The most sensible article I've read on the situation.

Put the whole thing online.. What's Newton going to do?.. Sue Slugger?

Agreed - its an excellent article - I will be sending a letter into the IT later today commending it.

Its refreshing to see this compared to the shallow Bush Bashing/Anti-US rhetoric that passes for debate in this locale.

(not that I want to defend Bush either - he did himself no favours by not coming back from vacation).

"sensible Americans of all races will be more concerned by trite, cynical and dangerous political opportunism"

From my experience of Americans when it comes to the racial divide there are far too few sensible ones.

And you have a great deal of experience on this fair deal? Most people are confused by race issues, particularly white people. They don't understand white privilege and it's an issue, like sectarianism, that people prefer to avoid. Does this make people insensible or just confused?

Columnists- heal thyselves!

Newt must have missed Mario Cuomo's bravura performance
on Sky news the other day. Otherwise we would also have
been treated to a statistical comparison of his Democratic
stewardship with that of Republican Rudolph Giuiliani as
Mayor of New York City.

Animus

"you have a great deal of experience on this fair deal"

My experience is from living in the USA.

I'd like to mention that I'm not supporting Bush's typically atrocious performance here either.
I just think a lot of the facts are being overlooked in a gleeful, half-arsed media stampede to slap it up him.

What was the Mario Cuomo thing?

Newton

Well done. That was a great article. I'm no Bush fan either but it is getting to the stage that the bias against him in the media is getting in the way of the facts.

Could you elaborate fair deal? Do you really think it is a matter of being sensible or a sense of paralysis about what is a fraught and dangerous issue?

The other point is that Americans are not alone in having confusion over race issues - Northern Ireland is struggling as well. I do tire of the "Americans are all stupid" type of comment.

I agree the chimp in chief has been woeful, and despite the incompetence of local state and city authorities Bush should have realised that as Harry Trueman said "the buck stops here". And who’s idea was it to, when facing accusations of racism, go and visit Trent Lott?

Still while Bush may be no Ruddy Guilani he isn't the devil incarnate, which is what you would think from the mainstream media in Britain and Ireland. In particular John Snow on C4 news and John Humpheries on Today, the anti-American, visceral hatred is palpable.

Two other little convenient myth's are been built up over the crisis.

One that Bush is responsible because he pulled the rug under Koyoto and thus exacerbated global warming. This ignores the fact that there's been as many hurricanes this century as there has been in the last couple.

Second one is that if it wasn't for Iraq it wouldn't have been so bad. Only 10% of the US's armed forces are tied up in Iraq. There was more than enough national resources to deal with it.

The real problem was bureacracy, another related story is that it's the fault of Bush’s supposed republican assault on big government

Animus

Americans are far from stupid and that was not my comment meant to claim or imply.

I love to visit and stay in America every few years as it is a superb recharge. The 'can-do' approach is revitalising most especially in comparison of working and living in Northern Ireland.

The term I would think would apply best is blindspot. The inability to see or acknowledge the glass ceilings in many organisations. The racial divisions among the same classes. Community leaders so used to working an identity politics system that they are prepared to overlook the harm it causes and are willing to excuse actions of their own communities even to their own detriment.

Fair enough, I think blindspot is an accurate description. I think that community leaders stay away from delving too deeply because they are more concerned with their own reputations/careers and are less concerned with healing community division - bringing us neatly back to the point of Newton's article.

Newton

Cracking article, although I have a few comments, if I may be so bold:

"As the full horror of this sinks in, thousands of desperate columnists are asking if an official inquiry will shift the blame for poor planning and inadequate flood defences on to the White House. The answer is almost certainly yes, provided nobody admits that emergency planning is largely the responsibility of city and state agencies."

Is that right? I thought that: "The Federal Emergency Management Agency ... is tasked with responding to, planning for, recovering from and mitigating against disasters. ... As it has for more than 20 years, FEMA's mission remains: to lead America to prepare for, prevent, respond to and recover from disasters with a vision of "A Nation Prepared.""

"The answer is that only a civilised city can descend into anarchy."

That comment may be many things, but it's not an answer to the question posed. The question posed raises fundamental questions about the nature of America, its culture of violence, the right to bear arms, the treatment of marginalised African-Americans. Bush-led (or rather neo-con-led) America has, in my view, become more violent and more tolerant of violence, more insidiously racist and more tolerant of racism, and more paranoid about foreigners than almost any other nation on earth. I don't think it's such a stretch to see repurcussions of this in the handling of Katrina.

"Otherwise sensible Americans of all races will be more concerned by trite, cynical and dangerous political opportunism."

You see, this is why I hate liberals (such as myself). When conservatives get a liberal down they kick him in the head until he dies. Then they keep kicking him in the head until he dies again. Then they keep kicking his inert corpse until they are literally too exhausted to continue kicking. By that time, though, they have usually gotten another liberal down and are rejuvenatedly kicking him.

When liberals get a conservative down, they start looking at things objectively, giving him the benefit of the doubt, seeing the bigger picture, inviting him to kick back and generally helping him back into office.

Newton, Henry, I get the impression you're fairly liberal guys, which is why I wanted to say that I don't care if Bush isn't as much in the wrong as he's being protrayed as being. The American public is stupid, as the public is everywhere (me included). Let's kick him mercilessly until we have no kick left. That way, just maybe, we'll hole the republicans below the waterline for next time. This is a global war on intolerance. I want to win it.

So, in this global war on intolerance, remind me again which side it is you are on?

Speaking of Bush, this is what his mammy had to say when visiting the Houston astrodome:

"And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this .. is working very well for them."

I can see where George gets his brains.

MCT

I don't care if Bush isn't as much in the wrong as he's being protrayed as being. The American public is stupid, as the public is everywhere (me included). Let's kick him mercilessly until we have no kick left. That way, just maybe, we'll hole the republicans below the waterline for next time.

Two problems with that. First if the media take that approach then they lose credibility on the facts. I don't mind anyone being slated in an opinion piece but I want the facts presented reasonably objectively.

To give an example closer to home, the credibility of the Sunday Independent on the north was not destroyed by the opinions of Eoughan Harris but by the reporting of the likes of Jim Cusack.

The second point is that when the media hound a political figure it actually protects him. Remember Charlie Haughey who had to contend with a barrage of negative media which galvanised his own support to the extent that even when the media got it right they didn't have the credibility to be believed.

The bottom line is that we need to know that what is reported as fact is fact.

MCT, I get your point but I had the good fortune to be in America for the last election on a truly superb junket whose itinerary included spending time in TV, radio and newspaper newsrooms as well as attending Bush and Kerry rallies and meeting party officers, congressmen, lobbyists, pollsters and academics in Boston and Kentucky. They were all kicking Bush in the head with both size nines - even the nice lady from Fox who interviewed us in Louiseville whispered afterwards: "I don't really believe in this stuff you know, it's just a job".

Thing is, every voter we met - and I mean every single one - was quietly furious about it.

Valid criticism works. Endless and transparently opportunistic criticism doesn't. It just gets people's backs up. There is a very real chance that the overblown criticism of Bush during the last week will let him off the hook over the coming months as most of it turns out to be way off the mark.

On Sky news, Mario Cuomo (who was a pioneering and
exemplary Governor of New York) seemed to suggest that it
was all Bush's fault, or at least that of the Federal
administration, that things went so badly wrong in the wake of
Hurricane Katrina. His own reign as Governor shows how much
difference a good State administration can make in the great
scheme of things, as does the almost unqualified success of
Rudy Giuliani (as Mayor of New York) at local level.

Granted, New York is a much more populous and richer state
than Louisiana, but New Orleans strategic and political
importance means Local and State authorities should be held
accountable (if need be) for its own sins of commission or
omission, rather than expeciently putting it up George Bush
every time --- as you rightly say, Newton.

Besides, international news reports (even from Sky, Fox and
CNN, etc) were reporting for days that, mercifully, the storm
had passed to the East of New Orleans and perhaps 30 people
at most had been killed when one apartment block had
collapsed.

Then the levees broke, and all hell broke loose.

"So, in this global war on intolerance, remind me again which side it is you are on?"

I'm intolerant of intolerance. And proudly so. Got a problem with that?

H94/Newt

Fair point on opinion vs reporting, unfair opportunistic criticism, etc. I'm not advicating lies, but on certain points we've got him, so let's nail him.

I disagree on the second point, though. The media will no longer protect Bush - the arrogance of the administration has alienated all but the TangledWebs of this world - he's toast if we choose to burn him.

We won't of course, because we're weenie liberals.

Richard,

Thats what puzzled me most about this, was the apparent "relieved" reporting first, showing the damage yes, but then as you say all hell broke loose.

Then the levees broke, and all hell broke loose.

Richard, it may not be true that the levees broke well after the storm.

As an American, I appreciate the interest of all in the problems created by Hurricane Katrina. Please help however you can.

As a liberal Democrat I will be the last person to defend George Bush, but the reports of his demise have been greatly exaggerated. Recent polls look just like November 2004: if you loved him you still love him, if you hated him you still hate him.

I am currently living just north of Austin were thousands of survivors have been moved to.. Talking to them the over riding feeling is one of annimiosity toward central government and towards Bush in particular for not doing enough to address the crisis. Everyone and I have talked to about 200 now have said that America responded better and more quickly to the victims of last year Tsunami and they are bitter about it. This may not be the view held by the rest of America but its the view held by a number of surivors

I'd like to know how I could get on one of these junkets that Mr Emerson enjoys. After all, my acid and bile are at least as potent as his. Or at least my own reactionary newspaper column where I can take pot-shots at Roy Garland.

It's always easier to be wise after the event. But, as James
Joyce said 'Mistakes are the portals of discovery'.

So, it's not surprising, joc, that initial reports were widely
optimistic about the scale of the problem. But equally, John,
when the levees broke (and when it became obvious that this
was the defining moment in the unfolding tragedy), only then
was the time ripe for many to put the proverbial boot into the
President. And the perfect opportunity to look for scapegoats
and that one, reluctant sacrificial lamb.

Superb article by Newton Emerson. I read his bits and pieces in the IT and Irish News. The ODD one I disagree with, but most I think is excellent - keep it up, big lad.

This is probably the first time in my life I don't completely agree with Newton.

While it would be quite wrong to say "if someone else had been in power this disaster would have been averted", Bush was pretty clearly slow to react and there is also a clear lack of proper mechanisms to deal with the outcome of a sudden storm or flood. The order to send in the national guard did not come until 48 hours after the disaster had become apparent.

And it's a total joke that Bush is leading an investigation into himself.

MCT

When I started reading your post I thought that you were, like Newton, being rhetorical. But when I finished I realized that you were dead serious. Scary stuff.

Seems like there are still some hysterical liberals out there trying to put blame where it doesn’t quite belong. I think you need to pay a little more attention to what Newton is saying. Overblown criticism gets people’s backs up. You sound like you are blinded by your own intolerance and that your objectivity is out the window. For example:

the arrogance of the administration has alienated all but the TangledWebs of this world - he's toast if we choose to burn him. Fanciful thinking. Mr Bush has alienated all but the TangledWebs of this world, plus a rather significant 62 million Americans.

marginalised African-Americans Name any president who has had as many hyphenated Americans in senior positions as in the Bush administration. Democrats talk equality and respect, Republicans practice it.

When conservatives get a liberal down they kick him in the head until he dies. …When liberals get a conservative down, they start looking at things objectively Have you any idea how ludicrous that sounds?

I'm intolerant of intolerance. And proudly so. Got a problem with that? Say no more.

Way to Go - Newton

"..thousands of desperate columnists "...
Slugger to a tee.

What day does Newt's Mirror column appear? Missed it last week...

fair deal said: "Community leaders so used to working an identity politics system that they are prepared to overlook the harm it causes and are willing to excuse actions of their own communities even to their own detriment."

What, like Ruth Patterson, you mean?

(No need to respond, just windin' ye up.)

"I'd like to know how I could get on one of these junkets that Mr Emerson enjoys. After all, my acid and bile are at least as potent as his. Or at least my own reactionary newspaper column where I can take pot-shots at Roy Garland."

Therein lies the rub, attacking Roy Garland doesn't make you mainstream media material. Eric Waugh is about as Unionist as they are prepared to get.

Mr. Dowling, your comments about Gov. Cuomo's actions as Governor of New York betray a certain lack of knowledge. During Cuomo's time as Governor New York, a hurricane came ashore on Long Island, not too far east of the NYC line. Then Mayor Ed Koch was down in the parts of NYC facing on the Ocean trying to persuade people to evacuate low-lying beaches. New Jersey's Governor and Connecticut's Governor had declared states of emergency and ordered ocean-front evacuations the previous evening. Gov. Cuomo FINALLY ordered evacuations about 11:00 AM the next morning when the leading edge of the storm was already ashore. The eye of the storm came ashore about 2:00-3:00 PM and our village was in the eye.

Shore-front evacuation was just about impossible on any signifcant scale when Cuomo finally moved.

The day after the storm Cuomo toured the southern shore of Long Island by helicopter and declared that only millionaire's beach homes were damaged or destroyed so no real harm. Turned out that some 1.5 million people had lost electric power and some thousands were homeless.

And Cuomo got lucky because the summer had been a cool one and water temperatures in the ocean between the Gulf Stream and the shore were somewhat cooler than usual which weakened the hurricane somewhat before it came ashore.

I rather suggest that Mr. Cuomo is about the least credible critic of President Bush's actions in view of Cuomo's inactions when he was faced with a major storm.

Interesting news report on ITN this evening

Hundreds of military personnel patrolling empty white middle class areas and hundreds of dead bodies lying untouched in poor black areas

Strange logic

Look at the big picture, Bob. Mario Cuomo was twice returned
to office, and served 12 distinguished years as Governor.
Either he had someting going for him or the people of New
York couldn't see past their noses. I think the people knew
exactly what they wanted, and what they got. But even the
best make mistakes.

And I think it was a mistake for Mr Cuomo to take party
political issue with President Bush's handling of Hurricane
Katrina, in a way which Bill Clinton obviously did not. But I also
think it is a mistake for you to be so selectively dismissive of the
former Governor's achievements because he doesn't measure
up to some idealised picture of your hero --- even if that hero is
Ed Koch!

But you raise a valid issue, Bob. Thank you for that.

PS. I just heard Newt Gingrich on CBS news stating that
no-one (Republican or Democrat) was happy to see American
citizens lying face down in toxic water, at this stage of the
catastrophe. Would he have done any better? Or Mario
Cuomo? I'm not so sure. It's all proving to be a logistical
nightmare. And perhaps a political timebomb as well.

By the by, Mr McGowan, it wasn't so much that Mario Cuomo
got lucky, as it was that the people of Long Island were spared
the deadly consequences of a hurricane. That's a telling
difference, and it says something about your analysis of the
events in question that their good fortune should somehow
seem less important than the implied regret that the Governor
should 'catch a break' because no-one was killed. How lucky
can you get?

Hear hear! Bravo, sir, bravo! (And thanks to the host for getting permission and posting it here for the rest of us.)

All you fine folks seem to be forgetting that pesky ol' US Constitution.

The President cannot, repeat CAN NOT simply declare the Federal Government in charge. It has to be asked. Pres. Bush Declared an Emergency long before Katrina squatted and shat. The governess and mayor didn't make the decision to ask for Federal help until after Evil Kat had stood up, wiped and moved on. In the meantime they continually made and continue to make unbelievably bad decisions based on almost totally political considerations. Because of this thousands died and thousands more will die.

The citizens of Louisiana and New Orleans voted these utterly corrupt ultra liberal parasites in and now must live with it. Unfortunately people like me who live 2000 miles away in the far corner of the US will be bled white for the next twenty years to pay for it.

You all should actually read the US Constitution. It will take about twenty minutes, it's a short document in Plain English.
If you should do it rejoice that you've done something that less that 15 out of a hundred elected officials and almost no reporters in The United States has done.

Cheers,

Gerry N.
Just North of Seattle, Washington

Gerry N.

You took the words right out of my mouth!

Some worthwhile journalistic stuff is being done here in the US, but is a little unsettling that one must go to Ireland to see such robust good sense.

Wonderful post, Newton. Then I read some of the comments. People, Gerry N. says all that needs to be said: FEDERALISM

The short version, for those of you who failed social studies, is that all political power does NOT reside in one person/gov't entity, eg, like the President. Local matters (such as a Cat 5 hurricane) are first supposed to be handled locally. Then, if requested, the State steps in. Then, IF REQUESTED, the Feds step in. FEMA is not some big behemoth waiting for the opportunity to spring into action...it is an agency that COORDINATES and TRAINS local/state/federal resources to handle emergencies. The trouble in New Orleans is CLEARLY a problem of state and local negligence....I am utterly confident that any reasoned and fair investigation will reveal this to be true....and the Federal missteps were largely due to the increased need DUE TO that negligence. There was a serious cascade effect. For example, had the mayor and governor done their jobs and evacuated the city (what part of MANDATORY was hard to understand?), there would have been a MINIMAL need for search and rescue.

I find it remarkable that the very people who despise Bush so are the same ones that, in this instance, want to give him Emperor-like power....

If FEMA and the federal response is so lousy, where are the screams from Mississippi, Alabama, South Florida? Have you seen Biloxi? If FEMA and the feds are so incompetent, how did they survive hurricane Ivan and the four consecutive disasters that struck Florida last year?

The big story has been, and remains, the incredible incompetence of the Mayor and the Governor in executing any sort of evacuation. One cannot escape the fact that without the Superdome and Convention Center being established as refuge with no water, no food, no transportation and no hope, nothing the Bush Administration did or could have done would have significantly changed the outcome!

The Red Cross and Salvation Army are both still being held from entering the city by the locals. This is not happening in the states where the adults are in charge.

alleviated the situation!

Gerry,

Thanks for the bit on the Constitution and how right you are about that most elected politicians and almost all reporters know nothing about it. As an add on, if Pres. Bush had ordered the military in before getting the go ahead from Gov. Blanco, her lawyers, who do know the Constitution, would have been all over him.

There's lots of stuff coming out that the mainstream media here in America (and nowhere outside the US) are either ignoring or double- and triple-checking. A report came out last night that the Homeland Security Department that kept the Red Cross out of the Superdome and Convention Center was not the Federal department, but the state of Louisiana's own Homeland Security Department, which has nothing to do with the Federal version or FEMA. This group is with the Governor's office, not the Pres. Gerry is right:

"The citizens of Louisiana and New Orleans voted these utterly corrupt ultra liberal parasites in and now must live with it. Unfortunately people like me who live 2000 miles away in the far corner of the US will be bled white for the next twenty years to pay for it."

It's a great article.

Steve T
Southwest of Chicago

Followed the link from hughhewitt.com.

Thanks for your insight. There are two things I have learned in the time since the levees broke. The second most important is that the criteria we use should use to choose elected officials ought not be how big of a tax break or entitlement increase they promise, rather, we should consider which candidates with think clearly and act decisively in a crisis.

The most important is that no human problem has ever been caused by a lack of resources, they have only been caused by a lack of planning.

Honore' for President.

Followed the link from hughhewitt.com.

Thanks for your insight. There are two things I have learned in the time since the levees broke. The second most important is that the criteria we use should use to choose elected officials ought not be how big of a tax break or entitlement increase they promise, rather, we should consider which candidates will think clearly and act decisively in a crisis.

The most important is that no human problem has ever been caused by a lack of resources, they have only been caused by a lack of planning.

Honore' for President.

Mr Dowling,
How many times must you people fantasize about an imaginary 'political timebomb' just waiting to explode around President Bush? I don't know if this is just an ignorant statement or political wishful thinking on your part. In comparison to the other concerted efforts by our partisan American media, this is a walk in the park, one only needs to look back to the 2004 election to see a truly focused effort to defeat this man. He withstood every 'controversy,' they threw everything they had at hime, and he still won and carried the Republicans to a solid majority in Congress, something that will be repeated in 2006.

As to those who call our racial issues a 'blind spot', I can only state that you must not be aware of the way liberal politics, race, and mainstream media play the issue. If the only thing Euros see is CNN and the BBC concerning racial issues, then I understand why you gentlemen come off as ignorant fools, but this doesn't seem to be the case here, so who the hell knows the reason.

As an America-Mexican, a man of color, I can only smile and say that this racial crap is overhyped to a shrill degree by liberals and their ideological counterparts in the mainstream/exempt media.

We are a too well informed society with alternative sources of media, we now are more informed than ever to the games mainstream media plays, were not the ignorant, helpless racial minorities they love to make us out to be to score political points for their ideological brethren in media. Those days are rapidly coming to an end.

Look at me,I was born dirt poor in Mexico, immigrated here, never finished high school, but because of the way the economic system is set up here, I started my own succesful income property business with no money of my own and am about to start a totally different enterprise in healthcare. The can do American attitude will guaranty anybody success, you gentlemen are doing a great disservice to those of us who have overcome, and are helping to perpetuate what amounts to a lie. Anybody can make it here man, anybody.
Sorry if this shows up without paragraphs.

It never ceases to amaze me how many of the same people who last week were frothing at the mouth and calling President Bush a fascist tyrant are now crying long and loud complaining that he /didn't/ behave like a fascist tyrant.

And before anybody gets his or her knickers in a knot, no, I'm not referring specifically to anyone here. Though if the shoe fits ...

In the second to last paragraph, I meant to write, "to score political points for their ideological brethren in the DEMOCRATIC PARTY"

Sorry about that.

I lived in New Orleans for 10 years. It is the most corrupt, filthy, and poorly run place I have seen in the US. It is now, and has always been run by Democrats. No one I know was surprised in the slightest that there was looting. And with the police joining in. This would happen in only a few American cities. You will observe that it did not happen in New York for 9/11. It did not happen in Mississippi for Katrina and it did not happen in Florida for Andrew.

The standard declaration of a disaster area typically starts with the hurricane making landfall. Then the governor requests a designation of disaster area. The President flies over it, and declares the disaster some 2 or 3 days after the fact.

Bush declared Louisiana and Mississippi to be disaster areas 2 days BEFORE the hurricane hit. He was personally on the phone to this Governor Blanco woman begging her to make a mandatory evacuation, which she refused to do for a precious 24 hours.

The governor is in charge of the National Guard of her state, not Bush, so their lack of presence in the hours after the storm is the fault of the Governor. Blanco also refused the help of National Guard from other states.

The democrat mayor Nagin failed to use school busses or city busses to move the poor from the SuperDome to Baton Rouge as called for in their own evacuation plan. Those busses are now submerged and ruined, but easily seen in satellite photos. One enterprising teenager commandeered one such bus and drove his friends and people they met on the road to Houston. Tellingly, New Orleans officials are considering charging him with a crime.

The Red Cross is now claiming that they had staged both food and water to feed the poor and indigent in the SuperDome, but the governor (or her people) prevented them from supplying any of this in the hours after the storm hit because they didn't want the people there to become complacent and want to stay. The Red Cross is furious about this and has been trying to go public with it.

In the aftermath of the storm, Governor Barbour in Mississippi immediately declared martial law and had sufficient Guard troops on hand to prevent looting. This is why you are not hearing much about Mississippi which, if you can believe it, was hit harder by the actual storm.

Governor Blanco refused to declare martial law in a city that is marginally lawless on a good day, with predictable results.

The feds responded in force within 3 days. It took 9 days to respond to Andrew, so Bush has sped up the federal response by 300%.

Some engineers before the storm expressed the opinion that it did not make sense to strengthen the levees to protect the city from cat 4 storm or greater, since the winds would flatten most of the buildings in town. There was a fear that stronger levees would paradoxically result in more deaths.

In any event, the Army Corps plan was to put massive flood gates between the Gulf and Lake Pontchartrain, but this plan was defeated by green leftists who wanted to see the lake and the delta go back to their natural state. A wish they may now get.

This would all be nothing more than yet another scandal for Louisiana if we had an objective, fair press, which has instead become so partisan and shrill that more and more people simply don't believe them anymore.

The Newton Emerson article captures it perfectly.

Posted by: Gerry N. at September 9, 2005 03:34 AM:


> Pres. Bush Declared an Emergency long before Katrina squatted and


> shat. The governess and mayor didn't make the decision to ask for


> Federal help until after Evil Kat had stood up, wiped and moved on




Now look at the
KATRINA TIMELINE,
posted many places.




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 Honore, 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]


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Why do Bush apologists like Gerry N. brazenly circulate exculpatory falsehoods
that are so easy to debunk? Law professor Paul Campos gives the answer
here.

Just rambeling ... Mr. Emerson had a good post; yet many of the comments here seem grudgingly in agreement....yes the liberals have gone to far but.....

I'm a strong believer that we should forget what someone says before the "but", and pay attention to everything after the "but" regarless of which form it comes in.

So my one question would be, why is it your eyes are opened now, but you are unwilling to re-evaluate all previous positions when you received all your data from the sources you now acknowledge as wrong?

Cheers,

Timothy

Hey! Dumbasses! Blanco signed the state of emergency and delivered it to Bush on the 27th. That would be several days BEFORE the storm hit. While local and state officials aren't blameless, don't you think it unfortunate that the feds stood by and watched it happen? And what of all the "NO ONE could have foreseen this coming" statements coming out of chertoff, brown, and bush? Clearly lies, how can you deny it? and then there's the embarrassment of seeing brown learn about major refugee locations from journalists WHILE BEING INTERVIEWED ON LIVE TV!

While we're at it, I'd also like to point out that unless republicans have magical anti-flooding powers, there may be more to the differences between NO and those other places than merely the party affiliations of the leaders.

I would agree that in the complete breakdown of communications, there was no command and control and at that point (which I would say was around the levees started to go late Tuesday night after the storm) Bush failed to lead and therefore the breakdown continued.

Some one asked about FEMA scope of responsibility above. Your outline was not accurate. In accordance with the Constitution and a host of regulations (see the Stafford Act), the Governor of a state has responsibility and authority before, during, and after a disaster. Think of FEMA as more of an insurance adjustor. It's in an insurance company's interest to work with you to reduce your exposure to a disaster and implement things to mitigate the degree of damage should a disaster occur. (FEMA does this by providing grants and consulting to states so they can prepare their plans, train their first responders, build shelters, etc. Once a disaster has occured, an insurer (FEMA) doesn't assume authority for the recovery - the Governor is still responsible and has authority to request, approve, disapprove anything the insurer (FEMA) wants to do.

Sorry this is a bit rambly. For a clearer summary of the relationship between State role and FEMA, take a look at Senator Landrieu's (LA) (page down to "Disaster Assistance"): website. Here's an excerpt:

The Louisiana Department of Emergency Preparedness is responsible for all initial damage assessment prior to federal involvement.

The "State of Emergency" that rog77 and bro refer to that they tout as asking the President for FEMA to take control of the situation does no such thing. They ignore the "Enclosure A" to it which breaks out the request and shows that Gov. Blanco asked for MONEY only for various post-storm clean up activities. She did not even request funds, much less physical help, for "Distribution of emergency supplies" and none for "Coordination" -- the two areas where they claim FEMA failed. The "Emergency protective measures" are totaled up at a paltry $9 million and do not include a request for anything other than funds.

The President gave her everything she asked for.

Delfinia - Gov Blanco also asked for help with debris removal.

There are NO Newspapers or TV stations or any Lame Stream media that are truthful.

That is why they are so despised!

If you want the Truth about the aftermath of Katrina, it is coming out now. All Red Cross and Salvation Army attempts to enter New Orleans to deliver food and water were denied by the Louisiana Dept. of Homeland Security from the day Katrina hit, last Monday. That entry of the city by a relief organization is under the control of Governor Blanco. She has NEVER given the two largest relief organizations permission to enter New Orleans. So, people died as a result of her incompetence! She will answer for that in court. (The Red Cross and Salvation Army are still barred from the city today)!

That permission to relieve New Orleans would have stopped the food and water problems last Tuesday. We have CLEAR DISTINCTIONS as to what the FEDS can and cannot do in each state. It goes back to 1865, the end of our War Between the States.

As for Kyoto, NO SANE PERSON in America of ANY political persuasion is stupid enough to try to kill their economy with that garbage!

Kyoto failed in a Senate Vote by 95 to 0 in a vote while Clinton was President. Kyoto will NEVER BE ACCEPTED by ANY intelligent American. It is specifically designed to harm America, so we say "To Hell with You" on that issue.

There are NO EUROPEAN COUTRIES that will comply with their own Kyoto requirements (NOW or EVER), so we say to all of Europe on that issue.... After You, Mate!

The US was founded by people who did not trust government. Even today most of us here in America don't trust government, any government. We never have. But we usually trust local government more than state and state more than federal. They just get more out of touch the higher up you go. Because of our mistrust of government the federal government is prevented from doing many things in a state without the approval of state government. This is a GOOD thing. In 99% of the cases this is a good thing, in this case it was not. The reason it was not is because the local AND state officials were incompetent at best.

The way the media is spinning this, they think we need the federal government to be responsible for all local emergency planning and deployment. It's the local government who controls the first responders like firemen, paramedics, and police NOT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.

It's the state that controls the national guard, highway patrol and state police NOT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.

The media also seems to think the only way to build a levy is with federal money. They also forget that the environmentalists were dead set against any of the changes to strengthen the levys.

The reason federal officials were saying that no one expected the levees to break was that the storm MISSED New Orleans. For some time after the storm hit, Louisiana officials and all of the news anchors in place were saying that New Orleans had dodged the bullet.

So the FEMA guy was right when he said that no one thought the levees would break from this storm (until they did). You make it sound instead like they were making the ridiculous statement that no one knew that a direct hit from a cat 4 or 5 would top the levees.

And that timeline is quite misleading.

Also for perspective this is kinda like the UK expecting the EU to come in and take charge and save everyone after London was hit by a hurricane. That is if there was an EU and if the UK joined it.

New Orleans is majority black, majority poor, and has a murder rate 10 times the national average. All of the politics are identity and race based, with the mayor being the guy that promises the best hit at the man, basically.

Louisiana is so corrupt its a punch line. The last three insurance commissioners are in prison. The have open primaries which resulted in a run-off between a klansman and a criminal for the republican ticket (the former had run as a democrat for the previous six elections), resulting in Blanco being handed the election.

You'll note that neither of those offices have criteria that involve executive competence.

Are there any moderators here who could check the IP addresses of some of the above posts ? I could be wrong about this, but it's rather suspicious that a long string of people, one after the other, and all with different names but yet very similar posting style and argument have followed up to say essentially the same thing. If this is the case, it seems like abuse of Slugger's comment system.

'bro', most of what a state of emergency and declaring a place a disaster zone accomplishes is expedited federal funding of recovery efforts.

As far as the 'magical anti-flooding powers' are concerned, I'll let you in on a little secret: building a city on the coast below sea level isn't very smart.

As for ridiculing Bush and Michael Brown of FEMA for saying that, "No one expected the levee to break," precisely the same thing is true of the Mayor and the Governor.



If the Mayor had really grasped that the levees were going to break, he might have actually at least tried to enforce his own evacuation plan and used some of the hundreds of buses available to him to evacuate his populace, the ones who had no other recourse and ended up in the SuperDome and the Convention center.



Moreover, the Governor might have actually NOT delayed 24 hours after Bush asked her to require a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans. And she or her staff might have checked to make sure that the mayor had actually enforced his own evacuation plan, the one that calls for him to use the city buses to evacuate the poor and the handicapped unable to get out on their own. Instead what she (or her staff did) was assume that the mayor had used the buses, and never checked up on it.



By way of redress, she authorized the school buses for the mandatory evacuation on Wednesday, after much of the fleet was already flooded and unusable.



This Governor is so incompetant, on such a rank level, that I cannot imagine she'll last very long after this.



Here she is as the NYTimes portrays her:

“I need everything you have got,” Ms. Blanco said she told Mr. Bush last Monday, after the storm hit. In an interview, she acknowledged that she did not specify what sorts of soldiers. “Nobody told me that I had to request that,” Ms. Blanco said.

She didn't want to give up an iota of her power to the Federal Government during this disaster and without invoking the Insurrection Act, President Bush was limited in what he could do.


Which has been obvious for over a week. It's just taken this long to get to the so-called official press.

whoops, sorry about all that bold. I evidently forgot to close a tag.

Comrade Stalin,

Facts are the same when stated by different people. Do you understand FACTS of Government responsibilities or not?

I get the feeling "middle-class taig" is from another country. Where I come from (the US) it's the "weenie liberals" who never let anything go and have completely ruined their reputation with their relentless whining about everything.

Although, maybe that just san francisco :)

I'm not saying this because I'm a conservative, because I'm not. I'm saying it as an observer, a libertarian observer. This is why I hate people, wishing something doesn't make it fact.

Jesus,
I've never read such reactionary, bury the head in the sand, lets all clap each other on the back, the bbc is sooo liberal, tripe in all my life.
Irish contributers at least have the excuse that they are politically and economically uninformed, but what about american contributions?
If i want regieme mouth piece propoganda, i could read the economist, the bbc or the nyt.
If you blog this shite, you serve no purpose.
You become an anti-blog and will shrivel up and die.

The case for not rebuilding

6cp

"when I finished I realized that you were dead serious. Scary stuff."

zzzzzzzzzzzzz

"Seems like there are still some hysterical liberals out there trying to put blame where it doesn’t quite belong."

Some of the blame for the disaster lies with central government. Practically all the blame for the disastrous response lies with central government. George Bush runs the central government. Do I have to draw you a picture?

"Overblown criticism gets people’s backs up. You sound like you are blinded by your own intolerance and that your objectivity is out the window."

Read those two sentences together back to yourself and feel wick.

"Mr Bush has alienated all but the TangledWebs of this world, plus a rather significant 62 million Americans."

I didn't notice an election since the disaster.

"Democrats talk equality and respect, Republicans practice it."

Yeah, so the residents of New Orleans can see. Like the residents of Fallujah and inmates at Guantánamo and Abu Ghraib. Spare us.

MCT

Practically all the blame for the disastrous response lies with central government. George Bush runs the central government. Do I have to draw you a picture?

To seize control of the response, Bush would have had to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows the president in times of unrest to command active-duty forces into the states to perform law enforcement duties. But decision makers in Washington felt certain that Ms. Blanco (the governor) would have resisted surrendering control, as Bush administration officials believe would have been required to deploy active-duty combat forces before law and order had been re-established.

Officials in Louisiana agree that the governor would not have given up control over National Guard troops in her state as would have been required to send large numbers of active-duty soldiers into the area.

Some of the blame for the disaster lies with central government. Practically all the blame for the disastrous response lies with central government. George Bush runs the central government. Do I have to draw you a picture?
-middle-class taig

That may be how it works in your country. Not in the USA- here, dealing with the immediate aftermath of a disaster (event +72-96 hours) is primarily the responsibility of the State government, not the Federal.

The original piece that kicked off this thread is by far the best critique of the inane blame game that he been blowing with almost as much force as Katrina herself (the real, amoral and untouchable villain) since she struck. Just be humbled, humanity, and clear up both Katrina's and you own mess - and stop whining for pity's sake! If you park on the lips on one of Nature's a-holes, don't be surprised if you occasionally get covered in crap, including your own.

No leaddog, I am principally concerned about the damage that will be caused by the same person flooding a discussion with multiple posts of the same thing under different names.

Facts are great, but not when they're used selectively.

Them thur durn furriners is outta get us. It´s all a liberral commie leftie pinko plot. The sun shines out of the posterior of our great President Bush, who has the needs of the poor, the dispossessed and the overtaxed oil billionaires close to his heart.
Oh,and Keeyoto was designed solely to destroy our great land-the citizens of which have a godgiven right to drive their SUV´s until the last drop of gasoleen has been extracted from the earth...

FEMA prestaged its relief materials and equipment before Katrina hit New Orleans, and then sent in its usual search-and-rescue teams and coordinators, having never been informed by local and state officials that the city had not been evacuated. FEMA assumed that the locals had followed their disaster plans.

Then, after the levees were breached or the canal walls broke, FEMA was asked by Mayor Nagin to find hundreds of buses to carry out an evcuation.

So what this meant was that FEMA was forced to transform its relief mission to an evacuation mission WHILE ON THE ROAD, something it had never before attempted.

Between Tuesday and Thursday, while overseeing an affected area the size of the U. K., FEMA managed to round up 1100 buses from a hurricane-shattered region--somehow contacting bus companies, drivers, and dispatchers even though power, land lines, and cell-phone services were down--and came in across submerged roads, blocked freeways, and destroyed bridges, into a city 80% underwater and full of people rioting, murdering, raping, and starving because two-thirds of the police had disappeared and the state government had refused to let in the Red Cross and the Salvation Army and had not sent in enough National Guard troops.

And after this Herculean effort, FEMA was crapped on by the world's media, the Democratic party, and half of the country, and the president was declared a racist idiot responsible for the deaths of thousands.

Me, I'd be tempted to say "The hell with all of you" and retire, but the FEMA people and the Prez are made of sterner stuff.

I wonder what the opinions of some that have posted here would have been, if, the Governor and Mayor of LA had been Republican and the President had been a Democrat? If your allegiances shift North or South, well party loyalty is one thing and hypocrisy another and there’s a distinct whiff of hypocrisy in some of these posts.

Slugger O’Toole, most excellent post dude!

Well, I can see you don't understand the first thing about the American people. Namely, it's all about the Benjamins, baby. As in dollars.

America is headed for recession. Skyrocketing gas and heating oil. Burst real estate bubble and loss of cannibalized equity. PAIN. In the only place Americans feel pain - the pocketbook.

Meanwhile you will have the shameless Republicans who hold Congress like a dictatorship still trying to rake in profits- suspending "prevailing wage" rules in the hurricane zone, handing over contracts to cronies, trying to repeal estate tax, trying to make tax cuts permanent.

Republicans are vulnerable because the Americans are going to be feeling economic pain and the Republicans are too greedy to stop their mad grab for every last dirty dollar they can find.

Meanwhile the Democrats have a slate of principled, passionate Congressional candidates making their way toward 2006, including several Iraq War vets. (No vets are running as Republicans.)

Times are changing, and those who refuse to abandon their smug assumptions about "permanent majorities" (God, what an unAmerican concept) will be made to look like fools.

I'm sure Governor Blanco is quite probably incompetent. But Bush should have gotten off his arse from his 5 week holiday in Texas and actually acted like a Commander in Chief. Didn't one of his predecessors say "The buck stops here". The sight of dead bodies lying face down in the water a week after the hurricane in an allegedly civilised, first world country is an absolute disgrace and i don't care if you think it's liberal whining or an anti- Bush agenda it hsouldn't be happening and the rest of the world is absolutely incredulous at some of the media pictures.

“Republicans who hold Congress like a Dictatorship” I stopped reading after that BS. I will not be lectured to or believe anything someone says that hasn’t grasped the basic rudiments of DEMOCRACY.

Tom, the answer to that question is pretty obvious. The people who are blaming the Democrats would still be blaming the Democrats, and the people who are presently blaming the Republicans would still be blaming the Republicans.

This whole farce is showing only how corrupt and decrepit US democracy really is. Instead of getting together in the face of a disaster, the politicians are looking to blame each other. Meanwhile, no lessons will be learned to protect from a disaster like this in the future.

Henry

FEMA is central government, and they have been thoroughly useless. A military response is not the only response (difficult though that may be for south Armagh men to understand :-O).

Came here via Instapundit. Nice discussion after a excellent article. Interesting to see a view from outside the US.

Democrats have a slate of principled, passionate Congressional candidates

Principled Democrats? Thanks for the early morning laugh!

Oh - weenie liberals are running (into the ground) Illinois as well.

Yes, DICTATORSHIP. I absolutely do understand democracy and what we have in our one party state today is a situation where the minority party cannot get a single bill to the floor, can't propose any legislation, can't hold any officials accountable. We have the equivalent of the Mafia holding our country hostage right now, answering not to the people, but to the powers that be...i.e. corporate lobbyists.

And yeah, AL. Look out! It starts with Major Paul Hackett, fresh from Iraq, running for Senator from corrupt Ohio. This guy takes no prisoners and demonstrates eloquently the CONTEMPT that average Americans hold for our chickenhawk "president". Watch your slimemonsters try to swiftboat this guy. The American people have had it!

Enjoy, buddy. It's going to be a long year for you all!

I think there are a couple of misconceptions here - one being the the US has a central government which it does not. It has a Federal gov't with delineated powers but with very little power over state and local governments.

As for the assclowns referring to dictatorships and lack of democracy it's too bad you don't have the perspective from living or having worked in an actual dictatorship. Then you'd at least have some idea what you were talking about.

Let's all hope that everyone in America does not live in a State lead by Governor who, when faced with a crisis, sobs tearfully at how untenable the situation is, or live in cities lead by Mayors who, when faced with a crisis, abandon their people by providing no means for evacuation and who forget to follow the city's evacuation plan and are woefully unprepared in stocking necessary survival supplies.

If I were you living in such a State run by a Governor who needs at least a year to make a decision, I'd replace that Governor or move.

I live in NYC (15 years), I can already see the pattern emerging from politically correct Mayor Bloomberg and he is not at all prepared to deal with another attack the way Mayor Guiliani did. And, since I am prevented from obtaining a gun permit I plan to move to a State and city which allows me the right to defend myself. Taking my enormously overwhelming city tax dollars with me.

I cannot depend upon politically correct, indecisive, sobbing, and out-of-control State and Local leaders who depend upon 'someone else' to lead.

The Governor has more power over their populace than the President has power over all of the United States of America. The Governor's duty is not simply ribbon-cutting and hob-knobbing with Hollywood celebrities, the Governor must lead particualry in a time of dire crisis.

That said, after seeing Gov. Blanco's uncontrolled pity fest of 'I don't know what to do' tears, I do not forsee a female President who would be capable of coping with a crisis (I'm a liberalized from the GS age female and after seeing Blanco's criminally incompetant behavior, I do not want a female President anywhere near the White House) The image of weakness was shown, the damage has been done.

Richard Dowling: We New York voters threw the sanctimonious clown called Mario Cuomo out of office. The man is a complete fraud. Perhaps you don't remember the Thruway bridge that washed out while he was governor. He stopped the underwater inspections to save money for his beloved social programs. Only a dozen or so deaths, no big deal...

The man spent a lot of our money to achieve little.

Excellent article, thank you. Many of the comments here seem to indicate a profound lack of knowledge of the United States Constitution and the concept of Federalism.

Local and State authorities have always been the first responders - FEMA is no worse now than it was during Hurricane Ivan in 99 - when Clinton was President. FEMA is a bureaucracy that was created by Democrats and Republicans, not George Bush. It was around before he was president, oddly enough.

What so many fail to understand is that you would be jumping up and down calling President Bush a dictator if he had called in any troops without the State Government of Louisianna requesting he do so.

We are a country of laws. That is not going to change, hopefully.

As for our Bill of Rights and our right to carry guns, well, I support the entire Bill of Rights. I have guns and target shoot with them and I am prepared to defend my home and family with one if need be.

I am less frightened on the streets of any American City than I was on the streets of London, where so many thugs apparently wander around picking people's pockets and worse and British law doesn't allow one to defend oneself.

The article sums up ten days' coverage by the BBC to a T.

Virtually their entire output on Katrina - their TV and radio channels, their massive website, the World Service - has been an overt attempt to bash Bush. Virtually nowhere is there any description of the relative resonsibilities of city, state and federal-level authorities. Where ever have they reported that first-response is the responsibility of the local level, not the federal level ? Where is the BBC coverage of the hundreds of flooded buses ? Where is their coverage of the failure by city and state to apply the NO evacuation plan ? Where is there even any mention of that plan ? Where is there any coverage of the Governor's failure to bring in reinforcements for the Louisiana National Guard ? Where is the BBC coverage of the American Red Cross being prevented from delivering food, water and other supplies to the Superdome and the Convention Centre ?

And most sickeningly - where is the due proportion of coverage that should have been given to the huge generosity of so many ordinary Americans to try to help their fellow-citizens ?

From London, may I apologise to Americans about the totally twisted view that the BBC has been presenting, here and abroad. There is a deep vein of anti-Americanism running in the BBC, not just bile against Bush.

The BBC is the largest newsgathering operation in the world. They hve 4000 staff in their News Division. But on Katrina their performance has been a sickening disgrace.

Awesome.

Middle Class Taig: "When liberals get a conservative down, they start looking at things objectively, giving him the benefit of the doubt, seeing the bigger picture, inviting him to kick back and generally helping him back into office."

You've got to be kidding, or your a visitor from an alternate universe.

In my experience, Liberals dislocate their shoulders by patting themselves on their own backs so hard about how caring and compassionate they are, when they are the most mean-spirited, irrational, unreasoning, bile-spitting, greedy, evil, divorced-from-reality and demagogic people in America.

Senor Carlos,

Glad to know you are thriving in the land of the free, just like
millions of other migrants, including my own countrymen. But,
as always, it's the sick who need the doctor and not those who
are well. And all is not well in New Orleans, or in its Louisiana
hinterland. The people desperately need help.And they need it
without any ideological strings attached.

In fact, Newton Emerson's article (which, of course, has been
the instigator of so much discussion) is really an attempt to
tear away those ideological blinkers which have hamperted
rather than helped the relief effort. In other words, people are
a making political capital from kicking the President (and his
Republican adminstration) or, on the other hand, kicking the
so-called Lib-Left Democratic agenda which may be bitter
about losing the last two big elections.

You shouldn't jump to knee-jerk conclusions about where my
sympathies lie. Remember. the enemy here is the Hurricane
and the destructive power of nature.

If any true American, Republican or Democrat, could wave a
magic wand and make things right, I'm sure they would. As
would the rest of us. But, because they can't, there are bound
to be serious political repercussions. And as the tragedy
unfolds, the political timebombs are legion. Perhaps, that blind
spot is yours, Carlos.

Regarding expectations:
Rattlin' Ray Nagin ordered the feable and disabled to report to the Super Dome for shelter. He also told them to bring their own supply of food and water sufficient to meet their needs for three days. He ordered the same for able-bodied citizens who were to report after the first group was settled in.

Most of these folks were expected to take public transit to the Dome. Most of tese folks were very aware of NO crime rates.

Would anybody in their right mind expect anybody to bring three or more gallons of drinking water and a sack of groceries on a public bus across NO and into the Super Dome in the midst of a crisis with the expectation that the Police might not be paying adequate attention?

Animus said, "I do tire of the `Americans are all stupid` type of comment."

That type of comment is made so frequently because it's easily learned and repeated, a requirement for the great mass of commentators.

John in London wrote: "The article sums up ten days' coverage by the BBC to a T."

It also summarizes pretty much any 10 day period in the New York Times, Washington Post, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN axis.

As to a "dictatorship" in which the minority can't get a bill to the floor, etc., etc.... The only way in which the term "dictatorship" can be applied to the US Congress is in the sense of "dictatorship by the people" - who elected a majority of Republicans this time around. Funnily enough, in times when Democrats have been "holding" the US Congress, minority Republicans have faced the same obstacles to getting their agenda through. Amazing how that works.

You want control of Congress - vote in Democrats.

As for the buck stopping at the President's desk, let's examine how Truman used the phrase:

[I]n an address at the National War College on December 19, 1952 Mr. Truman said, "You know, it's easy for the Monday morning quarterback to say what the coach should have done, after the game is over. But when the decision is up before you -- and on my desk I have a motto which says The Buck Stops Here' -- the decision has to be made."[emphasis mine]

(From http://www.trumanlibrary.org/buckstop.htm.) To be perfectly clear, the buck stops at the President's desk when the decision is up to him. The buck doesn't stop at the President's desk when I run out of milk because I planned poorly, or when riots break out in Philadelphia because of a football game, or when most of the New Orleans police department abdicates its calling and turns to looting.

Here's another factor to remember: the toll of this hurricane is more than lives lost. The lives lost are irreplaceable and rightly defy any effort to be defined by a monetary value, but prevention of more loss of life is a higher priority than recovery of the dead, up to the point when either there are no more survivors to rescue or the dead bodies themselves become a health risk to survivors. But property damage can and will be quantified, and much of it will have to be replaced; what isn't replaced will, if insured, be paid out, and insurance companies will up their premiums dramatically and/or get out of the Gulf altogether if their payouts are too great. Conserving undamaged or lightly damaged property and infrastructure is part of disaster recovery and will help the city, the state, and the nation get back to what will pass for "normal." It won't help the mourners and it won't help the dead, but it'll help those both in and far from the area who will share in the increased cost of risk in future.

Senor Carlos,

Glad to know you are thriving in the land of the free, just like
millions of other migrants, including my own countrymen. But,
as always, it's the sick who need the doctor and not those who
are well. And all is not well in New Orleans, or in its Louisiana
hinterland. The people desperately need help.And they need it
without any ideological strings attached.

In fact, Newton Emerson's article (which, of course, has been
the instigator of so much discussion) is really an attempt to
tear away those ideological blinkers which have hamperted
rather than helped the relief effort. In other words, people are
a making political capital from kicking the President (and his
Republican adminstration) or, on the other hand, kicking the
so-called Lib-Left Democratic agenda which may be bitter
about losing the last two big elections.

You shouldn't jump to knee-jerk conclusions about where my
sympathies lie. Remember. the enemy here is the Hurricane
and the destructive power of nature.

If any true American, Republican or Democrat, could wave a
magic wand and make things right, I'm sure they would. As
would the rest of us. But, because they can't, there are bound
to be serious political repercussions. And as the tragedy
unfolds, the political timebombs are legion. Perhaps, that blind
spot is yours, Carlos.

FEMA is central government, and they have been thoroughly useless.

According to its website, FEMA takes primary responsibility in the event of a natural disaster. They failed. They have also been more useless in areas where poor and/or black people are concentrated.

Yes, New Orleans politics is startlingly corrupt (although no less a source than vokdapundit agrees Nagin was trying, perhaps ineffectively, but trying to do something about it). Yes, (Democrat run) Louisiana is stunningly corrupt and misgoverned, and (Republican run) Mississippi isn't too far behind. But at the end of the day, the Feds took primary responsibility for this sort of thiong after 9-11, and they failed.

If you think that's only the view of hard-left moonbats you need to leave your blogosphere ivory tower. Compare the federal response to this hurricane with the response to the four hurricanes in Florida last year and tell me there isn't at least a serious point for discussion.

AND...to the foreign correspondent (currently under sedation) I say "rightfully so!"

Young Fogey

Yet more ignorance about the division of responsibilities.

FEMA does NOT take control of CITY and STATE authorities. Ask Rudy, ask anyone.

And you clearly do not understand the priniple of "First responders" :

http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/interapp/editorial/editorial_0197.xml

Please go way and learn US Civics 101.

And, since I am prevented from obtaining a gun permit I plan to move to a State and city which allows me the right to defend myself -susan

You should move to New Orleans. They were practically selling them from Good Humor trucks down there.

Looks like that (to quote Babsy Bush) is working out real well for them. LOL.

Ursus said:
"Louisiana is so corrupt its a punch line. ... The[y] have open primaries which resulted in a run-off between a klansman and a criminal for the republican ticket ... resulting in Blanco being handed the election."

I'm not sure which election you are referring to, but the most recent Republican to run for Governor in Louisiana, whom Gov. Blanco defeated in a relatively close election, is Bobby Jindal, who was born in Louisiana to parents who immigrated from India. He is neither klansman nor criminal, but was elected to the US Congress after losing the election for Governor.

This goes back to Mr. Emerson's original point about criticism. The corruption in Louisiana politics is well known going back decades (remember Huey P. Long), but if you want your criticism to be credible, you need to stick to facts.

Just a quick question (non-rhetorical) to my friends in NI:

Does all this polarized vituperation from the States sound familiar?

My point is that we Yanks do what you do, only on a much larger canvas.

Here's a clarification for Comrade Stalin (and others).
Gerry N mentioned the "Insurrection Act" (law).
From a dictionary:
Insurrection - An act or instance of open revolt against a government.

The US Constitution forbids the Federal Government from superceding (taking over) a State Government's authority over lcoal events EXCEPT in a case of revolt/rebellion against the Federal Government.

Lacking such a revolt/rebellion against the Federal Government, a State Government must officially AGREE to allow the Federal Government to take control withing that State.

The purpose of the Insurrection Act was to prevent Dictatorship by the Federal Government.

Therefore, under US Constitutional Law, the liberal Democrat governor of Louisiana (Kathleen Blanco) is REQUIRED to give her agreement to a Federal takeover of control of events (hurricane-relief efforts) within Louisiana.

No such agreement was given by her. She is now saying she did not know it was required by US Constitutional Law!

If President Bush HAD taken-over control in Louisiana without the Louisiana Governor's agreement, we would all now be hearing Liberal Democrats shouting for Bush's impeachment for his dictatorial violation of US Constitutional Law. And, for once, they would be correct.

So - as usual - Bush is damned (by Democrats) if he does and equally damned if he doesn't.

very nice article. So glad you posted.

It may be a point that the right to keep and bear arms is a key guarantor of manners when the "official police department" is otherwise occupied. Thugs don't much like guns. Guns make a lot of noise. Knives and clubs are more quiet, and the thug's advantage in numbers, size, and youth will be sufficient. Guns help the old, the physically slight, the woman far more than they help the thug.

Now I'm just one of thousands of middle-managers at a huge global consulting company, but even I can get my job done effectively from any point on the globe where I have a mobile phone connection and Internet access. Are you really so naive as to think that the President of the most powerful nation in the history of the world can't do the same? Or do you honestly believe the ridiculous liberal canard that W is on "holiday" whenever he's in Texas? Just lounging at poolside while he sips a pina colada, gets a pedicure, and anxiously waits for CNN to report on the latest neocon-planned tragedy to strike the poor/minorities/women/gays of the world?

Groucho bleated: I'm sure Governor Blanco is quite probably incompetent. But Bush should have gotten off his arse from his 5 week holiday in Texas and actually acted like a Commander in Chief.

"Now I'm just one of thousands of middle-managers at a huge global consulting company, but even I can get my job done effectively from any point on the globe where I have a mobile phone connection and Internet access. Are you really so naive as to think that the President of the most powerful nation in the history of the world can't do the same?

My brother spent most of the 80's as a member of the White House Communications Agency, whose mission is to provide communications for the president and vice president every second of every day, where ever they happen to be, and that means anywhere on the planet. The agency sends teams ahead of the president so that the communications will already be in place as the president steps off Air Force one.

And since Crawford is frequently the destination, I am sure that communication facilities there are permanent until January, 2009.

You are correct that the president is never on holiday.

Young Fogey, you say,"If you think that's only the view of hard-left moonbats you need to leave your blogosphere ivory tower. Compare the federal response to this hurricane with the response to the four hurricanes in Florida last year and tell me there isn't at least a serious point for discussion."

Perhaps this is justification for a preference for Republican state government vs that of Democrap Barking MoonBats.

Observer, thank you Sir for your understanding of how things work vs hindsight raving.

What a great piece! I love the way you used humor to point out the absurdity of the complainers' position.

When did the blogosphere get an ivory tower? And why wasn't I told about it?

JohninLondon

And you clearly do not understand the priniple of "First responders" :

And you, clearly, do not know how to read.

From http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/theme_home2.jsp (linked in my post above).

In the event of a terrorist attack, natural disaster or other large-scale emergency, the Department of Homeland Security will assume primary responsibility on March 1st for ensuring that emergency response professionals are prepared for any situation. This will entail providing a coordinated, comprehensive federal response to any large-scale crisis and mounting a swift and effective recovery effort.

(emphasis mine)

Now go away and learn why Bush has rendered any American Civics textbook more than a few years old out of date.

ziggy

Perhaps this is justification for a preference for Republican state government vs that of Democrap Barking MoonBats.

That (stripped of the juvenile bit at the end) is a reasonable argument to make. However, there's an equally reasonable argument that FEMA made much more effort to respond to last year's FL hurricanes even before they hit, where LA, MS and AL were given no support before Katrina. Last year was an election year. In swing of swing states, Florida.

You could argue this demonstrates keeping your state ultra-marginal in Presidential elections, therefore needing lots of tender loving pork, whoever is in charge, is a better idea than making it a safe red state (or blue state for that matter).

Observer

Kathleen Blanco is a liberal democrat? Um... in what sense, precisely?

Currently Drunk and under sedation,

That figures!

Have you read The Kyoto agreement. It is SPECIFICALLY but SUBTLY DESIGNED to kneecap the American economy. Even the Demoncrats understood that and said "Hell No!

You obviously are too ignorant to understand English. Your spelling and "attempted satire" is only found among the jackass race.

Oh,and Keeyoto was designed solely to destroy our great land-the citizens of which have a godgiven right to drive their SUV´s until the last drop of gasoleen has been extracted from the earth...

Young Fogey

That para you quoted does not contradict the fact that the LOCAL authorities are the First Responders, tht FEMA is NOT in charge - the Governor is, right now. FEMA's job is to coordinate all the strands of federal BACKUP to local resources. Which is exactly what they did :

http://www.dhs.gov/interweb/assetlibrary/katrina.htm

Blogs seem to start and end like a good night of drinking.

They're are a lot of hands in a lot of cookie jars. They're all on the run and some are going to end up like street pizza.

I would like to tie all this discussion back to your situation in Northern Ireland. After all the years and all the deaths, you can still take sides and point to the other fellow's mistakes. The logic of that raises the question, if neither of you did anything wrong, where did all those dead bodies come from?

'until the last drop of gasoleen has been extracted from the earth...'

Gasoline isn't extracted from the earth

In re the "fair deal" and "animus" exchange---what exactly would you know about the US and the issue of race? Until about a nanosecond ago, Ireland has been as about as diverse as a bowl of oatmeal. Pull-ease, the glass ceiling??? Do you think a glass ceiling is the reason New Orleans is in the muck it's in? Don't believe everything the latest rapper-turned-politician has to say......

On the Friday before the Hurricane, a Federal Disaster Declaration was made, thus putting the FEDERAL government in charge of relief efforts in the Gulf Coast.

Right, the columnists and pundits - many who couldn't bother to challenge this Administration on its now admittedly phoney reasons for invading Iraq - are now falling over themselves to condemn the Feds and the Bush Administration on this one. I have no defense for the media in the U.S, as they're corporate controlled and thus profit driven, so being vigilant within our democratic experiment is not their primary concern.

A few more points per the Northern Irishman's column: sure, Bill Clinton is to blame, too. And every member of Congress who takes a pork project to his or her district when other projects should take higher priority.

Which leads to the fact that, contrary to the columnists opinion, every citizen in this country potentially had an impact on what happened on the Gulf Coast. Were were vigilant against special interests who developed marshlands and wetlands for luxury housing and energy company shipping canals and pipelines? Were we and are we vigilant about a government making appointments based on college roommates and friendships and not on qualifications.

Are we vigilant about allowing people into essential roles in our government who would like to "drown (government) in a bathtub"?

Lastly, in all of this, the buck stops with the President of the United States.

This time last year, people criticized the feds for responding to the hurricanes in Florida too quickly, saying it was just an election-year ploy.

This year, they criticize the feds for responding too slowly, when the response was TWICE AS FAST to a region the size of Great Britain that was IMMEASURABLY more devastated.

Now darling KEK, the emerald isle is no longer mucked up. Too much MSM?

Observer said:

"If President Bush HAD taken-over control in Louisiana without the Louisiana Governor's agreement, we would all now be hearing Liberal Democrats shouting for Bush's impeachment for his dictatorial violation of US Constitutional Law. And, for once, they would be correct."



Actually, the more important truth here is that if President Bush had taken-over control in Louisiana without the Louisiana Governor's agreement, Conservatives and Libertarians would be shouting for his impeachment even more than the Democrats.

As an American of Irish descent (in part at least, as well as perhaps 3 or 4 other nationalities) I want you to know Mr. Fealty that I reall appreciate your post and your sense of humor.

fair_deal, open your eyes next time you come to the USA. Or at least read the papers. Far from being blind to them, Americans are *obsessed* with racial issues. Why do you think there's even a discussion of race in connection with Katrina? It's a factor in literally everthing that happens in this country. Even if you don't hear ordinary people (i.e., non-politicians) discussing it all the time, it's always in the back of people's minds. We've lived with it since the founding.

Tom Moore

The Federal Emergency Declaryion did NOT put the Feds in charge. What is did was authorise the federal level to provide assistance to the LOCAL FIRST RESPONDERS.

For goodness sakes you people - learn some US law. The whole of the US system is based on preserving a balance between states' rights and federal powers.

And tht quote by Truman bout the buck stopping with him -- you will find that he said if it is a FED problem the buck stops with him. Not ANY and EVERY problem. If a Governor acts limp or crazy the President still has no power to intervene and take control.

What thousands of columnists must know is the Federal government has no police power over the States, and Lousiana Governor Blanco REFUSED to give up the sovereign power of the State. The States are sovereign, the Federal government cannot "order" an evacuation without invoking the Alien & Sedition Acts, which has only been done once since the U.S. Civil War. Further, it is ILLEGAL for federal troops to be used to maintain order and use force EVEN IF THE ALIEN AND SEDITION ACTS ARE INVOKED, federal troops can be used only for logistics and support, NOT police work.

Thousands of columnists seem to be ignorant of the basics of federalism. The President has NO POLICE power anywhere in the US, except military bases and federal prisons.

Bush-led (or rather neo-con-led) America has, in my view, become more violent and more tolerant of violence, more insidiously racist and more tolerant of racism, and more paranoid about foreigners than almost any other nation on earth.

Care to back that up with a single fact?

Violent crime in America is down since Bush assumed the Presidency.

And exactly how has the federal government caused people to be more racist? Go ahead, give me some examples.

And America more paranoid about foreigners than almost any other nation on earth!?! What the hell have you been smoking man? Try LESS paranoid about foreigners than almost any other nation on earth. Go ahead, throw some countries out there and we'll do a comparison.

This is the best written, funniest, and most bitingly accurate piece