Presidential response to Gulf Coast tragedy

It's one of my greatest attributes!

 

They have known for many years that the levees would not hold against a hurricane stronger than category 3, they have been saying that if a category 5 hits that area to expect to have 10,000+ body bags, they knew that the entire city would have to be evacuated, not 100,000 people but over 1 million people. They have known all of this for longer than many of us have been alive, yet they had no plan in place, there are people starving to death in the streets while the government is going into the planning phase that should have been done years ago.

 

Me, too, as I was reared on the coast of Texas near Corpus Christi. I went through Hurricane Celia where a window blew out a window and had glass scattered all over a bed that I had been on just a little earlier during the first half of the storm. We were without electricity for 2-3 weeks.

We were flooded out during Hurricane Beulah when we had 30 inches of rain and ended up with three feet of water in our house and house was a couple of feet off the ground.

We were flooded out again during a tropical storm when we had 1.5 feet of water in our house.

I know all about going through natural disasters. Ours were not preventable. What has happened in the flooding of New Orleans was preventable.

 

I think the comparison with Florida's ability to cope with hurricane's versus Louisiana's is apples and oranges; FL is one of the richer States and therefore much better resourced, LA one of the poorest.

 

MP, I have now found that we have at LEAST two things in common: Our Savior AND a sense of humor.

Even if we disagree on some points let us keep in mind that we children of God, brother and sister in Christ. If I ever get out of hand, remind me of that!

 

LorrieG, I bet there are more than 2 things we have in common. I am glad we can all have spirited discussion and debate, yet at the end of the day, agree on essential things.

 

Someone wrote: They have known for many years that the levees would not hold against a hurricane stronger than category 3

I heard on the news today that this budget issue has come up every year since 1971. You cannot blame President Bush without blaming a lot of other presidents before him, including Clinton, and when it was Clinton's watch we weren't trying to divert funds to rebuild New York or Aghanistan.

 

KenH, Since we knew AND know that New Orleans will flood in a bad hurricane, why in the world would they REbuild there??? If that is the case, should next time this happen, and it will if they rebuild there, are the people going to have to take responsibility INSTEAD of the government?

 

That's why I blame the whole governmental system and both major political parties, TexasSky.

 

MP,

 

If people are living there then the government is responsible for building a levee system that can protect the city - such as, for example, a triple dike system.

 

Ken,

Equal blame I can't fault. If you're only blaming Bush - I fault.

 

That's not particularly true.

La is wealthier than Mississippi for example. Ms was hit harder and is coping better.... and their citizens aren't acting like barbarians.

The real difference is that La and NO have a long history of political corruption, moral decadence, and crime. The character on display wasn't created by the storm... it was exposed by it.

 

KenH, I will just have to disagree with you. I respect your point of view, but I do not think the government is responsible. I don't like that the government rebuilds beachfront homes in disasters with tax dollars. I cannot afford beachfront property. But if I could, it would be MY choice to live there and MY responsibility to rebuild if it were destroyed.

 

That's not particularly true.

La is wealthier than Mississippi for example. Ms was hit harder and is coping better.... and their citizens aren't acting like barbarians.

The real difference is that La and NO have a long history of political corruption, moral decadence, and crime. The character on display wasn't created by the storm... it was exposed by it. </font>[/QUOTE]Amen! Amen! A voice of Reason in a sea of confusion!

 

IOW's, Perhaps if they weren't defending the whole country they could have been available for an event that no one could have predicted when they were deployed.

This post was completely void of the reason that you normally employ.

 

I don't think anyone is blaming the victims for their plight.

But they do have control over how they react to it.

 

IOW's, Perhaps if they weren't defending the whole country they could have been available for an event that no one could have predicted when they were deployed.
</font>[/QUOTE]And which whole country are they defending? Certainly not the USA, which wasn't subject to any attack by Iraq.

 

IOW's, Perhaps if they weren't defending the whole country they could have been available for an event that no one could have predicted when they were deployed.
</font>[/QUOTE]And which whole country are they defending? Certainly not the USA, which wasn't subject to any attack by Iraq. </font>[/QUOTE]Just the whole free world.

 

Hindsight is certainly 20/20.

What if... the NG's of all these states were called away from their jobs and lives, billions were spent in preparation and prepositioning... then the storm never happened or wasn't as bad as it is?

Who really predicted that 80% of the city would be flooded? Did you? Did the mayor, governor, Landreau, or Breaux?

The criticism of Bush on this is just exposing the hatred that some people already had for him. Frustrated... they look for someone to blame.

It is sort of like when folks on our side criticize some of the Clinton misjudgments that contributed to 9/11. These people have to make decisions based on the best information they have at the time of decision.

This looks like it will be the worst disaster in the country's history in lives and loss. How could anyone expect FEMA, Bush, or anyone else to be prepared and totally effective in their response to something of a magnitude beyond anything that had ever been seen?

Yes they should. That's a big part of their job. You really want to blame someone for them not being home? Blame Clinton who cut 3 additional active duty divisions after Bush 1 had already cut them to the point recommended by the military. Blame those pesky Soviets whose collapse led to the downsizing and economizing of our military.

That's an opinion. Mine is that they should be fighting terrorists in the effort to keep them from doing far more damage than this storm did.

You were just looking for an event to blame Bush for and this one is convenient.

Could he have done things differently? Yes. Is your and other lib's criticism of him unwarranted? Yes.

He like every other decision maker acts on the best information he had.