The buck stops at the mayor of each affected city, the president of each affected parish, and the governors of the affected states. Gov. Blanco seemed stunned that the federal government was immediately on the scene. Why did she have that opinion? It was because she, like millions of Americans, believes that we don't truly have a "federal" government, but a "national" government. She mistakenly believes that her state is but a subdivision within that national government and that she's somewhere on that org chart.
She's wrong. Her state is her responsibility. That she was not prepared for a disaster like this is her fault. I know this sounds callous, but in fact there is no responsibility on the part of the federal government to help the states deal with such disasters. Go look at the Constitution yourself and you'll see for yourself. There is nothing in there that authorizes Congress to appropriate funds for disaster relief and nothing about the Executive Branch dealing with disaster relief.
There is an account of Congress voting to provide relief to a veteran's widow when her house burned down. This occurred sometime in the 1830's and the account details how U.S. Rep. Davy Crockett - yes, that Davy Crockett - convinced Congress it was wrong to appropriate those funds as it was not their money to give. Click here.
Yes, there is a precedent. And that is the problem. Originally, the states were like sovereign nations of their own. The Constitution created a union of those states with a limited federal government to keep the states trading together and to protect them from foreign invasion, etc. Over the years, the states became more and more dependent upon the federal government and the original model was forgotten. State militias were relegated to the National Guard which was basically turned over to the federal government with very little state control.
In the aftermath of the hurricane we're seeing two things. Among the people in NO we're seeing the results of decades of leftist brainwashing that convinces a large number of people that they are "entitled" to something as well as widespread acceptance of the ghetto thug culture. With the people responsible for governing these people we're seeing the results of decades of leftist dependence upon the federal government to fix every little problem.
I'm not going to blame Bush. I'm not going to blame FEMA. I blame the people of NO, their mayor, their parish presidents, and their governor for being unprepared. This is not the federal government's fault, this is their fault. The people have forgotten that they are the government. And now they've got the government that they deserve and it has proven to be deadly.
I'm not saying the Federal Government should not respond to this specific crisis. There really is no other choice at this point. The state utterly failed to live up to its responsibility and somebody has to do something. I'm just lamenting the fact that our federal model is so unrecognizable from what it was intended to be and that because that has happened we're seeing its deadly results.
Let me give you the exact opposite scenario - an example of how things SHOULD happen after a disaster.
In June of 1976 the Grand Teton Dam collapsed sending 80 billion gallons of water into the community of Rexburg, Idaho. Two thirds of the city was destroyed. Was there any rioting? No. Looting? No. In fact, when the Red Cross and the Federal Government did respond to this major disaster, they found that they were barely needed. The city had organized themselves to respond to the disaster. The predominately Mormon community came out and helped each other, to recover what they could, to provide relief for those left homeless, and to keep order. In fact, those who responded to the disaster actually got schooled by the community and the LDS Church in how to deal with a major disaster.
Compare what happened 3 decades ago in Idaho to what is happening in New Orleans right now and it is that much more sickening. I've been pondering lately how thin our civilized society is and how it may break down easily under stress. I had no idea until this hurricane tore through New Orleans and the surrounding area just how thin a veneer our civilization is in some areas of the country. Areas of the country that were dark blue on the map of the last presidential election.
"Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other." - John Adams
Excellent post ..You MUST send that post to the news media via email .I'm serious buddy.