Katrina aftermath (political)
The Libs think that they have a way to hound Bush out of office...I got news for them!
What has happened in the aftermath of Katrina has been very revealing. This is the way I read it:
Failure #1 The Liberal Mayor of New Orleans failed to implement the city's disaster plan. Thousands of buses which were to be used to evacuate the people who could not evacuate themselves were allowed to sit in a lot and be flooded to the tops if the windows. Instead, the message to the people was, basically, "You're on your own...run!"
Failure #2 The Liberal Governor of the state failed to implement the state's disaster plan, even waiting for the President to call out the Louisiana National Guard (something the President cannot normally do because of 'posse comitatus'). Even after she and Bush had a meeting at which he explained to her what she should do, she waited 24 hours before taking any sort of action.
Failure #3 The 'first responders' (law enforcement, fire department, etc.) failed to respond, or responded ineffectually.
Failure #4 The 'poor' people of the city, accustomed to having everything done for them, refused to evacuate. They chose, instead, to wait for Big Daddy Federal Government to do everything.
There are many more failures, such as the refusal to build more levees because doing so would dilute the power and status of the existing levee control boards (each levee is controlled by a different board).
As for the 'failure' of the federal response teams, if FEMA had placed assets there before the storm, those assets would have been caught up in the disaster and probably destroyed. Look at the destruction that was wrought. Hell, even a tank or a Bradley would not have survived.
The federal gov't IS NOT supposed to be a 'first responder'. Bush could only alert and mobilize. Kathleen Blanco had to request federal help before federal help could move. She delayed. She was the one who had to call out the National Guard. She delayed.
And what about the people? They were/are so used to being taken care of by the welfare state that they had no idea what to do for themselves, no idea how; and no willingness to help themselves.
Of course, there were a few who figured that they would stay behind and, when it was all over, they would own the city, or at least as much of it as they could loot.
The whiners that came out are still whining. The criminals who came out are now committing crimes where they took refuge.
All in all, the aftermath of Katrina is a scathing indictment of the Socialist/Communist/Liberal Democrat way of doing things.
Posted: Wednesday 7th September 2005, 8:21 AM
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