A Failure of Government in These United States

[EbonNelumbo]

If you click on the 'labeled map' and then go to 'flooded area' you see nothing but blue...its all gone...

 

[MSBS]

How would Michael Moore giving up his first amendment rights feed and water the people dying in New Orleans?

Wouldn't it be more effective for Homeland Security to allow the Red Cross to do their jobs - rather than people trying to abuse Michael Moore's rights?

And how is it that when we exercise our first amendment rights by calling him an idiot, that somehow equals denying him his first amendment rights? Since when has criticism equaled censorship?

 

[Inconel]

....

 

[MSBS]

He said it, not me! If you'd like to hear what the Mayor said, click on the link to CNN at the bottom of the page. You'll find links on CNN.

New Orleans mayor (Republican) lashes out at feds
Nagin: 'They are spinning and people are dying'

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- As his city skidded deeper into chaos, New Orleans' embattled mayor accused federal officials of dragging their feet while people are dying in deplorable conditions.

Mayor Ray Nagin's voice cracked with anger and anguish Thursday night in an interview with New Orleans radio station WWL-AM.

"We're getting reports and calls that [are] breaking my heart from people saying, 'I've been in my attic. I can't take it anymore. The water is up to my neck. I don't think I can hold out.' And that's happening as we speak." (Transcript of radio interview with Nagin)

Nagin said the time has long passed for federal authorities to act on their promises.

"You mean to tell me that a place where you probably have thousands of people that have died and thousands more that are dying every day, that we can't figure out a way to authorize the resources that we need? Come on man," he said.

"I need reinforcements," he pleaded. "I need troops, man. I need 500 buses, man. This is a national disaster. (Hear Nagin's angry demand for more troops -- 1:00)

"I've talked directly with the president," he said. "I've talked to the head of the homeland security. I've talked to everybody under the sun."

Read More:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/02/katrina.nagin/index.html

The thing is, by the time he said this, he knew that the troops were on the way. Is any one else here wondering if he's just trying to save his own ass by blaming the feds? Initial emergency response always happens first at the local and state levels. And with the pictures of all of the city's school buses parked in neat rows and half under water, you have to wonder, why weren't they used to evacuate all those people that had no other means? Maybe I'm being to harsh, but I think the guy has a lot to answer for.

 

[Scribbler]

.

 

[loribee59]

The problem with common sense is that it's so uncommon that when someone actually uses it, they're hailed as a genius.

the death of common sense had been grossly underrated.

 

[quantumspirit]

First 9/11, after Bu$h cut homeland security funding.

Now New Orleans, after Bu$h cut Army Engineers funding.

 

[hoser]

WWJD pal.

And Michael Moore would follow that? (WWJD)? I don't think so...

 

[hoser]

First 9/11, after Bu$h cut homeland security funding.

Now New Orleans, after Bu$h cut Army Engineers funding.

Yes, you really smart person. If only President Bush stood there on the gulf coast and blew as hard as he could to push the hurricane in a different direction so as it would not come close to NO. Yes, that damn Bush.

BTW, there was homelad security funding BEFORE 9/11? That is news to me.

 

[Buckeye]

Give it a rest already!

 

[mutantleader]

I would like to think not.

BTW, the original post lists the mayor of NO as a Republican, but he is a Democrat.

Scholar, you are splitting hairs. My take is he turned Democrat to win the mayoral election. Like many of our psuedo-Republicans, he switched parties, but still has Republican principals.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Nagin

The bottom line is our government is ill prepared to handle any significant disaster. I thought after 9/11 they would get their act together. Heaven forbid we have a terrorist attack again. These guys can't seem to distinguish between sitting on their 'donkeys' and mobilizing for a known crisis. . . duh, let's wait until the storm has passed before we prepare to intervene.
This is all probably going to turn out to be Bill Clinton's fault. Seems to be the response to everything negative that has occured during Dubya's five years of service.

 

[Archivist]

 

[alaurie]

 

[MaryS]

This doesn't surprise me either. You'd think she'd let the people eat first before she started her PR stunt with the Red Cross. This is rediculous!

Someone has to be pretty far out in left field to want to make Laura Bush look bad when it wasn't even her duty to show up.

If John Kerry or any other Democrat were in the White House, I certainly would not be referring to him or his wife as doing a "PR stunt" just because their timing may seem strange at an event.

 

[mutantleader]

Who were the bidders?

That was a low bid. . . I mean low blow.

 

[Smoke Screen]

Someone has to be pretty far out in left field to want to make Laura Bush look bad when it wasn't even her duty to show up.

If John Kerry or any other Democrat were in the White House, I certainly would not be referring to him or his wife as doing a "PR stunt" just because their timing may seem strange at an event.

How did you know I played "left field" in high school? LOL!

 

[Scribbler]

Why is everyone talking so loud? You woke us all up!!!!!

 

[Law of Loud]

Give it a rest already!

Kinda like the bodies floating in the attics. Kinda like the people who've been neck deep in disease-ridden water in their attics for five days now. Kinda like the cops who've been night and day rescuing people. Kinda like the nurses and paramedics who've been working without break in an overwhelming situation. Kinda like the FEMA teams working tirelessly to rescue survivors. Kinda like the engineers who struggled to maintain the water pumps until the pump rooms were too flooded to operate.

Why don't they just give it a rest already? Because people are dying, and significant federal resources were way too slow off the ball.

We need to speak for the dead and the voiceless here.

 

[the_cheat]

And Michael Moore would follow that? (WWJD)? I don't think so...

Ah, the little-known eleventh commandment, "lo, but two wrongs doth make a right."

I don't think that in the end, God is going to accept "but Michael Moore was doing it!" as an excuse.

 

[Smoke Screen]

Editorials, Including Those at Conservative Papers, Rip Bush's Hurricane Response

By E&P Staff

Published: September 02, 2005 12:30 PM ET

NEW YORK Editorials from around the country on Friday -- including at the Bush-friendly Dallas Morning News and The Washington Times -- have, by and large, offered harsh criticism of the official and military response to the disaster in the Gulf Coast. Here's a sampling.

Dallas Morning News

As a federal official in a neatly pressed suit talked to reporters in Washington about "little bumps along the road" in emergency efforts, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin issued an urgent SOS. The situation near the convention center was chaotic; not enough buses were available to evacuate thousands of survivors, and the streets were littered with the dead.

Moments later, President Bush took center stage and talked at length about the intricacies of energy policy and plans to keep prices stable. Meanwhile, doctors at hospitals called the Associated Press asking to get their urgent message out: We need to be evacuated, we're taking sniper fire, and nobody is in charge.

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001054151