Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

FEMA is not a first responder - Don't be so quick to pillory the federal response in New Orleans
Pittsburgh Post Gazette ^ | Tuesday, September 06, 2005 | Craig Martelle

Posted on 09/06/2005 5:35:09 AM PDT by pittsburgh gop guy

click here to read article


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 141-160161-180181-200 ... 281 next last
To: SandyInSeattle
The federal government does not have the right to shove to states aside, nor should it.

Well, probably not in this circumstance, but in general, it is possible and desireable to have the Feds assert their superior authority in some cases.

It's happened before, when governors flouted Federal court orders.

I agree that the relationship, red tape and other aspects need to be looked at. I am not hopeful that a review will produce results in the next disaster. Politicians act in self interest, and bureacrats act in self interest - with both holding that principle above the interests of their constituents.

161 posted on 09/06/2005 9:15:31 AM PDT by Cboldt
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 118 | View Replies]

To: dalebert

The truth is like a flood, it may start coming out as a trickle, but eventually the level rises to where it cannot be ignored. I believe the deluge is imminent.


162 posted on 09/06/2005 9:16:05 AM PDT by dfwgator
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 159 | View Replies]

To: kabar

In the next election, we should elect a dictator. Then we won't have to be bogged down by an ineffective president who honors state's rights, federal laws, etc. The feds can step in ahead of all hurricanes, and arrest everyone in the predicted landfall area. We'll need permanent posts set up around the country for disasters that come with no warning. Any other suggestions?


163 posted on 09/06/2005 9:16:15 AM PDT by BykrBayb (Impeach Judge Greer - In memory of Terri <strike>Schiavo</strike> Schindler - www.terrisfight.org)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 130 | View Replies]

To: najida; cake_crumb
... did you hear her today on Fox insisting that buses WERE used in the evac?

Yep. She said tha Nagin had the busses roaming neighborhoods and evacuating people. She didn't say to where (destination - ThunderDome).

164 posted on 09/06/2005 9:17:53 AM PDT by Cboldt
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 121 | View Replies]

To: kabar

You said: To paraphrase LTGEN Honore, "Let's not get stuck on Stupid." You can quote all the legalisms, reuglations, annexes, you want, but that doesn't save lives. Eventually, commonsense has to take over. This is the greatest natural disaster ever to hit this country. The hell with process and the rules. Address the needs of the victims, tend to the paperwork later.

What would you have thought if FEMA didn't act, and Bush didn't give the order, but Honore had simply taken the initiative on his own to go to NOLA and act? That is analogous to what you are saying FEMA should have done. And don't forget, this is something that could and should have been EASILY resolved. Bush asked Blanco for the authority and she declined.


165 posted on 09/06/2005 9:18:12 AM PDT by NCLaw441
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 95 | View Replies]

To: cake_crumb

Not Fox,
The governor was insisting that they used buses to pick people up and help them evacuate.

It was bizarre!


166 posted on 09/06/2005 9:18:35 AM PDT by najida (I run with scissors and I don't play well with others.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 156 | View Replies]

To: kabar
"Unfortunately, big government is with us and it makes plenty of decisions for us. We are becoming more dependent upon government and the bureaucracy, not less."

So we should continue becoming more and more dependent on the federal government to make all of our decisions for us because the federal government already makes some of our decisions for us?

That sounds like Blanco blaming the federal government for not coming in 24 hours before the 24 hours she demanded to decide whether the federal government should come in.

167 posted on 09/06/2005 9:20:13 AM PDT by cake_crumb (Leftist Credo: "One Wing to Rule Them All and to the Dark Side Bind Them")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 158 | View Replies]

To: BykrBayb

Elect a dictator? I guess that gives him legitimacy. What I am talking about is taking executive action (cutting through the red tape) during the greatest natural disaster ever to hit this country. In a crisis of this proportion, you want action not someone spouting states rights and rules, etc. as an excuse for why something is not being done to save people's lives.


168 posted on 09/06/2005 9:21:41 AM PDT by kabar
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 163 | View Replies]

To: najida
"The governor was insisting that they used buses to pick people up and help them evacuate."

We've got aerial photos galore of the parked, flooded NO city and school buses. She's completely lost it. Sanity, scruples.....completely gone.

169 posted on 09/06/2005 9:22:30 AM PDT by cake_crumb (Leftist Credo: "One Wing to Rule Them All and to the Dark Side Bind Them")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 166 | View Replies]

To: pittsburgh gop guy
That's the most succinct explanation I've seen.

Book marked. Thanks!
170 posted on 09/06/2005 9:24:19 AM PDT by elfman2 (2 tacos short of a combination plate)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kabar
OMG!!!
It is impossible to know what is being done right OR wrong when you're not on the ground!! When the information you are getting is not reliable!! You cannot possible know that until AFTER the fact unfortunately.
FEMA is not a mind reading organization!
Dang!!! Again I ask you WHY the feds were too slow in your opinion???
Notice these problems were not going on in Alabama and Mississippi??
And btw, it was these great liberal minds who insisted on shoving FEMA into Homeland security, creating the bureaucracy in the first place!
171 posted on 09/06/2005 9:24:31 AM PDT by jackv
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 160 | View Replies]

To: kabar
"Elect a dictator? I guess that gives him legitimacy."

Saddam did after every referendum. How do you think he would have responded to a major natural catastrophe (that he didn't cause)? Would the trains and buses have run on time?

172 posted on 09/06/2005 9:26:07 AM PDT by cake_crumb (Leftist Credo: "One Wing to Rule Them All and to the Dark Side Bind Them")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 168 | View Replies]

To: jackv

Rush is on - making the point you just did - wait for a Hellary solution "MORE BIGGER GOMINT"


173 posted on 09/06/2005 9:26:47 AM PDT by sodpoodle (Newbie, PhD. Tenure allows you to stay put - NOT evict others.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 171 | View Replies]

To: cake_crumb
So we should continue becoming more and more dependent on the federal government to make all of our decisions for us because the federal government already makes some of our decisions for us?

We are a nation of almost 300 million. When a Katrina strikes or some other natural or man-made disaster of similar magnitude strikes, only the federal government (including the military) has the resources to respond. That is not going to change. Allowing the incompetency of Blanco and Nagin to cost lives in the interest of local automomy is not an acceptable response.

174 posted on 09/06/2005 9:26:56 AM PDT by kabar
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 167 | View Replies]

To: Cboldt; najida
"She said tha Nagin had the busses roaming neighborhoods and evacuating people. She didn't say to where (destination - ThunderDome)."

OK, so where are the evacuees who were bussed from the city before the storm hit?

175 posted on 09/06/2005 9:28:24 AM PDT by cake_crumb (Leftist Credo: "One Wing to Rule Them All and to the Dark Side Bind Them")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 164 | View Replies]

To: cake_crumb

You don't "elect" a dictator repeatedly. Those aren't real elections unless you want to change the meaning of the word.


176 posted on 09/06/2005 9:28:32 AM PDT by kabar
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 172 | View Replies]

To: kabar

only the federal government (including the military) has the resources to respond.
__________________________________________________

I believe you mean "ONLY THE MILITARY" has the resources to respond....

How many trucks, planes and buses does the Department of Transportation have? How many battalions does the Department of the Interior have?


177 posted on 09/06/2005 9:30:10 AM PDT by sodpoodle (Newbie, PhD. Tenure allows you to stay put - NOT evict others.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 174 | View Replies]

To: kabar

What "something" are you claiming is not being done? A hell of lot is being done, just not by you.


178 posted on 09/06/2005 9:31:42 AM PDT by BykrBayb (Impeach Judge Greer - In memory of Terri <strike>Schiavo</strike> Schindler - www.terrisfight.org)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 168 | View Replies]

To: kabar
Besides, GWB is not running again for election.

Okay, but it would be nice if PRESIDENT BUSH was given the opportunity to finish the term he was duly elected to serve.

As you have already been told, if PRESIDENT BUSH had done as you suggest, there would exist, for the first time, legitimate grounds for impeachment.

If PRESIDENT BUSH sneezes, our "friends" from across the aisle, want to impeach him for spreading germs and endangering millions.

I understand your frustration, however, something you will not hear often, it is ...
NOT PRESIDENT BUSH'S FAULT!!!

179 posted on 09/06/2005 9:32:54 AM PDT by Just A Nobody (I - LOVE - my attitude problem !)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 39 | View Replies]

To: NCLaw441

If, if, if. Let's deal with the actual situation. Generally, the federal response has been magnificent. However, they were a day late and a dollar short in their initial response to the conditions in NO. It is something that should not be replicated in the next disaster.


180 posted on 09/06/2005 9:33:16 AM PDT by kabar
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 165 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 141-160161-180181-200 ... 281 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson