Posted on 09/19/2005 4:57:12 AM PDT by Chairman_December_19th_Society
We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail!
Good morning!!
Do not let the victims of the attacks on New York and Washington, nor the brave members of our Nation's military who have given their lives to protect our freedom, die in vain!!
New Orleans, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Liberals, and Conservatives
Earlier, this space took time to analyze the roles of the various elements in the disaster preparation requirements for New Orleans. That information may be found at the following link:
What might be worthwhile to look into as well is the reactions of the significant political creatures involved in the affair. Indeed, the various activities by folks involved paint an interesting case study of how liberals react to a tragedy, versus how conservatives address the same matter.
Let's start with Mississippi and Alabama. We don't hear much about them in the news, and this space has, unfortunately, also been focused more on the events in New Orleans than of those in, say, Biloxi and Gulfport. But there may be a very good reason for that.
The governors of Mississippi and Alabama are conservative Republicans.
On the other hand, the news is full of information and material dealing with Louisiana and New Orleans. It is likely there's a very good reason for that, too.
The governor of Louisiana and the mayor of New Orleans are both liberal Democrats.
We are, thus, provided an opportunity to analyze the differences of conservatives and liberals to, roughly, the same calamity.
The differences are striking.
There's very little news about Alabama, and though damage occurred to the port of Mobile, the state was the least damaged of the three. It is safe to assume, however, the governor, Bob Riley, has simply gone down to business on repairing the damage, doing the needed paperwork with the Federal Government, getting the job done, and not whining or complaining about his lot, whether other folks were helping him enough, and so on. In other words, roll up your sleeves and get to work.
Then there's Mississippi, and its governor, Haley Barbour, also a Republican. Significantly more damage occurred in that state than compared to Alabama--indeed the city of Bay St. Louis has pretty much been wiped off the map, as have many towns along the Gulf coast. Biloxi and Gulfport are in ruins. But you don't see the governor of the state whining about the Federal response, even after being goaded by liberal media wonks. In fact, Haley Barbour mentioned, in response to one question about whether he thought the Federal response was adequate, he noted that he had a state to rebuild.
The common thread of these two is simple, take care of business any way you can and ask only for the help you need, but in all cases be the leader.
Then there is, of course, the third state, and its major city--Louisiana, and the port of New Orleans.
Both the governor and the mayor have been critical of the Federal response, and maybe there were things that could have been done better (that's another show), but the response of the Louisiana governor is interesting.
After the storm had passed through, it is noted in a piece that can be found in Lexus-Nexus, the governor firmly believed the Federal government had some omniscient power that would allow it the capability of determining exactly how much aid would be needed and where.
The governor clung to this belief for three days, and wondered where the aid was. And after the aid was sent, the response was "where have you been?" In other words, even after realizing she would have to spell out what she needed--as "point person" for disaster relief in Louisiana--she still clung to that belief that the Feds "should have known" she needed 40,000 National Guard troops, untold amounts of food, water, and so on, and not the notion that she would "place an order" for what she determined was required.
Of course, she was not served well as her main point of information was the mayor of New Orleans. His view was: where the heck was the state? Why didn't Baton Rouge send him the stuff he needed? And, of course, where were the Feds? (Not realizing, one could suppose, that the Feds were being hamstrung by the bureaucrats serving the Louisiana governor in the capital.)
Indeed, and it is safe to assume the media gravitated to this as they love a controversy, the American body politic was served a heaping helping of whining, complaining, and bitterness for weeks on end--and it still hasn't stopped today.
So, there you have it. Two major elected officials who are Republicans setting about taking the lead in reparing their shattered domains. These two people recognize and appreciate the role of the Federal goverment in large-scale disaster relief, but view that entity as only a tool for them to use to put things back to right.
The other two elected officials are busy looking for someone else to solve their problems. The someone else is "big" or "bigger" government. Neither of these individuals viewed themselves as the leader of disaster relief in their areas, but rather simply someone who should yell and scream enough for someone else to solve the problem. The Federal Government to the governor of Louisiana and the mayor of New Orleans wasn't a tool for them to use to repair the damage from the late hurricane, the Federal Government was the totality of the solution. All they needed to do, then, was to sit back, watch it happen, and take credit for getting it there.
In short, conservatives worked to get the job done, while liberals worked to get someone else to get the job done.
But where does that leave the people?
For that, we leave the moral of this tale.
If you want to be safe in a disaster, be prepared beforehand to pick up the pieces afterwards by yourself.
For AMERICA - The Right Way, I remain yours in the Cause, the Chairman.
LET'S ROLL!!!
Hi!
The final part of this three-part discussion--"Was the Response Adequate?"--will be on Wednesday, as long as real work events don't interfere.
Good morning.
Your openings are great!
This is a big weekend in DC. Everyone to the streets!!!!!!!!
It's so simple to deflect criticism by the left, and I consistently see our own Republicans neglect to mention that Blanco didn't ask for aid in a timely fashion and when asked if the project should be federalized, she needed 24 hours to decide.
I still contend that freepers can and do defend the administration better than the administration.
And I see that North Korea has agreed to give up its nuclear program and although I've only been up for a half hour, there is no mention on FNC.
Good opening. It will be copied, printed and included with the other documentation.
Also, almost all of the 4,000 evacuees in Indiana are now in apartments or homes. Many are finding jobs.
Your governor and state didn't dither or fill out forms before they helped. Their quick and generous response is really admirable.
Real Estate Moms Michael Barone
Good morning everyone!
Thanks for the NO response series Chairman. Extremely well-done!!
Testing out new tagline...
Testing out new tagline...
Accidental double-click on the "post" button. Sorry.
Good morning. Thanks for that update, Kassie. I'd left the room to put in my contacts and missed it.
For those who missed the exchange between ABC reporters and 10 African Americans who were outside a shelter listening to the president's speech last week and refused to say anything bad about him, this is a newspaper article which printed the transcript.
It's interesting to see just how hard ABC tried to get these folks to say something ugly about the president.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05262/573959.stm
Excellent tagline!
Maybe we should all adopt that tagline for a while.
Good Monday morning to everyone! I cant wait for fall to arrive. Yesterday was hotter than hades.
excellent tagline! worth saying twice.....
Ahem...
:)
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