Bush bungled Katrina crisis, say Britons

Times Online ^

[SWAMPSNIPER]

My opinion is the the Brits have bungled everything in their reach!

[manwiththehands]

John Kerry: "I've talked to the Brits and they thought I would have handled the response to Katrina much better ..."

[English Nationalist]

Unfortunately, I can't really say I'm surprised by the results. If Yougov have actually done a representative sample for once, then 5% would have been Muslim, 10% black, 15% Celtic (eg left wing). Throw in the urban idiots who vote Labour and you've got a left wing love fest. Any poll of the UK as a whole is going to return an anti-American result.

[NZerFromHK]

"I wonder how the brits would respond to someone asking what they would do in a similar situation. Would the notice the rising water and calmly move to higher ground or would they explode into an orgy of vandalism, violence, and theft."

Judging by what I see among soccer, oops, football hooligans and the experience of rude and pushy British posters on all sorts of internet forums (and they are the "whites"!), I would say they would descend into anarchy as well.

[GoLightly]

No, I got that part. I thought there was kind of a bit of an attitude between Kiwi's & Aussies, but when considering Brits & continentals *spit*, their attitude comes together.

How did you get so smart about the US government, when a good share of Americans don't seem to understand it very well?

[always vigilant]

Exactly, everyone should know how the British starved the Irish at that time.

[Irish Rose]

Well, lost their votes. Darn.

[nosofar]

It is truly amazing at how much power and liberty "the people" keep demanding the federal government take, which of course they do.

I had a thought similar to this when I heard about a 260 some billion dollar transportation bill Bush signed recently. In several cases, there are money begin given appropriated for local cities apparently bypassing the state although maybe the actual mechanics would go through the state. I didn't realize how far gone our 'federalist' government structure was. It seems it's about power. The feds want more power and it has come at the expense of state and local government. We aren't nearly as overly centralized as some countries, but we're headed in that direction.

[sushiman]

King George made one of the biggest bungles in history during the Revolutionary War for chrissaskes ! They oughta know a bungle when the see one . :) :)

[Savage Beast]

Somebody needs to send the Brits this link: http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=14ewb3ap.b147fdut&Uy=nyvoby&Ux=1

[citizencon]

Britain is the size of what...Louisiana? Are the Brits aware there are 50 states in the US? Each one governed by well...a governor? Their ignorance is excusable considering our own MSM don't know LA has a governor and how the federal government works.

[chimera]

Yeah, well, I think they'd be better off being more concerned with their own problems and less with how our national leaders react to a domestic emergency. They are giving comfort and refuge to radical Islamists who are preaching and inciting murder against citizens of the UK. And when those same radicals then carry out their threats and blow Brits up in subways and buses, they scratch their heads and wonder wha hoppen? Not very smart, IMO. In any case, they've got plenty to clean up in their own country rather than taking time to bad-mouth George Bush.

[English Nationalist]

Are the Brits aware there are 50 states in the US? Each one governed by well...a governor?

Generally speaking, no. Given that most people under 30 in this country couldn't say what the Glorious Revolution, the Star Chamber or the Act of Union were, I think the chances of them understanding the political system of another country are fairly remote.

[msjhall]

I thought we settled this in the 2004 election. Here is one more time:

Hey Britain, shut the heck up.

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

"...they have ZERO understanding of federalism as a concept."

I think you've nailed it. Canada, the US, and Mexico are all federal states. We North Americans should know all about the division of powers in a federation -- while it remains an alien concept to anyone living in a unitary state.

Unfortunately, despite living in a federal state a large number of Americans, Canadians and Mexicans are making the same mistake as the British -- holding the President accountable for everything that transpires. The MSM is largely responsible for this -- they've chosen to feed the public anti-Bush propaganda, rather than anything approaching an objective assessment.

Of course, the British do live in a federal state -- the European Union. I wonder what the survey results would have been if the respondents were asked something like:"Should the President of the European Union have the power to take command of the British Armed forces during a major disaster?". Then ask whether it is the President or the Governor who is responsible for the problems.

[strange1]

I thought we settled this in the 2004 election.

They're still convinced Kerry was going to win.

[Begin]

I wonder if there's a poll saying who us Yanks think failed to prevent the London terrorist bombings.

[TheGeezer]

Why care? Most have no idea how things work here as described by our constitution: they are ignoramuses, bsaically, with a history of fascist mollification and needing rescue by others.

[tomahawk]

Britons believe what they are told, which is lies.

[Archon of the East]

You would think that an "enlightened" Europe and England who consider themselves to be far above us Conservative Americans in education would have a little better understanding of the principles of our Founding government and that Conservatives are really Classic Liberals who fought against authoritarian central government. That when they were talking about Liberty they were talking about political Liberty and the right to self govern and not free condoms and social welfare. Self Government starts at the local level and should not be dictated by Washington DC