WSJ: What Are the Lessons of Katrina?

...First, the blame game is missing the mark. George W. Bush is being accused by his natural enemies [b]ut his real error came long before Katrina, when he and Congress created a Department of Homeland Security....

After a disaster, politicians want to "do something." Striking back at U.S. enemies was essential and Mr. Bush did that against al Qaeda with the enthusiastic approval of Congress... giving free rein to Beltway gluttony....

That leads to lesson No. 2: If an agency is meant to cope with emergencies, don't put lawyers in charge....

In Mr. Brown's defense, lawyers are conditioned by training and experience to read all the rules first before taking decisive action, so the administration that hired him is at fault.

Which brings up lesson three: ...President Bush could not nationalize the Louisiana National Guard without the consent of Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, which was not immediately forthcoming....

The Northern Command of the U.S. Army, set up specifically for homeland defense three years ago, also was prevented from acting immediately because the Posse Comitatus Act (circa 1878) bars the army from conducting police activities on U.S. soil without a waiver....

On to lesson four: In the U.S. federal system, state and local governments are the first line of defense, simply because the first responders -- police, firemen, emergency medical services -- report to mayors and governors. When Katrina hit, New Orleans first responders were not up to the challenge. One-third of the police force deserted, leaving the streets to looters and felons, one reason householders and business owners were reluctant to flee the rising waters....

One thing we are learning....Katrina has taught society many things about those who have and those who have not.

Poverty is a disease which is passed down from generation to generation, and mankind is faced with caring for his brothers in time honored tradition, especially in a wealthy country, so that no one goes in need.

But what is "need" to begin with? The old parable comes to mind about the difference between "giving a man a fish and teaching a man to fish".... we have heard it many times, but it has come home to roost on the doorstep of one of the most wealthy countries in the world.

Government programs overlap, are either wastefully or inappropriately funded, are not followed up - many of them are funded for a year only as a "pilot program" and then stop - and it teaches an even more insidious message to those who are in "need"...that is a way of life where a hand out will often be answered, but a hand up into self determination will go unheeded.

We all must learn to take responsibility as young people that the government will not always be the best choice for help or assistance, and for those who have grown up for generations with their eyes focused on Big Brother, have taken no personal action themselves to make decisions for their own safety and security.

They waited for the help that usually comes..... and it never came.

Until we break some of the ties that bind, the fantasy that government will see to all our "needs" is relearned; that we alone are responsible for ensuring that our needs are met..... we will always have those who suffer, who are the bottom of the trap of society, who never pull themselves out of the mineshaft..... and whose subsequent heirs inherit the same lifestyle.

Government should be ashamed for promising lies....that all will be taken care of...
rather than insisting we all learn survival from an early age..that we learn in our schools.....how to perform work to earn one's living and how to accumulate and maintain a home (no matter how humble).... we are lost.

Money does not solve all the problems of managing one's life. Managing one's life has to come from competent teaching and skill learning..... Mankind has to visualize his own life story before attempting to search for it..... instead of sitting in a little room waiting for a knock at the door from a government worker who will "save" him and his family.

Rather than alleviating poverty, what we have done with the welfare state mindset is to create a population of slaves.....slaves to the will of the government and its passing whims which change as politicians come and go. Slaves who are unfufilled, empty, the walking dead, and a testament that for all our explorations, our inventions, our discoveries, our civilized cultures, we are a long way from solution to the most simple of needs. How to teach a man to live in pride.

Shame on them all.

Here are some questions I have about Hurricane Katrina that somehow have been absent in the mainstream media:

1. Why does most network and newspaper coverage of Katrina begin with the aftermath, and not cover the crucial hours before the storm hit landfall? Why no mention any longer of how President Bush pleaded with local and state officials to issue a mandatory evacuation order, and how the mayor waited until Sunday morning before issuing one?

2. How many media stories provide the context and background on the responsibilities of state and local, as opposed to federal authorities? Further, where was the background on limits to unauthorized federal actions first requiring approval from the state's governor? In essence, the local, state, and federal emergency chain of command.

3. Why no mention of the apparent breakdown of Mayor Ray Nagin when he had it within his control to issue an order (as part of the written emergency plan) that all city and New Orleans school buses be used to evacuate those without means of doing so on their own? How hundreds of those same buses were eventually swamped, only to get the mayor's excuse that he wanted Greyhounds instead. Why no story comparing Nagin's actions with Jabbar Gibson, who rescued a school bus and drove it and over 50 others to safety in Texas?

4. Why no context provided in media hit pieces blaming Bush about FEMA guidelines that explain the agency is neither a first responder, nor should it be expected to arrive in a disaster until 72 hours after disaster strikes?

5. Why would evidence pointing at the gross ineptitude of the mayor and governor be aired on shows like CNN's Larry King, never to be included again in the broader coverage (note: bloggers have captured the online cache of transcripts)? Why no description of what the governor initially asked for in terms of federal response (hint: it wasn't a massive federal effort). Second question: why do Americans have to save network news and media internet caches on their hard drives to preserve the real account of events before they get re-written of ignored?

6. Why so little coverage of the state of anarchy even before the storm reached landfall, particularly in the way the New Orleans police abdicated their responsibilities, some of which even had officers themselves looting?

7. Why no mention of the fact state and local authorities kept people in the Superdome from going outside due to those authorities never having a plan to keep 10,000+ citizens inside the city (see failure to issue mandatory evacuation)?

8. Overall, why is there a selective use of factual information by the media, and why do such 'facts' only get used when they can be manipulated against President Bush? Why is there so little context to any of the reporting of Katrina, other then to present a transparent leftwing agenda? Which party and individuals are responsible for advocating the current configuartion of FEMA, Homeland Security, and the entire disaster infrastructure?

9. Where is the factual timeline that shows President Bush issuing an emergency declaration prior to Katrina striking landfall, and when and how did the mayor and governor respond in kind?

10. Finally, why has the media been so quick to give race-baiters and other demogogues airtime in light of an almost unprecedented outpouring of generosity by Americans of all creeds and colors?

Must see video:

There is a shot where Blanco is being set up several days ago for a TV interview, and her press secretary is helping her adjust her mic. They’re having a personal conversation, but the cameraman catches it! In it, she kinda jokes to her press secretary something like “yeah, well I guess I really need to ask for troops,” and a couple more things she says. A bit later in the segment she gets into a semi-argument with CNN reporter Miles O’Brien, and he’s pointedly asking her exactly WHEN she asked the President for troops. She gets frustrated and says she didn’t even know what day it was, she was confused, but Miles presses her. -- Hat tip: Reader LadyCop

DOWNLOAD and view video on thepoliticalteen.net

NOTE: "Some... limitations were built into the Constitution's limits on federal powers. President Bush could not nationalize the Louisiana National Guard without the consent of Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, which was not immediately forthcoming. The Northern Command of the U.S. Army, set up specifically for homeland defense three years ago, also was prevented from acting immediately because the Posse Comitatus Act (circa 1878) bars the army from conducting police activities on U.S. soil without a waiver. The best army in the world was ready, with equipment and men in place, but was left waiting for orders." -- George Melloan, WSJ, 9/13/05, http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB112657951035438991,00.html?mod=opinion%5Fmain%5Ffeatured%5Fstories%5Fhs

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