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Back in the day, looters were shot. (via Pajama Hadin)
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I hate politicians.
I’m so disgusted right now I can’t see straight. First of all, why the heck is George Bush shoving a disgraced, impeached former president into the spotlight? We had to look at this man for 8 years, and the last two were torturous. Why do we have to see him again, hanging out with the Bushes?
We voted Bush in office because we thought he’d clean up the joint and restore the honor it once had. But every time we turn around we see Clinton with a tin cup asking “the American people” for money.
[Note: Think I hate Clinton? Think again.]
And what about that? Why doesn’t he send Slick Willie to beg overseas? Send him on a nice, long trip. Hit up Germany and France for some disaster relief cash. Where the heck is the United Nations? Speaking of money, where is it going to come from? Read Michael Savage’s Disaster Plan. Works for me.
Second, why, someone please tell me, is our federal government so unprepared and inept? It’s been four days since the storm ended, and people are still without food and water. Dead bodies are sitting on the side of the road. Can you imagine, God forbid it, if Islamofascists decided to unleash whatever bombs they have? I’m not talking about terrorist thugs coming into the country; I’m talking about the ones already here, the Allah-loving America haters we foolishly let in.
It’s been almost 4 years since 9/11. We’ve spent BILLIONS of dollars on so-called homeland security. We watched in disgusted amazement when Bush created yet another federal agency, but we thought he knew what he was doing. We must protect the homeland.
The infuriatingly sad reality is that our government will not be able to protect us or defend the homeland in the event of a massive terrorist attack. You know, there’s a reason ordinary people like me can’t get close enough to a president to touch. Read this:
An explosion jolted residents awake early Friday, illuminating the pre-dawn sky with red and orange flames over the city where corpses rotted along flooded sidewalks and bands of armed thugs thwarted fitful rescue efforts…But city officials were seething with anger about what they called a slow federal response to the catastrophe.
“They don’t have a clue what’s going on down there,” Mayor Ray Nagin told WWL-AM Thursday night. “Excuse my French — everybody in America — but I am pissed.”(Source)
You’re not the only one, Mayor Nagin. So is this woman sitting here in Washington, D.C. I’m seething with rage, and if I could have five minutes alone with George Bush, I’d start by telling him what I think of his boy Clinton, a man who disgraced the office of the presidency and embarrassed this country, and what I think of him for thrusting him upon the American people. Then I’d tell him how inept I think the “war on terrorism” is and ask him why he’s so afraid of the media (a real man wouldn’t be). I’d urge him to STOP sending money overseas and to kick out all illegal aliens and seal the borders behind them.
If he’s still listening after that, I’d tell him how effete it is to cave in to suicidal political correctness while we’re trying defend ourselves from death and destruction with body parts flying everywhere. I’d suggest that he get rid of his speechwriters and just TALK to the people.
More than anything we want to hear him speak authentically and tell us what’s on his mind, what kind of plan he has in case we’re attacked again, and on and on and on…
Liberals hate George Bush, and no matter what he does, they’ll use anything and anyone to get at him. I don’t hate the man. I voted for him. I want him to succeed, but more than that, I want to be safe, feel safe, and I don’t. The federal government’s response to Hurricane Katrina has been an epic and humiliating embarrassment.
So Bush is “raising” his profile. I’m happy for him.
[Note: To illustrate how out of touch government bureaucrats and politicians are with the people, Michael Savage talked about watching on split screen a homeland security chief giving out a web site address as people waded in water up to their necks. The people have no homes, no computers, no electricity, and bureaucrats were telling them to check the DHS web site.]
Some “super power” we are. We’re a laughingstock. Not only do starving victims have to deal with hunger, thirst, heat and stench, they have to protect themselves against THUGS the cops ignored in the beginning. Now the looting is out of control. I’ve heard about marauding idiots raping and murdering, but you know what? I have not read one story about the police killing any marauding idiots. Why is that?
Why aren’t the military down there killing criminals and rescuing victims? Navy ships were dispatched a couple of days ago. What are they doing? Are they airlifting food and water?
I know, I know…George Bush is only one man, but the Democrats are circling in the water. They’re going to have his head for this, for all the wrong reasons, of course, but I won’t be lifting a finger to defend him. Who cares anyway? I want those people helped. I want them fed and cared for, and want those thugs SHOT on sight.
It’s September 2. The storm ended four days ago. People have been waiting, begging for help, and all politicians do is talk, talk, talk. Doctors and nurses are begging for help. The aftermath of the storm is much worse than the storm itself.
We send billions of dollars overseas. We help everyone else, but we can’t even help ourselves. Why was the federal government slow to respond? Why weren’t rescue efforts coordinated? Isn’t that what all those billions of homeland security dollars were supposed to do? Why are people still waiting to be rescued?
I’m ashamed of this country and its bumbling leadership today. Bush and Co. are going to catch he** from all angles, including the race angle, and I hope they catch it good, too. Billions we spend, and all we have to show for it are four-day-old corpses on the side of the road, starving and injured people, and women and children being raped by animals who shouldn’t even be alive.
The Islamofascists we stupidly let into our great country are watching and laughing, planning their next move. Hurricane Katrina was small compared to what they have the power to do, and we handed them that power on a silver platter. Politically correct, non-offending, afraid-to-be-called racists dupes.
If I were you, I wouldn’t count on the federal government to defend you. Stockpile your weapons and food now. We’re on our own.
Update (9:00 a.m.): I’m listening to a CNN anchor quote the cops down in New Orleans. The area is a war zone, but the federal government is NOT treating it like one. Thugs are riding around shooting at them with AK-47s, they’re finding bodies riddled with bullets, and one saw the top of somebody’s head blown off. The police say when darkness falls, they have to hide and wait out the night. The police have to steal cars and siphon off gas to get around! If the cops are hiding, can you image what’s happening to defenseless people?
God help us all. This country is toast. Totally emasculated.
Update II: Some people are getting things a little twisted. Comparing disaster victims to people who mooch off the government is a flawed comparison. Our government isn’t supposed to support people (paying their rent, buying them food, etc), but it is definitely supposed to protect them during natural disasters (FEMA, schmema), especially after declaring a state of emergency and/or martial law, and terrorist attacks from within and without.
Protecting people and maintaining law and order is why government exists.
Update III: From a reader:
I share your feelings of frustration, but not your shame at our country. This is a catastrophe of biblical proportions, whole cities have been wiped out – not just New Orleans. Slidell, Gulf Port, Biloxi…they basically no longer exist. To blame the Federal Government for a slow response after such a cataclysmic event for not mobilizing quickly enough…well, what would you have them do? Specifically?
…And shame at America?? Please! Our country is the greatest nation on earth. Please look at all the people opening up their wallets and homes to those displaced. Look at what the other states are doing to assist the affected areas.
…
We are the most generous people on the face of the planet. This is a tragic blow, but it’s not the first time. It won’t be the last. We
need to learn from it and do constructive, positive things – not rail at the politicians and find fault until after we get through the worst of this.
She’s right. We are the most generous people on earth. My rant was against politicians and not the American people.
From a commenter:
You may get your wish, LaShawn. The 256th BCT is coming home. We are a battle-hardened, experienced urban counter-terrorist brigade of Louisiana boys who are coming home only to see our beloved State trashed and the animals running the streets of New Orleans. God grant that we be given free reign to clean out our city.
That’s what I’m talking about.
Update IV (3:50 p.m.): Commenting is closed for the day. I may re-open tomorrow. Have a good holiday.
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God is NOT PLEASED. God will NOT BE MOCKED.
The leadership of this country be they Democrat or Republican, is not fit to lead us. Pray for me, I was flying home to Houston for a football game, I will now be headed to the Astrodome to help volunteer and take care of many people who have brown faces like me.
La Shawn:
Take 3 deep breaths – calm down.
You are missing something basic.
The New Orleans disaster is the result of liberal Democratic home rule, more than Federal incompetence.
While the Feds declared New Orleans a disaster area last Friday, before the hurrricaine even hit, it was only later that Gov Blanco (liberal Democarat) asked for more help.
New Orleans Mayor (lieral Democrat – I don’t even know his name) was nearly invisible, until interview yesterday where he attacked President Bush for not doing enough.
And many victims have said – and it’s true – they don’t know who is “in charge”, in contrast to Mayor Juliani’s presence following 911.
And Gov Blanco must have read your comments yesterday – she has finally issued a “shoot to kill” order for looters – after most of the looting has already been done.
La Shawn,
I am with you 100% on this. It is a national disgrace. I just got off the phone with my father, a life-long Democrat who spent a few minutes excoriating Bush, the Dept. of Homeland Security and the Republican controlled Congress, and I just couldn’t muster any effective response.
As I said yesterday, the police and the national guard would not be able to deal effectively with the looting situation, and I have been proven right. Until Congress declares the area under Federal Martial Law and sends in combat troops with a Congressional mandate to shoot looters, there will be no effective response. Law enforcement in this country has been emasculated by liberal politicians and courts, and works under the yoke of political correctness in everything we do. The only people I have heard of being shot (other than victims of the roving thugs) are a police officer and a national guardsman.
I don’t foresee any improvement in the situation for a while. Just look at how combat troops handled the looting in Iraq, they did nothing until the looters literally ran out of things to loot. We also saw the same problem where anyone who wanted to obtain a weapon was allowed to obtain it by looting, and our troops are still paying for allowing that to go on. That is why it will take specific orders from Congress to shoot looters, otherwise we sill simply see a continuation of what has gone on thus far.
What a dynamic, thought provoking post!
Next will come the harpies in the Senate and their 9/11 Commission type investigation to stick as much on Bush as they can. They will even blame him for letting pets perish.
It is obvious that “political niceness” keeps the bureaucracies of the states and the national government wrapped in red tape and possible turf wars.
La Shawn is dead right that the Homeland Security Czar should have a plan for immediate response for a crippled city of a million or more. Any initial delay in response should be followed by a whirlwind of effective follow up.
Since this is a natural disaster, the Homeland Security Czar will get a pass, but not really. His plan, which obviously does not exist, would be the best available game plan after a disaster of any sort.
So, New Orleans will be the model and hopefully the motivation to get it right. What, pray tell, is the plan for, say, Portland, Oregon if the little Korean madman drops a missile on it?
New Orleans has got the news focus, but there are other cities and towns involved and in dire straits as well. Let us not lose concentration on the magnitude of this disaster.
I agree, this disaster relief is a disgrace. I don’t know what happened. I know relief is being raised and on the way, but what stopped it from getting it to the people that really need it.
However, I do believe that the Gov and mayor of NO wanted the federal government to make the hard decisions. That way, they are politically covered.
The shame is that the government will not let you get the weapons you really need to defend house and home.
Everything is not partisan politics, Frank. Hurricanes are a natural phenomenon, and although New Orleans has some unique topographic characteristics that contribute to it’s problems, there is not a single US city equipped to handle an evacuation of the magnitude New Orleans attempted.
8-10 tent cities are needed across Louisiana and Mississippi immediately. The Military is the institution most capable of erecting them rapidly, but there are some guys at my church who can get a huge outdoor tent up in no time for our annual Barbecue.
All the states need to begin to accept evacuees–the children need to be in school, the infirm need medical attention. We have plenty of time to critique and affix blame, and the professional blame fixers need to hold on for about 13 weeks. At this point, it is counterproductive.
As a very pessimistic side comment on “shoot to kill”: God help the law enforcer who just wounds or shoots an under 18 year old.
While the physical response has been a crazy quilt, the ACLU and the lawyers will be all over the place if somebody has been “wronged” by the government.
Lashawn,
I am shocked by your anger toward Clinton. What has he done WRONG in regard to offering assistance. Further, he even stopped a CNN reporter in her place who was critical of the federal response, and who was grilling Bush 41. You say “liberals hate bush”, but I think it is more the fact that you hate liberals so much that your anger over them clouds you from the real issues here. All of this who-shot-john about liberal, democrat, conservative, republican is an enormous waste of time and energy. I do appreciate your willingness to encourage people to donate money. That is all that Clinton was doing. I am former regular Army, now I am AGR(Full Time National Guardsman), I have been to Iraq, will be in Afghanistan after the New Year, and I am probably going to be in Camp Shelby Mississippi within the next few days/weeks to make ready to assist. And I am a liberal. I’m not a Bush hater, I’m a Soldier and an American, and I’m here to do my job. If everyone did and stopped the name-calling and the belly-aching we would all be better off.
Hooah!
Dkelsmith
The best comment I saw was that you don’t shoot looters to protect property, you shoot them to protect order. We see how important order is.
As an engineer I noticed the failure mode of the lake Pontchartrain bridge – a mode identical to that of the bridges to Key West in, I believe the 20s. An intact causeway would have sure helped rescue.
What is this government waiting for? But more importantly “WHY” are they waiting? What
reason(s) could possibly justify not sending sufficient aid?
Maribel Hernandez
The local and state governments are the first to blame in this mess. I was amazed, as they huge storm raged in the Gulf and the local governments FINALLY made mandatory evacuation order. Then, the government bolts, leaving their citizenry along and fending for themselves!!!
Where were the city buses when they should have been order to provide FREE transport out of the city for the poor and disabled? Where was the contingency plane for emergency repair of the levees? Nowhere!
They didn’t plan for this and apparently didn’t care what happened to the people.
Then, when the Feds come in to help with the relief, which most certainly should have been started by the local and state governments, the feds had to start from scratch.
What bothers me the most of all is that experience tells us that the looting and anarchy WILL happen if there is not an IMMEDIATE visible controlling force in the streets. Once again, nothing.
The police and the Guard should have been pre-positioned, based on a previously worked out disaster plan which apparently did not exist) to hit the streets running and stop the lawlessness before it gets going. Once anarchy starts, it isn’t easy to stop. The utter failure to pre-plan and take seriously the KNOWN threat of a storm such as this is inexcusable.
Granted, I’d like to see the Feds quicker and faster but you can’t blame them without first blaming the local politicians who fled the city and didn’t return and didn’t care. What they are saying now is ALL lip service.
Yes, I am seething too.
-Yarbz
http://www.juggernuts.com
http://imageevent.com/yarbz/photoshophumor
Amen, Dkelsmith! I wish you well. Be safe.
Michele at A Small Victory sums it up pretty nicely:
“How easy it is to sit here and Monday morning quarterback a freaking hurricane, like it was some great game and now you’re going over the X’s and O’s and figuring out who to bench the next time.
Save it. There will be plenty of time for blame later. There will be plenty of people “benched” over this. You’ll get your pound of flesh eventually. For now, we should all, every one of us, be figuring out what we can do to help.”
The rest here:
http://asmallvictory.net/archives/009738.html
La Shawn,
The looters definitely NEED to be shot, at least those who resist the re-establishment of authority. But you can forget about it ever happening. The most that will happen is that some police or military will be forced to shoot someone in self-defense and then spend the next several months or years enduring the internal investigation over their actions, the external investigation, the civil lawsuit by relatives who want to cash in on the demise of their criminally inclined kin, and then the possibility of facing criminal charges brought by the civilian government once restored to power.
Montie, did you read the update? It’s much worse than that. The cops are prey, too.
Ah YARBZ – the mayor is in the city. He Never Left….. The mayor’s interview wasn’t on some national radio station it was on wwl 870 AM – the local radio station in New Orleans http://www.wwl.com by the way is up and broadcasting. I do agree that the problem is compounding by the lack of structure and order. But the main thing I got from the Mayor’s on the Ground Report is that THE FEDS are the problem…. Local Police force is only at 40% – most of the police are just exhausted, and New Orleans has experienced the same influx that Arizona and New Mexico experienced of illegal aliens and the drugs trade increased like 200% so what he attributes the lawlessness to the drug addicts running around the city. here is a link of all the black organizations fundraising efforts in the comming days.
http://www.targetmarketnews.com/KatrinaAftermath.htm#BET, Urban League, Essence
La Shawn,
Amen to that. I’m a conservative who is deeply, deeply troubled by the response of our government. If 9-11 would’ve been handled like this, I would’ve had to cast my first vote ever for a Democrat. Bush and his cabinet are coming off as extremely ineffectve.
LaShawn, Why all the surprise about the federal government’s ineptitude. The same type of people that are down in New Orleans complaining and wanting the government to “give” them everything are the same exact people who are employed in the federal government (leave color out of the equation – it’s the same mindset).
La Shawn,
One thought in reference to your closing comment about stockpiling weapons and food. I used to make fun of some friends of mine who were into the “survivalist movement” for doing just that. I would tell them that no matter what kind of disaster befell this country there would never be a complete breakdown of all authority ala “Mad Max”, “The Postman”, or any number of post doomsday movies showing the complete degradation of civilization.
I think I will call them up, apologize, and start a little survival plan of my own after this. It only took a few hours for complete anarchy to descend on New Orleans, and for survival to rest on how prepared an individual was with regard to food and the weaponry to defend it.
Montie,
You are indeed correct about the issue with NG Troops shooting a civilian. It would be bad enough for a Louisiana NG to shoot someone, but a Guardsman from another state would be something else. Unless we are called up by the President, we don’t get Title 10 orders to give us federal status. So, because we are not sworn peace officers of the state’s we have come in to protect, there is a lot of “gray” area over our authority. The most authority we have is a green uniform and an M-4. That is what acts as a deterrent, and makes people listen…sometimes…but, if NG takes fire and fires back and kills someone I would hate to reap the whirlwind on that one. You hit the nail on the head. I hope to see an end to this madness soon.
Montie, all I ask is that you make room for me! In the event of a massive terrorist attack, I’ll know where to go for protection, and it ain’t the White House.
Another concern that I would like LaShawn to talk about or ourselves is that THERE IS A TON OF MONEY RAISED FOR THE REFUGEES-130 MILLION RIGHT NOW – THIS IS JUST FROM THE AMERICAN RED CROSS AND ONLY FOR THE REFUGEES. My CONCERN is that there appears NO CROSS COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE Command Center – FEMA to American Red CRoss to Salvation Army because the buses arriving in Houston are being told to go on to Dallas or any place else because the AstroDome is full. Where is the planning on just the trip to Houston because the drivers are not FEDERALIZED and a commercial bus drivers are not allowed to do more than 12 hours without resting which is exactly the time from New Orleans to Houston. With all our money that these organizations are raising no ONE is talking about basic simple Satellite/GSM Phones on each bus ?????
Yes, the cops are prey too, but they’ve been prey ever since the skin color and/or gender preferences went to work. We no longer have strong, upstanding cops; we have diverse, paralyzed-by-lawsuits cops. We have a populace that’s been brainwashed into thinking guns are bad when guns are really just a tool. Tools in the right hands do a world of good; tools in the wrong hands, as we can all see, are devastating. You’re right that this country has been emasculated — by PC, jelly-brained crap.
FL Mom – do you know if the power is back on in all of Miami yet???
To blame the feds is just plain silly and not worth commenting on. One thing is for sure, Nagin is no Rudy and Blanco is no Pataki.
And Bush is not Ronald Reagan!!!
La Shawn,
Got you covered
I think you meant to say that some of the cops are predators now too (I went back and checked out your update with the video of the cops looting the Walmart), not prey. They should be shot right along with the other thugs if they resist re-establishment of authority. They should also be prosecuted since there is video evidence of their actions.
New Orleans PD has had a national reputation for corruption, criminal activity, and incompetence, among other law enforcement for decades. There are some good and dedicated cops in New Orleans, but there are also some out and out “criminals with badges” on the department who are now showing their true inclinations.
FL Mom,
You go girl! you are right on all counts. If I didn’t have 20 years this month invested in this line of work I would be inclined to get out. My son recently started working in the Los Angeles area (Pasadena PD). i can only wonder what the state of law enforcement will be when he reaches 20 years.
La Shawn,
Thanks for the depressing blog entry this morning!
I take issue with you being ashamed of this country. The Katrina charity will be overwhelming like it always is when Americans step it up.
Why not stick with being ashamed of the human garbage in New Orleans? The 25% or so of the refugees that are impeding rescue efforts presumably so they can continue raping and pillaging? Teams were in place and one the move RIGHT AFTER THE STORM PASSED but had to flee when the levees broke (Nightline, 9/1).
Why are you quoting Mayor Nagin? This dude gave up way before you did – some leader. His interviews days BEFORE Katrina hit were lethargic and defeatist. I can’t imagine Guiliani getting a pass for non leadership like this Nagin guy. And I didn’t see 9/11/01 NYC descend into even 1/1000 of the anarchy that plagues New Orleans.
Nagin and other local leaders are ground zero for the blame game, not the Administration and certainly not this country of which you, La Shawn, are so ashamed.
I’ll bet my life that the Pentagon has worked out detailed planning for the invasion of Iran, the invasion of Syria . . . heck, probably the invasion of Canada!! That doesn’t mean they’re going to do any of those things; it’s just a matter of planning and thinking ahead. You know, just in case. And regardless of what one thinks about war/military, having detailed contingency plans for any eventuality is just plain smart.
So I wonder, like La Shawn, why we don’t appear to have had similiar plans for something like Katrina. It’s not as if it was outside the realm of possibility. Is “homeland security” merely about war, or does any part of it actually involve — you know — security in the homeland?
This doesn’t seem to be a situation where there is a plan being poorly executed. This seems to be a situation where there was no plan at all. (And, if so, the fault there lies with a myriad of people — federal, state, and local authorities….both past and present).
I’ll ignore the gratuitous Clinton-bashing (he’s there because he and George Sr. were effective in their joint efforts re: the Asian tsunami), but I will point out that other nations have offered their help. For example, the Vancouver [Canada] Urban Search and Rescue team is one of the best trained and qualified rescue teams in the world for land or water. They were at 9/11, and had their planes loaded to help out here. But, for some reason, they were told not to come. Why?!?
Finally, uppitymonkey suggests that plenty of people will be “benched” over this in time. I doubt it. Let’s remember that former CIA director George “slam dunk” Tenet got a freaking medal! Accountability is not this administration’s strong suit; loyalty is.
I totally agree, however, I am also reminded of the same Mayor exempting the hospitals on Sunday from evacuating instead of requesting to start the medivac then. The cluelessnes runs all the way through from the top to the very bottom also.
A lot of great thought provoking responses in the comments here. It should show us ALL one thing for sure, no level of our government is ready to be tough and handle any major disaster of this level…none, no one. There are too many levels and as someone said, too much red tape and too much complacency at all levels. All levels have a responsibility (no one government agency or level or organization, as we are seeing, is totally in control).
I didn’t suggest it, Kman. Michele from A Small Victory did. I just posted that quote because at the time, it really hit home. Discussion on LaShawn’s weblog has been relatively civil, but that isn’t the case on a few other weblogs where this disaster has caused commenters to go batsh*t crazy with the fingerpointing and namecalling. I won’t say that I haven’t made a few choice comments about the lack of organization in this relief and rescue effort, but the bottom line is that fingerpointing and namecalling at this point aren’t going to do anything to help those people who desperately need it.
Having said that, I think LaShawn is on the money on this issue. Where are our leaders when we need them?
On another note…
I have been deeply saddened that the people who are now getting to the Astrodome can not get in. I am shocked because there is the Potter’s House (Jakes mega church) and The COMPAQ center (Osteens mega million complex)…
I really see no excuse for why their facilities were not immediately opened up. I think it was Franklin Graham who recommended (begged) all churches in the immediate areas to sponsor 10 families (there are thousands of churches throughout the region, if not hundreds of thousands).
God help us all. This country is toast. Totally emasculated.
Agreed! We have been over-run with “girly-men” and Marxists!
Emasculated is correct.
By no means do I mean to trivialize this, but New Orleans now officially resembles the Manhattan depicted in John Carpenter’s “Escape From New York.”
This is insane, and LaShawn’s right, it is making the US look really bad. Time for federal troops( soldiers, marines,etc.) armed to the teeth to retake the city.
That’s not me being dramatic. That’s what things have come to. What a sad state of affairs.
It is obvious to me that the local governments (NO & State) had no established plan to deal with a hurricane or breach in their levies. When disaster strikes, the first responder HAS to be the local authorities, they should know where the resources are, what the hazards are, and have contacts with all the local agencies. The preparation and first 12 hours after the disaster has to happen at the local level. They are on site and can respond immediately. They should have a local command and control center that is hardened. They should have a back up as well. But basically they need to be able to hold things together until help arrives. Clearly they failed totally.
Next the state can step in with additional resources. It takes longer for them to mobilize since they are generally not local. You should expect them to be on site within 12 hours. Again, the state did seem to have much response.
Finally the Feds come in within 2-3 days. They have the furthest to travel and are generally spread across the country. They also generally do not have local knowledge and contacts, so it takes longer for them to get established.
I think you will begin to see great progress in the area now that the Feds are on the scene. In the meantime I would like to see the whining so-called Director of Emergency Services of New Orleans turn in his resignation.
Hi La Shawn,
You know me as the husband of Reporterette here in Virginia, and I must chime in with the others to say how terribly disappointed we are in President Bush. We have been lifelong republicans and supported President Bush both times, but enough is enough. We were both conservative television reporters in a very liberal industry, always defending Bush, always saying there is a bigger reason he’s doing what he’s doing, wait and it will unfold. I’m tired of defending him, making excuses, I can’t defend him anymore. I’m not mad enough to ever switch to the democratic party, (they created a lot of this mess in the planning phases) but this party has to get its act together. We have no leadership. And I am tired of the kool-aid drinkers like Sean Hannity constantly defending this man.
Remember Rudy in those days after 9/11 – that’s what we need. I would hardly ever agree with the Mayor of New Orleans on anything, but I totally agree with him on this one, totally.
Rudy, we need you now!
God Bless all of those in New Orleans and along the coast.
Tommy
La Shawn – you seem to be disgusted with President Bush a lot lately. Ok, fine. But I don’t agree at all with what you wrote. When *Bill Clinton* jumps in to defend the administration for all that it’s done, don’t you think that you might be just a tad bit harsh to GW?
Or not.
Uppity,
Personally, I don’t find namecalling to be productive in any context. And you’re right — it’s not going to help the people who need it.
But expressions of frustration, even fingerpointing, are natural. It drives me crazy when I see footage of dead, dying, and desparate people, and then I hear an interview with the FEMA director saying that he hasn’t heard about people being thirsty and hungry in the Superdome. It’s not just certain weblogs that are going “batsh*t crazy”; it’s even some in the MSM (Cafferty and Cooper on CNN, for example).
And even though I dislike Bush and always have, I need him — really *need* him — to be a strong leader like he was four years ago. I take no pleasure in seeing him not rise to the occasion.
And please don’t get the impression that my anger is limited to Bush. Like Renee says above, there are any number of leaders at the federal, state, and local level — of every political persuasion — and it looks like none of them have really stepped up to the plate. Um, except possibly the mayor of Houston.
I have to say I’m surprised to see Michael Savage proposing aid to people of color. It has been very disappointing to see the lack of federal movement in this crisis. There’s no way this can’t be called a failure. It’s telling the entire world that we aren’t prepared.
Monday night I watched Shep Smith on Fox all but invite all his friends to come party with him in the French Quarter, because, although the storm was bad, all was well. At that point it looked as though NO had dodged a bullet. Tuesday morning after the levees had broken was a different story. It didn’t take Shep long to start comparing the situation to a Third World country and seem to imply it was the fault of the US.
People in NO who lost all their belongings need to reflect on the wisdom of investing in property that is below sea level. In one of Jesus’ parables, a man who built his house on sand was called foolish, how much more foolish to build below sea level in an are that often has hurricanes and floods.
Also, NO people might reflect on who they elect to office. I have not been impressed with the mayor of NO. Democratic officials, whose Party often oppose law-abiding citizens owning guns, took no action to make sure the gun stores were protected. And while many people preach tolerance for looting, they don’t seem to realize the breakdown in the social order that results as criminals become emboldened. Now gunstores have been looted. Now the whole area must be treated as a war zone and the city is not safe for rescue workers. Lets hope that the worst that happens from this is that some thug gets bragging rights in prison for the hotel he and his gang took over.
And if the concern is for the “poor,” why wasn’t transportation for the poor to evacuate provided? Yet, on Monday night, such a move would have looked like a expensive mistake and buses might have already been pouring back into the city.
President Bush declared a disaster area in advance. The FEMA bureaucracy is supposed to handle disasters with their eyes closed. What did they do at that point? What are they doing now besides looking forward to the generous benefit package [not Social Security] they will collect at retirement? Is the bureaucracy trying to make Bush look bad?
This may be a situation that the private sector needs to handle.
It is not accurate to say nothing is being done. As http://donsingleton.blogspot.com/2005/09/trapped-tourists-lose-chartered-buses.html indicates, the government officials and/or the national guard hijacked 10 buses people at the Crowne Plaza Astor Downtown hired (paying $25,000) to get them to safety. I guess it was cheaper than hiring their own buses to evacuate the Superdome
Certainly more needs to be done to get everyone out of New Orlenans. Not just the thugs with guns that want to get out first (their bodies should be removed along with the other dead once the law abiding people have been evacuated.
And we should spend any amount necessary to get everyone out. But we should not spend a single penny rebuilding a city that is 7 to 15 feet below sea level, and surrounded by water, being kept out by a levee system designed just to handle a category three huricane many years ago. If any rebuilding is done, it should be somewhere else.
To Brotherbrown:
I will give Gov Kathleen Blanco a break.
Like everyone in authority, she is just worn out.
No doubt she thought long and hard about “shoot to kill” orders. As a White woman, the racial overtones are deafening.
In addition, it is wrong to say that she didn’t ask for Federal help early. She did, but the amount needed was underestimated – by everyone.
There is always a delay in deploying national guard and military.
For Mayor “what’s his name”, he doesn’t deserve a break – he is a lod-mouthed idiot who projects his own inadequacy onto Bush.
Ms. Barber…this is what the Republican party truly wants. I doesn’t want big government. It wants states to do things all themselves. It doesn’t want people to pay taxes to support things like FEMA, levee restructuring, National Guard, etc. The Republican Party keeps saying “personal responsibility” and Chertoff and others have even said that those who remained in the City were to blame for their own perdicament.
You are watching EXACTLY what the Republican Party is based upon “social Darwinism”. Their thinking…if you couldn’t get yourself out because you had no money, no car, you deserve to die. This is what you are watching. As a Republican you should be gleeful, but as a human you should be horrified at the thought that money is worth more than millions of human lives.
I want to correct something I posted earlier.
After some delays, the Vancouver Urban Search and Rescue finally *was* permitted to go to Louisiana. They arrived, but couldn’t deploy. Not until order is restored.
LaShawn asks “where is the United Nations?”. And others in the blogosphere have asked where other countries are.
I hope this article will put those questions to rest.
Correction to one of your posters – the mayor of New Orleans is not a liberal Democrat, he is in fact a fake Democrat, as Bloomberg is a fake Republican in New York. According to Wikepedia:
‘Before his election, Nagin was a member of the United States Republican Party and had little political experience; he was a vice president and general manager at Cox Communications, a cable communications company and subsidiary of Cox Enterprises. Nagin did give donations periodically to candidates, namely President George W. Bush and former Republican U.S. Representative Billy Tauzin in 1999 and 2000, as well as to Democratic U.S. Senators John Breaux and J. Bennett Johnston earlier in the decade.
Days before filing for the New Orleans Mayoral race in February 2002, Nagin switched his party registration to the United States Democratic Party, presumably in order to improve his chances of winning the race in heavily Democratic New Orleans.’
Just wanted to clarify this LaShawn, it isn’t all about politics, it’s about politicians on both sides talking out of both sides of their mouths.
I am white and horrified; I feel helpless, saddened, ashamed and disheartened. Americans are suffering and dying, not Democrats or Republicans – Americans, our brothers and sisters.
A 2 year old baby was trampled too death, that should be enough to make us all hand our heads in absolute shame.
Lashawn,
I am shocked by your anger toward Clinton. What has he done WRONG in regard to offering assistance. Further, he even stopped a CNN reporter in her place who was critical of the federal response, and who was grilling Bush 41. You say “liberals hate bushâ€, but I think it is more the fact that you hate liberals so much that your anger over them clouds you from the real issues here. All of this who-shot-john about liberal, democrat, conservative, republican is an enormous waste of time and energy. I do appreciate your willingness to encourage people to donate money. That is all that Clinton was doing. I am former regular Army, now I am AGR(Full Time National Guardsman), I have been to Iraq, will be in Afghanistan after the New Year, and I am probably going to be in Camp Shelby Mississippi within the next few days/weeks to make ready to assist. And I am a liberal. I’m not a Bush hater, I’m a Soldier and an American, and I’m here to do my job. If everyone did and stopped the name-calling and the belly-aching we would all be better off.
Hooah!
Dkelsmith
I couldn’t agree more. I am shocked LaShawn, that as a christian you would hate someone because of politics. God loves us all, Americans and *gasp* non-Americans and hating, complaining, griping won’t do anyone any good now.
Telika
The New Orleans disaster is the result of liberal Democratic home rule, more than Federal incompetence.
Frank Zavisca
Frank,
The utter lack of critical thinking by you is amazing. We have a dept of Homeland Security and more importantly FEMA who are supposed to coordinate these emergency efforts.
I live in NYC and even I realize the two towers going down does not equate with an entire city being washed away. 9/11 isn’t even close to the sheer carnage wrought in New Orleans and all you can do is blame Democrats.
Bush cut the funding for the levees that would’ve secured the city and mitigated the damages to fight in Iraq and allow for his stupid tax cuts.
Bush sent a good chunk of Louisiana’s National Guard into a country that posed no threat to us.
There is no reason that right now we can’t drop food to the ones we can’t pick up and then pick them up later.
Who’s to blame with your convoluted logic? Democrats of course.
This isn’t even about politics. This is sheer incompetence and arrogance by W.Please get a clue.
LaShawn:
I’m not a big fan of Bill Clinton, nor am I totally hostile to him (as many liberals are towards W), but I think that’s a bit over the top that you would assail GW for soliciting his aid. At this point we can use all the assistance we can muster, and if he is capable of raising funds towards the disaster relief effort then we should at the least welcome that. I understand your contempt for Clinton, but partisanship should be placed aside at the moment.
And to stress Kman’s, point there have been offers of assistance from numerous foreign governments, even those we have contempt towards. So I wouldn’t stress the argument that world community is doing nothing for us (despite snipping from some misguided foreign officials that this hurricane is somehow Bush’s fault).
As far as the response from the government (national, state, and local), I will defer judgment until all the facts have been sorted out as to who/what or wasn’t in place before and after the disaster. Obviously this disaster was not handled as brilliantly as the aftermath of 9/11.
From Washington Monthly:
*
January 2001: Bush appoints Joe Allbaugh, a crony from Texas, as head of FEMA. Allbaugh has no previous experience in disaster management.
*
April 2001: Budget Director Mitch Daniels announces the Bush administration’s goal of privatizing much of FEMA’s work. In May, Allbaugh confirms that FEMA will be downsized: “Many are concerned that federal disaster assistance may have evolved into both an oversized entitlement program….” he said. “Expectations of when the federal government should be involved and the degree of involvement may have ballooned beyond what is an appropriate level.”
*
2001: FEMA designates a major hurricane hitting New Orleans as one of the three “likeliest, most catastrophic disasters facing this country.”
*
December 2002: After less than two years at FEMA, Allbaugh announces he is leaving to start up a consulting firm that advises companies seeking to do business in Iraq. He is succeeded by his deputy, Michael Brown, who, like Allbaugh, has no previous experience in disaster management.
*
March 2003: FEMA is downgraded from a cabinet level position and folded into the Department of Homeland Security. Its mission is refocused on fighting acts of terrorism.
*
2003: Under its new organization chart within DHS, FEMA’s preparation and planning functions are reassigned to a new Office of Preparedness and Response. FEMA will henceforth focus only on response and recovery.
*
Summer 2004: FEMA denies Louisiana’s pre-disaster mitigation funding requests. Says Jefferson Parish flood zone manager Tom Rodrigue: “You would think we would get maximum consideration….This is what the grant program called for. We were more than qualified for it.”
*
June 2004: The Army Corps of Engineers budget for levee construction in New Orleans is slashed. Jefferson Parish emergency management chiefs Walter Maestri comments: “It appears that the money has been moved in the president’s budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that’s the price we pay.”
*
June 2005: Funding for the New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is cut by a record $71.2 million. One of the hardest-hit areas is the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, which was created after the May 1995 flood to improve drainage in Jefferson, Orleans and St. Tammany parishes.
*
August 2005: While New Orleans is undergoing a slow motion catastrophe, Bush mugs for the cameras, cuts a cake for John McCain, plays the guitar for Mark Wills, delivers an address about V-J day, and continues with his vacation. When he finally gets around to acknowledging the scope of the unfolding disaster, he delivers only a photo op on Air Force One and a flat, defensive, laundry list speech in the Rose Garden.
LaShawn,
Maybe you’ve already seen these two articles already, but they greatly encouraged me as I was starting to feel the same despair:
http://theanchoressonline.com/2005/09/01/100-hrs-after-stormfall/
http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/005360.php
And remember, its not by might or power (the government or lack thereof), but by His Spirit that we will survive this. Keep praying and don’t get whipped by despair – God is too big to show up on the radar at times, but He is in this.
blessings to you!
Patsy
Lashawn,
I too am shocked at you blaming Clinton for this. Like him or hate him, any help he’s offering the sitting Commander in Chief is out of patriotism to the country.
Let’s concentrate on the more important work of saving lives and stop passing the blame to someone who has been out of power for five years.
I should also mention that Bush has not responded to dozens of offers of help from other countries. Including the “much hated” Venezuela.
nyblues…
please tell me…
what did NO do with all the billions they rake in yearly from tourism and gambling to fix some of their problems???? Apparently they did the typical American response “that’s the govenrments problem I am not going to worry about it” or “I’ll WAIT and see what the government will do”
like 9/11 some act like this just happened out of no-where or just showed up in 2001….
many of the studies on the levees were done in the 90’s…
as someone else pointed out these problems are the fault of all levels of government and go back years if not decades….
and let’s not forget the typical American complacency attitude (I’ll believe it when I see it), which is the same mentality we had for the decade prior to 9/11….
there is no one person to blame and not one administration or mayor or governor or president to blame…
All of us are to blame.
To NY Blue:
You obviously don’t have a clue –
1 The job of the National Guard is as a fighting force, not a disaster recovery force. So if you are against the war, you should be against the national guard.
2 Again, you are clueless about the Corps of Engineers budget – they themselves say that the “underfunding” theory is bogus.
This is all laid out in plain English on Power Line.
Actually, I’m not deleting comments. First-time commenters must be approved before comments appear, but since you’re a rude little man, YOUR comments will be deleted. – Admin
I think I’ll send this to your boss and find out if he/she shares your opinion. – Admin
Renee,
I can acknowledge that Louisiana’s local government shares some blame. Frank thinks the blame is all on Louisiana’s local government. The point of my post was to let Frank and others know that there is some federal responsibility involved.
Please refer to Aaron’s post about the Federal Government cutting back on their commitment to fund the levees. It’s very likely that Louisiana’s state budget was developed with the expectation that the Federal Government would fulfill their commitment.
Don’t get me started on 9/11. That terror attacks
of 9/11 also could’ve been mitigated had Bush paid attention to his August 6th Presidential Daily Breifing. In 2001, prior to 9/11, the FAA released no less than 50 reports referencing the danger from Bin Laden and hijacked planes.
While some things are preventable, the effects of other disasters can definitely be mitigated.
Everyone that has been to NO knows the hazard this city faces being below sea level and a Cat4 Hurricane would flood it out. The blame is hot and heavy on both sides, it is the responsibility of each citizen to have a plan to secure and make sure their individual families are taken care of. As a Christian I’ve had to go back and renew my faith by reading 1 Cor 13, I’ve had to check my love walk; anybody know about being kind in this day and age. Who is the inconsiderate thug who goes out and rapes and murders during a crisis, no one has the right to do these things. Where are the leaders among the people that are stuck in NO, are there not some real men and strong women there to organize and ensure that there is order. Please let’s get some understanding, do we not have someone who could have stepped up and banded together and lead those who were there. Did anyone forget that even the military is made up of volunteers from the community. We are taught discipline and leadership. NO as a community let themselves down, I look for those who evacuated to return and get their communities back in order. Most blacks know when there is more than a 100 of us, we need someone to step up and keep us in order. So where’s the individual citizen leader. The black caucus is blaming other people, why didn’t some of them lead a coalition of so called leaders to get some order among our black citizens.
09 02 05
Hello everyone:
I hope and pray for the safety and security of those remaining in New Orleans and the surrounding areas. I do think that the federal response was sluggish and then again, I think that NO ONE took the threat of this hurricane as seriously as they shd have. I have a girlfriend who is going to school at Tulane. Thankfully she got out last Saturday, but she told me of people who were doing laundry and saying that “it’s gonna blow over, I’m not even worried about it”. Federal Sluggishness, people who are ill prepared etc. make for a bad situation. It isn’t the time to point fingers when people are dying, we have to pull together as a country and give as much as we can to help those in need. I have no plm with the former Presidents involving themselves in this. It has been shown that both Clinton and Bush I are excellent fundraisers. We can use them to raise as much as possible, because political ideology is not important when it is a question of human lives at stake.
God Bless our country and the citizens of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama and I know we can get through this as a country.
nyblues,
“Don’t get me started on 9/11. That terror attacks
of 9/11 also could’ve been mitigated had Bush paid attention to his August 6th Presidential Daily Breifing. In 2001, prior to 9/11, the FAA released no less than 50 reports referencing the danger from Bin Laden and hijacked planes.”
Another disaster that was YEARS in the making and did not occur because of some briefings that happened in 2001…
the indicators occured in 92, 95, 96, 97 and 98…etc…
again, America waits until it happens
I think everybody in the country is mad about something. My friend blew a lid about the people saying America deserves this.
But my anger is directed at the people who took no personal responsibility for themselves. I blogged about it at my place too. They were ordered to bring 5 days supply to the Superdome. But on the first day, they were passing out their rations already.
On top of all of this, we’re dealing with 3 of the 4 poorest states in our nation.
Our shelters are open in Texas and we’re welcoming them. The buses haven’t made it here yet but they’ll probably be coming tonight. My husband was so mad that he almost got in the van last night to drive to New Orleans and pick people up himself. But we desperately need a brake job so he couldn’t.
Believe it or not, Amatrak is providing some of the best mass transportation to Texas. I hear they’ve got 1600 a train load. Yup, those billions used to support the railroad finally paid off.
Well, sorta.
Also Renee if you think people always had a believe it when I see it attitude look at Clinton’s response to the millenium bomb plot.
CNN reported this morning aroud 9:15am that the Homeland Security Cheif Chertoff (a.k.a. Jackoff) called the relief efforts “magnificient”. Even S. O’Brien showed outrage at this adjective.
The incompetence shown by Bush, Cheney, Rice, Hastert, Chertoff, Brown is going to cost the party for a long time.
“To illustrate how out of touch government bureaucrats and politicians are with the people, Michael Savage talked about watching on split screen a homeland security chief giving out a web site address as people waded in water up to their necks. The people have no homes, no computers, no electricity, and bureaucrats were telling them to check the DHS web site” – Classic
La Shawn,
I positively LOVE your new tactic of proactive enforcement against troll comments whereby you foward their comments to their respective employers whose computers they are using (#57 & #58).
1 The job of the National Guard is as a fighting force, not a disaster recovery force.
Nope you’re clueless. The National Guard has dual mission status under their respective states and the federal government. They are the state’s last line of defense in case of national emergencies.
And your point about me being against the war
The Constitution of the United States specifically charges the National Guard with dual federal and state missions. In fact, the National Guard is the only United States military force empowered to function in a state status. Those functions range from limited actions during non-emergency situations to full scale law enforcement of Martial Law when local law enforcement officials can no longer maintain civil control.
Had a good percentage of Louisiana’s National Guard and their resources not been in Iraq, the evacuation effort would’ve been that more effective because guess what? They know the area.
So if you are against the war, you should be against the national guard.
Do I even to point out to you how pitifully illogical this statement is? There are soldiers in Iraq right now who don’t think this war is just but they’re fighting for their buddies right next to them and making sure they all come home in one piece. I know the troops are doing their best over there and they’ve got my full support.
Even Tom Delay said you can support the troops but not the President.
Also, the Army Core of Engineers still has to answer to the Commander in Chief. They’re not going to contradict him in public.
Take a look at what Aaron posted about the gutting of FEMA and the cutting of funding due to the levees. The facts are the facts.
Even Super Rudy would have struggled with this disaster. The first thing he did was to tell the people to GO HOME AND STAY HOME. In this instance, most of the city is sitting underwater and people cannot go home.
It’s very clear most people just don’t understand the sheer magnitude of the numbers of people who lost there place to live. And that there are no utilities. If the people could at least be at home, with no utilities, that would be one thing, but there is no place to go.
But my anger is directed at the people who took no personal responsibility for themselves. I blogged about it at my place too. They were ordered to bring 5 days supply to the Superdome. But on the first day, they were passing out their rations already.
On top of all of this, we’re dealing with 3 of the 4 poorest states in our nation.
So Mollo, tell me this. You know we’re dealing with the poorest of the poor but yet you say that they should take personal responsibilty for not having 5 days supply. Why are the poor to blame?Maybe they simply didn’t have the money to buy 5 days supply?
It’s very clear most people just don’t understand the sheer magnitude of the numbers of people who lost there place to live. And that there are no utilities. If the people could at least be at home, with no utilities, that would be one thing, but there is no place to go.
Brotherbrown,
I’m shocked by the total lack of understanding by these people. 9/11 while a tragedy, did not destroy my city. What we’re seeing is the destruction of an entire city. God help them all.
For NY Blue:
“In fact, the National Guard is the only United States military force empowered to function in a state status. Those functions range from limited actions during non-emergency situations to full scale law enforcement of Martial Law when local law enforcement officials can no longer maintain civil control.”
I see a law enforcement function, but not evacuating sick patients, delivering food and water. In fact, they are going way beyond their official mission.
PS – The criticism (no doubt some of my own as well) of local, state, and federal response to this hurricaine is somewhat like that of our efforts in Iraq – it isn’t perfect. It takes time. NO ONE ever expected this much damage, and everyone expects an immediate, perfect response.
Real life is not that way.
Iraq and Katrina : The Scrub factor
The national guard and military have performed worse that a bunch of boys scouts.
Not a single state has more than 1/2 of their national guard troops in Iraq. Most much less.
But as I see and hear more and more of the keystone cops routine more I am convinced that all the competent leaders are in Iraq, and only the scrubs have been left behind in America.
My best friends Army reserve hasn’t been called up for either gulf war. He said his fellow soldiers are incompetent. I suspect that is the core of the reason why Iraq has added to this disaster.
End of the day, Bush calling on phone would look good in tv, but he knows nothing about rescue operations. It has become apparent that the people lower down the chain are incompetent too.
http://tswe.blogspot.com/2005/09/iraq-and-katrina-scrub-factor.html
also:
God helps those who help themselves, for everyone else there is government
http://tswe.blogspot.com/2005/09/god-helps-those-who-help-themselves.html
“NO ONE ever expected this much damage, and everyone expects an immediate, perfect response.
Real life is not that way.”
EXACTLY!!
All we can do is help however we can (be it money or our time and skills if we are close enogh) and PRAY to the Lord for those down on the ground and that whatever is hindering the rescue and recovery be removed, if it be His will.
Commenting is disabled on the post for a reason. I don’t want to have the discussion of the blog, so please e-mail me. Comments referencing that post will be deleted. – Admin
La Shawn, I’m afraid I must respectfully disagree with your take on this. While recoiling from the horror of the sight of refugees in New Orleans and of the accounts of looting, rape, and other crimes against decency is an understandable (for most people, immediate) reaction, we should nonetheless guard against being ruled by our emotions. I’m not saying things are going ideally, and that when all is said and done that we won’t be able to go back and find dozens of little things that could have, should have been done differently. Nonetheless, it’s a little early to start Monday morning QBing.
As Jeff Goldstein wrote today,
Besides that, I only want to add a little something in response to something Montie wrote:
I don’t want to come off as callous, but New Orleans didn’t have far to fall when it descended into anarchy; outside the designated tourist zones, the Big Easy was one of the most lawless areas in the country.
Come ON BLOG FAMILY – I am going down to Houston…. They need our help just to volunteer and keep up their spirits.
AWG,
Other big cities should be making note of all this, especially the short amount of time it took for anarchy to descend on the city…
we have some tough TRUTHS to face up to (finally)
It is obvious, folks. America is in need of REAL leadership. Has been for the last 4 1/2 years. Bush is the most incompetent, weak, arrogant, ineffective and uncaring “president” we’ve ever had. God keeps sending America this message with one horrible event after another to demonstrate to America’s how totally unfit the Bush Administration is. Never fear, this country is going further down into the rabbit hole. The question is, how much more crap will you take from Bush and the morally bankrupt Republican party before you rise up and demand REAL LEADERSHIP???
No profanity permitted at LBC. – Admin
You may get your wish, LaShawn. The 256th BCT is coming home. We are a battle-hardened, experienced urban counter-terrorist brigade of Louisiana boys who are coming home only to see our beloved State trashed and the animals running the streets of New Orleans. God grant that we be given free reign to clean out our city.
Message to criminals: When you see the first soldier with desert BDU’s and a 10th Mountain Division patch on his right shoulder and a ‘Por Dieu et Moi’ LANG patch on the left, prepare to die like the worthless rat you are.
Please remember that the President cannot send in the troops or declare martial law unless ASKED by the local authorities. I believe, the disaster that is New Orleans notwithstanding, that this is a wise policy.
Do I think the local leadership waited too long to order the evacuation of their cities? Yes, especially in the case of New Orleans. Was an effective disaster management plan in place, locally? Doesn’t look like it. Did the governors of AL, LA, MS wait too long to ask for help? Yes. Are the Feds disorganized? Yes. Do you rescue people first or get food and water to the ones already safe? I’m glad I don’t have to make that call.
As for the Navy ships, they’re coming. But, yeah, it does take awhile to send them on their way. You don’t send a converted tanker into a hurricane. And it can’t leave until it’s requested.
Just my humble opinion on the matter.
sheri,
“God keeps sending America this message with one horrible event after another to demonstrate to America’s how totally unfit the Bush Administration is.”
Did it ever occur to you there is such a thing as God’s wrath on America (and it has nothing to do with Bush)? We aren’t exactly a God fearing Christian nation, we are a nation of idolaters that revel in sin and have many gods.
edited for “profanity
Category 4 Hurricane Determined to Strike U.S. — Cont.
by Hunter on dailykos.com
Thu Sep 1st, 2005 at 10:28:22 PDT
George W. Bush was once known as the C.E.O. President, a term his handlers eagerly coined in order to convey that the country would from now on be run like a business. That quickly evolved into the less flattering Enron President… then the War President… now it’s looking like we can all finally settle on one. George W. Bush: the Disaster President.
“I don’t think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees.”
He honestly said that. If that brings up more than a passing twinge of familiarity, being a more than remarkable restatement of Condi Rice’s now-famous assertion to the Senate panel — then I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised.
But it does bring up something that we joke about often, but apparently have never taken quite seriously enough: our President is an idiot. I don’t mean an average, run-of-the-mill idiot. I mean an idiot who apparently, for the entire duration of his presidency, literally was paying absolutely no attention to even the most life-threateningly critical tasks of government.
The administration specifically cut the funds to fix these specific levees, in order to specifically divert that Corps money to Iraq, despite urgent warnings and predictions of catastrophic disaster if the levees were breeched. The administration specifically cancelled the Clinton-backed flood control program to preserve and restore the wetlands between New Orleans and the gulf, instead specifically opening parts of that buffer zone for development.
Nobody anticipated this disaster? It was identified by FEMA as one of the top three likeliest major disasters to strike America. (That link, one of countless stories, was from 2001, by the way.) It has been a major disaster scenario for years. Everybody anticipated it, which makes this single statement by George W. Bush possibly the most dishonest, lying, craptacularly false thing he has ever said in his presidency — even surpassing his now-infamous State of the Union Address. Truly, this is President Bush’s blue-dress moment.
And yet, funneling the money into Iraq was more important.
He also said today:
“I hope people don’t play politics at this time of a natural disaster the likes of which this country has never seen.”
Oh, I’m touched. Utterly touched. After 9/11, the entire Republican Party went en masse to get Twin Towers tattoos. The Republican convention was a wholesale tribute to crass exploitation, the sets themselves designed to evoke the aftermath of the attack. Every domestic and international policy this administration — no, this entire Republican government — has produced has been heaved up before the public while waving the spectre of 9/11 as the catch-all vindication of every administration whim. Every tax cut, every civil rights issue, every budget cut, every budget expansion, no matter how tortured the logic must be, has some Republican senator standing on the Senate floor and proudly raping the corpses of that day as justification for their particular agenda item.
Oh, we’ve seen politicization of disaster. Every Republican campaign for the last four years has revolved around the politicization of disaster.
But Lord help us, George W. Bush is going to get the vapors if anyone asks him to explain his administration’s active cuts of the very programs designed to keep New Orleans safe.
“In fact, the National Guard is the only United States military force empowered to function in a state status. Those functions range from limited actions during non-emergency situations to full scale law enforcement of Martial Law when local law enforcement officials can no longer maintain civil control.â€
I see a law enforcement function, but not evacuating sick patients, delivering food and water. In fact, they are going way beyond their official mission.
Frank, what you’re missing is that the national guard has a range of functions, not just a specific finite set. Of course the National Guard deals with disaster efforts. For you to say that the National Guards have nothing to do with helping during natural disasters you’d have to ignore the way Governors all over the country have used them in the past during emergencies. There have been a ton of precedents set on this. You have to know that.
It takes time. NO ONE ever expected this much damage, and everyone expects an immediate, perfect response. Real life is not that way.
I do agree no one expected this much damage. My heart goes out to these people trapped down there.
However, there were some indications that people were worried about impending flood.
The New Orleans Picayune Times had a series of articles last year about the danger of an impending flood with these levees that were de-funded.
seethelight…
DailyKos…a most trustworthy fact finding group, non politcally motivated group…yeah right
Link to churches in South Texas that are assisting the efforts (with some information to contacting them in regards to how you can help)
http://www.ncm.org/news_katrina_9_01.html
Speaking about the National Guard, Frank Zavisca/75 writes: “I see a law enforcement function, but not evacuating sick patients, delivering food and water. In fact, they are going way beyond their official mission.”
Way beyond their official mission?
The Army National Guard would disagree:
“The Army National Guard’s state mission is perhaps the most visible and well known. Nearly everyone has seen or heard of Guard units responding to battle fires or helping communities deal with floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, snowstorms or other emergency situations.” [Link.
You can find out (without too much difficulty) how the National Guard fights fires, provides medical aid, fills sandbags to prevent floods, and a whole host of other non-law enforcement tasks.
Disclaimer: I haven’t read all 88, or whatever (I’m sure it’ll top 100) comments for this blog.
La Shawn, I can understand your frustration. But, I wonder if you are looking, to much, for perfection?, in the Gov’s response.
I think GWB, and FEMA, have done what they could. Everyone could always do more. But they faced outrageous obstacles and barriers, the likes of which, I feel, go beyond even third world countries. All that water was blocking entrance and exits.
If you’ve got guerrilla looters with firearms shooting at you, all bets are off. It’s over. There’s no evacuation at that point, and there shouldn’t be. At that point you are at war, and you start dropping bombs.
Is that what you’ve rather the Government done? Because, frankly, that’ve been the only way to eliminate the barriers and obstacles rescue personnel faced. And, believe you me, I’m sure it was talked about—-The House and Senate both declaring war and bringing in tear gas.
How would the public have reacted then?
You can’t have it both ways.
Either we declare an official state of war on Rogue/Guerrilla Looters, who’ve taken over a flooded city……or your evacuation comes to a screeching halt. Short of that, there was nothing else to be done. And yet, FEMA still tried.
As for Bill Clinton: GWB feels Clinton can take to the Blacks better than he can. You know, Clinton being the “Black” president and all. Of course it’s insulting, not just to the Country, but to flood victims as well. But you know something? If knucklehead Bill Clinton can stop the violence, by speaking their language (LOL), I’m all for it. Whatever works, at this point.
Something is better than nothing at this point. I’m sure they’ve already fired up the tear gas and fighter jets, but they are holding off, and trying to exhaust every last resource, (Clinton)… no matter how repulsive.
The troops are in the city and things look like they are changing. For those who are former military or have been deployed to craziness locations, we understand how hard it can be to get in to an area and properly setup and gain control…
Glamchild hit some of the main reasons above…
it happenes all the time.
Glamchild,
I am a Democrat, a Black Man, a liberal, a Soldier…….I always thought that it was crazy that Bill Clinton was thought of as the “Black President” myself. I do have to ask you, who is “they” that “Black Bill Clinton” will be able to speak to?
GWB could have easily dropped a few bombs. Just a few was all it would have taken. Throw in some food and first aid packets, that rain down with the bombs….. Do a little Afghanistan maneuver, and just bomb ‘em out, to regain control. It would have been very easy.
Granted, he’d need an official declaration of War to do that, and I’m sure both the House and Senate would’ve agreed.
But, I can just hear the liberal howling. The anti-war screaming about how dare he….bomb our own Country, and on and on and on.
Never hear the end of it.
nyblues,
you said “The New Orleans Picayune Times had a series of articles last year about the danger of an impending flood with these levees that were de-funded.”
the inital articles and study were written by the same paper in the late 90’s (one of the researchers and authors verified that this morning just to show that this problem was mentioned for YEARS.
“GWB could have easily dropped a few bombs. Just a few was all it would have taken. Throw in some food and first aid packets, that rain down with the bombs….. Do a little Afghanistan maneuver, and just bomb ‘em out, to regain control. It would have been very easy.”
I think people miss the point that is a MILITARY response to gaining control of a situation in as quick a time as possible
A long-haul tank trucker over at NRO (I found the article through the Anchoress’s website) gives several reasons why trucks can’t get through to bring in fuel (as well as water). One I had forgotten about: many of the bridges are out and the interstates haven’t been inspected for stability. Secondary roads often can’t handle the heavy loads or have low bridges/overpasses.
Access into and out of the area has been compromised, which affects getting people out and supplies in.
I’m in full agreement with you, Renee. The crime situation in New Orleans is a wake-up call to every city in the nation. This is what happens when a blind eye is turned to crime and corruption, and when more concern is spent criminals’ “motivations”, rather than getting them and keeping them off the street. Let’s hope this call is heard, and heeded.
NYBLUES – Brother I am in Brooklyn fellow NYorker Just like Renee says – if you have a chance pick up the WALL STREET JOURNAL today and you will in section “Market Place” page B2 that the Corp of Army Engineers under fire for shady work on the exact levee that broke it just finished 2 weeks ago and Louisana Representatives and Senators asked for 81 million Bush countered with 18 million to complete work. The article makes the case that the Bush Administration could have stopped this – just like the The New Orleans Picayune Times said
La Shawn – perhaps you could spend some time reading 1 Peter tonight, in which the apostle admonishes us to submit to all human institutions, and honor and respect government.
(or not – your life, your choice, of course)
But you are being way too hard and way too harsh on President Bush. I think your dislike for him because of his poor handling of illegal immigration is clouding your judgment.
I think most people in charge here are doing the absolute best they can under nightmarish conditions – regardless of party. I’m sad to see you joining in with those bashing him and the federal government.
BIG MO please !! THIS IS NOT MY COUNTRY’S BEST. That is why I am on my way to Houston. THIS IS NOT MY COUNTRY’S BEST. When we went to Bosnia that was my country’s best
AWG,
The sad part is, listening to all the blaming and finger pointing, the same problems that plagued us before the hurricane (and contribute to the anarcy and crime we see daily) will be band-aid fixed (as usual) and plague us after this distater…
we are not a very proactive nation and it has been decades (if not a century or more) since we had a proactive mentality
I think the important thing here is that everyone understands what a nightmare this is logistically.
We don’t live in a WaterWorld. The US is a land mass, not a lake, so when we prepare for disasters we’re not usually preparing for floods of biblical proportions.
Sit down, breathe deeply, relax, and think about the logistics for a moment. Just for a moment. It won’t take long to see that this is going to be a lot tougher than Andrew.
“When we went to Bosnia that was my country’s best”
Ummm, their stillnot toally fixed over their either and that was not our best either.
WE can stop the blame and come down to Houston to volunteer
Renee My point was that we were proactive vs. BigMo’s comment that well just wait and see
GWB could have easily dropped a few bombs. Just a few was all it would have taken. Throw in some food and first aid packets, that rain down with the bombs….. Do a little Afghanistan maneuver, and just bomb ‘em out, to regain control. It would have been very easy.
Are you serious? You want to drop bombs over your fellow countrymen who’ve already been devestated by a natural disaster? That’s disgraceful. I don’t even know how to respond to you.
the inital articles and study were written by the same paper in the late 90’s (one of the researchers and authors verified that this morning just to show that this problem was mentioned for YEARS.
Well Renee, if this has been a pending problem for years and Bush cut the funds to build the levees what exactly is your point? You’ve proven that we knew about this problem even earlier than I had suspected and did nothing about it.
That’s criminal negligence if you ask me.
Martin,
We were pro-active. Hmm, having been in Germany at that time (stationed), it was not proaction and it didn’t occur until Slick willy …nevermind..I digress
All evacuees are not going to Houston, so everyone jumping up and running down there will not help…
some are going to Dallas now and they are having planes flown in by the airlines ready to evacuate once they are moved from the Dome (now that they can get a few in) to fly them out possibly all over the country
martin 109 – where in my post did I say “well just wait and see?”
I said nothing of the sort. It was an admonishment of La Shawn for being too harsh against President Bush. That’s all.
NY Blue – OK – you win.
But the purpose of the Power Line comment was to say that the PRIMARY function of the Guard is police and military – if not for that, they would not exist to do relief work.
Here is from someone who know the real score:
“”It only took a few hours for complete anarchy to descend on New Orleans…”
I don’t want to come off as callous, but New Orleans didn’t have far to fall when it descended into anarchy; outside the designated tourist zones, the Big Easy was one of the most lawless areas in the country. “
NYBLUES – Brother I am in Brooklyn fellow NYorker Just like Renee says – if you have a chance pick up the WALL STREET JOURNAL today and you will in section “Market Place†page B2 that the Corp of Army Engineers under fire for shady work on the exact levee that broke it just finished 2 weeks ago and Louisana Representatives and Senators asked for 81 million Bush countered with 18 million to complete work. The article makes the case that the Bush Administration could have stopped this – just like the The New Orleans Picayune Times said
Martin, thanks I’ll check it out when I get home.
YES nyblues that is the point criminal neglient mass homicide and that is the point of the Wall Street article as to the possible at risk of the administration I believe that he will have the process of impeachment Hurraine Katrina with the illegal alien immigration and iraq/haliburt/oilprices
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