"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."
This is unacceptable.
Nagin described ian an interview the AF1 meeting with Bush and Blanco as follows. Nagin told Bush and Blanco they need to get together to figure out the course of action. They went off, Bush came back told Nagin he offered Blanco two options. One would have brought in aid rght away, the one she choose delayed aid 24 hours.
Ok.....When we were kids my older brother
and I got in a fight, which I
started. Who got the immediate punishment?
He did, because I got to mom first.
I was helped a bit by a bloodied lip.
Only later after the the truth came out
did I get my punishment.
The mayor sure put on a great bit of
theatrics the other day. Didn't he?
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.
States are reluctant to get the Federal government involved in emergencies, and especially this one. NO is the only solid blue area in the state, and VERY anti-Bush. The entire state government is anti-Bush. They chose to let people die rather than do ANYTHING that might bring attention to Bush.
At first, the press tried to pin these deaths on Bush, as usual, but as time goes on, the truth starts coming to the top. In the end, the state officials will have some explaining to do.
Ted Koppel's grilling of Michael Brown of FEMA reached a new low last night when Ted said something to the effect of, "How could you not know what was happening at the Super Dome? Don't you watch television?"
My response to Ted would have been, " I sure do Ted. I saw television crew after television crew, day after day, make there way to the Super Dome to report on the people's plight. But, you know what Ted, I didn't see a single TV person, or anyone with them bring in any supplies. I didn't see a single TV person do anything about the suffering. I didn't see a single TV person offer one person a drink of water. Why is that Ted? Don't they watch television? Didn't they know they were heading into an area that needed water and food? It seems that television reporting people have no sense of community. How else could you explain standing by and reporting on a problem without attempting to help?"
First responders are by definition State and local operations. It seems clear there was no plan in place for a flood of this magnitude in New Orleans. As an example, FNC reported the NO police/fire/rescue departments had only 3 boats. This is a city 18 feet below sea level and prone to flooding.
Mayors, Governors, and county officials who rely on the Feds to be first responders are fools.
Boy, there's a lot of buck passing going on these days....
The Redskins could use one of these guys at QB.
It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the Superdome was gonna turn into hell on Earth once the toilets went out.
I realize that Chertoff had to wait for the state and local idiots to some extent - but they should have followed the lead of Houston's mayor and said "so sue us" in getting in aid.
Years ago Homeland Security guidelines told us to keep some duct tape and plastic sheeting around. They should have followed their own advice and used copious quantities of duct tape to wrap up Governor Blanco and get her the hell out of the way.
Sorry, I'm not blaming Chertoff for this disaster but this excuse is WEAK. You cannot convince me that his senior staff do not have televisions turned on to FOX and CNN.
I knew about the deaths and the lack of water and the crime going on in the Dome and the convention center because it was on TV for anyone that had any interest to see.
They are without excuse
And of course Mr. Chertoff nor fired horse show coordinator FEMA chief Michael Brown had access to television nor did any of their subordinates or anyone else that worked with them in the federal government....
I think it's high time we get these people some televisions!! Of course they'll have to go through requisition procedures and end up charging the citizens of the respective states five times more than the televisions actually cost on the budget but hey if we bring our federal government employees into the 21st century it will be worth it.
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.
Hate to say it. Maybe they should consider getting a TV and tuning it to FOX???
Bump!