Accountability

1

Personally I think this is an idiotic statement. Bush is NOT the person to blame. The system of checks and balances set in place by our government states that the LOCAL government is to take responsibility for their localaties, and then call in the FEDERAL government for aid in the event that the disaster overwhelms them. As of even today (Sept 22), the governer of Louisiana has yet to ask for federal help. Instead, it is HER arrogance that allowed for the fatalities. The Governer refused to call FEMA in after the disaster. She didn’t want to lose control of her state. Just to let you know FEMA can not do anything without the state calling it. She also was told that the 101st airborne had men ready to go the day before the city has hit and she did nothing about that. Why is it that the wonderful Mayor (businessman, not politician) Ray Nagin failed to evacuate the city. New Orleans was warned 5 days prior that a devistating hurricaine was coming. HE was too arrogant to use available school and city buses to move people out of the city. He states that he only wanted buses that had bathrooms. What kind of BS excuse is that? Like people can’t hold it for a couple of hours. Amtrak also offered trains to aid in the evacuation but again, the mayor and governor refused to use them.

Now, after the hurricaine hits, and the local government still refused to call in for aid, and Bush being blamed for failing to send help. The national guard and red cross were put on alert and were waiting for the Governor to call them in for aid. That call never came. By the way, the military can not enter any state without the state goverments asking. That is federal law from the CONSTITUTION!

Even after all of this, Bush has yet to point a finger at the local government. Instead, he bit his lip and did what needed to be done. He was forced to jump the chain of command when the governer never acted appropriately. Louisiana knew for at least 50 years that the levy system would not withstand anything greater than a Cat. 3 hurricaine. What did they do about it? NOTHING. For 50 years they could have made improvements but they did nothing.

I agree with you 100%. We need accountability. We need the LOCAL government to step up and admit that they screwed up and stop pointing the finger. That’s like the insolent little child that sits back and points the finger blaming someone else for breaking the window. Step up, take accountability for your actions, stop pointing the finger, and move on.

2

i don’t believe that bush is totally to blame, but neither is the governor of la. the feds though should have been on top of it. i know she didn’t ask for help but neither did iraq and we are getting our asses kicked.

3

Oh come on now, Mark. FEMA. First letter, Federal.

Let’s review what FEMA’s responsibilities are in the event of an emergency:

• Mitigation: Reducing the severity or likelihood of the hazard.
• Preparedness: Ensuring you have the capability to respond to the hazard.
• Response: Immediate actions taken to save lives, property, the environment, and the economy.
• Recovery: Subsequent actions taken to restore property, jobs, and services.

It is FEMA’s responsibility to mitigate and prepare local governments for an adequate response. Bush is the one who brought FEMA under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Security facilitate an easy response in the event of a disaster, utilizing Bush’s newly acquired and unprecedented executive powers. The situation in New Orleans sure as hell looked/looks like just as much of a security crisis as it did a humanitarian one to me.

You say Bush “bit his lip and did what needed to be done,” as if you’ve not seen him make that same tired and practiced expression during every speech of his last five years. Poor Bush. Boof—kinghoo.

You could say that I’m just one more beaten-down liberal who’s looking for a fight. That may be true, but the fact remains that Bush is The Man when it comes to the federal government and, with regards to Katrina, the federal government did too little, too late.

And for the record, Mark comes to us from the U.S. Army, if that sheds some light as to his bias.