Posted on 08/25/2006 6:40:25 AM PDT by SFCGeraldRTostensen
In the next few weeks, two very notable dates will be observed. August 29 marks the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s devastation of New Orleans. Less than two weeks following that will be the fifth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Liberals are already engaging in an enormous amount of reflection. And they plan to do much more, but only if they can completely control the manner in which America recalls the original events. If they are successful, Republicans could take a major hit from the memorial.
But in truth, rather than run from the recollection of either incident, Republicans ought to loudly trumpet both in their true context, as grim reminders of the tragedy that can occur when America becomes too distracted from real dangers, whether natural or man-made, that it will regularly and inevitably face.
Neither situation could be characterized as totally unexpected. Rather, consistent warnings were voiced for years, and even decades, that such calamities would likely eventuate, and that the nation could best cope with situations of their nature by properly preparing in advance.
And in neither case was any such preparation made. The real root causes were those that resulted from the misguided devotion of liberal America to its agenda, which invariably benefits the liberal leadership at the expense of everyone else.
Furthermore, in both cases, all of the post-mortem “soul searching” has itself revealed that those chiefly responsible remain totally unrepentant, and are absolutely unwilling to rectify any contributing lapses, even if their obstinacy means leaving the nation highly susceptible to a recurrence.
Particularly in regards to 9-11, the recent exposure of a massive terrorist plot in England clearly indicates that the perpetrators of the 2001 attacks are indeed planning more strikes that would eclipse even the horrendous death and mayhem of that awful day. Yet liberal/Democrat finger pointing seems far more motivated by the anticipated fallout in the upcoming elections than by any concern for the safety of the American people.
Nor should the nation be anything but outraged at such transparent, politically motivated efforts as the so-called “9-11 Commission.” America cannot afford to be less than forthright in its efforts to determine and correct the grave security lapses that left it vulnerable to the plotting of the terrorists. Here again, another, far more sinister purpose drove certain of the commission’s members.
For starters, it was hopelessly tainted by the dubious participation of Clinton crony Jamie Gorelick, who quickly proved that her entire purpose was to deflect culpability from where it truly belonged, which was with the philandering and bungling actions of the Clinton Administration.
Throughout the 1990’s, the storm clouds of Islamism gathered, with occasional terrorist acts being mounted against the United States. Yet during that entire period, Bill Clinton’s main reaction to the looming threat was to determine how best to “spin” it for political gain. In retrospect, this will be the grim reality of his “legacy.”
Thoroughly politicized though it may have been, as the commission proceeded in its work, it became apparent that the threats to America had not materialized overnight, and therefore could not be blamed on the fledgling Bush Administration or its new Attorney General, John Ashcroft.
Yet the effort was made to affix just such blame. As a result Ashcroft himself was called to testify. But rather than accepting the premise of his attackers and becoming defensive, he bluntly pointed to panel member Gorelick as the chief culprit in the bungling of intelligence. And no amount of criminal destruction of evidence by Sandy Berger will ever erase that truth.
Likewise, the Katrina fiasco ensued as a byproduct of previous and long standing bureaucratic corruption and incompetence, perpetrated with complete disregard for the very widely accepted knowledge that a large storm would eventually strike New Orleans.
In truth, the storm brought no surprises, except that during the time which should have been devoted to preparation, the New Orleans government misdirected funds and indulged itself in every luxury except that of shoring up its levees and infrastructure.
As a consistent liberal, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin steadfastly refuses to take responsibility for the fiasco that ensued. Instead, to this day he still makes excuses and blames others, even to the point of invoking the absolutely predictable “race card.” So nothing has changed. Sadly, owing to the willingness of that city’s residents to reelect Nagin, nothing will change.
Instead of righting such wrongs, the entirety of the supposed “fix” is as it always has been, demands for enormous sums of money with no accountability. After months of corruption and scandalous misuse of emergency funds in the wake of the hurricane, it is glaringly obvious that New Orleans needs more such “aid” about as much as it needed more school buses. The problem prior to the storm was not financial, and it is not financial now.
Contrary to the media hype that has already commenced, and will undoubtedly continue as long as the left believes it can garner any political gain from either situation, Republicans have good reason to directly face them. Together, they showcase the real results reaped from a shortsighted and self-serving approach to problems.
Despite all of their phony tears, “commiserating” political hacks on the left never intended to fix or address those problems either before or after thousands of Americans lost their lives. Rather, they remain determined to empower themselves, ultimately at the expense of those whose interests they are sworn to serve. And if they regain their majorities in Congress this November, the nation can only expect more of the same.
Very few "intelligent" Americans could disagree.
Neither situation could be characterized as totally unexpected. Rather, consistent warnings were voiced for years, and even decades, that such calamities would likely eventuate, and that the nation could best cope with situations of their nature by properly preparing in advance.
If he thinks that a good heart-to-heart between some FEMA big-shots and the fine folks at CBS will manifest itself in a 60 Minutes special entitled "Katrina: Clinton's Disastrous Miscalculations", he's dreaming.
By excerpting, could you possibly mean the comment to which I commented upon?
I don't think so. I was referring, in a left handed way, to lazy FReepers who excerpt articles that are NOT on the must excerpt list.
Way too much of that going on around here.
Ping!
dont forget all the katrina
fraud...
Some examples cited by The New York Times illustrate the wide-ranging nature of the corruption:
An estimated 1,100 prison inmates across the Gulf Coast collected in excess of $10 million in rental assistance and disaster-relief money. Crime pays! FEMA, in addition, distributed millions of tax dollars to people who used names and Social Security numbers belonging to state and federal prisoners.
A hotel owner in Sugar Land, Texas, has been charged with submitting $232,000 in invoices for evacuees who allegedly never stayed at his hotel, billing FEMA for purportedly empty rooms or rooms occupied by paying guests or hotel employees.
An Illinois woman who was living in Illinois at the time of the storm sought relief benefits by claiming she had watched her two daughters drown in the flood waters of New Orleans. The children never existed.
A Department of Labor employee in Louisiana, appropriately named Wayne Lawless, has been charged with handing out nearly 100 falsified disaster unemployment benefit cards in exchange for kickbacks of up to $300 per card.
In New Orleans, two FEMA officials have pleaded guilty to pocketing $20,000 in bribes in exchange for inflating the count on the number of meals a contractor was serving to relief workers.
With the $2,000 debit cards distributed by FEMA for disaster relief, an estimated 5,000 people have double dipped, receiving both the $2,000 plastic card and a second $2,000 by check or electronically.
Two men, one a representative of the Army Corps of Engineers, have pleaded guilty to taking kickbacks in exchange for approving payments for removal of nonexistent loads of hurricane debris. In contrast, with loads of debris that were not nonexistent, a councilman in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, has been charged with attempting to extort $100,000 from a debris-removal contractor.
One creative scam artist is charged with collecting 26 federal disaster relief checks totaling $139,000 by using 13 Social Security numbers and fake claims of damage at bogus addresses. Others collected and pocketed hurricane relief donations by posing as Red Cross workers.
All told, what the above represents is "one of the most extraordinary displays of scams, schemes and stupefying bureaucratic bungles in modern history," reports the Times, "costing taxpayers up to $2 billion."
The $2 billion guesstimate might well prove to be just the proverbial tip of the iceberg. Commenting on the extent of fraud and waste in FEMA's response to Katrina, Gregory D. Kutz, a director of audits at the General Accounting Office, stated, "I still don't think they fully understand the depth of the problem."
By the time the Katrina accounting is over, it won't be surprising if the fraud and boondoggles hit $5 billion. The question: How high does the price of ineptitude and corruption have to go before we all begin to understand the depth of the problem?
Liberalism...the "You never have to say you're sorry" syndrome...
In truth, the storm brought no surprises, except that during the time which should have been devoted to preparation, the New Orleans government misdirected funds and indulged itself in every luxury except that of shoring up its levees and infrastructure.
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