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 ...
Exactly what I was thinking. They're better off not saying anything then saying something dumb like this.
[i]Doesn't DHS or FEMA have access to CNN or Fox?[/i]
You make up your own mind!
In case you aren't familiar with how our government is SUPPOSED to work:
The chain of responsibility for the protection of the citizens in New Orleans is:
1. The Mayor
2. The New Orleans director of Homeland Security (a political appointee of the Governor who reports to the Governor)
3. The Governor
4. The Head of Homeland Security
5. The President
What did each do?
1. The mayor, with 5 days advance, waited until 2 days before he announced a mandatory evacuation (at the behest of the President). The he failed to provide transportation for those without transport even though he had hundreds of buses at his disposal.
2. The New Orleans director of Homeland Security failed to have any plan for a contingency that has been talked about for 50 years. Then he blames the Feds for not doing what he should have done. (So much for political appointees)
3. The Governor, despite a declaration of disaster by the President 2 DAYS BEFORE the storm hit, failed to take advantage of the offer of Federal troops and aid. Until 2 DAYS AFTER the storm hit.
4. The Director of Homeland Security positioned assets in the area to be ready when the Governor called for them
5. The President urged a mandatory evacuation, and even declared a disaster State of Emergency, freeing up millions of dollars of federal assistance, should the Governor decide to use it.
Oh and by the way, the levees that broke were the responsibility of the local landowners and the local levee board to maintain, NOT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
The disaster in New Orleans is what you get after decades of corrupt government going all the way back to Huey Long.
Funds for disaster protection and relief have been flowing into this city for decades, and where has it gone, but into the pockets of the politicos and their friends.
Decades of socialist government in New Orleans has sapped all self reliance from the community, and made them dependent upon government for every little thing.
Political correctness and a lack of will to fight crime have created the single most corrupt police force in the country, and has permitted gang violence to flourish.
The sad thing is that there are many poor folks who have suffered and died needlessly because those that they voted into office failed them.
For those who missed item 5 (where the President's level of accountability is discussed), it is made more clear in a New Orleans Times-Picayune article dated August 28:
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - In the face of a catastrophic Hurricane Katrina, a mandatory evacuation was ordered Sunday for New Orleans by Mayor Ray Nagin.
Acknowledging that large numbers of people, many of them stranded tourists, would be unable to leave, the city set up 10 places of last resort for people to go, including the Superdome.
The mayor called the order unprecedented and said anyone who could leave the city should. He exempted hotels from the evacuation order because airlines had already cancelled all flights.
Gov. Kathleen Blanco, standing beside the mayor at a news conference, said President Bush called and personally appealed for a mandatory evacuation for the low-lying city, which is prone to flooding. (emphasis mine)
The ball was placed in Mayor Nagin's court to carry out the evacuation order. With a 5-day heads-up, he had the authority to use any and all services to evacuate all residents from the city, as documented in a city emergency preparedness plan. By waiting until the last minute, and failing to make full use of resources available within city limits, Nagin and his administration fouled up.
Mayor Nagin and his emergency sidekick Terry Ebbert have displayed lethal, mind boggling incompetence before, during and after Katrina.
As for Mayor Nagin, he and his profile in pathetic leadership police chief should resign as well. That city's government is incompetent from one end to the other. The people of New Orleans deserve better than this crowd of clowns is capable of giving them.
If you're keeping track, these boobs let 569 buses that could have carried 33,350 people out of New Orleans-in one trip-get ruined in the floods. Whatever plan these guys had, it was a dud. Or it probably would have been if they'd bothered to follow it.
As for all the race-baiting rhetoric and Bush-bashing coming from prominent blacks on the left, don't expect Ray Nagin to be called out on the carpet for falling short. You want to know why? Here's why:
It's more convenient to blame a white president for what went wrong than to hold a black mayor and his administration accountable for gross negligence and failing to fully carry out an established emergency preparedness plan.
To hold Nagin and his administration accountable for dropping the ball amounts to letting loose the shouts and cries of "Racism!". It's sad, it's wrong, but it's standard operating procedure for the media and left-wing black leadership.
Mark my words: you will not hear a word of criticism from Jesse Jackson Sr., Randall Robinson, the Congressional Black Caucus, the NAACP, or Kanye West being directed toward Clarence Ray Nagin Jr. Why? Because he is just another black politician instead of a responsible elected official who happens to be black. In the mindset of more-blacker-than-thou blacks, black politicians who are on their side can do no wrong.
This is what the libs are circulating:
"Here is Honore saying very clearly that the Gov asked for the assistance on Fri the 26th like 4 days BEFORE it hit!"
Q: General, Jamie McIntyre from CNN. To what extent is this additional assistance you've outlined today a response to a request from the state governors in Louisiana, Mississippi? And if so, can you tell us when specifically you got that request?
GEN. HONORÉ: Yes, sir. The process starts, sir, in this particular event, with a request Friday of last week, as the approximate date for defense coordinating offices to be established in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. Those were established in those states over Friday and Saturday.
Q Sir, I'm specifically interested in how soon after the hurricane hit and the extent of the damage became known did the governors request additional assistance above and beyond what they had requested before?
GEN. HONORÉ: Sir, that started to happen on Saturday, as the hurricane was approaching, and was executed with the movement of my headquarters on Sunday to Mississippi, where we established a joint -- JTF headquarters here in Mississippi with a forward cell of the 5th United States Army in Louisiana. And on Sunday we established JTF-Katrina, with myself as the task force commander. "
I am trying to understand this. I was under the impression that no request was made before Sunday after Bush made the call to Blanco.
Any thoughts?
Thank you for your post. Why is it taking an Aussie to be paying attention and understand what's going on? WTG.
susie
Uh... Last I heard she was voicing support for Roberts.
Olympia hasn't, though.
Do you have a link to this?
Of course they do but as usual anything that isn't approved by the current DNC spin lie, is spiked as "unnewsworthy
You do realize that their is going to be an investigation on this. If he is lying, it will be painfully clear to the investigators. Think the "News Media" is not frantically digging for "proof" that he is lying? Pity they aren't nearly so interested in finding out what happened to all the Fed Homeland Security money given to the State of LA and the City of NO for 1st Responders and Disaster Contingency planning.
You are confusing apples and oranges. The military probably has a contingency plan to invade New York City in case Interstellar Aliens land some day. The Feds PREPARE for helping out when they can see a disaster like this heading their way. However, because of the way the laws are written, the State authorities control the response inside their borders. After all, THEY are there, THEY know what they need. They have to ASK for help since the Feds cannot read their minds. NOW, it is starting to sound as if Gov Blanco did NOT even ask for help until either Wed or THURSDAY! After all she did NOT dispatch ARMED NG troops to NO until Thursday and THEN she only sent 300! So the Hurricane hits on Sun-Monday. The clean up starts on Tuesday. The levee story hits the Press on Tues and nothing is asked for from the Feds until either WED or THUR depending on why you listen to. Then By FRI most of the evacuees are out of NO. So please explain to me how it is the FEDS that were "too little too late????
>> Doesn't DHS or FEMA have access to CNN or Fox? <<
The common belief that the MSM was reporting on the Convention Center 'crisis' a day or before FEMA was notified may be an urban myth. See:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1479002/posts?page=39#39
Does NOT matter at ALL. HE cannot do anything until the STATE asks. For all anyone watching TV knew the State of LA had 5000 troops headed in to NO right at that minute. The Feds are managing a crises over 3 states. They cannot assume that what they see on TV is NOT being responded to by the City or the State. The level of expectation being put on the Feds in all this is completely unreasonable. So Lets look at it without the I-Hate-Feds partisanship. You have given billions to the States and Localities since 9-11 to train and prepare and equip to be the 1st and 2nd Responders in case of another terrorist attack. You have plans in place to deal with and event that turns out to be the worst natural disaster in US History. So you are getting SCREAMS for help everywhere. So what you do? Squeaky wheel gets the grease. So why is there this desperate need on the part of far too many Americans to ignore the complete collapse of the 1st and 2nd Responders to have a hissy fit because the the 3rd Responder (The Feds) were NOT clairvoyants?
When the hoopal dies down and we actually start digging into the facts on this the timeline is going to be awfully embarassing to many on the Hysteric Left.
No, I don't disagree with anything you say. Time will tell.
I wish my independence was a little more rugged, to tell the truth. But not-so-rugged independence is better than nothing.
Hate to say it. Maybe they should consider getting a TV and tuning it to FOX???
Could be worse. Hillary, Teddy, Landrieu and Kerry could be on the committee.
How smart is that pulling Chertoff, Brown, etc., back to Washington in the middle of a disaster?
Susan Collins is not very smart, IMO even before this.
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.