FEMA is not a first responder - Don't be so quick to pillory the federal response in New Orleans

Pittsburgh Post Gazette ^ | Tuesday, September 06, 2005 | Craig Martelle

[HateBill]

As soon as the first Coast Guard chopper was fired upon, the Feds should have gone in to insure proper security was in place.

The airport was under water. The one road in was filled with debris. How would you have gotten the massive federal presence needed to insure the security of the responders on site on Tuesday or Wednesday? (They did start arriving in large numbers on Thursday.)

Magic carpet?

[kstewskis]

According to the mayor of NOLA, mayor's get their evacuation orders from the President.

I wonder if he didn't take Bush's warning to evacuate on the 27th (per AP) seriously?

Just when is an order an order in Nagin's mind?

[notigar]

what I am saying is, if there was no delay on the part of the feds, and they couldn't have gotten there any sooner, whether they were asked or not, who cares whether the locals had to ask?

[kabar]

Your rationalizing and justifying the local/state incompetance while saying the feds were too slow is just bull.

Sorry Jackv. I am not rationalizinfg anything. I have said repeatedly that the state and local governments deserve the lion's share of the blame. However, the Feds made mistakes, which need to be corrected for the good of the country.

The Feds got into NO too late. This will all come out in the lessons learned phase. FEMA may be reorganized or moved and there could be some changes in procedures, policies, etc.

Listen to the Congressmen from LA, Republican and Democrat. There is a consensus that the Feds could have done a better job initially.

[armymarinemom]

. If a suitcase nuke goes off or the Big One hits California, no state can respond by itself or should call the tune. They just don't have the expertise or resources.

This is a hard lesson learned about why State politics are so important. LA politics has been rotten to the core for generations now. If a State insists on not helping their own it is going to take days to give them help even if they think they don't need it.

The Governor tried having control of the Feds instead of working things visa versa. You need to be demanding answers from corrupt politicians in LA not the Feds.

[TheDon]

the "Feds were too slow" crowd

Another Rat meme successfully implanted in the minds of news consumers by the MSM.

[twigs]

Then we need to re-educate the public. We can't completely reorganize the purposes of FEMA, Homeland Security and local/state responsbilities and capabilities to satisfy the wants and desires of people who want the federal government to do everything for them.

I want the job done, true. But I also want to know why the locals, states and even the feds communications didn't work as they should have. Personally, I would rather that we had waited before the finger pointing began, but when dems use this disaster to trash our president (which hurts the national security for all of us, among other things), then we have to speak up.

While I agree that the feds have more responsibility now than they should because they do have the capability and because NO and LA are run by completely incompetent people, I do not want to see this become policy. It should never happen again. I will not have the wisdom of our founding fathers undermined because of idiots on the ground in LA.

To believe that the buck stops at the WH for this kind of disaster is wrong-headed thinking that foreshadows the doom of our great country. Yes, the feds have significant responsibility as they should. They should NEVER have first responder responsbility or capability. I do NOT want to be a police state.

[jackv]

The question you are NOT asking is WHY the feds got in there too late to satify you???

Not because of THEIR incomptetance but the state and locals.

That is the whole point!

[jackv]

Yes, right!!

;-)

[rolling_stone]

This was one of Americas finest hours for many first responders and the military. It was the darkest hour for looters and those who had the ability but chose not to evacuate.

It was the darkest hour for our Reporting Media. As we saw many reporters did a good job of reporting, while others showed themselves not to be professional journalists/broadcasters, but nothing more than political hacks with an agenda. Yellow journalism at its finest. I don't know how most of CNN, Keith Olberman, Scarborough, Chrissy,The Times-Picayune, and even Geraldo who acted more like Jerry Springer than a reporter can hold there heads up and look into a mirror. I pray they look at tapes of the video they broadcast and articles they wrote and see how totally unprofessional and biased they were.

Throw in the normal race card players, JJ Sharpton etc and one can truly be disgusted with these "people". Instead of uniting an effort, they try and divide a nation. Truly despicable.

Thousands of first responders, our military, our charitable organizations and millions donating their time and money for recovery are overshadowed by these few people who happen to be in power of the media.

It is a sad week in America....

What is the real story? Is it who is to blame? IMO it is people and the local government not being prepared or have properly planned for an event they knew was bound to happen. This time when they rolled the dice it came up craps.

In time of crisis some people step up to the plate and become leaders and heroes, others fail to act or worse yet become cowards and run from the situation. Still others try and capitalize on a bad situation for their own gain.

I think I know who falls where and I would classify the Media and many politicians as being in the same boat as looters, trying to capitalize on a disaster and being part of the problem not a part of the solution. I am disgusted.

[goldstategop]

Exactly. When it came to character, local and state authorities in LA fell short of what was needed. It was their responsibility to rescue, feed and shelter their citizens. The federal government is a responder of last resort. If the locals had done their job, the loss of lives would been held to a minimum and there would have been far less chaos and property destruction. Is it all President Bush's fault? A moment's reflection would establish that the feds did what they could and the reason it wasn't as effective as it could have been isn't due to the lack of a federal response but simply because local and state authorities couldn't be relied upon to do the things they ought to have done in the first place. That is why the relief effort got off to a slow start.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)

[cake_crumb]

"I think one of the fallouts of this tragedy is that States may loose some rights"

That's guaranteed if people don't start thinking. The Articles of our Constitution were set up as they were in such a way that the previously independent territories signing on retained a measure of that independence in the event of a dictatorship. Thus any state or commonwealth which secedes from the union, or in the event of catastrophic invasion resulting in the break up of the union, is already set up to act as an independent country. It's a brilliant and beautiful system. It's our country's major strength. Under this system, at least SOME of the federal republic will survive.

If states give up this independence because some people are worried about future flooding, we've lost our greatest weapon against conquer by a foreign invader or dictator.

[kabar]

The airport was under water. The one road in was filled with debris. How would you have gotten the massive federal presence needed to insure the security of the responders on site on Tuesday or Wednesday? (They did start arriving in large numbers on Thursday.)

I would have sent troops via chopper into the area near the Superdome and Convention Center to restore order. We have that capability. Friday morning is when the big 8 mile convoy went into the city. The MSM were in the city reporting on what was going on before and after Katrina hit. The televised pictures undermined the tremendous efforts that were being undertaken by feds.

[NCLaw441]

And when I decide that I know what is best for YOUR life, you would be ok with me making decisions on YOUR behalf, and contrary to your will? If so, you may have a point. But I don't think you mean that.

[Chena]

Dangerous train of thought, my friend. To hell with the rules? I don't think so.

Simply put, accurate, and to the point, SandyInSeattle. I've been reading kabar's posts and the posts of those who have responded. You bet it's a "dangerous train of thought". Thank God most people aren't going to ride that train.

[cake_crumb]

"I posted this on another thread, but did you hear her today on Fox insisting that buses WERE used in the evac? "

Buses are being used NOW, but they weren't before the storm hit. What're they smoking over at FOX?

[Let's Roll]

The headline sez it all.

This is what Bush and WH spokespeople should be answering instead of the wishy-washy - "now is not the time to point fingers, cast blame" etc.

"FEMA IS NOT A FIRST RESPONDER"

[kabar]

Unfortunately, big government is with us and it makes plenty of decisions for us. We are becoming more dependent upon government and the bureaucracy, not less.

[dalebert]

Don't bet on it. The press and libs don't care how many suffer as long as they can attack the President.

[kabar]

The bureaucracy runs by rules, which become more important than the mission. I'll repeat. When the rules don't make sense and are costing people their lives in a time of crisis, then they should be ignored and commonsense should prevail. Afterwards, we can change the rules. We can't retroactively give people back their lives.