It is more difficult to make those comments before the event happened. I did say the Sunday morning that Nagin declared a mandatory evacutation, that we should have sent in military aircraft to evacuate people.
However, take a look at what Bush's record over the past five years and tell me that he isn't proactive or motivated to help people in a time of crisis.
Never said that. We are talking about this crisis. I don't doubt his motivation to help people. He understood the nature of the threat by declaring the whole Gulf Coast a disaster area before the storm hit to facilitate assistance.
If you live in a city that is built BELOW sea level, and there's a hurricane coming, and you don't have a car, and you can't get a ride out of town, and you can't get to a shelter, and you have half a brain.... go to the store, buy $20 worth of bottled water, some peanut butter, crackers, batteries, and whatever else you may need to make it through a few days without electricity or water.
Sure people should be personally responsible. Kids, the infirm, aged, and sick should not be held to that standard. There was also a mindset that this was just another example of the government crying wolf. The last time NO had been hit by a major hurricane was 1969 with Camille. Whatever they did or did not do, they deserve assistance.
Damn, I live in PA, at the top of a hill, nowhere near a flood zone but when there's a bad rainstorm or snowstorm coming, I make sure we have enough supplies in the house so that we don't starve if we can't get to the store. Common-friggin'-sense. If you ignore the threat, you aren't a victim, you're an idiot.
Does that same rationale apply to folks who build there homes on fault lines, e.g., San Andrreas fault?
Yes. They know they live in a "possible" disaster area. For instance, this city had a large flood several years ago near where we live. We did not depend on the national government to get things done. The churches took over feeding the people in that area. They brought chainsaws to cut trees into smaller pieces so they could be moved. We depended on our neighbors to help us. The city bought out houses that were flooded and widened the drainage creek to make sure it would not happen again. We are in a tornado zone but again, we depend on our neighbors. Sure the Salvation Army and Red Cross come in but even that took a few days but neighbors helped care for the people in the area that was hit.
Yes, it does. The same goes for people who build on flood plains.
If you build your house in an area that is prone to some sort of cataclysmic event, you shouldn't be surprised when that event occurs. There's nothing wrong with building/living there, you just have to be ready to deal with the hand mother natures deals. And if something does happen, it's not "Bush's Fault."
It is more difficult to make those comments before the event happened. I did say the Sunday morning that Nagin declared a mandatory evacutation, that we should have sent in military aircraft to evacuate people.
How many military aircraft would it have taken to airlift 100,000 people? You want this done in less than 24 hours? Heck, probably less than 12 hours since it would have been too dangerous to fly as the hurricane came closer. So, even if the planes had been requested at 0600 Sunday, how many flights do you think could have gotten in and out of NO in 12 hours? (I know, every life saved is valuable but it's still not the answer to the problem)