Posted on 09/08/2005 11:21:49 AM PDT by Birdstrike
The more this guy opens his mouth, the deeper the hole...
Ray Nagin: School Buses Not Good Enough
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin garnered a ton of publicity with a profanity-laced interview he gave to WWL radio last Thursday, where he blasted President Bush and Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco for not coming to rescue his city in time.
However, Nagin's most newsworthy comments - where he explained why he didn't use hundreds of city school buses to evacuate his city's flood victims - went almost unnoticed. Turns out, Nagin turned his nose up at the yellow buses, demanding more comfortable Greyhound coaches instead.
"I need 500 buses, man," he told WWL. "One of the briefings we had they were talking about getting, you know, public school bus drivers to come down here and bus people out of here."
Nagin described his response: "I'm like - you've got to be kidding me. This is a natural disaster. Get every doggone Greyhound bus line in the country and get their asses moving to New Orleans."
While Nagin was waiting for his Greyhound fleet, Katrina's floodwaters swamped his school buses, rendering them unusable.
'You can't make it up' What else is this guy hiding that's going to come out?
I wonder, do you know if the Mayor stayed in New Orleans at the Hyatt for the first 5 to 6 days following the hurricane? Or did he go to Baton Rouge for a few days as many have mentioned? Thanks.
Ray Nagin was in over his head when New Orleans was dry.
I've heard defenders saying he stayed in NO at the Hyatt, ruffing it without any frills after the power etc went out.Others with no axe to grind and no reason to lie, say he fled to Baton Rouge.
The more his character or lack thereof is revealed, the more I believe he was in Baton Rouge.
I've been looking for those June 9, 2005 school board meeting minutes, with no success. Have they been posted at FR that you know of?
LOL!
I will play devil's advocate for a moment and say I thought that idiot Nagin meant that there should have been additional buses brought in from outside to aide in the evacuation and not that the "cheese" buses weren't good enough.
However, that still doesn't explain why the NO school buses weren't used to get some folks out.
I hear your frustration, but let's keep our powder dry. Let them take the high road for now, and in due time, it will all come out. Let the Rats shoot their wad, thinking they'll get away with it. Let's not misunderestimate W yet again.
FReeper angkor know a lot about this.
I'll bet the link will disappear or the minutes will be altered!
Exactly. There was nothing Nagin could have done about the stubborn people, other than simply giving them a marker so they could write their next of kin on their bodies. But at the very least, he should have gotten the elderly, invalids, and the poor with no other means out of there, that was very doable.
No, it doesn't sound like he was roughing it at all-too bad he wasn't still there when the looters arrived, so they could have wiped stuff all over him instead of the bathrooms.
Not condoning these looters, mind you, they need to be punished severely, but what poetic justice it would have been if Nagin had been there.
"...let's keep our powder dry. Let them take the high road for now, and in due time, it will all come out. Let the Rats shoot their wad, thinking they'll get away with it. Let's not misunderestimate W yet again."
Noted. But I wish we had our version of the Ragin Cagin or Mad Dog Dean out there rippin it up. Rush does great work as do others on the air but you would think there were 535 Democrats in the House with the raging silence. What does it take to light a fire, any kind of fire, under the majority?
Thank you.
When the enemy is busy hanging himself, best to just get out of the way. Look at the polls, only 13% are buying it.
Betcha the bus drivers' union put the kibosh on that idea. The contract doesn't say anything about evacuations.
closer to 1000 school and municipal buses
never mind - misread: thought you said "200" buses.
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.