Pointing fingers
I'm not a huge fan of George Bush. That's just the disclaimer before people go crazy and start accusing me of defending him. This isn't that at all.
But what I can't help but wonder is, where is the accountability from state-level politicians when it comes to the hurricane?
Naturally, as in any city, there are going to be people without means to flee an oncoming disaster. I've read comments that the Greyhound station closed the Saturday before the hurricane, etc. But did anyone else see the flooded fleet of yellow school busses? Any reason the city of New Orleans wasn't able to use those to help evacuate people? Christ, I came from a city where the only natural disasters were tornadoes, and those you don't have time to flee from. Yet the city still had an evacuation plan, just in case a predictable crisis was to occur. And it even involved school buses.
Apparently, the word now is the Gov. Blanco didn't sign off on allowing the National Guard to be mobilized into New Orleans until Wednesday. My understanding is that for state-level needs, a governor has to sign off on allowing National Guard troops to operate in the state; it's not solely the President's discretion.
Also, Bush declared a State of Emergency, Disaster Area, or whichever one a couple days before the hurricane hit. As I understand it, this allows the governor to tap into Federal resources should she choose to. If it took her that long to activate the National Guard, god only knows how long it took her to formally call in the Federal resources.
It remains my opinion that the Federal response was far from ideal, but I say that without knowing all the facts. Regardless, it just seems that both local and state officials dropped the ball long before the Feds did. But they wasted no time in expecting the Feds to fix what they obviously so fucked up.
Regardless, the important fact at this time is that there are still people to be helped. Fuck the fingerpointing. Let's get that job done first, and let the pols hash it out later.
But what I can't help but wonder is, where is the accountability from state-level politicians when it comes to the hurricane?
Naturally, as in any city, there are going to be people without means to flee an oncoming disaster. I've read comments that the Greyhound station closed the Saturday before the hurricane, etc. But did anyone else see the flooded fleet of yellow school busses? Any reason the city of New Orleans wasn't able to use those to help evacuate people? Christ, I came from a city where the only natural disasters were tornadoes, and those you don't have time to flee from. Yet the city still had an evacuation plan, just in case a predictable crisis was to occur. And it even involved school buses.
Apparently, the word now is the Gov. Blanco didn't sign off on allowing the National Guard to be mobilized into New Orleans until Wednesday. My understanding is that for state-level needs, a governor has to sign off on allowing National Guard troops to operate in the state; it's not solely the President's discretion.
Also, Bush declared a State of Emergency, Disaster Area, or whichever one a couple days before the hurricane hit. As I understand it, this allows the governor to tap into Federal resources should she choose to. If it took her that long to activate the National Guard, god only knows how long it took her to formally call in the Federal resources.
It remains my opinion that the Federal response was far from ideal, but I say that without knowing all the facts. Regardless, it just seems that both local and state officials dropped the ball long before the Feds did. But they wasted no time in expecting the Feds to fix what they obviously so fucked up.
Regardless, the important fact at this time is that there are still people to be helped. Fuck the fingerpointing. Let's get that job done first, and let the pols hash it out later.