The Bush administration has embraced a term that truly sets my teeth on edge: The Blame Game.
Yet again, the administration trivializes that which it wants to draw attention from or diminish, finding new and innovative ways to dodge questions and avoid responsibility.
I have no clear idea yet, for certain, if lapses in administrative judgment can be blamed for everything from siphoning money away from shoring up the levies in order to support the war and Bush’s tax cuts, to slow response to the emergency. But these are questions that must be asked. Clearly, the Bush administration embraces this notion with the same enthusiasm and thirst for truth that it did the 9/11 panel. Instead it endeavors to sprint along the obvious “high road”: The Bush administration will not play “the blame game” when people need to be helped.
You know what? The government is large enough to multitask. There’s no reason it can’t help people AND investigate. Not play “the blame game.” It’s not a game, Mr. Bush. Perhaps much of your life has been thus far. Play with toys such as corporations, governments and armies, run them into the ground, and then wait for others to clean up your mess. But it’s not. A game. It never has been, and that’s something that this administration has yet to comprehend.
One thing guaranteed, though: They’ll try to find a way to blame it on Clinton. But Clinton shouldn’t take it personally. It’s all part of the game.
UPDATED 10:45 AM. Maggie Thompson sent me the following link: http://www.thisisnotover.com/archives/2005/09/heres_what_gets.html This is one of those “I wish I’d said that” entries.
PAD
• 
Lest we forget, the focus of Bush’s reelection campaign was that we were safer with them in charge. Only they had the backbone to protect us and the will to make sure that we were prepared for any emergency.
As for evacuating the stupid, the only thing that will get them to leave is force and you know they’ll be civil libertarians screaming about that. Maybe communities should focus on evacuating the old and disabled and let darwinism do it’s job on the stupid.
There was nothing stopping bush from taking action earlier. He had the legal authority:
http://www.fema.gov/library/stafact.shtm#sec402
Lest we forget, the focus of Bush’s reelection campaign was that we were safer with them in charge. Only they had the backbone to protect us and the will to make sure that we were prepared for any emergency.
“They never stop thinking of ways to harm America, and neither do we” GWB
“I only care about what Brownie the Wonder Horse did, and learning his facts from watching a TV broadcast suggests that maybe he’s not all that plugged into unfolding events.”
There’s at least an argument to be made that he didn’t learn of certain events by watching TV, but by being interviewed ON TV.
“”They never stop thinking of ways to harm America, and neither do we” GWB”
I had forgotten this little slip. Almost scary, yes?
Brown was relieved of duty this morning. I’ve heard he was fired, but the news report doesn’t seem to indicate that- just that he’s going back to Washington.
Mike Brown was just removed from Katrina relief efforts. He’s still, currently, the director of FEMA, but he’s been sent back to Washington to “study” how to improve responses to future disasters. I turned on Fox News (!) to see how they’d react, and they said it was essentially a firing. “Perhaps a firing in stages,” Chris Wallace went on to characterize. So, MAYBE, one of the incompetents will be removed – maybe the current intense scrutiny of FEMA will force the appointment of some experienced and competent leaders, and middle management, to the department?
Although, it turns out Brown DID have some experience on his resume. According to Time Magazine, in his only listed disaster-management experience, he claimed to be the assistant city manager of – “Edward”? Some small city – involved with disaster relief. Turns out, he was assistant TO the city manager – and not involved in disaster relief at all. Fox News reported all of this, as fact, not “liberal media accusations”.
And apparently politicians on both sides have been critical of Brown. Let’s hope we can enough bi-partisan cooperation to investigate all of those possibly neglilgent or incompetant in this disaster, from the local level on up.
(Oddly, I started writing my previous post before Mark L.’s appeared – I wasn’t deliberately answering it, even though it ends up appearing that way.)
Forgot one point – the fact that FEMA _called a press conference_ to announce the fact that Brown was going back to Washington (a conference at which Brown was present, but not allowed to speak)was seen (I believe by Fox; otherwise, MSNBC) as an indication of the significance of this move as a statement against Brown.
Even though Brownie the Wonder Horse was just relieved of leadership responsibilities, I still maintain my original prediction at the beginning of this thread: nobody will be fired. Frankly, I wouldn’t mind holding a high-paying government job where I no longer had to do any work. Nice pension, good benefits; leaves more time to kick back with the newest issue of Horse and Hound.
Ok, now this is starting to get insane: the latest bit of smack-your-head stupidity:
http://washtimes.com/upi/20050908-112433-4907r.htm
UPI
Cops trapped survivors in New Orleans
Police from surrounding jurisdictions shut down several access points to one of the only ways out of New Orleans last week, effectively trapping victims of Hurricane Katrina in the flooded and devastated city.
An eyewitness account from two San Francisco paramedics posted on an internet site for Emergency Medical Services specialists says, “Thousands of New Orleaners were prevented and prohibited from self-evacuating the city on foot.”
“We shut down the bridge,” Arthur Lawson, chief of the City of Gretna Police Department, confirmed to United Press International, adding that his jurisdiction had been “a closed and secure location” since before the storm hit.
“All our people had evacuated and we locked the city down,” he said.
The bridge in question — the Crescent City Connection — is the major artery heading west out of New Orleans across the Mississippi River.
Lawson said that once the storm itself had passed Monday, police from Gretna City, Jefferson Parrish and the Louisiana State Crescent City Connection Police Department closed to foot traffic the three access points to the bridge closest to the West Bank of the river.
He added that the small town, which he called “a bedroom community” for the city of New Orleans, would have been overwhelmed by the influx.
“There was no food, water or shelter” in Gretna City, Lawson said. “We did not have the wherewithal to deal with these people.
“If we had opened the bridge, our city would have looked like New Orleans does now: looted, burned and pillaged.”
But — in an example of the chaos that continued to beset survivors of the storm long after it had passed — even as Lawson’s men were closing the bridge, authorities in New Orleans were telling people that it was only way out of the city.
Un-be-lievable.
Like most of the politicians in the New Orleans area, Lawson is a Democrat. I’ll bet he’ll get away with this because it’s obvious that too many Democrats are unwilling to go off message, even if it means a few bášŧárdš skate.
So, to review: people were told to go to the superdome but the Red Cross and Salvation Army were kept from supplying it for fear that too many people would come. Then they were told to leave by bridges that, as it turned out, were closed by cops who had no intention of letting, you know, “those kind” of people through.
Yeah, if I were a Louisianna Democrat I’d want to see Bush get the blame too, because whatever his culpability turns out to be, there are some locals who should end up in jail. They’d better hope that the investigation gets bogged down in partisan politics.
Although, it turns out Brown DID have some experience on his resume. According to Time Magazine, in his only listed disaster-management experience, he claimed to be the assistant city manager of – “Edward”? Some small city – involved with disaster relief. Turns out, he was assistant TO the city manager – and not involved in disaster relief at all. Fox News reported all of this, as fact, not “liberal media accusations”.
Brown is an idiot and needed to go…but Time Magazine may have screwed up this story.
http://www.edmondsun.com/articles/2005/09/09/front/front.txt
Claudia Deakins, Edmond’s director of marketing and public relations, was quoted in the Time article as saying that Brown was not a manager but more like an intern. Brown was assistant to the city manager in Edmond from 1977-80.
However, this morning, Deakins disputes Time’s quotes attributed to her.
“I spoke with two reporters from Time Magazine Thursday. I answered questions about the City of Edmond, the organizational structure and role of the city manager and his staff. My comments were in the context of the organization as it functions today. I explained that my employment with the city of Edmond began in 1997, several years after Michael D. Brown’s employment by the city and that I could not speak to the specifics of the organizational structure as it was during that time. I also explained that I could not I speak to the details of Mr. Brown’s role within the organization.
“The only people who can speak with authority with regard to Mr. Brown’s position in the organization are those who were at the City of Edmond during that time and worked with Mr. Brown, such as the city manager or members of the city council.
“I regret any misunderstanding that may have occurred as a result of my comments.”
Un-be-lievable.
Like most of the politicians in the New Orleans area, Lawson is a Democrat. I’ll bet he’ll get away with this because it’s obvious that too many Democrats are unwilling to go off message, even if it means a few bášŧárdš skate.
So, to review: people were told to go to the superdome but the Red Cross and Salvation Army were kept from supplying it for fear that too many people would come. Then they were told to leave by bridges that, as it turned out, were closed by cops who had no intention of letting, you know, “those kind” of people through.
Yeah, if I were a Louisianna Democrat I’d want to see Bush get the blame too, because whatever his culpability turns out to be, there are some locals who should end up in jail. They’d better hope that the investigation gets bogged down in partisan politics.
Well, that’s head #2, after Nagin.
Also, did someone mention that ALL THREE government disaster plans had no provision for a communications breakdown?
Ghah. There’s a reason why they call it an emergency folks….
“Ok, now this is starting to get insane: the latest bit of smack-your-head stupidity:”
http://washtimes.com/upi/20050908-112433-4907r.htm
UPI
Cops trapped survivors in New Orleans
******************************
Ðámņ. Remember my post way back when (Nworleens: September 2, 2005 09:43 PM) about the WTF breakdown by Shep Smith and Geraldo talking about how people who tried to leave the Dome on foot were being ordered to turn back into the city at gun point? That must be what they were talking about back then.
If all those guys were on scene and saw it back then; why did it take until now to start making the news?
I don’t see the problem. [Buses] are harder to park, certainly.
… and harder to negotiate tight turns, and take longer to stop on slick roads, etc. There’s a reason (at least in MA) that a CDL license is required to drive a bus.
Again, if there were qualified drivers ready and willing to drive the buses, then the NO city govt was grossly negligent. However, if there were not enough qualified drivers (which begs the question “why not?”) I would certainly choose ‘option A: direct the people to the shelter of last resort’ over ‘option B: put random drivers behind the wheels of a 5-ton school bus and trust them not screw up the escape routes.’
Looks like FEMA can do one thing right. And it adds yet another layer to the WWPRD question.
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/343813p-293471c.html
OK. Now this story comes out…
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/08/katrina.redcross/index.html
…that throws doubt on the way the Red Cross story has been used and what has been said about it.
This version has the Red Cross not acting until day three, two days after food, water and relief were being brought in, and told to hold for 24 hours due to setting up a game plan to work them into it. By the end of the 24 hours they weren’t needed.
Here’s to hoping the recovery efforts for New Orleans get better oversight than the one for 9/11:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002482324_washlaxloans09.html
Sounds like the banking industry got very sloppy on this….
http://blamebush.typepad.com/
Hours of fun for all!!
“Again, if there were qualified drivers ready and willing to drive the buses, then the NO city govt was grossly negligent. However, if there were not enough qualified drivers (which begs the question “why not?”) I would certainly choose ‘option A: direct the people to the shelter of last resort’ over ‘option B: put random drivers behind the wheels of a 5-ton school bus and trust them not screw up the escape routes.”
Actually, the pictures of buses that were never used is a wee bit misleading. The Gov. used the public transit bus lines to get people out before the storm hit.
The sound byte going around with him begging for buses to be sent down was recorded after the storm hit and after the people who didn’t leave were now stuck.
I’ll second the bus debate for the side of not just jumping in and driving. I had to help move one once. If you’re on the open road or freeway then you’re fine and dandy. If you’re in a tight turn or on a smaller road/neighborhood area with lots of tight spots and turns and don’t drive them for a living then you tend to be kinda dangerous behind the wheel. God knows we were.
“I think the big lesson that can be learned here, by persons on both sides of the poltical spectrum, is that if you depend on government for something this important, you’re very likely to be disappointed.
DW”
“and what is the alternative? every man for himself? rescue for hire? or perhaps private enterprise paid for with tax dollars? corporations have more than their fair share of inept bureacracy too.”
The statement was not meant to suggest an alternative for us to depend on. The government will not be the major source of relief and rebuilding in NO. It will be the people. It will be the people who are inviting “refugees” into their homes. It will be all those evil corporations (all of which are made up of people) like Starbucks giving and donating to the Red Cross. It will be those qualities found, not in government, but in the non-governmental people that contribute the most to recovering from this.
“do you believe we shouldn’t count on the government for national defense?”
We depend on the military for that. The military is a tool of the government, but the military is not (at least in my view) “the government.”
“isn’t the military also too important to be left in the hands of the government?”
War is, I believe, often too important to be left in the hands of politicians.
Now I see that Bush is being blamed for FEMA tardiness… to do so, I think, would require forgetting that FEMA is not intended as a first response and that its response to the NO catastrophe was somewhat better than that of the Hurricane Hugo disaster. FEMA has never been a well-oiled, smooth-running organization, even when the Great Communicator was president.
DW
Even if New Orleans had the money to do something about the levees, the job has to be run by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. They are the ones who approve all major projects like these.
Fema had studied three possibilities of major disasters. One was another terrorist attack on NYC. Another was a major earthquake in California. And the third was a major hurricane in New Orleans. Even after they had studied the possibility, they still didn’t know what to do in New Orleans. If it wasn’t for the fact that the news channels were there to report what was happening, there would have been an even larger delay in assistance being provided.
Brown should be fired.
Chertoff should be fired.
Bush should resign.
Now I see that Bush is being blamed for FEMA tardiness… to do so, I think, would require forgetting that FEMA is not intended as a first response and that its response to the NO catastrophe was somewhat better than that of the Hurricane Hugo disaster.
Then they should get out of the way of the folks who ARE first responders. If there are offers from other governors to send National Guard, don’t sit on it for for two days. If a hurricane’s bearing down, don’t squabble about org charts. If they have supplies like fresh water and food, and the first responders are asking for them, pre-position them and get them out as soon as the weather dies down.
“War is, I believe, often too important to be left in the hands of politicians.”
are you intentionally quoting General Jack. T. Ripper?
though frankly, i think there’s some validity to the sentiment.
The government WILL help. However, what the government can’t do is force people to leave (otherwise the city of NO would have been 100% evacuated before the storm), nor can it have steady food and water for 25,000 people rolled into a city just 24 hours after the storm leaves it totally devastated.
I don’t think anyone is suggesting that the government shouldn’t help, but people should try and take sensible precautions just in case a catastrophe hits.
The Christmas after 9/11, my sister got everyone in the family emergency food packs. It was a creative idea. There is enough for 2-3 days for all of us. Combined with some stored water, we’re set for a few days in a real emergency – enough time for further help to come in (assuming a regional disaster and not a national one).
It’s like insurance. You hope you don’t need it, but you almost have to have it.
If all the Rock Stars & Hollywood Stars gave up their drug habits for a year and donated all that money to reputable charities to help rebuild New Orleans, Gulfport, Biloxi, and other towns on the Gulf Coast, well, that would be just super-tee-duper.
The good news is that the early searches are showing fewer dead than had been feared. We just have to hope that this holds up. The number will still be terrible.
While I think it’s ridiculous (but predictable)that people want to blame Bush for every failure in this disaster, he will have to face serious desrved critisism over appointing cronies to FEMA. Today’s Washington Post shows that Brown is no abberation: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/08/AR2005090802165.html
Five of eight top Federal Emergency Management Agency officials came to their posts with virtually no experience in handling disasters and now lead an agency whose ranks of seasoned crisis managers have thinned dramatically since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
FEMA’s top three leaders — Director Michael D. Brown, Chief of Staff Patrick J. Rhode and Deputy Chief of Staff Brooks D. Altshuler — arrived with ties to President Bush’s 2000 campaign or to the White House advance operation, according to the agency. Two other senior operational jobs are filled by a former Republican lieutenant governor of Nebraska and a U.S. Chamber of Commerce official who was once a political operative.
Especially after 9/11, this is no place to reward people for donations. There are plenty of needless government jobs out there that can take care of that.
Especially after 9/11, this is no place to reward people for donations.
Yeah, that’s just staggering. Even if you believe FEMA should be restricted to after-the-fact coordination (which I do not), and that it should be integrated into Homeland Security (which I am undecided on), there’s still the fact that in the wake of a terrorist attack, there’s gonna be some hard work in the field that has to be done. You should have some capable people if you are the President leading the fight against terrorism.
It’s as if the Bush team can think of only one response and one tactic to use against terrorism, and didn’t bother to think of all the OTHER things you have to do as well. Come on, get your act together and use a little imagination!
I just read an article by a man who was in FEMA prior to the reorganization by this administration. When a natural disaster was predicted to hit, supplies, such as food and water were trucked in before the disaster so as to be ready to be released immediately upon need. They did not wait until several days after to try and get neccessities to the site. If this is an example of the way our government responds to known risks from a predicted disaster, how are they going to be able to handle a terrorist attack? That IS why FEMA was put into Homeland Security, is it not?
I just read an article by a man who was in FEMA prior to the reorganization by this administration. When a natural disaster was predicted to hit, supplies, such as food and water were trucked in before the disaster so as to be ready to be released immediately upon need. They did not wait until several days after to try and get neccessities to the site. If this is an example of the way our government responds to known risks from a predicted disaster, how are they going to be able to handle a terrorist attack? That IS why FEMA was put into Homeland Security, is it not?
Well, Chertoff and Brown CLAIMED that this was what they were doing when they found out about the conditions at the Convention Center and the Superdome. But it raises the question of why they weren’t immediately flown in when the storm passed. [There are some BBC reports that this was because the power was out at the New Orleans aiport; other reports are that because the power was out, they couldn’t scan all the equipment for terrorist activity…they was circumvented when someone in DC signed an order authorizing manual searches. Given so much bad information on the net, I’m not sure how much stock to put into this…but it doesn’t surprise me….]
to do so, I think, would require forgetting that FEMA is not intended as a first response
And yet, that is *exactly* what Bush has intended FEMA and DHS to be after 9/11 – a first response to all disasters in this country.
If all the Rock Stars & Hollywood Stars gave up their drug habits for a year and donated all that money to reputable charities to help rebuild New Orleans, Gulfport, Biloxi, and other towns on the Gulf Coast, well, that would be just super-tee-duper.
And if Pat Robertson bothered to act like a Christian, that would be better.
Bob, you’ll really being stupid here. Please think before you post.
Sure, me’ll be doing that.
A present for my Bush-hating friends:
http://www.snopes.com/photos/katrina/disaster.asp
Meanwhile, the LA Times reveals how an environmental lawsuit may have derailed a project that might have solved the problem almost 40 years agao:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-surge9sep09,1,7901524.story?coll=la-home-headlines&ctrack=1&cset=true
“If we had built the barriers, New Orleans would not be flooded,” said Joseph Towers, the retired chief counsel for the Army Corps of Engineers New Orleans district.
Tower’s view is endorsed by a former key senator, along with academic experts, who say a hurricane barrier is the only way to control the powerful storm surges that enter Lake Pontchartrain and threaten the city. Other experts are less sure, saying the barrier would have been no match for Katrina.
The project was stopped in its tracks when an environmental lawsuit won a federal injunction on the grounds that the Army’s environmental impact statement was flawed. By the mid-1980s, the Corps of Engineers abandoned the project.
Bill, I really respect that you, of all people, posted that Washington Times information about the cronyism in the administraion’s FEMA appointments. If only more and more of us on both sides can become open to seeing the possibility of mistakes, flaws, and corruption in our own politicians, not just those of the other party (and I am trying to examine politicians with an awareness and control of my own biases these days), maybe, some day, we can begin to dig this country out of the partisan tar pit in which it’s trapped.
Yeah, well, if I’m gonna talk the talk I’d better walk the walk, even if it takes me where I didn’t want to go.
I’d rather we came back together with the admission that people on all sides of the political divide were decent folks trying to do what’s best for the country, even if they disagree on how to do it…but I guess having us all realize that politicians of all stripes are pretty much equally venal and stupid is another way of getting there.
Anyway, thanks, Luke.
The number of dead continues to be below early estimates but I caution everyone that this could change with one warehouse. Let’s hope for the best (and also hope that, should the death toll be low, it doesn’t give everyone an excuse to move on and learn nothing from the experience)
Oh, come now, Bill – you know as well as I that people don’t need an excuse to move on and learn nothing from experience! Heck, if we learned from experience, would this country have reelected Dubya? 🙂
Oh, come now, Bill – you know as well as I that people don’t need an excuse to move on and learn nothing from experience! Heck, if we learned from experience, would this country have reelected Dubya? 🙂
Probably not since, in this makebelieve world, the Democrats would have nominated a good candidate. 🙂
“If all the Rock Stars & Hollywood Stars gave up their drug habits for a year and donated all that money to reputable charities to help rebuild New Orleans, Gulfport, Biloxi, and other towns on the Gulf Coast, well, that would be just super-tee-duper.”
Yup, because in this time of national disaster and terrible government failure, we need to keep in mind who to REALLY blame. The Rock and Hollywood Stars. Those liberal bášŧárdš.
One of the best things about doing 20 years in the military is that I got to meet, work with, laugh, cry, live, and, in some unfortunate times, see people die, people from all 50 states, people from several countries on the planet, from all walks of life. Here’s something from a friend whose brother lives and works in New Orleans:
((From C.L.))
Some of you know this, but for those of you who don’t, my brother and his family live(d) in New Orleans. His wife and two young children evacuated before Katrina hit, but he stayed behind to protect his properties from looters. He has two houses in New Orleans, one is the house in which they live and the other is used as an office for his work. Neither house flooded, but they did sustain wind damage when the hurricane first hit.
He kept himself armed at all times and chased off looters. Some looters weren’t so “fortunate” when they encountered a few of his neighbors. Their bodies attest to some very poor decisions, including being caught inside houses where the owner remained.
After eight days, he finally left the city today at his discretion. He’s hired some professional security people (ex-special ops) to guard his properties and along with the National Guard presence gave him some confidence that the corner is turning. He’ll be all right and will be setting up with his family in Jackson, MS, for the time being.
He is mentally and physically exhausted, but he helped who he could, protected his home, and touched many lives during the past week. Below are a few news stories and photos that describe some of his ordeal. I cut and pasted this pretty fast, so I may have broken some links, but I was trying to make it easier to read. If so I apologize.
I didn’t post this on the [Military Reunion] site because I’m about to make a political statement. Bob, if you decide it’s worth posting go for it. I know my brother feels much the same as I do. A lot of rubbish has been spinning through the media trying to point fingers everywhere but where it belongs. I feel desperately sorry for those who suffered so much and for those who died, but the human devastation in New Orleans resulting from the hurricane is the direct consequence of generations of corruption, gangsterism, neo-colonialism, and oppression of the poor and ignorant by their supposed local leaders. The depravity seen this past week has existed for a long time, but has always been couched by a wink and a nod as the “culture” that is New Orleans.
I lived and worked in New Orleans for over three years with my family after I retired from the Air Force. I heard many life-long residents talk about the levee system while I lived there. It was always a bit of gallows humor because the joke was not whether we could sustain a category 4 or 5 hurricane, but how many parts of the system would give way when the next hurricane hit no matter the magnitude. As with so much of the city, the levee was just a veneer in many places. The money to do it right went into people’s pockets, not proper construction.
Not until the governor of Louisiana made the request could the federal government intercede. That is the law of the land. And I’m not too keen on finding reasons to chip away at the separation between the federal and state governments where there is no legal standing. The judiciary making law is bad enough (think eminent domain), but to look for ways to make big government any bigger is even more disturbing, especially when it flies against our constitution. We have a federal system. Had the president interceded before getting a formal legal request for such aid from the governor, he would have been pilloried by the media for intruding into states rights and responsibilities and his critics would be quick to use it as a reason to impeach him. There was plenty of warning for local and state authorities to do the right thing; there was no doubt that New Orleans was not going to dodge this one. If the mayor had just tried to implement the city’s hurricane disaster plan instead of ignoring it, things would have been much better. The state and local governments are the first responders in a natural disaster. However, the institutionalized mind-set of entitlement that runs throughout Louisiana kept the leadership from being able to take the actions for which they took an oath to uphold. They were too busy waiting for the political machine to tell them what to do and resisting advice from the “opposition.” That being said, the officials and leaders at the federal level could have done more to pressure the locals and they perhaps could have been more prepared to move once authorization was there. Big government breeds big slow moving agencies. The politics in this is really ugly. Above all, politics is local.
As the money pours in I will be watching and listening for signs that the rebuilding will not be business as usual. Should the local leadership not be held accountable and the insult to injury occurs where they get even fatter from graft in the letting of contracts, then we all should be seriously worried. We work hard for our money and recognize that part of it must go for the common good, but there is a threshold that should not be crossed, especially when it becomes nothing more than throwing it down a rat hole. I am proud that the one organization that could get things done during this crisis is our military. But how long can our military remain strong and proud if all the rest of society is slowly crumbling around them pushed on by polarization and opportunism, losing sight of what made our culture great? While not as extreme, the same holds true to other gulf coast areas. Why did [T.B.] risk his life by remaining in his home in Biloxi? New Orleans is just the most recent and glaring example of a growing problem throughout our society. I hope it’s a wake-up call for everyone to pay attention to more than sound bites.
C.L.
==========================================
He asked that, should I share this, I change a couple things. I honored his wishes. As for the guy, T.B., who stayed behind in Biloxi? A few of us Red State, Bush-voting, Christian, Right-Wing types made sure he personally got a handful of money, no administrative suck-off by suits at desks. He called from Theodore AL, to let us know that he was buying clean, dry clothes & shoes for his family and neighbors. No MTV, VH1 concert needed. Not with us. You know, us Red State, Bib-Overall-wearing, Bush-voting yokels.
While not the pork project rollback I’d have liked to have seen, there is something out there that is worthy of support: http://councilfor.cagw.org/site/News2?abbr=CCAGW_&page=NewsArticle&id=9246
The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) unveiled a “Hurricane Katrina No Pork Pledge” alongside members of Congress at a press conference today. By signing the pledge, members of Congress vow to oppose any project or provision that is not directly related to the impact of Hurricane Katrina in any supplemental appropriations bill that provides funds for hurricane relief.
CCAGW President Tom Schatz was joined by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD), Rep. Tom Feeney (R-Fla.), Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA), Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio), Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ), Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA), and Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC). Rep. Chris Chocola (R-Indiana) was unable to attend but has signed the pledge.
“In the past, some members of Congress have shortchanged troops, disaster victims, and taxpayers by including self-serving pork projects in emergency spending bills,” Schatz said. “Weighing down supplemental appropriations bills for Hurricane Katrina with egregious spending will hinder recovery efforts and add to the deficit. By signing the pledge, members of Congress are making sure that every cent of recovery spending goes to the victims of this terrible tragedy.”
the fact that no democrats were there may mean that CCAGW is a Republican lobbying group. If so, there should be an equivilant bill set into motion by Democrats. Trying to pork up relief to New Orleans would be obscene and all too expected.
I am very late getting to this discussion, my apologies to all.
“Air Drops Are Not A Good Idea
In war a bomb can miss a target. If they had dropped food and water from a plane PEOPLE WOULD HAVE BEEN HIT BY THE DROPS or worse, those food and water drops would have been comandeered by the thugs who had taken over the Superdome.”
Really? Soooo, a huge campaign to drop food and supplies over a city that has been totally cut off from the rest of the world…a city that had people on rooftops, a crowded city, that had had a lot of damage dome to it, that would never work?
Ever hear of the Berlin Airlift?
“It’s interesting that you should bring this up. Carter was a former navigation officer on a nuclear submarine, and was thus well aware that there was nothing to fear from touring 3-Mile Island. The toxic soup that saturates NO is by far more dangerous.”
No one said bush had to go to NO proper, but certainly he should have gone down their earlier or not at all.
FYI….
Someone who participated in the Hurricane Pam exercise, that supposedly tested New Orleans readiness for flooding:
http://suspect-device.blogspot.com/2005/09/hurricane-pam-where-it-all-started-to.html
There are some axes being ground here, but there’s an explanation or two on why there was so much red tape in the wake of Katrina.
Not until the governor of Louisiana made the request could the federal government intercede. That is the law of the land. And I’m not too keen on finding reasons to chip away at the separation between the federal and state governments where there is no legal standing. The judiciary making law is bad enough (think eminent domain), but to look for ways to make big government any bigger is even more disturbing, especially when it flies against our constitution.”
Not true, but an example of how fast the Republican spin machine gets things going.
A plan put into action by President Bush himself gives the federal government (specifically the DHS which FEMA is a part of) the authority to act in natural disaster situations, as there is a tendency in such situations for local and state governments to become overwhelmed.
Guess what happened?
With all the talk about how the federal government couldn’t intervene without the governor’s consent, I have to wonder: why can’t the federal government supply food, water, medicine and supplies if asked to? This is not barred by the law of the land [it only bars federal troops used for law enforcement activities], and we know that the Louisiana governor asked for plenty of resources before the hurricane hit.
So what was the problem with supplying food, water and other material?
“So what was the problem with supplying food, water and other material?”
No problem except stultifying incompetence.
Ordinarily, I would dislike power-plays at a time like this, but it does seem to be a pity that no one actually got full control, as it becomes more and more apparent than many problems, and more deaths, were caused by lack of a clear-cut chain of command. Disgusting that it is that FEMA would push for more power at a time like this, (If that sotry is true) but at least things might have gotten done.
The Blame Game going on at this point is looking more and more like an attempt to salvage as much face for both sides as possible. It is eminently
clear that both sides, be it the Democratic Mayor of New Orleans, the Democratic Gov. of the State, or the Rebublican President, screwed up.
Still, (and with the realization that I might get jumped for this one) it is more Bush’s fault. Ok, so the mayor showed intelligence comprable to that of certain intestinal bacteria by not evacuating the City. The Gov. Should have ordered it herself. But in the end, when “The hurley-burleys done” it was up to the Feds to fix it. Like big Government or not, like the administration or not, it was their job to step in and help.
and they screwed it up. And they are still screwing it up. Heck I just saw a news story today that the companies that got the first contracts had close ties to the Bush administration.
(http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050910/pl_nm/contracts_dc;_ylt=AjZWaru23MTSVx8LReQCXlCs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3ODdxdHBhBHNlYwM5NjQ-)
To which I quote an old song, that should have been defunct long before now.
“Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul”
(Bob Dylan, lyrics copywrighted)
the fact that no democrats were there may mean that CCAGW is a Republican lobbying group
They’re not a very useful or effective group then, else they would’ve gotten some of the fat taken off that $300 billion transportation bill Bush recently signed.
Ordinarily, I would dislike power-plays at a time like this, but it does seem to be a pity that no one actually got full control, as it becomes more and more apparent than many problems, and more deaths, were caused by lack of a clear-cut chain of command. Disgusting that it is that FEMA would push for more power at a time like this, (If that sotry is true) but at least things might have gotten done.
That may be the case. Then again, it may be that grabbing for power muddied the waters for a clear chain of command. Certainly, the solutions I head floated had a horribly confused command structure with lots of potential for conflicting orders (reporting to BOTH the governor and the PResident????), and it came at a time when Louisiana was asking for resources…which they didn’t get until much later.
Gov. Blanco was certainly indecisive (24 hours to make a decision? Excuse me?), but it still escapes me why FEMA couldn’t at least deliver materials and resources and be ready to take over later, when things went to hëll.
This is it PAD, I’ve had it this time. I haven’t been to your site in several days and what do I find? That your on the bandwagon for blaming Bush about the problems in N.O.
What gets me is that liberal Democrates carry the banner that indicates they care more for the poor in this country yet during a time like this you and others have sought to turn this into a political debate. There is no honor in this and you should be ashamed, but if you fealt shame you would not engage in this in the first place. So I’m done reading your political comments (still like your comics).
“This is it PAD, I’ve had it this time. I haven’t been to your site in several days and what do I find? That your on the bandwagon for blaming Bush about the problems in N.O.”
Really. You found that, did you? That’s pretty interesting. Please quote for me exactly where, please, I say, “It’s Bush’s fault.” Where I specifically say, “I blame Bush.” Even in the face of the indisputable staggering incompetence of Bush’s underqualified appointee to FEMA, I have reserved judgment on assigning blame. What part of “I have no clear idea yet” is confusing to you?
“What gets me is that liberal Democrates carry the banner that indicates they care more for the poor in this country yet during a time like this you and others have sought to turn this into a political debate.”
Whereas what gets me about conservative Republicans is that they hide behind the distress of the poor in order to AVOID political debate.
“There is no honor in this and you should be ashamed, but if you fealt shame you would not engage in this in the first place.”
Whereas I believe there’s no honor in falling into lockstep behind the GOP soundbytes, while overlooking the big picture. And the big picture is this: This was the first test of the government responding to a major emergency in four years, and it was bungled up on side and down the other. And it seems to this observer that rather than ask the hard questions, this administration’s default position is, “Go away, we’re busy now.” Which is exactly what happened when the 9/1l commission was empaneled. Now maybe it’s okay with you that nothing has changed or been learned in four years, but I find it worrisome. And more, I find it worrisome that you don’t.
“So I’m done reading your political comments (still like your comics).”
I’m kind of betting the former is a fib and that you’re reading this right now.
PAD
“What gets me is that liberal Democrats carry the banner that indicates they care more for the poor in this country yet during a time like this you and others have sought to turn this into a political debate.”
Whereas what gets me about conservative Republicans is that they hide behind the distress of the poor in order to AVOID political debate.
And what gets me is that partisans on both sides can toss out statements on how “liberals” or “conservatives” or “Democrats” or Republicans” act when it would be clear to anyone who actually knows a few members of the groups being maligned that making such generalizations tells more about the speaker than the target.
really, is it so hard to add the word “some” to the diatribe? Or is tarring the opposition too critical to the argument? (I’ll admit that I have also been guilty of this but Tim, Karen and others have been there to keep me on the straight and narrow.)
Now with PAD I’ll just assume that he thinks this is so obvious a point that it doesn’t need to be said. With Banner I think it’s being careless. (That may not be fair to Banner but he didn’t write Atlantis Chronicles 🙂
the fact that no democrats were there may mean that CCAGW is a Republican lobbying group
They’re not a very useful or effective group then, else they would’ve gotten some of the fat taken off that $300 billion transportation bill Bush recently signed.
Effective, no. Useful, yes. It is good to have a group taht tells us where elected officials stand on things. If this is an issue that matters to you it may be worth remembering when and if John McCain runs for president again.