"The governor and the president let thousands of people die and they let them die on their roofs and they let them die in the water," said Davis, 45. "We got left. They didn't care."
Walking a hurricane-riddled street, Vice President Dick Cheney declared Thursday that much progress is being made in a disaster relief effort he termed "very impressive."
Again, proof that if you put a bag over your head, the world looks perfectly fine, no matter what.
THREE!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThe mayor didn't mobilize hundreds of buses for evacuation.
The governor said to pray.
People began looting and calling for help for aid on the first day.
And the STATE has NOT ( as far as I know) given control of law enforcement or relief over to the federal government. Thus, there was no way to co-ordinate relief efforts with the feds.
One of the primary rules of effective leadership is that authority must rest with one person, to whom all responsibility falls. This is a classic case of too many chiefs, not enough Indians.
I won't go into the lack of self sufficiency thing...
Yeah, there were some great stories about people who had taken shelter at a school and had food and supplies while hearing the horror stories from the Superdome.
ReplyDeleteI can't help but wonder what FEMA was doing between the 3 days of Bush's emergency declaration and the hurricane. Of course the head guy of FEMA (Michael Brown) won't actually get fired over this....the Bush administration has been incapable of firing anyone no matter how bad the infraction (Rumsfeld, Karl Rove, etc.)
(And damn you and those dice. Stupid hat.)
UPDATE: Well at least he resigned (Brown, not Bush....like we'd be that lucky)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/12/katrina.impact/index.html
So... what better solutions would you professional slobbering critics have provided? I suppose FEMA should have FORESEEN that the sea wall would be broken by Katrina's fury? I suppose the President should override all state and local authority and declare a complete federal dictatorship? I suppose the would-be rescuers should be more willing to have their people shot, raped or mugged by the low-life elements in New Orleans? I am no fan of FEMA and I detest the character of most politicians, but you critics make me sick. You're like the lazy slug who bashed "the Authorities" because nobody had buried the dead woman in the wheelchair. It's always somebody else's fault! Of course, the critics would never actually HELP fill a need. They just specialize in dazzling us with their brilliant criticism of all who have a tough job to do. Oh if only THEY were in charge, the world would be such a warm fuzzy place. My advice to the critics? Shut up and pick up a shovel, Stupid.
ReplyDeleteWell, I haven't picked up a shovel per say, but have a friend from New Orleans who fled and is staying up here with her parents and has nothing left but a suitcase. We're donating everything extra I can find in my house, and then some. Of course, the $3000 she got from FEMA is technically OUR tax money, so there's your "shovel"....everyone has "donate for Katrina victims" signs, but thanks...the government already did that for me without asking.
ReplyDeleteAnd don't worry, I blame Blanco and Nagin as well, who as the local and state heads, should have been better at coordinating the effort. I believe Brown said he had issues with them before Congress the other day.
You'd think with us being able to forcast hurricane landfalls pretty well, we'd have our shit together by now. Just an example of large government that can't move quickly.
In case you haven't figured it out by now, don't play one side or the other (liberal/conservative). Libertarian, I am. Sucks that people died, but let the local insurance companies rebuild, and jack up the flood insurance, so people don't stupidly rebuild there quite so easily.
Oh, and thanks for the comments. Really. I need a smackdown once in a while. :)