Homeland Insecurity
What happened/is happening down in New Orleans right now is a perfect example of what an utter failure Bush is and what bullshit his “defending America” rhetoric has been.
Consider this:
- New Orleans is (was) the #4 seaport in the US and thus a prime terrorist target.
- Bush and his Department of Homeland Security have taken protecting us from terrorist attack as their sacred duty and #1 priority.
- If terrorists wanted to strike a serious blow to US shipping, oil production, the economy and morale, drowning New Orleans would be an excellent way to do it.
- The surest way to drown New Orleans would be to blow holes in the levees surrounding it.
- Any Department of Homeland Security worth its salt would surely have plans in place to respond decisively if such an attack took place to minimize its impact.
I won’t connect the dots for you; I have faith that my readers are smart enough to do that on their own.
They’ve had four years — FOUR YEARS — to prepare for an emergency of this magnitude and this is what they’ve come up with? I can’t see how anyone, not even the most die-hard Kool-Aid drinker, can continue to have any confidence in this Administration after what we’ve seen in New Orleans.
Meanwhile, Condoleeza Rice is touring Alabama today telling people that “the Lord will come if we just wait.” And Alabama is the least affected area. I hope this event brings the Bush Administration down, but if “Steve” typifies the kind of supporter Bush has – i.e. will invent, support and believe lies – it’s unlikely.
I said I was no fan of Bush. Thanks for ignoring that and calling me a “supporter” and “defender”. Sorry I can’t spell “levee”
There are lots of potential disasters we are not prepared for. I heard that the levee that broke had been upgraded on KGO- not exactly Fox news we’re talking about. Sorry if they were wrong- I’m not a reporter.
1. You said you were no fan of Bush while challenging my criticism of his policies. That’s fanboy behavior in my book. The fact that you were doing it with false information served only to cement that conclusion.
2. I did not call you a supporter. I also didn’t call you a defender per se, although you were defending him and I responded to that.
3. I can spell levee, and I’m not going to misspell it just because you can’t.
4. There are potential disasters that *can* be prepared for … and this was one of them.
5. KGO got it wrong first and then you perpetuated it here. See my “get your shit straight” comment from before.
There are some things that reasonable people can disagree on and have a conversation about, which would not necessarily make me “fanboy†. On the other hand, if the sun went nova tomorrow there are people who would blame it on George Bush. It very much reminds me of the blind hatred directed at Clinton from the right. (although I will grant you Clinton was, oh, about 1 millions times more competent).
I’ve been reading your blog since you started it and the stake before that, so I know you don’t pull any punches- but I also know you are more or less reasonable and I probably could have formed my argument better.
For what its worth, KFO also claimed the rehabilitation work on the levee was specified to withstand a category 3 hurricane, and not category 4.
Steve, I apologize if I jumped on you too hard. There are wingnuts following links here from my comments in other blogs right now and I assumed you were one of them.
I weighed the facts before I decided Bush deserved the blame on this. I didn’t want to blame him just because he’s the schmuck he is. But I honestly do believe he bears responsibility for what’s going on down there — cuts to funding on projects that would have reduced the damage, rolling FEMA into DHS, installing woefully inadequate leadership at both, taking his sweet fucking time to make getting help in there a priority, most of that help (National Guard) being unavailable because they’re off fighting an imaginary war etc… This isn’t about a hurricane, this is about a preventable disaster that a response should have been prepared for. Like I said, this is a federal disaster, not a natural one.
My “blind hatred” is seeing 20/20 on this one.
So… Please enlighten us all on the responsibilities of local and state governments during disasters. Perhaps you could cover the relevant local, state and federal statutes that govern how various agencies including a state’s National Guard, must respond in an emergency of this magnitude. Don’t forget to inform us on who has specific authority over what.
While you are at it, perhaps you can provide the timetable for how each of the following people responded to this Hurricane along with what they ACTUALLY did:
The Mayor of New Orleans
The Governor of Louisiana
The head of FEMA
The Secretary of Defense
The head of the North American Command (Adm Keating)
The President of the United States
I think once you are done with this assignment your “vision” will need to be retested!
“Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government. And to the extent that the federal government didn’t fully do its job right, I take responsibility.”
It’s the first time in this clown’s life that he’s taken responsibility for *anything* and still you people try to play your “blame game” and point the finger elsewhere.
What’s your point Chuck? He did what the commander in chief should do and took responsibility for the “Federal” government’s job. You still might want to answer Tim’s questions about the city’s and state’s job. Think Nagin and Blanco should take any responsibilty for that or is it ALL Bush’s fault?
…and what’s your point, Don? He’s lying? He’s not really responsible, he was just saying he was to try to … I don’t know, put some kind of positive spin on it? (That’s probably true, but is that what *you’re* saying?)
What’s my point? This:
“Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) asked the Congressional Research Service (a non-partisan department that serves Congress) to look into the records and determine if Gov. Blanco of Louisiana took all the correct steps in a timely fashion to secure federal help with disaster relief in the wake of hurricane Katrina.
The report unequivocally states that she did everything she was supposed to do in a timely manner.”
So I guess now you’re down to trying to pin the blame for the biggest federal clusterfuck we’ve ever seen on a city mayor. Is that where you’re taking the blame game next?
The following is from http://www.nola.com... ’nuff said
BATON ROUGE – Acknowledging that state errors contributed to the suffering in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Gov. Kathleen Blanco told state lawmakers Wednesday night that “there were failures at every level of government” and pledged to examine the missteps that crippled the response to the storm.
Echoing President Bush’s acceptance of accountability from a day earlier, Blanco told a rare out-of-session meeting of the Legislature that “the buck stops here, and as your governor, I take full responsibility.”