Does that preclude someone within the Dep't of Homeland Security and/or FEMA bureaucracy from, say, watching the media, seeing the problem, and saying, hey, Boss - you need to see this and do something about it?
The "we didn't know" is like "the dog ate my homework" - a lame excuse. And it is one thing in this whole episode where, in my opinion, the Feds could have done a better job.
You forget those agencies CAN NOT BE THERE UNLESS INVITED BY THE GOVENOR!!! And she didn't do it!!!!!!!
FEMA lacks the muscle to "do something." Too many bureaucrats shufflingpaper. Too little enterface with the Guard and the Military.
You have a point.
Absolutely. We need to pay federal bureaucrats to sit around watching television all day.
Sheesh.
By all means, let's take directions on what should be done from Shepherd Smith, Anderson Cooper, or Geraldo!
From what I understand, as soon as FEMA found out about the Convention Center, food and water was delivered there.
How many times have wee seen governors ASK the President for Federal help in a natural disaster. Why do governors do that? They do it because they have to do it to get federal help. The Louisiana Governor asked for too little to late.
For those who don't understand how our government is set up ... let me first say.. as Jim Rob is won't to say.. Our Government was designed as a Free Republic... It is not Democracy or even a NATIONAL Government.
In a national government all power resides in the national government and the national government then decides what powers if any local and regional governments will be delegated. That is not our system.
We have a federal government not a national government. A federal government gets its right to exist from the states. The UNITED STATES Government is a federation of STATE Governments. Our Constitution says, "We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect UNION." The word UNION does not refer to the Auto Workers Union, it refers to a UNION of STATES from which power trickles up .. not down. We are the UNITED STATES Of AMERICA.. NOT the UNITED PEOPLE of AMERICA.
Therefore, in our Federal system of government, only the things that can't be handled at the local level are handled at the state level. Only those things that can't be handled at the state level are handled at the federal level. It is up to the local and state governments to ask for federal government help. The federal goverment can not just step in and take control. It has not been granted that power. And if a president did it, it would be a high crime.
Our founders were very concerned that a powerful federal President could just create a crisis, then step in and name himself temporary dictator. Then, once in absolute control turn that temporary power into a permanent dictatorship. They wanted to prevent that and did so by having most government powers reside at the local level.
Thus we have no National Police force. Police are organized at the local level reporting to mayors. We have no naitonal fire department. Fire departments are local organiations locally controlled. We have no national Water Department. We have local water departments. Running water service is provided at the local level.. And the supreme law enforcement agency is the local sheriff and he is elected by the local people he serves. They can fire him at the polls. We don't have a national garbage pick up, or a national school system.
Crimes like murder, robbery, rape. etc are state crimes.. not federal. People are tried in local courts by local judges and juries for state crimes. Those charged with crime are charged by local prosecutors. Everything is done to keep actual control of human beings at the lowest level of government.
We don't have a national Flood Control Department either.
Our government was set up to work like this. If the local safety organizations such as the fire, police and sheriffs departments can't handle a situation, they are to call on the state government for help. The state gets involved when the locals call for help. And if the state government can't handle it the state is to call the federal government for help. When the state calls for help the Feds are to provide it.
But never is the Federal government in charge. All the federal government can legally do is support the local officials. Only if the state officials are all killed or incapacitated can the feds step in and take control.
The State has the National Guard which for all in-state matters is under the control of the State Governor. The commander in Chief of the Louisiana National Guard is the Governor of the State of Louisiana. Their commander is not the President of the United States.
The president can call the Guard up to serve with the regular army.. But the regular army is not to be used to control or police individual citizens. Our founders were quite afraid of a military dicatorship. They did not want generals to ever be in charge of civilians.
On Saturday before the Hurricane hit... George Bush called the Governor of Louisiana urging her to call for federal help. She did ask for help.. but only minor help. She did not ask for Bush to take control of anything.
On top of that the mayor of New Orleans was running around like a chicken with its head cut off. The mayor was a criminal screwup. According to Constitutional Lawyer John Armor (Congressman Billy Bob) he should be tried for 10,000 cases of manslaughter.
Click here to read what BillyBob has to say about the crimes of the Mayor of New Orleans
FEMA is just a coordinating agency. It does not have resources. Its job is to coordinate private organizations like the Red Cross and the Salvation Army and federal agencies with local and state governments. It is the federal emergency management agency. It provides management. It does not provide services.
WE NOW KNOW THAT the Governor of Louisiana refused to let the RED CROSS go into the Super Dome to provide food, water and medicine. The RED CROSS was there.. ready with food water and medicine.. and the Governor would not let them come in to help the thousands in the Super Dome.. She said she was afraid citizens would stay there and refuse to leave if they had food, water and medicine. Apparently the Governor thought it was better to let them die.
After the levy broke there was little way for anyone to get in to help them. The Governor did not want them helped. It is worth noting that the Red Cross was available with help 24 hours before the levy broke. The Governor did not cooperate with the presienth.. she even fights with the Mayor and she stiff armed the Red Cross. Of course that is all the Bush Administrations fault.
The City of New Orleans had a plan drawn up in 2000, that called for the city to use school buses and city buses to take the people who did not have cars out of the city. The Mayor did not order that plan put into action.
Infact in July of 2005 .. just weeks ago.. the mayor of New Orleans had the paper publish a report that said in case of a hurricane evacuation people without transportation were on their own. It was aired at that time on New Orleans Radio and TV stations as well. That is pretty good proof that the local government of New Orleans had no intention of asking the federal government for help in an evacuation.
It is interesting to note that one school bus did make it out. A teenager took the bus and got a load of family and friends out of the city. Perhaps that kid should be the next mayor. He will more likely get busted for vehicle theft.
But back to my main point. Our nation had only managed to maintain a free society because nearly all criminal law enforcement and all local citizen safety is in the hands of city and county governments.
For a dictator to take over our government, he would have to find a way to control thousands of Police Departments and Sheriff departments. In our Federal system that would be next to impossible. Local safety organizations are what has kept this nation free for well over 200 years.
But if we were stupid enough to give presidents the power to command local police and fire departments or worse yet declare military law, and send in the regular army to take control, this nation would not be a free nation for long.
I am not sure our voters know enough to preserve our freedom.
The media obviously wants a national government not a federal government and sad to say there are some freepers prepared to help them get it.
Here is a clue for everyone - if the local authorities had done even an average job of getting prepared and getting people out, the vast majority of what is happening now would not have happened. Four hurricanes hit FLA last year, one after another. Yet, I do not recall a NO/LA scenario. All this bs centers on one area - NO/LA. Not only were they inadequate in their preparation, but in the aftermath as well.