Criticism of Gov't Response

[Don John of Austria]

[quote name='avemaria40' date='Sep 5 2005, 05:44 PM']we shouldn't criticize the ppl who didn't evacuate in time, maybe they didn't have money to leave, maybe if the population is mostly poor, they didn't own a car or have money for gas.  and think of ppl who lost parents, who lost children, their lovers, their spouses, their whole family!  their best friends!  the last thing they need is to hear they were idiots not to evacuate in time.  Btw, i was absolutely shocked that Canadian mounties made it down there faster than the Fed. Gov't
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They had feet didn't they, you know for the first 6000 years of civilization those did pretty well for people, partcularly when it came time to get out of town. And if you don't have money for gas, you sell something, or you beg a ride or you do something, you don't stay when you have been told staying equals death. You certianly don't keep your children there to die with you.

[IcePrincessKRS]

Kanye West is way off base.

During an NBC network fund-raiser Friday to help Hurricane Katrina victims, West, a hip-hop artist, let loose with an incredibly destructive diatribe. Among other crass comments, West said, "George Bush doesn't care about black people."

Is West so full of himself that he didn't understand he was asked to participate in the telethon to pump up contributions, not turn off prospective donors?

West certainly was not the only one to throw down the race card. Some other blacks also accused the federal government of neglecting New Orleans because it has a black majority and rampant poverty.

The racial friction is unwarranted and counterproductive.

I'm no fan of President George W. Bush, but here's a fact that can't be denied: He was not slow to prepare for last week's disaster.

Bush declared a state of emergency for Louisiana on Aug. 27. That was two days before Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana. The declaration started the process to assemble federal resources.

The racial criticisms made by West and others are an insult to the heroics of U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Air Force rescuers I watched on the television news. These guys have been descending on cables from helicopters and carrying New Orleans residents out of flooded neighborhoods. The rescues started on Aug. 29, the same day the hurricane hit.

And here's an interesting thing that I noticed in those rescues. All of the men I saw come down from the helicopters were white. The majority of the people plucked from the rooftops were black. Yet those white rescuers didn't seem to care what the victims looked like. The rescuers were energetic and compassionate. In one incident, a white Coastguardsman and a black guy stranded on a rooftop embraced as though they were brothers. Tears filled my eyes. That scene made me extremely proud to be an American.

Having to wait five minutes for help in New Orleans must have been excruciating. But it's impossible to ignore practical considerations. Mounting the aid mission for New Orleans was a little more complicated than throwing three suitcases into the back seat of a sports-utility vehicle and putting the pedal to the metal.

That's not the way the military works. The military's main role is to fight wars, not provide disaster assistance. Changing from the war-fighting mode to a civilian-humanitarian mission takes time to assemble the proper supplies and equipment. What would have been said if the military rushed in with the wrong equipment or inadequate supplies?

The nightmare conditions at the Superdome and the New Orleans Convention Center, where tens of thousands fled for help, wasn't the fault of the military or President Bush. That blame belongs squarely on the shoulders of New Orleans officials.

Does it bother me that most of the victims in New Orleans were black and poor?

Absolutely. There really needs to be a serious discussion about chronic black poverty in America. But considering the crisis that we're up against right now, the race discussion can wait until next week.

Is there room to improve the federal response to large-scale disasters?

Absolutely. But that discussion can wait, too.

By the way, many of people afflicted in Mississippi and Alabama by the hurricane were white. On Sunday, many of them complained they still had not received federal help.

This is not a racial matter. The scope of this disaster is mind-boggling. It covers an area greater than the size of Great Britain. There could be 10,000 dead. Throwing down the race card doesn't achieve anything.

It's obvious that Kanye West doesn't get it.

Yet it's clear that easing the agony of our Gulf Coast neighbors will require Americans of all colors to work together.

David Porter can be reached at dporter@orlandosentinel.com, or at 407-420-5533.

[IcePrincessKRS]

[quote name='IcePrincessKRS' date='Sep 5 2005, 06:50 PM']I have to disagree [i]to a point[/i] about not criticizing people who didn't evacuate in time. Yes, a certain percentage couldn't afford to leave, but on the other hand (before I stopped watching the news) I saw a report about a teenage boy who "commandeered" a city school bus and drove to Houston, picking up fellow refugees along the way. This teenage kid took the initiative to get transportation and get outta Dodge, why couldn't some of those other people do the same? I'm not laying blame, I just don't understand.
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[quote]Ray Nagin, the mayor, ordered a "mandatory" evacuation a day late, but kept the city's 2,000 school buses parked and locked in neat rows when there was still time to take the refugees to higher ground. The bright-yellow buses sit ruined now in four feet of dirty water[/quote]

THIS is exactly what I was talking about. You can't blame the feds when NO's own mayor did this to the people who live in his city--the city and the people that he is directly in charge of.

[philothea]

[quote name='IcePrincessKRS' date='Sep 6 2005, 04:48 PM'][quote]Ray Nagin, the mayor, ordered a "mandatory" evacuation a day late, but kept the city's 2,000 school buses parked and locked in neat rows when there was still time to take the refugees to higher ground. The bright-yellow buses sit ruined now in four feet of dirty water[/quote]
THIS is exactly what I was talking about. You can't blame the feds when NO's own mayor did this to the people who live in his city--the city and the people that he is directly in charge of.
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A mayor doesn't have jurisdiction over a school district's property. He could, perhaps, have asked for the busses -- which probably would require agreement from a council -- but he can't just take them.

I am beginning to understand that democracies are bad for crisis situations. You need a dictator.

[Don John of Austria]

[quote name='philothea' date='Sep 6 2005, 05:34 PM']
THIS is exactly what I was talking about. You can't blame the feds when NO's own mayor did this to the people who live in his city--the city and the people that he is directly in charge of.
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A mayor doesn't have jurisdiction over a school district's property. He could, perhaps, have asked for the busses -- which probably would require agreement from a council -- but he can't just take them.

I am beginning to understand that democracies are bad for crisis situations. You need a dictator.
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No you need a king, and nobles!


[color=green]Never miss a chance to plug for monarchy[/color]

[philothea]

[quote name='Don John of Austria' date='Sep 6 2005, 05:41 PM'][quote]I am beginning to understand that democracies are bad for crisis situations.  You need a dictator.
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No you need a king, and nobles!
[color=green]Never miss a chance to plug for monarchy[/color]
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Sorry! Of course monarchy is was what I meant.

Can you imagine the effectiveness of nobility with modern technology?

[Don John of Austria]

[quote name='philothea' date='Sep 6 2005, 07:11 PM']
No you need a king, and nobles!
[color=green]Never miss a chance to plug for monarchy[/color]
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Sorry! Of course monarchy is was what I meant.

Can you imagine the effectiveness of nobility with modern technology?
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Yes I can and that is why Liberal Democrats ( in the philosophical sense, not the party) don't like me.

[White Knight]

[b][url="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,168333,00.html"]US Government OKAYS $10.5 Billion dollars for Katrina Relief.[/url][/b]


Something tells me were going to need more than that.

[IcePrincessKRS]

[quote name='philothea' date='Sep 6 2005, 06:34 PM']
A mayor doesn't have jurisdiction over a school district's property.  He could, perhaps, have asked for the busses -- which probably would require agreement from a council -- but he can't just take them.

I am beginning to understand that democracies are bad for crisis situations.  You need a dictator.

[/quote]

Yes but something tells me that if he'd asked for them from the get-go he'd have gotten them. Who pays for those busses? The taxpayers, the very people who's homes were destroyed, who needed to evacuate. They all knew the hurricane was coming.

Edited September 7, 2005 by IcePrincessKRS

[cmotherofpirl]

In a situation like this the mayor doesn't have to "ask". THey say be me the school buses and get them RIGHT NOW!!

who would be there to argue???

[Don John of Austria]

The mayor of N.O. doesn't like school buses , just ask the governer of La. When she sent him all of the school buses in the state he got up on televesion and cursed about it.

[guardsman]

[quote name='philothea' date='Sep 4 2005, 05:06 PM']The guys riding their Hum-Vees through the streets of New Orleans right now are not, I believe, the National Guard.
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Uh, Yes, they are National Guard. From all over the country. Some are regular Army, but most are Guard.

[guardsman]

[quote name='Nathan' date='Sep 4 2005, 08:10 PM']As for the government's handling of the situation...

I hate to say it, but things would have most definitely been handled much better if the majority of victims were white, middle-to-upper-class citizens instead of poor black ones. I just know it. The government dawdled because these people do not matter.
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They don't matter to who?

[philothea]

[quote name='guardsman' date='Sep 7 2005, 06:00 PM']Uh, Yes, they are National Guard. From all over the country. Some are regular Army, but most are Guard.
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Ah, thanks. I am without live news now, so I can only go with web stuff, which is slow and not very informative.

Do you know who sent them there? I would assume their respective governors. But I guess the president [i]can[/i] command national guardsmen. How else could some be serving in Iraq?

Good to see you around!

[Don John of Austria]

[quote name='philothea' date='Sep 7 2005, 06:12 PM']Ah, thanks.  I am without live news now, so I can only go with web stuff, which is slow and not very informative.

Do you know who sent them there?  I would assume their respective governors.  But I guess the president [i]can[/i] command national guardsmen.  How else could some be serving in Iraq?

Good to see you around!
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The presedent can federalize the National Guard, superceding the State government. This is one of the proofs that the National Gaurd is NOT the Militia spoken about in the second amendment and intended by the Founders, but that is another issue. Remember guys the Army has something of a man power shortage right now.