Posted on 09/02/2005 5:40:24 AM PDT by Dog
President to speak at 9am ...
Kitty is not amused...
I am not "on his back".
The world is awaiting words from thel eader of the nation. The assumption was that if the leader speaks, the magnatude of this crisis leads one to assume the speech will have some meat to it.
This speech (or these remarks) had no "meat" to it, so I say it just should not have been given to a more fully prepared and longer speech was delivered. The nation deserves that due to the magnatude of the crisis.
Please understand.
"I wonder what is causing the difference?"
On 9-11 we had a very real, very evil person to blame. It's human nature in the face of something this bad to find "the bad guy". Unfortunately, the "bad guys" here are other Americans. As President, he has to be very careful making fellow americans, specifically politicians from the other party, as the ones to blame.
It is an illusion that he can do more than the local "experts" (state and mayor). Federal resources can assist them, but the state and the mayor need to know what they need and how to implement it.
Are we still talking about the criminal anarchy, really, when it's all boiled down?
Remember his second and third Kerry debate performances? That's the confidence and fire we need.
Bush does well when he's angry. There's no one or group of people to get mad at here.
There's only incompetence. Neither Michael Brown nor Michael Chertoff have ANY experience with disasters.
You think Bernie Kerik would be acting so cluelessly as these people have? Michael Brown basically admitted today that he didn't know what he was doing.
Eight looters were shot and killed in Metairie overnight.
"Bush is in serious trouble. This Katrina disaster is a torpedo aimed at the heart of his presidency. If the administration doesn't WAKE UP to the frustration, disappointment, desperation, and outrage that are building over this, it will be a disaster for the Republican party."
I'm not trying to dump on you, just need to get this off my chest.
Do you think the President gives a grunt right now about how this will affect his job, image or what it will do to the Republican Party? I half expect him to kick all the press out of AF1 and load it with supplies to take down there.
The Fed Gov was limited by law as to when they could step in from a law enforcement perspective. The President had to convince the mayor and the governor to call for evacuation which they finally did, too late. Didn't the mayor realize that he had people who couldn't evacuate on their own? What did he do to get them out? NOTHING! Now people bitch that only the white folk could have afforded to evac.
The other night I heard the mayor on Larry King saying that the people would be staying in the Super Dome at least another week with no plan to move them. At least three hours earlier I heard the Governor declair madatory evacuation, lack of communication/leadership.
Really, what would Rudy do?
Frankly, I don't give a rat's rear end what you think.
Why don't you just run along to the mods like a good little hall monitor and let the grown ups continue talking.
Katrina is one mean bitch. Both of them.
Then he can sprinkle pixie dust and all the houses will magically reappear intact.
Wait, I have another incoming message from my crystal ball... hold on.....
I'm getting really sick and tired of people selectively responding to a post. What part of the following paragraph - from the same post you cited - blames the president?
I'm not blaming the President, his budget or the war in the Middle East on this. Improvements wouldn't have - couldn't have - happened instantaneously (especially given the slow rate of government), and certainly not in time to guard against Katrina. And even it may not have been enough; I don't know if anything could have adequately guarded against a Cat 5 storm (especially if only designed for a Cat 3).
What is your resonse to that?
1. Spend all the federal disaster preparedness money on parties and payoff to friends and political contributors.
2. Tell people to leave town.
3. Call FEMA.
4. Sit on ass and wait for the Feds to come in with the money and people.
5. Bitch.
And yet the governments continue to use disaster-relief as justification for more government. If we just had more government, this would be better.
The government has wildly oversold its ability to help, and has not encouraged the people to distance themselves from reliance on the government.
I like the man, I voted for him twice but Christ he is painful to listen to Aside from all the 'um's' (which about made my head explode) he basically didn't say squat other than that this is 'unacceptable' and that he is 'looking forward' to his visit. Like it's a bar mitzvah.
Bullsh!t.
Who was the President during the San Francisco earthquake, and what did he or didn't he do? How about the Johnstown Flood, the Galveston Hurricane, etc.?
Since I am absolutely certain that no more than 0.1% of the people reading this post can answer even one of those three questions, your comment is absolutely silly.
Alright. Here is my dime of thought, not that it's worth that much. I read the post by Pukin Dog and he is right on, this is not the time to second guess the President. However, to me, the biggest impact this will have on the country is economic. Some of you financial wiz's help me out on this. If gas prices continue to go up, will it effect everything else? If so, my opinion is that the most effective way to deal with this and the possible inflation is to cut taxes. What would happen if the Feds and state governments cut taxes on gas - say at least by half - as a temp measure for the next six months. Would it help the citizens? Would it help the economy?
Uh, well let's see. Could it be because he (Eisenhower) was enforcing FEDERAL law?
Hey it's just money and we should all know by now that's something this administration is good at spending in wads.
Personally, I'm a little shocked those that call themselves conservatives are too busy cheering for another of the President's speeches (and even the most ardent Bush supporter has to admit his speeches are bland) to ask what the use of FEMA is? FEMA should have been disbanded long ago. Just how many national organizations do we need to deal with an issue over two or three states?
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