The Flooded Buses That Blanco and Nagin Wouldn’t Let The President Have
JunkYardBlog is doing a fine job exposing the New Orleans scandal. Buses used to take Democrats to the polls every election day sit under water today… meaning they were unused after Mayor Nagin issued his “mandatory” evacuation order last Sunday at President Bush’s urging.
Here is one section of the city with hundreds of unused buses.
And here is another.
Now the truth comes out further from, of all places, the Washington Post. Governor Blanco refused to hand over the evacuation to Federal authorities despite pleading from the Bush Administration. (Hat tip: VtheK)
Behind the scenes, a power struggle emerged, as federal officials tried to wrest authority from Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D). Shortly before midnight [last] Friday, the Bush administration sent her a proposed legal memorandum asking her to request a federal takeover of the evacuation of New Orleans, a source within the state’s emergency operations center said Saturday.
The administration sought unified control over all local police and state National Guard units reporting to the governor. Louisiana officials rejected the request after talks throughout the night, concerned that such a move would be comparable to a federal declaration of martial law. Some officials in the state suspected a political motive behind the request. “Quite frankly, if they’d been able to pull off taking it away from the locals, they then could have blamed everything on the locals,” said the source, who does not have the authority to speak publicly.
So the Governor and the Mayor were more concerned about who would be blamed in advance of the catastrophe rather than caring about using all resources available to save their citizens’ lives?? The ironic thing is that by refusing to allow the Feds in until Wednesday, instead of last Sunday, the truth is coming out and thousands of deaths are on the watch of Blanco and Nagin.
A senior administration official said that Bush has clear legal authority to federalize National Guard units to quell civil disturbances under the Insurrection Act and will continue to try to unify the chains of command that are split among the president, the Louisiana governor and the New Orleans mayor.
Louisiana did not reach out to a multi-state mutual aid compact for assistance until Wednesday, three state and federal officials said. As of Saturday, Blanco still had not declared a state of emergency, the senior Bush official said.
Further, as I reported before, it was President Bush… not Blanco or Nagin… who had to demand the evacuation of New Orleans on Sunday.
I’m sure that the President and FEMA assumed that New Orleans and state officials would follow their own evacuation plans, especially since they refused Federal help on Sunday. And that they would use the buses to save lives that are normally used to make sure Democrats get to the polls on time every four years.
Blanco and Nagin should be impeached.
-Bruce (GayPatriot) – gaypatriot2004@aol.com
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As the prostitute said to the leper, thanks for the tip.
It strikes me that the governments of Louisiana and New Orleans have badly bungled the job, while relief efforts seem to be proceeding in an orderly manner in Mississippi and Alabama. I’ll leave it to someone else to look up the party affiliations of those states’ governors. Furthermore, it’s interesting which state has contributed the most to helping out evacuees and picking up the slack left by the failures of governments in Louisiana and New Orleans… Texas! The much-maligned state that liberals love to hate.
Comment by V the K — September 4, 2005 @ 12:35 pm - September 4, 2005
Very effective post. Those pictures are worth 1,000 words.
Comment by joe — September 4, 2005 @ 1:07 pm - September 4, 2005
You are so very right, brother. In my state, Florida, we understand that, with 6 hurricanes in 13 months, it is up to the local and state officials to develop and implement a disaster plan and coordinate through the feds. These officials are to ensure mitigation before the disaster and first responder activities immediately after. Mississippi and Alabama appear to have done so. Louisiana and New Orleans have failed this test. There was ample opportunity before the storm, but most importantly this catastrophic scenario has been known for decades. The feds may have some blame, but the mayor and governor are responsible.
Comment by Right in Florida — September 4, 2005 @ 2:10 pm - September 4, 2005
I think the WaPo report was referring to discussions this LAST Friday, the 2nd of Sep, not the Friday BEFORE the hurricane, the 26th of Aug. Therefore this was not a case of the Governor and Mayor acting before the catastrophe to head off blame, but afterwards.
FEMA, rightly, wants to get everything under a single chain of command instead of having disjointed efforts. I think the Governor’s decision is extremely wrong-headed and will result in further loss of human live.
Comment by JY — September 4, 2005 @ 2:50 pm - September 4, 2005
Um… is anyone else but me amazed that this posting has gotten zero comments from our Moonbat friends who lurk here every hour of every day? How could they miss this posting? The photos of the buses drowning in their own leaking oil and gas take up half the page.
Perhaps they haven’t figured out a way to blame President Bush for not knowing the city and school buses were there so he could also plead with Blanco and Nagin to use them. Seems like the only time they ever did anything was after the President did get involved.
C’mon, Reader…GayCowboyBoob…. what do you say to this damning evidence of local and state incompetence?
Comment by GayPatriot — September 4, 2005 @ 7:17 pm - September 4, 2005
…what do you say to this damning evidence of local and state incompetence?
That while the fuck-ups stretch from New Orleans to Washington, the final responsibility and the greatest blame resides with the head of the organization responsible for crisis management.
(Hint: He’s President of the United States.)
Comment by Jody — September 4, 2005 @ 8:09 pm - September 4, 2005
I’ll let FEMA respond to that question.
http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/2322
This is a description of the the FEMA test scenario of a CAT3 hurricane hitting New Orleans. The news report says:
During the five-day exercise, FEMA envisioned that the fictitious category 3 “Hurricane Pam” slammed into New Orleans, deluging the area in enough water to top the levees and flood the city. Groups representing approximately 50 government agencies worked out action plans in July 2004 to deal with search and rescue, establishing shelters, debris clean-up, pumping water out of the city and even getting schools back up and running after the storm.
Though officials involved in the scenario acknowledged that tens of thousands of residents would be without the means to evacuate New Orleans in the absence of government help, the Hurricane Pam scenario teams did not determine strategies for evacuating people ahead of time. Instead, officials predicted that only one-third of the city’s residents would make it out in time and designed their response plan around that assumption.
…
For instance, they anticipated that failure to completely evacuate the entire city ahead of the storm would pose deadly consequences for those left behind. They also predicted that tens of thousands of residents would not leave the city, even under a mandatory evacuation order, because they would lack transportation. And they foresaw that those who stayed and managed to survive the winds and the flooding would be without emergency relief for several days.
…
Though the Pam scenario plans did not address pre-emptive evacuation assistance, New Orleans officials told the Times-Picayune in July of this year that they would dedicate 64 city buses and 10 lift vans, as well as potentially school buses and Amtrak trains, to help people flee the city in the event of a serious hurricane threat. But they also acknowledged that would not meet the potential need.
…
The day before Hurricane Katrina stormed ashore, New Orleans Mayer Ray Nagin, in his mandatory evacuation order, granted city officials the authority to “commandeer any private property, including, but not limited to… vehicles that may be used to transport people out the area.”
FEMA knew people would not leave, they knew the consequences of that would be deadly and they did not to create a plan that would effectively counter those consequences. Is this somehow justifiable by a picture of flooded buses?
Who was supposed to drive the buses? What was the plan to gather people to get them on buses especially when they were not willing to go anyway? There are a host of questions not answered by a couple of stupid pictures and all of this shows more of the abject failure of the response all around.
Comment by gaycowboybob — September 4, 2005 @ 9:46 pm - September 4, 2005
“It is incredible, the government had no evacuation plan … the first power in the world and it left its own population adrift.” …. Hugo Chávez, the President of Venezuela
Comment by David Martin — September 5, 2005 @ 12:12 am - September 5, 2005
GCB-
Did you actually read that?
FEMA conducted drills to see how New Orleans officials would respond — and found the plans to be abominable, primarily in that they didn’t provide a way to evacuate poor NOers. Positively prescient.
Under pressure from FEMA, New Orleans officials drew up plans to use local buses to evacuate the underprivileged. The mayor authorized doing just that. It never happened. Criminally negligent.
How on Earth is that FEMA’s fault??? FEMA audited them — found the flaw — and made them come up with a way to fix it. But despite adequate warning of the problem, and being forced to draw up detailed written plans to solve it, the city government STILL let its citizens down.
I join N.Z. in wondering how long it should take for Mayor Nagin to be indicted for several thousand counts of negligent homicide.
Comment by Clint — September 5, 2005 @ 12:49 am - September 5, 2005
http://michellemalkin.com/archives/003458.htm
MEMO TO BUSH: FIRE MICHAEL BROWN
By Michelle Malkin · September 04, 2005 08:17 AM
During his visit to Mobile, Ala., on Friday, President Bush singled out Michael D. Brown, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, for praise:
“Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job.”
Really? “Brownie’s” job is to direct the federal response to natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina. Let’s review his public statements during the past week:
- He admitted that he didn’t act more aggressively because as late as last Sunday he expected Katrina to be a “standard hurricane” even though the National Weather Service in New Orleans was already predicting “human suffering incredible by modern standards.”
- He proved himself utterly clueless about the disaster unfolding in New Orleans. He claimed that the federal relief effort was “going relatively well” and that the security situation in New Orleans was “pretty darn good.”
- He blamed the flood victims in New Orleans for failing to evacuate on time, even though local authorities failed to make municipal vehicles available to residents who could not drive or did not own their own cars.
“It took four days to begin a large-scale evacuation of people stranded in the Superdome stadium and to bring in significant amounts of food and water to an American city easily accessible by motorway,” the Observer notes. “Relief agencies took half that time to reach Indonesia after the Boxing Day tsunami. ”
Although the delay was not entirely the fault of the Bush Administration, Brown’s complacency clearly didn’t help. And his bumbling statements after the hurricane struck have not inspired confidence.
This is not the time to give a weak performer the benefit of the doubt. The FEMA director’s role in the ongoing recovery effort is too important to be entrusted to a clueless political hack with such poor judgment.
Rather than praise Michael Brown, Bush should fire him.
***
Comment by spin this neocons — September 5, 2005 @ 1:35 am - September 5, 2005
Once again, it comes down to the Mayor and Governor talking to each other
Comment by PatriotMom — September 5, 2005 @ 8:26 am - September 5, 2005
LOL….aside from the obvious irony of seeing someone who would post under the name “spin this neocons” quoting someone who he or she probably would never quote for anything else, that’s an easy answer. Brown can be fired, Nagin and Blanco can be impeached for leaving thousands of people to die by refusing to evacuate them in advance.
Who was supposed to drive the buses? What was the plan to gather people to get them on buses especially when they were not willing to go anyway?
Well, as to the first, with a year and two months to prepare, you think they couldn’t find drivers or train drivers?
As to the second, GCB, that’s blaming the victims. Remember? When Brown pointed out that many of the people who were in the city stayed of their own volition, you and your fellow spinning liberals called that “racist” and “blaming the victims”. Now you’re standing there frantically trying to cover up the incompetence of a city government that KNEW its response was inadequate, who KNEW what was going to happen, and who did not do the obvious — train a fleet of bus drivers, send them through New Orleans on the established bus routes to pick up people, and stock the Superdome and the convention center with food and water to make them BETTER shelters, especially since they KNEW that people would likely be cut off for days.
Clint nailed it — FEMA checked New Orleans and found its response to be wanting. But I’m sure that any attempt to actually force New Orleans to react to the findings in the hopes of saving lives would be met with a horde of foaming Democrats complaining about “local control” and “wasting money” and “racism”.
The more I see of this, the more incomprehensible the actions of local Democratic officials comes….unless one assumes that they were told to deliberately stop the evacuation in the hopes of causing casualties that would politically embarrass Bush.
Comment by North Dallas Thirty — September 5, 2005 @ 10:50 am - September 5, 2005
NDT-
I don’t believe that anyone deliberately let people die for political advantage.
I do believe that the Mayor was so inculcated in the left’s politics of victimhood that he instinctively ran to the nearest reporter to scream “Help me! This is all your fault!” rather than trying to do something to help himself.
Comment by Clint — September 5, 2005 @ 12:28 pm - September 5, 2005
GCB-
re: “Who would drive the buses?”
Perhaps you haven’t seen the excellent stories about a few self-reliant folk among the downtrodden poor of New Orleans (That’s why liberals will always lose in the long run — self-reliance is a survival trait even in a Communist Hell.) A few young men hotwired abandoned city buses and drove their neighbors to safety in Texas.
Driving a bus is not quite the same as driving a car, but in a pinch any of us could drive one adequately. (Haven’t you seen Speed?? If Sandra Bullock could do it…)
Comment by Clint — September 5, 2005 @ 12:32 pm - September 5, 2005
And Brown should be fired – why did Bush appoint someone whose background was working at the Arabian Horse Association to an emergency management post?
Comment by Eva Young — September 5, 2005 @ 11:01 pm - September 5, 2005
Am I insane or did Clint and ND30 read an entirely different article than I did?
The title of the story is “FEMA Planned to Leave New Orleans Poor Behind”
Is there something ambiguous about that?
Comment by gaycowboybob — September 6, 2005 @ 1:59 am - September 6, 2005
Am I insane or did Clint and ND30 read an entirely different article than I did?
You’re insane, GayCow. You clearly didn’t read beyond the headline, which was nothing more than typical leftist spin. They created the headline so stupid people would believe that and draw no other conclusions.
Comment by ThatGayConservative — September 6, 2005 @ 6:38 am - September 6, 2005
I’m just astonished that this site refuses to allot for any criticism of the Bush Administration. I used to feel that you represented alot of gay conservatives like me. However, there’s a big difference between conservatism and just being a Bush Administration patsy. Its getting too disgusting.
Comment by John — September 6, 2005 @ 9:50 am - September 6, 2005
There’s always room for criticism of the Bush administration’s actions, John.
However, the problem here is that the criticism being leveled is based on the Bush administration’s inability to a) foretell the future and b) stop believing that state and local government would actually follow their own disaster plans.
FEMA isn’t in the business of preventing every disaster. They are in the business of mitigating what they can and working in conjunction with local relief efforts. Their audit last year showed that New Orleans was wanting on several counts, and they warned that, in the event of a major storm, New Orleans would likely be cut off for several days.
Had the local activities been followed, i.e. using mass transit to evacuate people and stocking the shelters with sufficient food and water for several days, the FEMA response would be far better in perspective.
Comment by North Dallas Thirty — September 6, 2005 @ 11:52 am - September 6, 2005
Eva-
I believe that Brown ought to be fired.
But what on Earth does his previous job have to do with that? If his previous job had been hauling manure for Arabian horses, I’d still support him if he’d stepped up well in this crisis.
Comment by Clint — September 6, 2005 @ 12:19 pm - September 6, 2005
John-
On another thread here, I just gave a list of about a dozen things I think the Bush administration has done really poorly. I’m not a rabid defender of Bush against all criticism — I’m a rabid defender of ANYONE who I see being unfairly attacked. (Also a fairly stubborn defender of grammar, spelling, basic arithmetic and logic.)
Right at the moment I’m working on my next blog post (after a long hiatus), loosely titled “A Conservative Defense of Sean Penn.”
Comment by Clint — September 6, 2005 @ 1:08 pm - September 6, 2005
I’m just astonished that this site refuses to allot for any criticism of the Bush Administration. I used to feel that you represented alot of gay conservatives like me. However, there’s a big difference between conservatism and just being a Bush Administration patsy. Its getting too disgusting.
What’s truly sickening and disgusting is the left’s criticisms of Bush based on hatred instead of fact. Worse than that, apparently some “conservatives” are buying it.
Add to that the fact that the ones who are bitching the most aren’t down there getting their manicures dirty or showing how it should be done (ie. Leaky Leahy, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Keith Olbermann, Howard Dean etc.).
Comment by ThatGayConservative — September 6, 2005 @ 5:46 pm - September 6, 2005
#14 – The story I read in one of the MSM papers is that Brown’s post is a “political appointee” post in every Administration – including, say, Clinton’s – with FEMA staff expected to provide expertise. So I don’t think Bush did anything specially different with Brown. Having said that: it’s no excuse, and “normal political practice” must change.
#17 – No John – We just want criticisms based on reason and logic, not irrational expectations, or political and personal hatreds that the speakers were already nursing before the hurricane. The U.S. is not a dictatorship. State and local government are the first line of defense, with FEMA in a helping role. The facts coming out now show FEMA and Bush tried to help and to get more action on these things – before, during and after. Were they perfect? No, and government should learn here, as after Hurricane Andrew and every other.
Comment by joe — September 6, 2005 @ 9:28 pm - September 6, 2005
And lesson #1 has to be: find out what your local government is doing about keeping food and water and handi-wipes stocked in your local disaster shelter, because it’s too late to stock it when you show up and need the supplies!
Comment by Clint — September 6, 2005 @ 10:21 pm - September 6, 2005
No. Lesson #1 is to hire horse trainers, not commissioners.
Comment by anon — September 6, 2005 @ 11:55 pm - September 6, 2005
#22 tries to excuse the terrible performance of FEMA and its party hack leader with this:
“The story I read in one of the MSM papers is that Brown’s post is a “political appointee” post in every Administration – including, say, Clinton’s – with FEMA staff expected to provide expertise. So I don’t think Bush did anything specially different with Brown.”
#22, use your Google every once in a while and you’ll be a little more up-to-date on these things. You’d learn Bush did indeed do something different with Brown, appointing a hack just relieved of his duty in the Arabian Horse Association to replace a professional (James Lee Witt) as the head of FEMA. I’m catching you guys trying to drop the idea everywhere here that Brown was no different than Witt. If you’re not informed, that’s called being uninformed and it’s really sad for someone who posts almost every hour of the day; if you know better, that’s called spreading a lie. Since both result in the sharing of mis-information, I’m not sure which is worse.
Here are the differences between the two FEMA directors:
(Under Bush) Mike Brown — party hack, former college chum of Joe Albaugh (Bush’s first FEMA head) no disaster experience at all before coming to FEMA. 100% patronage appointee.
(Under Clinton) James Lee Witt:
–25 years of disaster management experience, culminating in his appointment as the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, where he served from 1993-2001.
–Credited with turning FEMA from an unsuccessful bureaucratic agency to an internationally lauded all-hazards disaster management agency.
–Coordinated federal disaster relief, including the response and recovery activities of 28 federal agencies and departments, the American Red Cross and other voluntary agencies. He also oversaw the National Flood Insurance Program, the U.S. Fire Administration and other pro-active mitigation activities that reduce loss of life and property from all types of hazards.
–Directed 2,500 employees located in Washington, DC and 10 regional offices.
–From 1993 to 2000, Mr. Witt oversaw more than 350 disasters. More importantly, he was responsible for response and recovery operations for six of the ten most devastating disasters of all time, including the most costly flood disaster in the nation’s history, the most costly earthquake, and a dozen damaging hurricanes.
Comment by Reader — September 7, 2005 @ 6:43 am - September 7, 2005
No doubt about it- this is truly appalling! Just goes to show that there is MORE than enough blame to go around. Still, it’s telling that you are just calling for Blanco and Nagin’s heads. Apparently only Democrats should be held accountable for the failure. I wouldn’t disagree that Blanco and Nagin should be accountable, but what about FEMA (Bush crony Brown should be immediately fired)? Where was the Federal response? Why were the reporters at the convention center before the National Guard, FEMA, or even food and water shipments? What the hell!?!?!? If the Feds take 5 days to respond to a known disaster, how long would it take them to respond to another terrorist attack (a nuclear or dirty bomb, a smallpox outbreak, or a chemical or biological attack)?!?!?!?
I know many loyal Republicans and they, like Pres. Bush AND former Pres Clinton, agree that the Federal Government failed the people BIG time.
Comment by BUSH RULEZ! — September 7, 2005 @ 8:43 am - September 7, 2005
Add to that the fact that the ones who are bitching the most aren’t down there getting their manicures dirty or showing how it should be done (ie. Leaky Leahy, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Keith Olbermann, Howard Dean etc.).
Notice that Sean Penn is personally assisting search and rescue missions. Are you going to praise him for this? Also note that Moveon.org was amongst the first to set up a site to find private housing for hurrican victims (www.hurricanehousing.org). Will you now acknowledge their efforts as well?
Kindly point out some prominent Republicans who are, like Sean Penn, personally assisting with the rescue efforts. Is Rush Limbaugh down there (actually, he mocked the victims recently by incredulously saying ‘Why don’t these people have cars?), Sean Hannity, that hack screenwriter of ‘the Devil’s Math’ or whatever it was, are there any of them who are down there?
Comment by BUSH RULEZ! — September 7, 2005 @ 8:52 am - September 7, 2005
#25: that’s called spreading a lie
I rely on this blog to give me the most naked snapshot of Whitehouse spin. (And if they don’t have a spin, there’s nothing here. Like in the first days of Katrina) For me, that’s this blog’s main value.
It will interesting to find out whether the water-carrying is a volunteer effort or not. I’m reminded of Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point and “idea epidemics.”
If you’re looking for White House spin, anon, you’re reading the wrong blog –Ed.
Comment by anon — September 7, 2005 @ 10:50 am - September 7, 2005
Astute observation Anon. Some of it’s water-carrying; some of it’s collective work/brainstorming. I think Gladwell nailed it.
Say, did Chief Patsy insert a comment at the end of your post?
They’re getting a mite touchy here.
Comment by Reader — September 7, 2005 @ 12:07 pm - September 7, 2005
Notice that Sean Penn is personally assisting search and rescue missions. Are you going to praise him for this?
No, since it’s not clear if he’s actually rescued ANYONE, since his boat was too full of photographers to actually have room for any refugees.
Also, he took precious time away from rescue efforts when it became necessary to rescue HIS boat, since he didn’t even bother to inspect his boat to see if it was actually seaworthy before he set off on his “mission”.
Comment by Frank IBC — September 7, 2005 @ 12:30 pm - September 7, 2005
As ever, the only thing Sean Penn was “searching” for was publicity. And he seems to have found it in spades…thanks only to his ultra-cool protective flak jacket and ingenious Little Red Cup water-bailing device! LOL! What an ass clown! And speaking of clowns…
…has anyone else noticed that Reader seems to believe that making up names for those he disagrees with passes for clever? I’m pretty sure that stopped being the hallmark of a sharp wit ’round about 4th grade.
Comment by glisteny — September 7, 2005 @ 1:16 pm - September 7, 2005
BR-
“Notice that Sean Penn is personally assisting search and rescue missions. Are you going to praise him for this?”
Done that.
“Kindly point out some prominent Republicans who are, like Sean Penn, personally assisting with the rescue efforts.”
George W. Bush.
Donald Rumsfeld.
Haley Barbour.
Bob Riley.
Jeb Bush.
George H.W. Bush.
Also, given that the overwhelming majority of military officers are Republicans, it’s likely that most of the prominent military figures on the ground are GOP as well. (Anyone else think Lt. Gen. Honore — a native of Louisiana — might be the next Governor of Louisiana in 2007??)
To be fair, though you didn’t ask it, a few directly-involved Democrats of varying prominence:
Bill Clinton.
Kathleen Blanco.
Ray Nagin.
Comment by Clint — September 7, 2005 @ 4:09 pm - September 7, 2005
George W. Bush.
Hiring an inept and unqualified head of FEMA, doing no advance planning during an unusually long vacation, and pretending to play country music star doesn’t count as helping.
Donald Rumsfeld
At least he didn’t say “stuff happens” and “freedom is messy” during the looting this time, so I guess he’s helping in his own way.
Jeb Bush.
How’s he helping?
George H.W. Bush.
Isn’t he working with Clinton to fundraise for the relief effort? I thought Clinton (who appointed a much better qualified FEMA director, made it a cabanet level position, and increased funding for the organization during his presidency) wasn’t helping.
At least George HW Bush didn’t say “These people were underprivelaged to begin with, so this is working out rather well for them” like his wife Barbara.
To be fair, though you didn’t ask it, a few directly-involved Democrats of varying prominence:
Bill Clinton.
Kathleen Blanco.
Ray Nagin.
Again, Clinton is working with George HW Bush in the exact same capacity. Kathleen Blanco and Ray Nagin are guilty of the same lack of preparation as FEMA, Bush, and Homeland Security. They are all doing more than Pres. Bush who seems more concerned with photo ops with national guard troops, FEMA, and victims of the storm in an attempt to salvage his image (what’s left of it, anyway).
This inept incompetant performance just goes to cement Bush’s position as the Worst President Ever!!!!!!
Comment by BUSH RULEZ! — September 7, 2005 @ 6:09 pm - September 7, 2005
What an ass clown! And speaking of clowns…
…has anyone else noticed that Reader seems to believe that making up names for those he disagrees with passes for clever?
A little ironic.
Comment by BUSH RULEZ! — September 7, 2005 @ 6:10 pm - September 7, 2005
I’m pretty sure that stopped being the hallmark of a sharp wit ’round about 4th grade.
Comment by glisteny
=================
glisteny, you delightful douchebag,
I will defer to your expert opinion on the sharp wit of 4th graders.
While Bush Rulez may call it ironic, I find it quite realistic and believable.
Comment by chandler in hollywood — September 8, 2005 @ 2:50 am - September 8, 2005
BR-
I’m intrigued. You completely skipped Haley Barbour and Bob Riley. Could it be you don’t know who they are, or have sufficient interest to use Google?
Also… would it be too much trouble for you to remind yourself what the question you asked was before you respond to my answer?
I agree that, for example, Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin come out of this looking fairly incompetent. But you must grant that they are indeed on the ground trying to help — and
Comment by Clint — September 8, 2005 @ 3:10 am - September 8, 2005
– and each has done far more to save lives than Sean Penn ended up doing.
If we’re giving out credit for showing up and making an effort (wasn’t that YOUR point in asking the question??) then they certainly qualify.
Comment by Clint — September 8, 2005 @ 3:12 am - September 8, 2005
I would put it this way, Clint……it wouldn’t have mattered who was head of FEMA, because New Orleans has known for seven years (ever since Hurricane Georges) that the Superdome was NOT an adequate shelter, especially when not stocked with ample food and water, and that the best response was to get everyone the hell out of town, because the city would be cut off for days.
However, the fact that that has been known for so long and in a city run by Democrats does not spin well for Reader or Bush Rulez, and what’s worse, they can’t argue about it being “too poor” to do that when their liberal city government has embezzled literally MILLIONS of dollars to fatten liberal politicians’ and workers’ pockets at the expense of the “poor” they are exploiting.
Comment by North Dallas Thirty — September 8, 2005 @ 3:14 pm - September 8, 2005
However, the fact that that has been known for so long and in a city run by Democrats does not spin well for Reader or Bush Rulez, and what’s worse, they can’t argue about it being “too poor” to do that when their liberal city government has embezzled literally MILLIONS of dollars to fatten liberal politicians’ and workers’ pockets at the expense of the “poor” they are exploiting.
Ummm, who’s spinning NDT? You appear to be nothing but a shill for this inept, incompetant administration! The truth hurts, I know, but the Federal response both before and afterthe hurricane was abysmal. You can blame Democrats like you always do-the “blame game” as your stupid talking points call it- but Americans know that and they will soon be finding out about “Brownie” doing “a heck of a job”. Even Robert Novak and the NH Union Leader (the most Conservative paper in America) are coming down hard on this administration’s handling of the crisis.
As far as helping people. . . Sean Penn has actually been saving people. Mr Bush hasa been more concerned with photo ops with Country Stars and then with firefighters, FEMA, and the National Guard. He’s even rolling up his shirt sleeves for the camera!!! The fact is that he wouldn’t have done anything had his image not been tanking due to NO FEDERAL RESPONSE!
Brownie said “We are doing everything in order to prepare for the worst case scenario” then four days later “We only found out about those people (at the Convention Center) today!” The news media had been covering it for a couple of days by then!!! WTF!!! FEMA doesn’t even have a fricking TV?!?!?!
I, along with 63% of Americans, am outraged about this! 80% think the Federal Government was slow in responding to this disaster which they said they were prepared for in advance! WORST PRESIDENT EVER!!!!!
You blind partisan shills with your “talking points” can try to spin this one all you want, but even honest conservatives think the Feds botched this one. You can try to make it a partisan issue and blame in on Dems (the mayor, BTW, was Republican until 3 years ago and the Governor has been Republican for most of the past 25 years), but this is not partisan at all! It’s strictly about results, about performance and accountability. This administration talks about accountability a lot when it comes to public school teachers, but they reward partisan hacks who perform so poorly it would be laughable if it weren’t deadly!
You Republican talking points action figures are a waste of time! You defend the indefensible- you are apparently brainwashed by the staged photo-ops and administration talking heads or just plain stupid!
Comment by BUSH RULEZ! — September 9, 2005 @ 7:45 am - September 9, 2005
[...] GayPatriot has an excellent post comparing highlights of an old western with the recent MSM coverage of Hurricane Katrina. We find that they both share some things in common. “It seems in the wake of the Hurricane Katrina, the MSM is not much different from its fictional counterpart. In this case, the media made the legend–that President Bush and the federal government failed miserably in response to this once-in-a-century catastrophe. As the resignation earlier today of FEMA head Michael Brown indicates, the federal response was far from perfect, but as this blog (e.g., here, here and here) and others have shown, local agencies made the lion’s share of mistakes in the evacuation and recovery efforts.” [...]
Pingback by California Conservative » MSM: Ignoring The Facts, Printing The Legend — September 13, 2005 @ 3:27 am - September 13, 2005
Ok. I see where this is all going.
Let’s review some facts – just the facts. (all relevant links will be listed at the bottom of this post in addition to other pertinent data)
It is relevant to note that some have already brought up the issue of who has what responsibility. Blanco as governor made her request for state of emergency under the Stafford Act on August 26, 2005 – which tells me she knew that there was going to be a need for federal assistance in the aftermath relief efforts. Why was there no mandatory evacuation order given SIMULTANEOUSLY to that request?
State autonomy of governance. No state in this country is federalized, for good reason. Which means, that state’s are in complete control of their own needs PRIOR to, let’s say, a hurricane coming ashore. The city of NO and the state have detailed evacuation plans, but they were not used. Of course, it’s sort of hard to use them effectively if you fail to issue a mandatory evacuation order until 20 hours before the storm hits.
In an interview with Tim Russert, Nagin was questioned about the lack of using that plan. Nagin hemmed and hawed around, but basically said that he didn’t think he had the resources to do it.
Well, Mr. Nagin, asked Mr. Russert, what became of the $18 million from FEMA to your city for preparing for just such a disater, monies given since 2002 (same year he was elected). Mr. Nagin again fidgeted and his response was inane about how he hasn’t been Mayor very long (NOTE: elected in 2002, received $18 million since he took office and he says he hasn’t been mayor very long? Simple math an issue here?) and he “thinks” the money went to levee funding. Oh contraire, Mr. Nagin. Links below show separate funding for such work.
Now, there is currently an ongoing probe by the FBI that has been years in the making. In March of 2005 three state officials were indicted for misuse of FEMA monies given the state for flood mitigation and disaster preparedness. They are from the LA. State Dept of Homeland Security and emergency prepardness. But the probe has spread to 20 parishes and the FBI office was so overwhelmed trying to chase down the $60 million, they asked for more staff to be sent to the Baton Rouge office.
That probe is still ongoing. Will Mr. Nagin be one facing a future indictment for misappropriating federal funds that could have saved 736 lives? Time will tell.
The levee’s projects as funded by the feds were finished according to Strock, the director of the projects in NO. And indeed, it has been noted in many articles since this storm hit, that no lack of fed monies from this current administration would have had any impact on stopping what happened. The levees were never meant for more than a CAT 3 storm, ever. That goes back to 1965 congressional funding to rebuild after the massive flooding that took place then from Hurricane Betsy.
Blanco and Nagin are implicit in their failure to evacuate those who could not mobilize themselves. This is not an arguable point. All factual data proves this. In fact, for anyone to suggest that the feds had primary responsibility for evacuation BEFORE a storm is totally ignorant of our U. S. Constitution. And please, do not bring up the topic of DHS being responsible either, they are not. They are not first responders in hurricanes or other natural disasters. That is not their role at all. Nor is it FEMA’s. Federal agencies do not take pre-emptive action in states facing a hurricane, never have and never will. That is and always has been state responsibility.
Now, a serious of links and what they apply to:
STATE EMERGENCY PLAN
CITY EMERGENCY PLAN
BLANCO DOES NOT CALL UP NATIONAL GUARD IN TIME
BLANCO REFUSES FEDERAL AID/DOES NOT ACCESS MULTI STATE AID COMPACT
LOUSIANA STATE DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY TURNS AWAY THE RED CROSS ON WEDNESDAY AFTER THE STORM
EXAMPLE OF HOW NORTH CAROLINA USES IT’S EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS FORMAT FOR HURRICANES
NAGIN INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT FROM MEET THE PRESS
AMTRAK OFFERED/REJECTED BY THE CITY OF NO
ADEQUATE FED FUNDING FOR LEVEE PROJECT
CHURCHES TRIED TO ADDRESS LACK OF CITY PLANNING
HISTORY OF LEVEE MISMANAGEMENT
ORLEANS LEVEE BOARD ABUSE
NAGIN’S RESPONSE TO HURRICANE IVAN 2004
CITY OF NEW ORLEANS MURDER RATE
THREE INDICTMENTS SO FAR MISUSE OF FEMA MONEY
WHAT IT WILL TAKE TO REBUILD, PERSPECTIVE
THE CHANNEL THAT FED THE FLOOD
“CIA WILL WIPE ME OUT” NAGIN QUOTED
MONEY EARMARKED FOR EVACUATIONS MISSPENT
BLANCO’S DISASTER RELIEF REQUEST
BUSH’S RESPONSE TO HER REQUEST
LEVEE BOARD INVESTIGATED BY NBC
Comment by sewdaily — September 21, 2005 @ 3:53 pm - September 21, 2005