We deserve answers

[TexasTiger 13,016]

We deserve answers, Mr. President (Joe Scarborough)

As one who has seen these hurricanes up close as a Gulf Coast resident, news reporter and member of Congress — where I got a behind the scenes look at how to run relief operations — I have been trying to connect the dots for those of you who have not been so intimately involved in hurricane recovery efforts.

With so many trying to figure out why so few acted professionally in the first days of this epic crisis, I offer an insider's view of who is to blame for this national disgrace.

We begin with Harry Truman who famously declared that the buck always stops at the president's desk. For those who now define the term conservative as unwavering support for George W. Bush, even this suggestion is maddening.

But the bottom line is that despite the fact the president was strapped with two governors who bungled this crisis badly, in the end it is the president who sends in the National Guard and FEMA relief.

The president's suggestion that the size of this storm caught all by surprise just doesn't get it. His administration was 48 hours late sending in the National Guard and poor Americans got raped and killed because of those mistakes.

A painful assessment from a supporter of the president, but also true.

Secondly, the first responders in any hurricane are local and state officials. When Florida was struck by four hurricanes last year, Governor Jeb Bush was nothing short of spectacular. Louisiana Governor Blanco was breathtakingly clueless as were other Louisiana officials. The deaths of many lay on their doorsteps.

FEMA’s Michael Brown also shoulders the burden for the suffering in New Orleans. His claim that no one knew of the suffering on the ground until Thursday defies logic. America knew the crescent city was drifting toward chaos on well before Tuesday. Why didn't the man in charge of disaster relief know the same thing?

One state over, Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour continues to claim that Katrina caught him by surprise, telling one reporter that it was after all a cat one storm after crossing Florida. That useless fact doesn't erase the fact that the entire Gulf Coast was put on alert as early as Friday that this storm would be historic.

If Barbour thought Katrina would be little more than a category one storm, then he is not to be trusted organizing his sock drawer — let alone the most tragic natural disaster to ever hit his state.

As for those politicians hell-bent on claiming all went well over the past week, don't waste your breath. People died in New Orleans because of incompetence. Not because of racism, or poverty, or any other social ill. They died because the political leaders we elected were not up to the task of protecting the innocent from the most savage among us and from dehydration, starvation and heat exhaustion. Deaths, that I learned from the Terri Schiavo death-watch, are most painful to endure.

Mr. President, Governor Blanco and Governor Barbour, all is not well with your relief teams. We deserve answers sooner rather than later.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6330851/

[japantiger 4,051]

The National Guard is a state militia. It serves at the will of the Governor; the Governor could have and should have sent in the Guard; not the President.

Aside from LA, which cities/states should we assume have incompetent leadership? I want to make sure that the Fed does not get blamed for dragging its feet in the future. The only way I can think is to proactively declare mayors and governors incompetent; so that troops are on the ground before the rain stops.

Obviously Florida has good leadership as evidenced last year. N.Y., we have to give them a passing grade after 9/11 (both Mayor and Governor).

Add to the list below:

New Orleans Mayor; surprised he had sense enough to fill in the forms to qualify to run for Mayor

LA - Governor - refused help when first offered by FEMA;

Add your mayor and state below:

??????

[AURaptor 1,126]

Sadly, Scarborough isn't starting from a position of fact.

Why did the Gov wait 24 hours to 'think about it' when the President asked her if she wanted Federal help?

Why did the N.O. Mayor completely and utterly ignore the city and state's OWN plan for evacuation? There are hundreds of school and city owned busses that sat idle , flooded and are now destroyed while the mayor whines that there are thousands of greyhound busses all across this country that should have come down here and save his people.

[WarTim 3,457]

There are still people in peril. Let's wait a while until the blame game begins.

[DKW 86 7,440]

Sorry Tim, but here are 146 flooded buses here in this one pic.

Here is a pic of the Ray Nagin Memorial Motorpool......

Where was the mayor's head at anyway? supposedly there are 400 plus school buses in the area too.

There is going top be major fallout from all this. Nagin will get the lion's share of the blame.

[japantiger 4,051]

Oops, a little late for that isn't it. I think every major democratic institution (the New York times, NAACP, every rapper with a microphone, the Boston Globe , oh well same group as NYTimes; LA Times, Ted Kennedy, Jessie Jackson, etc. ) was doing that on Monday night before the levies broke....So forgive me for firing in kind; I'm not feeling very magnanomous about this......

The truth is that the Federal response was less than 48 hours after the Governor got out of the way. Storm hits Monday, governor finally gets out of the way on Tuesday, large number of troops and convoys get to N.O. on Thursday. In the interim, the city and state did virtually nothing to save themselves; and in fact obstructed the only organization that was asking to help that actually had the capability to assist.

Typical; do nothing; cuss and blame someone else; look pleadingly into cameras to show how much you care; rather than actually doing the job they were elected to do and actually help the citizens of their city and state. I feel your pain "crap"......instead of, I'm doing something about your pain......

[Tiger in Spain 0]

Why not ask this question, "Why did the President of the United States have to lean on the governor of Louisiana and the mayor of New Orleans to evacuate the city?" Drop the blind hatred for the President for a moment and look at the facts.

Gov. Kathleen Blanco, standing beside the mayor at a news conference, said President Bush called and personally appealed for a mandatory evacuation for the low-lying city, which is prone to flooding.

NOLA.com

Look at the date of this article, this was a day before the storm hit. The governor and mayor, who have more responsibility for preparedness, should not have waited for the President to beg them to evacuate the city.

There have been many people who have politicized this tragedy. Dems, as usual, have blamed the Bush administration for not getting federal aid to the victims quick enough and Republicans have pointed the blame at the Democrat governor and mayor for not taking the correct steps to evacuate and get aid. And then both sides accuse the other of politicizing the tragedy. The fact is that a lot of steps were missed and flaws were revealed. All governments, federal, state, and local, should have and could have done a better job.

[AURaptor 1,126]

Sorry Tim, but here are 146 flooded buses here in this one pic.

Here is a pic of the Ray Nagin Memorial Motorpool......

Where was the mayor's head at anyway? supposedly there are 400 plus school buses in the area too.

There is going top be major fallout from all this. Nagin will get the lion's share of the blame.

179084[/snapback]

Thanks for taking time to find those pics. I had heard OF them, but hadn't had a chance to find 'em. Excellent post.