If you didn’t catch Rachel Maddow’s New Year’s Eve Special Awards show on December 31, 2008, here is a clip relevant to Hurricane Ike and to FEMA and storm coverage in general. Again, at least somebody is paying attention to what’s punching the hell out of us down here on the Gulf Coast.

Technorati Tags: Hurricane Ike, Hurricane Katrina Pictures, hurricane recovery, MSNBC video, Rachel Maddow

Just before Gustav hammered us, Rachel Maddow was bluntly vocal and is still morally outraged about the Republicans naming their VP pick on the 3rd anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Watch the video clip from the DNC:

The Republicans have failed America, period. What about the other infrastructure failures that continue to plague America? Our infrastructure is third-world rate now because the Reagan administration stopped putting the necessary federal investments into it in the 1980’s. Just look at our electrical grid if you doubt that. Wind has tens of thousands of people without power in Michigan right now. Two weeks ago, most of the North East was crippled by a huge snow and ice storm and knocked out power in several states for several days in sub-freezing temperatures. The entire Hawaiian island of Oahu lost power after a strong thunderstorm this past weekend.

One-thousand eight-hundred American people died as a result of Hurricane Katrina. About 80 died as a result of Hurricane Ike this past September 12. The following video clip was made on December 1, 2008:

FEMA is still a disaster of a federal department more than 3 years after Katrina. If you got sick from living in a FEMA trailer after Katrina or Rita, here’s why:

And

Will the Obama Administration help to get federal investment back into infrastructure? God, I hope so. This is a heartening sign:

Technorati Tags: Eugene Robinson, FEMA, Hurricane Gustav, Hurricane Ike, Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Rita, infrastructure failure, Keith Olbermann, MSNBC News, Nora O'Donnell, Pat Buchanan, Rachel Maddow, Third Anniversary