"No one can say they didn't see it coming"

[runningman]

Re: "No one can say they didn't see it coming"

I don't believe that people realize the magnitude of this disaster. It is not the easiest thing to do to order up 40,000 troops and get them to the location of the disaster when all the roads and everything is destroyed. It isn't like CNN sending Anderson Cooper and a camera guy. Sure those guys can come in over night (even though they were already there). The only thing that you could say is that should they have been ready for this by having the National Guard all 40,000 troops ready "in-case" there was a disaster?? But when have you ever heard of that? Never. This hurricane has just taken the eyes off of the real problem right not that is going to drive us to recession -- the gas prices.. Talk about poverty. This is going to kill us by gas prices doubling in 12 months. That is bullshit and this was the only thing that I was worried about when Bush got his ssecond term.

[bart_smastard]

Re: "No one can say they didn't see it coming"

i know i am going to get slaughterd for saying this .... but i can't resist

the hurricane is a coverup and realy it was an attack by a muslim suicide plumber


shit why the fuck did i say that ..

at least i havn't wrote the 3 other sick jokes i got sent by text this week involving N.O. cos there would be a serious linching

[shosh]

Re: "No one can say they didn't see it coming"

at least i havn't wrote the 3 other sick jokes i got sent by text this week involving N.O. cos there would be a serious linching

you cant start and not finish... so tell em

[bart_smastard]

Re: "No one can say they didn't see it coming"

if this one dosn't seriously offend i'll tell one more tommorow

[shosh]

do it! do it!

[picklemonkey]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9324891/

It's all Bush's fault.

[toasty]

Re: "No one can say they didn't see it coming"

I don't know where blame will ultimately fall, but it is clear that the problems associated with Katrina were of human origin as much as, if not more than, natural. It simply didn't have to go down that way. We all watched as a major metropolitan area descended into complete and utter anarchy before our very eyes.

I'm not even talking about the levees bursting. I'm talking about the slow ass response in the aftermath that allowed things to get so out of control. When something like that happens, FEMA shouldn't need an invitation to get involved, and the state government shouldn't be turning help away. It should be an "all hands on deck" sort of thing. Kudos to the mayor for pointing out this obvious approach to disaster management in his spectacular and incredibly frank rant from a week or so ago.

When all is said and done, the death toll and economic impact could equal or surpass 9/11. Why was the reaction so different?

[evangelion]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9324891/

It's all Bush's fault.

Isn't it his job to "take responsibility??"

I guess my "why not focus on cleaning up the mess and trying to prevent it from happening again in the future/blame is one of the biggest wastes of time" comment just flew right under the radar.

What good does pointing fingers and assigning blame do now?? Someone please answer this question!!!

[toasty]

It's all Bush's fault.

...

Isn't it his job to "take responsibility??"

If you subscribe to Truman's idea that "The Buck Stops Here," then yes, it is his job. That the fact that Bush has taken responsibility for this is such big news, however, is very telling, since acknowledging error isn't exactly his forte.

What good does pointing fingers and assigning blame do now?? Someone please answer this question!!!

How about insuring that the knuckleheads that allowed this to happen be stripped of their jobs and replaced with people that can (hopefully) do a better job? We've become so accustomed to mediocrity and incompetence -- why is no one held accountable for anything anymore? Mike Brown is a good first step, but there are plenty of other folks -- and I don't know who, mind you -- that need to catch some shit for this collosal fuck up.

[evangelion]

Re: "No one can say they didn't see it coming"

I think that goes more along the lines of "trying to prevent it from happening again in the future", not simply saying "It's all Bush's fault." Or anyone's fault for that matter. Correctly a problem and assigning blame are on totally different planes..........to me at least.

[krelm]

Re: "No one can say they didn't see it coming"

Correctly a problem and assigning blame are on totally different planes..........to me at least.

Assigning blame (ie, putting the feet of those responsible in the fire) can add public pressure for those people to take the measures to fix the problems which lead to the failure.

For example, if Bush takes a lot of heat for appointing an unqualified and incompetent nincompoop like Brown to a highly important position, one would hope that he (and future presidents) will be more thoughtful with their appointments for sensitive posts. Or at least their political advisers would instruct them to be. :wink: Not that they really give 2 shits if the person can do the job, but politicians always want to avoid a media shitstorm if they can.

And so on down the line in regards to who is to blame on the state and local levels as well.

Things don't get changed in government unless there is some sort of pressure to change them. Public embarassment sometimes works like a charm.

[evangelion]

Re: "No one can say they didn't see it coming"

Got it. But "applying pressure" as you say, is way more complicated than saying "It's Bush's fault." But I understand your point.

[toasty]

^^ of course, but I kinda took pickle's comment to be a shorthand reference to the fact that Bush accepted blame for the shortcomings on the federal side of things, as set forth in the link there.

I would hope that no one seriously thinks that this is all Bush's fault. State and local officials certainly have some 'splainin' to do as well, as well as other folks in the federal scheme.

Bush could have avoided a lot of the criticism he's receiving by simply demonstrating some fucking leadership right after the disaster. After 9/11, Bush came in and made us feel like someone was in charge, and made it clear that he gave a shit. In the wake of Katrina, he continued his vacation for another day and didn't make it to the region at all for a few days. The perception, I think, is that he either didn't fully grasp the magnitude of what was going on, or didn't care -- whether that's true or not. Personally, I'm more inclined to think it was the former, possibly because the guy reporting to him, Brown, had his head firmly up his ass. My opinion.

[thesightless]

Re: "No one can say they didn't see it coming"

i think the 3 biggies to be asked about the prep of the whole thing are

1. why didn't the mayor order the police to evacuate on saturday when the NWS told him to.

2. why did he turn down the school buses, hoping to get greyhounds, then bitching that grey hound didnt have enough buses, rather than taking every possible bus he could find to evacuate.

3. why the hell didnt the govener send in the national guard before hand to prepare. they just let it hit and started pointed fingers afterward.

[evangelion]

^^^ Those are pretty much the 3 major points to me too. And none of them directly involves Bush.

I would hope that no one seriously thinks that this is all Bush's fault.

Uh...take a look at some of the other threads about the hurricane, especially the aftermath. He might as well have used black magic to conjur up the storm in the first place, in some people's eyes.