[Texas2step]

Let's not be too hard on the mayor. The Governor is the one who controls the Guard. The Governor is the one who controls the rest of the state's resources. This man's resources were wiped out.

Should he shoulder some of the blame for lack of preparedness? Absolutely. But I don't blame him for being "pissed". I'd be pissed, too. Actually, I am pissed. There's no way we should have had this level of incompentence for this length of time.

To compare him to Rudy, or to compare this to 9/11, is completely unfair. Rudy still had the rest of his city's resources. Rudy didn't have snipers shooting at survivors and emergency personnel.

This catastrophe is much, much greater than what we saw on 9/11. It's going to cost more. There's going to be more loss of life (I believe). This is truly a catastrophe of "Biblical proportions". Give the mayor a little bit of a break.

[lp boonie]

Give the mayor a little bit of a break.
_______________________________

None deserved or earned. He is an obvious incompetant. People died because of his lack of leadership. You won't hear him complaining about the Catagory 3 levees because he knows that was a city of NO decision. Army Corps cost-shares those with the locals and the locals have the ultimate say. They didn't build them on his watch but they sure could have been upgraded on his watch. NO wouldn't cough up the bucks--took the gamble and lost. At a minimum if you decided not to upgrade the levees you would have a disaster respondse plan ready, not NO though.

[elli1]

Good post.

[epluribus_2]

>>This man's resources were wiped out.

Two days after he could have used them.

[frannie]

Did the mayor first ask the Governor to send the National Guard? Did he know he should have asked?

I really don't remember seeing any police rescuing people. I don't remember him calling the president and telling him the governor had not sent in troops and could the president do anything.
I do remember the Governor saying that the president called her and the MAYOR to tell them he thought they should call for a mandatory evacuation.