The Looney Left has been on fire trying to pin all the problems with Hurricane Katrina on Bush. Remember all the “Bush Stayed on Vacation” nonsense? From Reuters
U.S. President George W. Bush is handed a map by Deputy Chief of Staff Joe Hagin (R) during a video teleconference with federal and state emergency management organizations on hurricane Katrina from his Crawford, Texas ranch on August 28, 2005.
The Looney Tunes know he is never “on vacation” but it sells well to the gullible… Maybe the power of the picture can refute the idiocy. More…
Bush declares La. emergency
8/27/2005CRAWFORD, Texas — President Bush declared a state of emergency in Louisiana on Saturday because of the approach of Hurricane Katrina and his spokesman urged residents along the coast to heed authorities’ advice to evacuate.
Bush, vacationing at his ranch, was being regularly updated about the storm, which is expected to hit land early Monday, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
Officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency continue to coordinate with state authorities in Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama, and have prepositioned supplies in areas expected to be affected, he said.
The president’s emergency declaration authorizes the FEMA to coordinate all disaster relief efforts and to provide assistance in a number of Louisiana parishes, or counties.
For the first time in (I heard) 34 years the President actually declared a state of emergency before the storm even hit. Then he went a step further…
Bush urges safety from Katrina
8/28/05CRAWFORD, Texas — President Bush, as he readied the federal government for a massive relief effort, on Sunday urged people in the path of Hurricane Katrina to forget anything but their safety and move to higher ground as instructed.
“We cannot stress enough the danger this hurricane poses to Gulf Coast communities,” Bush said as the storm roared across the gulf toward New Orleans and other communities. “I urge all citizens to put their own safety and the safety of their families first by moving to safe ground.”
With forecasters warning of a category five storm, the president made sure the federal response would not be delayed by already declaring emergencies in Mississippi and Florida just hours after a similar declaration for Louisiana. Such declarations make federal aid available to assist with disaster relief, but they are rarely made before a storm even hits.
Sorta weird to read that the way history unfolded huh?
Lastly, as has been widely reported, Bush even called Blanco personally and urged her and Nagin to declare a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans. Anyone who says Bush was not on top of this is either lying or delusional…. Bush was far more on top of it than the mayor of New Orleans who had to be reminded by the National Weather Service that hurricanes were dangerous.
Of course FEMA, and the idiot who runs it, are a different matter.
Fine, all of you win. You are absolutely right. I agree with you that we should abolish all local and state governments, since they are not responsible for anything that happens in their regions. Why should they exist if they have no responsibilities? They don’t have any ships or legions of soldiers or anything like that, so what good are they?
That’ll improve things a lot. The troops march in, take over, then that stupid Bush won’t be able to pass that buck then, will he? Well have him right where want him then! Can’t run and hide and blame other people then!
Wow, now I don’t have to worry about anything any more! I’m free! If I had known how liberating this mindset was, I wouldn’t have resisted it so much. Thanks guys!
as for me, I would like to pose one question to the class … you don’t have to answer it out loud … just answer it honestly …
… if the events of the last 10 days had happened EXACTLY the same but for one change – Bill Clinton was in the White House – would you be so quick to assign blame to the Louisiana Governor and Mayor?
would you be so quick to defend his decision to fly out to California and share birthday cake with, say, Sen. Daschle?
would you still say that emergency response is a local issue and that the president really isn’t involved?
would you still be saying that his decision to wait until Friday to visit the area was okay?
like I said, you don’t have to answer out loud (although, of course, I’d be interested in your response) … I’d just like for you to answer honestly.
So, a lot of the left, and the mainstream, and also such wacky hippies as Joe Scarborough and Pat Buchanan, all feel Bush and FEMA dropped the ball and thousands died.
We must all hate America.
So, how’s this:
How about a full, independent counsel and bipartisan commission, with subpoena powers investigate this at all levels? From the Mayor all the way up to the President?
That’d be fine, right guys? After all, you feel that Bush is not to blame for anything, so you have nothing to fear.
I love the selective interpretation of comments to fit your own worldview without actually engaging in reading comprehension, Sue. That’s so awesome. Can I have a turn?
Fine, all of you win. You are absolutely right.
Yay! We win! Yaaaay!
I agree with you that we should abolish all local and state governments, since they are not responsible for anything that happens in their regions.
Hmm. That’s not like anything we said, but heck, let’s try to re-interpret it. I think you were saying here that potato chips are bad, and actually, they taste good! Yay, we win again!
Why should they exist if they have no responsibilities?
Yeah, you tell em! Now watch this drive!
The troops march in, take over, then that stupid Bush won’t be able to pass that buck then, will he? Well have him right where want him then! Can’t run and hide and blame other people then!
Yes, that’s right! We won’t be able to! Because the ruling power in Washington never, ever blames other people. They’d never do that, would they? Nah…wait, what was I saying. Oh yeah, Liberals are bad or something, and Kos failed America because he didn’t clean up the hurricane, and, um, something, wait, let me find my bonkers book to consult first…hold on…
Do you think it’s possible for a Republican to fail at something?
Do you think it’s possible for a Republican to lie about something?
What would you accept as evidence that Bush has failed at something, or that Bush has lied at something? What would be your criteria?
Dave –
GREAT response … it was only missing 2 things:
George Soros and Michael Moore.
yay!!! we win!!!
(rolling eyes and rummaging for aspirin)
It’s really quite simple:
Bush is the head of the Federal gov’t. FEMA is a federal agency.
Federal gov’t exists to protect and provide for national citizens, in ways that state and local gov’ts cannot. We can think that’s good or bad, but that’s irrelevant: that’s the Fed’s job.
When at the LA governor’s request, Bush declared LA a disaster area, Bush accepted that commitment. He owned it. FEMA owned it.
Bush then failed utterly at that job for days, while thousands of Americans who were depending on him to follow through on that commitment – that Bush accepted of his own free will – DIED.
Do you get it? DIED! THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE!
While Bush dallied for days. All it would have taken was for him to watch the news, and he could have ordered in Nat’l Guardsmen into the Superdome . Airlifted in water, food, medical supplies. Sent in troops to evacuate, to restore order.
And don’t give me any of that crap about Blanco not turning over LA’s Nat’l Guardsmen. So what? Even if true, Bush has the guardsmen of 49 other states at his disposal! Not to mention the rest of the entire military! Troops and ships all set to go in, just waiting for the call – NO CALL CAME!
Meanwhile FEMA screws everything up. Bush appoints men with no experience to FEMA, doesn’t watch him, doesn’t even replace him with someone competent now. Therefore Bush owns his mistakes too.
Say what you want about Nagin and Blanco – but they were THERE. Bush couldn’t be arsed to leave his playtime ranch, except to be photographed.
Has he even seen some of the drowned US Citizens’ bodies yet? I’ll guess no. That’s not the kind of thing he could bear to see: the bad results of his failures.
Face it. Your boy and his administration blew it. Blew it at a level that far surpasses the extroadinary destructive power of even simple incompetence. Blew it in a way that rises to criminal negligence.
They were warned about it, they knew it was coming for days, and they waited until people were yelling at them to do anything afterwards.
And you, you refuse to accept that Bush failed.
Why is that?
I ask you honestly: what evidence will it take for you to see this?
Nice work, Jim. And Sultry? Gotta leave ’em laughing, as that Seinfeld episode said, so I’m outta here.
What I find incredibly ridiculous is that all of you Bush bashers, mmmmm, Dave G, tubino, etal… are all now experts in hurricanes and emergencies and their aftermath. Experts by proxy that is.
I suspect, had any of you actually had to deal with a hurricane and its aftermath, your take might a bit different. But, alas, there’s no arguing with those that have made up their minds from the onset, regardless of how sane an argument someone puts forth.
Personally, I welcome any unbiased investigation.
Who knows, it might even prove it was GW himself who donned the scuba gear and pulled the plug out of Sean Penn’s boat.
If it was only the FEMA response, I might agree with you. After all, it’s probably the worst natural disaster we’ve had in 100 years. As Bush always says in any situation, “It’s hard, it’s very hard”. But this is part of a train of poor planning and executions by the administration. It makes a pattern.
BTW – I AM a bit of an expert, having lived through several and done relief work on others. Based on what I have seen, I find the post-hurricane performance SHOCKINGLY bad.
okay, Val, since you are the expert in emergency response, please answer the following (reposted from above) :
as for me, I would like to pose one question to the class … you don’t have to answer it out loud … just answer it honestly …
… if the events of the last 10 days had happened EXACTLY the same but for one change – Bill Clinton was in the White House – would you be so quick to assign blame to the Louisiana Governor and Mayor?
would you be so quick to defend his decision to fly out to California and share birthday cake with, say, Sen. Daschle?
would you still say that emergency response is a local issue and that the president really isn’t involved?
would you still be saying that his decision to wait until Friday to visit the area was okay?
like I said, you don’t have to answer out loud (although, of course, I’d be interested in your response) … I’d just like for you to answer honestly.
There’s too much crap being spewed to here to even know where to begin.
I however am going to take on Sultry (turbino is hopeless as he keeps trying to maintain that the NRP actually overrides constitutional law – marvelously idiotic to say the least.)
So, Sultry, let me help you here with a little bit of that accountability you are so interested in.
“- FEMA prohibited the Red Cross from providing food and water to the folks in the SuperDome – I would like accountability for that decision.”
Wrong. Dead wrong. You have obviously been to the Red Cross FAQ page; you quoted them very nicely above. As it says, undeniably, it is “National Guard and local authorities” and the “state Homeland Security Department” responsible for refusing to allow the Red Cross in.
Where do you get FEMA from that, and how can you refuse to acknowledge that those two statements are an irrefutable indictment of the state authorities – who are commanded by Blanco?
Although, your final statement in the post – “and, before you get all in a tizzy, there is no Louisiana Homeland Security Department – “- makes it clear that you are clueless yet again. Allow me to redirect you the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness Website.
http://www.ohsep.louisiana.gov/default.htm
Facts are a bitch, aren’t they?
“- the Bataan was sitting off the coast waiting for orders (which can only be given by the CiC) – I would like accountability for the decision to wait nearly a week”
They were given orders on Tuesday. This was a nasty lie spread by you lefties, so much so that the damn Lt. Commander had to personally clear it up. Quit spreading the lie, you make yourself look foolish.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2005_09/007054.php
As for those firefighters, not enough info yet to know what was going on with that. I agree, that if they were slated to be used in NO for rescue efforts then “sexual harassment” seminar is beyond ludicrous. I withhold judgment on that until all facts are known.
At this time, the only official that looks to be criminally negligent in this situation is Governor Blanco.
We will see…
Oh, one last thing Sultry in regards to this blather…
“… if the events of the last 10 days had happened EXACTLY the same but for one change – Bill Clinton was in the White House – would you be so quick to assign blame to the Louisiana Governor and Mayor?
would you be so quick to defend his decision to fly out to California and share birthday cake with, say, Sen. Daschle?
would you still say that emergency response is a local issue and that the president really isn’t involved?
would you still be saying that his decision to wait until Friday to visit the area was okay?”
I don’t care what asshat is in the White House and I don’t care if they had tea and cupcakes with Harvey the rabbit. It is irrelevant.
As a resident of Florida, I can’t swing a dead cat without knocking over a newsstand full of “Hurricane Preparedness” brochures.
You see, here Florida, we have a Governor and local officials who understand what their duties to their citizens are. They understand they and the infrastructure they govern are the First Responders.
They also make sure that each resident of this state understands without question, that they are responsible for caring for themselves for 3-5 days after a hurricane – as that is the amount of time in can take for the Feds to get into the area – depends on the extent of the catastrophe.
So spare me your holier than thou, sanctimonious tripe.
P.S. I voted for Clinton… and Bush. I’m one of those odd birds; know as an “independent thinker” . When’s the last time you had a thought…without marching orders first?
Oh no, I have backslid into rightwingism again.
Hey Sultry, remember when you told me that Fox was not a good source and you used some other MSM news source to blame FEMA for not letting the Red Cross into New Orleans? I then told you that your source wasn’t original either; the original source would be the Red Cross itself.
Guess what I found? Fox was right.
Hurricane Katrina: Why is the Red Cross not in New Orleans?
The state Homeland Security Department had requested–and continues to request–that the American Red Cross not come back into New Orleans following the hurricane. Our presence would keep people from evacuating and encourage others to come into the city.
Sorry about you believing lies and all.
FEMA had enough bungles without some being invented. When you’re handling disasters in four states and you’re dealing with all of the governments involved, perfection is hardly a reasonable expectation. But who expects people with so much blind hatred to be reasonable?
acassa got to the Red Cross FAQ before I did. Good show! 🙂
WP
09/08/05
Facts and Rumors: Federal Power in a State of Emergency
First, a note to all the Debaters: Ordinarily, Wednesday would mark the beginning of a new week for The Debate — it’s the day a fresh topic would be introduced for discussion until the following Tuesday. But this is no ordinary week. So we’re bending the rules to make room for a few more days of Hurricane Katrina, and we’ll introduce next week’s issue, the Roberts nomination, on Monday — just in time for the start of his hearings.
But for now, we’re still talking about the hurricane, and all the false assertions that have been floating around with regard to who had the power to do what in Louisiana have got to be put to rest. Please allow me to use the text of federal laws and some other reputable sources in order to set the record straight. (My very basic conclusions based on those facts appear in parenthesis.)
Fact: Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco declared a State of Emergency for her state on Friday, Aug. 26. Full disclosure: The Post reported last week — erroneously, it turned out — that Louisiana had not issued such a declaration. A correction was published on Sept. 5.
Fact: President Bush declared a State of Emergency the next day Saturday before Hurricane Katrina hit.
Fact: Presidential declarations of emergency are made after a request from “the governor of the impacted state, based on finding that the disaster is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the ability of the state and affected local jurisdictions.”
[Update: The link above doesn’t seem to be working anymore, so here’s a copy of the page as it appeared on Aug. 14, 2004, courtesy of archive.org’s Wayback Machine. The page does not appear to have changed between when it was archived and when I looked at it yesterday.]
Fact: Blanco sent a letter dated Aug. 28 to Bush — via the FEMA regional director — requesting that he “declare a major disaster,” and Bush responded by wisely declaring an emergency. There is a very slight difference, funding-wise, between declaring a major disaster and declaring an emergency — the difference is explained here — but both authorize “emergency protective measures.”
[Update: Thanks to the astute anonymous reader who provided the link to the letter.]
Fact: A declaration of emergency “unleash[es] the support of any or all of 27 federal agencies. It also authorizes reimbursement of emergency work, such as debris removal and emergency protective measures.”
Fact: There is a FEMA program called the National Urban Search and Rescue Response System (US&R) — now part of the Emergency Preparedness and Response Directorate (EP&R) of the Department of Homeland Security. According to federal legislation, it “provides specialized lifesaving assistance during major disasters or emergencies that the President declares under the Stafford Act. US&R operational activities include locating, extricating and providing on-site medical treatment to victims trapped in collapsed structures, victims of weapons of mass destruction events, and when assigned, performing incident command or other operational activities.”
(I think we can all agree that such teams would have been immensely helpful on the two to three days immediately following the hurricane. The Coast Guard did a great job, it would seem, of airlifting people out of drowning homes very soon after the flooding happened, and New Orleans police devoted a great deal of time that to performing search and rescue as well. Yes, some deserted, but others stayed and did everything they could to help the city and its residents recover. Perhaps if more search and rescue professionals had been sent in in the immediate aftermath, the police could have spent that time maintaining order in the city.)
Fact: In the Rules and Regulations section of the US&R legislation, “emergency ” is defined as “any occasion or instance for which, in the determination of the President, Federal assistance is needed to supplement State and local efforts and capabilities to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in any part of the United States.”
Fact: In the supplementary information for the National Urban Search and Rescue Response System legislation, it says (I’ve taken out some of the extraneous numbers and some unnecessary phrases for ease of reading, but the meaning is unchanged):
Section 303 of the Stafford Act authorizes the President of the United States to form emergency support teams of Federal personnel to be deployed in an area affected by a major disaster or emergency. The President delegated this function to the Director of the FEMA under Executive Order 12148. Under E.O. 13286 of February 28, 2003, the President amended E.O. 12148 to transfer the FEMA Director’s delegated authority to the Secretary of Homeland Security, and under Homeland Security Delegation No. 9100, delegated the Secretary’s authority under Title V of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, which includes the Stafford Act, to the Under Secretary for Emergency Preparedness and Response (EP&R).
Fact: The Under Secretary for Emergency Preparedness and Response is Michael Brown.
(So, EP&R director — the head of FEMA, the guy the New Orleans Times Picayune said should “especially” be fired — had the authority to dispatch specialized rescue squads right away. Where were they? Why didn’t the president, under whose direction the Department of Homeland Security ultimately falls, insist on getting those teams on the ground — or in the air — as soon as the levees were breached and the flooding began?)
In 1995, the Washington Monthly wrote about FEMA’s miraculous turnaround after its abysmal performance dealing with Hurricane Andrew. In that story was this tidbit from Jeffrey Itell, who conducted a massive study of FEMA’s operations, which uncovered that FEMA had extensive powers according to the Stafford Act that, to everyone’s detriment, it was not exercising:
We found that without state requests, FEMA could assess the catastrophic area, assess what assistance the state needed, start mobilizing that relief, present its recommendations to the governor, and, if necessary … get in the governor’s face to force the issue of accepting federal help.
This should all still apply — unless the Department of Homeland Security nullified these common-sense FEMA powers when it subsumed the agency a couple years ago. (If it did, DHS has a lot of explaining to do.)
Again, that’s without state requests. (This is not to say the the local authorities couldn’t have done more. For starters, they could have taken into account the substantial number of poor Now Orleans residents who wouldn’t have the means to evacuate. But they were right in the middle of it all, their resources overwhelmed, whereas the federal emergency management professionals are likely to have vastly more resources (how many helicopters did the New Orleans Police Department have? I don’t know for sure, but I’m guessing not as many as the federal government.)
What’s important to remember here is that misinformation is swirling, as is not unusual after unprecedented disasters. (David Brooks of the New York Times recalls the news accounts of [insert then-feared minority group here] cutting off the fingers of the dead in order to steal their wedding rings.)
Don’t get me wrong, the Debate loves and encourages a wide variety of opinions. But many opinions you’ll hear from pundits on both sides of the aisle are based on false assertions. Before buying into one of these logical-but-inaccurate arguments — many of which probably originated in a spin machine belonging to someone or another — it makes sense to check that the facts are solid.
By Emily Messner | September 8, 2005; 09:23 AM ET | Category: Facts
Previous: Dealing With Disaster: When Optimism Makes Things Worse | Main Index
“FEMA had enough bungles without some being invented. When you’re handling disasters in four states and you’re dealing with all of the governments involved, perfection is hardly a reasonable expectation.
Sue, no one is expecting perfection. All that we’re expecting is that people DO THEIR JOBS.
Bush’s job, as head of the Federal Government, is to make sure that the Fed’s commitments are being properly followed through on.
Ignoring warnings of the levees breaking, cutting FEMA’s budget while Halliburton ‘loses’ $9 billion in Iraq…then designating LA as a disaster area and taking federal authority, but remain on his 5-WEEK vacation, breaking off only to go to photo ops, play guitar, and eat cake (!!) rather than making ten minutes’ worth of phone calls to military WAITING FOR HIS CALL to fly in, means Bush did not do his job!
Bush appointing Brown, a failed lawyer and incompetent who couldn’t run a horse association, with no background of any kind in disaster management, to head a disaster agency – means Bush did not do his job!
FEMA not having a single person in ahead of time, the head of FEMA only finding out from the TV news (!!!) several days later (!!) that the Superdome is running out, means Brown is NOT doing his job!
If you conservatives and Republicans are really all about accountability and personal responsibility, then you will find this unnaceptable.
Or is it only Democrats who must be held accountable?
Hi all,
Just consider this: we have FEMA because it is not possible or practical for all local and state govts to redundantly stock everything needed for a major disaster.
Instead, they do what they can, but at the national level our tax money funds an agency that can go anywhere in the country on very short notice to coordinate and supply, with coordination of materials from all over the country, nat’l guard, etc.
Does anyone disagree with that notion? The Bush admin does NOT disagree, at least not in theory.
I’ve provided links above if you want to read the National Response Plan.
Here’s a chart:
http://tinyurl.com/9w3fv
Sue, this is the product of the Bush administration. I don’t understand how you can attack the Bush admin policy while claiming to defend the Bush admin.
You see, here Florida, we have a Governor and local officials who understand what their duties to their citizens are. They understand they and the infrastructure they govern are the First Responders.
There in Florida, you have a Republican governor who’s the President’s brother, and has presidential aspirations of his own.
Last hurricane, Florida was a swing state in an election year.
Last year, when Florida was hit, FEMA and guardsmen were already in place, on the ground, waiting to move in, help out, assess damage, maintain order. Supplies were allocated. The Fed acted efficiently.
Strangely enough, that was not the case with New Orleans here.
Why is it, that the Fed responded differently here than in Florida last year? Hm?
I didn’t explain this properly. A chart has been devised, and called “Overview of initial Federal involvement under the Stafford Act”:
http://tinyurl.com/9w3fv
I want everyone to see the diamond that says President Declares Major Disaster or Emergency.
Then see what follows that.
If you look at that, and realize that this was the plan devised and agreed to by this administration just LAST YEAR (!!!), signed into effect in DECEMBER 2004 (!!!), there is NO WAY that you can say the Bush admin did its job.
There is no way you can honestly say that.
http://tinyurl.com/9w3fv
RE: mmmm … sultry’s one question (September 8, 2005 02:18 PM)
…one question to the class…
… if the events of the last 10 days had happened EXACTLY the same but for one change – Bill Clinton was in the White House – would you be so quick to assign blame to the Louisiana Governor and Mayor?
In a word – YES! Credit is overwhelmingly local as is blame. That’s the way state sovereignty works. We may buttress local response utilizing pooled national resources but such logistics take time, material, and manpower – resources that must be analyzed and shifted according to a dynamic triage based on degrees of need. In this case, a humongous hurricane and its multistate and multijurisdictional swath of devastation needed to be assayed and traversed – no small feat. It is imperfect but that is the paradigm under which we operate for better or for worse. Appropriately, locals have the best grasp of their particular dynamics and, if those dynamics are inadequately recorded and reported to a second(plus)-responder, then delays ensue. Quite expected and logical really. To not expect such scenarios is unrealistic and superficially partisan.
would you be so quick to defend his decision to fly out to California and share birthday cake with, say, Sen. Daschle?
Admittedly an untimely picture that does NOT represent everything that the President accomplished that day. This isn’t preschool where, after cake and ice cream, the kiddies run around the room for a while and then take a nap for the rest of the day. Would I have presented some snark to the picture? Probably. But I would also recognize that there was a heckuva lot going on behind the camera too. To presume otherwise is as childish as those sugar-eating children. No doubt that some might even criticize Bush for redirecting his focus on Katrina and away from the troops in Iraq for a week (or two). Such is the folly of partisanship and the disingenuous proclamations that Bush is not a very busy man with lots of coals in the fire. Maybe you need for him to shed a tear on cue or throw a tantrum behind a podium. I don’t. As chief administrator he appoints and lets others work. He assesses performance and adjusts accordingly (NOT reflexively, accordingly). If he works in a happy event or two during the course of his endless litany of responsibilities, then fine. I’m afraid I don’t find the photograph particularly damning though I certainly see the partisan opportunism of such a visual.
would you still say that emergency response is a local issue and that the president really isn’t involved?
Yes, I would say that that emergency response remains a predominantly local issue with national ripples and overtones. That is how the system is set up whether it is Bush, Clinton, or other are at the helm. They both steer using the same map. If that upsets some people, then ask your representatives in charge to change the map.
would you still be saying that his decision to wait until Friday to visit the area was okay?
Yes. In fact I’ve commented previously (the day after landfall IIRC) that such visits are more PR than anything. Some believe such PR is necessary. In this case I think it to be a waste of resources. I don’t need someone to “feel my pain” by putting on a front. Were I in the morass, I would want only the most expeditious and directly usable resources available to mitigate them. Ease my pain, don’t osmotically feel it.
Now, “I’d just like for you to answer honestly” the following:
Besides resigning from office what exactly would you want Mr. Bush to do to ameliorate the perceived problems along the Gulf Coast keeping in mind the legal framework under which he operates?
It occurs to me that a lot of issues could be resolved by looking at a timeline. The best I’ve seen is this one:
http://rightwingnuthouse.com/archives/category/katrina-timeline/
If someone has access to a better, more complete one, please let me know.
PS The chart is in the National Response Plan.
“Floridians had good reason to be grateful. In the summer of 2004, FEMA handed out hurricane relief checks with wild abandon, doling out nearly $30 million to residents of Miami-Dade County to replace TVs, computers and microwaves, even though that county suffered little or no hurricane damage.”
Gosh, how did that happen?
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2005/09/05/hurricane_track_record/index.html
As a new orelans resident reading this..
it seems you are more interested in defending someone(s) who didn’t do anything when needed, than you are with what ended up happening.
they evacuated, they did everything they could in new orleans… it was all over television to “get out”
From the perspective of a resident, there is a chain of responsibility to be taken and it starts with locals who, even though strapped of cash, could have done better, to state people (who have been complaining about new orleans for years because NOLA is not the capital city of LA, similar to NY and that dynamic) to the surrounding regions all the way to the president and to FEMA they all dropped the ball in one way or another.
The state, in case you didn’t know, is a red state, so are the others hit by this. Nagin, after the hurricane had his entire department and staff decimated.. city hall was underwater and everyone was homeless or gone, things got out of control fast.
The basic issue is you are going to be hearing from the people who are actually involved is this, the rest of the country sat around and watched the city drown while trying to figure out who was ‘responsible’ to help them .. whose fault is that? where was the leadership?
Here is a timeline. The sources are duly quoted. You can go back and check every one of them.
Of course, you can always use delusion and keep on repeating that Bush, DHS, and FEMA, did a “heck of a job”, and keep on blaming Blanco and Nagin.
By the way, Alabama and Mississipi have also suffered thousand of deaths, and are in terrible shape too. How come no one blames the governors of those two states? Could the reason be that it is because they are Republicans?
KATRINA TIMELINE
Comment on the timeline here.
Friday, August 26
GOV. KATHLEEN BLANCO DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY IN LOUISIANA: [Office of the Governor]
GULF COAST STATES REQUEST TROOP ASSISTANCE FROM PENTAGON: At a 9/1 press conference, Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré, commander, Joint Task Force Katrina, said that the Gulf States began the process of requesting additional forces on Friday, 8/26. [DOD]
Saturday, August 27
5AM — KATRINA UPGRADED TO CATEGORY 3 HURRICANE [CNN]
GOV. BLANCO ASKS BUSH TO DECLARE FEDERAL STATE OF EMERGENCY IN LOUISIANA: “I have determined that this incident is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the State and affected local governments, and that supplementary Federal assistance is necessary to save lives, protect property, public health, and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a disaster.” [Office of the Governor]
FEDERAL EMERGENCY DECLARED, DHS AND FEMA GIVEN FULL AUTHORITY TO RESPOND TO KATRINA: “Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency.” [White House]
Sunday, August 28
2AM – KATRINA UPGRADED TO CATEGORY 4 HURRICANE [CNN]
7AM – KATRINA UPGRADED TO CATEGORY 5 HURRICANE [CNN]
MORNING — LOUISIANA NEWSPAPER SIGNALS LEVEES MAY GIVE: “Forecasters Fear Levees Won’t Hold Katrina”: “Forecasters feared Sunday afternoon that storm driven waters will lap over the New Orleans levees when monster Hurricane Katrina pushes past the Crescent City tomorrow.” [Lafayette Daily Advertiser]
9:30 AM — MAYOR NAGIN ISSUES FIRST EVER MANDATORY EVACUATION OF NEW ORLEANS: “We’re facing the storm most of us have feared,” said Nagin. “This is going to be an unprecedented event.” [Times-Picayune]
4PM – NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ISSUES SPECIAL HURRICANE WARNING: In the event of a category 4 or 5 hit, “Most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks, perhaps longer. … At least one-half of well-constructed homes will have roof and wall failure. All gabled roofs will fail, leaving those homes severely damaged or destroyed. … Power outages will last for weeks. … Water shortages will make human suffering incredible by modern standards.” [National Weather Service]
AFTERNOON — BUSH, BROWN, CHERTOFF WARNED OF LEVEE FAILURE BY NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER DIRECTOR: Dr. Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center: “‘We were briefing them way before landfall. … It’s not like this was a surprise. We had in the advisories that the levee could be topped.’” [Times-Picayune; St. Petersburg Times]
LATE PM – REPORTS OF WATER TOPPLING OVER LEVEE: “Waves crashed atop the exercise path on the Lake Pontchartrain levee in Kenner early Monday as Katrina churned closer.” [Times-Picayune]
APPROXIMATELY 30,000 EVACUEES GATHER AT SUPERDOME WITH ROUGHLY 36 HOURS WORTH OF FOOD [Times-Picayune]
Monday, August 29
7AM – KATRINA MAKES LANDFALL AS A CATEGORY 4 HURRICANE [CNN]
8AM – MAYOR NAGIN REPORTS THAT WATER IS FLOWING OVER LEVEE: “I’ve gotten reports this morning that there is already water coming over some of the levee systems. In the lower ninth ward, we’ve had one of our pumping stations to stop operating, so we will have significant flooding, it is just a matter of how much.” [NBC’s “Today Show”]
MORNING — BUSH CALLS SECRETARY CHERTOFF TO DISCUSS IMMIGRATION: “I spoke to Mike Chertoff today — he’s the head of the Department of Homeland Security. I knew people would want me to discuss this issue [immigration], so we got us an airplane on — a telephone on Air Force One, so I called him. I said, are you working with the governor? He said, you bet we are.” [White House]
MORNING – BUSH SHARES BIRTHDAY CAKE PHOTO-OP WITH SEN. JOHN MCCAIN [White House]
10AM — BUSH VISITS ARIZONA RESORT TO PROMOTE MEDICARE DRUG BENEFIT: “This new bill I signed says, if you’re a senior and you like the way things are today, you’re in good shape, don’t change. But, by the way, there’s a lot of different options for you. And we’re here to talk about what that means to our seniors.” [White House]
LATE MORNING – LEVEE BREACHED: “A large section of the vital 17th Street Canal levee, where it connects to the brand new ‘hurricane proof’ Old Hammond Highway bridge, gave way late Monday morning in Bucktown after Katrina’s fiercest winds were well north.” [Times-Picayune]
11:30AM — MICHAEL BROWN FINALLY REQUESTS THAT DHS DISPATCH 1,000 EMPLOYEES TO REGION, GIVES THEM TWO DAYS TO ARRIVE: “Brown’s memo to Chertoff described Katrina as ‘this near catastrophic event’ but otherwise lacked any urgent language. The memo politely ended, ‘Thank you for your consideration in helping us to meet our responsibilities.’” [AP]
2PM — BUSH TRAVELS TO CALIFORNIA SENIOR CENTER TO DISCUSS MEDICARE DRUG BENEFIT: “We’ve got some folks up here who are concerned about their Social Security or Medicare. Joan Geist is with us. … I could tell — she was looking at me when I first walked in the room to meet her, she was wondering whether or not old George W. is going to take away her Social Security check.” [White House]
9PM — RUMSFELD ATTENDS SAN DIEGO PADRES BASEBALL GAME: Rumsfeld “joined Padres President John Moores in the owner’s box…at Petco Park.” [Editor & Publisher]
Tuesday, August 30
9AM – BUSH SPEAKS ON IRAQ AT NAVAL BASE CORONADO [White House]
MIDDAY – CHERTOFF FINALLY BECOMES AWARE THAT LEVEE HAS FAILED: “It was on Tuesday that the levee–may have been overnight Monday to Tuesday–that the levee started to break. And it was midday Tuesday that I became aware of the fact that there was no possibility of plugging the gap and that essentially the lake was going to start to drain into the city.” [Meet the Press, 9/4/05]
PENTAGON CLAIMS THERE ARE ENOUGH NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS IN REGION: “Pentagon spokesman Lawrence Di Rita said the states have adequate National Guard units to handle the hurricane needs.” [WWL-TV]
MASS LOOTING REPORTED, SECURITY SHORTAGE CITED: “The looting is out of control. The French Quarter has been attacked,” Councilwoman Jackie Clarkson said. “We’re using exhausted, scarce police to control looting when they should be used for search and rescue while we still have people on rooftops.” [AP]
U.S.S. BATAAN SITS OFF SHORE, VIRTUALLY UNUSED: “The USS Bataan, a 844-foot ship designed to dispatch Marines in amphibious assaults, has helicopters, doctors, hospital beds, food and water. It also can make its own water, up to 100,000 gallons a day. And it just happened to be in the Gulf of Mexico when Katrina came roaring ashore. The Bataan rode out the storm and then followed it toward shore, awaiting relief orders. Helicopter pilots flying from its deck were some of the first to begin plucking stranded New Orleans residents. But now the Bataan’s hospital facilities, including six operating rooms and beds for 600 patients, are empty.” [Chicago Tribune]
3PM – PRESIDENT BUSH PLAYS GUITAR WITH COUNTRY SINGER MARK WILLIS [AP]
BUSH RETURNS TO CRAWFORD FOR FINAL NIGHT OF VACATION [AP]
Wednesday, August 31
TENS OF THOUSANDS TRAPPED IN SUPERDOME; CONDITIONS DETERIORATE: “A 2-year-old girl slept in a pool of urine. Crack vials littered a restroom. Blood stained the walls next to vending machines smashed by teenagers. ‘We pee on the floor. We are like animals,’ said Taffany Smith, 25, as she cradled her 3-week-old son, Terry. … By Wednesday, it had degenerated into horror. … At least two people, including a child, have been raped. At least three people have died, including one man who jumped 50 feet to his death, saying he had nothing left to live for. There is no sanitation. The stench is overwhelming.”” [Los Angeles Times, 9/1/05]
PRESIDENT BUSH FINALLY ORGANIZES TASK FORCE TO COORDINATE FEDERAL RESPONSE: Bush says on Tuesday he will “fly to Washington to begin work…with a task force that will coordinate the work of 14 federal agencies involved in the relief effort.” [New York Times, 8/31/05]
JEFFERSON PARISH EMERGENCY DIRECTOR SAYS FOOD AND WATER SUPPLY GONE: “Director Walter Maestri: FEMA and national agencies not delivering the help nearly as fast as it is needed.” [WWL-TV]
80,000 BELIEVED STRANDED IN NEW ORLEANS: Former Mayor Sidney Barthelemy “estimated 80,000 were trapped in the flooded city and urged President Bush to send more troops.” [Reuters]
3,000 STRANDED AT CONVENTION CENTER WITHOUT FOOD OR WATER: “With 3,000 or more evacuees stranded at the convention center — and with no apparent contingency plan or authority to deal with them — collecting a body was no one’s priority. … Some had been at the convention center since Tuesday morning but had received no food, water or instructions.” [Times-Picayune]
5PM — BUSH GIVES FIRST MAJOR ADDRESS ON KATRINA: “Nothing about the president’s demeanor… — which seemed casual to the point of carelessness — suggested that he understood the depth of the current crisis.” [New York Times]
8:00PM – CONDOLEEZZA RICE TAKES IN A BROADWAY SHOW: “On Wednesday night, Secretary Rice was booed by some audience members at ‘Spamalot!, the Monty Python musical at the Shubert, when the lights went up after the performance.” [New York Post, 9/2/05]
9PM — FEMA DIRECTOR BROWN CLAIMS SURPRISE OVER SIZE OF STORM: “I must say, this storm is much much bigger than anyone expected.” [CNN]
Thursday, September 1
8AM — BUSH CLAIMS NO ONE EXPECTED LEVEES TO BREAK: “I don’t think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees.” [Washington Post]
CONDOLEEZZA RICE VISITS U.S. OPEN: “Rice, [in New York] on three days’ vacation to shop and see the U.S. Open, hitting some balls with retired champ Monica Seles at the Indoor Tennis Club at Grand Central.” [New York Post]
STILL NO COMMAND AND CONTROL ESTABLISHED: Terry Ebbert, New Orleans Homeland Security Director: “This is a national emergency. This is a national disgrace. FEMA has been here three days, yet there is no command and control. We can send massive amounts of aid to tsunami victims, but we can’t bail out the city of New Orleans.” [Fox News]
2PM — MAYOR NAGIN ISSUES “DESPERATE SOS” TO FEDERAL GOVERNMENT: “This is a desperate SOS. Right now we are out of resources at the convention centre and don’t anticipate enough buses. We need buses. Currently the convention centre is unsanitary and unsafe and we’re running out of supplies.” [Guardian, 9/2/05]
2PM — MICHAEL BROWN CLAIMS NOT TO HAVE HEARD OF REPORTS OF VIOLENCE: “I’ve had no reports of unrest, if the connotation of the word unrest means that people are beginning to riot, or you know, they’re banging on walls and screaming and hollering or burning tires or whatever. I’ve had no reports of that.” [CNN]
NEW ORLEANS “DESCEND[S] INTO ANARCHY”: “Storm victims were raped and beaten, fights and fires broke out, corpses lay out in the open, and rescue helicopters and law enforcement officers were shot at as flooded-out New Orleans descended into anarchy Thursday. ‘This is a desperate SOS,’ the mayor said.” [AP]
CONDOLEEZZA RICE GOES SHOE SHOPPING: “Just moments ago at the Ferragamo on 5th Avenue, Condoleeza Rice was seen spending several thousands of dollars on some nice, new shoes (we’ve confirmed this, so her new heels will surely get coverage from the WaPo’s Robin Givhan). A fellow shopper, unable to fathom the absurdity of Rice’s timing, went up to the Secretary and reportedly shouted, ‘How dare you shop for shoes while thousands are dying and homeless!’” [Gawker]
MICHAEL BROWN FINALLY LEARNS OF EVACUEES IN CONVENTION CENTER: “We learned about that (Thursday), so I have directed that we have all available resources to get that convention center to make sure that they have the food and water and medical care that they need.” [CNN]
Friday, September 2
ROVE-LED CAMPAIGN TO BLAME LOCAL OFFICIALS BEGINS: “Under the command of President Bush’s two senior political advisers, the White House rolled out a plan…to contain the political damage from the administration’s response to Hurricane Katrina.” President Bush’s comments from the Rose Garden Friday morning formed “the start of this campaign.” [New York Times, 9/5/05]
9:35AM — BUSH PRAISES MICHAEL BROWN: “Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job.” [White House, 9/2/05]
10 AM — PRESIDENT BUSH STAGES PHOTO-OP “BRIEFING”: Coast Guard helicopters and crew diverted to act as backdrop for President Bush’s photo-op.
BUSH VISIT GROUNDS FOOD AID: “Three tons of food ready for delivery by air to refugees in St. Bernard Parish and on Algiers Point sat on the Crescent City Connection bridge Friday afternoon as air traffic was halted because of President Bush’s visit to New Orleans, officials said.” [Times-Picayune]
LEVEE REPAIR WORK ORCHESTRATED FOR PRESIDENT’S VISIT: Sen. Mary Landrieu, 9/3: “Touring this critical site yesterday with the President, I saw what I believed to be a real and significant effort to get a handle on a major cause of this catastrophe. Flying over this critical spot again this morning, less than 24 hours later, it became apparent that yesterday we witnessed a hastily prepared stage set for a Presidential photo opportunity; and the desperately needed resources we saw were this morning reduced to a single, lonely piece of equipment.” [Sen. Mary Landrieu]
BUSH USES 50 FIREFIGHTERS AS PROPS IN DISASTER AREA PHOTO-OP: A group of 1,000 firefighters convened in Atlanta to volunteer with the Katrina relief efforts. Of those, “a team of 50 Monday morning quickly was ushered onto a flight headed for Louisiana. The crew’s first assignment: to stand beside President Bush as he tours devastated areas.” [Salt Lake Tribune; Reuters]
3PM — BUSH “SATISFIED WITH THE RESPONSE”: “I am satisfied with the response. I am not satisfied with all the results.” [AP]
Saturday, September 3
SENIOR BUSH ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL LIES TO WASHINGTON POST, CLAIMS GOV. BLANCO NEVER DECLARED STATE OF EMERGENCY: The Post reported in their Sunday edition “As of Saturday, Blanco still had not declared a state of emergency, the senior Bush official said.” They were forced to issue a correction hours later. [Washington Post, 9/4/05]
9AM — BUSH BLAMES STATE AND LOCAL OFFICIALS: “[T]he magnitude of responding to a crisis over a disaster area that is larger than the size of Great Britain has created tremendous problems that have strained state and local capabilities. The result is that many of our citizens simply are not getting the help they need.” [White House, 9/3/05]
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I saw on Fox New that on the 6th day there were still thousands and thousands of starving and dying people, bodies littering the streets and no help in sight.. oh oops! what am I talking about, that was Fox News, a part of the evil liberal media agenda!!
You are correct Wizbangers, Republicans can do no wrong. Ever.
The looney left? Check out the Washington Times headlines below!
The Headlines Speak for Themselves
by Mike Liddell
Thu Sep 8th, 2005 at 01:54:31 PM EST
Below, in no particular order, are just a few of the headlines from the past week:
Not Acceptable
(New Orleans Times-Picayune, 9/3/05)
Bush shows indifference, incompetence
(Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 9/7/05)
Waiting for a Leader
(New York Times, 9/1/05)
Bush and Katrina: A time for action, not aloofness
(Manchester Union Leader, 8/31/05)
Haunted by Hesitation
(New York Times, 9/7/05)
FEMA’s response was itself a national disaster
(Sacramento Bee, 9/4/05)
Mr. Bush’s Storm
(Washington Post, 9/8/05)
Cataclysmic failure
(Los Angeles Daily News, 9/7/05)
FEMA fails its core mission
(Washington Times, 9/7/05)
The ‘Stuff Happens’ Presidency
(Washington Post, 9/7/05)
After Katrina fiasco, time for Bush to go
(Baltimore Sun, 9/8/05)
A Failure of Leadership
(New York Times, 9/5/05)
The disaster at FEMA
(San Francisco Chronicle, 9/7/05)
It’s Your Failure, Too, Mr. Bush
(Washington Post, 9/6/05)
Brown must go. Now.
(Fort-Worth Star-Telegram, 9/8/05)
A Can’t-Do Government
(New York Times, 9/2/05)
Monumental failure by the government
(San Antonio Express-News, 9/7/05)
Where was George W. Bush in relief effort?
(Detroit News, 9/4/05)
Killed by Contempt
(New York Times, 9/5/05)
Exposed by Katrina, FEMA’s flaws were years in making
(USA Today, 9/7/05)
Building cities like there’s no tomorrow
(LA Times, 9/7/05)
Osama and Katrina
(New York Times, 9/7/05)
Where’s Dick Cheney?
(Boston Globe, 9/7/05)
Katrina’s truths
(Boston Globe, 9/5/05)
A CEO’s Weaknesses
(Washington Post, 9/7/05)
From Bad to Worse
(Washington Post, 9/2/05)
FEMA’s Disaster
(South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 9/8/05)
BUSH: FIRE THE HEAD OF FEMA
(Philadelphia Daily News, 9/7/05)
FEMA – What Happened?
(Charleston Gazette, 9/7/05)
Whither FEMA?: Special commission is needed to understand what happened
(Salt Lake Tribune, 9/6/05)
RE: nolares post (September 8, 2005 05:51 PM)
The basic issue is… this, the rest of the country sat around and watched the city drown while trying to figure out who was ‘responsible’ to help them .. whose fault is that? where was the leadership?
I sympathize with your plight and those who conscientiously tried to evacuate prior to the hurricane; however, your comment is hyperbolic and irresponsible itself. The rest of the country DID NOT “[sit] around and [watch] the city drown”; vast resources and personnel mobilized in both intra- and interstate locales to restore lives and order. Was it spontaneous? No. But spontaneous is not possible; neither is it done, and preparing for a catastrophe’s wake after the fact is exceedingly difficult. As a consequence of that truism, emphasis need be placed on preventing catastrophes to the best extent possible and not depend on what will always be inadequate rescue. The country continues to pour vast sums of money and empathy toward those misplaced. Leaders of many stripes are performing under incredible duress and impossible expectations driven by partisan rancor. Your exhibit of frustration is understandable but somewhat misguided.
RE: Ann’s headline (September 8, 2005 06:26 PM)
Could you provide the link to that story? I went to the Washington Times website but could not find the story. Is there no context to that list? Was it just a list of other headlines? What do you suppose that list of headlines indicates? What headlines were excluded from that list? Who publishes those headlines and do the authors and/or editors have particular leanings? Who wrote those stories and what can be discerned from the text following those headlines? Your post presents many more questions than answers and is not some legal indictment or paper trail as it is presented. I’d like to see the bigger picture rather than look through the straw (sorry, couldn’t resist a good poke).
http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20050906-093817-7903r.htm
RE: Ann’s link (September 8, 2005 07:19 PM)
Thanks for the link. I misunderstood your previous “headlines” post. I thought Mike Liddell wrote an editorial at the WaTimes and the editorial was excerpted to illustrate that list sans context.
Anyway, from that particular editorial, this was reported:
“Mr. Brown insisted that the federal government in general and FEMA in particular had no idea until that very day [+3d post Katrina landfall] that tens of thousands of New Orleans residents and tourists had assembled at the city’s convention center.”
Awareness like that seems unlikely. The response, however, was not. FEMA generally doesn’t actually start appearing on the scene until a ~96 hours post event. They may try to pre-coordinate from afar but do not actually send bodies in. That they were unaware in this tiny corner of the catastrophe shows a breakdown in coordination nonetheless. I’d like to know where the source of “failure” was as well despite the timely influx of resources given FEMA’s overall logistical limitations. Did the governor intercede and delay? Did the mayor do the same? Did they not communicate their local particulars before landfall to FEMA’s chiefs? Did they underreport their needs? Did they disclose exact needs or just some nebulous concept of aid? Did they ask for anything other than just money? Did FEMA have everything in a nice laundry list or did the dog eat their homework? Yes, I have lots of questions here too, but that’s enough for starters.
As for the abbreviated list of uniformed MSM response, let’s see what we have.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
New York Times
Sacramento Bee
Washington Post
Los Angeles Daily News
San Francisco Chronicle
Fort-Worth Star-Telegram
LA Times
Boston Globe
Um, I can’t account for every source but these are, o’, what’s the word… ah yes, liberal bastions of literary print. I’m not accepting a word from them at face value. The other sources I’ll need to review at some point. I hope I have both the time and stomach for them.
“As to whether the levees would just overtop or would breech – SO WHAT? “
So no one anticipated trying to supply that many survivors in a city full of water. The storm surge was supposed to overtop the levees, flood the city with fast-moving water with 140+ mile-per-hour winds behind it, and leave a lot fewer survivors.
Instead, the city floods the next day, and leaves hundreds of thousands of survivors cut off from their regular supply lines. A completely different scenario calling for an enormously larger response than anyone had anticipated.
“Last year, when Florida was hit, FEMA and guardsmen were already in place, on the ground, waiting to move in, help out, assess damage, maintain order. Supplies were allocated. The Fed acted efficiently.
Strangely enough, that was not the case with New Orleans here.
Why is it, that the Fed responded differently here than in Florida last year? Hm?”
Maybe because all the roads didn’t stay submerged for weeks or months after the storm passed? Maybe because there weren’t also a lot of completely flattened areas across parts of two other states? Maybe because none of the Floridians shot at relief workers?
Ken,
Last year was an election year. FEMA is run by a political hack who is a frnd of a friend of Bush. It would have looked very bad, would it have not, had FEMA not been on the ground in Florida? Bush went to Florida and made sure he was visible, as in being filmed handing out cases of bottled water to the Floridians affected by the hurricanes. Florida was (is) a swing state, and most of its residents vote.
In this case, there was no political capital to be gained. Bush is in his second term. Moreover, the residents most affected by the disaster — the poor blacks — would not vote for 2006 GOP candidates anyway, if they bother to vote at all. So, what was the point? Let them starve, die of dehydration, lack of medication, or drown. Who cares? Not this Administration.
This is an Administration that is only concerned with politics, and not all with governance.
Keep on making excuses for the humanitarian crisis that this country now faces. No amount of spin, disinformation, or even outright lies, will erase what a horrified nation saw in the past week or so.
Dismal,
i am referring you to the timeline that I posted. Again, the sources are identified and can be checked.
It is now up to you to choose your stance. The information is out for everybody to see. So, hopefully, you will sift through the information and make up your mind. This is a free country still (or is it?). So, as far as I am concerned, if you come to different conclusions, as long as you have done honest research, i.e., you have read all sides of the controversy, and come up with an informed position, I am fine with that.
If you only react to soundbites, and only watch — and listen — (to) the media that caters to your political bias, then I shall disregard your opinion.
I think that George bush could have done more to help the people but I also think that he is racist and doesnt care about black people
RE: Ann’s slander (September 8, 2005 09:04 PM)
[Alert to the genteel: Profanity at beginning of my response]
…It would have looked very bad, would it have not, had FEMA not been on the ground in Florida? Bush went to Florida and made sure he was visible, as in being filmed handing out cases of bottled water to the Floridians affected by the hurricanes. Florida was (is) a swing state, and most of its residents vote.
In this case, there was no political capital to be gained. Bush is in his second term. Moreover, the residents most affected by the disaster — the poor blacks — would not vote for 2006 GOP candidates anyway, if they bother to vote at all. So, what was the point? Let them starve, die of dehydration, lack of medication, or drown. Who cares? Not this Administration.
This is an Administration that is only concerned with politics, and not all with governance. [emphasis mine]
I probably wouldn’t mind debating some political point about timing during an election season and whether or not it was truly selfish, but your continued slander makes it apparent that you are full of sh*t. And I mean that in the sincerest way possible. Let’s review some documents, shall we?
—Florida Hurricane Charley and Tropical Storm Bonnie Declared August 13, 2004—
President Orders Disaster Aid For Florida Storm Victims
Release Date: August 13, 2004
Release Number: HQ-04-115
“WASHINGTON – The head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced today that President Bush has ordered the release of federal disaster funds and emergency resources for Florida to aid people battered by Tropical Storm Bonnie and Hurricane Charley.”
“Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Emergency Preparedness and Response, said the President took the action under a major disaster declaration issued this afternoon immediately after receiving FEMA’s analysis of the state’s expedited request for federal assistance. The declaration covers damage to private property from the storms beginning on August 11…”
—Florida Hurricane Frances Declared September 4, 2004—
President Bush Declares Major Disaster For Second Florida Hurricane Strike
Release Date: September 4, 2004
Release Number: HQ-04-152a
“WASHINGTON, D.C. — The head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced today that President Bush has ordered the federal government to provide all necessary resources and assets for Florida to aid people victimized by the second hurricane to strike the state in less than a month.”
“Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Emergency Preparedness and Response, said the President took the action under a major disaster declaration issued for Florida in response to Hurricane Frances that began affecting the state’s eastern coastline on September 3. The declaration follows the major disaster declared for the state on August 13 due to Hurricane Charley…”
—Florida Hurricane Ivan Declared September 16, 2004—
President Bush Declares Third Major Disaster For Florida Due To Hurricane Ivan
Release Date: September 16, 2004
Release Number: HQ-04-179
“WASHINGTON, D.C. — The head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced today that President Bush has ordered the release of all necessary federal disaster aid resources for Florida pummeled for the third time by a hurricane in little over a month.”
“Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Emergency Preparedness and Response, said the President took the action under a major disaster declaration issued in response to Hurricane Ivan that struck the Florida Panhandle this morning. The declaration covers damage to private property from the storm that began affecting the state on September 13. It follows the major disasters declared for the state on August 13 for Tropical Storm Bonnie and Hurricane Charley and September 4 for Hurricane Frances…”
—Florida Hurricane Jeanne Declared September 26, 2004—
President Bush Declares Fourth Major Disaster For Florida Due To Hurricane Jeanne
Release Date: September 26, 2004
Release Number: HQ-04-209
“WASHINGTON, D.C. — The head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced today that President Bush has ordered the release of all necessary federal disaster aid resources for Florida, lashed for an unprecedented fourth time by a hurricane in last six weeks.”
“Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Emergency Preparedness and Response, said the President took the action under a major disaster declaration issued in response to Hurricane Jeanne that struck Florida’s east coast early Sunday morning. The declaration covers damage to private property from the storm that began affecting the state on September 24. It follows the major disasters declared for the state on August 13 for Tropical Storm Bonnie and Hurricane Charley, September 4 for Hurricane Frances and September 16 for Hurricane Ivan…”
—Florida Hurricane Katrina Evacuation Emergency Declaration, September 5, 2005—
President Approves Emergency Declaration For Florida
Release Date: September 5, 2005
Release Number: HQ-05-210
“WASHINGTON, D.C. – Michael D. Brown, Department of Homeland Security’s Principal Federal Official for Hurricane Katrina response and head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced today that federal disaster aid has been made available to Florida to supplement its efforts to assist evacuees from areas struck by Hurricane Katrina.”
“Assistance is available in response to a declaration by President George W. Bush to state and eligible local governments for emergency protective measures that are undertaken to save lives and protect public health and safety. Emergency protective measures, including direct federal assistance, will be provided at 100 percent federal funding.”
“This action provides emergency assistance and funds to those areas beginning on August 29, 2005, and continuing. All 67 counties of Florida are included in the designation.”
In summary:
Hurricane Charley (FL). Aid declared at Landfall +2d
Hurricane Frances (FL). Aid declared at Landfall +1d
Hurricane Ivan (FL)…. Aid declared at Landfall +3d
Hurricane Jeanne (FL).. Aid declared at Landfall +2d
Hurricane Katrina (FL). Aid declared at Landfall +7d
And who was the operational FEMA head during these successes? Michael D. Brown
So, let’s review the LA end of Katrina:
—Louisiana Hurricane Katrina Emergency Declaration, August 27, 2005—
—Louisiana Hurricane Katrina Declared August 29, 2005—
Emergency Aid Authorized For Hurricane Katrina Emergency Response In Louisiana
Release Date: August 27, 2005
Release Number: HQ-05-169
“WASHINGTON, D.C. — Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Emergency Preparedness and Response, today announced that Federal resources are being allocated to support emergency protective response efforts response efforts in the parishes located in the path of Hurricane Katrina.”
“Brown said President Bush authorized the aid under an emergency disaster declaration issued following a review of FEMA’s analysis of the state’s request for federal assistance. FEMA will mobilize equipment and resources necessary to protect public health and safety by assisting law enforcement with evacuations, establishing shelters, supporting emergency medical needs, meeting immediate lifesaving and life-sustaining human needs and protecting property, in addition to other emergency protective measures.”
Hurricane Katrina (LA). Aid declared at Landfall -2d
The administration declared an emergency and approved aid 2 days prior to landfall in LA which was quicker than any of the Florida assistance. Kinda shoots a hole in the “let-them-poor-black-folk-die-whatta-we-care” meme. Furthermore, Bush appeared in LA just as he had in FL and not atypically considering these storms stuck during a contentious campaign season. He would campaign in that state among many others, and to excoriate his campaign in view of the 2000 election would be idiotic. Are you suggesting he just skip it because it might appear unseemly to the farthest Left who care only to demonize him no matter what his response? Or lack of response? Or just because he exists? Yeah, right.
Your race baiting is damned offensive. Congratulations. You are the first person to whom I’ve felt compelled to curse publicly here. Check that – anywhere.
Baymis,
Duh! Poor, black, people, are of no interest to the GOP. They either do not vote for GOP candidates, or they do not vote at all because they do not think it would make one iota of difference to their lot.
They were invisible until Katrina actually made them news. They are the evacuees with nothing more than the shirt on their back; the dead people in attics; the dead in the nursing homes; the bloated cadavers floating in the fetid waters, etc…
Although New orleans has been getting the most attention, one should not forget about the plight of Alabama and Mississipi, where thousands also died, and many more are homeless. No one is blaming the governors of those two states, though… They are Republicans, therefore, they can do no wrong. And the spineless media is again going along with this idiocy.
Maybe because all the roads didn’t stay submerged for weeks or months after the storm passed? Maybe because there weren’t also a lot of completely flattened areas across parts of two other states? Maybe because none of the Floridians shot at relief workers?
Nix on all three of your excuses. Read what I said more closely: in Florida, the personnel were in place and the command structure and decisions were ready BEFORE the hurricane hit.
Everything you mention happened in New Orleans AFTER the hurricane hit. And your excuse number three, is a *result* of there being no people or resources in place, after the hurricane hit.
Why do you keep trying to defend Bush?
Honestly, is it really just that hard to admit that you’re wrong, and that liberals maybe were just a little bit right?
Besides resigning from office what exactly would you want Mr. Bush to do to ameliorate the perceived problems along the Gulf Coast keeping in mind the legal framework under which he operates?
a) fire Brown as the head of FEMA, immediately.
b) fire Chertoff.
c) rehire the previous head of FEMA, under Clinton.
d) get FEMA to put all the firemen to work.
e) get down there in a tent, get real experts, listen only to experts, do only what experts recommend. This includes listening to Bill Clinton. (Yes, I’m cruel when I’m angry.) And it includes not returning to his ranch until the last New Orleans survivor has been situated, the last oil leak has been capped, and the last levee has been rebuilt until it can’t overflow again.
f) sell his ranch that Bush partied on for five days while thousands of people drowned to death, and give the proceeds to the victim’s survivors.
g) commence a full independent counsel investigation, into exactly what went wrong here and why, from the President all the way to the Mayor.
FWIW, the polls out today show pretty high disapproval for Bush. Even his most ardent supporters aren’t trying to claim that he was demanding action, calling people with orders to get water delivered, get Natl Guard in there…
There isn’t even photo-op evidence that he made any effort to speed anything up, or question why things weren’t being done. And even when he did staged photo-ops, he seemed so insulated from the event. Joking about his younger days carousing in the city? Just inappropriate, no??? He never appeared to really CARE about the disaster unfolding day after day.
Nancy Pelosi asked if he would fire Brown (head of FEMA, political hack with no relevant experience), and Bush asked, “Why would I do that?”
He doesn’t see the problem. He doesn’t see cronyism and political favoritism as a problem. He apparently didn’t see a problem with corpses being eaten by rats.
That’s not to say that there weren’t major problems in management locally — but did Bush try to DO anything? Did he ask, “what the hell is going on there? why isn’t the nat’l guard in place? who’s in charge there? what’s the deal with blocking the Red Cross? Don’t we have a ship near that can help?”
As far as anyone can tell, Bush was okay with all this, and said Brown is doing a great job. (Just out: Brown padded his resume:
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1103003,00.html
A great deal of energy WAS expended, but it was just to manage the “emergency” of bad PR. So there were plenty of staged photo-ops — even though those grounded rescue helicopters while Bush was there.
FEMA made some recent hires — of PR flacks. See http://www.warandpiece.com/blogdirs/002560.html
FEMA took decisive action — to ban photos. See
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/week_2005_09_04.php#006449
Pelosi was right. Bush is delusional, and dangerous.
Read here how FEMA was screwed up. This is the detailed version from last September:
http://www.indyweek.com/durham/2004-09-22/cover.html
From way up: someone claims that my reading of the NRP would somehow violate the constitution. Care to explain??? My understanding of it is based on what the admin says it means. Why don’t you take it up with them?
If you go to that TIME link above, you see a photo from a set of staged photo-ops. If you want a laugh at how these guys wasted time instead of working, read this expose about the maps used in the photo:
http://uggabugga.blogspot.com/2005/09/this-is-why-response-is-slowover-at.html
Criminal. Chertoff, Bush, Brown, all wasting time on photo-ops — during a real crisis!
RE: jim’s recommendations (September 9, 2005 12:33 AM)
a) fire Brown as the head of FEMA, immediately.
On what basis? Where was he derelict? As of June 22, 2005, Brown had successfully directed 164 presidentially declared disasters and emergencies under a newly formed infrastructure that had no historical precedent in this country with which to relate. There have been other natural disasters and incidents since to boost that count. He has directed many hurricanes with nary a criticism. Now, he’s an incompetant boob? Try again.
b) fire Chertoff.
Why? Where did he fail?
c) rehire the previous head of FEMA, under Clinton.
James Witt might be OK and his previous experience at the state level would be useful. However, from the link, “he initiated sweeping reforms that streamlined disaster relief and recovery operations, insisted on a new emphasis regarding preparedness and mitigation, and focused agency employees on customer service.” I like the beginning of that synopsis, but that customer service bit gives me pause. What does that mean? At this point I don’t think Brown failed and replacing him is too reflexive. But I don’t think I’d have any reservations to having Witt as an advisor or waiting in the wings barring someone else’s disclosure that he had an egregious failure during his tenure, that he would still have interest in FEMA, and that “customer service” doesn’t mean presenting a happy face while Rome burns. I don’t mind maintaining optimism in the face of tragedy, and I don’t want dour pessimism either. Straight, honest talk that inspires would be preferable.
d) get FEMA to put all the firemen to work.
What do you mean? Which ones? Are they not first responders and working now? Is that even something that FEMA can do since they are state employees? I don’t believe Blanco has relinquished such control, so maybe that suggestion would best be directed to the Governor’s office.
e) get down there in a tent, get real experts, listen only to experts, do only what experts recommend. This includes listening to Bill Clinton. (Yes, I’m cruel when I’m angry.) And it includes not returning to his ranch until the last New Orleans survivor has been situated, the last oil leak has been capped, and the last levee has been rebuilt until it can’t overflow again.
Bush listens to experts. Some appointees are political but the vast, overwhelming majority on staff are top-notch experts in the field. The entire team is not some fly-by-night team of gypsies that gets rotated in on some ad hoc basis. These are professionals and very specialized ones at that. I hate to break it to you but Mr. Clinton is not an expert on disasters. He is not an asset here. As far as Bush staying on until those items you mentioned are completed – I guess you want him reelected about four more times because it’s going to take at least that long to achieve them.
f) sell his ranch that Bush partied on for five days while thousands of people drowned to death, and give the proceeds to the victim’s survivors.
Now this is just idiotic partisanship. I understand you are angry and seem to exhibit signs of BDS, but c’mon. This empty talking point just diminishes everything you present.
g) commence a full independent counsel investigation, into exactly what went wrong here and why, from the President all the way to the Mayor.
As much as I think it would be a bunch of opportunistic, buck-passing, spittle-spraying, unctuous blather, I’d almost endorse it as long as we don’t have a repeat of that 9/11 Commission. Don’t count on a commission settling anyone’s opinion or mending any fences though.
Bush declared state of emergency on the 27th.
At what point thereafter did it become a national priority?
At what point after days of FEMA incompetency should the President have simply cut through the bureaucratic red tape.
FEMA is a part of the executive branch. Who else should be responsible if not the President.
IF he and the republican congress could make a special effort for Terry Schiavo, would a little bit of that intensity and can-do immediacy have been useful where thousands of lives were at stake? Why did this administration stand around for several days watching such incompetence without acting? That in itself speaks volumes.
The real blame game is the deflection of any accountability for this president. Pure and simple: He cannot stand there and say mistakes were made without immediately owning those very mistakes. He is more intent on appearing to be infallible and almighty than to be human and caring and accountable. Does accountability disappear once you win an election? Is political capital like money spent on indulgences (remember the Luther and the reformation?) which absolve one from all sin?
When Bush took office, FEMA was headed by James Lee Witt, a man with years of experience in disaster management at both the federal and state level, who was credited for building FEMA into a model of efficiency that had responded successfully to numerous emergencies. Many Republicans as well as Democrats urged Bush to retain Witt, but Bush chose instead to replace Witt with his campaign manager, Joe Allbaugh. When Allbaugh left the position, Bush awarded the job to Brown, another crony with no real experience in emergency management.
While cronyism and patronage are almost a way of life in Washington, misusing a critical post such as manager of FEMA for this purpose reveals an almost unimaginable contempt for the public safety.
“And your excuse number three, is a *result* of there being no people or resources in place, after the hurricane hit”
How is shooting at relief workers a result of desperation for relief supplies?
Jim said above
“…There in Florida, you have a Republican governor who’s the President’s brother, and has presidential aspirations of his own. …”
I don’t think Jeb has any presidential aspirations to speak of.
a. If he had, IMHO, he would have handled the Terry Schiavo case differently.
b. The ABCnews.com story Jeb Bush Rules Out 2008 White House Run was the first link that came up when I Googled “jeb bush run for president”. And if Jeb doesn’t run in 2008, I don’t see why he would run later, especially after seeing the pounding his brother is taking… and in 2012 he’ll be almost 60 — not too old to be Prez by a long shot, but noticeably older than W was when first inaugurated, and he would be running against (in all likelihood) an incumbent Democrat.
So I think you’ve got yourself a red herring, there, Jim! 🙂
Well, well, well …
It seems that the BDS afflicted (tubino, Dave G., Sultry, etc.) have thoroughly infested this thread with a huge mass of talking points and spin impervious to reason or fact, and permeated with a thorough misunderstanding about the limits of Federal power viz-a-viz the States and the logistics and planning in response to a natural disaster.
At no point did any of these idiots really make a case against the President’s actions in response to Katrina. Everything was a subjective rehash of everything they have said since 01/21/2001. The most damaging accusation is really that he did not bite his lip and feel their pain. In other words, he did not set up photo-op of himself and his cabinet looking distraught.
So much of what these guys have written is pure fabrication and directly contradicting of the reports from people on the ground, I’m looking forward to the investigations that are certain to take place after all is settled. The truth will out. The reckless abandonment of the New Orleans own Emergency Management and Evacuation plan will be answered for as well. All those flooded buses would be answered for. The 24 hour delay so that Blanco can make a decision will be answered for as well …
Of course, there are things that cannot be known now. But the one thing I do know is this; tubino and his league of trolls and others of their ilk have already made up their minds. So when it comes out that what they believe is actually wrong, as sure as day follows night, they will claim a coverup.
Idiots.