Posted on 09/03/2005 9:02:07 PM PDT by wildwood
Who’s Responsible For New Orleans?
by D.C. Thornton @ 11:58 pm. Filed under Commentary, Blogosphere
If critics of the Hurricane Katrina disaster are going to play the blame game, they should at least play according to Hoyle.
A comment to a Blogs for Bush posting sums up my thoughts on the issue clearly. I’m reposting it here in its entirety:
In case you aren’t familiar with how our government is SUPPOSED to work:
The chain of responsiblity for the protection of the citizens in New Orleans is:
1. The Mayor
2. The New Orleans director of Homeland Security (a political appointee of the Governor who reports to the Governor)
3. The Governor
4. The Head of Homeland Security
5. The President
What did each do?
1. The mayor, with 5 days advance, waited until 2 days before he announced a mandatory evacuation (at the behest of the President). The he failed to provide transportation for those without transport even though he had hundreds of buses at his disposal.
2. The New Orleans director of Homeland Security failed to have any plan for a contingency that has been talked about for 50 years. Then he blames the Feds for not doing what he should have done. (So much for political appointees)
3. The Governor, despite a declaration of disaster by the President 2 DAYS BEFORE the storm hit, failed to take advantage of the offer of Federal troops and aid. Until 2 DAYS AFTER the storm hit.
4. The Director of Homeland Security positioned assets in the area to be ready when the Governor called for them
5. The President urged a mandatory evacuation, and even declared a disaster State of Emergency, freeing up millions of dollars of federal assistance, should the Governor decide to use it.
Oh and by the way, the levees that broke were the responsibility of the local landowners and the local levee board to maintain, NOT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
The disaster in New Orleans is what you get after decades of corrupt (democrat) government going all the way back to Huey Long.
Funds for disaster protection and relief have been flowing into this city for decades, and where has it gone, but into the pockets of the politicos and their friends.
Decades of socialist government in New Orleans has sapped all self reliance from the community, and made them dependent upon government for every little thing.
Political correctness and a lack of will to fight crime have created the single most corrupt police force in the country, and has permitted gang violence to flourish.
The sad thing is that there are many poor folks who have suffered and died needlessly because those that they voted into office failed them. For those who missed item 5 (where the President’s level of accountability is discussed), it is made more clear in a New Orleans Times-Picayune article dated August 28:
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — In the face of a catastrophic Hurricane Katrina, a mandatory evacuation was ordered Sunday for New Orleans by Mayor Ray Nagin.
Acknowledging that large numbers of people, many of them stranded tourists, would be unable to leave, the city set up 10 places of last resort for people to go, including the Superdome.
The mayor called the order unprecedented and said anyone who could leave the city should. He exempted hotels from the evacuation order because airlines had already cancelled all flights.
Gov. Kathleen Blanco, standing beside the mayor at a news conference, said President Bush called and personally appealed for a mandatory evacuation for the low-lying city, which is prone to flooding. (emphasis mine)
The ball was placed in Mayor Nagin’s court to carry out the evacuation order. With a 5-day heads-up, he had the authority to use any and all services to evacuate all residents from the city, as documented in a city emergency preparedness plan. By waiting until the last minute, and failing to make full use of resources available within city limits, Nagin and his administration f**ked up.
Mayor Nagin and his emergency sidekick Terry Ebbert have displayed lethal, mind boggling incompetence before, during and after Katrina. […]
As for Mayor Nagin, he and his profile in pathetic leadership police chief should resign as well. That city’s government is incompetent from one end to the other. The people of New Orleans deserve better than this crowd of clowns is capable of giving them.
If you’re keeping track, these boobs let 569 buses that could have carried 33,350 people out of New Orleans–in one trip–get ruined in the floods. Whatever plan these guys had, it was a dud. Or it probably would have been if they’d bothered to follow it.
As for all the race-baiting rhetoric and Bush-bashing coming from prominent blacks on the left, don’t expect Ray Nagin to be called out on the carpet for falling short. You want to know why? Here’s why:
It’s more convenient to blame a white president for what went wrong than to hold a black mayor and his administration accountable for gross negligence and failing to fully carry out an established emergency preparedness plan.
To hold Nagin and his administration accountable for dropping the ball amounts to letting loose the shouts and cries of “Racism!”. It’s sad, it’s wrong, but it’s standard operating procedure for the media and left-wing black leadership.
Mark my words: you will not hear a word of criticism from Jesse Jackson Sr., Randall Robinson, the Congressional Black Caucus, the NAACP, or Kanye West being directed toward Raymond Nagin. Why? Because he is a mere black politician instead of an effective elected official who happens to be black. In the mindset of more-blacker-than-thou blacks, black politicians who are on their side can do no wrong.
(links via Sister Toldjah, Balloon Juice, and Ramblings’ Journal)
Update: JunkYardBlog points out more evacuation plans at the state level which weren’t implemented.
this article has not been posted. even if it were, it needs to be posted again. sorry, charlie.
Bush had provided it already on 8/27.
That will go down as one of the worst things a politician has ever said.
I agree, Katrina is to blame for New Orleans.... bottom line: no hurricane, no flooding, no deaths (besides the murders which regularly occur in New Orleans). Pretty simple. Why do we have to blame any man or woman for what happened? Yes, they may have contributed here and there to the amount of damage and casualties... I suppose... but without Katrina, life would still be normal on the Gulf Coast.
I am amazed by the sheer incompetence of the Governor of LA, but the hurricane is what destroyed everything and killed most of the people there.
FEMA and the National Guard are not the same thing. The NG could have aided, or done, the evac.
It has just been sickening how the right piles on their own quarterback !
Granted. I was almost being tonque-in-cheek. What else can he do? Declare war on Lousiana?
"The state Department of Homeland Security in Louisiana asked the Red Cross not to go into the city because they want that message to be, 'You need to leave the city. This isn't going to be a sheltering spot.' "
following the order of mayer, is the state department of homeland security, a POLITICAL APPOINTMENT:
"The state Department of Homeland Security in Louisiana asked the Red Cross not to go into the city because they want that message to be, 'You need to leave the city. This isn't going to be a sheltering spot.' "
who was THAT guy?
"enough already - there must be 550 threads on this. Seriously, serach before you start a new thred."
Yes, but this is one of the best I've seen yet. Glad it was posted.
I think he should have let Mississippi annex it.
the storm hitting was separate from the levee breaking...remember people were driving back INTO new orleans after the storm....unconcerned that the levee would break!!! foolishness all!
Its sad that our nation have become what it is, but when I was young, we took pride in our hometowns.
I accidentally clicked on the Free Dominion web instead of FR. Some here wanted to document the events. I didn't read through much that's on this, but, if anyone's looking for a day-by-day lead up to Katrina, this may be a resource (credits FR):
http://www.freedominion.ca/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=44783&sid=0350baab4159aacc00030bece01d004b
I would have gone along with everything you said. The day immediately afterward that was my position. But those f'ing Rats couldn't resist trying to use it to slam President Bush, and now they're "walkin' on the fightin' side of me."
"Who’s Responsible For New Orleans?"
Looks like we the taxpayers have been responsible for the majority of it's citizens up until now, and it looks like we are going to be on the hook for alot more if we rebuild the city.
Who’s Not Responsible For New Orleans?
Apparently the mayor and the governor. The MSM cries that it took GW 4 days to get to the scene, that damn governor hasn't even been there YET!
At the risk of sounding racist, many blacks don't see this as their country, they see it as the place where their ancestors were brought to because of slavery. I don't want to demean the vast majority of the loyal black Americans who indeed love this country and who have fought and died for this country. But among the underclass, I do believe they do carry that attitude. I'm not a racist, but I am an attitudist. And people usually end up where they are because of their attitudes, and not their race.
Racism exists in this country, but it can be overcome by any individual who has the "content of character" (gee I wonder who first said that?) to perservere through it and not let it get in the way of their dreams.
Please people. This is all Bush's fault. He made the hurricane and held back aid because he was really, really, really HURT that Kathy and Fidel didn't invite him to the lobster dinner!
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