have the most run time on them - leading me to the logical conclusion that, barring some extraordinary anomaly, the more you run them, the more likely catastrophic failures will occur.

For these reasons, and because I am fully aware the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers intends to proceed with the utmost care and diligence in all tasks associated with Task Force Guardian, I am writing this memorandum for record to ensure this situation is communicated as best as I can to the ultimate responsible authority.

Respectfully submitted,

Maria Garzino
USACE, Mechanical Engineer
Task Force Guardian

UPDATE:
So WMI responds to the article (link) Then be sure to read Matt McBride's response below.

MWI Responds to Media Reports on New Orleans Pumps

LD BEACH, Fla., March 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is a statement from MWI attorney William R. Scherer Jr. regarding media reports on MWI pumps in New Orleans:

The MWI pumps in New Orleans definitely would have done their job if needed during last year's hurricane season.

And they will do their job in the coming storm season, if needed.

The pumps were tested by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers again just this last weekend and they performed above required capacity.

We are proud of the lives our pumps have improved all over the world, saving people from life-threatening floods and bringing drinking water to people who need it.

Our pumps did, do and will work.

This was a pumping project of a scope and design that was never done before, accomplished under severe time constraints.

There have been problems along the way, but that is to be expected on an unprecedented project like this.

However, for every problem we have found a solution and we will continue to do that until everything works perfectly under the most strenuous and adverse conditions imaginable.

MWI will spend whatever it takes to make absolutely certain our pumps are operating properly when they are most needed.

We take our reputation -- and more importantly the lives and property of the people of New Orleans -- very seriously and will do whatever it takes to make absolutely certain our pumps do their job.

The allegations in the memo were all dismissed by other inspectors on site, and also by three additional inspectors and five separate independent consultants that were brought in to re-inspect the pumps following the memo.

MWI was chosen in a competitive bid process and because of its world- leading expertise in designing and manufacturing pumps of the size, capacity and durability needed.

MWI and all of our employees are proud to work with the Corps to ensure the safety of the people of New Orleans.

And Matt McBride points out some important info that is missing

Fix the pumps

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Calling BS

Now that the news about Maria Garzino's memo has broken all over the place, I thought a few points needed to be made.

Yesterday, the Corps flew Colonel Bedey, the head of the Hurricane Protection Office, back from Washington so he could be there when two local TV affiliates (Fox 8 and ABC 26) filmed four of the 17th Street pumps being run. The Corps pointed to this demonstration as proof that everything's just A-OK.

1) The Corps already ran these pumps last Saturday. The Times-Picayune buried a tiny article about it on page B-3 in Sunday's local section. Here's the article:

Corps pump tests get thumbs up

This article (and possibly the Corps' alerting the media about the test) was also a bid by the Corps to get out ahead of the news that broke yesterday. They obviously failed in that bid.

2) Those four pumps were ordered long after Maria's memo and after the other 34 pumps started failing last summer. They were part of an order of six extra pumps to MWI (total charge, about $4 million for all six). These four were actually the last pumps installed - they went just a couple of months ago (they weren't fully hooked up as of January 26, 2007) and are not the subject of Ms. Garzino's memo. That is, they were not in the original order of 34. Using these pumps as a demonstration to show that the other 34 are working is pure lying. The Corps is probably going to turn on those pumps again tomorrow for the Mayor. They represent about 800 cubic feet per second of capacity (theoretically). Pre-Katrina, over 10,000 cfs flowed down the 17th Street canal.

3) The test last Saturday, like the one last night, only went for about an hour. That was not mentioned in the Times-Picayune article. But ALL the floodgate pumps (there are no spares in case one or more fails during a storm) will have to run for 12 or maybe 24 hours during a tropical storm or hurricane. Why isn't the Corps running tests for the media that last that long? Because they know the pumps and their drive units probably can't hold out for that long.

Don't buy what the Corps is selling.
(Spocko Note: Bold mine)
[Snip]

So to make this as clear as possible... Not only did the Corps install pumps they knew wouldn't work, not only did they simply give up throughout the entire year of 2006 on repairing the canal walls, they also recommended doubling the order of the known-to-them-to-be-defective pumps and drive units, assumedly with the same manufacturer - MWI.
Matt McBride
More at Fix The Pumps