I haven't been watching any news reports about Hurricane Katrina's aftermath. It's not hard to avoid them when you have so many other things going on in your life, and Comedy Central and The Food Network to pass the time with. Besides, I had assumed that relief efforts were underway and everyone was being taken care of, just like when there's a disaster anywhere. I mean September 11th happened with no warning, and we still had organized relief efforts underway and coordinated operations happening within hours.
Last night, I was listening to NPR, and I started hearing about how terrible the situation seemed in New Orleans. However, the program I was listening to was Marketplace, and it was focusing more on the economic impact of the disaster than anything else. Later last night, I started watching Dateline. It wasn't even on purpose. I simply was too lazy to walk across the room to find my remote and change the channel.
I was so mad.
This is ridiculous. Our Congress sat on its collective hands as the knew a Category 4 storm was bearing down on our country. It had hit Florida a scant two or three days before as a Category 1 storm and had left over a million people without electricity, some for days. How could our elected officials not have believed that things were going to be worse in the areas hit by Katrina as a fully grown Category 4? Why couldn't they think like smart people would, gotten up off their asses, and gotten back to Washington so they could appropriate funding for disaster relief, and work with the President to mobilize troops and agencies to coordinate a relief effort.
Granted, there was no way to determine *exactly* what would be needed until after it had hit. However, New Orleans, in cooperation with the Army Corp of Engineers had rehearsed for a storm like this one just a year or two earlier. Besides, certain items you know will be needed, like water, food, clothing, toilet paper, shelter, etc. The barest of essentials will be needed. It's not like this is the first relief effort we have ever undertaken.
Some of you might tell me, "They can't get the supplies in." To which I respond, "Bullshit. If you can get bus loads of people out of an area, you can get bus loads of supplies into and area. Hell we can get supplies to Iraq, Afghanistan, and even our damn space station. You cannot tell me we cannot get them into New Orleans. How many days did it take them to call up the National Guard? Why?
Why are we letting the bureaucrats fight over who should and who should not have the authority? Why doesn't our Commander-in-Chief appoint someone to headup the relief effort and let him run it? Hand it off to someone that has been trained to lead and command in a disaster area - perhaps a general (Colin Powell comes to mind) who can bring some sort of order to this mess.
I wrote my Senators, voicing my outrage. I got angry, as I watched our fellow Americans being left to die from lack of food and water. Private industry were mobilizing in the days following Katrina. Companies were donating money, offering their assistance, setting up Web pages and all kinds of things. Entertainers and networks were scheduling dates for concerts to help raise money for the relief effort. However, no one in our federal government was doing anything. Why was I having to write these people, my elected officials, to get them to do their jobs?
I feel completely let down by my government. Don't forget all the places out there trying to help and accepting donations. Give if you can afford to, but even if you can't, lend your voice to your fellow Americans.
Last night, I was listening to NPR, and I started hearing about how terrible the situation seemed in New Orleans. However, the program I was listening to was Marketplace, and it was focusing more on the economic impact of the disaster than anything else. Later last night, I started watching Dateline. It wasn't even on purpose. I simply was too lazy to walk across the room to find my remote and change the channel.
I was so mad.
This is ridiculous. Our Congress sat on its collective hands as the knew a Category 4 storm was bearing down on our country. It had hit Florida a scant two or three days before as a Category 1 storm and had left over a million people without electricity, some for days. How could our elected officials not have believed that things were going to be worse in the areas hit by Katrina as a fully grown Category 4? Why couldn't they think like smart people would, gotten up off their asses, and gotten back to Washington so they could appropriate funding for disaster relief, and work with the President to mobilize troops and agencies to coordinate a relief effort.
Granted, there was no way to determine *exactly* what would be needed until after it had hit. However, New Orleans, in cooperation with the Army Corp of Engineers had rehearsed for a storm like this one just a year or two earlier. Besides, certain items you know will be needed, like water, food, clothing, toilet paper, shelter, etc. The barest of essentials will be needed. It's not like this is the first relief effort we have ever undertaken.
Some of you might tell me, "They can't get the supplies in." To which I respond, "Bullshit. If you can get bus loads of people out of an area, you can get bus loads of supplies into and area. Hell we can get supplies to Iraq, Afghanistan, and even our damn space station. You cannot tell me we cannot get them into New Orleans. How many days did it take them to call up the National Guard? Why?
Why are we letting the bureaucrats fight over who should and who should not have the authority? Why doesn't our Commander-in-Chief appoint someone to headup the relief effort and let him run it? Hand it off to someone that has been trained to lead and command in a disaster area - perhaps a general (Colin Powell comes to mind) who can bring some sort of order to this mess.
I wrote my Senators, voicing my outrage. I got angry, as I watched our fellow Americans being left to die from lack of food and water. Private industry were mobilizing in the days following Katrina. Companies were donating money, offering their assistance, setting up Web pages and all kinds of things. Entertainers and networks were scheduling dates for concerts to help raise money for the relief effort. However, no one in our federal government was doing anything. Why was I having to write these people, my elected officials, to get them to do their jobs?
I feel completely let down by my government. Don't forget all the places out there trying to help and accepting donations. Give if you can afford to, but even if you can't, lend your voice to your fellow Americans.
I'm really irritated with the whole situation too. I'm really pissed off with the mayor of New Orleans. He could take a page from Rudy Guiliani and help his town, comfort them instead of cussing out everybody and blaiming anyone else for the situation.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it seems efforts aren't up to par with what they should be, I'm sure that they are doing the best they can given the circumstances.
ReplyDeleteI dunno.
I'm cutting and pasting some comments I placed on Thomas's blog, http://goodmorninghouston.blogspot.com/2005/09/bushville.html, earlier this morning:
ReplyDeleteI found a great site for a detailed history of the levee system, and the funding for it. It says as follows:
"With this disaster and the passage of the 1928 Flood Control Act by the U.S. Congress, the federal government assumed responsibility for managing the entire Mississippi River system. A program based only on levees was abandoned in favor of contained floodways with a series of dams and reservoirs on every major tributary of the Mississippi. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which had been active on the river since the mid-nineteenth century clearing obstructions and improving navigation, took over all engineering and construction. To date, the Corps of Engineers has spent billions of dollars to control flooding and assist barge traffic on the Mississippi and other American rivers."
http://mshistory.k12.ms.us/featu...25/ msriver.html
My research also turned a couple good articles from today in the Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ wp...av=rss_politics
That one discusses the debate of whether Bush is to blame. It seems to indicate that funding from the Bush administration may not have mattered, as the levee system is only designed to withstand Cat 3s. It also mentions that prior administrations have been bad at giving all necessary funding for this project as well, and explains some of the political tensions.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp...mail/ components
In that one, President Bush is quoted as saying 'Results are not acceptable', and discusses his earlier statement - where he said his administration's response to the disaster was unacceptable.
Maybe Congress was still thinking about Terri Schiavo.
ReplyDeleteJustin, thanks for all the links you left on my blog. I am reading them now.
ReplyDeleteThe situation is horrifying, and makes me think of WWII. I try to keep my political opinions to myself, but this is just another reason why the current administration makes me sick, physically. To see that smug son-of-a-bitch Bush making his pretty little well-choreographed stops....you didn't see him downtown with the snipers, but it's good enough for everyone else.
ReplyDeleteAnderson Cooper has worn the same shirt for four days in a row. At least the truely dedicated media takes this seriously, and thank G-D! If it weren't for them, would the administration have EVEN acted at all?
back from Belize. my site is down right now, so i'm using yours to vent (and rebuttal).
ReplyDeletethis was NOT a federal issue. period. of course, bush can't sit back and let people die, so he gave billions and sent the army in - but the lack of organization and planning and failure to rescue their people lies SOLELY in the hands of the corrupt state government of louisiana.
when they issued the "MANDATORY EVACUATION", how exactly did the mayor and the governor think that all those people living in the slums of nola was going to get out? on their bikes?
they should have used the buses to send them to other parts of louisiana. not waited until they were on their roofs and THEN sent in buses to send them to other states.
experts have been warning LA for years that their levees were weak and wouldn't hold the perfect storm. nothing was done. and do we really want the federal government coming in and doing that for us? NO, we don't.
Sarah, that was an interesting response, which I have been hearing spewed from lots of the pundits on the right this weekend. However, it fails to address the things in my post and in my comment above.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, it is the federal governments job to repair and maintain the levees. The government actually took it upon itself to do so back in the 20's. (See my previous comment.)
We actually have federal aid and appropriations for natural and national disasters. This money was eventually appropriated by an equally slow to act Congress. We also have troops for these events that should be sent in to maintain order. These were also eventually ordered in, but not until two days after the event. In short, this is a federal issue, just as much as it was when Andrew hit Florida.
I think there is a certain degree of blame to pass on to the local government as well, but I also think the federal government should have planned for and paid for the buses, much like they are working on paying for cruise ships to house these people now. An ounce of prevention, would have saved us a ton, both in human lives and money.