Is there any doubt that if Clinton were still President.........

[ClintonTyree]

he would have been in New Orleans DAYS ago, walking AMONG those people and offering any help he could? He'd have been all over this like a cheap suit, in fact ANY Democrat would have been all over this.

bush, however, wont even set foot in New Orleans. He's so hated and reviled he can only appear before friendly, completely vetted audiences hand picked for their loyalty to Der Failure. He IS going to stop in those neighborhoods in Mississippi and Alabama chosen for their "whiteness" and safety. Big man!

This is the difference between a true leader and a cardboard cut-out like bush. Bill Clinton was loved by everyone, rich and poor alike. He KNEW what poverty was like. bush (I can't bear to capitalize that name) grew up with a platinum spoon in his mouth and has never known want or need.

Yes, bush will do a "fly-over" of New Orleans and "feel really bad" about what he sees. Clinton would have his feet on the ground already, doing everything he could to help these people in such desperate need. There's not a doubt in my mind.

[MichiganVote]

1. Maybe. But Clinton cut funding to this flood plain too

[lancdem]

6. Where did you hear that?

I know Clinton had a wetlands preservation plan that Bush scrapped, and a FEMA director who knew what the hell he was doing.

[Dogmudgeon]

7. Not the "Clinton did it, too" talking point again!

Folks, this is going to be one of the big Republican Talking Points through the winter: "But Clinton did it, too!"

Sorry, but there is a huge difference between shuffling funds around, and cutting funds outright. That's the difference between Clinton and Bush.

I know that the Radical Left hates Clinton almost as much as the Right does, but it's time to get real. That "dime's worth of difference" is turning out to be a lot more than this country can spare. Clinton did some dumb shit -- Bush is an active threat to the well-being of America and the world.

--p!

[underpants]

10. NPR had an expert on saying this is the result of many administrations

which is surely true but in this gottahaveitnow society we live in "oh his watch" may be heard like it was immediately after the USS Cole attack.

[KittyWampus]

15. clinton had to work with little money since he was paying down GOP DEBT!

[Blue_Roses]

16. that's not true

"...New Orleans had long known it was highly vulnerable to flooding and a direct hit from a hurricane. In fact, the federal government has been working with state and local officials in the region since the late 1960s on major hurricane and flood relief efforts. When flooding from a massive rainstorm in May 1995 killed six people, Congress authorized the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, or SELA.

Over the next 10 years, the Army Corps of Engineers, tasked with carrying out SELA, spent $430 million on shoring up levees and building pumping stations, with $50 million in local aid. But at least $250 million in crucial projects remained, even as hurricane activity in the Atlantic Basin increased dramatically and the levees surrounding New Orleans continued to subside.


Yet after 2003, the flow of federal dollars toward SELA dropped to a trickle. The Corps never tried to hide the fact that the spending pressures of the war in Iraq, as well as homeland security -- coming at the same time as federal tax cuts -- was the reason for the strain. At least nine articles in the Times-Picayune from 2004 and 2005 specifically cite the cost of Iraq as a reason for the lack of hurricane- and flood-control dollar...

more...






http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001051313

[AverageJoe]

2. You're right

But if Clinton were still President, this disaster might have been avoided or at least mitigated. He understood the danger and provided money to address it.

[Jersey Devil]

3. Yes, I remember how he comforted the people of Oklahoma City

He went to church with them, cried with them, held them in his arms.

[Child_Of_Isis]

4. Clinton was not afraid of people like shrub is.

Shrub is terrified most of the time. He will not fly over a NO in a helicopter either. He will be too afraid of getting shot at. Personally, I don't believe gangs and thugs are shooting at helicopters, but shrub has a tendency to believe his own lies.

[northzax]

17. plus, he's a god in New Orleans

it's the Big Dog's kinda town.

[Spazito]

5. I agree, this catastrophe would not be happening if Clinton was

the President.

First, FEMA would not led by a total incompetent nor would it be under the direction of another incompetent agency, Homeland Security, led by another incompetent.

Second, the National Guard and their equipment would not be in Iraq because the U.S. would NOT have invaded Iraq.

Third, the levees would have been strengthened because their funding would NOT have been cut after the old, real FEMA tabled their report in 2001.

Fourth, his Vice President would not be out fund-raising while people are dying in the streets of NO.

I could go on and on, listing what would have been different had Clinton been in charge but we all know it anyway.

The Clinton we saw on television yesterday, saying bush was doing all he could would not be the Clinton we would see in action were he in charge.

[daninthemoon]

8. I was again saddened yesterday to hear Clinton standing up for W.

You're absolutely right that things would have been different if Clinton's legacy stood. Why does he continue to bow down to W now?

[lancdem]

12. He didn't have much choice in that situation

given that he was standing in the WH next to Poppy. Privately, he knows this is a colossal fuck-up. I don't think what he said makes any difference. The facts on the ground speak much louder.

[PDX Bara]

13. Respect for the OFFICE of the President of the United States?

Perhaps I'm splitting hairs but can't one have have respect for a position itself without bowing to the occupant of said office, who in this case, is not worthy of anything remotely resembling respect?

[alarimer]

9. I agree also

James Lee Witt would still be in charge (or at least someone competent) and Homeland Security would not even exist as an agency. When it swallowed up FEMA, it lost a lot of effectiveness I think. Not to mention there would be no war in IRAQ, so no drain of resources from other things.

I remember Clinton cutting short a trip to New Zealand because of a hurricane. I can't remember which one. I know that GHWB's response or lack thereof to Hurricane Andrew was a factor in his losing the election that year.

[tinrobot]

11. I know it's a cliche, but...

Clinton really did "feel our pain"

Sad that the person currently in the White House has no feelings.

[MN ChimpH8R]

14. Big Dawg would have evacuated the city and had

the NG there on Saturday. There would have been a lot of destruction, but vastly less human suffering, and prompt attention and help for those left behind.

[gatorboy]

18. Clinton grew up in my hometown

The reason Clinton can "feel another's pain" is because he was never a silver spoon fed goon!

His Mom struggled to make ends meet just like anyone else. He knows what it is like to not have things.

He doesn't pretend to know what the unfortunate are going through.

I agree, if this happened on his watch, he would have been there on the ground in a heartbeat!

Mrs. Gatorboy