New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin
Posted on 09/02/2005 6:53:26 AM PDT by Jarhead1957
New Orleans Mayor Fumes Over Slow Reponse
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, left, Councilman Oliver Thomas and Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco speak during a news conference about Hurricane Katrina, Saturday, Aug. 27, 2005. Residents of low-lying coastal communities were told Saturday to pack up and head for higher ground before Hurricane Katrina strengthens and takes a ``possible direct hit'' on southeast Louisiana. (AP Photo/Cheryl Gerber)
A day before President Bush headed to the hurricane-ravaged South, Mayor Ray Nagin lashed out at federal officials, telling a local radio station "they don't have a clue what's going on down here."
Federal officials expressed sympathy but quickly defended themselves, saying they, too, were overwhelmed by the catastrophe that hit the Gulf Coast region on Monday.
Nagin's interview Thursday night on WWL radio came as President Bush planned to visit Gulf Coast communities battered by Hurricane Katrina, a visit aimed at alleviating criticism that he engineered a too-little, too-late response.
Bush viewed the damage while flying over the region Wednesday en route to Washington after cutting short his Texas vacation by two days.
"They flew down here one time two days after the doggone event was over with TV cameras, AP reporters, all kind of goddamn excuse my French everybody in America, but I am pissed," Nagin said.
Nagin said he told Bush in a recent conversation that "we had an incredible crisis here and that his flying over in Air Force One does not do it justice ... I have been all around this city and that I am very frustrated because we are not able to marshal resources and we are outmanned in just about every respect."
In an interview Friday on NBC's "Today," Federal Emergency Management Agency director Michael Brown stood behind the massive federal relief effort that's under way.
"I understand the mayor's frustration. ... We have been having a continuous flow of commodities into the Superdome, there were five trucks arriving last night to feed well over 50,000 people.
"We're also diverting supplies to the convention center which I learned about yesterday and that area. ... This is an absolutely catastrophic disaster," he said.
Gov. Kathleen Blanco, who like Nagin is a Democrat, was less confrontational than the mayor.
"When the system goes down, this is pretty much what you get," she said on CBS' "The Early Show." "We don't get into the blame game. We just work with what we got."
And didn't they criticize Bush two years ago for "getting in the way" when all those hurricanes hit FL and he went down to survey the damage? They said all the commotion he was causing was getting in the way of relief efforts.
It's something we're going to have to accept from the media - NOTHING GW does is going to be good enough.
Rudy? Heck, no. This guy makes Chief Moose look like a first-rate orator and effective manager.
The Mayor is full of crap !!
New Orleans has the highest MURDER rate in the USA, and he never did anything about it.
The CORRUPTION is rampant and he let the 80 percent of the Black Population (which means that Whites are the Minority)
do anything they want !!
PUKE CITY, before Katrina
Out year elections coming up in '06.
The MSM is just warming up.
The fact that the MSM is beating this drumbeat so loud probably means that they know this could hurt the democrats big time. The Major is a dem, the governor is a dem and most of the rest of the government were dems. They are scared and its manifesting itself as attacks on Bush.
Only if you are a Democrat and one of those in charge. This is the blame game at it's ultimate. What more could Bush do that he hasn't already done. This mayor is like all Dems, critisizing but with no plan of his own to deal with the problem. There were many things this jerk and his counter parts in the state government could have done BEFORE the hurrican hit to make things better.
We have had devastating floods before, hurricanes before, and the areas have never devolved into the kind of anarchy that is occuring in NO.
There are two things going on here, one is the situation was escalated by the AG standing behind looting, which quickly deteriorated into all out anarchy, and the other is that the MSM is magnifying the seriousness of the anarchy trying to make Bush look bad. This is keeping relief workers out of the area and making things worse yet.
None of this is Bush's fault and he will come out looking good to the people who have a brain.
The Dems will come out looking like the incompetent fools they are. Australians, while nice people, really have no idea what goes on here in the US.
Move NOLA out of the soup bowl.
Let it become a nature preserve and memorial to the hubris of man.
Speaking of horrible leadership - think back three years ago when Europe went through that horrible drought that killed 22,000 people... 11,000 in France alone!
Jacque Chirac was in Canada on vacation while this was happening. And what did he do when he found out that thousands of people were dying from the heat? He extended his vacation!!!
But Bush makes a speech in San Diego the first day after the disaster (and really, what was he going to do, even if he went down there?), and he's demonized.
And that will be whined about also. All these people were offered a free bus ride out of the city before the storm hit and they opted to stand in line at the superdome (and later whine about that too).
All this whining and blaming GWB is mainly because these people made a mistake, and God forbid they blame themselves.
In this day and age no one is ever responsible for their own actions. It has to be the governments fault. Makes them feel better, and we can't have their fragile self esteem hurt.
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin
Oh really newbie? Why don't you give us your list of the many things "Bush screwed up"?
I'm fuming at the LA Government for their piss poor contingency planning in the event of a catastraphic event. The Mayor is CYA'ing in the HUGEST way....
"This mayor is like all Dems, critisizing but with no plan of his own to deal with the problem. There were many things this jerk and his counter parts in the state government could have done BEFORE the hurrican hit to make things better."
Hell! People had been saying for years that if a category 5 ever hit that they'd be screwed! What was he waiting for? Federal help? I live in Pennsylvania GD it! I don't want my money going to fix a problem that Louisiana should be fixing itself!
He looks like Karzai with a tan. And Karzai is, apparently, a better leader with a more civilizaed population.
Not at all. They have new careers now -- as the media darlings to replace Cindy Sheehan, who is so over, bless her heart. The Democrats will fund their new careers as high-profile professional Bush bashers.
They will do all the talk shows, and they will be portrayed as the ultimate victims of Bush's incompetence.
They will give speeches and fundraise.
I'd say their career prospects look pretty bright.
No need to fire him...there is no city for him to serve as mayor.
I see you haven't been watching MSNBC this morning. It's all they are playing. Their white Leftist anti-Bush anchors are pushing the race card as hard as Jesse Jackson, Maxine Waters, etc., ever have. New Orleans is not the only thing sinking into anarchy. The MSM are doing it also.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.