Posted on 09/05/2005 10:26:53 AM PDT by nj26
As one who has seen these hurricanes up close as a Gulf Coast resident, news reporter and member of Congress — where I got a behind the scenes look at how to run relief operations — I have been trying to connect the dots for those of you who have not been so intimately involved in hurricane recovery efforts.
With so many trying to figure out why so few acted professionally in the first days of this epic crisis, I offer an insider's view of who is to blame for this national disgrace.
We begin with Harry Truman who famously declared that the buck always stops at the president's desk. For those who now define the term conservative as unwavering support for George W. Bush, even this suggestion is maddening.
But the bottom line is that despite the fact the president was strapped with two governors who bungled this crisis badly, in the end it is the president who sends in the National Guard and FEMA relief.
The president's suggestion that the size of this storm caught all by surprise just doesn't get it. His administration was 48 hours late sending in the National Guard and poor Americans got raped and killed because of those mistakes....
Secondly, the first responders in any hurricane are local and state officials. When Florida was struck by four hurricanes last year, Governor Jeb Bush was nothing short of spectacular. Louisiana Governor Blanco was breathtakingly clueless as were other Louisiana officials. The deaths of many lay on their doorsteps.
FEMA’s Michael Brown also shoulders the burden for the suffering in New Orleans. His claim that no one knew of the suffering on the ground until Thursday defies logic. America knew the crescent city was drifting toward chaos on well before Tuesday....
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
If Bush says something like "I should have known New Orleans was headed toward disaster--with a crooked Democratic governor and an ineffectual Democratic mayor the federal government should have stepped in--any city with such a leadership structure is obviously teetering on disaster, even without a hurricane!"
Because that is basically what they want Bush to say--it was the state's responsibility to get the people out but they are obviously incompetent and the federal government should be ready to rush in with guns blazing when any city is being run by incompetents. (and now even the mayor is admitting that he begged the governor to call a mandatory evacuation and she refused, he had the buses, she had the shelters, but she wouldn't give the order)
Excellent letter.
I stand corrected - 200 unaccounted for as in "whereabouts unknown" and another 200 have notified the department that they are not coming back in either in the short term or long term.
The asst Police Chief just spoke about an hour ago.
These clown give me reason to giggle. 90,000 square miles of disaster. Joe should go outside and see how large an area just 1 square mile is and then imagine placing one emergency official in the middle of that mile.
I don't know, but I don't think FEMA even has 90,000 people employeed, not to mention the kind you send into the field.
All you have to do to understand Joe is watch him hawk the sensational bullsh*t that passes for news on PMSNBC night after night. Such vigor! Such hystrionics! He's obviously selling himself to the MSM. Want's to be the next Dan Blather. He's committed. Looking for those big bucks.
You're right.
;-)
Another spineless jellyfish who claims to be a conservative shows his true colors. Somebody needs to tell him what happened to Donahue's gig on MSNBC. The same thing will soon happen to Hissy Chrissy Matthews, and Scarborough will no doubt follow after that. Actually, I'm wondering how long it will be before the plug is pulled on MSNBC.
Not only is it awesome, it is also a rather condemning indictment on the part of the local and state government of Louisiana.
Read the article!!!! He attacks the mayor and governor for bungling. Some folks here view the entire world in knee jerk partisan terms. The Dummies are the same way. Here's a third possibility that many here seem unable to fathom: the mayor, the governor, AND the president ALL screwed up. Some of us don't feel that we have to play that old Demopublican/Republicrat game.
In contingency planning for the hurricanes around here, we've assembled a duffle bag for each family member with a check-list of items for survival and sustenance for 7 days. It's light weight enough for a slightly built woman to carry. Separately,there's a web belt with a .45cal holster. A seat-pack survival .22cal rifle that should be familiar to former flight crew members is ready to assemble and, for ease of carrying, fit with a jerry-rigged sling and ammo clip pockets.
Some of us also feel that it is totally inappropriate to criticize the relief workers and government agencies with the ignorant venom that has been displayed.
The cesspool of keyboard know it alls rivals the floor of the Superdome right now.
Huh? The relief workers are heroes. The politicians, local, federal, and state, are the bunglers. That's my point. Perhaps you need to reread my posts or, at the very least, cut back on your caffeine intake.
Oh I agree with you....Ms and Al. hardly was mentioned, but I think that was because all the reporters were in NO....now they are scattering around and now you get to see the pics and talk to the people who lose everything....it was hit and hit hard....
But it seems like people like the MSM and people who have it out for Bush don't seem to think about things like that....they just want to smear anyway they can....
You are sooo right...she failed and so did the Mayor and now to save their face, they are trying to blame Bush....
Just like Rush says all the time: "the left steps in it all the time, and they keep stepping in it" and that is exactly what they are trying to do now, take the crap off their feet and put it on Bush...
But Bush will come out on top....because we will make sure the people KNOW who messed up!!!
Take a dose of your own advice.
It serves no useful purpose to call for firings and to rail on the politicians and federal agencies as many are doing.
I have seen no evidence that the President or FEMA screwed up at all.
OTOH I have seen many claims that theyve bungled everything, yet without specifics.
Never happen.. proof.. Bush, Clinton, and Daddy Sr. stumping around the country begging for money which will eventually go to those corrupt state contractors to rebuild New Orleans and other places.. Oh! by the way, those contractors are OWNED (in some way) by the political machine that runs the place.. just like in the rest of America.. especially Washington D.C... Always the case in socialistic countrys, like the U.S... and Canada..
Can you really trust what USA today puts out? I don't....I have seen to many stories they print and it has some truth but mostly it isn't true, so I quit reading it...
Same with the NYSlime, and the rest of them, even the NYPost is getting that way....I get my news on here, I know what the Freepers Post is a reliable source...
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