Marching orders on the poor
Errol Louis tells us “why we couldn’t save the people of New Orleans,” but leaves us, the people of New Orleans, out of the equation.
Why didn’t those people evacuate before the hurricane? Why don’t they just walk out of town now? And why should anyone care about people who are stealing and fighting the police?
That hard, unsympathetic view is the traditional American response to the poverty, ignorance and rage that afflict many of us whose great-great-grandparents once made up the captive African slave labor pool. In far too many cities, including New Orleans, the marching orders on the front lines of American race relations are to control and contain the very poor in ghettos as cheaply as possible; ignore them completely if possible; and call in the troops if the brutes get out of line.
What I wonder, and what Mr. Louis doesn’t provide, is what are the marching orders of the poor on the front lines?
If I had to guess from observation, I might suppose that they include developing a level of apathy for one’s situation; embracing ghetto life and punishing those who try to escape it; and stubbornly refusing to accept any personal responsibility for oneself. But, it is as unfair of me to over generalize in that manner as it is of Mr. Louis to pretend that the poor exist only at the mercy of the rest of American society.
These government failures are not merely a matter of incompetence. Louisiana and New Orleans have a long, well-known reputation for corruption: as former congressman Billy Tauzin once put it, “half of Louisiana is under water and the other half is under indictment.”
These government failures are, in fact, largely a matter of incompetence: incompetence on the part of voters who choose to elect the corrupt, the incompetent, and the spouses and progeny of the corrupt and incompetent. We often get what we ask for. We got more of Edwin Edwards, we got more of Sidney Bartholemy, we got more of Marc Morial, and we’re getting more of the Tauzin’s, Landreiu’s, and Jefferson’s. Nationally, we get more of the Bush’s and possibly more of the Clinton’s. Louisiana, as a state, has the equivalent of 80 pounds of undigested political progeny stuck in our collective lower gastro-intestinal tract, and we don’t care. At least, I think we don’t care, because, with rare exceptions, we continue to elect people who have not taken their responsibilities to us seriously. And honestly, why should they change when we continue to reward them for stealing our money, our dignity, and our futures? We must want more of the same. And nationally, it’s as though we suffer from the same sort of unhealthy dependence found in battered spouses.
The decision to subject an entire population to poverty, ignorance, injustice and government corruption as a way of life has its ugly moments, as the world is now seeing.
There is no master plan to subject an entire population (he’s referring specifically to African-Americans) to poverty, ignorance, injustice, and government corruption. After the 1988 tax season, data from the IRS showed that a larger percentage of those in the lowest quintile in 1980 had graduated to the highest quintile in 1988 than those who had remained in the lowest. Socio-economic status is incredibly liquid in the United States. One can go from rags to riches and back again within a very short period of time. Or, one can go up the socio-economic ladder and stay there, if circumstances and effort justify it. One can also pretty much stay wherever they happen to be on the ladder, making roughly the same living and roughly the same choices at the election box, blame someone else for their situation, and never act to change it for the better.
The people of New Orleans could have been saved. No doubt there were mistakes made right from the beginning. School buses from New Orleans didn’t line up at pick-up points throughout the poorer sections of the city on Saturday afternoon to transport people to points north and west; National Guard troops could have been pre-staged and brought in Monday night to keep and maintain order; and we, the people of New Orleans, all of us, could have done more before, during, and after the storm. If we can’t — or won’t — act to save ourselves, we cannot then blame others and pretend as if our own culpability does not exist.
Related posts:
I am appalled and ashamed at how we as a nation and a government have responded to the Crisis in the South. We have the ability to deploy 35,000 troops with support services anywhere in the world. We knew that people needed to be evacuated before the fact and did not do it.
The only person who appears to be on top of the situation is General Honoree.
We as a nation need to stand-up and care about one another and vote for real people, not politicians. People with skills, values, love and compassion.
doc
The folks at the Super Dome and Convention Center did evacuate….Those were EVACUATION Centers
Another concern (like another one is needed):
What will be the results of pumping this contaminated water back into the ocean. Would it not be better to pump it onto land and then spray is with something that would kill the possible contagious contaminates?
Probably will Mr Errol Louis have survivors living next to him for a couple a month who can explain a few thing. I hope he will learn something from that but i doubt.
All citizens stranded by Katrina need to know:
The US gov’t is giving $2.2 billion to Israel, so they can pay each settler family $200,000 to relocate. And get this- every single settler already has a place to sleep…
Will the US gov’t pay $200,000 for each family displaced by Katrina?
Every single person from NOLA needs to know this information.
links:
http://www.commondreams.org/news2005/0816-13.htm
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/12427469.htm
The federal goverment responded much to slow, why? Why was the Wal-Mart truck met with armed N. guard and ordered to turn around?Your president needs to stay away from photo shoots!!Some should have ask the news media how they got in CNN. DUH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In regard to the $ of aid going to Israel, where I can verify that information on a non-propaganda website?
Who was ultimately responsible for leaving the track of the hurricane once the hurricane was predicted to hit land? Where was the local government (closest to the situation) to ensure all citizens were cared for? They obviously knew that people weren’t leaving or else they would not have opened up the Superdome. Were buses not available because it was the weekend? Perhaps a little city planning could have prevented the majority of aftermath…
Don’t even get me started on the levee that they knew was inadequte and needed work… where were the local officials to ensure that project got the necessary funding? Were the sandbags not available before the hurricane, too?
All fingers should first point to the mayor… or maybe to those who elected him…
‘Carlos’
Thanks for the heads up on money going to Israel. That settles where my hard earned dollar will continue going.
I’ll go find the closest Pay Pal and send Israel more.Given that most of you “carlos” want to blame Bush and want to pretend that we are not at war, I’d much rather continue giving money to Israel than to the constituents of the race card mongers and their party of entitlement tools.
Israel has had America’s back in the fight against Islamics for years, while all of you fools do is plan for Mardi Gras. Now you start pretending to care about the poor??? These are the same wretches you are blind to while you puke your guts out partying in your wretched, sinking city.All of you New Orleans folks crying for your town probably never shed a tear for the “poor” before, on that I’d bet the bank.
If the Israel money gossip is true, that is an outrage. I would like to hear the truth on this either way, so I second the request for hard info/sources, please.
My heart breaks for the people of New Orleans, all of them. I admit to a little bit less sympathy for the perfectly able-bodied folks who chose to stay purely out of willful arrogance, complacency, arrogance or laziness. But for the mobility-challenged of any sort, including the sick, the elderly, the disabled, etc.–what can I say? There should have been resources in place to help them, period.
As far as any harsh judgments I might make, I can only speak for myself.
When a huge fire menaced my neighborhood some years ago and we had to evacuate, I did not have a vehicle to do so. I began calling around. I did not even try for a cab as I figured there were elderly, sick or disabled people who needed them more. My cat and I got a ride out with a neighbor; had he not been available, my elderly mother would’ve driven in to get me, or another friend.
I cannot believe that SO many healthy, presumably functional people had NO such options. Moreover, if I’d been unable to get a ride, I’d simply have walked. Yep, on my own two legs. I had enough time, as did many folks in New Orleans. I could’ve saved myself, with no help, easily.
I am not picking on anyone, nor am I “blaming the victim.” I’m simply pointing out that, IF one’s capable of it, self-reliance and taking the initiative where self-preservation is concerned can NEVER be bad ideas.
I’m not even saying that our local, state and federal governments shouldn’t step in with aid in times like this, or have plans in place to deal with crises. OF COURSE THEY SHOULD!!!
But I am saying that maybe it’s a lot safer for us, as individuals, to stop being so dependent and trusting. Take responsibility for yourself (and those you love), as much as you can. Don’t assume the authorities will have their s*** together. A lot of folks in New Orleans died this week in part because they made that fatal assumption.
I know this will seem a pessimistic and depressing message to some, but to me, frankly, it’s just realism and common sense.
“An Unnatural Disaster: A Hurricane Exposes the Man-Made Disaster of the Welfare State ”
http://tiadaily.com/php-bin/news/showArticle.php?id=1026
Joe B sounds likes he sits comfortable in his home which is dry, cool, and in tact, glancing lovingly at his wife, as she pulls a rare roasted lamb from the new viking oven. And he will go to his office tomorrow and push some pencils around before he’s off to hit 9 holes and catch the game on the plasm screen at the club. I hope you dont catch a nose bleed way up there, because the reality is that all folks in this country ARE NOT AFFORDED THE SAME OPPORTUNITIES. If you believe the rhetoric you spew here, than I feel sorry for the children you might have.
In some places just outside the USA you’ve created in your mind, the police are ugly folks with guns drawn ready to shoot you for sport simpy becuase you look or sound different than they. In some places, people have been beaten so badly for so long with the odds stacked so high against them, that they are regularly immobilized with fear (look up learned helplessness on your new laptop.) In other places, not JoeBsUSA, people have limited abilities, but still work everyday to survive, and can’t aspire to the level of wealth you and your daddy have acquired. But that doesn’t mean they don’t work as hard, or that they care less about others, or don’t deserve as much assistance from the government that takes proportionately more of their money than of yours (read tax loopholes). And if they find themselves five days hungry, three days thirsty, scared, alone, and delirious, and autonomic in their SURVIVAL responses, than G*D bless them as the steal water, food, diapers, bankets and items they HOPE will bring them some money to get the hell out of hell, and a little bit closer to YOUR USA.
being from New orleans and having lived through betsy, I can tell you they are either stuck on stupid or letting them die. There must be 20,000 buses and a ferry and a couple river boats that could have and still can be used in alot of cases to get those people out. It is sad to see idiots that cannot think outside the box be in charge of such a crucial rescue
Cynthia
You are quite simply a frigging idiot.
Take your whining points back to Jessie Jackson and find some new garbage to regurgitate.
I have, in fact, been broke multiple times, lived hand to mouth for several years (though not on public assistance). There is no wife (never has been, never will be), no life of luxury, tomorrow is labor day, and golf isn’t my style.
Nobody should expect that everyone should have the same opportunities. I didn’t have the opportunity to go to Yale, or to summer in Europe, or to do any number of things that people richer than my family were able to offer their kids. So what? I do have a nearly-equal opportunity to pursue my own existence. I do have the opportunity to do what I can for myself. And so do you. And so do poor people, everywhere in America. Are the odds different? Maybe. Maybe some of them will be more motivated to change their situations and I’ll call them boss in the future.
You make too many unwarranted assumptions, Cynthia, and frankly, I don’t believe you read what I wrote with much comprehension. “You got to know how to see me, before you can read me.” But, at least you had the courtesy to respond to the post, rather than go off into Islamo-American-Israeli relations as though you’re channeling Pat Robertson.
Katrina was going to arrive sooner or later. People have talked about it and its impact especially its impact on New Orleans for years. Plans have been drawn up on how to shore up the levives, how to evacuate the people etc. etc. etc. How is it then that federal, state and local oficials have seemingly done nothing to prevent this disaster that they all new was only one hurricane away. There is plenty of blame to go around believe me. That said, nothing excuses our president and his administration for dragging their feet when it came to securing the area after the levies broke. There should have been a massive effort made to evacuate those left in Katrinas wake. The blame for not getting food and water to so many for 5 to 6 days after the fact lies squarely on G. Bushes shoulders. If this man can act no quicker than this to save his own, God help us. I shudder to think that this man is our so called Commander In Chief. I am of the opinion that the the greatest disaster we as a people of this nation face is not born of a hurricane or even an eartquake but from the total lack of leadership and sound decision making from the so called Leader of the Free World, our President GEORGE BUSH.
I heard a report that the Levee Authrity used funds to buy a casino and helicopter instead of fixing Levees. This is part of a ruling on a court case that varifies part of what I heard. It certainly shows what happens when there is not accountability to the PEOPLE. $3 million a year in Mineral Royalties (including OIL) on land they do not own.
And oh yes, they own a Casino. This also indicates that the Levee is a LOCAL problem, not a Federal problem!! ;-)
MM
Vogt v. Board of Commissioners of the Orleans Levee District
5th Cir.
06-14-2002
Edith H. Jones, Circuit Judge
01-30728
In 1984, the Louisiana legislature passed an act ordering the Orleans Levee District to return land it had expropriated in 1924 to build a spillway. The levee district’s board of commissioners, however, stalled the return of the property and have until this day fought not to repay mineral royalties that belong to the landowners. In this litigation, the levee district persuaded the district court to dismiss the landowners’ constitutional takings claim. We reverse. The district is not immune under the Eleventh Amendment, and the landowners’ pleadings state a takings claim.
I. BACKGROUND
The Orleans Levee District was created by the Louisiana legislature in 1890 for the purpose of protecting the City of New Orleans from floods. In 1924, the state legislature authorized the levee district’s Board of Commissioners (”the levee board”) to acquire 33,000 acres of land on the east bank of the Mississippi River about 50 miles south of New Orleans in order to build the Bohemia Spillway between the River and the Gulf of Mexico. 1924 La. Acts 99. Approximately half of this land was public property transferred from the state; the other half was either expropriated or purchased under threat of expropriation from private owners. 1928 La. Acts 246; 1942 La. Acts 311.
In 1984, the Louisiana legislature decided to return the land taken for the Bohemia Spillway. Act 233 declared that the public and necessary purpose set forth in Act No. 99 of 1924, which may have originally supported the expropriation of property, or any right of ownership thereto, on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the parish of Plaquemines for the construction of a spillway, known as the Bohemia Spillway, has ceased to exist insofar as it ever may have affected the ownership of property, including mineral rights. The Legislature of Louisiana hereby orders the Board of Levee Commissioners of the Orleans Levee District, the board, to return the ownership of said property to the owners or their successors from whom the property was acquired by expropriation or by purchase under threat of expropriation. 1984 La. Acts 233; La. Const., art. VII,
They don’t own that casino. They derive revenue from it because it sits next to their levee, and the resulting leases and taxes and whatever. But it isn’t theirs.
It’s conceivable that a helicopter could be put to good use by the Orleans Levee Board. Improvements made to land the casino are just standard operating practice: you have to spend money to make money.
I’m not saying that there’s no waste, no corruption, no graft, no unnecessary overtime. But the casino in question brings in way more revenue than the Levee Board spends on it.
Who was ultimately responsible for leaving the track of the hurricane once the hurricane was predicted to hit land? Where was the local government (closest to the situation) to ensure all citizens were cared for?
Local, state and/or federal governments are responsible for evacuating metropolitan areas in times of emergency.
They obviously knew that people weren’t leaving or else they would not have opened up the Superdome. Were buses not available because it was the weekend?
Why indeed? There are buses available now to ship them off elsewhere - weren’t those same buses available before the storm? Why was it that great effort was expended to ensure the exodus of those with cars or other means of exit, while no effort at all was exerted to ensure the exodus of those without independent means? Why were those people told simply to go to the Superdome and wait for the roof to blow off? (Has anyone considered that had Katrina followed its presumed route and kept is feared Cat 5 status, that the Superdome would now be a pile of rubble with about 10,000 bodies in it?) Why were those people, who appear to be largely black, told to stay in the city while everyone else was told to leave?
Perhaps a little city planning could have prevented the majority of aftermath…
No city has the resources to deal with this level of disaster. This level of disaster requires federal assistance - BILLIONS of dollars, more money than New Orleans or even Louisiana has to spare.
Don’t even get me started on the levee that they knew was inadequte and needed work… where were the local officials to ensure that project got the necessary funding? Were the sandbags not available before the hurricane, too?
Responsibility for the levee falls to the Army Corps of Engineers. Money was pulled from their ongoing project to restore the levee. $70 million or something like that. It was needed to pay for the war in Iraq.
All fingers should first point to the mayor… or maybe to those who elected him…
Blame the victims eh? Let me guess: you’re white, middle-class, and not from New Orleans.
How can the mayor prevent a flood? How can the mayor repair a levee? How can the mayor commandeer the National Guard? How can the mayor declare a state of emergency or martial law? How can a mayor commandeer bus lines for emergency evacuation?
A mayor has none of these powers. A mayor has no army: he has cops and firemen. These powers are resevred to state and federal authorities.
So look to the governor, who herself was begging for federal help DAYS before the storm hit. She was doing her job, opening the freeways, marshalling what resources she could, declare her own state of emergency. But she cannot call up National Guard units who are in Iraq, fighting a foolish war. She cannot federlize transportation (like buses) in order to evacuate a city. She does not have a military at her disposal.
So look to the President, your beloved Glorious Leader, the very Stalin-like Bush who flies in for a staged photo op and then flies out, demanding more armed soldiers and suggesting that the “private sector” (that’s you and me) needs to help more. Look to a government which wastes BILLIONS on a war in Iraq, cuts BILLIONS from domestic programs to pay for the war, and then gives TAX CUTS to the richest of the rich.
Yeah, this great President, who’d rather kill people than save them.
The Government has found the compassion in its heart to provide a zip code to the Astrodome in Huston to receive donations. I would like someone who knows how to begin a movement to have the governemnt pick up the shipping cost to that zip code. Doesn’t seem like much to ask. Do you think it is possible?
THIS nation has a Commander and Cheif which we called a president. Our president has the right to superceed the oficials of each indiviual state right. I voted for this president to lead our county not the giving him the desicion when to give him the opportunity to lead. The president was aware and promised that he was on standby for any state assitance that was needed. Does he not know when he county is in need ? Shit he knew that Araqic was in need though sources. What about our own citizens. The government could have Commandered all Business in the affected areas for supplies why wasn’t that done. We have ships, planes, trains, etc available to move people. This county flies, more than 3 millions people each day. I those people wasn’t evacuated. Babies died, elderly died people. For what ? A Failure to Lead or knowing when to. When have the department of homeland security has satelite feed of every city in america we can view a city in minutes not days but minutes. He security panel that he billions of dollars on the nation debt being contributed towards it. For what, Shit North Korea! They saw and knew the devastation. A failure to lead the Union. We might as well Succeed From The Union. We on each on our own Hell the president wouldn,t know what happen… Shit he didn’t Know These states were devasted. I’m pretty sure he would know a state left the Union.
a couple people asked for confirmation on the $200,000 per settler family… this is true, it’s been widely reported on the internet- just not on corporate media news.
A Google News search of: gaza settlers $200,000 each
yields 388 results.
If we are giving Israel one of the wealthier countries on the planet 2.2 billion dollars to relocate THEIR settlers then our leaders are completely out of control.
However, I don’t think the residents of New Orleans should receive cash like the 9-11 victims did. One was a terrorist attack, and the other was a natural disaster. If we start paying people everytime there is a natural disaster that would be a slippery slope and besides people need to be responsible for themselves.
Buy insurance people or mitigate your risk AND DON’T LIVE IN A DAMN FLOOD ZONE. Here in Chicago there are areas we aren’t allowed to build in because they are in flood zones, yet damn near all of New Orleans is in a flood zone! Complete insanity.
That’s it. I’m sick of it. All this liberal whining and blaming is like bile running out of a whore’s open wounds. And maybe, in the light of day and in the glare of reality, maybe that’s all your precious city shows itself to be; a bloated, painted lady.
I’m not sending one more damn cent your way. This blog has multiplied with blamers and whiners and idiots spouting racism since I first visited. If this is representative of New Orleans your rabid town can get it’s rabies shots from someone else’s pockets.
My next check is going to Biloxi and those other devastated areas who seem to have normal populations of every color that do not drown in the swill of their own bile but actually suck it up and get on with it.
In the end it doesn’t matter who was at fault - New Orleans has shown it’s soul and it ain’t pretty.
That’s it. I’m sick of it. All this liberal whining and blaming is like bile running out of a whore’s open wounds. And maybe, in the light of day and in the glare of reality, maybe that’s all your precious city shows itself to be; a bloated, painted lady.
I’m not sending one more damn cent your way. This blog has multiplied with blamers and whiners and idiots spouting racism since I first visited. If this is representative of New Orleans your rabid town can get it’s rabies shots from someone else’s pockets.
My next check is going to Biloxi and those other devastated areas who seem to have normal populations of every color that do not drown in the swill of their own bile but actually suck it up and get on with it.
In the end it doesn’t matter who was at fault - New Orleans has shown it’s soul and it ain’t pretty.
I still don’t understand why there were no buses to get the 100,000 people out of New Orleans who (everyone seemed to know) had no way to evacuate before the hurricane. If the plan was always to place them in the Dome and the Centre why weren’t these facilities capable of operating through a flood?
Hello Einsteins: The mayor has the first responsibility to protect and oversee their city. The mayor of New Orleans failed miserably. He and he alone. Especially when he didn’t even ask for help until late Wednesday, into Thursday when he declared marshal law for all of the indigents stealing TVs, who are all too stupid to realize they can’t use the TV. The same dumbasses that elected the do-nothing mayor into office. Whether or not a mayor has the staff at his disposal is irrelevant… that’s when you pick up the phone to the governor, who is nearly as useless as the mayor. If you want to remember back to 9/11, now there is an example of a mayor stepping in and doing what he should be doing.
You people that like to blame President Bush for everything from weeds in the garden on up are on crack and so full of yourself that I pity the ignorance you fail to recognize in yourself.
You can always move somewhere else and quite frankly I wish you all would. Your ignorance is frightening as you feast on propoganda and excrete hatred. I thought the liberals were going to “reach out” and form a united country. Yeah right. Go lick St. Clinton’s behind. BTW, will he EVER go away???
No. I’m not opening my wallet, no I’m not. I’ll be paying for it when my insurance rates get raised….AGAIN! Don’t I already contribute to all the federal aid checks that the residents receive?
Hello Carol you moron the scope of damage (90 thousand square miles) guarantees that the response would require FEDERAL asssistance.
Your comment about Guiliani knowing what to do in New York does bear some truth as he was and is an exceptional leader and would be far better as President than Bush.
However, I am watching a show on the history channel right now and I can tell you the scope of damage on 9/11 in New York was tiny compared to 90,000 square miles. Also, lets not forget the feds had F-16’s over NY in less than an hour after the 9/11 attacks and the Federal response was dramatically better than their response this time. You can credit the perceptible decline in the quality of their response to FEMA being incorporated into Homeland Security (a bureacracy I would expect from the Democrats).
Also, after 9/11 you had 5 boroughs worth of police as well as communications abilities you don’t have in this disaster.
Lastly, the reason people are blaming Bush is because he created the bloated bureacracy called homeland security, and he nominated this complete incompetent to run FEMA.
For the record I am not a liberal and in fact I voted for Bush, but that doesn’t prevent me from thinking critically and calling it like it is.
Carlos: NON-propoganda sources, sweetheart.
Cal: Local government is the first in line, then state, and then federal. Okay… in that order, right? Why are you so quick to jump to blame federal… They came to aid when 1)It was asked for and 2)only after no leadership on the local and state level was to be found.
Much to your dismay, the point I was making with the evacuation, you agreed with. The major should have gotten them out of town PRIOR to the hurricane. That was the mayor’s call, sweetheart. Also, the one who should be first on everyone’s list for accountability.
Perhaps a little city planning could have prevented the majority of aftermath… PLANNING, not aftermath!!! Hellooooo……. Where the hell do you live Hodunkville, population 2?
Responsibility for the levee falls to the Army Corps of Engineers. Money was pulled from their ongoing project to restore the levee. $70 million or something like that. It was needed to pay for the war in Iraq.
Sweetheart… you got the proof on this, or are you looking at the same propoganda websites that Carlos is looking at?
There you go, making assumptions, like a dumb liberal. I’m a Latina, who still lives in Miami. I lived there during Andrew and Katrina this year. I can give you plenty of examples of how New Orleans failed.
If a mayor has none of the powers that you say he doesn’t, he’s a piss poor mayor. If you have a job, you should know that if you don’t know how to get a project done, you either figure it out or you get help. Why should he be any different?
Oh, yeah, because it would be much easier to say it’s President Bush’s fault. Why hasn’t anyone talked about the Senators and Congress(wo)men? Did you know that they hand no intention of coming back from break early until the President came into play??? Matter of fact, a press release on Wednesday said that they would “approve federal aid once they returned from break.” USA Today, Thursday.
Whether or not the 70 million in funding was pulled by Bush for the levee is relevant, but only a part of the story. This leveee should have been enhanced decades ago and only addressing the recent past is to take the easy way out.
Sue msnbc had an article that stated that the Bush administration pulled the 70 million in funding for the levee
Charles: Get with the program, we’re talking about New Orleans here. I am not a moron. The scope of discussion is why federal help was so late into New Orleans. Focus, Chuckie, focus. This guy (the mayor) fell down before and after.
You are the one making disaster comparisons to NYC. I merely said the LEADERSHIP was existent after 9/11, in this case the local leadership wasn’t. It’s called for “illustration purposes.” Sorry you missed it, maybe next time, although I doubt it.
I would expect a critical thinker would be able to call it like it is and state that the first blame should go local and then on up.
Hey I heard President Bush worked on the levee way back when, that’s why it probably failed. Ignore the fact that the local and state government didn’t feel the people of NO were worth investing in… too busy with the casinos, as evidenced in the court case cited in an earlier post.
I agree the blame should begin locally and go up. In my opinion ALL of the people who should’ve stepped up to the plate failed to do so from Nagin up to Bush and Fema
DO NOT OFFER A NICKEL OR A MINUTE TO THIS MESS! Force the govenment to make the tough decision and take money from the war rather than relax back and allow us to pay for yet another one of their mistakes. Force them to do what’s right with the monies they have. Screw funding IRAQ and ISRAEL, America is crumbling at its foundations!
Sue the complaints about the Federal response isn’t only about New Orleans, but the entire area that was affected. The fact remains that everyone from Nagin up to Bush has failed and Bush’s decision to put Fema under homeland security was a major mistake. Then filling that position with a political hire was strike number two.
The bottom line is the only leadership that is really evident thus far has been by Lt. General Honore as I would’ve expected. Do you disagree?
“This leveee should have been enhanced decades ago and only addressing the recent past is to take the easy way out.”Um, this was the first year in 37 years that the Corps of Engineers did no levee improvements, I believe. And that was a direct result of their drastic funding cut.
“Ignore the fact that the local and state government didn’t feel the people of NO were worth investing in… too busy with the casinos, as evidenced in the court case cited in an earlier post.”Local and state government are both pretty active in investing in the people of New Orleans, even the corrupt politicians. The levees have not suffered because of casinos. Despite the fact that the levee board was wrong in the confiscated land case, they still did everything they could to hang onto that revenue source. They care about having the necessary funding to do their job. Again, not that there isn’t waste, corruption, or graft. But the casino is a rabbit trail as far as it goes. It’s a money maker, not a loss leader. And they need the funding.
Read this: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4214516.stm
This is the common view from outside US, even from the best friend UK.
Hey - enough with the our great, great, great whatever were slaves. That dosn’t fly anymore. People including many, many blacks have heard enough of that BS. My family going back as far as almost the beginning of record keeping never had any slaves. Neither did 99.9% of the people I know have them either or are even in their family history. You can yammer on and on with that argument but I believe that finally the general American public will no longer tolerate being beat up for something that never affected them. Give it up and take responsibility for what too many of your race has become; lazy, useless members of society.
They were stealing, I-Pods, computers, playstations, guns and bullets from the Wal-Mart by my house the day after the storm….not food…They were stealing and busting windows and destroying what the storm and the flood had not already destroyed….They didn’t even have time to be hungry or upset about delays in getting them out of the city…they the punks who looted and stole…broke my heart
To SUE:
Not too many history classes on you curriculum, huh? Boy,this is really sad…
Joe if the army corp of engineers has been making improvements for the last 37 years then who was the idiot who decided to spend that funding to improve it handle a category 3 hurricane?
I mean if they have been improving it for 37 years then it should’ve been able to handle at least a category 4 and more likely a 5. If you are going to do a job then do it right. If what you are saying is true then the incompetence involved with this catastrophe is even worse than I thought.
Not to be mean or anything, but New Orleans was a city founded by a french guy who’s own advisors recommended against living in a sinking swamp. That was 300 years ago.
people have known for 300 years that NOLA wasnt a good place to live. I dont care how high the levee is… if you choose to live there, you are stuck on stupid! I can’t seem to find ANYTHING charming about that city, or its ignorant inhabitants. Most of that dungheap was uninsurable. I dont think that american taxpayers should bail out the joint in order to rebuild it.
Who cares how much money we give to Isreal. For christs sake, we gave some university 25 million dollars to study why some popcorn kernals dont pop. Aren’t you glad we know that reason now?
They should break all the levees and request that the whole midwest flush their toilets at once…. and flush the dungpile that was new orleans into the gulf…forever.
I am wondering if we bloggers could retain a sense of “otherness” for the time being during this immediate crisis. Blogging is specifically for the purpose of expressing our views, our feelings and attitudes, diverse as they may be. But is there any way, we could perhaps appreciate what it might be like to have gone through what the citizens of New Orleans have just gone through. Regardless of our opinions, maybe we can draw back a bit on vitreousity. Kind of like, hitting someone when they’re down? what are we, dogs?
I have read the posts here and quite honestly it has made me sick to my stomache. Why are people blaming Pres. Bush for a natural disaster which that state knew would one day come? Why are people blaming the war in Iraqi ?
Wake up everyone, we are able to help these victims of Katrina now, each and everyone of us has that choice to do so. Why ? Because we are not speaking Iraqi or Japanese or German. We are a free country. That freedom comes with the price of war. Our great President made the decision to fight back against terrorism and for this we critisize him? Oh, what a mournful day it is indeed to watch our fellow citizens gripe and complain, because we stil have the freedom to do so. Yes, we can complain, critisize, blame and scream about our troops in the desert, but, can one of us stop and count our blessings
that they are over there fighting to keep our freedom to complain about them? We should all hang our heads in shame and slither back into our holes. Katrina is not about poverty or race or politics. It is about us ! Citizens who for whatever bad decisions on whomever’s part did not evacuate. It happened, they are in need now, so, let’s stop with all the adversity and pull together as a country and do what must be done.
Our troops in the desert are not refusing to help each other because of race, poverty or political beliefs, they fight shoulder to shoulder and each and everyone of them believe in us. How sad that we are such a disgrace to them.
Why are
Casting blame is a necessary part of figuring out what went wrong. It is why the military routinely does AARs (After action reports.) They know that in a crisis things don’t always go as planned. An old dictum is that no plan survives contact with the enemy - be it an opposing military or Mother Nature at her worst. My major concern, reading the various blogs, is not so much the vitriol that is spewed but by the clear evidence that much of that vitriol is based on ignorance of how the world operates. The chattering classes all have an opinion - how many of them know what they are talking about? The way this debate - if I can be generous and clarify it as that - is shaping up it will all be about what the government (particularly the Federal) government did or did not do. That is a shame because just about anyone with disaster preparedness or FEMA training and no axe to grind will tell you that in the aftermath of a severe and widespread disaster, YOU, the individual are likely to be on your own for at least the first 72 hours. That’s not politics, it’s logistics. My major beef with how Homeland security is being run is that it seems to be trying to convince us that we can lead normal lives and the government will take care of us. History has shown that governments are unwieldy, cumbersome affairs that start slowly before getting up to speed. This is particularly true of democracies where deference must be paid to the authorities at each level of givernment.
We scream about where was FEMA and the FEDS and BUSHBOT without recognizing that the urgency of the situation really happened because the people of NewOrleans were not removed from harm’s way before the storm. If there were not people still in New Orleans in such large numbers, the logistical problems in the aftermath of the storm would have been considerably less and not as time constrained.
Oops, off my point which is that what each of us should take away from Katrina is that it is our responsibility to care for ourselves and our neighbors. Prepare a disaster kit. I’d recommend a weapon or a neighborhood watch group as part of it so that your foresightedness doesn’t vanish at the hands of a looter or someone stronger than you with weaker morals. Have food and water on hand. Petition the policitcal authorities to change medicare and medicaid and insurance rules that do not allow for having on hand a month’s worth of necessary medications. Campaign for stockpiles of diaster supplies that will be dispersed to each family during the approach of a disaster. I’d recommend that each person in America be given such supplies but the fact of life on the ground is that too many shortsighted folks would use those supplies before they were needed. But some would not. Know the evacuation routes out of your locale. Use the internet to make contacts in other parts of the country and set up individual mutual assistance pacts. I’ve got internet friends living on the West Coast who will come here in the event of an earthquake, for example. Be creative and educated about what the government can and cannot do. I was in logistics while I was active duty and I can tell you that from where I sit the logistics on this are amazing and being handled very well. But even the “perfect” response where no one makes any kind of mistake would still be insufficient to immediately fix all the problems. Were - and are - there glitches? You better believe it. That’s the nature of humanity and disasters. But the response time really was remarkable. Distance is a cold hard mistress that demands its due from time. But since the media isn’t educating us about the actual physical barriers to response, preferring to focus on the political and the emotional, we remain ignorant of the obstacles overcome.
Bottom line. Check to see how you would fare in a disaster and do something about it. Disaster plans on every level of givernment admit that there is no chance of *substantial* federal aid for at least the first 72 hours. Get involved locally and statewide to make sure that those critical hours are covered by the authorities whose job it is to cover theme. Surely this is something that is not partisan? Something we can all get behind?
Sam
Sam I agree with you; however in the case of a hurricane the Feds usually have a two day heads up (not the same as an earthquake, tornado or terrorist attack). There is no reason why a hospital ship or other ships could not have left Norfolk, VA or other east coast ports and been heading to the Gulf of Mexico. They would have been behind the hurricane, not sailing into it and God knows they were going to be needed no matter where the hurricane made landfall. Ships with helicopters would have been in place and if the governor of LA didn’t ask for aid from them I’m sure the governors of MS and AL would have. Water and supplies could have been aboard to help those who should have been taken care of by the first responders. The first responders dropped the ball in some cases but so did the person who should have ordered Federal Aid beforehand (the President).
Forgot to mention — we all knew this was going to be a Catagory 5 hurricane and local, state and federal aid would be needed as soon as possible.
The reason they can’t have ships coming up behind hurricanes is because hurricanes sometimes shift course and they don’t always know why.
Yes, weather technology is greatly improved in recent years, but it’s not an exact science.
Proof is last year’s Hurricane Charley. They evacuated Tampa but it took a sharp turn to the east further south than they thought it would and increased wind strength rapidly and slammed into an area that was not largely evacuated.
That is the reason for the cone of error the weather service adds to it’s prediction.
“DISASTER ASSISTANCE
Emergency management operations for disasters include three phases: preparedness, response, and recovery. In the preparedness phase, state and local governments administer emergency preparedness programs with ongoing activities to help ensure that they are ready to respond to disasters. The Louisiana Department of Emergency Preparedness is responsible for all initial damage assessment prior to federal involvement.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) partially funds disaster assistance and emergency preparedness programs. Victims whose immediate needs are not met by voluntary relief organizations, such as the Red Cross and the Salvation Army, can register with FEMA.
Farmers Home Administration (FmHA) emergency loans are made to eligible farmers, ranchers, and aquaculture operators for losses arising from natural disasters. To be eligible for an emergency loan, farmers must carry crop insurance.
The Small Business Administration (SBA) lends money to victims of floods, riots or other catastrophes to repair or replace disaster damaged property. Direct loans are made to small businesses and agricultural cooperatives which are unable to obtain credit elsewhere and which have substantial economic injury resulting from natural disasters.
Contact: ”
http://landrieu.senate.gov/services/agencies.cfm
“The Louisiana Department of Emergency Preparedness is responsible for all initial damage assessment prior to federal involvement.”
From Sen. Landrieu’s official senate site.
If I see one more fucking comparison between 9/11 and Katrina, I’ll lose my fucking mind. If you can’t see that they are COMPLETELY disparate situations, explaining it won’t do any good.