Quote :

"Is it possible that the reason it took a few days to get rescuers into New Orleans is because the National Guard is required to give its members something like 72 hours to mobilize? It's not like these guys are sitting around in barracks somewhere waiting to be called to duty, they have other jobs, bills, lives, etc to get in order before a deployment. The same goes for active duty military. I'd say that people were there fairly quickly when you consider the huge machine the government has to activate to get troops down there. A vast difference between some rich, spoiled Duke kids jumping into their parent 7-series and driving down there to help, which is cool, but vastly different. All you people wanna do is see the negative and cry about everything the government does or doesn't do quickly enough. Furthermore, if you had asked the citizens of New Orleans two weeks before Katrina hit if they would be willing to have significantly higher taxes in order to match federal funding to reinforce the levees, I guarantee that they would not have agreed. Bunch of Monday morning quarterbacks up in here."

Well said.

9/6/2005 10:41:48 PM

Quote :

"im glad that the world could care less what college kids have to say, because you liberal fucks have no clue"

Yes, an America will listen to someone who goes by the alias P Nis.

9/6/2005 10:44:39 PM

First. I guess since it is on Michael Moore's website, it must be true.

Second. Before the hurricane, Bush urged the governor to order the evacuation.

After the hurricane, Bush urged the governor to request Federal assistance. The governor wanted to wait 24 hours.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, as amended by Public Law 106-390, October 30, 2000

UNITED STATES CODE
Title 42. THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
CHAPTER 68. DISASTER RELIEF
Subchapter VI

5170. PROCEDURE FOR DECLARATION {Sec. 401}
All requests for a declaration by the President that a major disaster exists shall be made by the Governor of the affected State. Such a request shall be based on a finding that the disaster is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the State and the affected local governments and that Federal assistance is necessary. As part of such request, and as a prerequisite to major disaster assistance under this Act, the Governor shall take appropriate response action under State law and direct execution of the State's emergency plan. The Governor shall furnish information on the nature and amount of State and local resources which have been or will be committed to alleviating the results of the disaster, and shall certify that, for the current disaster, State and local government obligations and expenditures (of which State commitments must be a significant proportion) will comply with all applicable cost-sharing requirements of this Act. Based on the request of a Governor under this section, the President may declare under this Act that a major disaster or emergency exists.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

9/6/2005 11:19:16 PM

Quote :

"hey look i hate this too i just dont think its bush's fault i mean i would love to find something else to hate the guy for but i think most of the responsibility falls elsewhere"

9/6/2005 11:21:36 PM

Quote :

""hey look i hate this too i just dont think its bush's fault i mean i would love to find something else to hate the guy for but i think most of the responsibility falls elsewhere""

9/6/2005 11:39:03 PM

Quote :

"Is it possible that the reason it took a few days to get rescuers into New Orleans is because the National Guard is required to give its members something like 72 hours to mobilize?"

Yes, but:

It has been the WHOLE RESPONSIBILITY of the federal disaster relief infrastructure over the past four years to put into place FAST RESPONSE mechanisms for catastrophes. So crying about how the rules are written, today, is pointless--the rules are supposed to be shaped around reality, not the other way around.

The people here who are talking about spreading blame to the local authorities, are making an entirely stupid argument. Local authorities have the local interest in mind; national authorities have the national interest in mind. What about this is hard to understand?

The destruction of a major American city, and therefore its economic and military infrastructure, is a STRATEGIC problem for the nation. Therefore it is pre-eminently the federal government's concern.

The whole reason we have FEDERAL disaster management is because the destruction of major sections of American infrastructure affects everybody. Hello, did anyone happen to notice the sharp rise in gas prices? How about jobs--do you guys like those, too? The economy comes from a chain of economic activity, of which NO and other major metropolitan areas are a large part.

And more so--a competent and fast-responding federal disaster infrastructure means that terrorists who ARE watching America for signs of weakness, can know that no matter where they strike, they cannot count on overcoming incompetent, local authorities as the sole path to doing critical, long-term damage to STRATEGIC infrastructure.

There's a good reason why the federal government is charged with national defense foremost and not the states. Last week, I think we've seen that reason many times over.

National defense is the one area where "states first" simply does not apply. It's nice when the states do act competently, but even our founding fathers realized that it's a collective goal.

Therefore: where national defense is concerned--in every sense of the term "security," from infrastructure stability to terrorism--the responsibility lies entirely with the commander-in-chief and his administration.

And if we believe otherwise, that the federal government should not do competently one of the major things it was ACTUALLY formed to do--then that's just sad.

[Edited on September 6, 2005 at 11:52 PM. Reason : foo]

9/6/2005 11:51:01 PM

Quote :

"the rules are supposed to be shaped around reality, not the other way around."

So you've never witnessed the beast that is government, have you?

Quote :

"Local authorities have the local interest in mind; national authorities have the national interest in mind."

So, in your mind, which entity would care MORE about a local disaster? As far as the Senate is conserned, only six senators among 100 represent people whose lives were devastated. Could the LA legislature make the same claim?

Besides, George Bush would love to be seen as the one coming in and saving the day, but as many people have pointed out, the Governor of the state rejected his request for authority. I suppose GWB could lead a coup against the Governor, but that might be viewed as being in poor taste.

[Edited on September 7, 2005 at 12:01 AM. Reason : ^]

9/6/2005 11:55:40 PM

Quote :

"So you've never witnessed the beast that is government, have you?"

What the Hell is your point? If this is your argument, we should just establish a state of anarchy during disasters instead of relying on any authority.

I hate stupid, mindless "the military is the same as the post office" arguments. The military is capable of acting decisively and quickly, if not accurately, in critical situations. To say otherwise is just stupid.

Quote :

"So, in your mind, which entity would care MORE about a local disaster? As far as the Senate is conserned, only six senators among 100 represent people whose lives were devastated. Could the LA legislature make the same claim?"

NO was not a "local disaster." That was the whole point of my post.

Secondly, the Senate is not relevant to a discussion of how the government acts in specific situations that threaten national security. You'll recall that the Senate is the legislative branch. What we are talking about here is execution, which is therefore the role of -- you guessed it! The EXECUTIVE branch!

Quote :

"Besides, George Bush would love to be seen as the one coming in and saving the day, but as many people have pointed out, the Governor of the state rejected his request for authority. I suppose GWB could lead a coup against the Governor, but that might be viewed as being in poor taste."

I really don't believe that claim that "many people" are making. But even assuming it's true, it's STILL the President's sole responsibility to act, even if that means a "coup."

Don't be dense: the destruction of a major American city is a matter of national defense. What is hard about that to understand?

After 9/11, how long did we hear about the economy's slump due to the attacks? What did that spark? Maybe a national campaign against terrorism? And keep in mind, 9/11 affected a few blocks in Manhattan. This was an ENTIRE MAJOR CITY.

[Edited on September 7, 2005 at 12:14 AM. Reason : foo]

9/7/2005 12:13:35 AM

DirtyGreek, after disagreeing with you on many other threads, I have to say you hit this one on the head, and i applaud you for seein through the anti-bush screen

9/7/2005 12:15:38 AM

Quote :

"I hate stupid, mindless "the military is the same as the post office" arguments. The military is capable of acting decisively and quickly, if not accurately, in critical situations. To say otherwise is just stupid."

However, the military is completely INCAPABLE of operating within the borders of the US without specific red tape and requests from state and local governments. Furthermore, the military's first job is killing people. The military is not generaly trained in disaster releif.

Quote :

" You'll recall that the Senate is the legislative branch. What we are talking about here is execution, which is therefore the role of -- you guessed it! The EXECUTIVE branch!"

Now that you know about the branches of the government, perhaps you'd like to read the constitution and find where the president is given authority to use federal troops for disaster releif.

Quote :

" But even assuming it's true, it's STILL the President's sole responsibility to act, even if that means a "coup." Don't be dense: the destruction of a major American city is a matter of national defense. What is hard about that to understand?"

So in the interest of "national defense" the president should be able to usurp the authority of any of the state and local governments? Do you really want to set that precident? I sure as hell don't.

9/7/2005 1:11:50 AM

http://www.firemichaelbrown.com

i made that link up joking and its a real site

[Edited on September 7, 2005 at 4:04 AM. Reason : explain]

9/7/2005 4:03:27 AM

Quote :

"I really don't believe that claim that "many people" are making. But even assuming it's true, it's STILL the President's sole responsibility to act, even if that means a "coup." Don't be dense: the destruction of a major American city is a matter of national defense. What is hard about that to understand?"

you must lvoe the patriot act, huh

9/7/2005 6:26:38 AM

i don't understand why anyone's questioning whether the interview is real, just becuase it was on michael moore's site

it was all over tv. maybe I"m misunderstanding the michaelmoore comments? the only thing having to do with michael moore here is that the video happened to be hosted on his website. You can find it plenty of other places.

as for

Quote :

""Is it possible that the reason it took a few days to get rescuers into New Orleans is because the National Guard is required to give its members something like 72 hours to mobilize? It's not like these guys are sitting around in barracks somewhere waiting to be called to duty, they have other jobs, bills, lives, etc to get in order before a deployment. The same goes for active duty military. I'd say that people were there fairly quickly when you consider the huge machine the government has to activate to get troops down there. A vast difference between some rich, spoiled Duke kids jumping into their parent 7-series and driving down there to help, which is cool, but vastly different. All you people wanna do is see the negative and cry about everything the government does or doesn't do quickly enough. Furthermore, if you had asked the citizens of New Orleans two weeks before Katrina hit if they would be willing to have significantly higher taxes in order to match federal funding to reinforce the levees, I guarantee that they would not have agreed. Bunch of Monday morning quarterbacks up in here.""

yes, that's true that they need time to mobilize, but we KNEW that this would be a huge disaster before it even hit.

Quote :

"I was on the phone with my wife while at the checkout area when a weather bulletin arrived on my Blackberry, along with a strong caveat from our New York producers. The wording and contents were so incendiary that our folks were concerned that it wasn't real... either a bogus dispatch or a rogue piece of text. I filed a live report by phone for Nightly News (after an exchange with New York about the contents of the bulletin) and very cautiously couched the information. Later, we learned it was real, every word of it. Below are actual excerpts, in the urgent, all-capital-letters style of the medium. Note the time on the message... but more importantly... note the content. URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA 1011 AM CDT SUN AUG 28 2005 ...DEVASTATING DAMAGE EXPECTED... HURRICANE KATRINA...A MOST POWERFUL HURRICANE WITH UNPRECEDENTED STRENGTH...RIVALING THE INTENSITY OF HURRICANE CAMILLE OF 1969. MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS...PERHAPS LONGER. AT LEAST HALF OF WELL CONSTRUCTED HOMES WILL HAVE ROOF AND WALL FAILURE. ALL GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL...ALL WOOD FRAMED LOW RISING APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL BE DESTROYED...ALL WINDOWS WILL BE BLOWN OUT. THE VAST MAJORITY...OF TREES WILL BE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. ONLY THE HEARTIEST WILL REMAIN STANDING...BUT BE TOTALLY DEFOLIATED. POWER OUTAGES WILL LAST FOR WEEKS...AS MOST POWER POLES WILL BE DOWN AND TRANSFORMERS DESTROYED. WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9216831/#050905

9/7/2005 7:04:52 AM

1. I can't believe you are not jumping on this bash-bush bandwagon, george.

2. attn raven928: bush gets to nominate TWO supreme court justices - haha @ you

9/7/2005 7:17:36 AM

^^ yeah, sounds about right. kind of like what FEMA was worried about in early 2001, before it was more or less dismanteled when rolled into the DHS:

Quote :

"Before 9/11 the Federal Emergency Management Agency listed the three most likely catastrophic disasters facing America: a terrorist attack on New York, a major earthquake in San Francisco and a hurricane strike on New Orleans. "The New Orleans hurricane scenario," The Houston Chronicle wrote in December 2001, "may be the deadliest of all." It described a potential catastrophe very much like the one now happening."

http://tinyurl.com/cw46g

9/7/2005 7:22:12 AM

Let me see if I have this right. People are arguing that it's not the governments fault that they are a slow bureaucracy, even though this particular department is supposed to be designed for Emergency Management. And, the huricane had been on the way for days. Curiouser and curiouser ...

[Edited on September 7, 2005 at 7:57 AM. Reason : *~<]BO]

9/7/2005 7:54:12 AM

Quote :

"I really don't believe that claim that "many people" are making. But even assuming it's true, it's STILL the President's sole responsibility to act, even if that means a "coup.""

Under the current government, it is only the Governor of the state which holds the sole responsibility to act. The president must ask permission to take charge, and in this case he was told to take a hike.

Smoker4 has a point however, even if he doesn't realize what it is. I know the current system holds the individual states as soverign, but maybe Smoker4 is right and we should do away with this conceit once and for all. What we would need to do is amend the federal constitution to put the states in their place of servitude.

9/7/2005 8:48:30 AM

^What was the government supposed to do exactly? Go down to NO and force people to leave with troops? Yeah that would go over real well.

[Edited on September 7, 2005 at 8:51 AM. Reason : .]

9/7/2005 8:51:21 AM

Deus Ex

9/7/2005 8:58:27 AM

Quote :

"1. I can't believe you are not jumping on this bash-bush bandwagon, george."

i keep trying to tell you people, I try to be as logical as possible. I'm not going to sit here and blame the president alone for fucking up. it's the fault of hundreds of people that this wasn't properly prepared for.

9/7/2005 9:02:43 AM

9/7/2005 9:17:14 AM

Anything out of Moores mouth is a lie.

9/7/2005 9:48:48 AM

what if he said "i'm a liar"

i agree though, you guys are whining that its a lie cuz he presents it, which is pretty outrageous/stupid to begin with. im not a huge michael moore fan, though i am a fan of the melodrama so his movies work for me even if they are only partly true.

9/7/2005 10:07:51 AM

excuse me, but again, what words came out of moore's mouth? this is a video from a news station, it just happens to be hosted on moore's website.

and yeah, what if he said "i'm a liar," would your head explode? he'd go all james t. kirk on your ass

I bet if you asked him what color the sky was, he'd say blue. Well, he'd probably say "blue like the elite "tax-and-spend" coastal states," but you get my point

9/7/2005 10:46:05 AM

The problem with mm isnt that he lies. Its that he misrepresents facts, has very little ability to think logically and he is very partisan. Combine all those and you get a older pryderi.

9/7/2005 10:51:55 AM

Quote :

"Let me see if I have this right. People are arguing that it's not the governments fault that they are a slow bureaucracy, even though this particular department is supposed to be designed for Emergency Management. And, the huricane had been on the way for days. Curiouser and curiouser ... "

FEMA is supplemental assistance, when the disaster proves to be overwhelming for the local forces and disaster management units to handle. Somehow I doubt FEMA anticipated having to do the ENTIRE job themselves. Also recall that since FEMA is federal, it has to be in other states as well.

9/7/2005 11:14:36 AM

^^ that may be so, but it still has absolutely zero relevance in the current discussion over the validity of the remarks concerning FEMA

9/7/2005 11:17:46 AM

right. I find it interesting (though not surprising) which of you are completely ignoring the video itself and only talking about michael moore, as though he has ANYTHING to do with this

9/7/2005 11:26:01 AM

ok so if bush had video of people saying the exact opposite, all these people would take it at face value and say "well it's true then."

9/7/2005 11:27:13 AM

I hope one day Moore's website talks about how you shouldn't eat shit. Just to see how many neocons actually do it.

9/7/2005 11:40:15 AM

I think that although raven928 claims to hate the president, s/he thinks Bush is superman or something. If the president had personally piloted the planes, gone down in the baskets to fetch people, repaired the levee himself, flew a weather plane into the eye of the storm to get more accurate readings, and picked up lousiana and moved it inland, raven would still have problems with him.

HE'S THE FUCKING PRESIDENT, NOT FUCKING CAPTAIN AMERICA OR SPIDERMAN. What do you really expect the president to do? Twirl his magic wand and make all the suffering go away?

9/7/2005 11:45:39 AM

terrific argument

9/7/2005 11:48:41 AM

I hate Bush

and I don't place the blame solely on him, at all.

9/7/2005 11:49:10 AM

How did Harry Connick Jr. manage to get aid to people before FEMA did?

9/7/2005 12:03:35 PM

relevance?

9/7/2005 12:06:17 PM

he has a magical aid fairy

9/7/2005 12:06:54 PM

I guess Harry Connick Jr. knows how to get things done, unlike Bush's administration.

9/7/2005 12:08:33 PM

PEOPLE THROW AWAY THEIR CELL PHONE BILLS.

I WRITE SONGS ON THE BACK OF MINE.

9/7/2005 12:09:08 PM

HE GETS IT

9/7/2005 12:09:31 PM

i guess he's a private citizen with both money and time on his hands coupled with goodwill

9/7/2005 12:09:38 PM

If only Harry Connick Jr were a massive government aid and disaster relief organization.

9/7/2005 12:14:28 PM

Bush lickspittles.

9/7/2005 12:18:29 PM

Clinton/Gore/Kerry lickspittle

it's funny because you're a huge hypocrite.

9/7/2005 12:19:44 PM

Quote :

"CHRONOLOGY....Here's a timeline that outlines the fate of both FEMA and flood control projects in New Orleans under the Bush administration. Read it and weep: * 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 and former college roommate, Michael Brown, who has no previous experience in disaster management and was fired from his previous job for mismanagement. * 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. So: A crony with no relevant experience was installed as head of FEMA. Mitigation budgets for New Orleans were slashed even though it was known to be one of the top three risks in the country. FEMA was deliberately downsized as part of the Bush administration's conservative agenda to reduce the role of government. After DHS was created, FEMA's preparation and planning functions were taken away. Actions have consequences. No one could predict that a hurricane the size of Katrina would hit this year, but the slow federal response when it did happen was no accident. It was the result of four years of deliberate Republican policy and budget choices that favor ideology and partisan loyalty at the expense of operational competence. It's the Bush administration in a nutshell."

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2005_09/007023.php

9/7/2005 12:28:22 PM

and it was consistenly cut under clinton's watch too

your point?

9/7/2005 12:30:00 PM

Clinton hired people with experience in the field. Qualified.

9/7/2005 12:36:26 PM

while cutting the budget

TEH KING OF TEH FLIP-FLOPPARS!

9/7/2005 12:40:35 PM

Maybe his point is that it isn't a partisan issue, that it's a government issue.

Of course, I know that since it is pryderi that isn't the case.

Still, the evidence of overall government incompetence for decades is clear.

9/7/2005 1:59:33 PM

Hey pryderi....read this and weap

Quote :

"By BOB WILLIAMS September 6, 2005; Page A28 As the devastation of Hurricane Katrina continues to shock and sadden the nation, the question on many lips is, Who is to blame for the inadequate response? As a former state legislator who represented the legislative district most impacted by the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980, I can fully understand and empathize with the people and public officials over the loss of life and property. Many in the media are turning their eyes toward the federal government, rather than considering the culpability of city and state officials. I am fully aware of the challenges of having a quick and responsive emergency response to a major disaster. And there is definitely a time for accountability; but what isn't fair is to dump on the federal officials and avoid those most responsible -- local and state officials who failed to do their job as the first responders. The plain fact is, lives were needlessly lost in New Orleans due to the failure of Louisiana's governor, Kathleen Blanco, and the city's mayor, Ray Nagin. The primary responsibility for dealing with emergencies does not belong to the federal government. It belongs to local and state officials who are charged by law with the management of the crucial first response to disasters. First response should be carried out by local and state emergency personnel under the supervision of the state governor and his/her emergency operations center. The actions and inactions of Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin are a national disgrace due to their failure to implement the previously established evacuation plans of the state and city. Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin cannot claim that they were surprised by the extent of the damage and the need to evacuate so many people. Detailed written plans were already in place to evacuate more than a million people. The plans projected that 300,000 people would need transportation in the event of a hurricane like Katrina. If the plans had been implemented, thousands of lives would likely have been saved. In addition to the plans, local, state and federal officials held a simulated hurricane drill 13 months ago, in which widespread flooding supposedly trapped 300,000 people inside New Orleans. The exercise simulated the evacuation of more than a million residents. The problems identified in the simulation apparently were not solved. A year ago, as Hurricane Ivan approached, New Orleans ordered an evacuation but did not use city or school buses to help people evacuate. As a result many of the poorest citizens were unable to evacuate. Fortunately, the hurricane changed course and did not hit New Orleans, but both Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin acknowledged the need for a better evacuation plan. Again, they did not take corrective actions. In 1998, during a threat by Hurricane George, 14,000 people were sent to the Superdome and theft and vandalism were rampant due to inadequate security. Again, these problems were not corrected. The New Orleans contingency plan is still, as of this writing, on the city's Web site, and states: "The safe evacuation of threatened populations is one of the principle [sic] reasons for developing a Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan." But the plan was apparently ignored. Mayor Nagin was responsible for giving the order for mandatory evacuation and supervising the actual evacuation: His office of Emergency Preparedness (not the federal government) must coordinate with the state on elements of evacuation and assist in directing the transportation of evacuees to staging areas. Mayor Nagin had to be encouraged by the governor to contact the National Hurricane Center before he finally, belatedly, issued the order for mandatory evacuation. And sadly, it apparently took a personal call from the president to urge the governor to order the mandatory evacuation. The city's evacuation plan states: "The city of New Orleans will utilize all available resources to quickly and safely evacuate threatened areas." But even though the city has enough school and transit buses to evacuate 12,000 citizens per fleet run, the mayor did not use them. To compound the problem, the buses were not moved to high ground and were flooded. The plan also states that "special arrangements will be made to evacuate persons unable to transport themselves or who require specific lifesaving assistance. Additional personnel will be recruited to assist in evacuation procedures as needed." This was not done. The evacuation plan warned that "if an evacuation order is issued without the mechanisms needed to disseminate the information to the affected persons, then we face the possibility of having large numbers of people either stranded and left to the mercy of a storm, or left in an area impacted by toxic materials." That is precisely what happened because of the mayor's failure. Instead of evacuating the people, the mayor ordered the refugees to the Superdome and Convention Center without adequate security and no provisions for food, water and sanitary conditions. As a result people died, and there was even rape committed, in these facilities. Mayor Nagin failed in his responsibility to provide public safety and to manage the orderly evacuation of the citizens of New Orleans. Now he wants to blame Gov. Blanco and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. In an emergency the first requirement is for the city's emergency center to be linked to the state emergency operations center. This was not done. The federal government does not have the authority to intervene in a state emergency without the request of a governor. President Bush declared an emergency prior to Katrina hitting New Orleans, so the only action needed for federal assistance was for Gov. Blanco to request the specific type of assistance she needed. She failed to send a timely request for specific aid. In addition, unlike the governors of New York, Oklahoma and California in past disasters, Gov. Blanco failed to take charge of the situation and ensure that the state emergency operation facility was in constant contact with Mayor Nagin and FEMA. It is likely that thousands of people died because of the failure of Gov. Blanco to implement the state plan, which mentions the possible need to evacuate up to one million people. The plan clearly gives the governor the authority for declaring an emergency, sending in state resources to the disaster area and requesting necessary federal assistance. State legislators and governors nationwide need to update their contingency plans and the operation procedures for state emergency centers. Hurricane Katrina had been forecast for days, but that will not always be the case with a disaster (think of terrorist attacks). It must be made clear that the governor and locally elected officials are in charge of the "first response." I am not attempting to excuse some of the delays in FEMA's response. Congress and the president need to take corrective action there, also. However, if citizens expect FEMA to be a first responder to terrorist attacks or other local emergencies (earthquakes, forest fires, volcanoes), they will be disappointed. The federal government's role is to offer aid upon request. The Louisiana Legislature should conduct an immediate investigation into the failures of state and local officials to implement the written emergency plans. The tragedy is not over, and real leadership in the state and local government are essential in the months to come. More importantly, the hurricane season is still upon us, and local and state officials must stay focused on the jobs for which they were elected -- and not on the deadly game of passing the emergency buck. "

[link]http://http://online.wsj.com/article_email/0,,SB112596602138332256-IVjf4NilaJ4nZupaoGGa6uBm4,00.html[/link]

9/7/2005 2:02:12 PM

Quote :

", it's STILL the President's sole responsibility to act, even if that means a "coup." "

I'msure that would have gone really well ...

9/7/2005 2:23:17 PM