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I think Bush has gotten a bum rap in the recent hurricane aftermath. Before the Hurricane, struck Bush declared a disaster so that Governor Blanco could mobilize the National Guard. From all I read, both Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin failed their duty.
But trued to their species, that refused to accept their responsibility and accused the FEMA in general and Bush in particular and failing to react quickly enough. But Blanco refused to authorize the federal government to take over.
Let the record show that FEMA responded even more quickly in the NOLA disaster than they have in previous hurricanes in Florida. FEMA always tells all local officials, “Don’t expect us to arrive before 72 to 96 hours after the disaster ends.â€
I think the Bush’s problem was, he was used to how Florida handles hurricanes and expected the same response from NOLA officials. The NOLA officials proved to be incompetent.
What could Bush do at that point? He could have declared an insurrection and sent in the NG under his own authority. Given the looting going on, he might well have been justified in doing so. But had he done so, there would have been political h*** to pay.
Now former FEMA director Ron Brown has been roundly criticized. He was removed from the field of battle and has since committed professional seppuku. But this was not Brown’s first disaster. He has been FEMA director for some time and had been through several disasters. He was not a green troop.
Should Bush have fired him? FEMA is under the DHS, which is run by Michael Chertoff. Chertoff was Brown’s boss. If Brown was not performing up to snuff, what the h*** was Chertoff doing? As Brown’s boss, isn’t he supposed to making sure Brown was performing adequately?
I happen to think that Bush’s enemies have been waiting for just the right event to attack him and they have chosen this moment. The MSM, which I think hates Bush almost as much as "I Hate Bush Coalition" was more than happy to carry the meme. I think that getting the truth of the situation through the MSM is like trying to get the truth to the Arabs through al Jazeera.
Bush has virtually refused to defend himself.
Posted by The Vorlon at September 13, 2005 8:33 PMThe only problem from the federal prespective is law enforcement and the PCA. 95% of everything that needed to be done in NOLA could have been done by the federal military without a problem.
The only hiccup might have been if the LA PD tried to ticket the Chinooks for landing on the freeway (or otherwise interfer).
Even then, all the President had to do was declare martial law after the NOLA PD dissintegrated. (And that's IF the feds wanted to enforce laws).
There is no law today that keeps the 82d airborne from marching down your street. They can even walk up to your door and ask you if you would like to take a ride in one of their nice trucks--nothing stopping them from that EXCEPT the order of a competent authority in their chain of command.
Posted by: Paul Deignan at September 13, 2005 11:34 PMShotgun! If I'm going for a ride, I want to ride shotgun.
Posted by: Ted at September 14, 2005 6:53 AMTed,
Your comments were right on the money. Of course, everything went haywire when someone bombed the levee allowing the black section of the city to flood. At least that is what the "Dishonorable" Minister Louis Farrakhan says.
Bush got blamed for everything, but if the people that stayed and needed to be rescued used up valuable resources in those first few days.
Posted by: Reb Orrell at September 18, 2005 7:44 AMI still think Bush will be able to come out looking good in the end.
Posted by: Ted at September 18, 2005 8:19 AM