1. This is the worst hurricane in recorded history. There are 12-20 hurricanes in the Gulf each year you only hear about maybe one of them per year on the national news. Living in New Orleans and Pensacola I heard about them all. Many hit a CAT 1 level only to be downgraded to a tropical storm by the time they hit land. This is the only the 4th Hurricane that was a category 4 or higher in the last 150 years! Historic homes that survived over 500 hurricanes over the last two centuries were completely obliterated by this one.
2. Why didn’t “they” respond like 9/11 in Manhattan. What the hell are people talking about? 9/11 destroyed 10 square blocks. Katrina destroyed 90,000 square miles for god sakes! Gezz, these comparisons really piss me off. I guess over 200 cities and towns are damaged or destroyed. Not talking about an area of one city. A whole region of our nation was wiped out. Are you getting the picture here folks?
3. This was caused by global warming? Then how do you explain ANY hurricane bigger than a CAT 3 before 1970. Get a clue. I am happy to have the “global warming” debate with anyone who gives me the word. Just let me know.
4. This is all BushÂ’s fault for the slow response. Again, if you hear this while holding your martini at the next cocktail party in NY or San Francisco lets look at the chain of events. First, Bush is prevented from sending in federal troops to any state without the Governors written consent. This is a LAW not a guideline. Blanco (a democrat) refused to give that consent until AFTER the levees had already broken and the looting began. By then it was too late.
Bush was the one who declared the state a disaster area two days before the hurricane hit to speed up any federal aid
Bush was the one who asked Blanco to evacuate the city of New Orleans on Saturday. She waited 24 hours and did not give the order until Sunday. When is Bush going to get some credit for saving lives.
5. TIMES-PICAYUNE published a story on July 24, 2005 stating: City, state and federal emergency officials are preparing to give a historically blunt message: "In the event of a major hurricane, you're on your own." Now the newspaper is trying to say the FEMA director should be fired? Why, everyone in this city was warned this was going to be the “big one.” So the locals didn’t listen and suddenly it is the federal governments fault?
6. 500 NOPD officers did not show up for work and have not reported in. 200 Officers turned in their badges. This accounts for the looting and chaos not Bush.
7. Paul Krugman and Michael Moore (I hate those jerks) said that the rescue efforts were hampered due to military assets being deployed overseas. I guess you report a lie often enough somebody is going to believe it. First only 10% of US armed forces are stationed in the Gulf. Second, I looked for the exact number of National Guardsman that were activated for Katrina but there is something like 200,000 still in the southeast that have not been called for duty. So, if you got guys sitting around not activated why would it be a salient point how many are in the Gulf? Those guys are morons.
8. The city did not follow their own plan to evacuate convicts from the local prisons. The convicts were let go so they would not drown. Now you know why all the looting and rapes were so bad.
9. Nagin told anyone going to the Superdome to bring four days of food and water for themselves. Most of them so use to the government providing everything for them just showed up with nothing.
10. ‘Mayor Ray Nagin's spokeswoman, Tanzie Jones, insisted that there was no reluctance at City Hall to open the Superdome, but said the evacuation was the top priority.
"Our main focus is to get the people out of the city," she said.
But again, in 2004, no city or school buses were used to take people to safety.
Callers to talk radio complained about the late decision to open up the dome, but the mayor said he would do nothing different.
And, indeed, he didn't do much different last weekend before Katrina struck.
Even the problems that occurred at the Superdome this week had a precedent – during a threat by Hurricane Georges in 1998. An estimated 14,000 poured into the stadium, but theft and vandalism were rampant.
During the threat by Ivan, only 1,100 fled to the Superdome and they were supervised by 300 National Guardsmen, who were able to avoid major crime problems.
Gov. Kathleen Blanco and Nagin both acknowledged after the Ivan near miss they needed a better evacuation plan.
11. On top of all of this, a local Radio Talk show host use to warn about the levyÂ’s all the time. The levy commission spent $45,000 on a private investigator to dig up dirt on this guy to shut him up. They didnÂ’t find anything. But now you see how bad this city is run. I lived there for five years and the place is completely and utterly corrupt and dysfunctional. I could write 20 more pages about the incompetence.
12. You never know how many are going to show up for a shelter until they show up. However, the unexpected large number of people who planned to ride the hurricane out is somehow bush’s fault. Get a clue. If a city or state tried to treat every hurricane as a disaster on this scale it would bankrupt them. I also heard a dumbass reporter on CNN bitch about the fact that all these assets were not “pre-positioned” in New Orleans before the hurricane. First, you moron, you never know where a hurricane is going to hit until it hits. The computer models are off all the time and they give a 200 mile variance. Katrina was so large it hit Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama all at the same time. I mean did you see that freaken thing on a map? Second, if you “pre-position” assets they will all be destroyed by the….Hurricane. Duh!
13. The levy system was only designed for a CAT 3 Hurricane. Everyone knew this for 100 years. It was not only possible they would break in a CAT 4 it was expected! The NY Times four months ago had a article attacking bush for wanting to sign a bill for levy work and they called it a pork project and a “boondoggle.” Now the NY Times is blasting him for the bill not having more money. Again, dammed if you do dammed if you don’t. There is only so much money folks. California gets some for the Earthquakes that might happen, Chicago demands money for the tornados that might happen, NY gets some for the next Terror attack that might happen. Monday morning quarterbacking is useless and used by the weak minded to prove to the rest of us how smart they are. The NY Times always predict the last disaster but never the next one. <censored>s.
14. The Bush administration on Friday asked Blanco to give the president control of local law enforcement and the Louisiana National Guard that now answer to the governor. Blanco refused. Later that day, Bush administration officials sent Blanco a legal memo seeking to federalize Louisiana law enforcement under the Insurrection Act, which is used to suppress civil disobedience that threatens to turn into anarchy. The act would clarify the chains of command of local, state and federal agencies with the president in charge. Rather than cede control, Blanco on Saturday morning named James Lee Witt, who ran the Federal Emergency Management Agency under Clinton, to help run relief efforts.
“As reported by the Washington Post: 'Blanco made two moves Saturday that protected her independence from the federal government: She created a philanthropic fund for the state's victims and hired James Lee Witt, Federal Emergency Management Agency director in the Clinton administration, to advise her on the relief effort.' She was finally admitting, "We did not have enough resources here to do it all. . . . The magnitude is overwhelming."
Left behind in the wake of Katrina, was total chaos and destruction. The enormity of the disaster was vividly displayed on national television. Within 24 hours, 7200 National Guard troops from four states were ready to go into Louisiana, but couldn't until their assistance was officiated by the Mayor and Governor.”
15. But if you listen to Senator Landrau (democrat) this uncoordinated effort is still bushÂ’s fault and she wants to slap him? Very helpful and she has all the class and tact IÂ’ve come to expect from Democrats these days.
16. Senator Landrau (democrat) is on record for criticizing bush for not being in New Orleans the first day. When he showed up she criticized him for only being there for a photo op. Then she burst into tears. So let me get this right. If he does not show up he is wrong and if he does show up he is wrong. That pretty much sums it up.
17. Part of the New Orleans written evacuation plan calls for school buses to evacuate everyone left in the city or who cannot evaluate on their own. However, Mayor Nagin (Democrat) never mobilized the school buses. I cannot find anything in the press about this. IÂ’m sure they donÂ’t want to make their boy look bad.
18. The federal Government has not done anything. Russ Knocke, a Department of Homeland Security spokesman, said at least 22,800 people have been rescued _ more than four times the number the Coast Guard usually saves in a year.
At least 155,000 people have been evacuated from the stricken areas, most of them now housed in some 560 shelters, he said. More than 60,000 civilian and military personnel are assisting.
Hundreds of federal health officers and nearly 100 tons of medical supplies were sent. Yeah, that does not sound like any help to me.
19. FEMA and LEMA (Louisiana branch) has it in their own handbook that federal Aid will not arrive for 72-96 hours after any disaster. The State and local officials are on their own and need to plan accordingly. Governor and the Mayor knew they would not receive help right away and wanted to do it all themselves and then blamed everyone else for the results of decisions they made.
20. The lack of help shows the United States is racist. This hacks me off more than anything. I heard a few shows on Air America (yes I listen to Air America as well as Rush). They were beating the "republicans hate black people" drum over and over. One radio host said that if there were white babies there this would not be happening. To let you know there were tons of white people in SUVÂ’s and boats who came to the city to help all the people. However, they started to get car jacked, boats stolen at gun point, fired upon, killed (several car jackingÂ’s were homicides), including the rescue helicopters being shot at. Everyone said screw this and went home. This happened A LOT MORE than was reported in the national press.
I read one report (I think it was WWL) that white people in the superdome and rally points were threatened by several groups of blacks and told they were going to be murdered before help arrived. I saw this on the local news but it was not reported nationally.
ChildrenÂ’s hospitals, Charity, Tulane and many other hospitals were raided for drugs by these gangsters. Heather had friends who where trapped in some of these hospital and they had to barricade themselves in to prevent from being murdered. In the Superdome a 14 year old girl was raped to death and dozen of children and women were murdered. This was also unreported by the national media IÂ’m sure for PC reasons.
IÂ’ll scream if I hear one more person say that Bush or the Government did not do anything for them. What did they do for themselves? Why didnÂ’t they have a Hurricane kit prepared? Why didnÂ’t they leave? Why did they loot? Why did they burn buildings and attack rescue workers? Why didnÂ’t the city or state prepare for what they knew would come one day? This is what generations of the nanny state has produced. People who cannot think for themselves.
Despite what I have written, I do not blame democrats either. My 20 points above are only the response to the Bush Bashing. I do not believe the problem would have been magnified to the degree it was without the levees breaking. Everyone would have left the Superdome, everyone would have come home and cleaned up like they do 2-3 times a year when the big ones hit. The stores would have been open the next day and the cops would be patrolling.
The Levees breaking set off this chain of events caused by the massive storm surge. We have not seen a storm like this since Galveston in 1900 and likely wonÂ’t have another until 2100. stuff happens. No matter what happened, people would be bitching, looking for someone to blame, someone to sue, because that is what our culture has taught us to do. It is pathetic.
SEE!
Let's impeach him NOW!
I must agree, there NEEDS to be an impeaching (or two).
'Course, I have a certain incompetent Governor and equally incompetent Mayor in mind, along with the firings of all the heads of their departments of emergency services/management.
Malfeasance, Misfeasance, etc. Sheer Incompetence.
Great post Brad, you nailed it on all counts. Too bad we will never see anything like this in the press. BTW, Can you expand on the N.O. Levy Commission investing taxpayers money in casinos?
Watching interviews with the Mayor of New Orleans I come away with the impression he's a streetwise thug hoodlum and finger pointing should start at him.
New Orleans Cops are Only Paid $13.33 per hour, and very little in bennies.
Hurt on duty or I.O.D benies are very poor too.
By Jeff Johnson
CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer
September 07, 2005
(1st Add: Includes information about restoration of Mardi Gras fountain)
(CNSNews.com) - The Bush administration is being widely criticized for the emergency response to Hurricane Katrina and the allegedly inadequate protection for "the big one" that residents had long feared would hit New Orleans. But research into more than ten years of reporting on hurricane and flood damage mitigation efforts in and around New Orleans indicates that local and state officials did not use federal money that was available for levee improvements or coastal reinforcement and often did not secure local matching funds that would have generated even more federal funding.
In December of 1995, the Orleans Levee Board, the local government entity that oversees the levees and floodgates designed to protect New Orleans and the surrounding areas from rising waters, bragged in a supplement to the Times-Picayune newspaper about federal money received to protect the region from hurricanes.
"In the past four years, the Orleans Levee Board has built up its arsenal. The additional defenses are so critical that Levee Commissioners marched into Congress and brought back almost $60 million to help pay for protection," the pamphlet declared. "The most ambitious flood-fighting plan in generations was drafted. An unprecedented $140 million building campaign launched 41 projects."
The levee board promised Times-Picayune readers that the "few manageable gaps" in the walls protecting the city from Mother Nature's waters "will be sealed within four years (1999) completing our circle of protection."
But less than a year later, that same levee board was denied the authority to refinance its debts. Legislative Auditor Dan Kyle "repeatedly faulted the Levee Board for the way it awards contracts, spends money and ignores public bid laws," according to the Times-Picayune. The newspaper quoted Kyle as saying that the board was near bankruptcy and should not be allowed to refinance any bonds, or issue new ones, until it submitted an acceptable plan to achieve solvency.
Blocked from financing the local portion of the flood fighting efforts, the levee board was unable to spend the federal matching funds that had been designated for the project.
By 1998, Louisiana's state government had a $2 billion construction budget, but less than one tenth of one percent of that -- $1.98 million -- was dedicated to levee improvements in the New Orleans area. State appropriators were able to find $22 million that year to renovate a new home for the Louisiana Supreme Court and $35 million for one phase of an expansion to the New Orleans convention center.
The following year, the state legislature did appropriate $49.5 million for levee improvements, but the proposed spending had to be allocated by the State Bond Commission before the projects could receive financing. The commission placed the levee improvements in the "Priority 5" category, among the projects least likely to receive full or immediate funding.
The Orleans Levee Board was also forced to defer $3.7 million in capital improvement projects in its 2001 budget after residents of the area rejected a proposed tax increase to fund its expanding operations. Long term deferments to nearly 60 projects, based on the revenue shortfall, totaled $47 million worth of work, including projects to shore up the floodwalls.
No new state money had been allocated to the area's hurricane protection projects as of October of 2002, leaving the available 65 percent federal matching funds for such construction untouched.
"The problem is money is real tight in Baton Rouge right now," state Sen. Francis Heitmeier (D-Algiers) told the Times-Picayune. "We have to do with what we can get."
Louisiana Commissioner of Administration Mark Drennen told local officials that, if they reduced their requests for state funding in other, less critical areas, they would have a better chance of getting the requested funds for levee improvements. The newspaper reported that in 2000 and 2001, "the Bond Commission has approved or pledged millions of dollars for projects in Jefferson Parish, including construction of the Tournament Players Club golf course near Westwego, the relocation of Hickory Avenue in Jefferson (Parish) and historic district development in Westwego."
There is no record of such discretionary funding requests being reduced or withdrawn, but in October of 2003, nearby St. Charles Parish did receive a federal grant for $475,000 to build bike paths on top of its levees.
Earlier this year, the levee board did complete a $2.5 million restoration project. After months of delays, officials rolled away fencing to reveal the restored 1962 Mardi Gras fountain in a four-acre park featuring a new 600-foot plaza between famous Lakeshore Drive and the sea wall.
Financing for the renovation came from a property tax passed by New Orleans voters in 1983. The tax, which generates more than $6 million each year for the levee board, is dedicated to capital projects. Levee board officials defended more than $600,000 in cost overruns for the Mardi Gras fountain project, according to the Times-Picayune, "citing their responsibility to maintain the vast green space they have jurisdiction over along the lakefront."
GAWD DAMN!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not only is it Bush's fault, he's been fcking up New Orleans since he was governor of Texas!!!!!!!!! Hell somehow he fuced New Orleans BEFORE HE WAS EVEN IN POLITICS!!!!!!!!!
No wonder the liberal scum hate him so much! Not only is he omnipotent hes omniscient!
What about this poster child x? How can you spin this? Filthy liberal scum bag.
Great post Brad, you nailed it on all counts. Too bad we will never see anything like this in the press. BTW, Can you expand on the N.O. Levy Commission investing taxpayers money in casinos?
That was a cut 'n paste. I'll see if I can find an article RE the casinos in particular.
What about this poster child x? How can you spin this? Filthy liberal scum bag.
I would pose the same question I've posed all along. WHAT ABOUT ALABAMA AND MISSISSIPPI? They did everything right. They still didn't get help but.. they did everything right. I think it's because Clinton got a blow job? His irresponsible copulation is a scar on God and the entire South needs to die.
ah shut up
I would pose the same question I've posed all along. WHAT ABOUT ALABAMA AND MISSISSIPPI? They did everything right. They still didn't get help but.. they did everything right. I think it's because Clinton got a blow job? His irresponsible copulation is a scar on God and the entire South needs to die.
Nope, it's god's way of paying back all those bible thumping war mongering kill the non christian, dipshits that put bush back in office.
ah shut up
:eat:
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