Anybody want to pick this one for me???

[Demaholic]

This is an email from one of my pub friends...

How right is he?


~~~He declares it a disaster area to open up the funds to the state level. At that point, it's the state's job to come up with the figures on what they're going to need so they can then request all of that to the federal level.

The Governor of LA did not request anything extra other than the 6000 national guard she already had on standby. That is.....not until a couple days had passed and they were all saying "oh shite!".

The Governor and Mayor did not have a plan in place. It's obvious for anybody to see Heaven.


Let me break it down, how the control works in this case.


1. Mayor of New Orleans
2. New Orleans director of Homeland Security(appointed by Governor of LA)
3. The Governor
4. Director of Homeland Security
5. President Bush



Let's run them down.

1) The mayor had 5 days advance knowing it was heading in their general direction, and waited 2 days until the hurricane hit to order an evacuation. Bush requested him to, cause well, I think he could see he was dropping the ball.

2) The NO director of Homeland Security had no plan.

3) The Governor had the declaration by the President, as has been mentioned, 2 days before the storm hit, as a national disaster area, opening up funds and troops, etc. That's what Bush doing that was. It was the federal government OFFERING the troops and aid. She didn't take them up on it until 2 days after the hurricane hit.

4) The Director of Homeland Security had assets in the area to be ready when the Governor called for them. Anybody remember when they finally got there? Yeah, roughly around Thursday/Friday. That is, about a day after they were called to the area finally, after the Governor got a brain.

5) The President urged a mandatory evacuation, and even declared a disaster State of Emergency. Again, this freed up all the funds for the Governor of Louisiana to use, had she had an actual plan.

Here's an AP release from August 28th:

Quote:

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — In the face of a catastrophic Hurricane Katrina, a mandatory evacuation was ordered Sunday for New Orleans by Mayor Ray Nagin.

Acknowledging that large numbers of people, many of them stranded tourists, would be unable to leave, the city set up 10 places of last resort for people to go, including the Superdome.

The mayor called the order unprecedented and said anyone who could leave the city should. He exempted hotels from the evacuation order because airlines had already cancelled all flights.

Gov. Kathleen Blanco, standing beside the mayor at a news conference, said President Bush called and personally appealed for a mandatory evacuation for the low-lying city, which is prone to flooding.



So, what we have here, is a President who clearly knew what he was doing, and a Governor that dropped the ball and needed obvious hand holding, which Bush eventually did after realizing they didn't know what they were doing.




Do you realize New Orleans had (reportedly) 569 buses??

What happened to them? They all were destroyed in the flood!!!!!!!!!!. Why do you think all these buses had to be bussed in? The ones they had were destroyed. By the way, those 569 buses would have taken roughly 33,350 people out of New Orleans in one swoop. Somebody didn't have a plan. Say hello Mayor Nagin. Say hello Governor.



Why do you think Texas is the main state to step up with all this assistance? Do you think it's just because Texas is big? Bush was in Texas on vacation during this hurricane. Do you think he was pulling strings behind the scenes with the Governor of Texas? You bet. In fact, I'd waiger to say that Bush has done an excellent job throughout this whole ordeal, and it's mind numbling painful to read people that need a basic Government 101 course, say it's all his fault. It shows a lack of understanding about how the governmental process works.


Again, because some people want everything to become federalized, it has blinded them to the reality that states still have power and responsibility on matters. Each state has their own constitution(that lines up with the US Constitution). Every state has their own laws. Every state has their own back up plans. Obviously, Louisiana did not.~~~



Anybody have any idea how true this is?

Can I rebute?

Thanks!

[OneGrassRoot]

1. kick....I'm curious about responses, too

Other than the fact that * not doing anything showed a complete lack of humanity regardless of red tape bullshit. Saving lives trumps bureaucracy and power plays.

[speedoo]

2. That's all bullshit.

I think he's wrong on every point. Typical rethug fact twisting... he's probably just parroting Rush or some other asshole.

I'm too tired to research it for you.

[whalerider55]

3. wrongo----

now that i've gotten a tetanus shot, i'll offer some feedback.

fema is the big dog. the... big... dog...
the feds are always top dog responders in this kind of emergency. even if it wasn't statutory, think about it... the feds have all kinds of military bases in every state. Who were the first responders on 9/11 (admittedly, a different kind of disaster) the military. And then FEMA.

Now, there may have been some sort of turnover to Dept of Homeland Insecurity. But it is still the feds who need to respond.

Have your pug friend listen to the interview with Parish President Broussard from Russert today. Fema apparently cut his cvommunications lines, turned back water from walmart last friday, and ordered the coast guard not to share diesel fuel with the parish to fuel their own rescue vehicles. so if Fema isn't the top dog, then how the f do they have the effin' authority to clamp down on resuce efforts and movement throughout the zone?

as for the schoolbuses and other buses, that is a red herring. a significant proportion of the people who were LEFT BEHIND were sick and feeble- they needed ambulances, not f'in school buses. or they needed military ewmergency transport services to get out. hmmm. exactly like those LA had on the ground in Iraq.

and how were these people supposed to know that they needed to get out, exactly. well. hmmm. TV. Radio. I mean, didn't FEMA'S downton brown yell at them on the television to get the hhell out of new orleans on the saturday before landfall? (hmmm. why would HE be doing that if he wasn't the man with responsibility...) oh. they might not have tvs? or radios? or power? jeez, now that's a problem. ouchie.

what about New Mexico offering NG troops before the storm hit, only to have the request tied up in paperwork AT FEMA? jeez why are all these silly people sending their paperwork to FEMA if the agreement wasn't that it... all.. needs.. to.. go.. through FEMA.

your friend's rap is simply the same states rights crap packaged to spin this tragedy away from simple decency.

send your friend this link from Broussard. tell him it takes forever to load, but he should stay with it until it does. and after he's seen it, ask him if he still feels the same way.

and if he does, that's ok too. just tell him whalerider says go f yourself, and may the great spirit pee in your coffee for the next fifty years.


<http://movies.crooksandliars.com/Meet-the-Press-Broussard.mov>

whalerider

[satya]

4. If s/he is a member of the bu$h cult, facts are meaningless.

But if you want to try, there's plenty of info right here on DU. This is where I found a copy of Gov. Blanco's memo to Bush on 8/26 declaring a disaster and itemizing the required aid. And also the document showing the Feds were responsible (sorry, don't have the links handy, you'll have to do a little looking around).

Also:

Talking Points Memo: Pick Apart the White House's Buck-Passing Thread
http://www.tpmcafe.com/story/2005/9/4/124241/5233

[niallmac]

5. I call BS if only because bushie is the POTUS

and Commander in Chief. He is also the War Preznit. He alone has ALL the power to order troop manpower and resources to move. He is responsible for Der Homeland Security yah? Well why did Homeland Security not have it's act together in LA? Was it because the local guy said to DC headquarters sometime in the past; "I have a plan." That's it? No one checked? Did the POS er POTUS keep in touch with LA officials and make decisions on his own. HELL NO! He was "a dog watching television! " He hasn't a human soul or the intellect that would motivate him to worry or have a compassionate concern for a city known to be at risk for catastrophic flooding. What do his people do well? The piece of bullshit excusing and blaming that your acquaintance writes above is classic. Bushie makes no mistakes. He is manna from heaven. He just looks and acts stupid folks. But OHHHH...behind the scenes. Ohllllll You have no idea!!!! (sarcasm)
One last item. I trust the people crying their hearts out on television more than I do a POTUS making phony photo ops or whoever wrote this cold hearted run down that trys to make bushie look like a god damned saint. If this loss of New Orleans in particular is the sole responsibility of the mayor and the governor not making the right phone calls then why have a President at all?

[satya]

6. And bu$h working behind the scenes in Texas on his vacation? ROFLMAO.

Send the thread with the pictures of what he was doing during the past 7 days (birthday party, playing guitar, pushing his disaster of a Medicare "plan", staying at Hotel Del in San Diego, playing golf)-- he hasn't been staying in Texas since that big, bad Cindy Sheehan scared him away.

The only things this @#$%^&* does behind the scenes are illegal.

And don't forget to include the threads re: how his photo op stagesets interfered with getting help to the victims. Read Mary Landrieau's press release.

[dajoki]

7. sounds like pub fairytale to me...

"So, what we have here, is a President who clearly knew what he was doing, and a Governor that dropped the ball and needed obvious hand holding, which Bush eventually did after realizing they didn't know what they were doing."
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that is the biggest bunch of republican bullshit spin i ever heard. ask your friend for a reputable link, i'll wager there is none.

WP 9/3/05
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/03/opinion/03dowd.html?th&emc=th

United States Of Shame

Shirt-sleeves rolled up, W. finally landed in Hell yesterday and chuckled about his wild boozing days in "the great city" of N'Awlins. He was clearly moved. "You know, I'm going to fly out of here in a minute," he said on the runway at the New Orleans International Airport, "but I want you to know that I'm not going to forget what I've seen." Out of the cameras' range, and avoided by W., was a convoy of thousands of sick and dying people, some sprawled on the floor or dumped on baggage carousels at a makeshift M*A*S*H unit inside the terminal.

Why does this self-styled "can do" president always lapse into such lame "who could have known?" excuses.

Who on earth could have known that Osama bin Laden wanted to attack us by flying planes into buildings? Any official who bothered to read the trellis of pre-9/11 intelligence briefs.

Who on earth could have known that an American invasion of Iraq would spawn a brutal insurgency, terrorist recruiting boom and possible civil war? Any official who bothered to read the C.I.A.'s prewar reports.

Who on earth could have known that New Orleans's sinking levees were at risk from a strong hurricane? Anybody who bothered to read the endless warnings over the years about the Big Easy's uneasy fishbowl.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
answer: anyone who would take the time to read!!

[alcibiades_mystery]

8. Typical Bushista smoke and mirrors

Just as in their ridiculous unfunded mandates for education they put everything on the state, and provide no resources to support that effort. Oh, go ahead and order a mandatory evacuation. We can't help you organize that, so try to get people out with your own police officials. Use the bullhorn, it worked really well for President do-nothing when he was catapulting his 9/11 propaganda. I'd also be interested in seeing the math on how 569 buses could remove 33,000 people "in one swoop." As far as I can tell, this assumes that you load about 60 people per bus, all at the same time! Wow, that's a helluva line of buses! At 40 feet per bus, the line would only stretch 4 1/3 miles...:rofl: And never mind that you're still leaving 70,000 people behind. Loading 60 people a bus, at, say, 15 minutes per group of 20 buses and 10 minute intervals to get a new load ready would only take 7 hours, with everything running like clockwork, people already mustered, and forget about getting 60 hospital patients on a bus...we're only talking the healthy. And we're only using the NOPD to get this organized. The whole NOPD, that is. Gimme a break. Thanks for the unfunded mandate, Bushie.

And, of course, Bush was sooooo concerned that the Louisiana local authorites were dropping the ball that he decided to fly out to San Diego, slurp up some frosting with John McCain, play a little guitar, and get some kick back time at a posh resort. Wow. He must've been glued to unfolding situation starting on that Saturday, and through Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, when he finally decided to get off his lazy ass...but we're to believe that he was on the ball from the beginning, and concerned that the LA local officials were falling down on the job as of Saturday? Puh-leez. Let's not forget, this is the security President! The man who said he would defend us! The Virtual King of Preparedness! And yet he allows minor bureacratic niceties to prevent his immediate action when American citizens are in danger? That's what the original poster's "email friend" (:eyes:) would have us believe.

But, of course, these layers of control, the bureaucratic processes that completely tied the hands of the Holy Savior and rendered him incapable of action as Americans were drowning in their attics is directly contradicted by a White House statement of August 28, 2005, to wit:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050827-1.html

Statement on Federal Emergency Assistance for Louisiana

The President today declared an emergency exists in the State of Louisiana and ordered Federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts in the parishes located in the path of Hurricane Katrina beginning on August 26, 2005, and continuing.

The President's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives, protect property and public health and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the parishes of Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Caldwell, Claiborne, Catahoula, Concordia, De Soto, East Baton Rouge, East Carroll, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Franklin, Grant, Jackson, LaSalle, Lincoln, Livingston, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Pointe Coupee, Ouachita, Rapides, Red River, Richland, Sabine, St. Helena, St. Landry, Tensas, Union, Vernon, Webster, West Carroll, West Feliciana, and Winn.

Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency. Debris removal and emergency protective measures, including direct Federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent Federal funding.

Representing FEMA, Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary for Emergency Preparedness and Response, Department of Homeland Security, named William Lokey as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected area.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: FEMA [phone].

---------------------------

The President now hides behind every structure available to cloak his culpability. But all these niceties are beside the point. In a time for action, he once again did nothing. In a time for leadership, he frolicked at a fund-raiser. In a time for decisiveness, he dithered. And now, in a time for accountability, he has his minor minions throw up smokescreens. A pathetic, pathetic display. And do you feel any safer?

I read somewhere that instead of acting, FEMA people were "debating lines of authority." Demoholic would also like us to get into a debate about lines of authority. What's sad is that Demoholic's "email friend" (:eyes:) is probably so deluded as to think this debate proper, even for FEMA during the Emergency. Rather than acting to save lives, FEMA, under the executive power of George Bush, was wondering whether the correct papers had been filed. That goes to the management style of Mr. Bush. Are the people in the executive branch so without initiative that they'd let quibbles over paperwork outweigh the immediately necessary action that such paperwork is only supposed to register, not actuate? This is like a firefighter defending his decision not to rescue a family because he didn't receive an engraved invitation. What tribe of pencil-necked paper-pushers have we installed in the vaunted homeland security apparatus? Wasn't Bush the down-home man of action? The guy you'd like to have a beer with, salt of the earth? The guy that would cut through all the Washington red tape to keep the Murkan people safe? And it turns out that he is himself (according to their own accounts!) little more than a stickler for procedural niceties, an office ninny, even when lives are threatened? This is some defense the right wing has organized! They're defending the President by portraying him as a paralyzed bureaucrat! Only the most pathetic Bush fanatic would fail to see the bizarre presentation. And do you feel safer now, Demoholic's "email friend" (:eyes:)?

[SillyGoose]

9. Bullshit. Feds didn't have to wait for local auth.

Feds didn't need to wait for local authorities
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4632478


According to their own damn action plan that they wrote last December.
http://www.dhs.gov/interweb/assetlibrary/NRPbaseplan.pd...


It's a pretty large document but Larry Johnson basically sums it up at TPM: http://www.tpmcafe.com/story/2005/9/4/171811/1974

<snip>
Guiding Principles for Proactive Federal Response
Guiding principles for proactive Federal response include the following:
�¡ The primary mission is to save lives; protect critical infrastructure, property, and the environment; contain the event; and preserve national security.
�¡ Standard procedures regarding requests for assistance may be expedited or, under extreme circumstances, suspended in the immediate aftermath of an event of
catastrophic magnitude.
�¡ Identified Federal response resources will deploy and begin necessary operations as required to commence life-safety activities.
�¡ Notification and full coordination with States will occur, but the coordination process must not delay or impede the rapid deployment and use of critical resources. States are urged to notify and coordinate with local governments regarding a proactive Federal response.
�¡ State and local governments are encouraged to conduct collaborative planning with the Federal Government as a part of "steady-state" preparedness for catastrophic incidents.

Implementation Mechanisms for Proactive
Federal Response to Catastrophic Events
The NRP Catastrophic Incident Supplement (described in the Catastrophic Incident Annex) addresses resource and procedural implications of catastrophic events to ensure the rapid and efficient delivery of resources and assets, including special teams, equipment, and supplies that provide critical lifesaving support and incident containment capabilities. These assets may be so specialized or costly that they are either not available or are in insufficient quantities in most localities.

The procedures outlined in the NRP Catastrophic Incident Supplement are based on the following:
�¡ The pre-identification of Federal assets and capabilities;
�¡ The strategic location of pre-identified assets for rapid deployment; and
�¡ The use of pre-scripted mission assignments for Stafford Act declarations, or individual agency authority and funding, to expedite deployment upon notification by DHS (in accordance with procedures established in the NRP Catastrophic Incident Supplement) of a potential catastrophic event.

Agencies responsible for these assets will keep DHS apprised, through the HSOC, of their ongoing status and location until the JFO is established. Upon arrival at the scene, Federal assets will coordinate with the Unified Command, the SFLEO, and the JFO (or its forward elements) when established. Demobilization processes, including full coordination with the JFO Coordination Group, are initiated either when the mission is completed or when it is determined the magnitude of the event does not warrant continued use of the asset.
<snip>
(thanks to halliburton for posting this)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Now, here's some additional information for you to ponder........
Louisiana Gov declared a disaster on Friday the 26th and Bush declared Louisiana a disaster on Saturday the 27th. Notice this occurred BEFORE the storm hit.

http://www.gov.state.la.us/Press_Release_detail.asp?id=973
BATON ROUGE, LA--Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco today issued Proclamation No. 48 KBB 2005, declaring a state of emergency for the state Louisiana as Hurricane Katrina poses an imminent threat, carrying severe storms, high winds, and torrential rain that may cause flooding and damage to private property and public facilities, and threaten the safety and security of the citizens of the state of Louisiana The state of emergency extends from Friday, August 26, 2005, through Sunday, September 25, 2005, unless terminated sooner.

********************

White House Press Release

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
August 28, 2005

"Yesterday, I signed a disaster declaration for the state of Louisiana, and this morning I signed a disaster declaration for the state of Mississippi. These declarations will allow federal agencies to coordinate all disaster relief efforts with state and local officials."
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050828-1.html

-----------------------------------------------------------------

On the 28th Louisiana Gov sent a letter to Bush asking for help.
http://gov.louisiana.gov/Disaster%20Relief%20Request.pdf

----------------------------------------------------------------

The White House signed authorization for the deployment of NG into NO on Thursday Sept.1
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/katrina_national_guard
WASHINGTON - Several states ready and willing to send National Guard troops to the rescue in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans didn't get the go-ahead until days after the storm struck — a delay nearly certain to be investigated by Congress.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson offered Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco help from his state's National Guard on Sunday, the day before Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana. Blanco accepted, but paperwork needed to get the troops en route didn't come from Washington until late Thursday.

---------------------------------------------------------------


As for the busses, the shelter of last resort for people who couldn't or wouldn't leave the city was the Superdome. The question is why was there a DELAY in getting necessary supplies (food and water) into the Superdome after the storm passed.

[Narraback]

10. Attached is the link to a PDF for the August 28th Request....

Attached is a PDF of the August 28th Request Signed by the LA Governor, which states in part: "I request that you declare an expected major disaster for the State of Louisiana..."

Much more...


http://gov.louisiana.gov/Disaster%20Relief%20Request.pdf

After last .pdf

[question everything]

11. From that bastion of liberalism, the Wall St. Journal

The scene was starkly different in Florida a year ago, after Hurricanes Charley and Frances roared in. Then, federal agencies pulled off a tour-de-force rescue, quickly pouring in billions of dollars to help distressed residents and more still after two more storms, Ivan and Jeanne, followed. President Bush visited the scene within 48 hours. Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the president's brother, took personal responsibility for managing much of the relief effort. While Floridians experienced delays and frustrations, FEMA generally received high marks.

Tractor-trailers with ice, water and other supplies waited at the state border until the storms passed and then rushed to the hardest-hit areas. National Guard troops were on the scene quickly directing traffic, keeping looters out of damaged neighborhoods and throwing ice in people's car trunks. Aid stations opened to serve food and take applications for cash grants.

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB112546519831627644,00.html?mod=todays_us_page_one

[fob]

12. You might wanna review this thread...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2062730

[are_we_united_yet]

13. sorry

not biting