Posted on 09/07/2005 11:53:45 PM PDT by laz
LOL. Nah, Rather's just a cheap imitation of the real thing. Like one of those very faint carbon copies.
Well the Governor and the mayor are not coming down alone. If there was any kind of orchestrated plan, heads are going to roll upward in Democratic circles.
HOWEVER, I firmly believe that the state & local government of LA are squealling to cover their own massive corruption & criminal negligence.
In short, they were going to use ANY federal slip-up... actual or contrived, to cover their guilt.
The mayor was supposed to have a command center. It didn't work because it lost power, including generators. I think that happened pretty early, as I recall him having to be called AT HOME on the Saturday night before the levees gave way. That, basically, left him without any control at all. Nagin has to take the blame for the lack of comm, because it was his responsibility. By the time the news got to him, he tried to defend himself by blaming others (Gov and Bush).
The Gov, IMO, would not have had the negative impact on the rescue effort, regardless of her confused political machinations, had the levees not ruptured. Had they not ruptured, the damage from the passed hurricane could have been addressed without much controversy, even if the Gov was an idiot (which she was).
Since no one knew the levees would break, IMO that takes away from the idea that the Gov and the Dems had a plan to trap Bush.
I actually had the same thought of your impeachment theory yesterday, pondered it some, and came to the conclusion that those folks were so far off base in their refusnik decisions, that to try to conjure up an impeachment from that would make them laughingstocks to the entire country.
It's not even an issue, IMO.
Just about all my info about NOLA has come from my reading here at FR, so I am deeply FReeped on the subject. Seems to me that the Gov is, or will be, defenseless whenever the investigation is conducted, which means W will come out, once again, shining. 8-)
Being saturated with FReep gives one a rosy outlook.
Oh, they knew the levees wouldn't hold. That's been known for decades, that they wouldn't hold in the scenario that was taking shape over the weekend before Katrina's landfall. Scientists knew it, and politicians knew it. The Dems knew that unless Katrina deviated from her track, those levees would break or be overflowed.
The plan was concocted during that weekend. At that time, Katrina was becoming a Cat 5 and New Orleans was in her cross-hairs. The impact of the storm, at that time, was feared to be even greater than it eventually was when she dropped to a 4 and sideswiped NOLA. Blanco knew big devastation was coming, because Bush told her so when he called her to evacuate. So the Dems knew, 36 to 48 hours before landfall, that things would probably be very bad, that this was the big one. And despite knowing this, nothing was done that you would expect to be done by a city with roughly two days of opportunity to do them. And nothing was done because they concocted the plan when they decided NOLA would probably be lost.
They knew very well the levees wouldn't hold in a Cat 4 or 5, because they didn't take care of the levees and diverted the funds to other things. The levees weren't designed to handle above Cat 3, anyway. With Katrina bearing down on them over the weekend, and knowing the levees wouldn't hold and that they had failed to improve or maintain them, they wrote off NOLA.
Two days before landfall was the proverbial moment of truth. It was the moment when they had to accept the probability NOLA would be lost, and when they had to choose either to follow their disaster plan or do nothing. When you're on a sinking ship, what do you do? Sit on your hands and do nothing, or try to save as many people as possible? They chose to do nothing, for the reasons I have outlined. I imagine no one was more surprised than they when NOLA appeared to have "dodged the bullet". But as we have seen, NOLA was grazed by the bullet and slowly bled to death, and the plan, already in motion, simply picked up where it had left off.
I'd like to see the phone logs and emails between the DNC and Blanco while all this was falling apart. I gotta feeling she was spending more time on the phone developing political strategy than cordinating with the Guard, FEMA and the Red Cross while people were dying.
If the President had usurped the state's rights and overstepped his bounds, the Dems would have started impeachment and would have had the justification to do so. Why do you think Bush didn't do it? Why do you think he tolerated the roadblocks, which must have been maddening to do? They wouldn't have been a laughingstock; they'd have had the grounds to do it. Hell, even though he stayed within his bounds, they STILL have hopes of investigations and commissions leading up to an impeachment somehow. But they misunderestimated him once again. He saw the trap and refused to take the bait. They tried even harder, continuing to block aid while the false accusations continued to mount all week, and still he didn't step into the trap.
The Dems live solely for the opportunity to impeach him, as payback for their failing to steal the election in 2000, and as payback for the impeachment of the Bent One. How many times have they tried to set him up? I think I've lost count. Nothing has stuck, though. This time, they went very far out on the limb, and gambled much. It appears they have lost again. Like Wile E. Coyote, they never learn. The Roadrunner just keeps slipping out of their grasp.
When you’re in a state of shock over seeing something horrendous such as Katerina , your emotional reactions are overruled by rational faculties. In that state of mind, you just want answers — you don’t want to be bothered with the facts. So your brain can then be molded as the Left desires. This is the psychology used so effectively by Democrats throughout history, and that mentality is being exploited and manipulated by the mainstream media. Back-biting, playing the race card Liberals have become overnight experts on disaster rescue operations. WHY Ray Nagin ignored his own city’s disaster plan, as well as federal emergency declarations, and failed to evacuate those people in his city who needed help the most. I guess that’s just the sort of administration they are. Nagin, naturally, was lightning-quick to broadcast a foul-mouthed outburst against the federal government for his own incompetence. And the mainstream media is in full propagandist mode pursuing a line of irrational, counterproductive nonsense. They are trying to strike while most of the country is still in shock — when the most flagrant lies are easiest to pass off as truth. The Left, CNN, ABC and other main stream media’s accusations that " Bush denied poor blacks" are fed by images of the worst of the worst in this disaster and is being used by Democrats in their mission to undermine the President.
It's bad enough that New Orleans and a considerable stretch of the Gulf Coast got wiped out by Hurricane Katrina, without bringing the race card into play. Politics has no business playing a part in the suffering these people are going through, yet some are ready to jump on the bandwagon to make sure their party is next to occupy the White House.
Yes, I agree. That is the motivation behind all these attacks on President Bush and the federal response.
However we have to distinguish conscious planning, such as might occur before a carefully executed Bank heist, and deeply flawed habits, goals and spirit.
The leftist 'Rats play on peoples fears and emotions. They instinctively blame the other guy for whatever they just did at the first sign of getting caught. They are corrupt to the core. They lie, cheat and steal out of habit. They build incompetent and bloated bureaucracies on great mountains of waste. They are more like gangs fighting turf wars than business executives. The profoundly flawed ideas behind socialism have found a fertile field in the human mind, a pox on humanity.
They way the 'Rats played their hand here simply represents who they are.
On another point, I like it that Bush has not publicly humiliated Blanco. His rule of thumb is you either remove someone, or you help them succeed. You for dang sure don't humiliate someone in public and then expect to be able to trust them. It was not his call to remove the Governor. So he is doing his best to help her succeed. A challenge if I do say so.
You don't think they are tools of some kind, used by clever Grima Wormtongue-like advisors? Or advisors who have some kind of hook on them, like blackmail of some kind?
I know that one should not ascribe deceit when simple stupidity will do, but it's so hard to imagine anyone as primally stone-stupid as Blanko and "I am not a drug addict" Nagin. Even any ordinary third grader would have made better decisions.
I don't think there was a plan from the start, I think that the Democrats saw the incompetence of their own and always ready and willing to blame anything on Bush they started up the spin machine.
I don't think that Nagin has ever been in control of anything. He took his marching orders from Blanco and went along with her recommendations. Then, when things were going really bad he woke up and realized if he didn't say something quick he was going to be left holding the bag.
I believe that Blanco also was never really in control. I think she was consulting other Democrats like Mary Landrieu on what was the best political thing to do, not what was the best for the people of Louisiana and New Orleans. They were more worried about tourist dollars and being sued, so they weren't gearing up when they should have been for the hurricane and worrying about what needed to be done to protect the people.
Bottom line, if there is any chance to blame anything on Bush, you just do it. The media and the liberals aren't going to hold you accountable for anything you have done or said anyway.
THE CLOROX CONSPIRAICY
Rich Whites Plot to Prevent Blacks from Returning to New Orleans..... don't they know that Katrina was a conspiracy setup by us Republicans (who everyone thinks are rich) to get rid of all the blacks in New Orleans so they can't vote for the Libs?
According to the 2000 census, New Orleans’ population of 484,000 included approximately 136,000 whites, and 326,000 blacks. The white figure includes 7,000 Hispanics who classify themselves as white on the census forms. If 80% of New Orleans residents got out early – and this is the Mayor’s number – then only about 97,000 residents remained. Assume all of them were black, (which of course they were not). That would mean that 229,000 blacks got out early, and 136,000 whites along with them. In other words, the successful mass evacuation substantially benefited black residents of the city.
At least 70% of black residents of New Orleans got out of the city before the storm (assuming 100% of those left behind were black), and undoubtedly more than that (since all those left behind were not black). It is almost certainly the case that the great majority of those who were left behind were black. There are obvious reasons for this, including the fact that New Orleans is overwhelmingly a black city to begin with.
Another factor is that 35% of black residents of New Orleans do not own automobiles, while 15% of white residents do not. So to the extent that getting oneself to the highway was the best method to get out of out of town, blacks were disadvantaged. That is where local officials failed. With many hundreds of school buses available, the city chose to provide safe shelter for those who did not or could not leave town in the Super Dome. Close to 30,000 people moved there.
According to the 2000 census, New Orleans’ population of 484,000 included approximately 136,000 whites, and 326,000 blacks. The white figure includes 7,000 Hispanics who classify themselves as white on the census forms. If 80% of New Orleans residents got out early – and this is the Mayor’s number – then only about 97,000 residents remained. Assume all of them were black, (which of course they were not). That would mean that 229,000 blacks got out early, and 136,000 whites along with them. In other words, the successful mass evacuation substantially benefited black residents of the city.
At least 70% of black residents of New Orleans got out of the city before the storm (assuming 100% of those left behind were black), and undoubtedly more than that (since all those left behind were not black). It is almost certainly the case that the great majority of those who were left behind were black. There are obvious reasons for this, including the fact that New Orleans is overwhelmingly a black city to begin with.
Another factor is that 35% of black residents of New Orleans do not own automobiles, while 15% of white residents do not. So to the extent that getting oneself to the highway was the best method to get out of out of town, blacks were disadvantaged. That is where local officials failed. With many hundreds of school buses available, the city chose to provide safe shelter for those who did not or could not leave town in the Super Dome. Close to 30,000 people moved there.
Yes. BTW. Where have they gotten? 40 years ago, the Democrat party had a virtual lock on government --- Federal, State and Local. Registered Dems far outnumbered Republicans across the country.
Over time, the the radical lefties took over the party and since then, it has been doing nothing but digging a deeper hole for itself to the point where Republicans have control over the Federal branches, the majority of state governments, and more local government than they could have dreamed of 40 years ago. It's precisely the stupidity of the leftists that have gotten them where they are.
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