Let's Get Real About Katrina
Friday, March 3, 2006 at 01:29PM Fox News reported that Max Mayfield, National Hurricane Center Director, told Pres. Bush and staff during the "secret meetings" that have been disclosed to the public:
During this "levee failure briefing" on Aug. 29, 2005, it is not widely reported that Pres. Bush offered all assistance available saying:
"I want to assure the folks at the state level that we are fully prepared to not only help you during the storm, but we will move in whatever resources and assets we have at our disposal after the storm to help you deal with the loss of property, and we pray for no loss of life."
Brit Hume on Fox News said yesterday of the "confidential video footage" released by the AP of Pres. Bush during the Katrina briefing:
"The AP is calling that tape from a White House briefing on Hurricane Katrina which caused such a stir when it was released yesterday, "confidential video footage." In fact, most of the August 28 briefing was open to the press and was covered by numerous media outlets including FOX News.
What’s more, the entire transcript from the briefing was made available to Congress and to the public last fall."
Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco is on tape shortly after noon on Aug. 29, the day Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast that:
"We keep getting reports in some places that maybe water is coming over the levees. We heard a report unconfirmed, I think, we have not breached the levee. I think we have not breached the levee at this time."
Expose the left has also posted a video piece from CNN news just after the controversy began in which Ms. Blanco, in an off-camera comment to her press secretary that:
"I said, we’re not tolerating, you know…… we need to ask them for more military presence but I mean and I’m saying we’re putting good people in jeapordy, in danger. I really need to call for the military. I should have started that in the first call."
Hurricane Katrina hit Lousiana on Monday, Aug. 29, 2005. Blanco did not specifically ask for military assistance. IT WASN’T UNTIL 2 DAYS FULL DAYS LATER ON WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON THAT BLANCO MADE A SPECIFIC REQUEST FOR FEDERAL TROOPS, WHICH WERE IMMEDIATELY DISPATCHED.
"Did I ask the president early on for help? Yes I did. I asked him before the storm came because I know what a storm can do to my state. and I know that we need help. He wanted to help. We both got caught in trying to make a bureaucracy work on something bigger than it ever imagined it would have to work on."
Watch the video (hat tip, Expose the Left)
I noted in an entry one month after the Katrina fiasco unraveled that this was about Democratic incompetence and inability to take responsibility for it:
Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel and Al Sharpton (among many others) are using such language as: "Clearly Bush has become that, especially after Katrina. We’ve gone from fire hoses to levees." "Bull Connor didn’t even pretend that he cared about African-Americans. You have to give it to George Bush for being even more diabolical." "George Bush is our Bull Connor." "If you’re black in this country, and you’re poor in this country, it’s not an inconvenience - it’s a death sentence."
Just after the rescue effort in Louisiana and Mississippi began, only 13% of Americans blamed President Bush for the response. Most blamed the local government. ABC Nightline aired interviews with some of the victims of Katrina now repositioned in Texas just after Pres. Bush had met with them and given them comfort and aide. To them, hearing the President assuaged their concerns that the United States had let them down. Yet the media tried its best to influence the victims’ opinion against the President. Watch it: Real Player or Windows Media Player .
Compare hurricane response to that of Mississippi, with it’s Republican Gov. Haley Barbour, Texas, with it’s Republican Gov. Rick Perry; Florida with it’s Republican Gov. Jeb Bush. Examine for yourself the difference (great photo) gubernatorial leadership should make.
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Reader Comments (76)
I feel for the people, but enough is enough.
Not ONLY did he not pay ANYTHING, but I had extra work as he didn't do anything, but drugs and sleep. Whern I kicked him out, he and one of his friends burglarized my house! How do I know it was him? His dad told me he did it, and 10 years later, HE admitted it. Never did ask me to forgive him though.
I know not ALL N.O. resisdents are this way, but I have not heard ANY of them chastise the ones who are!
Holding Mardi Gras when the city is still in shambles is beyond disgusing, as is Nagin's attitude! He said within weeks of the disaster, "I'm ready to hear some jazz!"
I'm not sure if he was still in his other home in Texas at the time.
All in all, I am sick of UNGRATEFUL people, no matter what color or where they live! No one, OWES ANYONE else ANYTHING!
When my house was robbed, I didn't expect help from the government, but if ANYONE had offered help, I would have thanked them and been grateful.
Then it turns out that Bush was actually briefed on the possibility of the levees being breached - before the hurricane hit.
Does that make Bush a liar?
"The integrity of the levees is a very, very grave concern"
The actual full quote was:
"I don't think any model can tell you with any confidence right now whether the levees will be topped or not, but that's obviously a very, very grave concern."
The discussion in the taped session was about whether the levees would be, TOPPED not BREACHED. Breached of course means penetrated, topped = overflowed.
Mayfield said yesterday: "..that the levees might be topped. That is, the storm surge could push water over the top of the levees, not breached."
And that on the many conference calls he monitored, he said:
"Nobody talked about the possibility of a levee breach or failure until after it happened."
You have to follow the entire transcript and know the difference between breached and topped.
The only reason this is an issue is because Pres. Bush is being portrayed as stupid, uncaring and racist. It demands a response. It's easy to manipulate footage and see it presented in a misleading soundbyte on the news. It's also very disappointing that the media is such a willing accomplice to the anti-Bush hatemongering.
One of the biggest lessons here is that liberalism kills. It kills the unborn, it victimizes and keeps dependent the poor, and it's arrogant. Pride comes before a fall, and that's what we saw in Kathleen Blanco and this tragedy. Remember, this was a NATURAL DISASTER, but the incompetency of the democrats in Lousiana caused unnecessary deaths.
Here's a picture of the buses Mayor Nagin refused to use to evacuate New Orleanians (he wanted Grayhounds, which he could not get, instead of school buses;so the buses sat submerged in water. ARROGANCE!) and the photo on the right is of Texas evacuees fleeing in an organized caravan of school buses..... Texas, Mississippi and Florida ALL had successful evacuations and are are run by Republican governors. That is NOT a coincidence.
http://www.johnnyproctor.com/sqsp2/leadership.jpg
But even if that was so, I suggest you go to:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0603/02/sitroom.03.html
" JEANNE MESERVE (CNN homeland security correspondent): In the transcripts of the 29th briefing, you talk about conversations you've had that morning with the president. This is the day of landfall, and you say you've talked to him about a number of things. He's asked questions breaches of the levees. How did the president know to ask about breaches of the levees? Did he have reports in hand at that time already that that had happened in New Orleans?
BROWN: There's no question in my mind he probably had those reports, because we were feeding in the Homeland Security Operations Center, into the White House sit room, all of the information that we were getting. So he had to have had that information. Plus, I think the president knew from our earlier conversations that that was one of my concerns, that the levees could actually breach."
I can hear a possible response: "Brown must be lying."
If that's so, then why hasn't the White House stated he's a liar?
Check out the progress report posted at the American Society of Civil Engineers web site:
http://www.asce.org/files/pdf/ERPLetter.pdf
Pay close attention to the Recommendation section. You can easily see that the Katrina disaster was years in the making and a study in massive local government failure. Don't expect CNN to make a big deal of this report.
Talking to you about any of these issues has been like talking to the Iranian President about the Holocaust. All you can say is, "Yeah, well, forget the facts, Bush lied, he's terrible, law breaker, blah blah blah."
If you have nothing else to offer, I'm going to ban your IP. As one who respects the President, I don't appreciate your constant slander. And I won't tolerate it. There are plenty of Democratic blogs who would welcome your ignorance with open arms.
I am not tolerating the verbal slander and excerement any longer. I don't give a rats rear if you accuse me of limiting your right to free speech: you have it, you know you have it, and you can feel free to take it elsewhere. As Rush Limbaugh says, "There is no free speech on this show. You don't have the right to say whatever you want and no one has the right to hear you. I am a benevolent dictator." I do not OWE you free speech.
Clean it up or move on. You're really degrading the level of dialogue.
This is the real lie - a lie that killed.
>>>"It's disturbing to me, that while the country this country was dealing with this catastrophe, the person who ran a campaign exclusively on how he was going to protect the American people, Bush was going to birthday parties and playing the guitar at some unnecessary event."
What's even more disturbing to me, and what my right winged Bush apologists here refuse to acknowlege, is the Federal Disaster Declaration the President made.
First a definition of New Orleans:
>>>?The New Orleans Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), the 39th largest in the United States, includes the Louisiana parishes of Orleans (contiguous with the city of New Orleans), Jefferson, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, and St. Tammany.?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Orleans
And this was PRESIDENT BUSH'S FEDERAL EMERGENCY DECLARATION for the State of Louisiana and Hurricane Katrina:
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
August 27, 2005
Statement on Federal Emergency Assistance for Louisiana
The President today declared an emergency exists in the State of Louisiana and ordered Federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts in the parishes located in the path of Hurricane Katrina beginning on August 26, 2005, and continuing.
The President's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives, protect property and public health and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the parishes of Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Caldwell, Claiborne, Catahoula, Concordia, De Soto, East Baton Rouge, East Carroll, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Franklin, Grant, Jackson, LaSalle, Lincoln, Livingston, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Pointe Coupee, Ouachita, Rapides, Red River, Richland, Sabine, St. Helena, St. Landry, Tensas, Union, Vernon, Webster, West Carroll, West Feliciana, and Winn.
Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency. Debris removal and emergency protective measures, including direct Federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent Federal funding.
Representing FEMA, Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary for Emergency Preparedness and Response, Department of Homeland Security, named William Lokey as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected area.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: FEMA (202) 646-4600.
# # #
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050827-1.html
For ALL the talk about video tapes, statements about levees breeching, preparedness and evacuations--for all the talk about the President being "engaged" "involved", "participating" "on top of things"...
The RECORD shows that President Bush DID NOT include the metropolitan area of the City of New Orleans in his official emergency declaration.
If you don't believe me, read it for YOURSELF again, and tell me where the parishes that make up the City of New Orleans are in that declaration.
This all is simply another attempt by Bush Apologists to blame a FOUR STATE DISASTER from a storm with Hurricane force winds extending out 220 miles in all directions (the distance between New York City and Washington DC) on ONE BLACK MAYOR and ONE FEMALE GOVERNOR.
Amy writes:
>>>"Compare hurricane response to that of Mississippi, with it’s Republican Gov. Haley Barbour, Texas, with it’s Republican Gov. Rick Perry; Florida with it’s Republican Gov. Jeb Bush. Examine for yourself the difference (great photo) gubernatorial leadership should make."
Would you like me to detail the exploits of Haley Barbour, Rick Perry and Jeb Bush during this pasy year's Hurricane season--encompassing Katrina, Rita and Wilma?
I'm just going to ask you first, because if you say "yes", you're going to have some uncomfortable material to read regarding your Republican Governor heroes.
--Cobra
Another beautiful theory slain by an ugly fact!
>>>" Cobra, the last time I checked New Orleans was in the state of Louisiana."
You'd better let the President in on that fact, because in HIS Federal Emergency Declaration for the State of Louisiana, he DOES NOT include the parishes that make up the New Orleans metropolitan area.
Read it for YOURSELF. That's why I posted it, with no editing.
Why would the President list THESE PARISHES:
>>>"Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Caldwell, Claiborne, Catahoula, Concordia, De Soto, East Baton Rouge, East Carroll, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Franklin, Grant, Jackson, LaSalle, Lincoln, Livingston, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Pointe Coupee, Ouachita, Rapides, Red River, Richland, Sabine, St. Helena, St. Landry, Tensas, Union, Vernon, Webster, West Carroll, West Feliciana, and Winn."
--And NOT include those that comprise the most populous city in the state--the parishes most likely to have the most devastation, and the NUMBER #3 Homeland Security Threat in America, behind a terrorist attack in NYC and an earthquake in San Francisco?
How does this make sense to you folks?
--Cobra
EARTH TO COBRA EARTH TO COBRA SATELLITE PHOTOGRAPHY CONTINUES TO SHOW CITY OF NEW ORLEANS STILL LOCATED IN STATE OF LOUISIANA.
I think the folks in New Orleans knew about Katrina and did not need a memo from Brown about it.
BTW Cobra - the City of New Orleans got millions of Federal dollars to build the levee system. Check out this link to see if taxpayers got their money's worth:
http://www.asce.org/files/pdf/ERPLetter.pdf
And that's not counting money doled out after 9/11, supposedly to allow mayors like Nagen and governors like Blanco to create response systems to disasters (terrorist or natural). Local and state politicos just LUV those Federal dollars, but what did they really do with that money (besides pose for the MSM)?
Cobra, the City of New Orleans was supposed to have a disaster response system of its own. Local government, not FEMA, is the first line of defense in any disaster, but the good Mayor decided instead to decamp to Dallas and leave the people to drown. Remember all the school buses in the famous Fox News photo? Remember how Governor Blanco waited two days before asking for Federal troops, and how she incorrectly said that the levees had not been broken? If these folks won't (or can't) do anything, what is the President supposed to do?
How does this make sense to you?
And quit complaining about Amy. Instead count yourself lucky that there is not a minimum IQ level required for commenting on her site. Otherwise you and I would never get anything posted!
>>>"EARTH TO COBRA EARTH TO COBRA SATELLITE PHOTOGRAPHY CONTINUES TO SHOW CITY OF NEW ORLEANS STILL LOCATED IN STATE OF LOUISIANA."
Oh, I'm fully aware of New Orleans and its location. You need to inform President Bush of its location, because, once again...his Federal Emergency Declaration for Louisiana doesn't list the parishes that comprise New Orleans.
You cannot explain this one away by attacking me.
Mwalimu writes:
>>>"Cobra, the City of New Orleans was supposed to have a disaster response system of its own. Local government, not FEMA, is the first line of defense in any disaster, but the good Mayor decided instead to decamp to Dallas and leave the people to drown."
More distortions. More inaccuracies. I've seen this before on other blogs. I've refuted the argument then, and I will refute them now.
>>>"Anxious and frightened, the citizens had the mayor of New Orleans surrounded. They wanted reassurance, answers, a firm date when normal lives could be resumed.
Ray Nagin wouldn’t give it to them. He listened calmly, not trying to escape down the hotel corridor. But there was no sugarcoating.
“You need to listen very carefully,” Nagin told them. “For the next two or three months, in this area, there will not be any commerce, at all. No electricity, no restaurants. This is the real deal. It’s not living conditions.”
Outside, it was sweltering chaos. A once-functioning American city was suddenly in a state of nature. But Nagin was calm, at least outwardly.
Facing the greatest challenge any mayor could face, he is, say those who know him, tackling the catastrophe methodically. He says everyone should leave — an unprecedented conclusion, but one he says is the only possible one in a city that has become uninhabitable.
As the overwhelming problems come up, one by one — whole neighborhoods destroyed, thousands needing rescue, thousands more who must be evacuated, no services and looting in the streets — Nagin focuses in, advisers say. Moving between city hall and a command post set up at the Hyatt across the street — both surrounded by water — the mayor searches for the quickest way out.
It will be weeks before this ex-businessman’s stewardship of the crisis can be realistically assessed. For now, though, he is keeping the cool that has become his trademark in New Orleans."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9158836
So please QUOTE ME the source for your statement:
"but the good Mayor decided instead to decamp to Dallas and leave the people to drown."
What anti-black blog or pro-white talk radio host said it? Certainly the FACTS ON THE GROUND indicate otherwise, but "facts" don't seem to get in the way of your vicious attacks on Nagin, right?
Keep the distortions coming, Mwalimu. I'll knock 'em down as fast as you can set 'em up.
--Cobra
Cobra is doing a fine job of dismissing your uncomfortable "facts."
"Instead count yourself lucky that there is not a minimum IQ level required for commenting on her site. Otherwise you and I would never get anything posted!"
Speak for yourself. I never consider myself lucky to post at a rightwing blog.
To review:
(1) New Orleans is still in Louisiana.
(2) The people of New Orleans did not need a memo to know about Katrina.
(3) Playing the race and gender cards is not a substitute for thinking.
(4) Local government is the first line of defense in a natural disaster.
(5) What about the local disaster response plan or lack thereof? What about the report by the ASCE
http://www.asce.org/files/pdf/ERPLetter.pdf
that details the massive failures of local authorities to plan properly?
And, Cobra, why all this hostility - and with a racial bent? All I did was prove you wrong. Is that such a crime?
Thanks for the debate, but time is up. I can lead you to knowledge, Cobra, but I cannot make you think.
I am assuming that you never criticized Clinton when he was President?
A leader leads. When something needs to get done, he gets it done. He doesn't let anyone else stand in his way, either deliberately or with incompetence. When lives of the country he's leading are at stake, he puts less important things aside and concentrates on making things work to save them.
To once again quote Harry Truman, "The Buck Stops Here."
It seems the way Bush operates is, "The Buck Stops Anywhere Else But Here."
His own funding goes against the advice of the Army Corps of Engineers; he nominates an inexperienced and incompetent crony who couldn't even make it as a horse manager, Brown, to an agency that is the difference of life and death to Americans in dire emergency; he is warned ahead of time that circumstances may be dire, up to the day of the hurrican, and on afterwards.
What did he do? Did he -
a) demand and receive constant and reliable updates from the ground?
b) demand people to be in place (as Blanco had repeatedly begged before and during the hurricane) to help out? Check to see if they were, and make heads roll if they did not?
c) demand specific plans, milestones, brainstorming sessions, and request the national guard from other states?
d) in anyway postpone or simply drop his vacation to see that American lives were saved?
e) find the time to eat cake with McCain, strum a prop guitar on his playtime ranch, and fly out to California to chat up seniors about his Social Security plan, while thousands of Americans DRQWNED?
Let me refresh you all with the magnitude of this disaster: over 1,200 American citizens depending on help from their country, DROWNED TO DEATH WAITING FOR HELP THAT NEVER CAME.
Another 2,300 are missing. One of America's greatest and oldest cities has been nearly wiped from the face of the Earth, by the disaster that was the aftermath of the hurricane.
IF you guys were actually into accountability, and you really thought that Blanco, Nagin, Brown and Bush were equally to blame, you would be yelling for all their heads.
Instead, you are saying that because the Federal, State and Local responses were all to blame, somehow the head of the Federal branch, Bush, is not.
The whole point of FEMA is to save US citizens, in situations when local authorities cannot. This can be either due to local authorities resources, experience, or even competence. Doesn't matter.
If Bush had spent his weekend barking orders into a phone, yelling orders to generals, demanding that the Superdome get supplies, making sure the ice trucks went where they should, making sure that Blanco and Nagin had the resources they were begging for - and Blanco and Nagin ADAMANTLY REFUSED this help - then you might have an argument.
But in this reality, Bush found it more important to stay on his playtime ranch and play photo-op guitar, or eat cake with McCain, or fly to California to convince Seniors of his Social Security plan.
WHILE THOUSANDS OF AMERICANS DROWNED TO DEATH.
Why doesn't this make you angry?
LOL :)
http://www.asce.org/files/pdf/ERPLetter.pdf
"Study Recommendations:
3. Planning decisions at the federal level, regarding, levels, types and methods of future hurricane protection. "
pg 15. - "lessons learned "
I am not going to retype the entire paragraph but essentially it states that the army corps made mistakes on numerous occasions, with misinformation.
YOu got any other pdf files I can surf through?!
Katrina was just another excuse for Bush bashers to show their ugly brains (or lack their of) and speak about things they haven't really researched themselves.
To listen to the mainstream news outlets, you would think that it was only the population of New Orleans that got hit by Katrina.
I have said this before but I think this is an appropriate time to say it again. I am not against helping the victims of Katrina out. I just want to know when it became the governments responsibility to come and get you out of the way when you knew that stupid storm was coming almost two full weeks before it made land fall.....and don't tell me that only the poor were left behind. The mayor of New Orleans let school busses along with the entire city fleet of busses go on UN-UNUSED. They had what they needed to assist those who did not have the means (cars and such) to leave.
We can point our fingers at anyone in the government but it still doesn't change the fact that it was never the responsibility of the government to play superman. That goes for the Federal government as well as New Orleans' state and local government.
There is a problem when people start to "depend" on the government.
The rest of "my opinion" I have written on my own blog while all this stuff was going on. Here is the link:
On Katrina:
http://cllewe.blogspot.com/2005/09/racially-and-politically-affiliated.html
On Rita:
http://cllewe.blogspot.com/2005/09/poor-blame-government-again-for-not.html
"Study Recommendations:
3. Planning decisions at the federal level, regarding, levels, types and methods of future hurricane protection. "
pg 15. - "lessons learned "
I am not going to retype the entire paragraph but essentially it states that the army corps made mistakes on numerous occasions, with misinformation.
YOu got any other pdf files I can surf through?!"
---------------------------------------------------
Funny how it eludes his mind that those statements, as well as the research done were both prior to G. W. Bush ever entering office. Just a good example of what I stated above about having another excuse to bash Bush...LOL.
The development and research for developement are being blamed on the bush administration, as far as I can tell from Mavic's comments. Or else why would he refer to that in his current argument?
His last point is mute
Hey Chris, it is your buddy Mwalimu that quoted that link. He was so delighted that he found the "FACTS" that I took it upon myself to quote from his pdf file of "FACTS".
>>>"The mayor of New Orleans let school busses along with the entire city fleet of busses go on UN-UNUSED. They had what they needed to assist those who did not have the means (cars and such) to leave."
Chris, the use of school buses or municipal buses to evacuate citizens of New Orleans OUTSIDE of the city limits is NOT part of the official planning for the City of New Orleans...
NOR IS IT PART OF ANY PLAN FOR ANY CITY WITH A POPULATION OF 300,000 OR ABOVE IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
Why oh why do you people continue to believe this FAIRY-TALE about 450 magic school buses that were to take 50,000 to undisclosed locations that were hours away from hurricane force winds that extended 220 miles in all directions? Tell me what facilities were available to house 50,000 people within a 8 hour driving distance? And that's a ONE way driving distance, without fueling, or deciding who gets on the buses first, elderly and sick care..etc.
But don't take my word for it--let's look at the PLAN that's still online for all to see:
>>>"
General Evacuation Guidelines
General evacuation for disasters apply to both natural (hurricane, flood, thunderstorm, tornado) and man-made (chemical and fire). If you are told to EVACUATE you should move to a place designated by public officials.
Follow these steps:
Stay calm.
Take your disaster supply kit.
Remember as you leave your house to do the following:
- Turn off lights, household gas appliances, heating, air conditioning, and ventilation systems.
- Leave refrigerator/freezer on.
- Lock house.
Only use the phone in case of an emergency, injury, or illness. If you must use the phone, keep calls brief.
Do not listen to rumors. Turn on your radio or television for up-to-date information from public officials during an emergency.
Use only one vehicle for your family. If you have room, assist any neighbors that may need a ride.
Tune to Emergency Alerting System 870 AM or 101.9 FM radio stations for reports about evacuation routes, conditions, etc. Use those travel routes specified.
Drive safely. Traffic will be heavy. Law enforcement officials along the route will help with traffic.
If you need a ride, try to go with a neighbor, friend, or relative.
Let others know when you leave and where you are going.
Make arrangements for pets. Animals are not allowed in public shelters. Pet carriers are recommended along with pet supplies.
Estimated evacuation drive times* from New Orleans to:
Alexandria 16 hours
Baton Rouge 8 hours
Lafayette 8 hours
Lake Charles 16 hours
Shreveport 20 hours
Hattiesburg 8 hours
Jackson 24 hours
Meridian 16 hours
*Travel time during an evacuation is four times longer than in normal conditions.
http://www.cityofno.com/Portals/Portal46/portal.aspx?portal=46&tabid=18
Let's get some MORE FACTS about the School Bus fairy tale:
>>>"According to WWLTV, during a news conference on Sunday before the hurricane struck, Mayor Nagin claimed he "could and would commandeer any property or vehicle it deemed necessary to provide safe shelter or transport for those in need". However photos circulated appear to show unused school and privately owned busses left stranded in flood waters.
It is unclear whether Mayor Nagin knew these particular buses existed, since the Orleans Parish School Board is not under his jurisdiction and his office would not normally know the location of OPSB bus yards or be able to contact the drivers of those buses to place them into service. Normally it is the job of FEMA to coordinate between the various local jurisdictions such as the OPSB and the City of New Orleans in this case. That is, under the rules of prior hurricane responses, FEMA would ask all local jurisdictions for a list of resources under their control. Then FEMA would have taken a request from Nagin for buses, relayed it to the Orleans Parish School Board or other local jurisdictions which had buses, and at that point the OPSB would have provided the buses to Nagin. That coordination did not happen here, but it is unclear whether Nagin ever made such a request prior to the hurricane and after the hurricane they were underwater and useless."
http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Controversy_over_whether_New_Orleans_Mayor_failed_to_follow_hurricane_plan
Let's also review the OFFICIAL PLAN FOR THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS regarding Hurricane evacuations.
>>>"A. Mayor
* Initiate the evacuation.
* Retain overall control of all evacuation procedures via EOC operations.
* Authorize return to evacuated areas.
B. Office of Emergency Preparedness
* Activate EOC and notify all support agencies to this plan.
* Coordinate with State OEP on elements of evacuation.
* Assist in directing the transportation of evacuees to staging areas.
* Assist ESF-8, Health and Medical, in the evacuation of persons with special needs, nursing home, and hospital patients in accordance with established procedures.
* Coordinate the release of all public information through ESF-14, Public Information.
* Use EAS, television, cable and other public broadcast means as needed and in accordance with established procedure.
* Request additional law enforcement/traffic control (State Police, La. National Guard) from State OEP.
C. New Orleans Police Department
* Ensure orderly traffic flow.
* Assist in removing disabled vehicles from roadways as needed.
* Direct the management of transportation of seriously injured persons to hospitals as needed.
* Direct evacuees to proper shelters and/or staging areas once they have departed the threatened area.
* Release all public information through the ESF-14, Public Information.
D. Regional Transit Authority
* Supply transportation as needed in accordance with the current Standard Operating Procedures.
* Place special vehicles on alert to be utilized if needed.
* Position supervisors and dispatch evacuation buses.
* If warranted by scope of evacuation, implement additional service.
E. Louisiana National Guard
* Provide assistance as needed in accordance with current State guidelines.
F. Animal Care and Control
* Coordinate animal rescue operations with the New Orleans SPCA.
G. Public Works
* Make emergency road repairs as needed.
H. Office of Communications
* Release all public information relating to the evacuation.
PART 3: SHELTERING
(See ESF-6, Mass Care)
Emergency shelter operations are the responsibility of the Office of Emergency Preparedness Shelter Coordinator. Shelters are provided by the Orleans Parish School Board, while manager training and support activities and supplies are provided by the Office of Emergency Preparedness.
Reassessment of facilities is an on-going process conducted jointly by the School Board, and Emergency Preparedness Division. The shelter activation list is updated yearly, and takes into consideration new school construction, school closings and renovations.
A. Shelter Demand
Shelter demand is currently under review by the Shelter Coordinator. Approximately 100,000 Citizens of New Orleans do not have means of personal transportation. Shelter assessment is an ongoing project of the Office of Emergency Preparedness through the Shelter Coordinator.
The following schools have been inspected and approved as Hurricane Evacuation Shelters for the City of New Orleans: Laurel Elementary School
Walter S. Cohen High School
Medard Nelson Elementary School
Sarah T. Reed High School
Southern University Multi Purpose Center
Southern University New Science Building
O. Perry Walker High School
Albert Wicker Elementary School
It should not be assumed that all of the approved shelters listed above will be opened in the event of a hurricane or other major tropical storm. The names and locations of open shelters will be announced when an evacuation order is issued. This list is not for public information and should not be duplicated and distributed. In the event that shelters are opened, people who go to their nearest listed location may find, for one reason or another, that the facility is not open as a shelter, forcing them to seek an alternate location. It is also possible that people anticipating the opening of shelters may arrive before shelters are set-up and ready to receive them. For these and other reasons, shelters which are to be used will not be identified until they are ready to open and not until an evacuation order, related public announcement is made.
Last Resort Refuges and Super Shelters are described in specific SOPs covering their applications."
http://www.cityofno.com/portal.aspx?portal=46&tabid=26
So by the FACTS, Mayor Ray Nagin was NOT responsible for those school buses. Re-read the documents again for yourself.
By the FACTS, the Hurricane plan outlines SHELTERING for the 100,000 or so residents who have no means to evacuate. It lists the shelters within the City of New Orleans.
By the FACTS, Mayor Ray Nagin had NO jurisdiction over private and municipal school buses, and NO jurisidiction over conditions or activities taking place outside of the city limits of New Orleans.
CASE CLOSED. CHECKMATE. GIVE IT UP.
Stop trying to blame a four state natural disaster on ONE BLACK MAYOR.
--Cobra
There's something very creepy about a man who refuses to respect a woman's wishes regarding the way he speaks disrespectfully on her own turf. I sense an abuser.
That being said, all you had to do was stay on topic and cease personal attacks against the President. MoveOn.Org has room for you, but I don't. Glad you had fun. Oddly, in noting your varying IPs and the use of anonymizers, all I can say is that I have the feeling you're someone other than you present yourself as.... and that I have always banned anonymizer users.
"Chris, the use of school buses or municipal buses to evacuate citizens of New Orleans OUTSIDE of the city limits is NOT part of the official planning for the City of New Orleans..."
Sounds like a laps in judgment don't you think? It should have been used in the city planning. (see how easy it is to point fingers?) Why should the city government and state government expect the federal government to be “right there” will all the resources at the federal governments disposal when the local city government hasn’t even utilized all the resources it has at hand. I.E. those busses that were not part of the city plan. We are talking about saving the lives of citizens that voted you into office as mayor of the Chocolate city (As he himself has labeled New Orleans.) And as far as them being “private” busses....” The company that runs the busses is subsidized off of city and state tax money. If in an emergency situation, the mayor and local law enforcement deemed it critical to use those busses to assist others in evacuating the city prior to the storm, they had all the legal right to do so. This was an emergency situation due to the stupidity of the current “leadership” of that once thriving city. As far as the school busses....those belonged to the city so that excuse doesn’t even hold water. Anyway....you couldn’t convince me that the company who owned the city transportation busses would have objected to local officials to use their busses for that purpose. To believe that they wouldn’t have is plain ridiculous. Then again....any one who has followed Cobra’s responses on this blog know that cobra debates for the purpose of debating. Cobra is an expert at making excuses as you can see from his previous comments leading to these.
Besides the busses...the city and state leadership did not issue the evak order when they were asked to by the federal government. Then they want to belly ache because the Federal Government did not sweep in like superman to rescue people that knew the storm was coming for almost two weeks prior to it making land fall. The fact that the local government did not "think to use the busses" shows their inept ability to "lead" as Mavic has claimed the government is suppose to do. (Side thought...how funny that people think that the federal government is suppose to read the minds of local & state officials, especially when they say that everything is under control until it is too late)
Just to clarify....the government is suppose to do the will of the people. You want a government that leads...go to China where communism is still in function. As far as criticizing our federal level of government and making excuses for the state and local level in LA...that just doesn't make sense.
I just love it how people want to blame the government when things don't go their way...very convenient for people who lack the ability to take the initiative into saving their own lives like "Millions" of other people did in the gulf region prior to Katrina making land fall.
We still have people in hotels using tax payer money to keep them their because these idiots didn't have enough sense to have an insurance policy on the homes they owned free and clear!! Not all of them but a lot of them fall into this category. So we the tax payers have to foot the hotel bill for some one who should have not taken a financial shortcut by not buying insurance for their homes. Especially knowing that the region gets hit by several hurricanes EVERY SINGLE YEAR!!! I don’t consider some one in that category a “victim” of hurricane Katrina.
That is the one problem I have with the federal government....you want to criticize the federal government for something, why not do it over something legit like all the "freebie hand outs” we give to people in the name of well fare and other government entitlements, most of the time going to people who don’t care to better themselves or get to a place they don’t have to be breast fed by big brother federal government. Or what about the border issue....isn't that legit enough to criticize the federal government on? Why use a "Dysfunctional" city like New Orleans who was stupid enough to elect such a moron of a mayor that couldn't think on his feet long enough to utilize busses to evak people before the storm hit. You mean to tell me that he is not liable for negligence for his "lack of leadership" during this whole situation? How stupid of him to even make this out to be a race issue....LOL. That in itself was laughable and entertaining.
New Orleans’ problem during Katrina was not the lack of help from the federal level. Through Katrina...we have been able to use New Orleans as an example of what happens when the majority of a populace depend on the government for everything with out the government expecting anything in return for the free hand out.
I still think it funny that the other two states involved have handled this "Natural Disaster" with more class then mayor nagyn and his hair brain idea of rebuilding a "chocolate city." (Laughable) His 15 minutes of fame ended long time ago....anyway.....fingers can be pointed either direction. Excuses are just like arm pits....everyone has a couple and they usually stink....LOL.
Nagin is SUPPOSED to be an elected PROTECTOR of his people! Do you mean that if I see an emergency I should be MORE concerned if I violate a law that to just act and save somebody?
If so, you are a candidate for ther looney bin along with Nagin!
Cobra AND Jim: You may want to take a spoonful of honey to help you swallow this bit of truth.
If you REALLY want to lay the blame at someone's doorstep in New Orleans, how about the people themselves, who for more than 30 years have put updating the levee's on the "backburner", in favor of building a "Dome" for their football team, and Mardi Gras celebrations each year, (including this one), when they KNEW that it was not an "IF", but "WHEN" situation that this day was coming?
New Orleans still needs help, yet Nagin can send city employees to Las Vegas, and still hold Mardi Gras, then still point the finger at everyone else for their problems! Sounds like ungrateful children to me!
Cobra, you are good with facts. How many other affected areas OTHER than N. O. are still using hotel/motel accomidations, (or EVER did)? How about other Mayors/Governors sending city/state employees to vacation in "Vegas"?
Ever heard, "Give a man a fish, he will eat for a day, teach him to fish, feed him for a lifetime!"
Nagin sounds like he wants America to, catch the fish, clean it, cook it, serve it with some white wine, then complain that it was terrible, not pay, slip going out your door, then sue you for negligence!
Maybe IF he loses his bid for a second term, he can get a job with Je$$ie Jack$on, after he becomes a "REV".
Mikelx: Will you stop saying "deleted".
It is getting REAL old! ;-)
The denials continue I see. When are you people going to understand that YOUR tax dollars and MINE go to Homeland Security and FEMA for the protection of the AMERICAN PEOPLE. It may pain you to admit this, but the people of New Orleans and the people of the Mississippi and Alabama coastline are AMERICANS JUST LIKE YOU.
Why are you NOT discussing the DESTRUCTION and slow recovery in the towns and cities OUTSIDE of New Orleans? You right wingers are pretending that nobody else had a problem, especially cities and towns with white republican mayors, like Biloxi, MS, or small towns like Waveland, or Bay St. Louis with populations under 10,000. You won't discuss them because it doesn't fit into your Southern strategy political agenda.
Guess what folks? Your tax dollars that are paying for hotel rooms is also being spent on perfectly fine mobile homes and trailers that are sinking into the Arkansas mud right now.
>>>"Hope, Ark. -- Hurricane evacuees staying in hotels provided by FEMA were recently forced to leave due to the set deadline.
Many evacuees were forced to find a new place to live while trying to get back on their feet after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
There is an available housing solution, but for some reason it is not being used.
At least 9,000 FEMA trailers are sitting at the Hope Municipal Airport in Hope, Arkansas. Local officials have sent requests to FEMA to see why the trailers are sitting at the airport, unused.
U.S. Representative Mike Ross is meeting with FEMA officials on Thursday in hopes to get some answers as to why the trailers are sitting at the Hope Municipal Airport and not being used for evacuees."
http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:pYHtVKKrDZ3m8M:www.tampabays10.com/assetpool/images/062812323_trailers.jpg
www.tampabays10.com/ news/news.aspx?storyid=25134
NINE THOUSAND TRAILERS--that's nearly 20 TIMES as many TRAILERS as there were school buses (400+) that you claim Mayor Nagin left in New Orleans.
And if you think that only POOR people are having difficulty, Chris and R.A.M., read this story:
>>>"Like thousands of other homeowners, Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) lost his home when Hurricane Katrina roared ashore. And like thousands of his constituents, Lott has not been able to get his insurer to pay for replacing his house.
So, like thousands of his constituents, Lott has sued his insurer, State Farm, which has stonewalled Lott and other South Mississippians who lost their homes on the grounds that their homeowners policies do not cover flood damage.
Home insurance typically does not cover floods but the homeless Mississippians contend that it was wind and wind-driven water that destroyed their homes. Wind damage is covered by homeowners policies.
Lott's suit adds powerful political muscle to the dispute. The state's attorney general, Jim Hood, sued five large insurers in September seeking to override the exclusions and there are numerous individual and class-action lawsuits pending in the courts."
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2005/katrina_lott.html
Well, I'll be. Powerful, rich white Republicans are in need of getting houses replaced and they're having TROUBLE. They're resorting to <gasp!> TRIAL LAWYERS!
Kind of makes your little comment here seem like a punchline, huh Chris?
>>>"We still have people in hotels using tax payer money to keep them their because these idiots didn't have enough sense to have an insurance policy on the homes they owned free and clear!! Not all of them but a lot of them fall into this category. So we the tax payers have to foot the hotel bill for some one who should have not taken a financial shortcut by not buying insurance for their homes. Especially knowing that the region gets hit by several hurricanes EVERY SINGLE YEAR!!! I don’t consider some one in that category a “victim” of hurricane Katrina."
Darn lotta good that "insurance policy" did for rich white Republican Trent Lott, huh Chris?
By all means folks, keep bringing up more issues like this. Let me expose MORE of the right winged propaganda designed to blame all of this on ONE BLACK MAYOR, and gloss over the utter failure and ill-preparedness of the Bush Administration for dealing with disasters, natural or man-made.
--Cobra
Mwalimu, this sort of excuses-by-word-definition is very sad.
You are making some big deal about the difference between 'breached' and 'topped' - as if a) they both don't mean that New Orleans would be flooded, and b) that gives George Bush a valid reason to FLY AROUND EATING CAKE while American citizens DROWN TO DEATH.
Say what you want about Blanco and Nagin - but they were on the freakin' JOB. Not jet-setting around for photo ops.
American citizens are dying while New Orleans is being destroyed, and Bush's staffers have to put together a DVD of news clips to get him to wake up and act DAYS LATE - do you think that's a good thing?
Now please, just do me this favor. I'm begging you. Just take a deep breath, and look in the mirror.
Now please ask yourself:
Do you HONESTLY, ****REALLY*** think that's an effective and responsible and useful way to run a country?
I feel as if I'm speaking an alien language. I'm talking about responsibility. I'm talking about a leader doing right by the people he's supposed to lead, and LEAD THEM OUT OF DANGER. Not blame things on others, when he played guitar, ate cake, flew out to talk Social Security to seniors. etc. etc.
I've said all these examples before, and you all choose to ignore them as if they didn't happen. You'd rather talk about some flimsy distinction between 'breaching' and 'topping' as if it actually meant something.
That'd be like me arguing my way out of a speeding ticket, by telling the judge I was going 80 - and later appealing it by stating, "no, no I meant 80 kilometers per hour".
Even with that, I show you an example where Bush's appointee declares Bush was aware of BREACHING, not 'topping', before the storm hit, so even that flimsy excuse is knocked out. You ignore that too.
Look - you voted for him. Probably twice. I guess you have something vested in not thinking he's incompetent.
BUT THE MAN IS INCOMPETENT.
I mean, I'm at a loss.
How many times was the WTC threatened with terrorism? Does that mean New Yorkers deserved 9/11?
Before Katrina landed, Bush said he would help before, during and after - and he flew around to photo ops instead, while Rice bought shoes and saw plays. This is NOLA citizen's fault how, exactly?
If Bush had spent that weekend busting his ass to save lives, then you might have an argument.
But what you seem DETERMINED to ignore, is that, instead of actually leading and making decisions that would have saved American lives, Bush instead chose to fly around doing photo ops.
This is NOT HOW a decisive leader ACTS. If Bush were up to his PR, the second he heard US lives were in danger - and not by having a staffer see it on CNN for God's sake! But hearing it from the field!! - he would have cancelled his vacation and settled down to work.
He would have called people up, accepted no excuses, fired those who couldn't handle their jobs, send the ice trucks where they needed to go, called up people to evacuate the Superdome. Because he is the head of the Executive Branch of the Federal government, and it is his by-God JOB to do that.
It is not his job to, as I repeat once again in the hope it sinks in,
- fly around!
- eat birthday cake with John McCain!
- pretend to play guitar in a pointless photo op!
- fly out to connive seniors about his Social Security plans!!
Why doesn't it make you angry that he WAS NOT ON THE JOB, and dead American citizens could be alive if he WAS???
Innacurate reporting, That was the MSM during the entire Katrina event.
Spinning after the fact, that is democrat partisans like you. Bush was on the job more than Nagin and Blanco.
If you have anything more intellectually honest then Damocrat spin I'm interested to hear, but you don't seem to. Most of the deaths and misery I blame on Nagin and Blanco.
Most of the recovery fiasco, same along with the Corruption that is Louisana politics. All they've done themselves is stick their hands out to continue partying at the country's expense.
BUT if you're going to accuse Pres. Bush of not caring because he did something out of sequence in your minds during the aftermath of Katrina, I'm sure you'll have to condemn Clinton laughing at Ron Brown's FUNERAL and then covering it up when caught on film, right?
http://www.johnnyproctor.com/sqsp2/clinton.gif
*************************
Don't Blame Bush for Katrina
Christopher Ruddy
Monday, Sept. 5, 2005
George Bush and the federal government are not to blame for the disaster we have witnessed in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
In fact, the primary responsibility for the disaster response lies with New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco and other local officials.
Yet leading Democrats and their allies in the major media are clearly using this disaster for political purposes and ignoring one obvious fact.
This fact – which needs to be repeated and remembered – is that in our country, state and local governments have primary responsibility in dealing with local disasters.
The founding fathers devised a federal system of government – one that has served us remarkably well through great disasters that have befallen America over more than two centuries.
But if we believe the major TV networks, George Bush, FEMA and the Republicans in Congress are all to blame for the current nightmare.
Let's remember that FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, was created only in 1979. It was formed to coordinate and focus federal response to major disasters – to "assist" local and state governments.
Common sense suggests that local and state governments are best able to prepare and plan for local disasters.
Is a Washington bureaucrat better suited to prepare for an earthquake in San Francisco, a hurricane in Florida, or a terrorist act in New York?
After the Sept. 11 attacks against the World Trade Center, no one suggested that the Bush administration should have been responsible for New York's disaster response or that federal agents should have been involved in the rescue of those trapped in the buildings.
Last year, four major hurricanes slammed into Florida. Governor Jeb Bush led the disaster response and did a remarkable job, with nothing happening like what we have seen in New Orleans.
The primary response in disasters has always come from local communities and state governments.
First responders and the manpower to deal with emergencies come from local communities: police, fire and medical. Under our federal system, these local departments answer to local authorities, not those in Washington. These first responders are not even under federal control, nor do they have to follow federal orders.
In addition to local responders, every state in the Union has a National Guard.
State National Guards answer first to the governor of each state, not to the president. The National Guard exists not to defend one state from an invasion by another state, but primarily for emergencies like the one we have witnessed in New Orleans and in other areas impacted by Katrina. See:
http://www.arng.army.mil/about_us/organization/command_structure.asp
Tim Russert and the Blame Game
The media would have you believe that this disaster was worsened by a slow response from President Bush and his administration, though the primary responsibility for disaster response has always been with local and state governments.
It is true that federal response was not as fast as it could have been. The president himself has acknowledged that fact.
But the press has focused on the first 48 hours of federal response, not uttering a word about the fact that New Orleans had 48 hours of warning that a major Category 4 or 5 would make landfall near the city, yet local officials apparently did little to prepare.
Obviously, Gov. Blanco did not effectively deploy her state's National Guard.
And New Orleans' city leaders did almost nothing to evacuate the portion of the population with no transportation. In failing to follow their own evacuation plan, these officials did little to pre-position food, water and personnel to deal with the aftermath.
I was surprised Sunday to watch Tim Russert, on his show "Meet the Press," tear into Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff. During his encounter with Chertoff, Russert did not suggest once that local government had any role in dealing with the disaster. Russert also asked for Chertoff's resignation.
It wasn't until after the first 29 minutes of his show – 29 minutes – that Russert raised the question of local responsibility. And when he did so with Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard, he did so in a passing way. Broussard brushed off his question with a non-answer.
Broussard began his interview claiming that the nation had "abandoned" New Orleans.
That is nonsense and a lie.
Broussard, who was never identified by "Meet the Press" as a Democrat, spent much of his time attacking the Bush administration, as has Democratic New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin.
Broussard then ended his performance as he collapsed in tears with a demand: "For God's sake, just shut up and send us somebody!"
His tears didn't wash with me. My sympathies lie with the tens of thousands of people who have suffered or died because local officials like Broussard, Mayor Nagin and Governor Kathleen Blanco, also a Democrat, failed monumentally at their jobs.
As former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial told Russert, the disaster in New Orleans was "foreseeable."
In fact, New Orleans has long known that such a disaster could take place if a major hurricane hit the city.
The municipality even prepared its own "City of New Orleans Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan."
The plan makes it evident that New Orleans knew that evacuation of the civilian population was the primary responsibility of the city – not the federal government.
The city plan acknowledges its responsibility in the document:
As established by the City of New Orleans Charter, the government has jurisdiction and responsibility in disaster response. City government shall coordinate its efforts through the Office of Emergency Preparedness.
The city document also makes clear that decisions involving a proper and orderly evacuation lie with the governor, mayor and local authorities. Nowhere is the president or federal government even mentioned:
The authority to order the evacuation of residents threatened by an approaching hurricane is conferred to the Governor by Louisiana Statute. The Governor is granted the power to direct and compel the evacuation of all or part of the population from a stricken or threatened area within the State, if he deems this action necessary for the preservation of life or other disaster mitigation, response or recovery. The same power to order an evacuation conferred upon the Governor is also delegated to each political subdivision of the State by Executive Order. This authority empowers the chief elected official of New Orleans, the Mayor of New Orleans, to order the evacuation of the parish residents threatened by an approaching hurricane.
It is clear the city also recognized that it would need to move large portions of its population, and it would need to prepare for such an eventuality:
The City of New Orleans will utilize all available resources to quickly and safely evacuate threatened areas. Those evacuated will be directed to temporary sheltering and feeding facilities as needed. When specific routes of progress are required, evacuees will be directed to those routes. Special arrangements will be made to evacuate persons unable to transport themselves or who require specific life saving assistance. Additional personnel will be recruited to assist in evacuation procedures as needed. ...
Evacuation procedures for small scale and localized evacuations are conducted per the SOPs of the New Orleans Fire Department and the New Orleans Police Department. However, due to the sheer size and number of persons to be evacuated, should a major tropical weather system or other catastrophic event threaten or impact the area, specifically directed long range planning and coordination of resources and responsibilities efforts must be undertaken. [You can read New Orleans' Emergency Plan for hurricanes at its Web site: http://www.cityofno.com/portal.aspx?portal=46&tabid=26]
The city's plan also specifically called for the use of city-owned buses and school buses to evacuate the population. These were apparently never deployed, though the Parish of Plaquemines just south of the city evacuated its population using school buses.
The plan, written well before Katrina was even a teardrop in God's eye, was obviously never heeded or implemented by local leaders.
But why should the New Orleans mayor and Governor Blanco take responsibility when they can blame George Bush and the Republicans in Washington?
With congressional elections fast approaching, Democrats who are out of power in every branch of the federal government know they need to change the tide quickly.
They have apparently seized on the Katrina disaster to harm the president politically.
Criticism of the federal government's response is fair and warranted. But putting full responsibility for this disaster on the Bush administration is way over the top.
Primary responsibility for this disaster remains with local officials like Nagin and Blanco, not President Bush.
And I agree with RAM, celebrating Mardi Gra was disgusting. That money and time could have been used in the restoration of their city.
Do you know some of the Katrina victims are getting angry because hotels and motels are now going to begin charging them for room and board? Come on, people!! The government is not going to hand-hold them the rest of their lives. Enough is enough!!