Yeah, I read that first one the other day. It really is interesting to watch the Mayor of NO say the Fed govt didnt react in time when they did absolutely nothing to evacuate the city themselves. Seeing the picture of hundreds of school busses parked in nice neat rows sitting in 4 feet of water is very telling to me.
Cornbread Maxwell wrote:Yeah, I read that first one the other day. It really is interesting to watch the Mayor of NO say the Fed govt didnt react in time when they did absolutely nothing to evacuate the city themselves. Seeing the picture of hundreds of school busses parked in nice neat rows sitting in 4 feet of water is very telling to me.
I don't want to get too political here, but to me I haven't found any elected officials who have distinguished themselves in this whole mess. Most of the real help seems to have come from charities, lower-level military, individual citizens, etc especially for the first few days.
Cornbread Maxwell wrote:Yeah, I read that first one the other day. It really is interesting to watch the Mayor of NO say the Fed govt didnt react in time when they did absolutely nothing to evacuate the city themselves. Seeing the picture of hundreds of school busses parked in nice neat rows sitting in 4 feet of water is very telling to me.
I don't want to get too political here, but to me I haven't found any elected officials who have distinguished themselves in this whole mess. Most of the real help seems to have come from charities, lower-level military, individual citizens, etc especially for the first few days.
true - the vast majority of people who are doing much are volunteers at this point.
The Mayor of NO and Gov of Louisiana were all over news and TV after the tragedy though - they had been claiming the US Govt didnt react quickly enough to get aid to these people. It seemed the hight of audacity when these were the people who could have evacuated the cities much better but failed to, so instead they went on a media campaign to blame our govt for not helping quickly enough. It shouldnt be shocking as people rarely take responsibility - especially elected officials, but even still it was disheartening to watch them pass the buck so quickly when they themselves are largly to blame.
Cornbread Maxwell wrote:Yeah, I read that first one the other day. It really is interesting to watch the Mayor of NO say the Fed govt didnt react in time when they did absolutely nothing to evacuate the city themselves. Seeing the picture of hundreds of school busses parked in nice neat rows sitting in 4 feet of water is very telling to me.
I don't want to get too political here, but to me I haven't found any elected officials who have distinguished themselves in this whole mess. Most of the real help seems to have come from charities, lower-level military, individual citizens, etc especially for the first few days.
true - the vast majority of people who are doing much are volunteers at this point.
The Mayor of NO and Gov of Louisiana were all over news and TV after the tragedy though - they had been claiming the US Govt didnt react quickly enough to get aid to these people. It seemed the hight of audacity when these were the people who could have evacuated the cities much better but failed to, so instead they went on a media campaign to blame our govt for not helping quickly enough. It shouldnt be shocking as people rarely take responsibility - especially elected officials, but even still it was disheartening to watch them pass the buck so quickly when they themselves are largly to blame.
Bingo. The mayor and gov. should be ashamed of themselves.
I used to be political with managers in a keeper league I am in, but since then have been trying my best to stay out of it.
Anywho, just wanting to report what I heard. If I can find a copy of the press conference, I'll post the part where the Mayor of New Orleans said "he could have done better."
So before you start faulting the mayor, at least he did say "he could have done better."
someone25 wrote:So before you start faulting the mayor, at least he did say "he could have done better."
It's a start, and it's more than Bush will ever admit.
Someone drew a comparison between 9/11 and Katrina that I thought was interesting. Post-9/11 clean-up was much more efficient because we had Bush on the ball, as well as a very competent governor and mayor. What you're seeing in New Orleans is very different.
I heard on the news about three students from Duke University that simply drove to New Orleans, stole media passes (and T-shirts), and walked off the highway to a shelter. They then began handing out water and transporting wounded (for instance, one elderly African-American man had severe ant bites all over him) to the Baton Rouge hospital. If these kids can do so much off the highway, then why can't FIMA and all of the rescue workers do something when they are stationed all around and in the shelter?
It's definitely a mess, and if it shows us anything, it's that we may not be the unstoppable superpower that we may have believed we were. The attacks on the World Trade Center were relatively unforseen and unpredictable (well, except the "Bin Laden plans to attack US" briefing). No one in New York could've imagined this happening; the hijacking of planes was unheard of in America.
But, Katrina is a hurricane, a natural disaster that has been around forever. Bush, FEMA, and the local governments have repeatly claimed that "No one could've predicted this happening" when even random people on the street were interviewed the weekend before Katrina hit, saying, "If it's more than a Category 2, this city could be destroyed."
We knew it was coming, yet the country, state, and city failed to have any plan of emergency evacuation plan. Maybe the one positive that will come out of all this is that we will be prepared next time a disaster strikes, whatever it may be.
The more you can increase fear of drugs and crime, welfare mothers, immigrants and aliens, the more you control all the people. -Noam Chomsky
Listen, local officials may have been unprepared, and dropped the ball on this, but the feds (FEMA) should have done a much, much better job.
I say this because, basically, that is their only job. Federal Emergency Management Agency.
They, supposedly, prepare for natural disaster scenarios exactly like this, in order to come up with the most effective and timely response.
This is what they do, and unfortunately, they didn't do it well in this case.
FEMA chief, Michael Brown, was removed from leading the recovery efforts today, and replaced by Vice Admiral Thad Allen, head of the US Coast Guard. There's a reason for this replacement, and it's a bungled job by FEMA.
I watched the local news last night showing truckloads of aid reaching residents in rural Mississippi. This was aid from groups not associated with any local, state, or Federal government. What I found disturbing were the stories from the residents saying that FEMA representatives did come to their towns, but quickly left leaving them with nothing but cards with a toll-free # to call for help.
Duh!
"There's no freakin' phone service, isn't it obvious we need help now."
This isn't a left/right issue. It's not a political football to fumble about. There's plenty of blame to go around regarding the recovery effort.
The local and state governments failed in their preparation to deal with such a disaster.
However, the Feds really messed up with their belated response. That's simple fact, and not a political statement in any sense.
"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."
-Benjamin Franklin
First I'm not schilling for FEMA because all of the large federal government programs are beuracratic nightmares that in cases of emergencies get bogged down in their own size and red tape. However the Red Cross and the Military were waiting to go into new Orleans but were hamstrung by the Governor. She said she needed 24 hrs to make a decision, Haley Barbor the Gov of Mississippi asked almost immediatly for help. The Federal government cannot use the military in the USA without the governor of the state asking for the help. The law is the Posse Commitatus Law( spelling is wrong I'm sure). The Red cross was ready to go into the Superdome and the convention center with food and supplies but were kept out by the Louisiana dept of Homeland Security, which is controled by the Governor, because they did not want the supplies to attract more people to the two spots. So blaming the Federal government for the total lack of ability of the Governor of LA and the mayor of NO is its seems to me not only wrong but also shows the lack of understanding of our countries laws and the truth.
Cafe Home
Fantasy Baseball
Fantasy Basketball
Fantasy Hockey
by lmcjaho » Wed Sep 07, 2005 11:35 pm 
