Posted on 09/02/2005 2:04:33 PM PDT by mdmathis6
WASHINGTON -- Rep. John Sweeney, R-N.Y., urged President Bush to appoint former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani or two former military officials to run the ground response in the Gulf Coast, saying local authorities are not up to the task.
(Excerpt) Read more at wnbc.com ...
it would be another master-stroke..who in their right mind would argue?? (aside from the DU??)
It's just the nature of the critter....in crisis most men react by getting pi$$ed off and swearing and females will blubber and cry. It's just the way it is and the PC crowd can't cover it up.
Good answer... Guliani would be up to it.
There are a few Generals who i am sure could do some good too. Swartzkopf, Franks, etc.
Whoever is head of NORTHCOM should be given latitude to apply all army resources to clean up the mess in NO.
Yes, thoughtomator, they ARE reading FR. So are other major news commentators, and leaking word to the powers that be some of the great ideas that started right here on Free Republic.
I would advise Rudy to take it if he were offered the job but only if he had authority over everyone. EVERYONE except the President.
Ditto.
you got it..he says jump, everyone except W says "how high?"
How about both?
My fear is that this will be spun by the lefties and the news media as a "no confidence vote" for Bush by his fellow Republicans. You know the trash they will spew: Bush can't handle it, so he has to run to daddy, Bill Clintoon, and Rudy to fix things for him. I hope they do not say these things, but I wouldn't put it past them.
I hadn't heard...but i don't see him "crying" and/or cursing out the government on the news shows. He's probably got his sleeves rolled up working hard to bring order into MS.
The local Dems have been trashing Bush. It's payback time. Bush doesn't need to trash them. All he needs to do is very publicly appoint Rudy to the job, and that will say all he needs to say.
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I hope he does it -- it is about time for some IN-YOUR-FACE-DEMS actions by this White House!!! They have taken way too much from these bottom-feeding losers.
I agree, but I think Pres. Bush is a master delegator..he simply can't take day to day control..
When it comes to getting it done, who gives a ____ what they think? They'll complain anyway. Jeb sent troops and hurricane disaster people the next day. Guess he didn't want to step on toes.
Who needs Kofi and the UN?
speaking of which, where the he*l are THEY??
Sorry, that may be 3rd Army CG. The one out of Ft. Gillem in Atlanta.
While I have the greatest respect for Rudolph Giuliani, he isn't the right man for the job. Someone like Zell Miller or General Tommy Franks who better know the South would be a much better choice.
WASHINGTON — Rep. John Sweeney, R-N.Y., urged President Bush to appoint former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani or two former military officials to run the ground response in the Gulf Coast, saying local authorities are not up to the task.
Sweeney suggested Giuliani or retired generals Colin Powell and Tommy Franks could take charge of the much-criticized hurricane relief efforts.
“We owe it to the American people to have America’s best leaders with experience on the ground running this,” said Sweeney. “It’s been painfully obvious over the last four or five days that the circumstances and challenges coming at us are new, are nothing that had ever been anticipated.”
Sweeney said Giuliani proved his ability to lead in a crisis during the Sept. 11 attacks, adding the president should also consider Franks or Powell, men with long military resumes.
One prominent Republican, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, criticized the Bush administration for being sluggish, and urged the president to name Giuliani as the White House point person for relief efforts. “We need to get the job done now, and I don’t think anybody is better prepared to do that psychologically and otherwise than Rudy Giuliani,” Gingrich said.
Giuliani has been traveling in Australia this week and only recently returned to the United States. His spokeswoman, Sunny Mindel, declined to comment Friday on calls for his involvement in the Hurricane Katrina response.
Gingrich said the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina “puts into question all of the Homeland Security and Northern Command planning for the last four years, because if we can’t respond faster than this to an event we saw coming across the Gulf for days, then why do we think we’re prepared to respond to a nuclear or biological attack?”
But Sweeney defended the Federal Emergency Management Agency in charge of the effort, blaming instead Louisiana and New Orleans officials. “I think the federal response has been frustrated by the lack of experience on the ground from the local people to really coordinate this,” said Sweeney.
When then-FEMA director Joseph Allbaugh responded to Sept. 11, Sweeney said, “There was real leadership on the ground. Joe Allbaugh did a pretty good job by taking direction from Mayor Giuliani.”
Originally published on September 2, 2005
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