We Are From the Government, and We Are Here To Help
by Blake on May 20, 2009 at 08:58 Political
What a lie. The government never helps- oh that is not to say they do not at times try, feebly- but mostly all they ever manage to do is salt the ground with so many rules and regs that nothing will ever work. Every disaster we have had in the last ten years at least has been aggravated negatively by the Federal Government.
Contrary to what you might wish to believe, they are last in, and first to leave. You could see that in Hurricanes Rita and Katrina. Now you can see it in their handling of Ike.
Katrina was a wake up call for FEMA, but in fairness, much of the blame could be laid at the feet of the Mayor of New Orleans, and Governor of Louisiana, who really messed things up by not asking the Feds in soon enough. Not everyone knows that you have to invite the feds into your state to take control of a situation, courtesy of the Tenth Amendment of the Constitution, but this is so, and so FEMA was delayed even more than normal.
Then Rita struck the same year, and while you might think that since FEMA was already in the area, they might be quicker in their response, oh no- that was not the case.
Now fast- forward to Hurricane Ike, in 2008- this was the Hurricane whose Eyewall went literally over my house at 6:00 in the morning with 100 mph winds, and all these nice little mini- tornados these storms produce. I had to cut my way out of the driveway when the storm had passed, which was no piece of cake if you have arthritis and two foot thick pine trees. I had a tallow tree that fell on our house, but we were spared major damage. We were extremely lucky, and I am the first to say this.
Fema took three days to get any ice, or food out to anyone near me. I had prepared, having been a life- long resident of Texas and veteran of Hurricanes my whole life, and I pretty much have no use for the Feds- they are always a day late and a dollar short, so I had ice chests, propane stove, and a horse trough full of water I had stored and tarped. Others were not so prepared, and particularly on the coast, where everything was literally scraped clean of any living thing, FEMA just looked at the devastation, and thought well, there’s no one here- why are we?
It has taken us in Texas a year, almost, to begin to put our lives back together, but still, we are much more fortunate than Louisiana, who still today is relying on the Federal government to give them back their lives, and that’s not going to happen. It is, #1- not the business of the government (you have to work at it yourself also), and #2-when the government does try to help, they most often get it wrong, because they have no clue how people live, or what people need.
Trailers to live in after Katrina did not arrive until three months or more after the event. You might think the Federal government could have done better by the time Ike came around, but in some cases, trailers didn’t arrive for four months, and now, before people can rebuild their own homes, Fema wants to take the trailers away. And yet we still have people living rent- free in apartments four years after Katrina. There is no logic to the government.
So it appears that Texans get penalized for being more prepared and able to withstand a storm that could be seen as coming for a week or more, but the people of New Orleans are still treated as helpless babies all because they didn’t do the sensible thing and flee when they had the chance. Oh, that’s right, the Mayor of a city that sits 12 feet BELOW sea level didn’t see a reason to evacuate- now THERE’S a sensible man. He let buses that could have evacuated most of the people sit underwater, and be ruined, while people had to cut themselves out of their attics. Wonderful. While his people were floating on the floodwaters, Mayor Nagin was living in Dallas, high and dry. That’s right- he came to Texas.
Now I said that to say this- if you are expecting the Federal government to bail you out, or to fix anything, make the economy better, or even do ANYTHING competent, you will be waiting a long time. Between the natural tendency of bureaucracy to do as little as possible, to the infighting between the various agencies as to who has the biggest, well, bureaucracy- you are better off doing for yourself, because I, and most everyone on the Gulf Coast, know that the Federal government is pretty well useless, and hasn’t gotten any better with this new iteration of “leaders”.
I mean, now we REALLY don’t have the money to help our people- just ask anyone in California.
Of course, they are their own disaster.
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Tags: disaster, fema, incompetence, self reliance
Being someone who lived thru Andrew, I find it very hard to feel sorry for the people of New Orleans. Most of the damage there was caused by the levi breaking. But if you were to show them pictures of Homestead post-Andrew, they would see what real hurricane damage looks like. They brag about being so below sea level, they should understand the risks involved. And the trailors should be gone by now, LONG gone.
But on the case of fed aid, I’m a veteran-turned-spouse, and I’m just glad my husband has job security until BO does the BJClinton thing and starts to deminish the military again. Technically, we’re lower middle class but at least I’ve learned to budget so we’ll be good until the day of reckoning comes.
Randy mentions finding your comment offensive and I have to agree. That would be like saying: “Being someone who lived thru the Oklahoma City bombing, I find it very hard to feel sorry for the people in the World Trade Center. Most of the damage there was caused by the buildings collapsing. They brag about how tall the buildings were, they should understand the risks involved.”
Adam every Hurricane is different- Some are all wind, some bring floods . some are hell on storm surge. Ike, for example was a Cat 2, but had a Cat 5 storm surge. It wiped whole communities off of the earth, and they still haven’t found everybody. Mother’s Andrew was a windy one, and the homes were not built at that time to withstand the force of the wind. The buildings flooded in New Orleans, but the buildings, by and large were still there.
I fail to see your point Blake. I have to thank Adam for finding better words to express why a mothers comment was offensive than I did, and I think he found a fair analogy. I don’t see how your post refutes his analogy at all though.
I wasn’t trying to refute anything any more than I was trying to compare Hurricanes. ts apples and oranges. I DO however, mention that anyone who lives 12 feet BELOW sea level really should take that fact into any oplanning they care to do.
By that logic then, clearly it was the fault of Texans and Floridians alike for not being adequately prepared for the high winds of a hurricane, and they deserve no sympathy.
“Mother’s Andrew was a windy one, and the homes were not built at that time to withstand the force of the wind.”
I feel the need to make clear that I disagree with this logic.
I don’t see your logic. The victims of terrorist attacks have no warning at all, the victims of hurricanes have at least a week’s worth of warnings. Living in Hurricane Alley, 12 feet below sea level means that you know the risk and are willing to take it.
Here is the logic.
Hurricanes occur in Florida on a regular basis. Floridians know this, but live there anyhow. Does that mean that the victims of hurricanes in Florida deserve no sympathy when a hurricane destroys homes and kills people?
Being a Floridian myself, I know the risk of living in my home state. I also know when the hell to get out of Mother Nature’s way. I remember my bus stop being under 20 feet of water because the Santa Fe River flooded it out. I remember being stuck at the school for an extra 6 hours because Opal took a turn for us even though she was assumed to be heading towards Alabama. I watched in terror as a 10 year old while Andrew pulled trees up all over the neighborhood in West Palm Beach (60 miles from where the eye hit) and landed one on the bed of my father’s truck. Yes, I know the risks all too well which attributes to the fact that I have little pity for those who have no respect for acts of nature.
BTW, I was confused on your logic of comparing a natural disaster to a terrorist attack.
Of course they deserve sympathy, Randy, but you know, FEMA is a relatively new govt. agency. We on the coast used to be able to pick ourselves up off of the ground and get on with or lives, instead of waiting for someone to do it for us.
We did have insurance cos. that kept their word, but there was no government help.
Look at the histories of Carla, Claudette, and others of the 50s and 60s, or go back to the Hurricane of 1900 that flattened Galveston. Read about a town in Texas called Indianola, if you will.
BLK: “Katrina was a wake up call for FEMA,…”
DAR
Bush wrecked FEMA, like almost everything he has touched in his life.
Clinton’s FEMA director made this observation a year before Katrina:
“I am extremely concerned that the ability of our nation to prepare for and respond to disasters has been sharply eroded,… I hear from emergency managers, local and state leaders, and first responders nearly every day that the FEMA they knew and worked well with has now disappeared. In fact one state emergency manager told me, ‘It is like a stake has been driven into the heart of emergency management.'”
–FEMA director James Lee Witt, at a hearing on Capitol Hill March 24, 2004
We had Americans, on American soil, being put to death in hospitals because no one would come for them (the nurses did the right thing and were exonerated). We had Canadians being held up at the American border, and they *still* managed to make it to parts of New Orleans quicker than the US. It was a national disgrace. Bush is a national disgrace.
D.
——————-
“My thoughts are, we’re going to get somebody who knows what they’re talking about when it comes to rebuilding cities.” —George W. Bush, on rebuilding New Orleans, Biloxi, Miss., Sept. 2, 2005
The people who put the patients to death committed murder. If I were running that hospital that would not have happened because it would have been prepared. Bush did not wreck FEMA, a nonsense argument. The reality is that the state was responsible. FEMA had issues but it was there in the appropriate amount of time. There were plenty of issues to go around but the lack of planning, lack of preparation and lack of leadershil at the state and local level made this worse than it had to be.
I have worked with FEMA and there are a lot of dedicated people who know their jobs. However, they just can’t rush into a state. They have to be requested. Blanco was too busy thumb sucking to do her job.
Jindal had no such problem in the last storm. Amazing what being prepared will do. I spent time with many of the evacuees in Little Rock. They were amazed, but happy, that they were evacuated and cared for.
All these people coming from all over the world and making it there first. Did they have all they needed? Did they have the appropriate supplies? FEMA is spread out and must get stuff to places. The fact is the state should have had people there. Instead cops left town, politicians were hiding under beds or gathering money from their freezers and people were not cared for as buses sat unused. I could have run that disaster better than the local and state government.
BIGD: The people who put the patients to death committed murder.>>
DAR
Actually, setting your personal unsupported opinion aside, it was ruled that they did not. It’s called euthanasia and it is something we have the decency to offer animals when they are suffering and dying. The idea that humans don’t deserve a similar degree of respect, is bizarre. Or as we say when people are this cruel to animals: inhumane.
BIGD: Bush did not wreck FEMA, a nonsense argument.>>
DAR
Okay, if you say so. I’ll take a former directors opinion over yours. Not a close call.
BIGD: FEMA had issues but it was there in the appropriate amount of time.>>
DAR
It seems to me that if that were the case, nurses wouldn’t be putting patients to death, legally, because no one would come for them. This is not around the world. This is ON, AMERICAN, SOIL.
How idiotic and irresponsible would a republican president have to be before you could see it?
D.
—————
“Bush’s people fired the Mining Safety expert with 20 year’s experience afterclaiming he was off $28 on his expense vouncher and in his place, they put a friendly coal lobbyist. So the rules got relaxed enough that this particular mine had 205 safety violations in 2005. Just like Katrina – deny all funding for safety and back-up systems, then act surprised when it crashes. That’s how the Bush Family Evil Empire works.
Dismantle all safety precautions and then warn, “Don’t play the blame game” when the people die.” –bartcop.com
I see you are for the Death penalty, D- welcome to our side- although these people had committed no crime, and if the hospital had been prepared, they would not have had to die as they did.
Read the Tenth Amendment and the posse comitatus act, and you will see that the Fed MUST be requested before they can “federalize” a situation, and Blanco refused Bush’s question of did Louisiana need help? For two days.
So don’t try to say this was all Bush’s fault.
It is said, if we are smart, we learn from our mistakes- everyone made them- Nagin, Blanco, Brown, and Bush, but it is intellectually dishonest to single out any ONE person as the sole reason that this turned out the way that it did.
You can castigate Bush all you want, but it was the democrat Nagin and Dem Gov. Blanco, who could have asked for help sooner.
And D- did you expect Bush to rescue everybody personally? That is ridiculous thinking. The Lord helps those who help themselves- no one helped themselves, beginning with Chocolate City Nagin.
No one came off of that disaster looking good, but the residents of New Orleans did not acquit themselves well either.
Blame Bush all you wish, and you will, for yo know no better, but he was just a small part of the problem.
A bigger part was the people believing they had to do nothing, that Big Daddy Government was going to bail them out, and that is wrong on several levels.
Wrong, wrong, wrong.
It’s not even a halfway decent attempt at rewriting history. All this talk of New Orleans and no mention of the response in Mississippi. Be careful when you say that they knew better how to take care of themselves or any such nonsense as that, I was there and directly involved with some of the work done in Mississippi. I was born in Mississippi and I have immediate family that was directly affected by Katrina. I can speak from experience about many of the problems Mississippi had with the Katrina recovery.
If its true its not rewriting history, Randy- Mississippi and New Orleans were almost two different worlds that were hit by the same storm. You were hit by the surge, because that was your side of it. But many of you were better prepared. You also had a Republican Governor who asked for help sooner than Blanco- still, FEMA was ham strung in that it was a bureaucracy within a bureaucracy, not an optimal situation by any means. Yes, there was devastation, and as I said, no one came off looking good, but to just blame Bush is false- And the whole thrust of my post was that if you are sitting around waiting for Bubba Government to help. you will be waiting a long time, whether it is a Hurricane, or an economic recovery.
Who is president matters probably the least here, but you keep on hating, it is something I have come to expect.
True, there is plenty of blame to go around, but it is fair to place quite a bit of blame on the Bush administration. The surge was caused by the storm, so a mothers contention is almost not even worthy of a response. I personally found it offensive. The bureaucracy within bureaucracy was created by the Bush administration. What’s worse, the response in Mississippi was no better than it was in New Orleans, despite your claim that help was requested sooner. You are correct that the logistics of the problems were different, there was standing water covering 80% of New Orleans, Mississippi didn’t have that mess to deal with. The problem didn’t stop with the initial response either, it was exacerbated by the handling of the cleanup and rebuilding for months and even years after the storm made landfall. I don’t think you or a mother are appreciating the gravity of Katrina. A single incident causing catastrophic damage across several different states most definitely warrants a federal response. How do you reconcile the fact that Venezuela and Cuba were able to get aid to the Gulf Coast before the US was? I will agree that those countries did what they did for political reasons, but the fact that they were capable of providing aid when the US struggled is embarrassing.
AQs my post has said, we went through Ike, and while we were fortunate to be away from the surge, we still had problems aplenty. I appreciate Katrina- it was a Hurricane, what do you expect? I have lived on the Gulf Coast my whole life, going through at least seven Hurricanes, and countless Tropical storms. It’s not that I am not compassionate here, but FOUR years later, we still have people from New Orleans in Houston, living rent- free and saying that they can’t move on with their lives- that’s ridiculous- sooner or later, you HAVE to go on with your lives.
The response to Ike was not what we would have liked from FEMA either- sometimes we do not get what we want, or what we think is fair, but we have to move beyond that and go on with our lives. If that sounds callus, I am sorry, but when you live in the past, you can’t plan for the future.
The government can track, monitor and mobilize responses to disease outbreaks like Swine Flu to limit the impact.
The government can insure your bank accounts against a bank going under and wiping out your nest egg.
The government can give our tax dollars to massive research grants for things like medical breakthroughs and space travel and other technological advances that attempt to make our lives easier, longer, and more enjoyable.
The government can give out money so our children can get assistance with college and make a real life for themselves and their future families.
The government can regulate air travel to prevent unnecessary deaths while we travel coast to coast.
The government can build, maintain and protect our highway systems so that we can safely travel to and from work or transport goods and products state to state.
The government can assist the sick and the elderly when they can’t afford health insurance.
The government can pool our money so that when we lose our job our families still have food on the table until we find new work.
Other than those things you are right Blake, the “bubba government” can’t do anything right, can’t help us at all…
No Adam, the government can use TAXPAYER money to do these things. Private industry could do a much better job with research and people could live a good retired life if the government did not confiscate their money and then spend it on other things while crying that Social Security is going broke. I could do much better and get a better return with my SS money.
And because government can do these things does not mean it does them well.
As for swine flu, what will they do except see who is getting sick. There is no vaccine. YOU can do more to prevent the spread of disease by washing your hands frequently. 10,000 people have gotten H1N1 and people want to wear masks. Millions have AIDS and we can’t get them to wear condoms.
You can do the best to provide for yourself.
“YOU can do more to prevent the spread of disease by washing your hands frequently.”
DAR
Absolutely right. I also think the cultural tradition of shaking hands needs to go. It’s just not smart.
BD: “Millions have AIDS and we can’t get them to wear condoms.”
DAR
Good point. Make sure and send in your Planned Parenthood donation like I did. And the pope needs to shut it.
D.
Darrel- you do not need to go to the abortion people for condoms- Wal- mart has them too. Try it.
D- are you saying the Pope has no right to an opinion? How enlightened and tolerant you are- perhaps you need a rag around your head and your woman in a burka.
The Pope can have his opinion, the problem is, there are a great number of people who (at least on some topics) think that whatever he says is true. Infallible. I knew a catholic lady who said she would believe whatever the Pope says.
But sometimes he’s just wrong. She:
Pope ‘distorting condom science’
“One of the world’s most prestigious medical journals, the Lancet, has accused Pope Benedict XVI of distorting science in his remarks on condom use.”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7967173.stm
yes- and Barama can have his opinion also- and there are a great number of people who (at least on some topics) think that whatever he says is true.
But sometimes he’s just wrong.
You say potato….
am not a dogmatic person, Darrel- I grew up catholic, so I know how the church works, and as Galileo could tell you, they are slow to admit error, but or all their faults, they are not always wrong either.
You are right somewhat, Adam- but increasingly the government is losing control because when the bureaucracy becomes too burdensome, it begins to slow down it’s effectiveness.
A good example is the FDA- it’s not been a lot of help with food borne illnesses. Then there is ICE- who should be able to do their duties, but are restricted from doing so by who? the government. Left hand doesn’t know, or care, what the right hand does.
For me I won’t argue government does everything right but there is a constant yammer from conservatives that government does nothing right. Reagan was wrong and it’s time conservatives face up to that or watch their party further shade over into obscurity…
Reagan was right. Government is the problem.
No one said there was no sympathy for people involved in any disaster. The fact remains that these are natural disasters and no one caused them. There was massive failure from the local and state government (where most of the blame lies) up to the federal level. FEMA has a 72 hour you are on your own. They can be there in 72 hours and in this case were hampered by the storm. The state is responsible for taking care of the state. That is the way our government is set up and it would be a violation of the Constitution for the feds to come in uninvited.
The state should have been better prepared and should have acted accordingly. 500 buses could have moved thousands of people but Nagin was hiding in a corner somewhere. Leadership starts at that level. The Governor was just as bad.
I have been through more than a few disaster drills and I can tell you that Louisiana. particularly NO, was ill prepared.
I am tired of debating Katrina and the Bush did it nonsense. There was enough blame to go around from all levels and both parties.
I’m sorry if I offended you Randy, but some people need to put on their Big Boy/Girl panties and grow up. Who is paying for their free living quarters? Every single taxpayer all over the country, seeing as how they are supplied by FEMA. I doubt any of them pay enough in taxes to cover their “rent” (rent meaning, how much it is costing the gov’t to supply the trailers every month). How much is that costing us? Feel bad for people who, after 4 years, can’t move on all you want. I will continue to worry about people who need my care.
First off, you aren’t sorry. Put on your big girl panties and don’t lie. Second, maybe if home owners insurance companies paid out on the policies to which they were obligated, this wouldn’t still be an issue. As it stands, the federal government at the time let those insurance companies run of with billions in premiums that people had been paying for years without holding up their end of the bargain.
Randy, MAYBE if people who lived where Hurricanes WILL come would pull their head out of their butts and prepare for what happens, they would actually have a better chance. Life is a crapshoot Randy, and all the government in the world isn’t going to help you if you don’t take some common sense precautions.
You expect the government to save you, the insurance companies to reimburse you, just who else do you expect to prop you up before you feel that your “inner child” is satisfied and you can move on with your lives?
Common sense precautions like buying hurricane insurance, flood insurance, etc???
What do you think insurance is for anyway? In case you didn’t know, you pay a premium on insurance so that when bad things happen, they take care of it for you. When did expecting insurance companies to pay on their obligations become sucking on the government teat? You are damn right people expect insurance companies to give me a payout. That’s what you pay them to do!
correction **give THEM a payout**
I know what insurance is for, but insurance NEVER makes things alright again. You can buy all the insurance you want, but it will never replace common sense precautions, and there was not a lot of that going on.
That said, no matter how you prepare there’s always a curve that can get you.
If an insurance company did not pay, you had a bad company- not all insurance companies are equal.
What precautions? Enlighten me please. I want to hear about Mississippi and New Orleans.
Well, for one thing, check your insurance company- if you went with a cut- rate co. you get what you pay for. Check if wind damage, or flood damage is covered. Check it every year.
As to other precautions, have your survival stores put somewhere that is as protected as you can get them.
The harsh reality is, however, the government cannot and will not help you for at least three days no matter what, so if you can’t take care of yourself, and your neighbors, you are screwed. That’s life, and its the same for me as it is for you.
You should educate yourself on the issues that many victims of Katrina ran into with their insurance after the storm. I’m not talking about three days after the storm, I’m talking about more than three years after the storm. The insurance many had was required by the banks that issued the mortgages based on the history of storms in the area. Insurance companies that denied claims for hurricane damage, flood damage, wind damage, water damage, etc. included State Farm and Allstate, just off the top of my head. Not exactly cut-rate companies. They denied claims made for damage that was specifically covered under their plans. Claims were denied to homeowners that were insured against wind and flood damage because the homeowners couldn’t prove whether it was the wind or the flood damage that destroyed their homes. People that had been paying premiums for decades and never filed one claim were denied when they most needed the services for which they had paid. That should be criminal. I could go on.
Are there any other precautions you would suggest for those awful, unprepared people in Mississippi and Louisiana?
Randy- I won’t defend the insurance companies, I have thought that they were chickens**t for a long time, but I did check out ALL the insurance companies that could and went with the one I thought had the most integrity of all of them. did due diligence, and I recommend you do the same.
Yes, Insurance cos. use the lamest excuses, but sooner or later, you have to be the one who picks yourself up off of the ground, and says you will not wait, but instead get on with your lives.
Yesterday is dead and gone, Kris Kristofferson once said- believe it.
And you said it- the people were unprepared.
I said it sarcastically. You clearly don’t appreciate the gravity of Katrina and the damage it caused. It is well within your rights to continue to blame the victims, but realize you have lost their vote for your cause.
It really does not matter in the end where you live- everywhere has dangers- pick your poison. In the west, you have fires, mudslides, and earthquakes, in the midwest, tornados, the Gulf Coast and East coast have Hurricanes and blizzards.
Insurance companies are in the business of making a profit, so they will deny all they can- they are not just holding our money for us- we wish they would, but this is not the case.
So, if you live in the west, you prepare as best you can- same for all the other places. This is your obligation to your family- if you do not do all you could, you have failed in your duty to your family.
The insurance companies will do as weaselly companies do.
I appreciate the gravity of Katrina- IT WAS A FREAKIN’ HURRICANE, for God’s sake- what you skim past is the personal responsibility part- at some point in everyone’s lives, the ability to move on must manifest itself, or like a shark you will die.
I see, people should take responsibility for themselves. Businesses don’t have to though, especially insurance companies. Even if they are run by people.
Randy, yes- people should take responsibility for themselves, that’s first and foremost. IF you truly read my post, you will see I did not tout the Fed. or FEMA, and I darn sure did not tout ANY insurance co.
Yes, i feel that any company that makes a bargain with its customers uphold the pact- but first and foremost, the personal responsibility part is what is your first line of defense.
Randy, I put my big girl panties on a LONG time ago. Untuck your private parts and take a breath. And you’re right, I don’t care how much I offend you. I don’t know you, you don’t know me. But, this is a blog and I’m practicing my right of free speech and the fact that I actually agree with what Big Dog and Blake post. Don’t like my opinions? Don’t read them. Come to this site just to bash the beliefs/opinions of the blog initiators? Then don’t read them anymore.
Then why lie about being sorry? I have the right to take offense to your statement too a mother, but don’t think I’m going to lose any sleep over it. I will continue to read your comments and I will likely continue to be offended by them. If I disagree with your opinions I will question them. I appreciate that Big Dog allows these back and forth exchanges in his comments. Most conservative political blogs simply ban and delete any dissent. I could go comment on blogs where I agree with much of what is posted, but let’s face it, that’s boring.
I allow people to discuss so long a they follow the rules. There are two people heavily moderated (mostly deleted) because of what they write, not their opinions but some of the words. I think most sites ban because of vile attacks. Some (including places like Kos) ban because you disagree.
My rules are posted. There is no real free speech here because I am not the government and I pay for the bandwidth. I like to engage in good dialogue and we can agree or disagree as long as we are relatively civil. I have software that picks up the bad words but some slip by. That does not mean I condone their presence.
Since I am writing here, I want to thank you all for coming here to comment. I appreciate the time you spend adding to the conversation.
DAR
Thank you Big Dog for allowing dissent and a relatively free exchange of ideas (with understandable restrictions) on your busy forum. It makes your site much more interesting and informative than a sterile site that censors people for their opinions.
D.
We can disagree and be mostly civil…
Yes Randy, that is a vital part of free speech- you are free to offend, or to be offended. Neither Dog, nor I am afraid of dissent on our subjects- vigorous discussion is healthy for this country, and who knows- we might even change your mind.
DAR
I don’t expect a mayor of a city to be a disaster expert. I do expect the head of FEMA to be a disaster expert.
Nagin made mistakes of course. The people judged his performance, he’s still mayor.
D.
——————
“Considering the dire circumstances that we have in New Orleans, virtually a city that has been destroyed, things are going relatively well.”
–FEMA Director Michael Brown, Sept. 1, 2005
“Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job.” –President Bush, to FEMA director Michael Brown, while touring hurricane-ravaged Mississippi, Sept. 2, 2005
“What didn’t go right?'”
–President Bush, as quoted by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), after she urged him to fire FEMA Director Michael Brown “because of all that went wrong, of all that didn’t go right” in the Hurricane Katrina relief effort
Darrel- The mayor of a city 12 feet under sea level damn well better know what he is going to do, or he is ignorant, and should not have been mayor. He made MISTAKES? he helped kill people, so do not give him a pass, or you should give Bush a pass.