# Great Debates **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=855 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 856 --- ## [Katrina: a lesson for society?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katrina-a-lesson-for-society/320217)
**Author:** [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [September 6, 2005, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katrina-a-lesson-for-society/320217 "2005-09-06T07:48:55Z")
Bill Whittle has written a long and thought-provoking piece on the lessons for society. What do you think of it? The comments are mainly of the"Me too" variety, alas. --- ## [What new concerns must be taken into account in naming O'Connor's replacement?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-concerns-must-be-taken-into-account-in-naming-oconnors-replacement/320313)
**Author:** [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [September 6, 2005, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-concerns-must-be-taken-into-account-in-naming-oconnors-replacement/320313 "2005-09-06T06:37:18Z")
It occurs to me that several of the picks I’d made or heard bandied about in armchair-handicapping O’Connor’s replacement were Fifth Circuit judges - both of the Ediths, for example, and Emilio Garza. (The Fifth Circuit,… --- ## [What the hell is going on in New Orleans?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-going-on-in-new-orleans/320013)
**Author:** [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)\ **Replies:** 79\ **Last updated:** [September 6, 2005, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-going-on-in-new-orleans/320013 "2005-09-06T04:44:09Z")
I dont have time to trawl through all the posts and news items, but I want to know what is behind the major SNAFU in New Orleans. Sorry that this is yet anothe NO thread. Why are people shooting at rescuers? Why are re… --- ## [Theological Question - Divine Wrath](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theological-question-divine-wrath/320253)
**Author:** [@Plynck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plynck)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [September 6, 2005, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theological-question-divine-wrath/320253 "2005-09-06T01:29:39Z")
Inspired in part by this thread. Every so often, a radical fundamentalist Christian\* will point to a disaster as being the wrath of God brought down on sinners, or will call down fire and brimstone on those who disagre… --- ## [Should governors be added to the Presidential line of succession?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-governors-be-added-to-the-presidential-line-of-succession/319438)
**Author:** [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Replies:** 35\ **Last updated:** [September 5, 2005, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-governors-be-added-to-the-presidential-line-of-succession/319438 "2005-09-05T22:06:10Z")
In college, I read a book by Sen. Birch Bayh, who was instrumental in passing the 25th Amendment. He suggested, among other things, that the state governors be added to the line of presidential succession, after the VP,… --- ## [BBC Viewpoint: Has Katrina saved US media?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-viewpoint-has-katrina-saved-us-media/320183)
**Author:** [@rfgdxm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rfgdxm)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [September 5, 2005, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-viewpoint-has-katrina-saved-us-media/320183 "2005-09-05T21:24:24Z")
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4214516.stm "Instead of secretive “Deep Throat” meetings in car-parks, cameras captured the immediate reality of what was happening at the New Orleans Convention Center, making … --- ## [Will Katrina change how the US government interacts with the world](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-katrina-change-how-the-us-government-interacts-with-the-world/320227)
**Author:** [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [September 5, 2005, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-katrina-change-how-the-us-government-interacts-with-the-world/320227 "2005-09-05T19:03:49Z")
Will all the outpouring of aid & support change how the US treats the rest of the world, or how we act internationally? Will it help fix the rift due to the Iraq war? Will it have major impacts on global warming science… --- ## [Who will be the next Chief Justice?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-chief-justice/319985)
**Author:** [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Replies:** 38\ **Last updated:** [September 5, 2005, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-chief-justice/319985 "2005-09-05T17:10:49Z")
CNN just annouced the death of Chief Justice Rehnquist. Who will Bush appoint to replace him? How will the fallout from Katrina affect the confirmation proceedings? The Senate now has to juggle dueling confirmatio… --- ## [Cindy Sheehan](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-sheehan/317262)
**Author:** [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Replies:** 306\ **Last updated:** [September 5, 2005, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-sheehan/317262 "2005-09-05T16:57:21Z")
I would like to offer my kudos and support to a strong, brave woman who stands up to power and stares it right in the eye: Cindy Sheehan. Thanks to her courage and determination, the American people have a focus for tell… --- ## [Prominent Black People are doing more harm than good regarding Hurricane Katrina.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prominent-black-people-are-doing-more-harm-than-good-regarding-hurricane-katrina/319956)
**Author:** [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [September 5, 2005, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prominent-black-people-are-doing-more-harm-than-good-regarding-hurricane-katrina/319956 "2005-09-05T11:47:05Z")
I’ve been watching a lot of news coverage regarding the events and the pathetic response by Bush and the cronies he appointed at the top of FEMA. Every few moments you keep seeing someone like Jesse Jackson, Kanye West o… --- ## [New Orleans and future race relations](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-orleans-and-future-race-relations/320096)
**Author:** [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [September 5, 2005, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-orleans-and-future-race-relations/320096 "2005-09-05T09:03:35Z")
I do wonder how this affair will affect race relations in the future. From watching the news, it does appear some blacks are living up to some stereotypes. We have a city in crisis, and rather than pull together and mak… --- ## [Out ticket out of Iraq?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-ticket-out-of-iraq/320005)
**Author:** [@Bomzaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bomzaway)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [September 5, 2005, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-ticket-out-of-iraq/320005 "2005-09-05T07:35:30Z")
Although I never supported going to war with Iraq in the first place, I do understand the need to be there so that we can finish what we started. Leaving too early would be “bad form” in a manner of speaking. But with … --- ## [Abraham A Holy Man Or A Profiteer](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abraham-a-holy-man-or-a-profiteer/320035)
**Author:** [@ainigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ainigma)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [September 5, 2005, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abraham-a-holy-man-or-a-profiteer/320035 "2005-09-05T06:57:11Z")
There is a particular act in the bible that amazes me. It clearly states that abraham, (aproaching egypt) told his wife (sara) to say that she was his sister. In doing so the pharoah took her (sara) for his wife and COMP… --- ## [New Orleans should be a valuable lesson to all of us](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-orleans-should-be-a-valuable-lesson-to-all-of-us/319862)
**Author:** [@contradancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/contradancer)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [September 5, 2005, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-orleans-should-be-a-valuable-lesson-to-all-of-us/319862 "2005-09-05T06:15:31Z")
This situation makes me realize that 3 days supply of food and water is totally unrealistic in a disaster. And if it was a big disaster, such as one that affected a large portion of the US, like a nuclear attack, we pro… --- ## [Your Sex Life, Evolution, And the Christian Right-A Theory](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-sex-life-evolution-and-the-christian-right-a-theory/318850)
**Author:** [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Replies:** 82\ **Last updated:** [September 5, 2005, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-sex-life-evolution-and-the-christian-right-a-theory/318850 "2005-09-05T04:49:08Z")
The people who make up the Christian Right, as we all well know, are constitutionally incapable of adopting a “live and let live” attitude, and are obsesssively concerned with monitoring and controlling the sexual behavi… --- ## [Are Right Wing PAC's Doing Anything to Aid Hurricane Evacuees?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-right-wing-pacs-doing-anything-to-aid-hurricane-evacuees/320075)
**Author:** [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [September 5, 2005, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-right-wing-pacs-doing-anything-to-aid-hurricane-evacuees/320075 "2005-09-05T03:17:33Z")
I suppose this is more of a GQ than a debate, but since it has the potential to turn partisan, I will put it here to save the hamsters the trouble. MoveOn.org is mobilizing their considerable mailing list to secure temp… --- ## [Politicizing Katrina: is it happening? When is gov't criticism "inappropriate"?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politicizing-katrina-is-it-happening-when-is-govt-criticism-inappropriate/319823)
**Author:** [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Replies:** 30\ **Last updated:** [September 5, 2005, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politicizing-katrina-is-it-happening-when-is-govt-criticism-inappropriate/319823 "2005-09-05T02:02:00Z")
I’ve been watching and reading all sorts of criticisms of the federal government’s (and the President’s in particular) handling of the Louisiana and Mississippi crisis. Many of these arguments are bipartisan and quite p… --- ## [Can doing nothing be grounds for impeachment?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-doing-nothing-be-grounds-for-impeachment/319879)
**Author:** [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Replies:** 30\ **Last updated:** [September 5, 2005, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-doing-nothing-be-grounds-for-impeachment/319879 "2005-09-05T00:28:52Z")
Say there’s a huge natural disaster or terrorist attack, and the President of the United States just sits on his ass and does nothing… and I do mean NOTHING, in response. Let’s say he’s busy playing tetris, or the guitar… --- ## [Poverty activists have been handed a giant crowbar. How to best use it?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poverty-activists-have-been-handed-a-giant-crowbar-how-to-best-use-it/320073)
**Author:** [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [September 4, 2005, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poverty-activists-have-been-handed-a-giant-crowbar-how-to-best-use-it/320073 "2005-09-04T21:22:48Z")
Katrina has opened public awareness, in a farily direct fashion, to just how many people are existing by an economic thread. Per the linked story below Katrina has handed poverty activists and social justice types a huge… --- ## [Those Americans who served and fell in Iraq: Your cause is a noble one](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-americans-who-served-and-fell-in-iraq-your-cause-is-a-noble-one/319372)
**Author:** [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Replies:** 31\ **Last updated:** [September 4, 2005, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-americans-who-served-and-fell-in-iraq-your-cause-is-a-noble-one/319372 "2005-09-04T07:46:28Z")
Absent continued American presence in Iraq, there would a three-way civil war. One that could kill tens or even hundreds of thousands. Such a civil war would also have uncertain geopolitical consequences: would the Ho… --- ## [Militarily, what happened to the French](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/militarily-what-happened-to-the-french/311412)
**Author:** [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Replies:** 73\ **Last updated:** [September 4, 2005, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/militarily-what-happened-to-the-french/311412 "2005-09-04T01:03:03Z")
Was recently browsing through The Pit and saw the old French are “cheese eating surrender monkeys” thing and I got to thinking about it a bit, going through history in my own mind. I thought I’d start a debate on it jus… --- ## [New Orleans: Just how bad a disaster is this?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-orleans-just-how-bad-a-disaster-is-this/319482)
**Author:** [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Replies:** 117\ **Last updated:** [September 3, 2005, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-orleans-just-how-bad-a-disaster-is-this/319482 "2005-09-03T21:41:18Z")
Perhaps this belongs in GQ, but there are so many imponderable factors in play that GD is probably better. Mods, please move if you think appropriate. Hurricane Katrina hit coastal Alabama and Mississippi pretty hard –… --- ## [Should Lobbyists be allowed to, well, lobby?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-lobbyists-be-allowed-to-well-lobby/318325)
**Author:** [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Replies:** 37\ **Last updated:** [September 3, 2005, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-lobbyists-be-allowed-to-well-lobby/318325 "2005-09-03T20:29:06Z")
Thanks to this story, I just found out that there’s such a thing as lobbying offices- pay them money, and they’ll lobby the government for whatever you want. Doesn’t the idea of lobbyists (especially mercenary lobbyists… --- ## [A Fetus is not a Person](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fetus-is-not-a-person/319019)
**Author:** [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Replies:** 54\ **Last updated:** [September 3, 2005, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fetus-is-not-a-person/319019 "2005-09-03T11:32:19Z")
The English language is a collection of words with attached meanings. A concrete noun, in particular, means a thing or a collection of things. Sometimes two such nouns refer to overlapping categories, other times to no… --- ## [War supporters - at what point would you call for withdrawal?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-supporters-at-what-point-would-you-call-for-withdrawal/318166)
**Author:** [@nameless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nameless)\ **Replies:** 42\ **Last updated:** [September 3, 2005, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-supporters-at-what-point-would-you-call-for-withdrawal/318166 "2005-09-03T01:53:54Z")
Somewhat inspired by things I read in this thread. It seems to me that lately there’s been a growing sentiment that it’s time to get the troops out of Iraq, and damn the consequences. The antics of Cindy Sheehan are sor… --- ## [Gas prices doubled! Will this cause a long term change in American habits?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-prices-doubled-will-this-cause-a-long-term-change-in-american-habits/319601)
**Author:** [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Replies:** 42\ **Last updated:** [September 2, 2005, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-prices-doubled-will-this-cause-a-long-term-change-in-american-habits/319601 "2005-09-02T21:53:39Z")
In this thread, back in May, when gas was a suddenly seems reasonable 2.00/g, I opined that gas prices would “roughly have to double” in order to see massive changes in American driving habits. Gas prices around here are… --- ## [Is there Biblical support for the concept of Hell?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-biblical-support-for-the-concept-of-hell/318320)
**Author:** [@Taber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taber)\ **Replies:** 121\ **Last updated:** [September 2, 2005, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-biblical-support-for-the-concept-of-hell/318320 "2005-09-02T21:22:14Z")
Now, I occaisonally try to plow through the Bible, meaning I am familiar with the first five or so books in both testaments, but for all I know the last book in the old testement is written in gangster rap. I know ther… --- ## [Army COE top contracting officer demoted for criticizing Halliburton no-bid contract?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/army-coe-top-contracting-officer-demoted-for-criticizing-halliburton-no-bid-contract/319495)
**Author:** [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [September 2, 2005, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/army-coe-top-contracting-officer-demoted-for-criticizing-halliburton-no-bid-contract/319495 "2005-09-02T19:43:01Z")
From the Los Angeles Times, 8/29/05, http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-082905halliburton\_lat,0,4375226.story?coll=la-tot-promo&track=morenews: Is there any justification for this? Anybody care to defen… --- ## [The Levee Situation - Whose Decision Was It?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-levee-situation-whose-decision-was-it/319738)
**Author:** [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [September 2, 2005, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-levee-situation-whose-decision-was-it/319738 "2005-09-02T19:40:31Z")
I heard on the news that because of the cost of involved, Bush decided against giving funding for improving the levee system in New Orleans. I don’t remember which channel I heard it on; MSNBC or CNN. My question is, di… --- ## [What Are The Best Sources For An Anti-Alexander-Hamilton-Hagiography Argument?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-sources-for-an-anti-alexander-hamilton-hagiography-argument/319133)
**Author:** [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [September 2, 2005, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-sources-for-an-anti-alexander-hamilton-hagiography-argument/319133 "2005-09-02T19:33:51Z")
At least since the Chernow biography of Alexander Hamilton came out, I seem to be encountering a prevailing middlebrow-conservative cult of personality about how great Hamilton was. I went to a New-York Historical Socie… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=854) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=856)