Posted on 09/04/2005 11:39:17 PM PDT by smoothsailing
State and local officials did not inform top federal officials early on of the deaths and lack of food among hurricane victims in the Superdome or convention center, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said yesterday.
Mr. Chertoff said neither he nor Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Michael Brown was told of the deteriorating situation in New Orleans until Thursday night.
(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...
Precisely.
By all means, let's let Shep Smith , Anderson Cooper, Joe Scarborough, and Geraldo - the Sissy Boys -- tell FEMA what to do.
Not very encouraging, is it?
While I'm disgusted by the MSM's bald attempt to make this an ugly partisan issue with all their fingerpointing towards the Bush Administration, I'm perplexed by Chertoff's statement that he wasn't told of the problems at the Convention Center until Thursday.
Is the media twisting his words to make him seem ignorant of what we all could have seen on television? Surely he had seen it on Television, so my only guess is that he was saying that he hadn't HEARD an OFFICIAL report from Governor Blanco.
Anybody else see it this way?
There is very little leadership in Congress these days. The blame game has gone too far. If the DEMS have a good idea, I have not heard it. We need to stop Islam that wants Jews and us dead. We have to be ready to stop China and Russis again thanks to the Clintons.
What was their hurricane plan for the police? Many reports said only a third are left. Some or possibly many could not get in because of the flood while others left out of disgust of the deteriorating violence. This raises the question as to where were all the police stationed during the hurricane. Were many at their homes? Or were police camped out in various strategic dry locations throughout the city?
Well since you didnt respond to what I said about someone at FEMA watching TV for on the ground reports of what is occuring in the city, perhaps you could tell me what is so idiotic about that. Since you didnt in your last email, I take it you cant counter it.
Also .. the organizations that are helping - it's coming from REPUBLICAN states - not democrat!
What are you talking about? I know of National Guard units from CA and MI that are in the Gulf states. There are guardsman from 40 states involved. They cant all be red. The Red Cross is not a red state organization. So please explain what sort of help you are referring to?
What we see here is one of the most marked differences between the left and right...the concept of personal responsibility. Apply it to this entire crisis, starting with the able who didn't evacuate but whose images are now used to advertise Bush's failures. And then work it through the chain of those in a position to make a difference once the evacuation was ordered.
It may in fact be the truth, but the bottom line is "The Buck Stops Here."
"Aren't there FEMA officials at the state and local level? If so, how good a job did they do in assessing the disaster and getting that info to Brown. A lot of info can get lost or eliminated, being passed up through the chain of command. Maybe Brown was guilty of trusting the evaluations of the locals too much."
Here's the link:
It has scrolled off - article sent to you via Freepmail.
Hate to say it, but that really sounds stupid.
If you are going to accuse Chertoff of sounding stupid why don't you at least find actual quoted remarks with clear context that can be attributed to him.
You would think with one of the largest staffs in Washington that he could find someone to assign to watch and report back. FEMA Director Brown certainly had plenty of time to go on air and talk about all the wonderful things he was doing, whether the aid had gotten through or not...who cares, it was shipped. We did our duty.
I wasn't talking about NG - I was talking about shelters set up in other states. Please list for me the number of blue state governors who have done that ..??
Good grief!
Even on teevee, the distinction between Dome and Convention Center is not easy to make. Chertoff is head of DHS, and is probably not micromanaging. I see no reason for him to lie, if he hadn't been told of the Convention Center as a discrete issue that was not getting attention, it not unlikely that he didn't see it as such.
I seriously doubt that he would require word from Blanco - if he knew the extent of the discrete issue from any source, I believe he would have acted on the information, and would have said so.
Facts in the coming naval gazing may prove me wrong, but I give him the benefit of the doubt.
I heard the FEMA comms van on 40 meters callsign WGY906 looking for assistance from the amateur radio operators. His traffic was " he had a mission to get a message to the mayor of New Orleans that the President of the United States wants to talk to the Mayor". The operator gave the phone number for the FEMA van along with the message.
I agree that comms were shot in the hurricane area. There were no ham radio comms coming out of N.O. or the MS or AL coast. The comms were from places well north or west of the path Katrina took.
He shouldn't have had to get his intel from CNN. It should have come from the local officials there on the ground.
Will this be a lesson learned for next time? You betcha!
I know that shelters have been set up in St Louis City which is about as blue as you can get, Detroit and Boston. Im sure these people are being sent everywhere. Obviously the initial flow of evacuees is into red states. You have to go a long way to avoid a red state in the South. What states are adjacent to LA? Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi. Color Red. What states are adjacent to Missippi? Alabama,Tennessee. Color red. I think you get the picture.
Wasn't the first mention on TV of the Convention Center on Thursday morning?
Doug, my FRiend, I cannot believe how dumb this comment is, considering the intelligent responses I've seen from you in the past.
Did you think of the fact that the power was down in those areas? That it's still down most places now? Where does he plug in his tv, and should he be watching it? Really?
Did you think that all those media trucks and reporters from the MSM had driven there after the storm? (Instead of having been in position before the storm hit? Hence the lack of coverage of the difficulties rescue convoys had coming from outside the affected areas.)
Did you think the radio/tv stations were broadcasting in those areas? (Yeah, I know they were streaming, and some were up, but should the Disaster guys rely on them instead of there own boots on the ground?)
Did you think the WiFi and Cell towers were up in those areas after the storm?
Does it occur to you that those reports were going out over satellite uplinks to the MSM?
Did you hear the reports that the New Orleans Police and Fire guys had no communication after the storm?
And finally; Do you really think Chertoff should have been listening/watching reports from the always honest, forthright, and factual MSM, instead of the people who were responsible for knowing what needed to be done; specifically, the elected and appointed local officials?
And that's just off the top of my head.
Exactly. At the very least, the Mayor should have evacuated nursing homes and hospitals. What kind of "mandatory" evacuation is it when the Mayor announces that the Superdome is the shelter of the last resort? When all is said and done, I bet that more than 100,000 stayed behind. There are plenty of submerged cars in the city along with the buses.
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