How tragic, the television views of the long span of collapsed highway, unbelievable. There are definitely some deep pockets to get into from this occurrence. What about the whole country’s aging highway structure. This was no fluke.
I TRAVELED THIS AREA MANY TIMES & OVER THAT BRIDGE MANY TIMES FOR TRANSAMERICA.
NOW COMPLETING MY INS. CAREER FOR A LOSS CONTROL SERVICE WITH VERY LITTLE (LOCAL-CHICAGO) TRAVEL BUT STILL HAVE TO CROSS BRIDGES (IN CHGO) AND I HATE GOING OVER THEM… EVEN WALKING IS CREAPY AS THEY SHAKE WITH THE WEIGHT OF THE CARS & BUSSES NOT TO MENTION THE TRUCKS THAT EXCEED THE ORIGINAL WEIGHT THEY WERE DESIGNED TO HANDLE 50-100 YEARS AGO. GLAD I’M 2 MONTHS FROM RETIREMENT. BUT, YOU CAN’T GET AWAY FROM THEM ‘CAUSE NOW YOU TRAVEL AS A RETIREE AND STILL HAVE TO GO OVER THOSE TRAIN TRACKS AND RIVERS IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE U.S.A.
Wild Bill, I immediately had the same thought! As insurance professionals, we are always so careful about making statements about coverage until a thorough investigation has been made, but here is this incredibly broad and sweeping public statement only two days after the event. I guarantee that he will be regretting his words very soon. I can also imagine that every claim handler in the state of MN winced and groaned a little bit when they heard this!
I’m shocked that it has taken this long, but just heard that it’s all George Bush’s fault. “If hadn’t spent all that money on the Iraq war, hard-working Americans wouldn’t be dying on their way home from their jobs.”
We are wincing in Chicago about that vast overreaching statement. He is not very claim savvy, he doesnt even know that the statute in CA changed several years ago. While I have all the sympathy in the world for the tragic victims and their families, it is responses like this that make insurance carriers have to battle such coverage issues for years.
They waive all exclusions for this incident, they waive it for everything else in the future. I think it was more talk than anything. Also, if the cover that commercial property damage even if they have an exclusiong for “in transit” then people will look at this and never buy other optional coverage because in the end, they think the company will cover them anyway.
Tax cuts, which recently have gone all to the rich, are just a form of self-deception via the power politicis of buying elections through buying the media and spreading fear of “foreign devils.” Why don’t we get safe, pay for it, raise taxes and quite fooling ourselves about what it really takes to improve America and Americans?
Who needs terorists when our own neglect and failure to face facts can lead to this traumatic disruption of a major US city, the thankfully small bridge collapse in California recently as well as the big steam explosion in NYC?
As for you politicians, who’s zoomin’ who? You’re mostly attorneys and the work resulting from this, your failure as legislators and leaders, will keep many of you employed as attorneys for many years. Now that’s accountability for you!
As for the rest of us little people, if we don’t want such chaos intruding ever more frequently in our day life, we need to stop making decisions and voting for forces that lead to chaos. Dying for a bridge collapse–how stupid and senseless. We should all be ashamed.
Media mogul, your own thought process is contradictory. On one hand you call for more taxes and on the other hand you blame the government for not doing a good job. As if letting the government steal more of my money is going to cause them to be more competent? Give me a break.
Yes, the majority of tax cuts go to the rich for several reasons:
1) the poorest 30% of the nation doesnt pay tax and in most cases recieves more money from the government than they pay in. So how the F are these people supposed to get tax cuts, that wouldn’t be possible
2) The rich people pay most of the tax on a $ basis, of course more $ cuts are going to go to them
This bridge collapse was no surprise. It was ordered/maintened/inspected by the same incompetent individuals that have been building one of the worst transportation systems in the country – the Twin Cities Highway system.
Great idea, don’t worry about terrorists but fix the structures so they can easily blow them up as there are no funds to prevent them from doing so. The tax revenues have increased as a result of the so called rich investing the money which has a multiplier effect.
Here’s an idea, get the lazy stiffs off welfare, stop the damn pork-barrel projects and use that money for infrastructure.
As someone who travels the bridge frequently and can see the collapsed mess from my office building I find this finger-pointing right now sickening.
Media Mogul: I think you clicked on the wrong website. You should be over at Huff Post or Daily Kos to spew your liberal hate and rhetoric. When I was younger, I used to cross this bridge daily. My brother would have been crossing about the time this happened, but he got into a fight with his girlfriend and he was late leaving, so for once, all her *****ing was a good thing!
This has been an interesting experiment. The replies indicate the damage done to Americans and their thinking by the corporate controlled media.
These are of course mere insurance workers–not the A team–that’s why they’re in insurance to begin with, no? So maybe there is still hope in the general population, instead of this discourse of endless carping, “me first” and no solutions possible.
Did we say no money vs. terrorists, etc.? Once again an attempt to distract with foregin devils–just like Fox News.
You’re trying to score cheap points instead of taking effective action. Go back to your DVDs, Simpsons and ice cream (mmm…ice cream) and have a good weekend. Maybe the rest of us will try to accomplish something.
These bridges and broader infrastructure, like the bridge in MN, are forty years and more old. Some in my state are older than that. But a tiny percentage of our state budget goes to roads, bridges and infrastructure. We were told six years ago our viaduct is in poor condition and my city does nothing. Nor will they until it too collapses and people die.
Because there is not as much romance in infrastructure as there is in endless social programs, poor taxpayers be damned. My point is that war dollars unspent would never have been used for infrastructure, and to assume so is wrong. We’ve been underfunding infrastructure much longer than we’ve been at war.
Thanks for showing your true self. Can’t argue the facts, so have to resort to name calling. Yes we are so stupid that we have to rely on the government to decide what to do with our lives. Not the “A team”? I find your condescending attitude very insulting. In your opinion only people who agree with you have any intelligence. So where are the most intelligent people found, in the media as reflected in your name “Media Mogul”? That’s a good one.
Yes you (what is this “WE” BS?) did state no money versus terrorists. You stated “Who needs terrorists when our own neglect and failure to face facts can lead to this traumatic disruption of a major US city.” Guess what, we’ve got to fight them somewhere and I’d rather do it in their backyard rather than mine.
I suppose you’ll keep the insults coming as obviously you can’t argue with facts.
I’m still not sure where terroism fits in with a bridge collapsing under it’s own weight. but who am i?
and what do you think will happen to people who weren’t carrying auto? will they still receive some form of compensation?
and for the love of god, why do we have to again turn a tragedy into a political issue?? and isn’t this a state issue, not a federal issue? isn’t it up to the state of Minnesota to maintain it’s roadways and bridges, not the white house?
I agree with you 100%, this never should have been a political issue. Was trying to argue with the moron who did that. I had this discussion with my son the evening that it happened, that some tool would turn it into an anti-Iraq freedom intervention tirade. I predicted it would be a week before someone did just that. I was only off by 6 days.
“just saying” – those who made the decision not to carry automobile insurance shouldn’t receive any aid/compensation. The assumed a risk and lost. To pay them anything would be an insult to those who carry insurance, and encourage more to drop their coverage.
I don’t know about who’s reponsible for the bridges, but I agree with you that it should be the state’s problem.
Interstates are generally considered part of the “National Defense” system, which is one of the few powers the bloated Feds are supposed to have.
Media mogul – to call you and ignorant moron is not name calling, it is simply the truth. I dare you to just TRY and explain to all of us, with logic and reason, why the government should wipe your butt for you, which is apparently how far your types would want to take it. Also please explain that if America sucks so much, why the hell you live her and haven’t moved to a communist paradise that you envision. Grow the F up.
Interesting that we have a major disaster, with both deaths and severe injuries, and the claim appears to be settled prior to any adjudication, proof of loss or question as to engineering flaws. It’s a pity that we couldn’t do that on 9/11//01, I lost 224 friends, and everyone fought for five years trying to figure out what was actually a very simple question as to one or two occurrences.
But of course, it took the main stream media exactly 12 hours to start pointing fingers, but the best one was on the Chris Mathews show, where Barney Frank, D-Mass. that stalward “conservative” was asked:
“If this disaster would help the Democratic party”
People like you want to take my money away via taxation, and take my freedoms away by making more and more laws to protect the stupid. To me, that is a declaration of attack on the framework of this country, and I have every right to defend myself.
Thus, stop crying when people disagree with you. We are trying to defend our freedoms that you want taken away since you are unhappy with your life and feel the need to constantly tell others what to do.
I’ll say it a hundred times. If you don’t like the US – LEAVE. Trust me when I say that the country would be better off without you, since it is the truth. And if you are offended, then that only proves my point, since the truth is the most offensive substance I’ve ever found.
Instead of throwing money away on the Iraq war we could have invested it in our crumbling infrastructure. This would also create jobs. Its pretty simple, right?
There arnt any terrorists anyway are there? If they are hanging out in Iraq, fighting the US army, then that is guirilla warfare.
If they travel to America as suicide bombers they are terrorists. But they arent doing that now are they?
DO you really think the war in Iraq is somehow preventing arab terrorists from coming up through the mexican border? If they chose to come into our country with some migrant workers they could easily choose to, there is nothing stopping them.
So dont give me this crap about how we are stopping terrorism by wasting trillions over in Iraq. Thats crap and you know it. It defies logic.
Doug, before you offer your advice on the Iraq/Terrorism issue, please give us your credentials, such as:
1) How many times have you been to Iraq
2) What government intelligence agencies are you / have you been employed with
3) Whether or not you are potty-trained
4) How often you have taken attendance of entire population of the world and determined there are no terrorists
If you do not have credentials, then please learn how to wipe your butt yourself and don’t speak on an issue you know nothing about. The United States is a democracy. Since they probably didn’t cover that where you went to school, that is where the majority vote elects persons to make decisions for country.
I suppose we should not have stepped in to fight Hitler either, and just have forgiven Japan for bombing us?
Take your buddy media mogul and move to a different country please.
Did I say anything about Iraq or how many terrorists there are? No, because I leaev that up to our leaders to decide. I know for a fact that Bush knows much more about Iraq then I do, so why in hell would I try to tell him what to do?
Now, don’t think I’m some type of Bush-lover. To me, he is a liberal.
Since when do you need “credentials” to know that there havnt been any terrorist attacks in the US sinse 911?
Logically I conclude that they either arent mush of a threat, or they are just chilling out doing nothing waiting year after year for the perfect moment.
Cant we agree that if they wanted to attack they could?
The Mexican border is WIDE OPEN. And the bomb making suplies are realiy available here in the US.
If they wanted to suicide bomb our shopping malls they could.
Yes, in my opinion they could, and they want to, but they have chosen easier targets (ie Europe) because they know if they attack us, there are still enough people in this country with balls to kick their a**.
If I repeatedly tell you that I want you and your family to die, are you never going to do anything about it? You know, you’re right, you better not protect your family and not do anything about it and just hope with your useless emotions that nothing will happen. Much better than being proactive.
Far more expensive to the federal goverment than the war in Iraq/global war on terrorism/all foreign policy expenses, is our domestic entitlement spending, which accounts for two thirds of all federal spending. I’m talking about Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and all other forms of socialized welfare. Instead of taking away from things that the government is supposed to be doing, like fighting wars and representing national interest abroad, why don’t we just stop the massive giveway of money to people who don’t work for it? Since the government gets absolutely nothing in return for OUR money given to people who don’t earn it, (except more old people living on government dime for even longer) that would seem to me to be the first place to start talking about cuts.
Sorry Grandma. We just can’t afford to keep keeping you alive long after your usefulness has run out. We’ve got to start spending our money on things that actually have some sort of return, like bridges.
Reality Check: Guess no one does want to bring it back to the bridge issue as you suggest.
Amazing, having crossed that bridge quite a few times in my past to see that happen, and so quickly once it started. The hindsight from findings on this one may prevent such a future disaster–but it is unfortunate this had to happen first.
Why does it take a disaster like this bridge collapse before we are aware that our infrastructure is falling apart, and should be upgraded. Or do we forget about them like it is suggested we do with our senior citizens!
Insane, I agree with you…there are thousands of bridges in this country that are “structurally deficient” and it has nothing to do with what political party you agree with or what your status is in this country? There were things that were overlooked and once again this country has to learn the hard way. But thankfully it was as low of a total as it was…thats what we need to focus on…the great fortune many of us have in our everyday lives.
We look at disasters in other countries & think it’s because of their third world status. Starting to appear we are one of them with respect to infrastructure, doesn’t it? This SHOULDN’T be a political issue, it didn’t start out that way, all those posters just made it one.
Hello – I’m doing research and I am trying to find a list of each state’s insureds that are using a pool fund or a last resort fund for coverage. Any ideas where I can find this information?
Let’s see, I can drink the water, flush the toilet, check my email, and talk to someone on the phone on the other side of the world, all at the same time, while inside, enjoying the light and air conditioning that comes from electricity.
One bridge collapses, less than a dozen people die, and all of a sudden our infrastructure is third world? What?!
From MN, You must do all of this in a closet and have not looked at the country around you, the hwys are in terrible shape, 1 in 10 bridges are in bad condition, dams are in danger of collapsing and you think just because only one bridge collapsed everything is great! It is fortunate that less than one dozen people died, but this needs to be a wake up call.
Kind of like the Twilight Zone. Lets see what the future brings. We have major hurricane damage & our illustrious govt turns down assistance from other countries because of politics? Just drive down any street or highway trying to avoid all the pot holes while I grind my teeth wondering where all the pork goes.
A bridge collapsed when it was known to be structurally unsound, it was a tragedy.
Luckily the death toll was amazingly low.
On the political side, all the billions that have been wasted in Iraq could have been used to upgrade the infrastructure for all Americans. We are the greatest country in the world and our citizens deserve better from all their leaders.
I hope Bush shines during his last months as President. I can only pray that the bridges that need fixing in America are put on priority. Where will we get the money? Bring the troops home and let the Iraq government and it’s people battle it out themselves.
I enjoy how the American public can jump on and off the bandwagons and always point to someone else to blame. Anyone who has even tried to keep abreast of the infrastructure on this country knows that we are in dire need of rebuilding. Yet until there is a tragedy they all tend to sweep it under the rug.
We all wish for lower taxes (myself included). We all wish that the war in Iraq would get over (myself included). We all wish for a fix to the illegal immigration problem (myself included). We all wish… I suspect you get the point. Unfortunately rarely does wishing for something make it happen.
Instead of getting on our high horses, we need to come to an agreement of exactly what needs to be taken care of first in this country, do it and then move on to the next. Unfortunately if we can’t get ourselves to agree, how can we expect the leadership of this country to agree?
That’s ok, our concern about the safety of the bridges in this country will evaporate in about a month (except for those impacted) and we’ll turn our attention to the next #1 priority.
Yeah… a great idea… if it’s broken throw some money at it… that always fixes everything!
Why just look at Welfare… what a great project, oh wait… no…
Look at inner city schools that spend twice as much per student as the suburban schools but have twice the dropout and failure rate… oh, I’ll get one… give me a chance…
Can someone help me out here? I’m sure there’s a good example of socialism, tax-and-spend economics, Bush-bashing – whatever – out there. It’s too early and I haven’t had my handout yet.
Yes, Wild Bll, it was very dumb. But look at the credentials of the person who made the statement. He had no background in insurance prior to working for the Insurance Federation. Carriers are probably fuming at his statement. It’s another example of the insurance industry putting people with zero experience (read cheap) in charge of things over which they have absolutely no earthly ability or experience to handle. Pretty soon, they’ll outsource PR to India.
I never said that either. When you have an uncivilized group of people, colonization provides the best long term outcome, and would get us our oil that we need. So I’m against the war, but pro-colonization.
MN, before you offer your advice on the Iraq/Terrorism issue, please give us your credentials, such as:
1) How many times have you been to Iraq
2) What government intelligence agencies are you / have you been employed with
3) Whether or not you are potty-trained
4) How often you have taken attendance of entire population of the world and determined there are no terrorists
If you do not have credentials, then please learn how to wipe your butt yourself and don’t speak on an issue you know nothing about. The United States is a Republic and not Democracy like many stupid people like to believe. Since they probably didn’t cover that where you went to school, that is where the majority vote elects persons to make decisions for country.
Take your lazy, stupid @ss and move to a different country please.
RAL — MN is a total nutter and a bully. Best to ignore him. He has nothing to provide to this thread. So far MN has only put down several people because they think differently from MN. After reading all the posts, the only thing I can say about MN in all honesty is that he has told me nothing and added irrelevance.
Think about all the ATLA lawyers sitting in their boardrooms reorganizing their budgets for the next 6 years or so to accommodate the flood of new business coming their way while at the same time lamenting the tragedy that has befallen those involved in this incident. How can one be at once sorrowful for the tragedy and happy to see great fortunes coming their way?
God Bless you Minnisotians. There are a lot of good people up there.
How tragic, the television views of the long span of collapsed highway, unbelievable. There are definitely some deep pockets to get into from this occurrence. What about the whole country’s aging highway structure. This was no fluke.
I TRAVELED THIS AREA MANY TIMES & OVER THAT BRIDGE MANY TIMES FOR TRANSAMERICA.
NOW COMPLETING MY INS. CAREER FOR A LOSS CONTROL SERVICE WITH VERY LITTLE (LOCAL-CHICAGO) TRAVEL BUT STILL HAVE TO CROSS BRIDGES (IN CHGO) AND I HATE GOING OVER THEM… EVEN WALKING IS CREAPY AS THEY SHAKE WITH THE WEIGHT OF THE CARS & BUSSES NOT TO MENTION THE TRUCKS THAT EXCEED THE ORIGINAL WEIGHT THEY WERE DESIGNED TO HANDLE 50-100 YEARS AGO. GLAD I’M 2 MONTHS FROM RETIREMENT. BUT, YOU CAN’T GET AWAY FROM THEM ‘CAUSE NOW YOU TRAVEL AS A RETIREE AND STILL HAVE TO GO OVER THOSE TRAIN TRACKS AND RIVERS IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE U.S.A.
That was a dumb thing to say wasn’t it?
Wild Bill, I immediately had the same thought! As insurance professionals, we are always so careful about making statements about coverage until a thorough investigation has been made, but here is this incredibly broad and sweeping public statement only two days after the event. I guarantee that he will be regretting his words very soon. I can also imagine that every claim handler in the state of MN winced and groaned a little bit when they heard this!
I’m shocked that it has taken this long, but just heard that it’s all George Bush’s fault. “If hadn’t spent all that money on the Iraq war, hard-working Americans wouldn’t be dying on their way home from their jobs.”
Give me a break.
We are wincing in Chicago about that vast overreaching statement. He is not very claim savvy, he doesnt even know that the statute in CA changed several years ago. While I have all the sympathy in the world for the tragic victims and their families, it is responses like this that make insurance carriers have to battle such coverage issues for years.
They waive all exclusions for this incident, they waive it for everything else in the future. I think it was more talk than anything. Also, if the cover that commercial property damage even if they have an exclusiong for “in transit” then people will look at this and never buy other optional coverage because in the end, they think the company will cover them anyway.
Tax cuts, which recently have gone all to the rich, are just a form of self-deception via the power politicis of buying elections through buying the media and spreading fear of “foreign devils.” Why don’t we get safe, pay for it, raise taxes and quite fooling ourselves about what it really takes to improve America and Americans?
Who needs terorists when our own neglect and failure to face facts can lead to this traumatic disruption of a major US city, the thankfully small bridge collapse in California recently as well as the big steam explosion in NYC?
As for you politicians, who’s zoomin’ who? You’re mostly attorneys and the work resulting from this, your failure as legislators and leaders, will keep many of you employed as attorneys for many years. Now that’s accountability for you!
As for the rest of us little people, if we don’t want such chaos intruding ever more frequently in our day life, we need to stop making decisions and voting for forces that lead to chaos. Dying for a bridge collapse–how stupid and senseless. We should all be ashamed.
Yes, we are all too stupid to spend our own money, the government needs to do it for us.
Media mogul, your own thought process is contradictory. On one hand you call for more taxes and on the other hand you blame the government for not doing a good job. As if letting the government steal more of my money is going to cause them to be more competent? Give me a break.
Yes, the majority of tax cuts go to the rich for several reasons:
1) the poorest 30% of the nation doesnt pay tax and in most cases recieves more money from the government than they pay in. So how the F are these people supposed to get tax cuts, that wouldn’t be possible
2) The rich people pay most of the tax on a $ basis, of course more $ cuts are going to go to them
This bridge collapse was no surprise. It was ordered/maintened/inspected by the same incompetent individuals that have been building one of the worst transportation systems in the country – the Twin Cities Highway system.
Great idea, don’t worry about terrorists but fix the structures so they can easily blow them up as there are no funds to prevent them from doing so. The tax revenues have increased as a result of the so called rich investing the money which has a multiplier effect.
Here’s an idea, get the lazy stiffs off welfare, stop the damn pork-barrel projects and use that money for infrastructure.
As someone who travels the bridge frequently and can see the collapsed mess from my office building I find this finger-pointing right now sickening.
Media Mogul: I think you clicked on the wrong website. You should be over at Huff Post or Daily Kos to spew your liberal hate and rhetoric. When I was younger, I used to cross this bridge daily. My brother would have been crossing about the time this happened, but he got into a fight with his girlfriend and he was late leaving, so for once, all her *****ing was a good thing!
This has been an interesting experiment. The replies indicate the damage done to Americans and their thinking by the corporate controlled media.
These are of course mere insurance workers–not the A team–that’s why they’re in insurance to begin with, no? So maybe there is still hope in the general population, instead of this discourse of endless carping, “me first” and no solutions possible.
Did we say no money vs. terrorists, etc.? Once again an attempt to distract with foregin devils–just like Fox News.
You’re trying to score cheap points instead of taking effective action. Go back to your DVDs, Simpsons and ice cream (mmm…ice cream) and have a good weekend. Maybe the rest of us will try to accomplish something.
These bridges and broader infrastructure, like the bridge in MN, are forty years and more old. Some in my state are older than that. But a tiny percentage of our state budget goes to roads, bridges and infrastructure. We were told six years ago our viaduct is in poor condition and my city does nothing. Nor will they until it too collapses and people die.
Because there is not as much romance in infrastructure as there is in endless social programs, poor taxpayers be damned. My point is that war dollars unspent would never have been used for infrastructure, and to assume so is wrong. We’ve been underfunding infrastructure much longer than we’ve been at war.
Thanks for showing your true self. Can’t argue the facts, so have to resort to name calling. Yes we are so stupid that we have to rely on the government to decide what to do with our lives. Not the “A team”? I find your condescending attitude very insulting. In your opinion only people who agree with you have any intelligence. So where are the most intelligent people found, in the media as reflected in your name “Media Mogul”? That’s a good one.
Yes you (what is this “WE” BS?) did state no money versus terrorists. You stated “Who needs terrorists when our own neglect and failure to face facts can lead to this traumatic disruption of a major US city.” Guess what, we’ve got to fight them somewhere and I’d rather do it in their backyard rather than mine.
I suppose you’ll keep the insults coming as obviously you can’t argue with facts.
I’m still not sure where terroism fits in with a bridge collapsing under it’s own weight. but who am i?
and what do you think will happen to people who weren’t carrying auto? will they still receive some form of compensation?
and for the love of god, why do we have to again turn a tragedy into a political issue?? and isn’t this a state issue, not a federal issue? isn’t it up to the state of Minnesota to maintain it’s roadways and bridges, not the white house?
I agree with you 100%, this never should have been a political issue. Was trying to argue with the moron who did that. I had this discussion with my son the evening that it happened, that some tool would turn it into an anti-Iraq freedom intervention tirade. I predicted it would be a week before someone did just that. I was only off by 6 days.
“just saying” – those who made the decision not to carry automobile insurance shouldn’t receive any aid/compensation. The assumed a risk and lost. To pay them anything would be an insult to those who carry insurance, and encourage more to drop their coverage.
I don’t know about who’s reponsible for the bridges, but I agree with you that it should be the state’s problem.
I just heard on the radio the federal government is putting together a $250MM aid package to rebuild this bridge. guess it’s a federal problem now.
Isn’t it a Federal Highway?
Interstates are generally considered part of the “National Defense” system, which is one of the few powers the bloated Feds are supposed to have.
Media mogul – to call you and ignorant moron is not name calling, it is simply the truth. I dare you to just TRY and explain to all of us, with logic and reason, why the government should wipe your butt for you, which is apparently how far your types would want to take it. Also please explain that if America sucks so much, why the hell you live her and haven’t moved to a communist paradise that you envision. Grow the F up.
Interesting that we have a major disaster, with both deaths and severe injuries, and the claim appears to be settled prior to any adjudication, proof of loss or question as to engineering flaws. It’s a pity that we couldn’t do that on 9/11//01, I lost 224 friends, and everyone fought for five years trying to figure out what was actually a very simple question as to one or two occurrences.
But of course, it took the main stream media exactly 12 hours to start pointing fingers, but the best one was on the Chris Mathews show, where Barney Frank, D-Mass. that stalward “conservative” was asked:
“If this disaster would help the Democratic party”
Plaintiff rests.
Be well all, stay safe.
Pete
Plymn,
Thank you. I could not have said it better.
People like you want to take my money away via taxation, and take my freedoms away by making more and more laws to protect the stupid. To me, that is a declaration of attack on the framework of this country, and I have every right to defend myself.
Thus, stop crying when people disagree with you. We are trying to defend our freedoms that you want taken away since you are unhappy with your life and feel the need to constantly tell others what to do.
I’ll say it a hundred times. If you don’t like the US – LEAVE. Trust me when I say that the country would be better off without you, since it is the truth. And if you are offended, then that only proves my point, since the truth is the most offensive substance I’ve ever found.
Instead of throwing money away on the Iraq war we could have invested it in our crumbling infrastructure. This would also create jobs. Its pretty simple, right?
There arnt any terrorists anyway are there? If they are hanging out in Iraq, fighting the US army, then that is guirilla warfare.
If they travel to America as suicide bombers they are terrorists. But they arent doing that now are they?
DO you really think the war in Iraq is somehow preventing arab terrorists from coming up through the mexican border? If they chose to come into our country with some migrant workers they could easily choose to, there is nothing stopping them.
So dont give me this crap about how we are stopping terrorism by wasting trillions over in Iraq. Thats crap and you know it. It defies logic.
And YES, this is a POLITICAL ISSUE.
Doug, before you offer your advice on the Iraq/Terrorism issue, please give us your credentials, such as:
1) How many times have you been to Iraq
2) What government intelligence agencies are you / have you been employed with
3) Whether or not you are potty-trained
4) How often you have taken attendance of entire population of the world and determined there are no terrorists
If you do not have credentials, then please learn how to wipe your butt yourself and don’t speak on an issue you know nothing about. The United States is a democracy. Since they probably didn’t cover that where you went to school, that is where the majority vote elects persons to make decisions for country.
I suppose we should not have stepped in to fight Hitler either, and just have forgiven Japan for bombing us?
Take your buddy media mogul and move to a different country please.
Could you nut cases wait until the bodies are dug out of the rubble before trying to blame the Bush administration?
Oh im sorry, I was wrong. YES, there are terrorists everywhere in America and Im sooo afraid. What will they do next? Im shaking!!!
Am I the only one that thinks it’s basically a miracle that so few number of people died, given what happened?
Am I also the only one that thinks that this country is totally sweet since this stuff rarely happens?
Oh wait, I forgot it’s not cool to be patriotic.
So “From MN”, what are your credentials?
I rest my case. You have no credentials, just opinions and emotions.
On behalf of all those who don’t need the government to do everything for them: SHUT UP.
Does anyone want to bring this back to the issue of the bridge collapse?
Did I say anything about Iraq or how many terrorists there are? No, because I leaev that up to our leaders to decide. I know for a fact that Bush knows much more about Iraq then I do, so why in hell would I try to tell him what to do?
Now, don’t think I’m some type of Bush-lover. To me, he is a liberal.
Since when do you need “credentials” to know that there havnt been any terrorist attacks in the US sinse 911?
Logically I conclude that they either arent mush of a threat, or they are just chilling out doing nothing waiting year after year for the perfect moment.
Cant we agree that if they wanted to attack they could?
The Mexican border is WIDE OPEN. And the bomb making suplies are realiy available here in the US.
If they wanted to suicide bomb our shopping malls they could.
Am I wrong?
Yes, in my opinion they could, and they want to, but they have chosen easier targets (ie Europe) because they know if they attack us, there are still enough people in this country with balls to kick their a**.
If I repeatedly tell you that I want you and your family to die, are you never going to do anything about it? You know, you’re right, you better not protect your family and not do anything about it and just hope with your useless emotions that nothing will happen. Much better than being proactive.
Doug et al,
Far more expensive to the federal goverment than the war in Iraq/global war on terrorism/all foreign policy expenses, is our domestic entitlement spending, which accounts for two thirds of all federal spending. I’m talking about Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and all other forms of socialized welfare. Instead of taking away from things that the government is supposed to be doing, like fighting wars and representing national interest abroad, why don’t we just stop the massive giveway of money to people who don’t work for it? Since the government gets absolutely nothing in return for OUR money given to people who don’t earn it, (except more old people living on government dime for even longer) that would seem to me to be the first place to start talking about cuts.
Sorry Grandma. We just can’t afford to keep keeping you alive long after your usefulness has run out. We’ve got to start spending our money on things that actually have some sort of return, like bridges.
Reality Check: Guess no one does want to bring it back to the bridge issue as you suggest.
Amazing, having crossed that bridge quite a few times in my past to see that happen, and so quickly once it started. The hindsight from findings on this one may prevent such a future disaster–but it is unfortunate this had to happen first.
Whoa there, The Breeze. You’re going to make all the liberals start crying.
They earned it, well… because… ah… well, they just did.
Haha. Didn’t earn it, method.
WP
Why does it take a disaster like this bridge collapse before we are aware that our infrastructure is falling apart, and should be upgraded. Or do we forget about them like it is suggested we do with our senior citizens!
So are you trying to tell me that if we weren’t at war, we would be checking bridges more often?
This is a direct correlation?
Insane, I agree with you…there are thousands of bridges in this country that are “structurally deficient” and it has nothing to do with what political party you agree with or what your status is in this country? There were things that were overlooked and once again this country has to learn the hard way. But thankfully it was as low of a total as it was…thats what we need to focus on…the great fortune many of us have in our everyday lives.
We look at disasters in other countries & think it’s because of their third world status. Starting to appear we are one of them with respect to infrastructure, doesn’t it? This SHOULDN’T be a political issue, it didn’t start out that way, all those posters just made it one.
Hello – I’m doing research and I am trying to find a list of each state’s insureds that are using a pool fund or a last resort fund for coverage. Any ideas where I can find this information?
Who said checking bridges had anything to do with politics? It is just a smart thing to do regardless of what your political preferences are!
Let’s see, I can drink the water, flush the toilet, check my email, and talk to someone on the phone on the other side of the world, all at the same time, while inside, enjoying the light and air conditioning that comes from electricity.
One bridge collapses, less than a dozen people die, and all of a sudden our infrastructure is third world? What?!
From MN, You must do all of this in a closet and have not looked at the country around you, the hwys are in terrible shape, 1 in 10 bridges are in bad condition, dams are in danger of collapsing and you think just because only one bridge collapsed everything is great! It is fortunate that less than one dozen people died, but this needs to be a wake up call.
Kind of like the Twilight Zone. Lets see what the future brings. We have major hurricane damage & our illustrious govt turns down assistance from other countries because of politics? Just drive down any street or highway trying to avoid all the pot holes while I grind my teeth wondering where all the pork goes.
A bridge collapsed when it was known to be structurally unsound, it was a tragedy.
Luckily the death toll was amazingly low.
On the political side, all the billions that have been wasted in Iraq could have been used to upgrade the infrastructure for all Americans. We are the greatest country in the world and our citizens deserve better from all their leaders.
Revolution, well put!
I hope Bush shines during his last months as President. I can only pray that the bridges that need fixing in America are put on priority. Where will we get the money? Bring the troops home and let the Iraq government and it’s people battle it out themselves.
I enjoy how the American public can jump on and off the bandwagons and always point to someone else to blame. Anyone who has even tried to keep abreast of the infrastructure on this country knows that we are in dire need of rebuilding. Yet until there is a tragedy they all tend to sweep it under the rug.
We all wish for lower taxes (myself included). We all wish that the war in Iraq would get over (myself included). We all wish for a fix to the illegal immigration problem (myself included). We all wish… I suspect you get the point. Unfortunately rarely does wishing for something make it happen.
Instead of getting on our high horses, we need to come to an agreement of exactly what needs to be taken care of first in this country, do it and then move on to the next. Unfortunately if we can’t get ourselves to agree, how can we expect the leadership of this country to agree?
That’s ok, our concern about the safety of the bridges in this country will evaporate in about a month (except for those impacted) and we’ll turn our attention to the next #1 priority.
Yeah… a great idea… if it’s broken throw some money at it… that always fixes everything!
Why just look at Welfare… what a great project, oh wait… no…
Look at inner city schools that spend twice as much per student as the suburban schools but have twice the dropout and failure rate… oh, I’ll get one… give me a chance…
Can someone help me out here? I’m sure there’s a good example of socialism, tax-and-spend economics, Bush-bashing – whatever – out there. It’s too early and I haven’t had my handout yet.
Lets just keep pumping money into Iraq and rebuilding so they can just blow it up again! Lets not take care of this country, let it fall apart!
Yes, Wild Bll, it was very dumb. But look at the credentials of the person who made the statement. He had no background in insurance prior to working for the Insurance Federation. Carriers are probably fuming at his statement. It’s another example of the insurance industry putting people with zero experience (read cheap) in charge of things over which they have absolutely no earthly ability or experience to handle. Pretty soon, they’ll outsource PR to India.
Yeah, kind of like putting the head of a horse association in charge of FEMA. Brilliant!
I never said that either. When you have an uncivilized group of people, colonization provides the best long term outcome, and would get us our oil that we need. So I’m against the war, but pro-colonization.
Does anyone know what construction firm was working on the bridge?
I think I read somewhere that the Minneapolis Progressive Contractors Inc. was working on bridge.
MN, before you offer your advice on the Iraq/Terrorism issue, please give us your credentials, such as:
1) How many times have you been to Iraq
2) What government intelligence agencies are you / have you been employed with
3) Whether or not you are potty-trained
4) How often you have taken attendance of entire population of the world and determined there are no terrorists
If you do not have credentials, then please learn how to wipe your butt yourself and don’t speak on an issue you know nothing about. The United States is a Republic and not Democracy like many stupid people like to believe. Since they probably didn’t cover that where you went to school, that is where the majority vote elects persons to make decisions for country.
Take your lazy, stupid @ss and move to a different country please.
Heavy truck traffic has increased significantly on I35W since creation of NAFTA Superhighway.
RAL — MN is a total nutter and a bully. Best to ignore him. He has nothing to provide to this thread. So far MN has only put down several people because they think differently from MN. After reading all the posts, the only thing I can say about MN in all honesty is that he has told me nothing and added irrelevance.
Think about all the ATLA lawyers sitting in their boardrooms reorganizing their budgets for the next 6 years or so to accommodate the flood of new business coming their way while at the same time lamenting the tragedy that has befallen those involved in this incident. How can one be at once sorrowful for the tragedy and happy to see great fortunes coming their way?
Ah, you like Bush. All of your absurd comments now make sense.
January 20, 2009 can’t come soon enough.
(That was directed at From MN, by the way.)
mmmmm, Soylent Green! My favorite flavor! Eat your grandma today, I’ll bet she’s nice and ripe.