Get Off His Back

American Spectator ^ | 9/4/2005 | Ben Stein

[upchuck]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1476744/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1476485/posts

[SFConservative]

This version includes updates dated today at 2:13 PM that the prior two posts did not include. So thanks for posting it!

[popdonnelly]

The Democrats are doing the only thing they are capable of doing: blaming Bush. Look at the Louisiana State government and the New Orleans government. Why is it these people are totally incapable of handling a natural disaster. The Democrats are blaming Bush to divert attention from the incompetence, crime, government dependency, and corruption that their policies and their attitudes have created.

[Gator113]

I saw that too.......yes, Hannity did very good!!!!

[Bommer]

NAGIN: I need reinforcements, I need troops, man. I need 500 buses, man. We ain't talking about -- you know, one of the briefings we had, they were talking about getting public school bus drivers to come down here and bus people out here.

I'm like, "You got to be kidding me. This is a national disaster. Get every doggone Greyhound bus line in the country and get their asses moving to New Orleans."

That's -- they're thinking small, man. And this is a major, major, major deal. And I can't emphasize it enough, man. This is crazy.

Louisiana disaster plan, pg 13, para 5 , dated 01/00

'The primary means of hurricane evacuation will be personal vehicles. School and municipal buses, government-owned vehicles and vehicles provided by volunteer agencies may be used to provide transportation for individuals who lack transportation and require assistance in evacuating'...

they're thinking small, man!
they're thinking small, man!

they're thinking small, man!
they're thinking small, man!

they're thinking small, man!
they're thinking small, man!

they're thinking small, man!
they're thinking small, man!

small thinking man! small thinking man!

[LoudRepublicangirl]

Good for Sean. Gerald needs to cut out his drama queen antics and I'm glad someone was man enough to tell him.

[popdonnelly]

But if it was in the NYT, Newsweek, or Time, I wouldn't read it.

[dfwgator]

Bush had to overcome both the hurricane and the incompetent Louisiana state government. Which one was more difficult is hard to say. I don't think he anticipated the level of incompetence of the Governor and the Mayor. An understandable mistake, but hopefully one that won't happen again, live and learn.

[Right Wing Assault]

Well, I just did a search using 'get off back' and got this one and two others. I don't know.

Anyway, I'm glad for the triple post since I missed the other two. That would have been a bummer, because it was a great post. Honest and right to the point.

[Recovering_Democrat]

Thank God for men like Ben Stein. I'm sure he'll get an opportunity on the networks to express his opinion. Right.

[Savage Beast]

I love ya, Ben, but you're wasting your finger muscles if you think you'll convince those morons on the Left. They still think (1) Bush lied about weapons of mass destruction (nevermind that Saddam used them on the Kurds and the Iranians), (2) there was no connection between the Saddam regime and Al-Qaida, and (3) Bush stole the election. They also think--or are trying to think--that Bush blew up the New Orleans levees to raise the price of oil. As for the sociopathic leaders of the Left, they know very well what the truth is; in fact, they're the ones who make up all this outrageous fiction that gets the Leftist morons so upset.

[SFConservative]

While I agree with almost everything in this post, I must be the only Freeper that thinks Bush did not act quickly enough.

Since nothing is ever perfect, I'm sure the Federal Government could have done incrementally better. But do you know what it takes to stage transportation and supplies for the number of people that remained behind? There were many more people stuck in NO than there would have been, had the pre-hurricane evacuation effort been more effective and complete. Add to that the need to precede the help with a crime suppression effort that also was way more demanding than it would have been had one third of the NO police not abandoned their responsibilities.

If relief had been haphazardly rushed in and resulted in spotty application and significant inequity and confusion, the left and the media would now be criticizing the administration for the mess and would say that it should have waited another day to properly organize and stage the relief.

We seem to have lost our ability to appreciate exceptional efforts and results on the part of just about anything and anybody. We waste zero time in criticizing the crap out of everything, usually from a position of zero or minimal knowledge. The media help that along by focusing and dramatizing isolated sad cases and fail to offset that with the many positive cases. We should be all more objective in understanding that dynamic and realize we are being treated to 3+ sigma stuff on TV and to unscrupulous political opportunists who paint the bleakest pictures. Let's actually listen to a pro like LTG Honore, who tells it like it is.

The federal agencies doing this sort of thing are extremely disciplined in doing constructive lessons-learned exercises after each event. Let's give them a chance to do that in a few weeks and months and stop our uninformed carping.

However, that the LA and NO authorities failed to implement lessons learned from Ivan is documented and a disgrace. Those people should learn a few lessons from the feds and the equivalent FL organizations who have shown that they can actually execute effective operations to the point where relief efforts after a typical hurricane are hardly reported on anymore.

[Reagan Man]

>>>>What would Bill Clinton do?

Here's one way to look at it. God never gives you more then you can handle. When Clinton was POTUS, he had the fiscally responsible GOP Congress to keep him in check. And BillyBoy never faced a serious challenge while in the Oval Office. OTOH. PresBush has faced three great challenges. The attacks of 9-11, the WOT and now this devastating human tragedy of hurricane Katrina.

[Soul Seeker]

I don't know whether they would or have printed it, but would have to disagree about it only preaching to the choir. This particular article seems to be getting around, it's certainly been posted on FR quite often, and imo, with good reason.

It gave the facts and said what so many of us have been screaming in four loud short words. "Get Off His Back".

Unlike some other cowards (certain conservative notables in nuMedia), Stein didn't crawl in a hole and doubt or hit the President. He got the facts and stood in solid with Him. I admire him for it.

[onyx eyes]

......If we could go back in the MSM transcripts for Friday and Saturday before the storm hit we would see reporters talking about how so many people were still partying and dancing and doing the club-scene.

Reminds one of ...what ancient city was that?

[TheMole]

Very good point. Bourbon Street bars were still serving drinks on Sunday one hour before the storm hit. George W. Bush had declared a disaster area on Friday so that state officials could take advantage of federal resources immediately -- as Louisiana Governor Blanco acknowledged during her press conference with Mayor Nagin on Saturday morning. Let the good times roll indeed.

[Les_Miserables]

stop our uninformed carping.

Not uninformed by a long shot. And not carping either. The excuse of how long it takes to deploy is beginning to wear a bit thin. In fsct in this situation it is BS. 24 hrs after Bush said get NG-MPs into NO they were there. 3 days too late. Like I said. It all will sort out but to keep excusing the delay is not right. I probably am as well informed as you or most Freepers on this unfortunate event. I just will not white wash the situation. He did not act quickly enough. That is my opnion. You can have yours. I don't want to disparage your knowledge of this and you have no right to do so to me. Just disagree. Most Freepers do. Hail Dubya.

[Grampa Dave]

Thanks, Ben Stein is like a great Red wine, that improves with age.