Posted on 09/05/2005 10:08:39 PM PDT by smoothsailing
George W. finally gets it -- in more ways than one. The tardy president was back on the Gulf Coast yesterday, bucking up the spirits of the damned and stiffening the resolve of the slackers.
He's getting it as well from his critics, many of whom can't believe their great good luck, that a hurricane, of all things, finally gives them the opening they've been waiting for to heap calumny and scorn on him for something that might get a little traction. Cindy Sheehan is yesterday's news; she couldn't attract a camera crew this morning if she stripped down to her step-ins for a march on Prairie Chapel Ranch.
(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...
>> ". . . (admittedly slow) feds"
I am still not convinced that the so-called "slow federal response" is anything more than left-wing spin by the Bush haters. In fact, I saw immediate response by the Coast Guard helos, which were prioritized to save those in immediate danger of drowning, rather than dropping food and water to those in no immediate danger. FEMA is supposed to coordinate with state and local governments, which had no apparent emergency communication systems in place to allow coordination. And, of course, there appeared to have been a major league turf war between the governor and the feds. Still, the federal response time appeared to be within federal guidlines.
But since you are new to Free Republic you might not be aware of all the facts in this matter.
Had he included the tidbit that the NO lives below sea level, owns three boats and only one was operational, it would be a perfect assessment.
What about the people stranded in the two city hospitals and countless other facilities? These folks, their doctors, nurses and the drugs they needed should have been the #1 priority for evacuation.
A "Pruden takes no prisoners" bump for reading later.
Wes hits the bullseye.
I'd like to find a repository of all the official orders. Most of the media has been mirepresenting the meaning of the orders.
I would expect the out of state Nat'l Guard to have come to LA on Blanco's request, as she has compacts with other states, "If you help us, we'll help you." I believe it was last week Wednesday that is was reported that Blanco invoked some of these inter-state compacts to obtain more National Guard units.
*bump* great timeline. Evryone here should have a copy for reference.
BTTT
Fantastic writing from Wes Pruden! I pray his article will travel around the world to counter the venom of the msm against our good-hearted citizens who are showing extraordinary love and pity.
Excellent article.
To bad those idiots over at the Washington Compost and the New York Slimes can't have same the common sense as the Washington Times.
I have posted over and over that the radical left race baiter's like CNN and PMSNBC see this disaster as the presidents Waterloo.
I think from what I can read and hear that most people with common sense are absolutely bummed out with the liberal lefts constantly negative anti-American attitude.
Thanks for this TERRIFIC post! Wow, Pruden is such a genius! I'm glad he plays for our team.
Thanks for the ping ... Wes nailed that one
You could easily be right. Another angle may be the availability of bus drivers. Are they union? If they were not available, why?
The big thing, and this seems to be true with Democrats in general, they seemed to spend more time trying to decide which was the most politically advantageous decision to make rather than what was best.
The pictures will only show up if they can figure out a way to blame Bush for it.
This is what we have learned so far:
* The Mayor of NO issued a Mandatory evcaution order that was obeyed by a majority of the city, but ignored by about 50,000 to 70,000 people.
* Some people had no private transportation or were too old "ill" to evacuate.
* The mayor SHOULD HAVE DEPLOYED HIS BUSES to evacuate the remaining people (mainly the people at the Super Dome and the Convention Center) only 80 MILES north (and 1 hour) to Baton Rouge.
* The Governor of Louisana waited TOO LONG to declare a state of emergency (even Mayor Nagin admits and is accusing her of this), NEVER DID "DEPUTIZE" the National Guard and give them law enforcement arrest powers (something well within her power as commander-in-chief of the LA national guard), and fought President Bush when he urged her to DECLARE a state of Emergency on Monday! She didn't declare a "state of Emergency" until Wednesday, and didn't request FORMAL ASSISTANCE from FEMA until Thursday!
* The New Orleans police department disintegrated, with over 200 officers (out of about 1400) simply walking off their jobs. The remaining 1100-1200 did not have effective leadership, communications, or an emergency-action disaster plan to fall back on. At the New Orleans police department, it was pretty much "every man for himself". This led to a sense of cynicism and abandonment that was transferred to the remaining citizens themselves. This, coupled with the looting and violence, and police officers quickly determined that no one "care about them" so why should they "protect these people"?
* The Mayor of New Orleans packed people into the Super Dome and Civic Center like sardines, WITHOUT adequate food and water supples. PEOPLE WERE TOLD TO GO TO THE SUPERDOME WITH THEIR OWN FOOD AND WATER! The Superdome did NOT have adequate police prescence, and the few national guard soldiers who were there did not have law enforcement authority from the governor. A black National Guard soldier was stabbed to death by a black man. The LA guard soldiers quickly determined the situation was "spinning out of control" and basically left the people to fend for themselves. The Louisana national guard did not get a sense of mission and purpose until the federal troops arrived becuae their own "commander-in-chief" did NOT provide them adequate leadership.
* There was, across-the-line, a LACK OF COMMUNICATION between local, state, and federal governments.
* There was a long-standing failure to maintain the New Orleans levee system. Both previous Democrat and Republican adminsistations did not provide enough funds to maintain the levees. WHAT LITTLE FUNDS WERE PROVIDED, WERE USED BY LOCAL NEW ORLEANS OFFICIALS NOT FOR LEVEY MAINTENANCE, BUT FOR THINGS LIKE BUILDING A CASINO AND BUYING PERSONAL AIRPLANES.
* Even AFTER the city flooded, the Mayor COULD HAVE tried to use busses for evacuation. There was a DRY ROUTE from the parking lots to where the buses were. The buses were only a few miles away, and the people could have been evacuated through the SOUTH of New Orleans through highway 90, WHICH WAS NOT FLOODED.
* Due to the large area of devastation (90,000 square miles, the size of the state of Kansas, or the NATION of Great Britain), FEMA and Federal officials were overwhelmed. It is estimated that there are approximately 750,000 refugees. This, coupled with the ineptness of the Governor of LA and Mayor of New Orleans, doomed the people of New Orleans to a tragedy.
* The levees did not break until Tuesday around noon. On Tuesday morning, even the media that is now blaming President Bush was crowing about New Orleans having "missed another bullet." Only after the levees broke and the city flooded did the mainstream media turn and say they "knew" the levees would break. Anti-Bush websites and partisan groups immediately chimed in and also said they "knew the levees would break" and blamed the problem on President Bush.
* President Bush stayed in Crawford Texas 24 hours longer than he probably should have, however, HE DECLARED THE ENTIRE 3-STATE AREA a disaster area on Friday, fully 2 DAYS before the hurricane hit. This allowed FEMA and the feds to begin putting the massive resources needed in place. Dealing with a disaster of this magnitute is not like going to McDonalds. FEMA can't just drive through the "disaster relief supplies drive through window" and order a "New Orleans # 1 "biggie size" with a Diet Coke"!
* FEMA officials did a disservice by portraying themselves as more "on top" of the situation than was truly the case. They were also not CLEAR with the people about the communications with the local/state/federal government. If FEMA officials had expressed some frustration with Governor Blanco, she may have been shamed into quicker action.
* No matter if President Bush had personally parachuted into New Orleans with Meals-Ready-to-Eat and Water strapped to his back, Bush haters would have STILL said he acted too late and "hates black people".
* THE U.S. MILITARY KICKS ASS! When "all hope was lost", General Russ "I-FEEL-LIKE-BITCH-SLAPPING-A-REPORTER" Honorae and his men and women went into new Orleans and KICKED ASS AND TOOK NAMES. Once the federal troops arrived, the demoralized National Guard troops who were already there were reminded that they were part of a team that actually could GET THINGS DONE. Morale rose, and the National Guard and the federal troops evacuated 20,000 people IN ONE DAY.
* The situation proves that the BIG-STATE entitlement culture is a FAILURE. People depended on "big brother government" to get them out of a jam and were "shocked" when big, lumbering, beaurocracies were not quick to act.
As Rush Limbaugh says, these people are VICTIMS OF THE ENTITLEMENT STATE, both in spirit, and in FACT.
That's what we have so far.
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