Posted on 09/26/2005 12:05:54 AM PDT by Happy2BMe
BATON ROUGE, La.
President Bush on Sunday wrapped up a three-day trip designed to convey hands-on leadership during the Gulf Coast hurricanes, promising to act on military leaders' request for a national search-and-rescue strategy.
"It's precisely the kind of information that I'll take back to Washington to help all of us understand how we can do a better job in coordinating federal, state and local response," Bush told commanders.
Between his departure from the White House on Friday and his return Sunday afternoon, the president attended more than seven hours of briefings in four cities about Hurricane Rita. On Monday, Bush is going to the Energy Department to attend a briefing on energy issues related to the hurricanes.
The White House says the president plans to return to the region but gave no details about his travel plans. So far, the president has avoided direct contact with areas affected by the storm, making sure not to interfere with rescue efforts.
"Certainly, in the areas that were hit the hardest, they're still doing the damage assessment, there's still some search-and-rescue operations going on," White House press secretary Scott McClellan told reporters aboard Air Force One on its return to Washington. "The last thing we want to do is get in the way."
The best chance for a look came during his Air Force One flight from San Antonio to Baton Rouge. The plane went over Port Arthur, Texas, and Lake Charles, La., but flew most of the time above significant cloud cover.
Over the weekend, the president spent almost a day at the headquarters of the U.S. Northern Command in Colorado Springs, Colo. The command, set up after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, is in charge of homeland security for the military.
Bush spent Saturday night and early Sunday in San Antonio, never leaving Randolph Air Force Base. Upon his arrival, he thanked the mayor for San Antonio's generosity in taking in hundreds of thousands of Katrina evacuees. On Sunday, he went to church on the base.
Bush skipped a visit to nearby Fort Sam Houston, a main federal staging area for supplies and personnel used in Rita.
He stopped in the capitals of the two states most affected by Rita. Bush spent a little more than an hour at an emergency operations center in Austin, Texas, on Saturday. He took about the same amount of time at a FEMA joint field office in Baton Rouge on Sunday afternoon.
"I know the people of this state have been through a lot. We ask for God's blessings on them and their families," Bush said at an abandoned department store that FEMA has turned into its hub of operations in twice-struck Louisiana.
Bush urged people who left homes and businesses because of the storm to be careful about returning. He also he wanted to see federal-state coordination up close.
He got a boost from Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco, who was critical of Katrina response efforts. She told Bush that things went more smoothly with Rita, which slammed ashore early Saturday with top winds of 120 mph.
"I do want to tell you how much we appreciated watching all of the integrated forces at work as one," Blanco told Bush.
Bush also heard military leaders plead for a national plan to coordinate search-and-rescue efforts. Maj. Gen. John White, a member of the military's joint task force on Rita, said that the current plans were so scattered that five helicopters might show up at once to rescue the same person.
"That was a train wreck that we saw in New Orleans," White said.
Rita was different, he said, but he warned that a different type of natural disaster or even a terrorist attack might leave much less time for planning. "We may not have that time in an earthquake scenario or similar incident," White said.
Maj. Gen. M. Scott Mayes, speaking to Bush via videoconference from Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida, agreed. "With a national plan, we'll have a quick jump-start and an opportunity to save more people."
Bush indicated that he wants more authority for the armed forces in natural disasters. The military is barred by law from performing any domestic law enforcement functions
Bush first broached that idea in a speech to the nation from New Orleans last week.
The president said he wants to examine whether the Defense Department should take the lead in a natural disaster "of a certain size" as it would after any terrorist attack. "That's going to be a very important consideration for Congress to think about," he said.
Standard media trash. Bush's three day effort was the result of no leadership being displayed by the idiots in Louisiana. I worked for a boss who used to say "If I have to do your job, than I don't need you. If I don't need you, I will get rid of you." Too bad Bush couldn't just get rid of Blanco, Nagin, etc.
But - beware the lessons of history and the use of the armed military to go into and search private homes under the guise of "national security" or "public safety".
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President Bush on Sunday wrapped up a three-day trip designed to convey hands-on leadership during the Gulf Coast hurricanes, promising to act on military leaders' request for a national search-and-rescue strategy."It's precisely the kind of information that I'll take back to Washington to help all of us understand how we can do a better job in coordinating federal, state and local response," Bush told commanders.
Those two deserve a prompt impeachment and replacements voted in their places.
But unless I missed something, the president cannot "get rid of" anybody, can he?
Nope. That is the job of the folks who actually bother to move back to New Orleans. But if Marion Barry's second term in Washington D.C. is any precedent, for some reason I don't see Nagin getting thrown out on his worthless ass.
Nagin's did. So did Blancho's.
We knew this was coming. Complete democrat screwups are having people call for more federal intervention, with more power to do so without state approval. All it takes are leaders who are willing to do their damn jobs instead of acting like they are mere figureheads to preside over parades, etc.
LOL, I had a boss who couldn't do my job, and before I quit (after several months notice) we hadn't found anyone else who could do my job.
I had to fend off requests for me to return to work for them every time I went back to do some shopping.
Considering DC was the murder capitol of the US when Marion Barry was its mayor, I wouldn't be so quick to take Marion Barry off the hook for the deaths of hundreds of people in his city.
The national guard can go into homes for search and rescue. The marines should have that same right. Our current laws will hurt marine and other federal troops recruitment. It is shameful that the marines had to peek through windows to see if there was anyone inside that needed help. They should be able to use search and rescue.
It is shameful that the marines had to go into a city where there were sniper and the marines couldn't use law enforcement because of posse comitatus.
People that worry about the military being able to use law enforcement have to consider this, the national guard can be ordered in by a nitwit governor like Blanco, so who cares if federal troops are used.
Our laws lead to death. The marines couldn't go in right away because they couldn't go after snipers shooting at them. People died because marines couldn't go into homes to save them.
The laws in this country are a disaster.
Posse Comitatus is a disaster. It gives Blanco the authority to coordinate what guard troops she wants from out of states. She denied Michigan National Guard help. She waited forever to approve other help when Homeland Security was begging her.
Blanco is not qualified to make logistical decisions about when to ask for other guard help from other states, or what help she wants. Leave that to the military. The military makes the logistical decisions on the ground in other countries and they should make them in this country.
It sounds like Blanco is the disaster.
Let's see how the National Rescue Plan goes through congress. It's illegal for the Federal Government to take over a State without getting permission first. Maybe the public can learn something for a change.
"Posse Comitatus is a disaster. It gives Blanco the authority to coordinate what guard troops she wants from out of states. She denied Michigan National Guard help. She waited forever to approve other help when Homeland Security was begging her."
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I say the stealth attempt under the guise of 'protecting the population' from criminals by confiscating private citizen's weapons is a disaster. Constitutional rights were trampled.
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THE RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS New Orleans police can't disarm evacuees - orders weapons returned
U.S. District Court Judge Jay Zainey ordered the New Orleans Police and St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office to stop taking weapons from law-abiding people and return any they already took in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.In documents filed in federal court in Baton Rouge, La., New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, Police Chief Eddie Compass and St. Tammany Sheriff Jack Strain deny ordering the confiscation of firearms.
But news reports quoted Compass as saying that only law enforcement officials would be allowed to have firearms and Deputy Chief Warren Riley as saying, "We are going to take all the weapons."
Well then she should be held accountable by the voters in the next election or even by the legislature now.
1. Local government. Nagin dropped the ball.
2. State government. Blanco screwed up.
3. Feds finally stepped in and started fixing things only after Blanco screwed everything up. The woman cannot think on her feet. She had to sleep on it for several days.
That is why everything is screwy down there. You didn't see it happen anywhere else???
What was really bad was the Oklahoma National Guard following those orders. Not only did they break the oath they swore to uphold, but these are Oklahoma boys, most of whom would stand behind their 2nd amendment rights. It pains me since I'm from OK.
Louisiana's corruption just made it outside its borders. You know we've got a fight on our hands when a poster here is calling Posse Comitatus a disaster.
So that they can have somebody else to blame except themselves, and they'll still get the credit.
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