THIS TELLS IT ALL...
Posted on 09/03/2005 3:15:51 PM PDT by Petruchio
An Open Letter to Congressman Danny Davis and the Congressional Black Caucus.
I am ashamed that you are my Representative in Congress. I am an independent, and there are a lot of things I disagree with the current Administration over. But, Hurricane Relief is not one of them. The efforts of the Congressional Black Caucus and the Democrat Party to spin relief efforts into political gain is deplorable.
Lets look at the facts and all possible relief senerios, shall we? There are only five possible ways for Federal intervention in a disaster.
1- The President could have walked out on the waters of the Gulf and commanded Hurricane Katrina to turn back into the open sea. If he had, the Democrat Party would have rushed to the microphones to accuse Bush of grandstanding for political gain! I guess we can scratch this one off the list.
2- The President could have just marched in and taken over. This is illegal and would have resulted in demands for his impeachment along with his head on a platter. Scratch two.
3- The President could have declared that the State and Local Governments no longer exist in any meaningful way and that FEMA had to take over in order to protect the citizens. Yeah, right. As if the Congressional Black Caucus would let him get away with that! Scratch three.
4- The President could have declared War on the State of Louisiana. This was tried once. A little over 140 years ago a Republican declared War on the Southern States. As I remember from school, a whole lot of folks got in a snit over that one. Scratch four.
5- The Mayor of New Orleans informs the Governor of Louisiana that aid is needed, and the Governor calls the President and asks for help. This finally happened four days after the fact.
Think about it. On Saturday, two days before the storm, The Director of the Hurricane Center called Mayer Nagin and Gov.. Blanco pleading with them to evacuate. Nothing. The President personally called and strongly urged Mayor Nagin and Gov. Blanco to order evacuations. Finally, on Sunday, less than one day before the storm hit, evacuations were called for.
However, The Mayor and the Governor failed to provide any form of transportation for the poor and the needy. There are hundreds of school buses in the New Orleans Metro area that could have been put into use. Instead those buses sit under water, destroyed. And the good citizens of New Orleans were left to fend for themselves while the Mayor hid in another city.
After the storm passed, Mayor Nagin was clueless as to what was happening in New Orleans. Why? Because he was sitting in Baton Rouge, not in New Orleans where he should have been. You cannot lead disaster recovery from out of town. From the time the storm left the area on Monday night until Thursday afternoon, Mayor Nagin stood in another City and complained that he was not getting any assistance when he never asked for it in the first place! Once Mayor Nagin and Gov. Blanco asked for Federal Assistance, that assistance was set in motion within an hour.
FEMA had pre-positioned equipment and personnel before the storm hit. FEMA could not legally act without being asked. The majority of the Gulf Coast was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Gulfport and Biloxi are cleaning up. Emergency Services are being restored. The difference between Gulfport and Biloxi and New Orleans is that the Mayors and the Governor of Mississippi reacted properly and asked for aid right away. In New Orleans, the elected Officials failed to act in the Public Interest, before, during, and after the storm.
You can't blame the Federal Government for the failures of the Local and State elected Officials. There is no excuse for Gov. Blanco not ordering the LA NG into the afflicted areas on Monday evening to provide aid and security. That responsibility falls on the Governor's shoulders and no where else. The failure to mobilize the school buses to evacuate those without transportation falls on Mayor Nagin and nowhere else.
Congressman Davis, it is not your fault that Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. Nor is it President Bush's fault. Storms happen. Cleanup, Rebuild, and move on. Don't whine and cry.
Perhaps I should blame you for the high price of gasoline. After all, you did not sponsor a Bill mandating that before a refinery can close, a new refinery with greater capacity must be built to replace it. If you had pushed through such a Bill we would not have shortages now.
Very good job.
I was astounded the Black Caucus did not take to the microphones to request calm and condemn the shooting by gangsters of relief workers.
Throw 10,000 Freepers in such a situation for almost a week without food or water
_________________________________________________________
Sorry joesbucks, but 10,000 FReepers would have been heading North when Katrinia was a CAT 3 and 200 miles South of NO.
There would have been no need for all that equipment. FReepers are resourceful, self sufficient and not stupid.
sp
Be sure to send a copy of this to the Congressional White Caucus.............wait.. never mind.
So, find out where the Governor and Mayor were! Hmm, would that be in some meeting with lawyers and consultants figuring out how to cover their individual arses.
I swear that I did not see your post before I posted. I swear!
THIS TELLS IT ALL...
I cannot believe that Nagin was wearing that d*amn DESIRE (restaurant) T- shirt to meet the President. If he was trying to make it appear that he was as desperate as the residents of New Orleans - it sure didn't work
sp
GREAT LETTER!Iam sick of this nitwits.
exactly, Peach. The black Caucus should have been out quickly calling for calm and trying to find ways to help the people rather than criticizing the President. And, perhaps, before criticizing the President for a slow response, they should explain why they only came out on Thursday...and, then, only to criticize not to help.
The Mayor of New Orleans was on CNN a few hours ago and says the CIA may take him out because he's criticized the federal government.
The guy is either a crackhead or has had a nervous breakdown.
Turning into a strange, macabre show now. Blame continues, spiraling out of control. Sad. It even raised CNN's eyebrows a bit.(5:57 p.m. Eastern/4:57 p.m. Central)
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1476641/posts
And they would not be relying on VOODOO to get them out!
In a situation such as this, especially when they were told to go to certain areas, maybe not as bad, but Freepers would have been eating their own.
So the feds had to be asked. Excuse me. Your house is burning but the fire truck driving by has to wait for the truck assigned to that community to respond first and ask for help. Yep, I know their are laws, but when human life of that magnatude is on the line the feds can and have intervened in the past. This was poorly coordinated from all political levels.
Great minds and all!
"FReepers are resourceful, self sufficient and not stupid."
And the one thing FReepers would NOT do is sit around sucking their thumbs and waiting for the government to "rescue" them!
Excellent! However, a major point regarding item #4. The seceeding states declared war on the United States of America
by firing upon Ft Sumpter. The item makes it appear that a
Republican president initiated the war. This is simply not true.
-.-
Literary License
if the dummocraps can spin everything, why can't I?
AMEN
*Ping*
That is an awesome letter!
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