Hello Free Republic:
I'm going to climb out on a limb here. Been lurking for a couple years, posted a few one liners here and there - but now I'm really, well I'm pretty darn upset, and I've moved beyond the one liners just now.
I just had one of those thoughts; the sort which start and materialize into something comprehensive as soon as they start - like a sudden vision of clarity - which I posted on another forum basically to inflame and irritate the liberals there. :) It has to do with the current (whining) about how fast, or not so fast, some quantity of conspicuously camoflage-bearing people in rotary wing aircraft were available for television cameras to focus on for their viewers.
Now it's probably a good time for me to confess to never having been in the government's employ, nor having access to any inside information of any sort - which of course means I can just go ahead and vent. So here goes:
The current opportunity, as far as a federal response to Hurricane Katrina, seems to have centered on how (let's be honest, slowly) the response seemed to have been. So here's this lifetime civilian's proposal:
A new branch of the American military, reporting directly to DHS, with a standing 15,000 troop strength - equipped and deployed 24/7/365 evenly along all our borders, to augment and assist the Border Patrol.
Three shifts of 5,000 deployed evenly around the country with vehicles and various logistical support. On the Canadian border, the Pacific coast, the Rio Grande, all along the Atlantic seaboard from Louisiana to Maine, in Juneau, even Maui. On duty keeping an eye on things, ever vigilant, protecting our borders when things are ok.
No portion of America, more than 500 miles from available, instantly deployable response and support.
The .01% of the time when something terrible happens - they literally drop everything and jump in the Humvees with 2 hours notice. Anywhere! Worst case - troops rolling into the hot zone on average FIVE HOURS after their "go" command, then increasing troop and equipment level steadily - as the remainder of the reaction force deploys in place immediately, as it arrives.
Our borders will still be protected, since the Border Patrol has the primary responsibility and will keep that job - they'll stay right where they are.
The beauty of the new service? They'll always be training and ready to roll.
Now please feel free to point out the idiocy of the idea. :) Don't worry, I'm not easily offended.
i like it...i like it...i like it
One big correction - It was the state governments call. The feds can't come in without the states OK. It's a states rights issue. The state has control over FEMA until power is handed over to the feds voluntarily. Bush finally met with the mayor, and then the feds took over and things started to move.
The .01% of the time when something terrible happens - they literally drop everything and jump in the Humvees with 2 hours notice. Anywhere! Worst case - troops rolling into the hot zone on average FIVE HOURS after their "go"
You must think the United States is the size Florida or something.
Do you have any idea how many sets of duplicate "Humvees" you would need to keep a set 500 miles from anywhere? Dude: Do the math. You can't even get to the humvees 500 miles away in two hours.
But just in case you missed it, we already have this force in every state, with a headquarters in every large (and most of the medium sized) cities. Its called the National Gaurd.
And it does a tremendous job.
The failurs of N.O. were Local problems of a corrupt democratic government that did not follow its own disaster plan.
Lurk for another couple years please.
Imagine if you had an irresponsible, unqualified, and morally bad president... I don't know, let's call this hypothetical president "Bubba." Imagine if he had a force of hundreds of thousands of trained, armed soldiers available at his ready disposal, to execute his every whim, with no legal restrictions in place. This is what the Posse Comitatus Act (1878) prevents, and why the Stafford Act clearly defines that the first-responder responsibility must lie with the STATE governments. President Bush offered assistance to Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama TWO DAYS BEFORE LANDFALL. Governoress Blanco declined, and Mayor Nagin the Chickenhearted went to Baton Rouge instead of following New Orleans' own disaster plan and getting those schoolbuses rolling.
And now for the Big Irony. If President Bush had, in fact, done exactly what all the liberals are crying about.... there would have been dissenters within his own administration, the matter would immediately have been brought before the Supreme Court, and Bush most likely would have been impeached (and probably rightfully so).