Before people compare Nagin to Giuliani consider this

[wndycty]

1) Rudy had the backing of the White House from the moment the first plane struck. 3 days after the hurrican hit Nagin and New Orleans were left twisting in the wind.

2) Rudy's tragedy, horrific as it was, was contained to lower Manhattan.

3) After the plans struck and the towers fell the assualt on NYC was over, the assualt (flooding, fires, civil unrest) continues for Nagin.

4) Rudy was given complete controll over his city once the tragedy began, Nagin was not.

5) Emergency personnel had homes to go to.

6) With the exception of lower Manhattan, NYC had electricity, communication, et al. NO does not.

7) People who wanted to or needed to get out NYC could, but other than tourists there was no reason to leave NYC after.

[bushisanidiot]

1. The proportions of Katrina's damage to this nation completely eclipses

the devistation we saw on 9/11/01... so many cities affected in several states.. the body count is going to be in the 10's of thousands.. so many are dying right NOW and more will die tomorrow.. thousands more are floating DEAD in the water.

30 people have died at the n.o. airport already

[wndycty]

2. And people like O'Reilly and various RW talking heads are dissing Nagin. .

. . .claiming he is no Giuliani.

[Imagevision]

3. Yeah, there's no comparison - Bush wasn't on vacation - Bush remained

on vaction after Katrina hit...played guitar?!!!

[karynnj]

8. Bush was really equally useless each time

I agree with the OP's list, 911 was a smaller problem - with an intense 2-3 hour period of destruction, massive loss of life, a huge fire to put out (which took weeks, if not months), then the massive clean up - which was slow to allow the best collection of human remains. The city was shocked, horrified, and in mourning - but almost all of it was totally in control.

By the time of September 11th, Gulliani had outworn his welcome in NYC. But, he did do a credible job at the time of 911 - mostly because he tried very hard to keep people informed and even admitted not knowing things he didn't know. This time period emphasized his best characteristics and allowed ignoring his worst. Remember though with in a few hours, the towers were hit, fell and they were gone. Mark Green, the Democratic candidate for mayor answered a question by saying that he would have done as well, which although probably accurate killed his chances.

The police and firemen had trouble communicating because their equipment weren't compatible - a Gulliani problem, but they worked very hard to find and save survivors. Unlike NO where the situation continued to worsen with no help, from the first day the incredably awful situation got better. Even on the first day, there were firemen from NJ helping. Over time, they had help from all over the country.

We went in to see a Broadway show in the last week of September - about 2 1/2 weeks later -as people were encouraged to do. 2 1/2 weeks after this, even residents won't be going back.

Part of the difference is emotional: On 911 we were attacked by foreigners and they hurt both our buildings and our sense of security. Also, NYC (which I love) is the center of the news media and is very much in love with itself. Something happening in NYC gets far more weight then elsewhere.

[sandnsea]

4. People were respected

The first assumption was NOT chaos and mayhem, people who wanted to come in and help were allowed to. People who wanted to leave were allowed to. They were all respected as Americans, because they weren't ALL black and poor. The attitude in New Orleans, and the south, has been completely different.

Get this, for instance:

"Hancock County officials, while respectful of MEMA/FEMA efforts, are begging for private organizations to help. They don't want you coming down in a 1965 Buick with three bald tires, but desperately need self-sufficient organizations who won't become a burden to come down and bring food, water, fuel, diapers, bedding, tarpolines, toiletries and the like. Don't add to the problem by getting stranded and becoming homeless, but help if you can."

What the hell kind of mind is this??? All I can figure is that they think some bozo in Detroit is going to say "hey, let's go down to the hurricane area and see if we can get free stuff". Sure there were a few people who did that after 9/11, but very few. I just don't think NYC got sidetracked by crime because they respected the citizens "with jobs" and knew any crime was not the behavior of the majority.

Race and class and thinking processes in a society that has been manipulated to turn against each other for generations. That's what happened in New Orleans.

[applegrove]

5. When Rudy asked for help - it came. That is the only difference.

[txindy]

6. Can't argue with any of that. Well said.

It also didn't hurt that the WTC was in lower Manhattan, in the Financial District. The people there (or those they left behind) had connections and used them to help facilitate action. The people in NO had no such path.

[xray s]

7. How do you think Rudy would have handled this

80% of Manhattan and Harlem under water, no electricity and Bush sitting on his ass for three days in Crawford after it happened.