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Previously: Democracy and the Constitution Katrina Conservatives and Christianity CS Hall of Fame |
On Michael Brown: How anyone can even begin to defend this absolute incompetent is beyond me. Can people possibly be that ignorant? The city had just been hit by a major hurricane, a huge part of the city was flooded, electricity was out, all communications systems were out, most of the major highways and streets were inaccessible. And you expect local officials to be able to deal with the situation? Impossible. They were in the middle of the disaster, totally helpless. This is exactly what FEMA is for -- to bring all the resources and capabilities of this great nation to bear in emergencies in order to rescue and save citizens from disasters such as this. That's FEMA's job -- that's the sole reason for their existence. What part of "Federal" and what part of "Emergency" do you not understand? If they don't take 100% responsibility for situations like this, then what pray tell do they do? But Michael Brown sat on his ass and did nothing while people suffered and died. That is criminal. You can't spin it any other way. For any true American to watch the New Orleans disaster unravel on TV and not be totally ashamed of their government is absolutely incomprehensible. Michael Brown and everyone in this administration is guilty as sin. And anyone who dares defend them are just as guilty. On Mayor Nagin and Governor Blanco: And what is it with people trying to shift blame to local politicians? These people were elected based on their ability to run and oversee the day-to-day operations of the city and state -- NOT on their ability to deal with major natural disasters. Once again, that's why we have FEMA. It's very existence is an acknowledgement that local administrators are not capable of dealing with emergencies. From day one of the disaster, this was FEMA's responsibility, 100%. To expect Nagin and Blanco to do anything other than just consult with FEMA and help give them direction is total idiocy. On comparisons to 9/11: And then there's people trying to make comparisons to Mayor Guiliani and how he handled the 9/11 tragedy, saying that's the type leadership that New Orleans and Louisiana now need. Not to take anything away from Guiliani -- he did a great job in dealing with that tragedy, there's no denying that. But we need a reality check here -- all Guiliani did was act as an emotional cheerleader for the city. He didn't have to deal with hundreds of thousands of people left homeless. He didn't have to deal with an entire city being totally shut down. The reality of 9/11 was that by the next day it was essentially over. The reality of 9/11 was that 99.9% of the population of New York was not effected at all, other than emotionally. In no way am I minimizing what happened there. But you just can't begin to compare 9/11 to Katrina. Katrina wiped out an entire city, effected 100% of the population. The type leadership that is now needed in New Orleans and Louisiana is totally different from what Guiliani provided New York. And it's many, many times more difficult. What Guiliani faced was a walk in the park compared to what the post-Katrina leaders face.
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