The Katrina Timeline
By on Sep 7th, 2005 at 10:55 am
The Katrina Timeline
In the blitz of media coverage surrounding Hurricane Katrina, it’s hard to wrap your head around exactly what happened.
ThinkProgress has created a Katrina timeline that catalogues the most important events. Check it out HERE.
But we need your help. If there’s something you think should be added, suggest it in the comments section or send us an email.
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Just fyi, there’s a nice collection of links on Kos which will go nicely with your timeline.
http://www.dkosopedia.com/index.php/Hurricane_Katrina_Commentary
September 7th, 2005 at 10:59 amI hope you guys have the part where the Federal Democrats were just as negligent in their response.
September 7th, 2005 at 11:04 amOnly 13% of Americans place most blame on the President!!! A full quarter blame the locals – bring this fight on, you liberal scum!! You will clearly lose. The left’s vindictive blame Bush attitude is backfiring. With all the force in the MSM, you still can’t take down the President.
September 7th, 2005 at 11:07 amNed the lead head,
The blame will ride up bush’s shorts just like the lunacy has yours… As for polls – what polls? Ones take by faux news or limpbutt? Get a life you block sucking loser! Haven’t enough people died under this administration – or are you happy killing people you psychopath!
September 7th, 2005 at 11:11 amGreat piece of work.
DHS/FEMA failed utterly. Bush sees the problem as a PR problem solved with resource-draining photo-ops.
The short version is that the National Response Plan (NRP) + the WH invocation of the Stafford Act on Aug. 27 made Katrina an “Incident of National Significance.” This is significant! It means all this mewling and claims of federal powerless (because Blanco didn’t say pretty please etc.) are just self-serving and misleading BS.
It means FEMA had full authority and responsibility to do all in its power TWO DAYS BEFORE Katrina hit. It also means it had full power and responsibility to put in place resources PRIOR to the hit, and that included getting medical and food/water resources to the Superdome, which had already been designated as a refuge.
Plenty more here at http://tinyurl.com/79jym.
The bitter irony is that the NRP was crafted by DHS to eliminate the very bureacratic snafus that DFS is trying to hide behind now — which largely didn’t exist anyway. If state and local politicians weren’t up to the job, if one of the poorest states in the union didn’t have adequate resources, or if all the local resources were obliterated in a nuclear attack, FEMA was empowered and obligated to take charge.
If the levee had been destroyed by an explosive-laden boat or other vehicle (terrorist), the city would not have been 80% evacuated — and FEMA would have been even worse in reacting.
September 7th, 2005 at 11:13 amBe sure to add how Senator Kerry has stepped forward with political leadership.
Opps, sorry. I mistook his press releases. It was Renquest that he had time to make a statement about. Not the devastation in the south.
http://kerry.senate.gov/v3/cfm/headlines.cfm
September 7th, 2005 at 11:17 amThe Northeast Dilemma is correct. This is partisan, totally.
September 7th, 2005 at 11:17 amNo poll is worth anything until it includes people who live in the affected areas.
September 7th, 2005 at 11:17 amJoe Dokes – then, you’re really screwed. Gov. Blanco is a dimbulb and the right will destroy her.
You liberals don’t get it – you throw out invective, almost begging for a response. You get the response, conservatives win the election and you cry SMEAR. You get exactly what you deserve.
You started the blame game and conservatives will finish. I want full scale investigation into what happened – FEMA, NO Mayor and Gov. Blanco. Trust me people, you just screwed yourself royally. Hate does that. LOL!!!
September 7th, 2005 at 11:21 amDon’t forget the many, many warnings from the Times-Picayune, Army Corps of Engineers, local leaders, etc., that this catastrophe was not only predictable, but almost inevitable.
September 7th, 2005 at 11:24 amAnd the budget cuts that completely ignored them.
It is truly amazing how “conservatives” believe that their own party members should never be held accountable for anything that goes wrong, even when there’s overwhelming evidence of incompetence and bumbling.
It’s obvious that you hate government of any sort. What’s shocking is that you aren’t even interested in having the government function when your party is in charge.
September 7th, 2005 at 11:29 amDoug – I know. We will surely pin that on Landrieu. She likes the pork so she can line the inner city leaders pockets so they GOTV. You’re screwed buddy – this will come back on state Democrats.
September 7th, 2005 at 11:29 amI am just a mirror.
#9
“dimbulb..destroy her…you get what you deserve…you get what you deserve…i want.. i want.. HATE DOES THAT…DESTROY HER..!!…what you deserve…”
September 7th, 2005 at 11:29 amNortheast, you are the garden variety Neo-con….incapable of showing emotion, always “acting” like a competent CEO, and always claiming supremacy and never, ever, admitting they are wrong….just move forward….and let those who have fallen neath the wheels be ground to dust. A little humanity from the Right is all we ask. A little.
September 7th, 2005 at 11:31 amExcellent work. I knew you guys were being to quiet. Up to some real good work. Excellent.
September 7th, 2005 at 11:32 amLike they are saying over at EjectEjectEject, we, the tribe of white people, don’t poop or pee like those brown folks in the Superdome and if we had foraged for supplies it would be because we are rugged individuals taking the initiative to provide for ourselves without calling weakly on the federal government for help. And we are all watchdogs, the others are sheep. So there.
September 7th, 2005 at 11:35 amOnly 13% of Americans place most blame on the President!!! A full quarter blame the locals – bring this fight on, you liberal scum!! You will clearly lose. The left’s vindictive blame Bush attitude is backfiring. With all the force in the MSM, you still can’t take down the President.
Someone call Rick Ross. This guy needs deprogramming STAT! This is a cult, folks. You all know how cults end, right? A hail of bullets and fire.
September 7th, 2005 at 11:35 amI was thinking last night that a timeline was really necessary to help combat the revisionism going on.
Additional things to mention:
Tuesday: Naval pilots are chided for rescuing hurricane victims without orders. http://americablog.blogspot.com/2005/09/navy-pilots-rebuked-for-saving-lives.html
Sunday (before the storm hits): Bill Richardson offers New Mexico national guard troops.http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050903/ap_on_re_us/katrina_national_guard The Federal government won’t OK this until Thursday.
Thursday: The aircraft carrier Harry S Truman and hospital ship Comfort are ordered to the region. The Comfort will not set sail until Saturday, and will take seven days to reach the region.
late Friday: Charity and University hospitals are finally evacuated. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9159926/
Tuesday, 9/6: FEMA sends evacuees to Charleston, W.VA instead of Charleston, SC- http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/06/katrina.charleston/index.html?section=cnn_latest
I’d also suggest putting the Superdome evacuation, the confiscation of the hotel-ordered buses, and the blocking of the pedestrian exits from New Orleans…
September 7th, 2005 at 11:37 am“We have two American flags always; one of the rich and one for the poor. When the rich fly it it means that things are under control; when the poor fly it it means danger, revolution”
September 7th, 2005 at 11:41 amI’ve compiled a similar timeline. You’ve got a few things I missed and i think I’ve got a few you missed. I think you should also link directly to the National Weather Service warnings and descriptions that were issued… not just the one catastrophic one… though nothing tops the destruction described and warned there… Similarly, this timeline needs to include the FEMA report in 2001 describing this exact scenario as one of the three greatest disasters facing the USA, the 2003 and 2004 reports on “Hurricane Pam” tests with LSU, the budget cuts and Army Corp of Engineers comments as well as local FEMA and state disaster coordinators comments.
September 7th, 2005 at 11:42 am#14 – has anyone on this site questioned local officials – NO! It’s all Bush’s fault in your eyes so please spare me the “you’re a partisan speech.” As usual, liberals overstepped and now cannot handle a real fight.
If Republicans were smart, they would do a full scale analysis of all the Democratic corruption in New Orleans. Let’s see exactly what you liberals have done for the unfortuante. You disgusting liars!
September 7th, 2005 at 11:43 amI think the government is in need of people like Mr. N-E Dilemma in New Orleans. Someone who won’t hesitate in shooting looters and who shows no mercy in forceful evictions. I’m not all into the whole “fight the war you support” angle because it’s like trying to cut down a sequoia with a rubber axe, but Mr. Dilemma, since the only soldiers who escape psychological damage in war are the psychopaths (who, judging by your total emotional detatchment you clearly are) give some more thought to shipping out so you can kill to your heart’s content.
September 7th, 2005 at 11:43 amA better picture for August 29th cake-eating :
http://news.yahoo.com/photos/ss/events/pl/082801mccain/im:/050829/480/azsw10308291739;_ylt=AldoUAhuf0KQkbOUoIn6nWlsaMYA;_ylu=X3oDMTA5bGcyMWMzBHNlYwNzc25hdg–
September 7th, 2005 at 11:43 am“I hope you guys have the part where the Federal Democrats were just as negligent in their response.”
Okay, and while we’re at it we’ll blame assistant dogcatchers across the nation, since “Federal Democrats” don’t run FEMA, don’t run Homeland Security, don’t run the DOD, don’t run the White House, and don’t control Congress.
“Be sure to add how Senator Kerry has stepped forward with political leadership.”
Wait, you mean Senator Kerry won the Presidential election after all, and so is in charge of the nation, the military, and the Department of Homeland Security? Wow! I could have sworn that some smirking, strutting, cake-eating, guitar-strumming flyover boy won the election, by going on and on about how only he could keep America safe. But that was all a bad dream. Thanks, citizen!
(I confess that I am disappointed in President Kerry, as we naturally expect the leader of the nation to take charge promptly in times of national tragedy. Ideally, by not using firefighters solely for photo-ops. I predict that he will only serve a single term because of this, if he’s not impeached for criminal negligence.)
“The Northeast Dilemma is correct. This is partisan, totally.”
Well, when the agency given primary responsibility by law for natural disaster response is run by Republican appointees, and a Republican president’s initial response to the disaster is to visit Arizona and California, it’s kinda hard to avoid that whole partisan thing.
But fine, we’ll follow your definition of “nonpartisan.” The blame needs to be shared equally amongst the mayor of New Orleans, the governor of Louisiana, and unspecified powerful “Federal Democrats,” while the President and his appointees will receive no blame whatsoever, and will in fact actively work to put all the blame on state and local Democrats. Gosh, nonpartisanship sure is fun!
September 7th, 2005 at 11:46 am#22 – this site is HOME to detachment. If you people didn’t start throwing mud, you wouldn’t have it thrown.
I love once liberals realize they’ve overplayed their hand, they start whinign about how nasty their opponents are.
September 7th, 2005 at 11:46 amDilemma – you mean that Max Cleland overplayed losing three limbs, so you loved all his complaints about being called a traitor?
September 7th, 2005 at 11:50 ampolls??? did someone say polls???
http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001055733
While 42% of respondents characterized Bush’s response to the disaster as bad or terrible, 35% said it was good or great. Federal agencies got exactly the same marks. State and local officials fared only a little better–their response was described as bad or terrible by 35% and good or great by 37%.
… and, I’m sure, as people learn more about what REALLY happened and are less clouded by the Rove Spin Machine, those numbers will continue to evolve …
… unlike our friend NED
September 7th, 2005 at 11:50 amAgain, the views were strongly based on partisan leanings, with Republicans giving the president good grades on this issue by a 69% to 10% margin, while Democrats’ views were precisely the opposite. But independents gave Bush a thumbs down by 47% to 29%
Ned, I see you took that hate speech down off your web site now, does this mean you are going to be a nice guy now?
September 7th, 2005 at 11:51 am#26 – Max Cleland did NOT represent GA, he represented the far left wing of the Democratic party voting against a ban on partial birth. You can cry smear all you want – he lost on issues. Please get out of denial.
A 35-42% rating is quite good considering the tsunami of Bush hatred ringing from the MSM this past week.
September 7th, 2005 at 11:54 amThis simple timline of publicly available reports supports the claim that victims of Hurricane Katrina that initially survived the winds and rain were murdered by the Bush Beaurocracy, and the Bush ideology, which believes government can do no good, and the best government is the LEAST government.
Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Chertoff, Brown are stained with the blood of Americans they failed.
This is criminal negligence. This is derelection of duty. Impeach the Bastards!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
September 7th, 2005 at 11:57 am#28 … you know so little about so much, it’s simply mind-boggling …
Max Cleland served GA as Sec of State for more than 20 years – the people of GA loved him … even my father, a dyed-in-the-wool republican voted for him twice.
He was smeared as being a friend of OBL, plain and simple.
… now, as for “A 35-42% rating is quite good considering the tsunami of Bush hatred ringing from the MSM this past week.”
ummm … 3 to 4 people approving of your performance is nothing to crow about … that’s just his base … and, if you read the last paragraph, he’s lost in the independents …
… as for the “hatred ringing from the MSM” – truth hurts, my friendly
September 7th, 2005 at 11:58 am13 % blame Bush + 18 % blame top gov’t officials = 31% accountability by Bush and his fools for friends. You say “Bring it on” just like your god does NED. When the flood recedes and the smoke clears people will be outraged and most Americans don’t know whosawhatsit in Louisiana or N.O. they know BushCo and all the promises that he has made as being a great leader in times of crisis. Sorry dude the gig is up. Just try and get some help when your world falls out from underneath you.
September 7th, 2005 at 12:00 pmThank you very much for putting all this together in one place. I had some of this stuff already but tracking Bush mistakes really is a full-time job.
September 7th, 2005 at 12:00 pmI was hoping for an authoritative timeline, but your adverbs and adjectives signaled that this timeline was constructed for partisan advantage. That’s OK, of course. But if you are aware of an authoritative timeline would you please link to it so that people interested in learning about the situation can do so.
September 7th, 2005 at 12:01 pmDilemma – nice question-dodging. Yes, Max Cleland represented the radical wing of the democratic party that doesn’t believe women should be forced to carry a brainless fetus to term, or to walk around with a dead fetus until it goes septic and kills her. Nice dodge of my counterexample to “democrats start it”, and definitely answers what color the sky is in your world.
Are you familiar with the push-polling in the South Carolina 2000 Republican primaries, implying McCain had an illegitimate black child? I guess McCain must be a liberal who overplayed his hand.
As a further source of links, I offer http://femafailures.blogspot.com/ – but I’m sure some people will read these and find some way of blaming FEMA’s problems on democrats. Or liberals. Or liberal democrats.
September 7th, 2005 at 12:01 pmAn important item missing from the end of the timeline (http://www.darrelplant.com/blog_item.php?ItemRef=317), links to the White House proclamations are in the posting:
Sunday, September 4
PROCLAMATION HONORING THE VICTIMS OF HURRICANE KATRINA: Six days after the hurricane strikes, President Bush orders that flags be flown at half-staff until September 20. On the same day, he orders flags to half-staff to honor Chief Justice Rhenquist who died the day before. 9/11 victims were honored with a proclamation on September 12, 2001.
September 7th, 2005 at 12:02 pmCan someone post a link to where I can learn everything that is supposed to happen when a governor declares a “state of emergency.” What does that term technically/legally mean and what is supposed to happen next?
Also, as for the 13% of Americans not blaming Bush – I wonder what the statistic is among Southern states affected by the storm. Most people in Georgia (where I live) seem almost oblivious to the fact that the storm even hit. New Orleans is a place many Americans never go, never think about, and may very well not know anyone affected by this storm. I wonder if you narrowed the sample to Alabama, Tennesese, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, whether it would remain 13% or not.
September 7th, 2005 at 12:03 pm#33 – facts have a liberal bias.
September 7th, 2005 at 12:04 pmnjk56, try the Canadians, they seem to have little to gain by spinning http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/katrina/katrina_timeline.html
September 7th, 2005 at 12:05 pmJust fly them atquarter staff.
September 7th, 2005 at 12:05 pm#36
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Emergency
wikipedia is a wonderful thing – or, a good start, anyway …
September 7th, 2005 at 12:05 pmCan you please consider making a timeline of Bush’s budget cuts leading up to the failure?
And include when various press articles and government memos were generated about the need to complete the levees in New Orleans.
Thanks!
September 7th, 2005 at 12:06 pm#33 – njk56 – Name one adverb or adjective. Even if you can, name one untruth in the timeline. I dare you.
September 7th, 2005 at 12:07 pmDarrel
One correction, Bush ordered the flag at half-staff for the Cheif Justice. Then quickly realized that it might also be appropriate for his victims of Katrina too, then he sent out the second order.
September 7th, 2005 at 12:07 pm1) Sunday. Mayfield briefed Bush and other admin officials on Sunday–saw article, need to search for it again, but WH even had photo of Bush watching weather maps on monitor during the conference call.
2) Photo-ops? Potemkin aid stations? Potemkin fire fighters (or lease using them as props). Labor Day weekend.
3) Any info on what MS Gov. Barbour did and when? Heard on To The Point yesterday that he did not do anything until Sunday? Not sure of this, seeing little about him, except his praise for FEMA and Bush.
4) Commenter above said he had developed own time line–can he give URL? Or send to Think Progress?
September 7th, 2005 at 12:08 pm#40 – Duh. Thanks. Should’ve looked there first. Wiki is a wonderful thing.
September 7th, 2005 at 12:08 pmThen quickly realized that it might also be appropriate for his victims of Katrina too, then he sent out the second order.
Comment by Citizen80203
yeeesh … “quick, throw an executive order for the dead browh people who ruined my vacation”
September 7th, 2005 at 12:08 pmThis is really valuable. As the Bush Administration blasts ahead with its “investigation” into the situation, this Timeline will help ordinary people keep track of its lies, evasions, pretences and obfuscations. Keep up the good work. Thanks.
September 7th, 2005 at 12:08 pmOK. I think we’re all tired of Katrina coverage now. I know I’ve had enough. And especially the blame game. It was a hurricane, for goodness’ sake. It wasn’t specially ordered up by the administration.
Can we all agree that it’s time to move on?
September 7th, 2005 at 12:08 pmThe poor left. They are so overcome with Bush hatred. He gets them at every corner and there is nothing they can do but blame him for everything.
It has never worked. When the GOP pads there already impressive majority next year, you can take heart in knowing you helped. Bye bye losers – time to get work.
September 7th, 2005 at 12:09 pmJust pointing out an error – you have the firefighters being used for Bush’s photo op on Friday – they were actually used for his second visit (since the first one bombed so badly) on Monday. That’s clear even in the text you post.
September 7th, 2005 at 12:09 pmDKos reports WH web site removed photo of Bush getting weather briefing on Sunday before landfall.
September 7th, 2005 at 12:09 pmCan we all agree that it’s time to move on?
Comment by Floyd Alvis Cooper
yeah. you’re right. let’s just move along like little sheeple and forget that there are thousands of people dead in Lousiana, Mississippi and Alabama (they’re probably rednecks, anyway, right?) …
… let’s forget about the HUGE dereliction of duty in the Oval Office (well, Crawford play-ranch)
… let’s just keep on walking and not think about the first-responders that were held at bay for days while thousand of people had no food or water …
my god.
September 7th, 2005 at 12:12 pmHere’s another bullet, although a negative one.
On Tuesday, no major newspaper has a headline about New Orleans dodging a bullet. However, both Chertoff and Myers will later claim they read these headlines. http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/archive.asp?fpArchive=083005
#48 – run along and play while the adults focus on ‘accountability’. It’s a bigger word, and not part of a rhyming phrase, so I can understand why you wouldn’t know it. For extra credit, what was the well-known catchphrase of the US President that the Harry S Truman was named for?
September 7th, 2005 at 12:12 pmI think it’s important also to include FEMA’s archived bulletins regarding Katrina, as they are instructive. Perhaps Dkospedia will include some of these links as well:
ARCHIVED FEMA BULLETINS BY DATE FOR HURRICANE KATRINA:
http://www.fema.gov/news/katrinanews.fema
TRACK THE STORM AS IT ENTERS THE GULF VIA NASA SATELLITE PHOTOGRAPHY:
http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/lookingatearth/h2005_katrina.html
NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER ARCHIVE OF KATRINA BULLETINS
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/KATRINA.shtml
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/KATRINA.shtml?
DISASTER CENTER KATRINA ARCHIVE OF STORM PATH WITH SATELLITE PHOTOS AND ADVISORIES:
http://www.disastercenter.com/Tropical%20Storm%20-%20Hurricane%20-%20Katrina.html
September 7th, 2005 at 12:12 pm#55 – addendum …
and, also don’t forget the generators that FEMA confiscated, the WalMart trucks that FEMA turned back, the communications lines that Homeland Security turned off …
September 7th, 2005 at 12:15 pmCan someone reason through this with me? Thanks.
1. GOV. BLANCO ASKS BUSH TO DECLARE FEDERAL STATE OF EMERGENCY IN LOUISIANA: “I have determined that this incident is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the State and affected local governments, and that supplementary Federal assistance is necessary to save lives, protect property, public health, and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a disaster.†[Office of the Governor]
When she did this, what should’ve happened next? (Please no speculation; legally, what is supposed to happen next?) Reading the wiki posted by #40 says the following:
2. In the United States, the chief executive is typically empowered to declare a State of Emergency. The President of the United States, a governor of a state, or even a local mayor may declare a State of Emergency within his or her jurisdiction. This is relatively rare at the federal level, but quite common at the state level in response to natural disasters. Typically, a state of emergency empowers the executive to name coordinating officials to deal with the emergency and to override normal administrative processes regarding the passage of administrative rules.
So, if I am understanding this correctly, when Blanco announced a state of emergency, and called for “supplementary federal assistance” to save lives and property, this is the point where troops and/or FEMA were supposed to immediately arrive. Isn’t FEMA supposed to be responding, independent of this announcement though? Or does FEMA not respond until Blanco makes her announcement?
Thanks.
September 7th, 2005 at 12:15 pm… and the fact that the Red Cross that was prohibited from entering New Orleans because “food and water might keep these people from evacuating”
September 7th, 2005 at 12:16 pmMaybe they had better go on and die then and decrease the surplus population…
September 7th, 2005 at 12:18 pm#57 – I’m not sure of the interlocking timing, but on 8/27 Bush declared disaster areas (in the landlocked Louisiana parishes) and assigned FEMA to coordinate all efforts. “Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency.”
http://www.thismodernworld.com/weblog/mtarchives/week_2005_09_04.html#002439
September 7th, 2005 at 12:19 pmI’m sorry boss, I said that the buck stopped with you. Those reporters refused to listen to Karl’s talking points, they were really mean, they actually did their jobs for once, I was really surprised, it was like Rovegate all over again. Please don’t send me to Baghdad…
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/09/20050906-5.html
September 7th, 2005 at 12:22 pmA missing first stage of the Katrina disaster is the 2001 Bush tax package. The cuts, including to the estate tax, helped contribute to the massive defunding of New Orleans’ levee maintenance and hurricane preparedness work.
For the sad tale, see:
“New Orleans Pays the Death Tax.”
September 7th, 2005 at 12:24 pmhttp://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/09/07/katrina.congress/index.html
WASHINGTON (CNN) — The House majority leader late Tuesday tried to deflect criticism of the federal response to Hurricane Katrina by saying “the emergency response system was set up to work from the bottom up,” then announced a short time later that House hearings examining that response had been canceled.
Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said House Republican leaders instead want a joint House-Senate panel set up to conduct a “congressional review” of the issue.
Tempers flared Tuesday during a contentious closed-door meeting between House members and Cabinet secretaries in charge of directing Katrina relief efforts. A Republican representative stood up and said, “All of you deserve failing grades. The response was a disaster,” CNN was told by lawmakers emerging from the meeting.
But DeLay countered that assessment later in a news conference by saying that the onus for responding to emergencies fell to local officials.
“It’s the local officials trying to handle the problem. When they can’t handle the problem, they go to the state, and the state does what they can to, and if they need assistance from FEMA and the federal government they ask for it and it’s delivered,” DeLay said.
He added that Alabama and Mississippi did a much better job of responding quickly than Louisiana. Alabama and Mississippi have Republican governors.
September 7th, 2005 at 12:25 pm#60 – I missed that; it was right below the Blanco entry, but I didn’t keep reading. So there is an immediate response from the White House in response to Blanco’s announcement, and specifically DHS and FEMA are assigned responsibilty to respond.
Can we have more information in the timeline about the immediate actions DHS and FEMA take? What is their first response?
Also, there’s talk of an evacuation plan. I know that there was a June 2004 “Hurricane Pam” seminar involving what I believe were FEMA officials, DHS officials, state officials, city officials and volunteers. Out of this conference, an improved evacuation plan emerged. Where can one get a copy of this plan? I assume Blanco was to call a state of emergency, then FEMA and DHS were to respond, but what was their assigned responsibilities?
Thanks again. This is all extremely helpful.
September 7th, 2005 at 12:25 pmThe AWOL pResident
* AWOL from TANG
* AWOL on his business ethics
* AWOL on 9/11
* AWOL on the truth about Iraq’s WMD
* AWOL on funding our infrastructure to pay for his immoral, elective WOT.
* AWOL on Katrina
This Disaster pResident has a long history of being AWOL, both in his personal life and his public responsibilities. He’s clearly failed his oath of office.
Why do people like NED support cowardly, incompetent people in this government? Does he hate America as much as they do?
September 7th, 2005 at 12:27 pmWhy do people like NED support cowardly, incompetent people in this government? Does he hate America as much as they do?
Comment by Innocent Bystander
because, ever since the fall of the Red Menace, they have needed an enemy. now, it’s us.
September 7th, 2005 at 12:31 pmJust sent this as an email, but I’ll add it here in the comments as well:
Excellent work. You left out one key item:
Tuesday, 12:45 p.m. [Timezone unclear, probably Eastern]: Cuba contacts U.S. authorities and offers 1100 fully-equipped, self-sufficient, trained and experienced doctors who can arrive beginning in less than 24 hours, ready to offer medical assistance to those in need. [Offer still not only not accepted, but yet to be even acknowledged by Secretary of State Condoliezza [sic] Rice.
Link:
Eli Stephens
September 7th, 2005 at 12:31 pmLeft I on the News
http://lefti.blogspot.com
#64 – these are good questions.
The best link I’ve seen explaining how disaster management is supposed to happen was posted by James McDonald at Making Light. http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/006707.html
The Hurricane Pam exercise covered a fairly similar scenario – including the rough number of people unable or unwilling to evacuate – but I have not seen any lessons learned or revised plans stemming from it. http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=13051
It is known that IEM, Inc. received a $500K contract from FEMA to develop a hurricane plan for New Orleans. However, since the storm, IEM has been scrubbing references off their website. http://leninology.blogspot.com/2005/09/politics-of-weather-3-shyness-of.html
September 7th, 2005 at 12:35 pmHey skel trolls
We are not intersted in your pussy “blame game” we want to play the “acountability game”.
Republican skels, we can smell your stench of rot.
September 7th, 2005 at 12:41 pmIt would help to see what the governor of LA did or did not do. I don’t know how to fight the White House spin (or if I should) on blaming local and state officials because I don’t know her level of culpability or competence here.
September 7th, 2005 at 12:47 pmYou need to add an item to your timeline re when Chertoff first says he found out about the people in the Convention Center. I forget the exact time, but it was something like a day after it had been all voer CNN by his own admission.
September 7th, 2005 at 12:50 pmHow did I know I would find NeDs dumbass here. Stop responding to these jerks. We finally have these bastards on the ropes, right where they should have been for years.
This disaster has openned up another levee, the one holding the backlash of critical analysis of just how the Bush administartion has put the entire population at risk for attacks and disasters.
Remember, don’t feed thes good for nothing trolls.
Stay on topic.
I think that the timeline needs to be added to on a regular basis. There is so much evidence that has come out since the third. Think Progress has created an excellent timeline and I hope you will add to it.
September 7th, 2005 at 12:51 pm#71
That was the Paula Zahn interview on Thursday morning, September 1st.
September 7th, 2005 at 12:52 pmScott, more for you: after Blanco declared on Aug 26th that LA was entering a state of emergency, WH acknowledged on the 27th here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050827-1.html
Dubya seems to have done his job that day, maybe his cell phone worked on the golf course…
I think that as of that moment FEMA was in charge: one whole day BEFORE Katrina hit.
September 7th, 2005 at 12:53 pmExcellent work. Let me suggest some additional stories about the calamity courtesy of The NewStandard:
FEMA Ran Hurricane Drills, Developed Plans, Dropped Ball
http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/2322
Authorities Favored VIPs over Superdome’s Desperate;
Hotel Workers, Patrons Excused from Pre-Storm Evac Given Special Treatment
http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/2320
FEMA Held Off on Requesting Hurricane Relief Workers
September 7th, 2005 at 12:55 pmhttp://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/2332
NeD and his favorite new word of the year – INVECTIVE. He uses it in 4 out of 10 posts. I say skip him over. He is stark raving mad and very very mean spirited. He obviously has many many issues and uses us for his masochistic needs.
Don’t post to him directly, just talk around him. He is not worth words and is obviously young and naive and gets the proper amount of attention and punishment here. He talks of us “hating” and that is all he is about – PROJECTION is the word that first comes to mind – textbook.
September 7th, 2005 at 12:56 pm#66 – very good point. They HAVE to hate someone.
September 7th, 2005 at 12:57 pmBren
She did all she could do. She declared a state of emergency two days prior to landfall, she asked for FEMA assistance the day before landfall. It was all the administration’s incompetence that led to the tragedy. What you are hearing is the Republican skels not playing the “blame game” and scurrying for the rocks they hide under by “blaming gaming” any Democrat within 600 miles.
September 7th, 2005 at 1:00 pmWhy isn’t there any discussion or references to the City Of New Orleans Emergency Preparedness Plan?
September 7th, 2005 at 1:01 pmBren
It is easy to see the lies if you ask yourself “is it a skel mouth” or is it an American?
September 7th, 2005 at 1:02 pmHow come the wrong wing watches and posts here so quickly and could not respond to the convention center madness on tv until 24 hours later, and then with minimal water? The Rove machine can crank up the hate within 24 minutes after someone crosses them on cable. If Bush had responded to the one situation, the convention center, I do not think the outrage would be there. There would still be great issues and problems, but I, like many, called the white house to complain and waited in horror as they waited for 24 hours to send in two tiny water drops. At least I had clean water and a bathroom. Bush should be fired.
September 7th, 2005 at 1:05 pmThe Office of Emergency Preparedness has the overall
responsibility for reception and dissemination of warning information through the city.
The Hurricane Emergency Evacuation Standard Operating
September 7th, 2005 at 1:10 pmProcedure is designed to deal with all case scenarios of an evacuation in response to the approach of a major hurricane towards New Orleans. It is designed to deal with the anticipation of a direct hit from a major hurricane. This includes identifying the city’s present population, its projected population, identification of at-risk populations (those living outside levee protection or in storm-surge areas, floodplains, mobile homes, etc.), in order to understand the evacuation requirements. It includes identifying the transportation network, especially the carrying-capacity of proposed evacuation routes and existing or potential traffic bottlenecks or blockages, caused either by traffic congestion or natural occurrences such as rising waters. Identification of sheltering resources and the establishment of shelters and the training of shelter staff is important, as is the provision for food and other necessities to the sheltered. This preparation function is the responsibility of the Office of Emergency Preparedness.
III. EVACUATION ORDER
A. Authority
As established by the City of New Orleans Charter, the
government has jurisdiction and responsibility in disaster response. City government shall coordinate its efforts through the Office of Emergency Preparedness
The authority to order the evacuation of residents threatened by an approaching hurricane is conferred to the Governor by Louisiana Statute. The Governor is granted the power to direct and compel the evacuation of all or part of the population from a stricken or threatened area within the State, if he deems this action necessary for the preservation of life or other disaster mitigation, response or recovery. The same power to order an evacuation conferred upon the Governor is also delegated to each political subdivision of the State by Executive Order. This authority empowers the chief elected official of New Orleans, the Mayor of New Orleans, to order the evacuation of the parish residents threatened by an approaching hurricane.
September 7th, 2005 at 1:14 pmQUESTION FOR THE CLASS …
does anyone know when Haley Barbour declared a state of emergency? does anyone know when the first FEMA officials and National Guard troops arrived there?
I may have overlooked it, but I didn’t see MS or AL mentioned on the timeline re: these issues
September 7th, 2005 at 1:18 pmGreat timeline, but could you add all of the horrible things the Bush Administration did PRIOR to the hurricane, including cutting Army Corps of Engineers budget, declining funds for levee construction, gutting of FEMA (and hiring of Brown), etc?
September 7th, 2005 at 1:19 pmFrom # 48: “It was a hurricane, for goodness’ sake. It wasn’t specially ordered up by the administration”
Yet another example of how the Bush apologists are trying to spin this. No one is blaming the Administration for the hurricane, ferkrisakes, or even the response to the specifically hurricane-effected areas (i.e, friendly red states Mississippi and Alambama). Its the total lack of a timely response to the second disaster: the breaching of the leveees and subsequent flooding of New Orleans. No one in thier right mind (unfortunate phrase, given the context), would try to place blame for the storm, but so long as the right can make it appear that that is what the left is trying to do , they succeed in painting their opponents as lunatics, and their point of view as ridiculous. It’s a tactic directly out of Rush Limabugh’s playbook, one he uses on a daily basis.
The sad truth is, I fear that it’s a tactic that has and will continue to work all too well. Bush’s legacy will be the establishment of the “criticism-of-the-Administration-isanti-American” mindset. If you love your country, you’ll defend the President at all costs, and not let a pesky little thing like reality get in the way. Any criticism, and you’re not only not worth listening to, but you must hate your country.
I hope and pray people will wake up to what this Administration is doing to our country, but my pessimism is too strong these days… New Orleans will be restored and back to it’s former glory long before we recover from the damage caused by 8 years of Bush and Company.
September 7th, 2005 at 1:21 pmDon’t forget about Dick Cheney’s mansion shopping.
September 7th, 2005 at 1:23 pmA.B – can you post a link to the full document, and any information about when it was activated?
It looks like there were screwups at every level of government, but FEMA and DHS have primary responsibility in disasters, and so are the primary targets. FEMA’s budget is, IIRC, $5 billion a year.
I’ll note that the simulations (Hurricane Pam, etc.) indicated about as many people wouldn’t evacuate New Orleans as didn’t. I’m personally disappointed that DHS hasn’t made more provisions on housing large numbers of evacuees; any kind of biological or radiological attack on a major city would have just as many people needing to be rehoused.
#63 – you are right, information from other states needs to be added in. New Orleans has dominated the news, but there are a lot of smaller areas just as poorly served.
September 7th, 2005 at 1:23 pmA.B.
Not sure what your point is? The mayor & Governor ordered the evacuation two days prior. Asking a city government or state government to carry out such an order without federal assistance is their “blame gaming”. A lot has been made of the “yellow school buses”, but how were they to find drivers for two school buses? Of course the republican skels answer (screech, then girl crying in background) with the bus drivers! Well, how to compel school bus drivers to stay and drive is not “reality based”, but skels scurrying for cover under the bodies in NO. Are you a skel or an American?
September 7th, 2005 at 1:25 pmReported in the Chicago Tribune:
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Thursday that a lack of funding for hurricane-protection projects around New Orleans did not contribute to the disastrous flooding that followed Hurricane Katrina.
In a telephone interview with reporters, corps officials said that although portions of the flood-protection levees remain incomplete, the levees near Lake Pontchartrain that gave way–inundating much of the city–were completed and in good condition before the hurricane.
However, they noted that the levees were designed for a Category 3 hurricane and couldn’t handle the ferocious winds and raging waters from Hurricane Katrina, which was a Category 4 storm when it hit the coastline. The decision to build levees for a Category 3 hurricane was made decades ago based on a cost-benefit analysis
September 7th, 2005 at 1:26 pmNortheast Dilemma (and ilk)
Your pig-ignorant and insulting comments truly reflect the desperation and near insanity of the Republican party who are just beginning to realize that King Dubya is not fit to lead anything so simple as a circle jerk.
People like you heap scorn on “lib’ruls” because you cannot really address the valid criticisms people have made of Dubya and his administration.
Redleg
September 7th, 2005 at 1:26 pmThis may have already been pointed out….but…..I think that the photo-op with the Firemen was on a different day than the photo-op with the Coast Guard. Like, I think it was either on Monday or Tuesday this week(a week after Katrina).
Other than that(if indeed I am correct)….you have done a grand job. Thank you.
September 7th, 2005 at 1:27 pmThe stench of the republican party is in the very pores of America. Thank god they are rotting away with an advanced case of syphilis.
September 7th, 2005 at 1:30 pmMississippi Valley Division Work Flood Control Act Project Maps
http://www.mvn.usace.army.mil/eng2/edsd/proj_maps/pmap_fcp2.htm
Project:
September 7th, 2005 at 1:31 pmLake Pontchartrain, LA and Vicinity
Hurricane Protection
Progress:
Funds to initiate pre-construction engineering and design were appropriated in FY 1966, and funds to initiate conbtruction were appropriated in FY 1967. The project is approximately 82 percent complete and the estimated completion date is November 2013. The New Orleans East Unit is 90 percent complete, with a completion date of September 2009. The New Orleans West Unit is 15 percent complete with a completion date of November 2013. The Mandeville Unit is 100% complete as of September 1995. The Chalmette Unit is 98 percent complete with a completion date of September 2001. The mitigation project was completed in December 1996
Barbara Bush’s (aka Womb of Mass Destruction) comments on American Public Media’s “Marketplace” program (as reported on Editor and Publisher) need to be added to this timeline:
Then she added: “What I’m hearing which is sort of scary is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality.
“And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this–this (she chuckles slightly) is working very well for them.”
September 7th, 2005 at 1:32 pmhttp://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001054719
Her beautiful mind makes me wretch.
September 7th, 2005 at 1:34 pmCity of New Orleans Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan
September 7th, 2005 at 1:37 pmhttp://www.cityofno.com/portal.aspx?portal=46&tabid=36
#91 … The stench of the republican party is in the very pores of America. Thank god they are rotting away with an advanced case of syphilis.
Comment by Citizen80203
it’s more like a case of herpes … it goes away for a while, then flares up again … sadly, it often infects the innocent (like those in college) who really don’t understand what it is …
unfortunately, it’ll never really die … there are too many people who are willing to yell “victim” … as in “he wished me ‘happy holidays’ instead of ‘merry christmas!!! I’m being victimized by the anti-christian left” …
gah
September 7th, 2005 at 1:38 pmThis is really worth looking at:
September 7th, 2005 at 1:40 pmhttp://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/national/2005_HURRICANEKATRINA_GRAPHIC/index_02.html
The most revealing information on this subject, I think, comes from the White House news archive. On August 26, three days before Katrina’s landfall, FEMA was authorized to immediately provide disaster relief assistance to a specific list of parishes in Louisiana. I may be incorrect, but it looks to me like none of the parishes surrounding New Orleans are included on that list.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050827-1.html
Three days later, the White House announces that federal funding will be made available to residents of all parishes in Louisiana, including those surrounding New Orleans.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050829-2.html
So if I’m reading this correctly, the White House is basically saying to New Orleans: “We’re not coming to save you, but any of you who manage to survive on your own will get a check”?
I would assume the government will follow through on the second promise as well as they did on the first.
September 7th, 2005 at 1:41 pmWow, GREAT timeline. Hard to argue with plain, cold facts. Thanks for all the work that went into this.
September 7th, 2005 at 1:42 pmA.B. – your information on the levee does not include the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project (SELA), started in 1995. That funding was slashed in 2003, after being cut starting in 2001.
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001051313
Mike Parker, a former Republican congressman involved in the project said: “I’m not saying it would have been totally alleviated but it would have been less than the damage that we have got now.” http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050901/pl_nm/weather_katrina_funding_dc
One of the projects that was delayed by the cuts, but being worked on over the summer, was improving the 17th street levee – the first one that broke, IIRC.
September 7th, 2005 at 1:50 pmI GOT ANSWERS, ANSWERS, ANSWERS!!!
… provided by the erstwhile Head of Homeland Security, Tom Ridge …
http://www.firedupamerica.com/ridge_disaster_plan
scroll a bit down the page and you can access a PDF of the disaster plan …
Go to section 1, roles and responsibilities
September 7th, 2005 at 1:52 pmWhat Joyce Harmon said upthread: the firefighter photo op was this Monday (9/5), not last Friday, 9/2.
Might want to mention for Sunday 9/4 that 1000 firefighters were made to take a class in Atlanta, when they expected – and wanted – to be rescuing stranded hurricane survivors in New Orleans.
http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_3004197
GREAT resource you’ve put together here; just want to make sure it’s as flawless as possible.
September 7th, 2005 at 1:55 pmPlease add when the Airport closes and Greyhound bus lines shuts down any outgoing buses. I believe Greyhound was Saturday or Sunday but I don’t know the time.
I would also like to see the location/status of the top Bush Administration officials on each day and whether they were eating cake or buying $3000 shoes.
September 7th, 2005 at 2:09 pmYup, you can always count on this administration for a quick, effective and compassionate response to any crisis. For some amazing quotes from Rummy, for example – some of them even real – see http://www.hairytruth.blogspot.com
September 7th, 2005 at 2:13 pm1. See the data for the USGS water gage on Industrial Canal at http://waterdata.usgs.gov/la/nwis/uv?format=gif&period=10&site_no=0738023321 (set data for last 10 days). On the morning of Monday 8/29 this showed a spike in water level, then a sudden drop, then continued surge. The drop apparently marks the first levee break and it was visible on the chart at the URL above by around 9:10 a.m. Eastern time Monday, judging by an email I sent to friends shortly thereafter.
2. A few minutes later, at 9:16 a.m. Eastern, the National Weather Service posted this flash flood warning:
CRITICAL BULLETIN RETRANSMISSION, ORIGINAL SENT AT 1316
LAC071-087-291915-
BULLETIN – EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA
814 AM CDT MON AUG 29 2005
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NEW ORLEANS HAS ISSUED A
* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR…
ORLEANS PARISH IN SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA
THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF…NEW ORLEANS
ST. BERNARD PARISH IN SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA
THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF CHALMETTE
* UNTIL 215 PM CDT
* A LEVEE BREACH OCCURRED ALONG THE INDUSTRIAL CANAL AT TENNESSEE STREET. 3 TO 8 FEET OF WATER IS EXPECTED DUE TO THE BREACH.
* LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO ARABI AND 9TH WARD OF NEW ORLEANS.
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY. THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO CROSS SAFELY. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED QUICKLY. MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.
A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS IMMINENT OR OCCURRING. IF YOU ARE IN THE WARNING AREA MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY. RESIDENTS LIVING ALONG STREAMS AND CREEKS SHOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE PRECAUTIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS SWIFTLY FLOWING WATERS OR WATERS OF UNKNOWN DEPTH BY FOOT OR AUTOMOBILE.
LAT…LON 2992 9012 2994 9003 2987 8987 3001 8985 3004 8982 3008 8993 3002 9012
$$
3. NWS posted at 10 a.m. Eastern:
LAZ038-040-050-056>070-MSZ080>082-291600-
HURRICANE KATRINA LOCAL STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA
900 AM CDT MON AUG 29 2005
…HURRICANE KATRINA DIRECT HIT FOR NEW ORLEANS AND MISSISSIPPI
COAST…
…LEVEES OVERTOPPED IN ORLEANS AND ST BERNARD PARISHES…
snip
KATRINA MAKING LANDFALL IN EASTERN NEW ORLEANS AND MISSISSIPPI COAST AREA THIS MORNING. EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND LIFE THREATENING HURRICANE…SIGNIFICANT AND LIFE THREATENING STORM SURGE 18 TO 22 FEET ABOVE NORMAL IS OCCURRING. LEVEES HAVE BEEN OVERTOPPED IN ORLEANS AND ST BERNARD PARISHES. IN ADDITION DANGEROUS BATTERING WAVES ARE OCCURRING ON TOP OF THE STORM SURGE NEAR THE COAST. SEVERE TIDAL FLOODING WILL CONTINUE IN THESE AREAS. IN ADDITION…SEVERE STORM SURGE FLOODING IS PROBABLY OCCURRING IN SOUTHEAST ST TAMMANY PARISH AND IN HANCOCK…HARRISON AND JACKSON COUNTIES IN COASTAL MISSISSIPPI.
September 7th, 2005 at 2:16 pm#103 – this is a good point, and should be added.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-transit1sep01,1,2571214.story
Amtrak shut down ‘at least 24 hours’ before Katrina – when the floodgates were put in place, trains couldn’t get into the city.
Greyhound shut down late Saturday.
It looks like the airlines cancelled service at different times, though. Delta stopped service Saturday at midnight, but American and US Air kept flying most of their schedule till Sunday around 1:00 PM.
September 7th, 2005 at 2:24 pmThis is an awesome chronicle of the facts about Katrina – but lets not forget the timeline of deismatnling/destruction leading UP to Katrina!
Hopefully as time permits, sites like this will add the PRECEEDING events that set the stage for this national disgrace. See http://katrinablog.org/2005/09/timeline-of-fema-deterioration-under.html
September 7th, 2005 at 2:31 pmI’ll be linking your timeline to my Katrina page, at http://www.iraqtimeline.com (the focus of the site is on the right-wing takeover of American politics, but for now, the main page has been “hijacked” by Katrina). Excellent, excellent work.
September 7th, 2005 at 2:32 pmYou might find this of interest….FEMA outsourcing of preparations. That $500K got New Orleans…what?
Bush ‘outsourced’ FEMA’s hurricane planning and evacuation response to Innovative Emergency Management, Inc., a.k.a. IEM. See website http://www.ieminc.com and look up the Southeastern Louisiana New Orleans Disaster Plan
IEM Team to Develop Catastrophic Hurricane Disaster Plan for New Orleans & Southeast Louisiana
June 3, 2004
http://www.ieminc.com/Whats_New/Press_Releases/pressrel …
“The IEM team will complete a functional exercise on a catastrophic hurricane strike in Southeast Louisiana and use results to develop a response and recovery plan. A catastrophic event is one that can overwhelm State, local and private capabilities so quickly that communities could be devastated without Federal assistance and multi-agency planning and preparedness.”
September 7th, 2005 at 2:41 pmWhen did the governor call the press conference?
When were the orders cut?
When did Hurricane Center brief each party?
When did Bush call before the press confernece?
In every instance that Bush has been on his own to talk about anything he has repeatily failed to deliver any real understandable message. Why would it be any different on this call?
Anybody have transcipts or recordings?
September 7th, 2005 at 2:41 pmDon’t forget to add Dick Cheney’s buying a vacation mansion in ST Michael’s, MD last week, while still on vacation. (Wash Post). Also Bush was briefed the week before Katrina on it’s potential dangers. (White House photo available of video conference at Crawford Ranch)
September 7th, 2005 at 2:44 pmSo where are the Bushbots with their ‘facts’ to counteract the truth? Why is it always bloviating against lefties without any facts to back their opinions?
Because they’d rather give the boy-king another pass than hold him and his agenda responsible for killing Americans. They love their Party more than their country. They remind me of another bunch of fascist enablers that started WW2. I’m sure their parents and grandparents would be quite proud of their cult-like adoration of the mini-me fuhrer.
September 7th, 2005 at 2:47 pm#4
I believe the poll that NED is referring to is from USAToday, which I wouldn’t consider in the backpocket of the Republican party. After all of the smearing and blaming, the best the left could do was 13%. I think starting the blame game was inappropriate and the given the level of destruction and loss of life, shows the real side behind the left. This tragedy should not be politicized any more than 9/11. Trust me, you will get burned. As for New Orleans and Louisanna, home to Huey Long, could there be a more corrupt area of the country. How many dollars designated over the years for re-inforcements of the levy actually made it there. That is the real crime here. It is so sad so many people had to die for this to come to light. Nothing good will come from such hatred of Bush. The Left in this country will eventually learn that or go out of existance.
September 7th, 2005 at 2:53 pmSHOCKING LIST OF FEMA FAILURES
Question is: What can WE do about all of this?
Can FEMA do anything right?!! Look at this Shocking list of FEMA failures!
Edited on Tue Sep-06-05 11:39 AM by peabody71
My personal opinion is that this was strictly political.
I hate to say it but the White House wanted a Democratic political fallout in Louisiana. God let’s hope it backfires.
Just take a look at this list:
FEMA won’t accept Amtrak’s help in evacuations
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/84aa35cc-1da8-11da-b40b-00000e...
FEMA turns away experienced firefighters
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/9/5/105538/7048
FEMA turns back Wal-Mart supply trucks
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/national/nationalspec... ;en=1d14ebfbd942a7d0&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss
FEMA prevents Coast Guard from delivering diesel fuel
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/national/nationalspec... ;en=1d14ebfbd942a7d0&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss
FEMA won’t let Red Cross deliver food
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05246/565143.stm
FEMA bars morticians from entering New Orleans
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15147862& ;BRD=1817&PAG=461&dept_id=68561&rfi=6
FEMA blocks 500-boat citizen flotilla from delivering aid
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/9/3/171718/0826
FEMA fails to utilize Navy ship with 600-bed hospital on board
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0509... ;cset=true
FEMA to Chicago: Send just one truck
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-050902dale...
FEMA turns away generators
http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/WWLBLOG.ac3fcea.html
FEMA: “First Responders Urged Not To Respond”
http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=18470
That last one is real —not satire but straight from FEMA’s website.
September 7th, 2005 at 2:56 pmMake the timeline complete with FEMA’s declaration yesterday that no photographs, no photographs, of dead bodies in Louisiana will be permitted on land, sea or in the air—or in any of the temporary morgues, as Republican cleverness makes a comeback.
Even death numbers are hard to come by, a White House inspired imposition on the flow of information to ‘preserve the disaster’s dignity.’
Let’s see if the press howls. .
September 7th, 2005 at 2:57 pmHey check the damn facts.
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.
Where is the Gulf Coast and the Mississippi delta reigion?
————————-
So the White House screws up the Statement on Federal Emergency Assistance for Louisiana. They are shouting so loud that the huge hole in the Statement is missed again.
September 7th, 2005 at 3:03 pmIs this the original “Statement on Federal Emergency Assistance for Louisiana?”
Or has it been doctored? Katrine or Cindy?
September 7th, 2005 at 3:08 pmCan someone explain this to me? After 9/11, the democrats, Joe Lieberman in particular, wanted FEMA to be part of the new Dept. of Homeland Security, which Bush was opposed to at first because of the level of beauracy it was going to create but reached across to the aisle to appease dems anyway. Now, after Katrina, we find out the FEMA may have been slow to respond because of the red tape and now we have Hilliary endorsing a bill to separate FEMA from Homeland Security, which she voted for in the first place. How come no one ever points the finger at congress? Aren’t they to blame to for some of the governments’ shortcomings.
September 7th, 2005 at 3:10 pm#112 – I notice that (like NED), your highest priority and highest justification are polls and elections. Some people would rather be right than popular – we know which side you fall on.
If 9/11 had been ‘politicized’ by the Democrats – if Bush and his appointees had been held to account for their mistakes, like Dick Cheney’s commisison on terrorism – they would not be in office now, and I doubt we’d be at war in Eurasia, I mean Iraq. As we remember, the Republicans had no problem politicizing 9/11.
A more competent president would have appointed more professional managers at FEMA, and the chain of disasters this site (among others) is documenting would have been far less.
You might want to leave your rhyming talking points aside and ask yourself – is there anything Bush could do that I wouldn’t support? Is there anything the media could uncover that would make me hold him responsible for some or even most of the failed Federal response?
September 7th, 2005 at 3:14 pm# 49.
Bush is polling in the low/mid 40’s so he is at beast a weak lame duck. Rove & co are in a spin recovery mode. The congress could flip next year if the mood shift solidfiies. The fact that the polls show him at at just 50%+/- on handling a PREDICTED storm & flood event is pathetic in itself.
He got beat by a mindless storm visible to the human eye going 15 MPH?
Ironically, a timely response to this disaster and the aftermath was a chance for W to really shine by getting right on this mess on Tuesday/Wed rather running around to those PR events and golfing. The fact is NO was swarmed with helos on Saturday that could have been there Thursday at daybreak.
Men, women, & children expired unneccesarily as a result in the 72 hours prior to that.
Everything he needed was at solely his command (they require a presidential go ahead to move) e.g., the heavy and air mobile responders required to save the day were the military aviation units. No need to go to congress – we’d be praising the response today and he’d be proudly standing in NO and Mobile. Instead he is all defensive and blaming the mayor and gov. How lame is that.
If you are the captain of a ship you are responsible for everyone in your chain of command – that is why if you are the captain of the executive branch you always want to have the best people in those agency head positions (not yes men or toadys) since they represent you and your authority.
Bush picked the FEMA head – Brown – Brown totally botched it – Bush is accountable for picking him and for not getting when something this big was breaking. Otherwise we don’t need to even have the executive.
This is the same guy who flew AF-1 back to DC in the middle of the night to sign a bill (the brain dead woman case). Face it these guys Totally dropped the ball on this and worsened things.
September 7th, 2005 at 3:14 pmAren’t they to blame to for some of the governments’ shortcomings.
Comment by Liberals Suck
yeah … you’re right … there’s a Democrat in the White House and Democrats in the majority of the Senate … and Democrats in the majority of the House … so they get to decide EVERYTHING …
oh, hey, waitaminnit … the REPUBLICANS are the architects of moving FEMA to be in Homeland Security … and the REPUBLICANS are in the White House and majority party in the Senate and House …
so, THEY’RE THE ARCHITECTS, you dickweed.
September 7th, 2005 at 3:17 pmWhere is the VP during all of this …… counting his oil money?????
September 7th, 2005 at 3:17 pmcounting his oil money?????
Comment by Ron
trying to put together another sweetheart Halliburton contract
September 7th, 2005 at 3:18 pm#116 – are you seriously suggesting that Bush caved on his principled opposition to putting FEMA in DHS because of the awesome power of Joementum? I seem to recall one political party being in the majority in Congress for more of the past few years… can you help me out on which one it was?
I have a radical concept for you – in a complex situation, more than one person may be at fault.
Also, please find the link where Joe Leiberman:
*) Suggested putting a horse-loving estate lawyer in charge of FEMA
*) Wanted to make FEMA focus on terrorist attacks to the exclusion of natural disasters
*) Suggested scrapping the disaster-mitigation part of FEMA
*) Split disaster preparedness over to another program?
The secretary of homeland security can be authorized to be the primary coordinator after a natural disaster. Does it bother you that Bush never took this step? Does it seem to you that Chertoff had more important things to do with his time?
September 7th, 2005 at 3:19 pm# 38: Yes, you are absolutely correct. The Canadian timeline is of a completely different tone than this one (which was written for partisan purposes). Thanks for the pointer.
# 37: I can’t agree. Facts don’t have a bias, imo. Of course, the presentation of facts can and often does, as here.
# 42. You asked for “just one.” The time line says, “REPORTS OF WATER TOPPLING OVER LEVEE,” but when you click on the link there is no mention of water toppling *over* the levee. It says that waves crashed on top. If there has been water over the levee, that report would have read very differently.
There’s no disputing that this particular timeline is for purposes of partisan blaming. Again, that’s 1st Amendment speech. Knock yourselves out. But don’t be frustrated, amazed, and outraged when people turn to less biased sources of information.
Finally, if we are going to play the blame game, let’s be honest with the earliest entries: “Early 1800s — French build levees, which cause the delta mud on the dry side of the levee to begin subsiding below sea levels.”
September 7th, 2005 at 3:21 pmI have encountered some of problems with your time line as well as some of the articles that was edited. I think we shouldnt point to the opposition but at the media that is feeding us thier agenda. I dont know what to believe anymore so i will strip my democratic status and stay neutral until all is in the clear.
September 7th, 2005 at 3:29 pmhttp://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/08/28/hurricane.katrina/?section=cnn_topstories+president+bush+called+blanco+mandatory+evacuation+new+orleans&hl=en
has been edited. If you surf the cashe’s you will notice over half of your timelines have been edited with different dates and information for instance
http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:RGrwXIfpv8UJ:www.cnn.com/rssclick/2005/WEATHER/08/28/hurricane.katrina/?section=cnn_topstories%20president%20bush%20called%20blanco%20mandatory%20evacuation%20new%20orleans&hl=en
edited. For more links please email me. The media has done enough damage to all of us. To make true progress we must work within each other.
I just mapped the those on the WH. SFEAfLA.
None of the coastal parishes are listed!
I used this to map them:
http://www.classbrain.com/artstate/publish/louisiana_map_maker.shtml
Sending map to email address.
September 7th, 2005 at 3:29 pm#123 – that’s the best you can do? Focusing on the definition of “over” the levee? Let me try this slowly: if water is crashing on the top of the levee, it has gone over the height of the levee. I guess the people who put together this timeline owe you an apology for hurting your feelings by using mean and hateful adjectives to imply that maybe, just maybe, Bush is a screwup.
You know, I’d have more respect for the conservative posters on this board if they didn’t feel the need to intone the current talking point of “blame game”. Let me suggest a longer, more adult, but less rhyming phrase: “accountability moment”.
September 7th, 2005 at 3:29 pmWednesday. And We’re Not Out of the Woods, Yet
It’s all Katrina again today. Some amazing bits of information and some incredible video clips.
September 7th, 2005 at 3:32 pm“accountability momentâ€.
Comment by FungiFromYuggoth
oooohhhh … almost as good as “orange” … ;-)
September 7th, 2005 at 3:32 pmOr even better. How about responsibility. City,state, federal. Basic high school history.
September 7th, 2005 at 3:33 pmRead it and Weep
This TIME we draw a LINE. There really, really really is no way to hide how truly and reprehensively ugly this is.
September 7th, 2005 at 3:34 pmOr even better. How about responsibility. City,state, federal. Basic high school history.
Comment by SGT. clint watson
… I’m sure you’re really referring to civics … accuracy, schmaccuracy
be that as it may, if you read any of the links upthread, you’ll find that Gov. Blanco DID declare a state of emergency, which gives FEMA and the Federal Government not only the right but the responsibility to step in with support, food and life-saving measures.
September 7th, 2005 at 3:35 pmJust send gif of map of parhishes listed in:
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.
September 7th, 2005 at 3:35 pm#117
You still don’t get it – the one thing that Bush and I don’t care about are poll numbers. If that were the case then we would have pulled out of Iraq long ago. No, Bush does what is the right thing to do for the country. Ask yourself this question, how much less would the price of oil be if we allowed drilling at Anwar 10 years ago like we should have, we would be producing 1 million barrels of oil per day or about 10% of the current demand. Instead the environmental wackos from the left prevented that from happening. At the same time, they stand in line pumping their suvs with gas like the rest of us. This is why liberals are screwing up America and why I think they suck.
September 7th, 2005 at 3:37 pmSECTION 2: The state of Louisiana’s emergency response and recovery program is activated under the command of the director of the state office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness to prepare for and provide emergency support services and/or to minimize the effects of the storm’s damage.
September 7th, 2005 at 3:42 pm#133 …
wow – you’re power of reasoning is … underwhelming …
… IF we allowed drilling in ANWR 10 years ago, there’s no telling IF there would be petro. reserves or, if there were any, how long they’d last.
… have you checked out the current profiteering going on with the oil companies? in the trillions for just the last quarter ALONE – honey, not having oil flowing out of Alaska has nothing to do with the current price you’re paying at the pump.
… so happy you’re not concerned with polling numbers. as your side of the aisle continues to crash and burn, we’ll laugh all the way to the mid-term elections …
… what do you call a “leader” with no followers? a guy out taking a walk.
September 7th, 2005 at 3:43 pmI though i gave you the links that showed the edited version.
September 7th, 2005 at 3:43 pm#134 – so what? the Governor declared a state of emergency on FRIDAY before the hurricane and requested aid (food, water, protection of property) from FEMA and the feds …
… she requested it BEFORE Katrina hit.
… and W played guitar. and ate cake.
September 7th, 2005 at 3:45 pm#126 They asked for “just one,” and that was the very first linked news article I clicked on. One for one. 100%. The second one I clicked on had a heading of when Chertoff “finally” learned of the levee breach. But when you read the article he says that’s when he learned that the breach couldn’t be patched. Two for two. Still 100%. I could continue, but why? I will use that Canadian timeline the other poster steered me to.
In addition to the errors, there are gratuitous references to things like Rumsfeld attending a baseball game — which obviously has no bearing on a timeline unless our purpose is political blaming.
Like I said, enjoy this exercise. I don’t mean to infringe on your free speech. But don’t imagine that reasonable people will swallow all this.
FWIW, I’ve voted against Bush at every turn and believe he’s an idiot.
September 7th, 2005 at 3:45 pmAnd what of this timeline?
Seems to show that maybe this wasn’t all Bush’s fault.
September 7th, 2005 at 3:47 pmI see a lack of uneducation and a lot of too educated.
September 7th, 2005 at 3:49 pm# 140 – I see a lack of uneducation
… proof reading … it’s your friend.
September 7th, 2005 at 3:50 pm[quote]And what of this timeline?
Seems to show that maybe this wasn’t all Bush’s fault. [quote]
You just killed this thread.
September 7th, 2005 at 3:52 pm#135. The ANWR oil would probably have been sold to China mostly.
The stone age did not end because we ran out of stone, the petroleum age however….
OK, I’m going to take Mr Sucks advice and think of all the good things Mr Bush has done for the country…
September 7th, 2005 at 3:53 pmI see you have no sense of “humeur”
September 7th, 2005 at 3:55 pm# 139: Thanks for that link. Between that one (with its obvious biases), and this one (with its obvious biases) and the Canadian one (more neutral), we can start to understand this situation better. I particularly like how your timeline starts with the physical geography of the situation.
September 7th, 2005 at 3:55 pmDone thinking – I’ve made a list – see below:
September 7th, 2005 at 3:55 pmA comprehensive timeline with references. Holla.
September 7th, 2005 at 3:56 pmThis post at Instapundit has a lot of common sense in it:
http://instapundit.com/archives/025387.php
September 7th, 2005 at 3:57 pmAn amazing video, eye witness account by New Orleans survivor, (and hero) Charmaine Neville:
http://tinyurl.com/a9gr8
September 7th, 2005 at 4:01 pmWhen will these stupid trolls get that we don’t care what they think, we don’t listen to them and only make fun of their six different talking points. They come here and somehow think they are making a difference. Or, worse yet, they actually think we would buy their garbage, which makes them really seem pathetic. It is totally insane and a waste of their time. They really have low self esteem issues, which is obvious because of their dedication to us – who think they are full of shit. These guys are really desperate. I refuse to argue with such nonsense. When they come here and taunt so they can be punished, it is the saddest sight I have ever seen. I almost feel sorry for them but I know why the push that R button in November – GREED!
Bush does what is right for America???? Really???? That is such hogwash they couldn’t possibly believe their stink anymore. They don’t care about polls; yet, they sure will quote one that goes in the redcoat favor. Peshaw
September 7th, 2005 at 4:06 pmnjk56:
here’s the thing about the “bias” of including where Rumsfield and Condi were in the days following the hurricane.
Foreign countries are trying to help us and can’t get in touch with anyone at FEMA – don’t you think the Secretary of State should be involved in these conversations?
Rummy has to be interested in the National Guard deployment for things other than Iraq … especially when they’re pulling troops OUT of Iraq and Afghanistan to help efforts at home …
THAT’S why those types of details are important
September 7th, 2005 at 4:12 pmas a liberal democrat I wholeheartadly applaud your well thought out, factual time line. What I hate asking a question about the beginning perhaps bfore the timeline starts which is “why was the New Orleans disaster plan to bus people with no means to the Superdome, etc. and not but them out of the city to shelters set up elsewhere?”
September 7th, 2005 at 4:14 pm#148 – actually, all that post proves is that Instapundit is clueless about economics. People don’t build below sea level for amusement’s sake, they do it because there’s an economic reason. Gas pumps are reflecting the effects of losing the Midwest’s gateway to the world, not the lack of ANWR drilling.
I have to say, we must have different definitions of 100%. Your quibbles are not without merit, but they are quibbling – I would say you’re perhaps 2% right on both of them. Certainly, this timeline is a lot more accurate than other statements that have been floated around recently.
The Canadian timeline is fine, but isn’t as detailed and misses out on several things (the earlier disaster declaration, several of FEMA’s snafus).
September 7th, 2005 at 4:25 pm# 151: So it’s not for political embarrassment, it’s part of the vital time line. Really.
Help me out, then. Are you claiming that some foreign aid fail to materialize because Condi couldn’t be reached? I hadn’t heard that anywhere. Are you claiming that Rumsfeld’s attendance at the ball game led to a deployment failure? That, too, would be the first I’ve heard of that. So the fact has no purpose other than to embarrass politically. Why not embrace the obvious: this is a timeline for political purposes, not for objective analysis.
September 7th, 2005 at 4:32 pm# 153: Reynolds didn’t claim that people build under sea level for amusement’s sake, and I don’t know how you could ascribe that claim to him.
BTW, that article you linked is terrific. It’s one that I would add to this timeline. It shows that the chronological first cause of the tragedy is the levee system itself, which cause the land to sink. The siting of the city, wedged between lake, river, and Gulf, and sited below sea level, should be the first item on the timeline above. Great article.
September 7th, 2005 at 4:38 pmWhere is your outrage America???
September 7th, 2005 at 4:42 pmIts sad every time someone tries to tell me that there is no racism in this country.
Having experienced it myself so often (as a Mexican immigrant) it is hard to ignore some parallels that may only exist in my mind:
FEMA Director Michael Brown used to coordinate horse shows, immediately before working at FEMA.
Now Bush thinks he is still appropriate for the job…
yet in slavery days horses and african-americans were sold, treated and valued as equals.
Does anyone else see this but me? I’m not trying to be divisive but how can your countrymen allow for someone who used to run Horseshows to run FEMA? I swear there would be riots if this were any other country. Too bad Americans appear to be pre-occupied with other things.
Seriously, where is your outrage?
Great timeline, except that I think it *really* needs the added impact (mentioned earlier in posting 71) of showing that as late as Sept 1, Chertoff admitted “I have not heard a report of thousands of people in the Convention Center who don’t have food and water” and accused the interviewer (NPR’s Robert Siegel) of spreading rumors. Siegel smacked him down saying that there were reporters there on the scene, and that this wasn’t a rumor (and of course, if reporters could get there, so could aid).
The transcript is at http://lesliet.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/9/2/01117/53705
I think showing how clueless Chertoff was as late as Sept. 1 helps give the lie to the Bush spin that the fault all lies at the feet of the local authorities.
September 7th, 2005 at 4:48 pm#154 if we are getting into the where’s and why’s of New Orleans and linking in the broader economic impact, I came across this yesterday: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/090605R.shtml
I noticed the CBO is estimating a $100B economic cost on MSNBC. And yet they think that there won’t be a recession?
September 7th, 2005 at 4:50 pmThis is an EXCELLENT summary of events. Thank you for the incredibly cogent presentation of what happened.
September 7th, 2005 at 4:57 pm#158: Another very good article. Thanks. The article emphasizes the importance of the city and, most of all, the port. It doesn’t suggest we need to repopulate the portions of the city that have sunk so far below sea level due to the levees. I particularly like how the article stresses our common needs and interests rather than treating the disaster as a useful weapon or wedge issue. We need lots more of that.
September 7th, 2005 at 4:59 pmThis timeline does a great job of showing just how poor the federal response to Katrina was. However, I fail too see what Sec. Rice has to do with any of this. Does she have some role in disaster response of which I am not aware?
September 7th, 2005 at 5:00 pmYou should add to your timeline:
On Friday before the storm hit, at 11 AM the National Hurricane center was still forecasting that Katrina would hit the Pensacola area where so many other storms had hit before,as cat 3 storm. The archve is at:
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/KATRINA_graphics.shtml
For the 5 PM (EDT) update, the forecast storm track shifted dramatically west to the Pascagoula area, and the forecast intensity was up to 4.
At 11 PM the forecast track shifted farther west to the eastern N. O. area where it remained until landfall.
So the upshot is, all day Friday the conventional wisdom was, this is an ordinary storm. Only after the weekend started was there a warning that this might be the big one. If they (FEMA or whoever) were paying attention as they should have, they should have known Friday evening to begin preparing for a big one. If they were not so diligent…
September 7th, 2005 at 5:07 pmADD TO TIMELINE: President Bush used a “recess appointment” Wednesday Aug. 31, to bypass the Senate and fill a top Justice Department slot with an official Alice S. Fisher, whose nomination stalled over tactics at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, naval facility. – Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/01/AR2005090101449.html
September 7th, 2005 at 5:13 pm#161: You are correct. That portion of the timeline, like other portions, has no bearing on what happened, but may be useful for political embarrassment or to rile up partisans. Ditto for the fact that Rumsfeld went to a baseball game. If you want a much better timeline, visit the Canadian one referenced way up above, or balance this timeline with the other partisan one mentioned above.
September 7th, 2005 at 5:15 pmthanks so much, this is a great resource.
September 7th, 2005 at 5:21 pmWe got out Thursday. Thank you for putting this together, it will help us recall things and learn about what we didn’t know on the streets.
September 7th, 2005 at 5:48 pmAnother timeline is at
September 7th, 2005 at 5:50 pmhttp://talkingpointsmemo.com/katrina-timeline.php
for cross-checking….
remember hurricane andrew? this was said by the NOAA: A combination of good hurricane preparedness and evacuation programs likely helped minimize the loss of life.
September 7th, 2005 at 5:58 pmNot sure if anyone covered this already but from a legal standpoint, issuing a Federal State of Emergency does little more than allow the transfer of Federal funds and resources (including FEMA) to the State to do with as they see fit. At no time does the federal government actually have authority over the crisis (unless the Governor expressly transfers control, which as of last Friday, Governor Blanco had not done). The Governor at all times retains absolute authority over the situation. It is her job to mobilie the National Guard and State Troopers (which Blanco failed to do until days later), ensure evacuation orders are executed properly (which was never done, witness the parking lots full of municipal buses left to flood) and to provide for the the evacuees (this also falls under the responsibility of the individual City governments) until such time as a more permanent solution can be found. Ask anyone at the Superdome how well that last part was handled. It doesn’t take a genius to understand that if you send 20+ thousand people to one spot you may want to have some food and water supplies as well as a few police officers present.
FEMA is NOT a first response unit. Their primary purpose is to assist the local governments by helping to funnel funds and personel where directed as well as assist in training additional personel on the spot; all at the direction of the local government. In fact, FEMA normally only picks up after the various state and municipal emergency response plans have been executed (which was also not done in the case of LA or NO specifically). They are an addition to and not a substitute for the State response. Historically FEMA does not arrive to a disaster area until 4-7 days after the fact, once the dust has settled and the local response teams have an idea as to what they require. Part of the problem here was that since the LA emergency plans had not been followed, everyone was stuck in a position of starting from scratch when they should have been, and were expecting to be, at step 7 (just picking a number here).
The President therefore, has next to no actual authority in a crisis such as this. It is a safeguard against tyranny built into the constitution. The President CANNOT seize power from a local government without their consent. That is one of the main reasons Guliani was so visable after 9/11. In effect he was the man in charge. Now at the time Bush may have had a bit more power as it was a case of National Security vs. Natural Disaster, but essentially on the ground the Mayor and Governor are the people in power.
As for the Levee and funding issue. Funding for the levee system around NO had be decreasing for 30+ years, partially due to the fact the local governments did not see the spending as high priority and consistantly failed to meet their required portion of the budget. The broken levee in question was in fact one of the portions brought up to the standard set out in the plans and had been completed to spec. The fact that the plans called for a level 3 hurricane was a decision made more than a decade ago and was based on various risk and cost/benefit reports. No one wanted to spend the additional 20 billion+ dollars to bring the levees up to the necessary standard to meet a hypothetical category 5 hurricane.
Basically, it looks like the Mayor and the Governor were expecting Katrina to never rise to much more than a stiff breeze with some rain. NO had survived large storms prior to Katrina with little damage, and they did not want to be seen as responsible for a needless evacuation, costing millions of dollars. It wasn’t until too late that they realized their mistake. By that time it was too late to properly supply their evacuation centers and call up the necessary troops. And once the roads into NO were made impassable, it became a major problem to get those supplies and people into the city proper.
It’s the same reasoning that a lot of those that stay behind when they had the ability to leave used. “I survived X so I can survive Katrina”. Nobody expected things to get this bad.
September 7th, 2005 at 6:14 pmyou couldn’t see al qaeda, then they attacked and you responded…you could see katrina, and you couldn’t respond? this is a federal disaster. blame the local government all you want, but our federal government knew this was coming and failed. total lack of leadership at the top.
September 7th, 2005 at 6:16 pmBUSH LOVES NICKNAMES. DO YOU THINK WE CAN MAKE THESE STICK IF WE USE THEM ENOUGH?
September 7th, 2005 at 6:24 pm1. NEW ORLEAN’S new name: LAKE GEORGE
2. KATRINA relocation centers, with a nod to Herbert Hoover: BUSHVILLES
3. DICK CHENEY, who supported slashing flood control funds and refused to leave his Wyoming vacation once the deluge began: DICK BAN DIKE
4. MICHAEL BROWN, FEMA Chief, an incompetent Bush crony who was previously fired from his gig at a horse owners’ association: BRONCO BROWN, MISMASTER OF DISASTER
5. MICHAEL CHERTOFF, Homeland Security Chief: MISLEADING MIKE, THE HOMELAND HUCKSTER
6. CONDI RICE, preoccupied with a thousand-dollar shoe buying spree in Manhattan during the crisis: IMELDA RICE or NO SHOES, NO SERVICE
7. The act of reflexively defending Bush: BUSH FLUFFING
8. Those who engage in same: BUSH FLUFFERS
9. When Bush hallucinates about “mandates” or “political capital”: FLUFFY BUSH MOMENTS
10. Repealing the ESTATE TAX, which is levied only on the richest 1% of estates yet is the GOP’s top priority in this time of crisis: THE PARIS HILTON TAX CUT
11. One more…BUSH LIED, NEW ORLEANS DIED.
ONCE AGAIN, DO YOU THINK WE CAN MAKE THESE NICKNAMES STICK IF WE USE THEM ENOUGH?
********
TIMELINE With Links at Larry Johnson’s site. Ex-CIA and man are the trolls out today…
http://noquarter.typepad.com/my_weblog/2005/09/some_in_the_med.html
Friday, 26 August 2005, Governor of Louisiana declares state of emergency
Saturday morning, 27 August 2005, Governor of Louisiana asks President Bush to declare a state of emergency and requests Federal Assistance “to save lives and property”. Note, the letter was published on 27 August 2005 on Lexis Nexis but was dated 28 August 2005. Bush received the letter on Saturday and responded on the same day by declaring a State of Emergency. Note, per the NRP, William Lokey was designated as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in Louisiana.
Sunday, 28 August 2005, Mayor of New Orleans orders Mandatory Evacuation.
(Note: In Governor Blanco’s request on the 27th, there is a specific request for help with evacuation and a specific request for help to “save lives and protect property”. )
Monday, 29 August 2005, FEMA Director Brown requests DHS Secretary Chertoff’s help in getting 1000 DHS employees ready to deploy to the disaster within 48 hours.
Under the National Response Plane (see p. 93, Figure 11), once the President declares a State of Emergency the Department of Homeland Security is supposed to implement the Plan. Initially, DHS is supposed to deploy an Emergency Response Team to the State to provide expertise in assessing needs and determining appropriate courses of action. Moreover, on p. 52 of the NRP the President may act proactively under the Stafford Act.
Folks, these are not OPINIONS, these are cold, objective facts. However, MSNBC and other members of the Main Stream Media, are confused about what is a fact and what is opinion.
September 7th, 2005 at 6:45 pmDid you know that…
So then, let me understand this: Team Bush saw by 26 August that Katrina would be sufficiently dangerous to warrant a preemptive disaster declaration for what looks like about 65-70% of the land area of Lousiana, and he declares it for the _landlocked_ parishes?
http://www.thismodernworld.com/weblog/mtarchives/week_2005_09_04.html#002439
September 7th, 2005 at 6:48 pmI’d like to see the timeline continued and kept up to date. The blantant lies of the administration keep coming and are becoming increasingly shocking.
September 7th, 2005 at 7:10 pmThis timeline is the most convincing arguement for impeachment out there.
I just love reading comments from conservatives.
Not one has to do with the timeline (the topic of the thread).
Not one comment from a conservative defending Bush’s actions…just a bunch of BS trying to divert the topic away from the truth.
It’s over, kiddies.
The diversion spin machine no longer functions. Reality is way too obvious for it to have any effect.
The guitar playing, cake eating Bush will be the image forever juxtaposed against dead bodies floating in New Orleans.
September 7th, 2005 at 7:11 pmto all the blowhards who are resorting to calling anyone who criticizes the president or his response (or lack thereof) think about this…
Even other republicans are blasting the Bush administration for their handling of this humanitarian crisis. Are they liberal, commie, pussies too?
I pray we don’t have any disasters (manmade or otherwise) during this administration that we don’t have any notice (earthquake or god forbid, terrorist attack) With four days notice that this was going to be bad, this is what we get from the Bush admin and their croonies.
The spin doesn’t work when overwhelmed with a truth that anyone can see regardless of their political leanings.
You expose yourself for the thoughtless lemming that you are. Dick.
ckennedy920@yahoo.com
September 7th, 2005 at 7:17 pmI found this timeline interesting. Not sure why you have so many articles about Condoleeza Rice; I thought she was responsible for international relations? That and additional sources outside of the NYT, sources which might on other days be more gentle with Mr. Bush and Co., would contribute.
Before this catastrophe, I wasn’t aware that the danger of flooding after a hurricane could increase after the storm had passed. In the flat state where I’m from, after the tornado is gone, some houses are flattened but the sun comes out and things aren’t getting worse. Storm surges and excessive high tides just aren’t a concern. But Mr. Bush is from down there in hurricane country, right? He should know this? Chertoff should have been informed about it from planners at FEMA? What if Terrorists had broken the NOLA leveys???
What other kinds of disasters is FEMA not prepared for?
I just hope another disaster doesn’t come along too soon.
September 7th, 2005 at 7:35 pmTen days after hurricane Katrina: interim critique
Ten days ago the hurricane struck. I see three broad areas of criticism about the hurricane Katrina disaster: I) Preparation, II) Response, and III) Political smoke and mirrors. Here I am leaving aside the painful social justice questions. What needs t…
September 7th, 2005 at 7:44 pmbush has blood on his hands how many have died in iarq because of his war and now how many americans have died in new orleans because of his lack of leadership how long does it take for amercia to wake up goddanm bush
September 7th, 2005 at 7:57 pmA broken levee can be fixed, this presidency cannot. This administration’s politically hand picked personnel are incompetent, arrogant, and incapable of accepting any accountability for the failed policies they engage. American’s of all ilks, we need to vote for national leaders who will once again bring “the best and the brightest” to Washington, instead of loyal political hacks! Only then can we begin to undo the fine mess Mr. Bush and his dad’s cronies have gotten us into. And again, a big BOO for Condi Rice who is a great disappointment when it comes to the humane side of our human equation. -Kevo
September 7th, 2005 at 8:18 pmI’d just like to say that I’ve linked this timeline into my lj, with the suggestion that everyone reading it do the same, so that in a month or three, when the PR spin has got folks believing that Bush and Co responded quickly and effectively to this disaster, we can send this link back to the media reporting on that spin to remind them of what *really* happened.
Thanks for taking the time to do this, now let’s make sure the true sequence of events isn’t forgotten!
September 7th, 2005 at 8:19 pm[...] Comment on the timeline here. [...]
September 7th, 2005 at 8:24 pmHere is another timeline with more info that you may wish to use . . .
CHRONOLOGY…. Here’s a timeline that outlines the fate of both FEMA and
flood control projects in New Orleans under the Bush administration.
January 2001: Bush appoints Joe Allbaugh, a crony from Texas, as head of
FEMA. Allbaugh has no previous experience in disaster management.
April 2001: Budget Director Mitch Daniels announces the Bush
administration’s goal of privatizing much of FEMA’s work. In May,
Allbaugh confirms that FEMA will be downsized: “Many are concerned that
federal disaster assistance may have evolved into both an oversized
entitlement program….” he said. “Expectations of when the federal
government should be involved and the degree of involvement may have
ballooned beyond what is an appropriate level.”
2001: FEMA designates a major hurricane hitting New Orleans as one of
the three “likeliest, most catastrophic disasters facing this country.”
December 2002: After less than two years at FEMA, Allbaugh announces he
is leaving to start up a consulting firm that advises companies seeking
to do business in Iraq. He is succeeded by his deputy, Michael Brown,
who, like Allbaugh, has no previous experience in disaster management.
March 2003: FEMA is downgraded from a cabinet level position and folded
into the Department of Homeland Security. Its mission is refocused on
fighting acts of terrorism.
2003: Under its new organization chart within DHS, FEMA’s preparation
and planning functions are reassigned to a new Office of Preparedness
and Response. FEMA will henceforth focus only on response and recovery.
Summer 2004: FEMA denies Louisiana’s pre-disaster mitigation funding
requests. Says Jefferson Parish flood zone manager Tom Rodrigue: “You
would think we would get maximum consideration….This is what the grant
program called for. We were more than qualified for it.”
June 2004: The Army Corps of Engineers budget for levee construction in
New Orleans is slashed. Jefferson Parish emergency management chiefs
Walter Maestri comments: “It appears that the money has been moved in
the president’s budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq,
and I suppose that’s the price we pay.”
June 2005: Funding for the New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers is cut by a record $71.2 million. One of the hardest-hit
areas is the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, which was
created after the May 1995 flood to improve drainage in Jefferson,
Orleans and St. Tammany parishes.
August 2005: While New Orleans is undergoing a slow motion catastrophe,
Bush mugs for the cameras, cuts a cake for John McCain, plays the guitar
for Mark Wills, delivers an address about V-J day, and continues with
his vacation. When he finally gets around to acknowledging the scope of
the unfolding disaster, he delivers only a photo op on Air Force One and
a flat, defensive, laundry list speech in the Rose Garden.
A crony with no relevant experience was installed as head of FEMA.
Mitigation budgets for New Orleans were slashed even though it was known
to be one of the top three risks in the country. FEMA was deliberately
downsized as part of the Bush administration’s conservative agenda to
reduce the role of government. After DHS was created, FEMA’s
preparation and planning functions were taken away.
Actions have consequences. No one could predict that a hurricane the
size of Katrina would hit this year, but the slow federal response when
it did happen was no accident. It was the result of four years of
deliberate Republican policy and budget choices that favor ideology and
partisan loyalty at the expense of operational competence. It’s the
Bush administration in a nutshell.
Henry Breitrose
Professor of Communication
Department of Communication
Stanford University
R. Samuel Paz
September 7th, 2005 at 8:25 pmCivil Rights Lawyer
Culver City CA 90230
Source:
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2005_09/007023.php
#115
“This tragedy should not be politicized any more than 9/11. Trust me, you will get burned.”
Well, let’s see. Nobody has politicized 9/11 more than Bush and he has still yet to get burned for it, so your arguement has no merit.
Go back and get somemore talking point zombie.
September 7th, 2005 at 8:29 pmThe timeline indicates a levee was breached “late Monday morning.”
I want to call attention to the excellent post #107, which points out that the National Weather Service reported a breached levee at 8:14 am. This is well-before “late Monday morning.”
Throughout the day Monday, there were multiple reports of multiple levee breaches. Numerous supporting citations can be found here and here.
September 7th, 2005 at 8:32 pmJosh Marshall has a timeline here:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/katrina-timeline.php
Might as well put ‘em together!
September 7th, 2005 at 8:42 pmWhats the argument? The hurricane,The evacuation, or the rescue?
Anybody who went to high school here knows the chain of command. Local, state, federal.
Whats the argument.
Did you purposely leave out that the redcross stated that they were not admitted in by state and local authoriteies with the supplies of food and water?
http://www.redcross.org/faq/0,1096,0_682_4524,00.html
September 7th, 2005 at 8:54 pmIn the timeline under August 28, “Late PM – reports of water toppling over levee” do you perhaps mean “topping over” instead? “Toppling over levee” means knocking a levee over and causing it to fall, which didn’t happen then. Some water was splashing higher than the top of the levee at this point, but the levee itself was still intact, no? –best regards
September 7th, 2005 at 9:11 pmmds, you are my hero! LOL!!!
WELL SAID!!!
September 7th, 2005 at 9:27 pmHere is a timeline from one of the most conservative U.K. newspapers, The Times of London. Although not directly critical of Bush, it does a good job at capturing the contradictions in comments. As the site says the timeline presents “… warnings made in the days before the hurricane and the comments made afterwards.” the site may be found here:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,23889-1769493,00.html
September 7th, 2005 at 9:30 pmThe navy ship USS Bataan, referred to in your timeline as sitting off Louisiana unused, has a website at http://www.bataan.navy.mil.
From that very site:
September 7th, 2005 at 9:42 pm
Okay, can someone explain why the letter to the President found on the Governor’s own website at http://gov.louisiana.gov/Disaster%20Relief%20Request.pdf
September 7th, 2005 at 9:43 pmis dated August 28, 2005 while the timeline claims the letter was sent on August 27, 2005?
“Who could have known the levees would breach?”
-George W. Bush
September 7th, 2005 at 9:47 pmComment by CJ — September 7, 2005 @ 9:42 pm
Even in Cuba, people can count to 7 or 8. That’s how many days ago the U.S. Bataan was sitting of the coast unused, Aug. 30th in the timeline. CJ? Conservative Jerk?
September 7th, 2005 at 9:51 pmCastro’s Jumbo!
Thank you for such detailed information. I really appreciate the ability to be informed with the facts, the real facts. It also gives me lots of information to plug into letters that I am mailing to the President, my governor, senators, and representative. People please flood our government with calls and letters that this atrocity is unacceptable.
September 7th, 2005 at 9:52 pm“Even in Cuba, people can count to 7 or 8. That’s how many days ago the U.S. Bataan was sitting of the coast unused, Aug. 30th in the timeline. CJ? Conservative Jerk”
You forgot “waiting on ordres from the govenor” who was to busy keeping the red cross’supplies out of N.O.
September 7th, 2005 at 10:07 pmInteresting…… so much conflicting information, varied comments and perceptions on the devastation/aftermath caused by Katrina. The bottom line during the past week is PEOPLE LOST THEIR LIVES due the absence of affective planning at the state/local level and an indifferent Federal Government. Politicians are playing partisan politics, posing for cutesy photo ops, ONLY working to further their own interests and the ‘Gang’ within their inner circles. Sound familiar, oh yeah, IRAQ. Same mess, except inflicted on a tri-state scale, instead of a country. One caused by a natural disaster, the other a hubris diatribe of “Good vs. Evil “, spouted by this Administration and both with disastrous results. Don’t expect Bush, Chertoff or Brown to be concerned because its business as usual, here on our soil, sacrificing our citizens to as Rumsfeld said, “Stuff happens”.
September 7th, 2005 at 10:08 pmUnfortunately, there is no one or any GROUP WILLING, (Democratic Pty particularly) to challenge the decisions that lead up to either of these tragedies. And for that, we the people will continue to pay! Too bad we’re not mad enough or respect ourselves, each other to demand change.
What should have been clear to any reasonably intelligent person after 9/11 should, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, now be clear to everyone: Our country needs a federal emergency and security force of several thousand professionals which can be dispatched to any location in the United States in 24 to 48 hours (not six days). I hope we do not have to wait a year or more for some committee to establish this obvious fact. Certainly the National Guard is our primary and long term force to respond to grave national emergencies such as Hurricane Katrina. Nevertheless it has now been vividly and tragically demonstrated that we need a separate, dedicated federal force capable of extremely rapid deployment in the event of another major natural disaster or terrorist attack. Even if we were fortunate enough to have competent and intelligent leadership in the White House, which we do not, this would still remain true.
This elite federal force would have to be ready at all times to respond to any national emergency and must be specifically disallowed by law from being deployed outside the United States. Once given the green light, the head of this federal emergency response team should be given total control at the scene of any major national disaster and be answerable only directly to the president of the United States.There should be absolutely no question as to who is in charge or what actions must be taken to provide emergency assistance and maintain order.
We must never again have tractor trailer loads of water turned away; hospital ships lying dormant off the coast of stricken cities; widespread anarchy and violence; or desperate, starving people waiting days and days for federal assistance to arrive. It is largely irrelevant how competent or incompetent local officials may be; disasters of this magnitude are ultimately a federal responsibility.
On September 6, president Bush announced that he was going to, “find out what went right and what went wrong.” When government troops and aid arrive many days after a disaster of this magnitude absolutely nothing “went right.” Furthermore the people who have not addressed these issues in the four years since 9/11 are surely not the right people to investigate the massive failure which they themselves engendered.
Feel free to dream that I am making these statements from either a left wing or right wing position. Frankly I’m sick of both “wings.” I would just like to see some intelligent structure set up to respond extremely rapidly to major disasters or terrorist attacks in the future.
September 7th, 2005 at 10:11 pmNicely put.
September 7th, 2005 at 10:20 pmnjk56 in comment 168: I don’t actually agree that highlighting Chertoff’s inexcusable ignorance of the facts on the ground “has no bearing on what happened, but may be useful for political embarrassment or to rile up partisans.”
Aren’t we supposed to presume that the president chose Chertoff because he is the best man for the job — to run our Homeland Security department — to help “make us safe”? Didn’t Bush “win” the election because the public trusted him to do a better job of keeping the country safe?
Even Newt Gingrich had the honesty to say that “it puts into question all of the Homeland Security and Northern Command planning for the last four years, because if we can’t respond faster than this to an event we saw coming across the Gulf for days, then why do we think we’re prepared to respond to a nuclear or biological attack?”
If reporters were able to make it in to the Superdome and the Convention center, then aid could have made it in too. Hell, if the average joe could turn on the TV and see these people on CNN, then the guy who is supposed to be best qualified to run Homeland Security should have known about these people by the 3rd day after the storm! Including Chertoff’s on-air confession of his own ignorance, ineffectiveness, and cluenessness 3 days into this crisis is not just a partisan “swipe” — it is a legitimate piece of evidence in deciding whether his competence, or lack of it, may have contributed to the disaster.
September 7th, 2005 at 10:22 pmBTW, the timeline pointed to by blankmeyer at 142 is pretty pathetic.
The best thing they could come up with was that Nagin’s mandatory evacuation order wasn’t good enough because he didn’t “compell” people to leave, and that if only he had used school buses, then he could have bused everybody out of harms way even if they didn’t have cars. Absolutely zero evidence is brought to bear that this would have actually been feasible. It’s a very feeble effort.
September 7th, 2005 at 10:24 pmHow about the city of N.O. hurricane evac plan and procedures. If you goto NO’s webpage its right there in large font.
September 7th, 2005 at 10:28 pmLiberals suck
I disagree with you—Bush cares very much about the polls. What? you really believed the con bush? Also I will watch with interest as 2006 comes up and then 2008 election and see if we still are in Iraq. I bet you we will not be. Watch and see!!! You guys like to keep the power.
September 7th, 2005 at 10:29 pmYou know what, it’s not about beurocracy. When it’s life or death beurocracies don’t make the decisions, and a streamlined process never helped a fool. It’s about the fools Bush put in charge who did not send a team of combat engineers with amphibious vehicles, bridges, and chainsaws to clear the road within hours. Why would you not do that???
And wtf is up with this new blame game problem solver there will be a time what went wrong and what went right set of talking points?
The scripted bits are getting dramatically worse. I think Karl is losing it. As well he should be.
September 7th, 2005 at 10:30 pmI know there is questions about homeland security and fell they did a piss poor job, but should we also bring up the one running the states homeland security department?
September 7th, 2005 at 10:30 pmYou know what, it’s not about beurocracy. When it’s life or death beurocracies don’t make the decisions, and a streamlined process never helped a fool. It’s about the fools Bush put in charge who did not send a team of combat engineers with amphibious vehicles, bridges, and chainsaws to clear the road within hours. Why would you not do that???
Because there were 8000 LA guard in LA with guess what 256 division which is one of the best eng. divisions in the guard. When did Blaco give authority to the feds over the guard. She still hasnt.
September 7th, 2005 at 10:34 pmWhen do we get to blanco’s responsibilities? Or did she not have any.Her and the mayor are cat fighting as we speak. She says the water is safe, so she shouldnt have to evac the rest of the survivors out. While the mayor is saying it is bile while video shows the fish trying to jump out of the water on to land. hilarious. Go Govenor!
September 7th, 2005 at 10:37 pm[...] Useful timeline of Katrina. [...]
September 7th, 2005 at 10:38 pmLet’s say I concede to the Republican argument that those who stayed should have expected to drown or go up to a week without food and water. Bush is still responsible for making sure the hospitals don’t go 24 hours without fuel and supplies. That is not part of the job. That is the job. President of the United States of America. That’s what you do when you assume the title.
Why why why why why oh why why why oh why are there still Bush supporters?
If I was in the slightest joking mood I would ask how drunk you think Jenna is getting right about now. Remember kids, campaign workers and spokesmodels are fair game.
September 7th, 2005 at 10:40 pmAt last, we finally know who to blame, and his name is Bush. Don’t believe me? Then go read the timeline and decide for yourself. Let’s not let Karl Rove sweep this one under the rug. Is a complete and utter failure to do one’s job grounds for impeachment? Would any of our employers tolerate such irresponsible behavior? Somehow I doubt they would so why should we? Why should we?
September 7th, 2005 at 10:42 pmIm all in for going after bush, but i believe when we find out true details from their own mouths at the hearings, its going to be bad for Blanco.
September 7th, 2005 at 10:42 pm#203: My comment was a typo. Sorry about that. I was referring to No 165 (rather than 161 as I typed), which asked why the timeline was emphasizing where Condi Rice was. Any ignorance by Chertoff is a different matter entirely.
September 7th, 2005 at 10:45 pmBecause the city of new orleans failed their own citizens. I should know I am one of them.If both sides spent as much time on the task at hand instead of debating who is right then things might have gone a little easier. Both sides should be ashamed. We knew this was coming for 40 years. Does your timeline go back that far.
September 7th, 2005 at 10:47 pm#216: The timeline needs to go back to the very first levee, since the levees make the land sink. Your point about the legendary failures, corruption, ineptitude, ineffectiveness, etc., of NO city government and Louisiana state government are well taken. Those failures contributed mightily and tragically here.
September 7th, 2005 at 10:53 pmCuba offers 1,110 doctors http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/09/03/katrina.castro/, and they are refused.
September 7th, 2005 at 10:57 pm#190 – Did you even read the Red Cross page you linked?
The state Homeland Security Department had requested–and continues to request–that the American Red Cross not come back into New Orleans following the hurricane. Our presence would keep people from evacuating and encourage others to come into the city.
Makes perfect sense to me. People need to be evacuated, not encouraged to stay.
September 7th, 2005 at 10:58 pmAll I ever seem to hear is that Nagin should have used the buses – but here’s a good reason why that wasn’t possible:
“3 Die While Fleeing Storm
An official with the East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner’s Office said three residents of a New Orleans nursing home fleeing Hurricane Katrina aboard a school bus died Sunday during an evacuation to a Baton Rouge church.
The names, ages and sexes of the dead were not available.
Don Moreau, chief of operations, said the coroner’s office responded to a call from emergency medical technicians to a Baptist church, which was the destination for the bus of nursing home patients. Once there, Moreau said one person was dead inside the church and another was found dead inside the bus.
He said the person in the bus appeared to have been dead for some time.
Moreau said the others on the bus, 21 people, were transported to Earl K. Long Hospital, where a third nursing home resident later died.
The coroner’s office has not determined a cause of death for any of the three. However, Moreau said many people on the bus were suffering from dehydration.
It is not known how long the bus was on the road, but many other travelers reported drive times from the New Orleans area to Baton Rouge of several hours.”
http://www.wdsu.com/news/4909184/detail.html
I remember watching a CNN reporter trying to evacuate and it took him ALL DAY to get from New Orleans to Biloxi, and as I recall, he never made it to Biloxi before the storm hit. There’s probably a story on that somewhere on CNN.
September 7th, 2005 at 11:04 pm#219 & #220: Why go to such lengths to conjure up possible justifications for state and local mistakes and then jump straight to condemnation if it’s federal. Should we use two yardsticks or one?
September 7th, 2005 at 11:15 pmI hope this timeline is admissible at Bush’s impeachment hearings.
September 7th, 2005 at 11:55 pmThe state Homeland Security Department had requested–and continues to request–that the American Red Cross not come back into New Orleans following the hurricane. Our presence would keep people from evacuating and encourage others to come into the city.
Makes perfect sense to me. People need to be evacuated, not encouraged to stay.
Who do you think had the supplies?
September 8th, 2005 at 12:04 am“The state Homeland Security Department had requested–and continues to request–that the American Red Cross not come back into New Orleans following the hurricane. Our presence would keep people from evacuating and encourage others to come into the city.
Makes perfect sense to me. People need to be evacuated, not encouraged to stay.”
They failed to evacuate then failed to let redcross in with If http://www.redcross.org is correct, enough food and water for those in need.
September 8th, 2005 at 12:07 amComment by SGT. clint watson — September 7, 2005
September 8th, 2005 at 12:35 amThe head of the Red Cross is a Bush appointment – they are ALL in lock step with talking points on 3 x 5 cards. They all drink the same kool aid
And karl rove planned this all knowing 200,000 voters would want to stay in Texas rather than return for the next election. mark that another rep govenor and another senate seat.
September 8th, 2005 at 12:39 amThe Chaos caused in the three states ravaged by Hurricane Katrina is everyone’s problem – Democrats and Republicans alike. These events showed how unprepared our Nation is…
This is not the time to quarrel. We must unite and give our support and help to all the residents of the three states who have lost everything, so get back on their feet again.
It is obvious there were communication problems or lack there of, specially in New Orleans. There are many incidents accounting instances where FEMA turned down nearby assistance, food, etc.
The fact that FEMA’s director, Michael Brown, was fired from his former job leaves lots to talk about. But what is more disturbing is the fact that Mr. Brown’s former job entailed observing judges at Arabian Horse Shows…
Now, I ask myself, how in the world does that qualify him (or anyone else) to be the head of FEMA? And WHO on earth found him to be “qualified” for the job?
This is truly embarrasing that the head of a US Government Agency as important as FEMA does not employ experienced and qualified personnel as head of the agency.
September 8th, 2005 at 12:44 amGood Katrina Timeline
If you want a nicely laid out timeline about what happened when during Katrina and it’s aftermath, here’s a great one from Think Progress.
September 8th, 2005 at 12:59 amRed cross officials just released a statement that they had enough supplies for the convention center and the dome. They were in place and begining to procede into New Orleans when the govenor commanded them to withdraw out of the city “If you take supplies into the CC and dome it will draw more people than are already there.”
The national guard is commanded by the govenor and the govenor only. Fema is a correspondant between homeland and state. It coordinate the efforts of red cross and salvation army.ect. It does not have authority over the responders.Fema’s blame “lies” in the fact that everyone knew the city’s evac plan was worthless and it was their job to correct it before a storm of this size. Redcross was first to respond waiting in baton rouge as the storm passed through. The govenor had full authority to bring the red cross in, yet she failed too. she also failed to let them in with the supplies while the mayor was screaming they needed them. As far as hospitals, it is the states job. They have a special state funded orginization that was made for this purpose. where where they?
as far as other countries, the only country that has been refused is iran because they wanted trade restrictions lifted before hand.
It amazes me that most of the U.S. Population is ignorant of the fact of powers between national and state. You believe Big Brother has to much power that is stripping our personal rights,and breaking the constitution, yet when it comes to breaking the constitution and the bill of rights its ok in this situation. Why? Because it benifits you at the time. The state will be held accountable as it should. Bush will be pounded by the left, but as usual they will fall short and look bad doing it.
Someone here asked about bush’s poll numbers. How about 13% fault the president(thats you+99% of the media) 26% blame state officials 61% blame no one.
If you dont get it-you dont get it. I will leave with a good luck. I hope to return to help you take your foot out of your rectum.
September 8th, 2005 at 1:05 amAm I the only one that saw the weather forecasts before Katrina became a monster?
September 8th, 2005 at 1:50 amEven the weather forecasters on Fox News said it should just give a lot of rain to Florida and the Gulf states.
It the day leading up to the transformation into a monster it was just a tropical depression off the coast of Florida. Not even a tropical storm, a tropical depression!
I’m not blaming anyone yet, this just seems very odd to me. I know I’m not the only one that saw these weather guys say it was just a tropical depression right off of Florida. I can’t be.
Framing the Attack on Bush
I am enocuraged that the political left has taken an aggressive stance on the failings of the Bush administration in its response to the Hurricaine Katrina(see commentaries by many columnists in the NYT this past week and today’s article “Democrats Step Up Criticsm of White House Response”). Their criticism is aimed at the administration’s failure to provide security and safety to the people of our country. Appropriately, they are attacking Bush at his own core issue, claiming that if we cannot swiftly and effectively respond to this ‘predicted’ natural disaster, how can we respond to an unpredictable terroist attack? Bush is not minding our nation’s security as it should.
Yet there is another framework the Left should be using in their criticism, one that only Ted Kennedy and John Edwards have touched on, albeit not directly. That is the issue of fairness and morality.
If the polls are to be believed, one of the main reasons that Kerry in particular, and Democrats in general, lost the 2004 election is that they were not seen as having a moral compass. Bush’s attack team used Kerry’s alleged ‘flip-flopping’ as an effective metaphor, creating the perception that his decision making is more about political expediency than a set of well thought-out vision and values. Bush, by contrast, was the man who stands by his beliefs and brings morality to the White House.
Of course, this is all rediculous, and as much of a sham as Bush’s ‘compassionate conservatism’. Here is an ideal opportunity to attack Bush as a president whose morality is checked at the door of his $5,000/plate fundraising dinners. His compassion does not extend to those most in need, those who can’t afford a car, or a tank of gas, or even a bus ticket out harms way. When the people who are dying are the neediest of our country, Bush’s Christian charity extends only to Trent Lott’s mansion.
To be sure, they have to be careful not to sink into a class or racism argument. Kennedy’s and Edwards’ criticism brushes a little close to this hot button. That framework won’t carry the weight with the ’swing voter’; claiming that Bush neglects the poor only makes Democrats’ arguments appear hackneyed. And there is a sense, right or wrong, among middle- and upper-class swing voters that the poor could be better off if they wanted to be, or if they worked harder. Rather, I suggest arguing that basic morality, charity, and the American value of helping one another should have been the guiding principals for the administration’s response to this tragedy. American’s all over were reaching out as much as they could, but the administration was not there to channel that energy into productive aide.
Let the arguement carry, and leave swing voters to make the conclusion that just as the Republicans in power failed to respond quickly and adequately, their values are misplaced and they lack the moral fortitude to be our representatives in government.
September 8th, 2005 at 1:57 amWe’ve all heard from various authors how you don’t want to be the messenger of bad news to President Bush. That situation, combined with the incompetent leadership of FEMA and Homeland Security certainly delayed an adequate response. If only these leaders plus Rumsfeld and McClellan and Cheney who will speak tomorrow could have enjoyed being one of the health care professionals who went to work Sunday night August28. Imagine the joy of ventilating your patient 36 continuous hrs by Tuesday night. It’s pretty difficult keeping patients clean without clean linen and running water. Then the generators run out of fuel. What’s taking so long? they might have asked. Oh the drinking water is gone, is there any left for the patients? Wow, no more food either huh? Is it Wednesday or Thursday? I’m feeling really tired now. Do I want an IV? Are you kidding? Wait, good idea. I’m right handed. Just keep trying till you get it. Please not the hand or elbow just keep trying. Hallelujah. I am dry aren’t I. Geez I wish we could clean up this guy. Damn my hand and arm is killing me. I never want to see another ambu bag for the rest of my life. Yes leaders, imagine yourself there on Thursday night in a dark hospital, still taking care of your patients, wondering when relief will arrive.
September 8th, 2005 at 2:00 am~~Most people in Georgia (where I live) seem almost oblivious to the fact that the storm even hit. New Orleans is a place many Americans never go, never think about, and may very well not know anyone affected by this storm.~~
Scott C–I hope that isn’t true. I was there 2 years ago for Thanksgiving, and fell in love with it and the people. Crazy, Historic, Warm, Decadent, I can’t think of enough adjectives to describe my feelings about New Orleans. My heart has been ripped to shreds by the scenes of the tragic aftermath of Katrina. I know this much–when it’s rebuilt (and restored, not taken over by corporations like Bally and Trump) I am soo there.
Sgt:
~~You forgot “waiting on ordres from the govenor†who was to busy keeping the red cross’supplies out of N.O.~~
Wait. Are you saying the Gov. is in charge of the US Navy? They were waiting for Blanco to give the okay–they weren’t waiting for their Commander in Chief?
And the only people I’ve heard that were keeping the RedCross out was FEMA. I would like a link to that fact, I apparently missed it while reading the newspapers and the news websites. If that’s true, if she was the one who said: if “we let RC in, it will encourage the citizens to stay and not evacuate”, then I want to get in the “Lets Shake Some Sense Into You” line. And Say “What were you THINKING?”
As for the people who come in wildly defending Bush and attacking everyone else (who I think were the ones talking about poll numbers), they have to do that–it’s their fault all this happened. They’re in super self defensive mode.
September 8th, 2005 at 2:03 amI believe that your times have not been standardised for one time zone. I think New Orleans time would be the best, also.
the reason I think your times have not been standardised is the August 30 entry: 9AM – BUSH SPEAKS ON IRAQ AT NAVAL BASE CORONADO
The WH website identifies this time as 9:04 AM PDT, which places the time in New Orleans at 11:04 AM, and that places the time of his speech very near the time Chertoff claims to have first become aware that the levee breech was unpluggable.
Bush is quoted as saying:
“Right now our priority is on saving lives, and we are still in the midst of search and rescue operations.”
“The federal, state and local governments are working side-by-side to do all we can to help people get back on their feet, and we have got a lot of work to do. Our teams and equipment are in place and we’re beginning to move in the help that people need.”
Our Intelligence Brief Beyond Belief.
September 8th, 2005 at 2:14 amDelays Hypocrisy has been properly noted and cited by Wonkette:
Tom DeLay, Then and Now
September 7, 2005
It seems that Tommy D. had no problem bring the Fed to Houston:
“…$1.3 billion allocated to
September 8th, 2005 at 2:34 amFEMA, on top of the disbursement of some $583 million in disaster
relief for Tropical Storm Allison in 2001–pretty much all of the
agency’s remaining budget at the time.”
I hope Michael Moore does a movie about Katrina. Anyone who voted for the Bush Administration should be ashamed of the the Bush Administration. The sad part is that you’d vote for him today – again – because you are so damn stupid and gullible. Blame Game- how about the Power Game? It’s all about being in power for you.
September 8th, 2005 at 3:05 amThe people in New Orleans matter. If you can’t handle the job of running this country and refuse to figure out what truly went wrong, then you should step down George Bush – Go find a baseball team to be a pet partner in or have some of your Saudi buddies invest in another failed oil start up. Some leader!
#24 – we’re slinging the truth, and it feels like mud.
September 8th, 2005 at 3:18 amBush is Gay.
September 8th, 2005 at 4:01 amHow about adding this article?
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is “very upset” that an attempt to fix the breach in the levee at the 17th Street canal has failed, and he said the challenges that the city is facing have “escalated to another level.”
Nagin said the sandbagging was scheduled for midday, but the Blackhawk helicopters needed to help did not show up. He said the sandbags were ready and all the helicopter had to do was “show up.” He said after his afternoon helicopter tour of the city, he was assured that officials had a plan and a timeline to drop the sandbags on the levee breach.
http://www.wdsu.com/weather/4917809/detail.html
September 8th, 2005 at 6:10 amMaryc, the Red Cross website as well as interviews with several members of the Red Cross are the ones directly stating that it was state officials who kept them from entering NO.
As for the Navy, while the President can order them to the area to help, which he immediately did, it is once again the state officials on the ground that have the sole authority to direct their efforts. The US Armed Forces, are not really permitted to act on US soil without being given permission by the particular States.
This cannot be stressed enough, the Constitution does not allow the Federal government to violate states rights and seize control of the situation, it must be voluntarily relenquished. As of right now, the ultimate authority in NO is still governor Blanco.
September 8th, 2005 at 8:05 amGive ‘w’ a break!
What part of you’all slaves,don’t kNOw that vacation means vacation!
come-on now, it’s hard work being prez! if it wasn’t for “go fuck you’re self” big dick chenney,’w’ wouldn’t be able to end all them ‘bad’ taxes for the billionaires!!! WE can’t afford those pesky liberal government programs like fema or medi-care or fire service or police or social security etc. etc..
‘w’ needs to empty that treasury before he git kicked out, so lets talk about the ‘boobengrabber’s veto of the gay marriage bill (CA) instead of the trillions stole by the ‘Bush crime family’.
Come on, chill folks, i kid the president of the confederate states of amerika…
Well, better late then never,ooop’s that reminds me of the ‘bin laden determed to attack amerika memo’ April 02.
and to do this to ‘red’ states, hope is dim for our ‘blue’ state of new California with the up-comin’ earthquake lush rimbo is predickin.
well, amerika, you reap what you sew…
a shout out to the Bernie Ward show on KGO.com (radio) for directing me to this site.
September 8th, 2005 at 8:36 amKatrina Timeline
The excellent Think Progress have put together a timeline for the Hurricane Katrina disaster from Friday, August 26th to Saturday, September 3rd.
September 8th, 2005 at 8:37 amIt really is horrifying. Any thinking, cari
A few observations from a “born again” realist:
I was thinking about it last night and I realized that the bizarre, almost incomprehensible behavior of the Bush administration during and after the onslaught of Hurricane Katrina does make sense once you see that they are haughty, arrogant, selfish aristocrats. It is not their inclination to think about or care about others unless they are people with money and power. Nevertheless gross incompetence on the scale exhibited during the disaster in New Orleans and the Gulf States is utterly inexcusable even for the effete upper classes.
By now even the dense and self centered minds of the ruling class ought to be developing a dim awareness that something is very wrong with the structures and procedures for dealing with major national disasters and, by simple extension, possible terrorist attacks. If we think of the United States as a giant corporation, which is in large measure the reality, we must inevitably come to the conclusion that this corporation has a huge security problem. Droning on and on about the small details of this problem, as some of you have done, is largely irrelevant to the overarching issue and the solution. Likewise the competence or incompetence of local officials such as the mayor of New Orleans or even the governor of Louisiana is largely beside the point. This is a national and federal issue. Imagine how foolish it would be if the federal government or its citizens blamed the governor of Rhode Island for a bungled and incompetent federal response to a major terrorist attack in that state and you may get the point. Don’t mistake the spin coming out of Washington for reality; these guys are merely trying to save their incompetent butts by spreading the blame around.
You know, even the old Czar of Russia had his elite dragoons who could be dispatched on a moments notice to cut off heads and restore order. Where are our federal “dragoons?” Where, four years after 9/11, is our elite, federal, anti-terrorist SWAT team? Where is our internal, rapid deployment strike force to respond to national disasters or terrorist attacks? Wake up all of you old, fat earls, barons and spoiled princelings! Wake up and protect our country and its people.
What should have been clear to any reasonably intelligent person after 9/11 should, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, now be clear to everyone: Our country needs a federal emergency and security force of several thousand professionals which can be dispatched to any location in the United States in 24 to 48 hours (not six days). I hope we do not have to wait a year or more for some committee to establish this obvious fact. Certainly the National Guard is our primary and long term force to respond to grave national emergencies such as Hurricane Katrina. Nevertheless it has now been vividly and tragically demonstrated that we need a separate, dedicated federal force capable of extremely rapid deployment in the event of another major natural disaster or terrorist attack. Even if we were fortunate enough to have competent and intelligent leadership in the White House, which we do not, this would still remain true.
This elite federal force would have to be ready at all times to respond to any national emergency and must be specifically disallowed by law from being deployed outside the United States. Once given the green light, the head of this federal emergency response team should be given total control at the scene of any major national disaster and be answerable only directly to the president of the United States.There should be absolutely no question as to who is in charge or what actions must be taken to provide emergency assistance and maintain order. Bluntly put, the head of this federal strike force must be given absolute authority over all agencies and resources including the National Guard and the military within the perimeters of a national disaster or terrorist attack. Immediate response and control are of paramount importance.
We must never again have tractor trailer loads of water turned away; hospital ships lying dormant off the coast of stricken cities; widespread anarchy and violence; or desperate, starving people waiting days and days for federal assistance to arrive.
On September 6, president Bush announced that he was going to, “find out what went right and what went wrong.” When government troops and aid arrive many days after a disaster of this magnitude absolutely nothing “went right.” Furthermore the people who have not addressed these issues in the four years since 9/11 are surely not the right people to investigate the massive failure which they themselves engendered.
Feel free to dream that I am making these statements from either a left wing or right wing position. Frankly I’m sick of both “wings.” I would just like to see some intelligent structure set up to respond extremely rapidly to major disasters or terrorist attacks in the future.
September 8th, 2005 at 9:06 amThis is a question for all the Bush supporters…what defense do you have to the fact that after hearing that the levees were breached and seeing what was going on after Katrina made landfall on the 29th that our President did not do anything to assist the people affected rather he spent the day playing guitar and vacationing on the 30th. Thank God the rest of America didn’t follow their ‘leader’.
Also, while I do believe that the people who refused to evacuate compounded the problem; it is not fair to attack and blame all of the people who were left behind. Many of the people who were stranded had NO MEANS of evacuating. The government should be doing everything they can to help them. However, I do have a problem with those who did have the means and did not evacuate. The problem I have with that is that other men and women then have to risk their lives to get them out. Personally I think that it is very selfish of those that have the means to leave and didn’t not to care about the lives of the firefighters, national guards personnel, and other emergency workers, or the families of these people. You cannot ague that they do care else they would not have stayed. Again that is not directed at the people who did not have the means; only those who knew what was going on, had the means, and refused to leave. In addition to risking emergency workers’ lives, they also increased the odds of those who did not have the means dying due to the fact that the emergency workers had even more people to rescue.
September 8th, 2005 at 9:19 amPlease continue to post and add to this timeline. It is very important for people to be able to see the machinations and manipulation of information that we are flooded with everyday. Thank you. (PS – Please add something about Barbara Bush’s unthoughtful comments as well.)
September 8th, 2005 at 9:35 amIMO Bush the Pretender and his regime should all be impeached! If they can try to impreach Clinton for lying about sex then why not them ? Their inaction caused many more to die then necessary! He will go to the grave with this on his soul!
September 8th, 2005 at 9:37 amSome Republicans make me laugh my butt off. I have to tell you: dumb, blind allegiance to a “leader” who is leading this country into ruin…helps no one, and indeed, is very Naziesque. So why do you continue to do it?
Bush failed miserably in this and many other endeavors of his. Why not admit it? Think Bush still has a majority of support in this country, by “those who elected him”? LOL, think again. I was in line behind a man in the supermarket just the other day. A registered Republican all his life, he said. And he said that he regrets ever voting for the arrogant failure that is George W. Bush.
September 8th, 2005 at 9:52 amWow! A little timeline blows the Bush-fluffers fantasies right out of the water and just listen to them whine!
Conervatives don’t have the stomach for anything more than a canned hunt.
September 8th, 2005 at 10:03 am.
How in the world there are any people left backing this President and his administration is way beyond my idea of sense and sensibility. How can they still not get it?
This administration lacks any form of desire or idea to benefit the majority of this country and governs by soundbites (Bush: We’re gonna solve this problem [extends right hand] because we’re problem solvers [extends left hand]) and smoke and mirrors…no substance.
I would not pin the entire blame on the Federal Government as there are aspects of this horrific event that also indicate poor judgment on the state and local levels, like the 200 school buses that could have been used in the evacuation being left under lock and key. But common sense illustrates that the overwhelming blame does lie at the Federal level for a lack of sufficient National Guard troops and equipment to effectively help, their now verified indifference to persons of color and the poor [if you are unaware of Barbara Bush's recent comments regarding the refugee's in Houston then you should not be posting here till you do some research and get the whole flavor of this disaster], their unbelievably and unacceptably slow response to send in aid, and now their rush to redirect all blame for any issue that comes up.
An earlier post stated:
“You liberals don’t get it. You get exactly what you deserve. You started the blame game and conservatives will finish. I want full scale investigation into what happened – FEMA, NO Mayor and Gov. Blanco. Trust me people, you just screwed yourself royally. Hate does that. LOL!!! ”
This is so typical of the mentality and attitude of the hard core Bush Supporters. He/she talks of “Hate”, and he obviously holds a real hatred of anyone he believes to be “liberal”, but he redirects his own hatred and disdain by stating it’s the liberals spewing hate … in true Republican fashion. Truly sad….
From what I’ve been witness to, it’s not the liberals out there running on a platform built on intolerance and hatred. Seems to me it’s the Republicans driving “hatred” and division in America today. They do it on the backs of our poor, our minorities, and our gay population. For my money, anyone that “uses” the plight of any group of citizens as a means for generating votes is anything BUT an example of true Christianity.
I also sincerely hope that this country WILL see an investigation into exactly what did happen in this catastrophe. I just hope that it will be an honest, open and unbiased one. However, the real possibility of that happening I am not so sure of anymore.
History has shown that a fascist approach to governing will ultimately fail after a brief wave of support, so I do have faith that ultimately people will come to their senses and grow weary of the division being seeded in this country, reject policies of inciting hatred in exchange for votes, a cloaked indifference to anyone not of means, and servitude to corporate interests [are you aware Halliburton received a no-bid contract within HOURS of the disaster…LONG before any civil assistance was given to the victims on behalf of the feds and FEMA] above the interest and welfare [for you Bushies: no, I am not implying public assistance by using the term "welfare" here] of the average American.
September 8th, 2005 at 10:11 amWhat are the Bush supporters afraid of? Obviously the truth. Some of the venom they express after they read this is ridiculous! I do have someone else to blame, however, along with the rest. I live in WI and sell Real Estate, everytime someone gets a loan, even on a HIGH cliff, the bank/lender REQUIRES a flood plain search. If it is in the flood plain, according to fema, they will NOT give them a loan unless they carry flood ins. Now, who created that cheap track housing area in the swamp that was able to wave the bank to require flood ins. or NO loan. Something is rotten in New Orleans. I think the banks got greedy and wanted to get those loans processed to the lower income people since flood ins. can cost up to $1000 per year. And only 1 in 5 homes there carry flood ins., I’ll bet it’s not the lower income homes that are covered. If these are mostly rental homes, I think the landlord is not providing a safe living condition. I hope someone checks this out.
September 8th, 2005 at 10:19 amI voted for Bush and used to listen to Randi’s show and laugh because I didn’t believe most of the Democratic spin. I supported the war in Iraq because I’m a veteran of the first Iraqi war and saw first hand what Saddam is/was capable of. Now however, I feel that we should rename the ABB crowd. Remember the Anybody But Bush Crowd? Now it should be the Abandoned By Bush Crowd. That’s how I feel. As for the Democrats-don’t let this opportunity go to waste. Keep with the facts and don’t over sensationalize them-they speak for themselves. The Democrats are a sure win for the presidency, house and senate with the upcoming elections. Don’t screw up and try to run Hillary though. She has too many skeletons in the closet. Keep with the facts and keep reporting them. The Republican’s in charge have finally hung themselves. So keep reporting the facts and don’t degenerate into the frantic wailing poor us crowd.
By the way is General Honore a Democrat or Republican? He seems to be a take charge, get things done guy.
September 8th, 2005 at 10:22 amIt plainly states on the Main Page of the Homeland Security Website that Homeland Security will be in charge of any national catastrophe or terrorist attack. Their inability to get their pants on and saddle their horse on Katrina makes me even more insecure about a terrorist attack.
September 8th, 2005 at 10:24 amInteresting story from the WaPo on federal spending priorities in Louisiana:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/07/AR2005090702462.html
September 8th, 2005 at 10:29 amEven though I never got past high school,I saw this coming.Several days before the storm hit I was discussing with friends how catastrophic this will be if it got close to New Orleans.I thought most everyone knew that the city is basically below sea level.
September 8th, 2005 at 10:35 amThe putting events in order shows how ill-prepared we were and the attitude of government toward its own citizens. I like how each factoid gives its source. Those people who think it was “local corruption and incompetence” should get an education, if only to think how they will be taken care of if/when they have a “local” national disaster.
September 8th, 2005 at 10:43 amF Pfister: You post makes good sense because it shows that everyone had a hand in this disaster. We definitely learned how important individual preparations are. Check out this booklet from FEMA:
http://www.fema.gov/areyouready/
September 8th, 2005 at 10:56 amHowever my understanding is that the mayor had the oppurtunity to use buses to get people out before aug 26, it would make sense since he is the mayor of the city. I would not rely on the federal government for any handout.
September 8th, 2005 at 11:00 am[quote]This is a question for all the Bush supporters…what defense do you have to the fact that after hearing that the levees were breached[/quote]
In Katrina’s wake, Louisiana politicians and other critics have complained about paltry funding for the Army Corps in general and Louisiana projects in particular. But over the five years of President Bush’s administration, Louisiana has received far more money for Corps civil works projects than any other state, about $1.9 billion; California was a distant second with less than $1.4 billion, even though its population is more than seven times as large.
Much of that Louisiana money was spent to try to keep low-lying New Orleans dry. But hundreds of millions of dollars have gone to unrelated water projects demanded by the state’s congressional delegation and approved by the Corps, often after economic analyses that turned out to be inaccurate. Despite a series of independent investigations criticizing Army Corps construction projects as wasteful pork-barrel spending, Louisiana’s representatives have kept bringing home the bacon. . . .
Pam Dashiell, president of the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association, remembers holding a protest against the lock four years ago — right where the levee broke Aug. 30. Now she’s holed up with her family in a St. Louis hotel, and her neighborhood is underwater. “Our politicians never cared half as much about protecting us as they cared about pork,” Dashiell said.
September 8th, 2005 at 11:12 amI love how the Republicans always blame the other guys simply because they don’t take responsibility for anything. You can add the thousands of deaths along the Gulf coast to the dead in Iraq and on 9/11. Yes, this president is simply a killing machine.
September 8th, 2005 at 11:23 amIt plainly states on the Main Page of the Homeland Security Website that Homeland Security will be in charge of any national catastrophe or terrorist attack. Their inability to get their pants on and saddle their horse on Katrina makes me even more insecure about a terrorist attack.
Thats falls at the sate of homeland security.
I love how democrats believe the feds have more power than the state, and fail to read the bill of rights, in which you so proudly preserve, that shows the balance of power between the 2. You fail to try to understand. Instead you dismiss anything that states Blanco had 75% of the authority, the LA poloticians,republican and democrats, are the most corrupt people on the planet, that fema is not a rescue orginization, that Blanco odered “shoot to kill”, and hillary will now(im almost 100% certain) she will go to LA for a “photo-op”. Will you hold her accountable. Bush did put a paperjunkie in Fema, and was late. I say *&^% the left and screw the right. Both of you guys are like brothers in love with the same girl, but unable to realize she has been calling me.
September 8th, 2005 at 11:39 amOur “Accountability President”, as he promised us he’d be, needs to account for his failure to lead a full on, timely effort to relieve the suffering in the south. Yes, of course others are also responsible, including Nagin and Blanco, but Bush is at the top, setting the tone and tenor of the response. The Timeline shows without question that the president was not on top of this, not leading, not even ordering his lieutenants to make sure they kept abreast of the situation. Chertoff and Brown, not to mention Cheney and Rice, were days behind in their monitoring.
I just wonder what could possibly explain Chertoff and Brown’s distance from the situation. I mean these two men head agencies that are responsible for all citizens’ welfare in emergency situations. There is no question that thousands, if not millions of people would be suffering in the wake of Katrina and yet the two guys who have the resources of the entire federal gov’t. behind them, and the duty to protect all of us, including poor black people, were AWOL.
Their statements on the Timeline betray their utter ignorance and lack of concern about the situation in NOLA. How could the heads of those agencies be so blase? Do they not take their jobs seriously? Did their boss fail to light a fire under their asses?
Regardless of what anyone else did or did not do, George W is utterly and unforgivably responsible for this failure.
September 8th, 2005 at 12:05 pmYour timelins does not state the fact that 1) evacuation occurs 72 hours in advance,including handicapped and those 100,000 without transportation. 2) Insurrection Act which limits governments role to policing, not evacuating. Thats the governments role by orders of law.
September 8th, 2005 at 12:13 pmriddle me this. Where are the prisoners? The “7600″. They got evaced out on sept 1, hmmmm. Nice of the govenor to think about the inmate population before her own civilians.
Lets us not forget Ivan!
Those who had the money to flee Hurricane Ivan ran into hours-long traffic jams. Those too poor to leave the city had to find their own shelter – a policy that was eventually reversed, but only a few hours before the deadly storm struck land.
New Orleans dodged the knockout punch many feared from the hurricane, but the storm exposed what some say are significant flaws in the Big Easy’s civil disaster plans.
Much of New Orleans is below sea level, kept dry by a system of pumps and levees. As Ivan charged through the Gulf of Mexico, more than a million people were urged to flee. Forecasters warned that a direct hit on the city could send torrents of Mississippi River backwash over the city’s levees, creating a 20-foot-deep cesspool of human and industrial waste.
Residents with cars took to the highways. Others wondered what to do.
“They say evacuate, but they don’t say how I’m supposed to do that,” Latonya Hill, 57, said at the time. “If I can’t walk it or get there on the bus, I don’t go. I don’t got a car. My daughter don’t either.”
Advocates for the poor were indignant.
Why to saty on top of it LA.
September 8th, 2005 at 12:15 pmNow read this? That is state government. I think some of us can not tell the difference of the 2. G.E.D.?
“If the government asks people to evacuate, the government has some responsibility to provide an option for those people who can’t evacuate and are at the whim of Mother Nature,” said Joe Cook of the New Orleans ACLU.
September 8th, 2005 at 12:16 pmIn this case, city officials first said they would provide no shelter, then agreed that the state-owned Louisiana Superdome would open to those with special medical needs. Only Wednesday afternoon, with Ivan just hours away, did the city open the 20-story-high domed stadium to the public.
Mayor Ray Nagin’s spokeswoman, Tanzie Jones, insisted that there was no reluctance at City Hall to open the Superdome, but said the evacuation was the top priority.
“Our main focus is to get the people out of the city,” she said.
Callers to talk radio complained about the late decision to open up the dome, but the mayor said he would do nothing different.
“We did the compassionate thing by opening the shelter,” Nagin said. “We wanted to make sure we didn’t have a repeat performance of what happened before. We didn’t want to see people cooped up in the Superdome for days.
Deja vu?
Not only did Nagin know that the Superdome would prove inadequate for shelter for any period longer than a few hours, he encouraged people to gather there without providing the resources he knew that shelter to lack. Instead, he ran off to Baton Rouge despite his responsibility to oversee the execution of the emergency-response plans and ranted at Bush for not reacting quickly enough to the disaster.
that was sept 19, 2004. Almost 1 year to the day.
Put that in your timeline and smoke it.
September 8th, 2005 at 12:19 pmhttp://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/091904ccktWWLIvanFlaws.132602486.html
Even the local media saw through LA evac plan.
September 8th, 2005 at 12:23 pmDamage from Katrina considered, the real damage was levy failure. Anyone know how the N.O. Levy Authority spent its money over the past few years? One Casino, Hotel, Corporate Jet….those purchases sure made the people of N.O. safe now didn’t it. And whats up with the LA State Dept. of Homeland Security telling the Red Cross they couldn’t go in with food and water for those poor souls at the Superdome, because they didn’t want the Superdome to become a magnet for others…they said they wanted to get the people out. That’s not in the timeline….and one other thing…can you place in the timeline, for clarity of course, when Mayor Nagin decided not to use the 2000 or so buses available to him? or when Gov. Blanco needed 24 hours to “think about” federal aid??
September 8th, 2005 at 12:32 pmprobably should add an entry as to when General Honore’s boots hit the ground, as his forces had been requested as early as 8/26.
September 8th, 2005 at 12:42 pmMomma always said, “there’s three sides to every story… yours, mine and the truth” I seriously doubt the word objective will ever be used in association with this blog. Mistakes were made, to be sure. People need to be held accountable. This blog is inflammatory, decidedly biased, and only serves to further divide the issue.
September 8th, 2005 at 12:55 pmI think it would be helpful to also include in the timeline any references to specifically documented warnings regarding the negligence that have already been mentioned: Such as where the Administration read and blatantly ignored taking action on reports from the Army Corps of Engineers that said the Levees would give way in the next hurricane if it was anything over a category 2.
September 8th, 2005 at 12:57 pmI simply cannot believe our absurdity and small-mindedness in this moment….while we attack each other and play politics…..doesn’t anyone see the big picture !!!!!!!! I DONT GIVE A DAMN WHO IS AT FAULT RIGHT NOW….. MORE IMPORTANTLY, WE HAVE A FUNDAMENTALLY INEFFECTIVE SYSTEM RIDDLED WITH BULLSHIT AND RED-TAPE IN PLACE AND WE NEED AN IMMEDIATE RESOLUTION !!!!!! We should realize after the past 7 days that if a “disaster” strikes anywhere in the USA right now…. none of us is safe. If we choose to expend our energies acting like 3 year olds blinded by and caught up in Washinton’s immature “politiking” games, then just make sure your “hobo” bag is packed and ready…. as you or me, may be the next group of American “refugees”…May God help us all….
September 8th, 2005 at 1:09 pmDON’T FORGET … Mr. Bush flew back to Washington on Wednesday to hastily make a recess appointment, circumventing the Senate again, as the Senate was about to end it’s recess early. The partisan poltical motive trumps over 10,000 deaths in the Bushoilini Regime yet again.
September 8th, 2005 at 1:12 pmAfter reading all of this I still don’t understand how the blame falls on the federal government.
The local and state government has responsibility for: evacuation, law enforcement, national guard, etc.
The federal government has responsibility for planning and coordinating the national support operations. FEMA does not have responsibility for direct operations during the first 72 hours. During this time the federal agencies should be (and were) coordinating the effort to get resources in route and prepared to support local operations beyond the 72 hour window.
Do you really want to say that the local and state governments responsibilities should be reduced and tranferred to the federal government. I don’t think so and I hope the aftermath of this disaster does not result in more powers being given to the federal government. There is a reason the US constitution gave only limited powers to the federal government
September 8th, 2005 at 1:17 pmLook at the picture on the timeline on Fri Sept 2 10am briefing CNN.Notice how Bush looks like he’s slumping his shoulders and thrusting out his crotch the way those super cool hiphop dudes do before the start pumping their arms the way they do when they make a point or do something to show they are just way too cool? Normally I don’t try to notice these things-I’m too disgusted by Bush to stand watching and listening to him for long.Maybe that made it easier for me to see it.
Given how he lied about the help he was promising the police and fire personnel after 9/11:
September 8th, 2005 at 1:17 pmHe promised 74 million to take care of any health problems the workers faced and then in Aug 2002 HE CUT THE ENTIRE AMOUNT FROM THE BUDGET.With all the aid promised,let’s see how much REALLY gets to the victims.
(Molly Ivins has a great discussion of it in her book BUSHWHACKED)
268, In case you hadn’t noticed 9/11 has already given the federal government more power. In fact they’ve acquired more power to do everything except what they actually need to do which is to respond immediately to massive disasters or terrorist attacks. Did you read my post under number 241? The one thing the federal government is undeniably, actually supposed to do is provide for the common defense and they have completely failed in this regard. A response to a major national disaster or terrorist attack can’t take 72 hours, that’s far too long; if that’s what the book says the book needs to be rewritten immediately.
September 8th, 2005 at 1:38 pm269, George Bush’s slumping shoulders are not the problem; the problem is his slumping, inept brain. I expect the guys in the White House to be selfish, arrogant and dishonest. I do not expect them to be totally inept and incapable of defending our cities.
September 8th, 2005 at 1:48 pm#116 MS
Unfortunately, people are confusing FEMA with several other agencies, including the La. Departement of Homeland Security.
For example, it was not FEMA that denied the Red Cross access: http://www.redcross.org/faq/0,1096,0_682_4524,00.html
#220 Ruth
The buses should have been used. The accident you point to happened AFTER the timeframe in which the busses (as called for in the disaster plan) should have been used.
—-
FEMA only has a couple thousand employees presently working on disasters and emergencies in 21 states. They do not have their own troops, fire fighters, police force and search and rescue teams. They work with the local and state agencies after these agencies have begun following their disaster plans.
Also, when in the time-line did Anderson Cooper become Geraldo Rivera. It’s sad to see Cooper take a fall like that.
Plus, the more wacko the arguements get for blaming Bush, the more difficult it will be to elect Hillary in 08. People aren’t stupid, they are insulted by both sides.
September 8th, 2005 at 1:48 pm270, I’m pretty sure that the national defense mentioned in the US constitution does not include natural disasters.
Your response to the 72 timeframe doesn’t address the question of how much responsibility does and should fall on the local governments. Remember that Louisiana was one of the states about 155 years ago that had a real problem with the federal government telling the state government what to do. Maybe the time has come to disolve city and state governments and just have one big national government.
I’m always suprised when I hear/read people say that the president is the head of the country. He’s not, he is the chief executive of the federal government. We do not have a hierarchical structure where the mayor reports to the governor and the governor reports the to president.
We have local and state governments that are responsible for most things and a federal government that has and should continue to have very limited powers. Yes 9/11 changed that somewhat but not to the degree that transfers responsibility for evacutation, law enforcement, national guard, etc.
September 8th, 2005 at 1:54 pm272, You miss the whole problem entirely. The problem is that the Bush administration has done almost nothing to organize Homeland Security in such a way that it CAN respond extremely rapidly to a major national disaster or a terrorist attack. Who cares how the incorrectly organized system is organized? Why don’t you read my post under No. 241 and respond to that?
September 8th, 2005 at 1:56 pm273, Do you propose we spend the time to analyze whether an outbreak of smallpox or a nuclear meltdown in a major city is a “natural” disaster of unimaginable magnitude or, in fact, a terrorist attack while thousands die and anarchy grips the population? It is a distinction without any difference. We are historically way beyond the time when we can afford to make those distinctions. Interpretation of the Constitution continually changes.
September 8th, 2005 at 2:05 pm273, I would never propose that we “dissolve city and state governments and just have one big national government.” I presume your statement is hyberbole for effect. What I do propose you will find spelled out under number 241. I propose we respond efficiently and with extreme rapidity to major national disasters or terrorist attacks as is befitting a nation with our vast resources and technology.
September 8th, 2005 at 2:15 pmThe nation and the people are going to spend billions rescuing these poor, stubborn people who refuse to leave, time and again. Politics have NOTHING to do with the natural disaster. Blaming the current administration is useless. Why don’t you dedicate your website to providing help and contact information?
September 8th, 2005 at 2:26 pm274, Homeland Security can respond rapidly to a disaster. They do this through state homeland security departments, those that are actually close to the emergency. The delay in sending help from D.C. to places as far away as Alaska, Hawaii, or even Louisiana to get an understanding of the situation and act upon it can be critical. Additionally, I don’t see the states giving up that kind of control. Gov. Blanco wouldn’t even give up control during the emergency.
The most important thing is for municipalities and states to have their emergency plans, and to actually follow those plans. For example, if a city plan calls for the use of buses for evacuation, evacuate people with the buses!
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-09-07-katrina-responsibilities_x.htm
September 8th, 2005 at 2:39 pm276, I imagine if the Bush administration wakes up and creates a dedicated, federal strike force on duty 24/7 to respond to national disasters or terrorist attacks you will be behind them 100% just as you are now behind them 100% when they have not had the foresight to create such an emergency federal force? No one really wants to be inept and incompetent including the people in the White House. I believe we will see changes regardless of the spin they are putting on things to protect themselves. If it matters to you, many of those “stubborn” people didn’t have any money to go anywhere or any place to stay once they got there. Sometimes it can be enlightening to actually imagine yourself in the position of others who have almost nothing.
September 8th, 2005 at 2:39 pm278, I respectfully disagree. Homeland Security has no rapid deployment, emergency response and security forces. What we need is an elite, highly professional, dedicated force on duty 24/7 to respond with lightning speed to any major natural disaster or terrorist attack. We need the leader of this force of several thousand federal troops to assume immediate and total control of the situation as soon as they are given the green light by the governor of a given state to do so. We need a law specifically forbidding this Homeland Security force from being sent outside the United States. We need this immediately before a major terrorist attack (God forbid it) throws a large portion of our nation into absolute anarchy. I cannot believe this was not clear after 9/11. Ideally this federal force could arrive in any U.S. city in 24 hours. The National Guard can arrive later and take over.
September 8th, 2005 at 2:53 pm275, yes it was hyperbole to emphasize that we need local control and authority as mentioned in #277.
The national response forces you talk about in #241 would scare the hell out of most of the framers of the constitution. The US constitition would never have been radified with provisions you outline.
Even today, do you really think that state governments want these federal forces hovering throughout the country ready to come in and take over. If these forces don’t have the authority to take over when they appear on the scene can they really be expected to be effective. If they do have the authority to take over, who decides when the take over? the feds, the locals. If its the locals then you have same problems with command and control that you are see today in LA. They won’t want to reliquish control. Whoever has the control has the responsibility.
September 8th, 2005 at 2:56 pmIn the coverage before and during the hurricane and its aftermath, one notable thing was the repeated requests for prayer. I for one am praying, for all of those affected by this diaster on our southern shores. I am praying for the city of New Orleans. And (despite dislike) I am praying for our president. I pray that Bush and those in his administration develop the strength of heart needed to look this suffering in the face, to let it in and be touched and changed by it. Then we need to all pull together and change our dependence on ancient sunlight (fossil fuels) to a source of power that is always renewable. How about the tides? We have witnessed the destructive power of water. Now is the time to harness it for good purpose.
September 8th, 2005 at 2:58 pmIf I read all of these posts my head would explode. It is of little consequence who is to blame when it’s obvious that nothing will change with our current political climate. Why bother even discussing it?
September 8th, 2005 at 3:02 pm278, If we cannot figure out a better way, then load the Homeland Security Forces in cargo planes and have them parachute into a stricken city. Have the rest of them in a caravan of high speed armored buses and dispatched to a major disaster or terrorist attack at high speed; they should be able to arrive anywhere in the continental U.S. in about 40 hours if they travel at 75 miles per hour. Furthermore these forces should be divided into zones; with say one third on each coast and one third in the midwest; this would enable one third of the force to arrive at a major national disaster or terrorist attack in under 24 hours. Come on people, this is absolutely feasible.
September 8th, 2005 at 3:11 pmI am deeply saddened by this time line which highlights the inadequacy of our administration. Why do we treat poor people like they mean nothing at all? I am embarrassed to be a part of this country.
September 8th, 2005 at 3:16 pm281, Good points. I don’t particularly like my idea either; I’m just convinced it’s necessary.
I have great respect for the founders, particularly Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. You may well be right that they wouldn’t like the idea.
September 8th, 2005 at 3:18 pmMatthew, 2 things I think you continue to miss. 1) For a disaster like Katrina is volume logistics that matter. Small forces mobile may be good for certain types of military operations but not what is going on in the Gulf Coast. These forces would have a miniscule effect. 2) You don’t seem to grasp the complex legal issues between various governments even within the US. These are real and do not just go away because there is a disaster. It would be nice to say don’t worry about it because people are suffering, but you can’t.
September 8th, 2005 at 3:18 pm287, I think you underestimate the impact of say three thousand elite special forces. Ragged armies of looters even if armed to the teeth would crumble with extreme rapidity against such professionals. The same is true for the disproportionate aid they could render. Furthermore you would have instant command and control, which was a major problem in the aftermath of Katrina. Nice chat. I gotta run now. Don’t agree on “miniscule effect.”
September 8th, 2005 at 3:28 pmMatthew. I realize you may be gone by now but what the heck I’ll respond anyway for others to read.
Looting was only one (though serious) of many, many issues over the last week. I agree that the forces you talk about would have eliminated looting in the areas they could patrol. But remember the area effected stretches for quite a distance. Imagine the uproar and accusations related to where they are deployed. Certain national figures would surely accuse the President of racism, favoritism, etc. for deploying to these forces to certain areas. When you prevent something from occuring no one pays attention to what may have occured. When the looting doesn’t occur then people will claim it wasn’t going to occur and say you had base motivations for the deployments.
You mention the instant command and control. Again, you fail to address the legal issues that will surely arise.
Can we all agree now that Bush is not evil and a miserable failure. Some things worked others didn’t. Katrina was an unpreventable natural occurance. Primary responsibility for evacuation and law enforcement are the domain of local authorities. The national guard belongs to the states unless specifically nationalized by the governor.
September 8th, 2005 at 3:53 pmlet’s face it all of our “leaders” failed the people of new orleans. maybe because they are not leaders at all just politicians.
with this ongoing tragedy, the butt covering, mudslinging, spinning, politicizing junk is beyond sickening.
a catastophe such as this identifies great leaders unfortunately none has shown up so far, hopefully one will.
September 8th, 2005 at 3:55 pmPlease add for Monday the 29th where the President declared a disaster in Louisiana and Mississippi.
September 8th, 2005 at 4:06 pmYour “report” surely cannot be complete without it.
In fact, it sounds a bit biased.
Yeah, why blame Bush?
He only nominated FEMA director Michael Brown who had NO EXPERIENCE in DISASTER MANAGEMENT, but was the commissioner of the International Arabian Horse Association. I’m sure that came in handy during Katrina.
And who could blame Bush for saying, “I don’t think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees.” Yeah, that’s why the Army Corp of Engineers and SELA were working for the last 10 years to update the levees.
And why would we blame him for a lack of funding to update the levees when, “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.”
Who could blame Bush for the insensitive, idiotic things he said in a time when our country needs a leader who can bring strength and peace to people in need.
“Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job.” –President Bush, to FEMA director Michael Brown, while touring Hurricane-ravaged Mississippi.
And this gem, “Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott’s house — he’s lost his entire house — there’s going to be a fantastic house. And I’m looking forward to sitting on the porch.”
Or…”I believe the town where I used to come – from Houston, Texas, to enjoy myself, occasionally too much – will be that very same town, that it will be a better place to come to.” Yep, a natural disaster of biblical proportions brings a joke to my lips too.
Yes, the man is a bastion of perfection, ability, and grace.
September 8th, 2005 at 4:07 pmReading thess posts is just an example how split our country is.
The fact of the matter is that the FEDS were warned by the experts of this happening almost ten years ago. The FEDS, including FEMA were told that NO would not survive a Catagory 4-5 hurricane. The local politicians felt they were OK because they never had such a hurricane and that the pumps (which are run by electricity) would be able to handle the flooding.
Reagan, Bush/Bush and Clinton are at fault for sitting on their thumbs and not taking appropriate action to protect this “soup bowl” city from disaster.
I believe the blame goes to all.
Everyone was overwhelmed, we were not prepared supply and man wise because we are spread out to thin.
Republican? Democrat? Cut the crap already. It is time to take care of our own country. Send a message to the world…….”DON’T SCREW WITH US FOR A WHILE”
Did Bush mess up? Yea, he could have put a stop to the oil company greed, somehow. Oh yea, he and Cheney own oil companies. Maybe the 40% profits are not enough.
Welfare? It needs to be overhauled! It has become a career to too many. I for one am tired of hearing that “we must help the poor”. Hey guys, middle income America will be the next to be poor. I am tired of taking care of those who won’t help themselves, black, white, blue, or red.
What’s next? Tampa Bay? The Keys? Los Angeles? San Francisco? Let’s stop pussy footing with the arab extremists, it’s WAR. Napalm the SOB’s and turn the region into a huge litter box.
September 8th, 2005 at 4:12 pmPolitical griping is getting old.
Administration read and blatantly ignored taking action on reports from the Army Corps of Engineers that said the Levees would give way in the next hurricane if it was anything over a category 2.”
I believe you may want to talk to your state senator? And ask how, when the “administration” has sent more money to the ACE in the state of LA than any other state.
Where did that money go?
September 8th, 2005 at 4:15 pmHe only nominated FEMA director Michael Brown who had NO EXPERIENCE in DISASTER MANAGEMENT
The the democrats who confirmed him, Hillary?, leiberman, ect must take the blame as well. Leiberman did state “he is the best man for the job”
September 8th, 2005 at 4:17 pmOn Sunday, August 28, late morning or early afternoon, there was an all-levels-of-government tele-conference, that Bush spoke to. I remember seeing Bush speaking to this conference call on a cable news network.
I don’t know if its on the (public) internet anywhere, but it really needs to be revisited–to see who was in charge, who took the lead on what, whether that accountability was fulfilled etc.
September 8th, 2005 at 4:40 pmYes, then those who confirmed him are no better either. I’m not stating Democrats haven’t failed in the past, present, and most-likely the future. I’m stating that those in power now, the Republicans, are failing. It’s time to give both parties a piece of our minds. We need to stop protecting them and allowing them to “loot” our country while we suffer.
September 8th, 2005 at 4:44 pmThank you for putting all the facts, times and quotes in a format that’s easy to see the sequence of the tragedy unfolding and the Federal response. Beyond the horror of what’s happening, I’m shocked at the vicious, political, and inhumane responses that people have posted here. I can’t imagine anyone having anything but compassion for all the victims and local authorities. I also find it interesting that while the President says that it’s not a time to place blame, it appears that there is a coordinate effort by his party to not only place blame, but to be heartless about it.
September 8th, 2005 at 4:46 pmKeep up your good work Randi.
Hi – you can fit this one into your timeline for Aug 30.
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/San_Diego_hospital_closed_to_acommodate_Bush_visit_No_ch_0906.html
September 8th, 2005 at 4:55 pmIf you are a republican defending Bush, you are wrong. He is to blame. If you are a liberal attacking him, you are wrong. Every politician at the federal, state, and local level is to blame INCLUDING democrats. This disaster shows that our elected officials are absolute failures at doing the only thing they are suppose to be doing: Working to make our lives better and safer.
September 8th, 2005 at 4:59 pmI think that the American Government should be ashamed of themselves for leaving all those people in the Dome in Louisiana all of those days without any food or water. I am proud of the Americans who stepped up and donated food, clothes, water and whatever they were able to donate to help out the victims of Katrina. I am especially proud of Julia Roberts for speaking to the people and understanding what they have been through, you can tell her actions were genuine. Julia spoke to the people and listened to their horror stories, she also showed compassion for what they have been through.
September 8th, 2005 at 5:06 pmThe government has not been an absolute failure. If you really look at everything that has been done since last Monday you should be grateful that we have the ability to save so many people.
The sad fact of reality is that if you live below sea level surrounded by water and a big huricane hits you will be at grave risk. You can’t stop it and the recovery will be long, terrible, and confusing.
You can jump up and down and say this shouldn’t happen but we live in the real world and it will happen no matter what you do.
September 8th, 2005 at 5:08 pmIt has been my impression that the President swore to “preserve,protect and defend” etc, etc.. And I seem to recall that someplace there are words about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. While Bill Clinton was impeached essentially for screwing Monica, Bush is being applauded for the wonderful job he’s doing of letting people die in the South. Is there something I’m missing here?
September 8th, 2005 at 5:13 pmWhere is William Lokey?
I just read the WH press release for the Louisiana State of Emergency, and am wondering where William Lokey is.
Everyone’s going after Mike Brown, but William Lokey was supposedly appointed as the man on the spot — FEMA’s Federal Coordinating Officer for *this* disaster. HE should have the answers on what went wrong in the lead-up to the hurricane and in its immediate aftermath.
But where is he now?!?
Here’s the only decent info I’ve found on Lokey, thus far, and his quotes may explain why he’s (been?) “disappeared”…
From the Times-Picayune –
Political storm brewing over Katrina disaster
By JOHN McQUAID
…
FEMA officials pleaded “no contest.”.
Bill Lokey, chief coordinator for FEMA, said agencies were simply overwhelmed by the scale of the challenge. “It’s the nature of the disaster,” he said. “This is far beyond anything we’ve ever done in this country. It’s beyond our immediate capabilities for sure.”
Lokey said rescue workers have been hampered by floodwaters, and by the fact that many of the resources they needed were not available nearby and had to be brough in. And because the storm damage was spread across three states, FEMA’s resources have also been spread out, he said.
http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_Times-Picayune/archives/2005_09.html#076488
That’s the ONLY mention of Lokey’s name in the ENTIRE Times-Picayune breaking news scroll for September. I’d think he’d be the main man, given he’s the appointed FEMA coordinator for Katrina — but what’s happened to him?
If anyone finds out what happened to him, I’d love to hear.
Regards,
Karl K
Schaumburg, IL
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103×152836
September 8th, 2005 at 5:15 pmThis time-line is slightly misleading. It states above that the time-line is a catalog of important Katrina events. Some of the events are not relevant to Katrina, like birthday cakes and ballgames.
September 8th, 2005 at 5:16 pmYes, you are missing reality.
The President swore to “Preserve, protect, and defend the consititution of the United States” not the City of New Orleans. The consititition of the United States clearly outlines what the authority the states have transferred to the Federal Government. None of it has anything do to with recovering from a Huricane.
If you hate Bush, fine, but this Huricane has nothing to do with it. You’re only using it to promote your political views. Its disgusting.
September 8th, 2005 at 5:19 pmI found the actual timeline helpful. I even found some of the info in comments helpful. What I find so sad is that this nation is still so divided.
I AM NO BUSH SUPPORTER, HOWEVER — this is the VERY FIRST TIME IN 5 YEARS that I have heard him admit that mistakes were made by his people and I will give him credit for that. If he (and others – Demo and Republican alike) would do more “stepping up”, perhaps we could stop wasting our time “playing the blame game” (I can’t believe I am using the latest Republican spin phrase…) and start improving the processes that failed the people of the Gulf region so miserably.
I will say this… I remember Bush declaring a Federal Emergency prior to the Katrina hitting land, and thinking, “WOW, that’s pre-emptive! I didn’t even know that could be done… Good job!” Then, on Monday, watching the news, thinking, “Why doesn’t SOMEBODY, ANYBODY, drop food and water to those poor people?!!!” I remember our forces doing that for tsunami victims almost immediately… where the hell were they, when poor American citizens needed the very same kind of help???
Last comment? The Northeast Dilemma is a pathetic hate monger, whom I feel very sorry for… what a sad existance…
September 8th, 2005 at 5:21 pmHow can Republicans sleep at night? All they do is lie and defend the in defendable. You guys run all branches of Government you’ve had four years of scaring the hell out of the people by saying your the party to defend us against catastrophic events and this is what we get. GREAT JOB!!
It’s clear the infrastructure of this country has been eating away by fat tax cuts and a needless war. Propaganda wasn’t going to help the people in Bama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
I tell you what? why don’t we blame the black Mayor and the Female Governor? This whole thing is disgusting. God forbid the Republican are accountable for anything goes wrong.
September 8th, 2005 at 5:41 pmThanks for the timeline. I was sleeping, taking a shower, taking a crap, eating,then I went to work, came home, watched tv and then went to bed and had sex. So now, am I to blame also?
September 8th, 2005 at 5:48 pmThank you. Only wish times when Bush people pushed for Homeland Insecurity and requests for levee dollars were mentioned.Understand your nice compact timeline would have become a volume.Thanks again
September 8th, 2005 at 5:52 pmThank you for posting a simple, understandable chronology. I have one question, though. And it concerns many of the comments posted here. Why are so many people so bound and determined to alibi the criminal in the White House and his accomplices? And why are you so determined to blame the people of New Orleans? If George W. Bush murdered someone on the White House lawn you guys sound like you’d all line up to say he was at your house watching TV and that the victim asked for it. -sheesh-
September 8th, 2005 at 7:07 pmYou liberals are so blinded with the hate that drives you. Understand the vast majority of the people who have died, have died due to the levee’s breaking, not hurricane Katrina itself. That said, everyone in NO and LA, from the people on the street to the Gov. knew the levees were build to stand a Cat. 3 hurricane. Emergency response and plans are made by the cities up. They are responsible for getting their citizens out of harms way of a Cat 5 hurricane BEFORE said hurricane hits.
If these city and state “leaders” were worried about their citizens, they would removed them from harms way. I know, I know, they are poor, they don’t have the means to leave. Well guess what, that’s nothing new. The leaders knew this and as good leaders do, they should have planned for this.
Even if FEMA and Bush had 20,000 soldiers, tanks, helos, battleships, and WMD’s ready to go after the last gust of wind from Katrina past NO, due to the levee breaches and the city under 10 feet of water the rescue still would of been at a snails pace and a lot of people would still have died.
You know what would be nice on your glorious timeline? Local and state govenments ording a mandatory evacuation for the flood prone NO with a cat. 5 storm looming two or heck, 3 days before the storm hit. I bet there would be the same or less deaths as AL and MS, but what would you blame on Bush?
Not only do you all have political blinders on, your heads are buried in sand or Mississippi mud in this case.
Cheers.
September 8th, 2005 at 7:39 pmMSNBC is now pushing for Jeb Bush to be the administration’s relief czar… they are toting he did such a great job in Florida. Has is occurred to anyone that Mississippi and Louisiana are the two poorest states in the union? They do not have the tax dollars for sophisticated relief systems, let alone the personnel to do the job. What did Jeb have? and for that matter ex-New York officials should own their communication/relief errors and quit spouting off what N.O. should’ve done. Arghhh!
September 8th, 2005 at 8:13 pmThis was a natural disaster on a vulnerable city; any administration going back years could have addressed this problem. But this is an administration that called Congress in on holiday to interfere in a State matter over a women who had been dead for 15 years.
Why did they watch on TV for 4 days before doing anything for Gulf Coast? NOT JUST NEW ORLEANS the whole Gulf Coast.
If they are happy to step into State matters to appease their base why didn’t they do it here??????
September 8th, 2005 at 8:17 pmThere is enough blame to go around, especially with the Governor of LA who played politics from the beginning.
September 8th, 2005 at 8:47 pmWhen’s the “Bush sat on his hands so Cheney’s Halliburton can get a juicy contract” spin going to start?
Someone should email Palosi (cc: to Michael Moore so he can get his cameras ready)
September 8th, 2005 at 8:56 pmTuesday, August 3 at 3:00pm in Crawford. Sounds like Nero fiddling while Rome burned.
September 8th, 2005 at 9:38 pmAbove and beyond politics, recent studies on short attention span are worth investigating.
People helping people, when FEMA didn’t stand in the way, did more for Katrina Victims than the government did.
Great Timeline ! = Thank You.
http://www.flyingsnail.com/Dahbud/dahbudmainmain.html
September 8th, 2005 at 9:44 pmI don’t doubt what you wrote in your timeline for one minute. I do hope we (the American people) will learn the truth this time. I will never vote Republican again. This current Republican administration has done nothing to help the American people with the exception of a possible a hand out to those who are rich business owners.
September 8th, 2005 at 9:49 pmThe one thing completely overlooked in this is that there is a thing called states rights. (The south should remember it well, as they went to war over it) It is irony at its best to see a southern state complain that the fed did not rush in and usurp states rights, regardless of the circumstance. You can’t have it both ways. If the federal response is so poor, than WHY is Alabama and Mississippi getting the aid that they need? Because they ASKED FOR IT. I know that a number of states TRIED to send police officers and were TURNED BACK by the Louisiana State Police and told that they didn’t need help. (This happened while there was chaos shown on national TV) Additionally The Mayor of New Orleans cared so much for his constituents that he made sure that his influential friends got “first out” privileges instead of those in the most need. Seems to me that the locals have a lot of blame in this.
The only way that Pres Bush could have gone in without the requisite permission would have been to enact the following executive orders
* EXECUTIVE ORDER 10990 allows the government to take over all modes of transportation and control of highways and seaports.
* EXECUTIVE ORDER 10995 allows the government to seize and control the communication media.
* EXECUTIVE ORDER 10997 allows the government to take over all electrical power, gas, petroleum, fuels and minerals.
* EXECUTIVE ORDER 10998 allows the government to take over all food resources and farms.
* EXECUTIVE ORDER 11000 allows the government to mobilize civilians into work brigades under government supervision.
* EXECUTIVE ORDER 11001 allows the government to take over all health, education and welfare functions.
* EXECUTIVE ORDER 11002 designates the Postmaster General to operate a national registration of all persons.
* EXECUTIVE ORDER 11003 allows the government to take over all airports and aircraft, including commercial aircraft.
* EXECUTIVE ORDER 11004 allows the Housing and Finance Authority to relocate communities, build new housing with public funds, designate areas to be abandoned, and establish new locations for populations.
* EXECUTIVE ORDER 11005 allows the government to take over railroads, inland waterways and public storage facilities.
* EXECUTIVE ORDER 11051 specifies the responsibility of the Office of Emergency Planning and gives authorization to put all Executive Orders into effect in times of increased international tensions and economic or financial crisis.
Now, if Pres Bush enacted all of the above, do you think he would have been accused usurping states rights, individual rights, the ACLU would be suing and the media accusing him of being a mad power hungry maniac. (Remember, these would be enacted nationwide, not just in New Orleans)
Additionally, he was relying on the accuracy of the reports from the LOCAL officials, not the media. (we all know that the media is a bunch of straight shooting folks right?)
Please think before accusing the president of inaction. That is of course if you still consider personal freedoms afforded by our constitution mean anything.
September 8th, 2005 at 10:00 pmThanks so much for providing this resource, which helps to combat the one second to another revisionism that enters any debate with neo con lunatics.
Dear Northeast Delimma,
When you die and go to hell, you will awaken as someone at the mercy (or lack thereof) of people just like yourself.
September 8th, 2005 at 10:05 pmno. 319. (duh-its-states-rights-stupid)
Gov. Blanco’s declaration of a state of emergency and request for federal help before the hurricane even hit gave Bush and the feds the power to sidestep all of that. He was inactive.
Find another excuse.
September 8th, 2005 at 10:09 pmThe only way that Pres Bush could have gone in without the requisite permission would have been to enact the following executive orders …
The most powerful man on the planet absolutely paralized by the concept of A MEMO! Oh my lord, just think of the paper cuts that could have ensued!
Seriously, I don’t recall Goober McNero asking my permission before sending the California National Guard halfway around the world.
I want my Guard back. Now!
September 8th, 2005 at 10:14 pmWow. This site is just full of kooks. If any of you live in this great state of Louisiana and have a pulse, you would know just how corrupt our politicians are and how incompetent our present governor is. She is just trying to weasel out of taking responsibility for her own shortfallings. I only hope the feds don’t give her a blanco checko because she will just blow it on pork projects, like that stupid sugar mill in Lacassine, or build a lake in her backyard and call it “economic development”. She is a horrible governor, just look at our budget. This year alone she managed to increase spending by 1 billion, and none of it was for teacher payraises. It’s a shame it had to take maybe thousands of lives being lost for our incompetent, corrupt politicians to be exposed, but so be it. As for that sorry excuse for a mayor New Orleans has, well, he needs to go too. Why can a black politician swear because he’s upset nobody is doing his job, and it’s just fine? I wonder if would have been as acceptable if on Sept. 12th Rudy would have said ’somebody need to git dey ass up ‘eya and do sumthin’, or if the media would have tagged him as an incompetent, uneducated, lazy, sorry excuse for a mayor? I would guess door # 2. It IS a black and white issue though. The mayor is getting a pass on his behavior in front of the camera and his lack of leadership because everyone is scared of being veiwed as racist. The fact is he’s just a Louisiana politician getting a pass because of his party and color. Call me what you will, but that’s just the way it is.
September 8th, 2005 at 10:36 pmhuh… while there is blame to go ALL around, I am shocked a site so anti-Bush would have forgotten a few things on their timeline such as:
Friday: FEMA urges New Orleans Mayor to evacuate the city
Friday night: Mayor takes no action
Saturday: President Bush personally calls Nagin strongly urging evacuation of New Orleans.
Saturday night: Mayor Nagin does… nothing.
Sunday 9:30AM – More than 12 hours later Mayor Nagin FINALLY calls for evacuation of city
Sunday morning – more than 400 buses, at the city’s disposal, which could have been used to evacuate over 20,000 people, remained parked in parking lots
Sunday afternoon – more than 400 buses, at the city’s disposal, which could have been used to evacuate over 20,000 people, remained parked in parking lots
Sunday evening – more than 400 buses, at the city’s disposal, which could have been used to evacuate over 20,000 people, remained parked in parking lots
Monday afternoon = more than 400 buses, at the city’s disposal, which could have been used to evacuate over 20,000 people, remained parked in parking lots
Tuesday – over 400 buses are rendered useless due to flooding
September 8th, 2005 at 11:24 pm321, sorry to interrupt your delusion but the simple fact is that a Governor declaring a State of Emergency has absolutely no legal affect on the transfer of control. Legally, and if you look at the actual declaration you can see this, it is a request for federal resources to be transferred to the State. It includes a list of specific resources that the Governor is requesting to handle a specific emergency, but at all times the Governor retains full authority. It would be like you saying that if you went into a restauraunt and ordered a steak the restauraunt now owns your house, car and family.
That’s not to say that control cannot be nationalized, but that requires a completely seperate document which Governor Blanco has so far refused to sign, even after Bush specifically requested her too, which is her right.
So please, everyone, stop trying to ignore the Constitution so that you can try and justify your hissy fits. It seperates State and Federal rights for a reason folks. While in this case the seperation of powers may have done more harm than good (and that is in little doubt), in general it prevents the very thing that most of you constantly accuse Bush of doing, turning the US into some form of facist state.
Really people, the President doesn’t have a quarter of the powers you all seem to think he does. In fact legally, he has far fewer powers than most other national leaders simply because the Founding Fathers wanted to prevent anything resembling a Monarchy from ever occuring.
September 8th, 2005 at 11:59 pmThanks for the timeline. It should be required reading for all, especially the Bush spin machine that is working frantically to dispute the facts and provide the public with their version of what they want us to think. That is, if anyone bothers to think anymore; instead, they listen to Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity or watch Fox News. I’m grateful for the information that you provide every day with your Progress Report.
September 9th, 2005 at 12:04 amNo one has mentioned the fact that, even though NO had secured federal funds for the levee repairs, they did not do what they needed to do to secure LOCAL matching funds, making the federal funds unreachable. They simply didn’t get their act together.
Also, the citizens of New Orleans VOTED DOWN the necessary tax increases to provide local funds to repair the levee.
Bet they wish they had voted for it.
And as for the partisan politics associated with this timeline…uh, duh. You’re a leftist organization…of course you have a slant. “Bush staged a photo-op” “firefighters who are used as props”…hmm, yeah, no bias. I would assume that a timeline posted on a GOP site would also have a slant. We can’t deny our inclinations toward our own right or left wing line of thinking, for pete’s sake. I wish everyone would just friggin’ admit it.
September 9th, 2005 at 12:22 amRegarding post #204 by JJMG-
Did you know that evacuating people on buses is exactly what is stated in the state’s own evacuation plan?
September 9th, 2005 at 12:25 amIt now appears that the head of the Salvation Army has pretty much echo’d the head of the Red Cross’s statements from yesterday, while fully ready and able to give aid to those trapped in NO after the flooding, STATE officials prevented them from entering the city. Notice the spelling people, that’s S T A T E not F E D E R A L officials that prevented them from entering.
In fact it was in large part due to the federal government, primarily through FEMA, that these organizations were prepared, in advance, to help anyone trapped after the storm hit but the Governor decided that allowing them to enter the city, even to bring supplies to the evacuation sites, would only encourage people to want to stay. While that might have been true to a very small part (and mostly for people still in their homes), I’m sure the tens of thousands of people trapped at the Superdome and Convention Center were not thinking, “if I only had a sandwich and a coke I think I could really get used to this place.”
September 9th, 2005 at 12:55 amGood work on the timeline, thanks.
From September 1, the day before Bush held up the rescue efforts with his photo op, I would add this from Scotty McClellen discussing Bush’s earlier flyover:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/09/20050901-2.html
The one thing that the pilots aboard Air Force One did, at the direction of the President and the White House, was to make sure that the flyover in the region was in no way going to disrupt the ongoing response and recovery efforts, the ongoing search and rescue efforts. That’s why they were in close contact with people on the ground in the region, authorities on the ground, to make sure that the level we were at, and where we were flying over was in no way disrupting those ongoing activities. So they were very careful about that.
President Wrongway Peachfuzz is always yapping about the Golden Rule. What is with the whole Bush family and not being able to even see the other guy, let alone treat him as they wished to be treated?
September 9th, 2005 at 2:05 amI notice on your “timeline”, there is no mention of what Louisiana Govenoress Blanco was doing after Mon. 29 Aug, 9:00 a.m. Oh, and this comes from a former Louisiana resident.
Chain of command: mayor, govenor, federal govt.
No other comment necessary.
September 9th, 2005 at 2:14 amHere’s some on Bush’s call to Blanco NOT the Mayor as the borg states.
http://mediamatters.org/items/200509060011
September 9th, 2005 at 2:24 amAs if you needed further proof as to who was in charge in NO, yesterday Mayor Nagins ordered a mandatory evac of the city through the use of force if necessary (a day late and a dollar short but at least he’s finally calling for it). As of tonight, Governor Blanco said she would not authorize a mandatory evac and that one could not be legally carried out without her approval. So as has been the case many times over the last week, one group (the NO police force in this case) has been given one set of instructions only to be over ridden by the Governors ruling. And you wonder why there was so much confusion on the ground. This is a week later, with the height of the crisis past and most of the citizens already out and they still can’t get their act together.
Apparently Blanco’s waiting for someone to tell her it is unsafe for people without a supply of food, clean water, power, in many cases adequate shelter and surrounded by toxic waste the CDC has stated contains a minimum of 10 times the maximum safe levels of bacteria (not to mention various other industrial compounds with unknown affects on humans) to continue to live there. The fact that it appears at least a dozen people have already died due to water born illness, and those were people who had already been evacuated, as well as the thousands being treated for possible infections and chemical burns from exposure to the water doesn’t seem to register with her. But it’s important to notice that at no time did she in any way infer the Federal government even had a say in the matter.
September 9th, 2005 at 2:26 amNew entry for your timeline.
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1103003,00.html
It appears FEMA Director Michael Brown’s resume is primarily a fantasy. Not only did Brown not know there was a hurricane but he didn’t even know WHAT a hurricane was.
The best thing a former employer can say is that Mike wore a suit and a starched shirt. I guess that’s better than some places who say he never worked there.
September 9th, 2005 at 3:17 amFor those beating up congress for Michael Brown’s confirmation. His resume on paper looked pretty good. It’s only today we find out it’s all fantasy. Does no one do a background check – things like education and work experience – on the people they hire or confirm for these top federal positions?
As to blaming Republicans or Democrats, who the hell cares. Put any label you want on the leaders. The fact remains that they didn’t do a good job. The federal FEMA agency was asked for help two days before the hurricane. No one showed up to help for six days. That’s too long when a city full of people have no food or water and thousands are dead/dying. I don’t care what they are. I just care about replacing them with people who can and will do the job, hopefully before the next disaster.
September 9th, 2005 at 3:27 amIn some way or another, everyone played a part in this tragedy. Though some played a much bigger part than others. Who can really say who was solely responsible for it? But I’m sure someone will be publicly blamed before the month is over.
The issue really isn’t what happened beforehand. Something tells me that the Katrina survivors could care less about who said and did what. The real issue is that this should have never happened, not the hurricane itself but what happened afterwards. Did any of you see the special on Oprah? It shed some light on the vague details that the media had been spouting. Thousands of people holed up in an environment not much safer than the one outside. No electricity, water or food, living in human waste, children being raped in the non-functional bathrooms, shootings and fighting and a lot of other horrors that no child or adult should ever have to witness or endure..no matter what your race or income. We are the richest and most powerful country in the world yet we failed to protect our own in the worst natural diaster known to man. Countries less fortunate than us, that we have bullied in the past and present are giving aid while our own governement was MIA. I hate Bush and his administration as much as the rest of you, and I wasn’t even voting age when he actually won this election amd I live in a red state. The timeline was halpful in showing what our so called leaders were doing at the time. But now really isn’t the time for finger pointing. This country owes the entire city of New Orleans and probably the state too, a very big apology. For we have caused some deep psychological scarring that will affect them for the rest of their lives. I pray that this country comes to its senses by the time Bush is out of office. But if we don’t, may God help us all.
September 9th, 2005 at 4:04 amBlame happy!
September 9th, 2005 at 4:06 amSomething lacking in the timeline
Thursday, September 1
Red Cross: State rebuffed relief efforts
Louisiana officials rebuffed American Red Cross requests to enter New Orleans with relief supplies last week because of concerns over logistical difficulties, Red Cross and state officials said Thursday.
The Red Cross never launched its relief effort in the city.
The national president of the American Red Cross, Marsha Evans, first made the request to undertake the operation during a visit to the state on September 1, three days after Hurricane Katrina struck, a local Red Cross chapter official said.
Vic Howell, chief executive officer of the agency’s Louisiana Capital Area Chapter, said he renewed that request the next day to Col. Jay Mayeaux, the deputy director of the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.
“We had adequate supplies, the people and the vehicles,” Howell said at a news conference in Baton Rouge. “It was the middle of a military rescue operation trying to save lives. We were asked not to go in, and we abided by that recommendation.”
Mayeaux, appearing at the news conference with Howell, said he had asked the Red Cross to wait 24 hours for conditions to be “set” for the operation.
September 9th, 2005 at 9:14 amWhen will the poor people of New Orleans, and other cities realize that the Democrats are not helping them? You would think they would figure out that the reason they’re poor and uneducated is because that’s the way the Democrats want them.
September 9th, 2005 at 9:19 amIt’s funny how this governoment was ready to impeach President Bill Clinton for his immoral actions which did NOT affect anyone in the United States at ALL directly or indirectly. So, what type of reprimand should be suitable for a President that commits genocide? President Bush was well aware of the fact that those levees could only sustain through a Category 3 storm. I gues him being God he knew one stronger than that would never happen. He stopped the necessary work that was being done on the levees and cut the budget for its completion. He is directly responsible for the flooding that took place in New Orleans and thus the death of thousands that have not and may not ever be found. Now the FEMA director is about to be used as a scape-goat for an after the fact reaction. George Bush had time to do something beofre the fact! Can we fire him?
September 9th, 2005 at 9:21 amThis national disaster is not about blame. The actions of the the sitting administration demonstrates behavior that defies leadership.
True leadership must begin with a perception of strength followed by an action plan driven by vision. I do not see this in evidence. Rather I see callous, self serving, self congratulatory, rudderless behavior. Openly living the good life in the face of this disaster does not inspire public confidence. In our system, the buck has to stop somewhere. In the public eye, that means the desk of the president.
We are a wealthy land, we are ALL Americans and there is enough for a good life to be available to all. The disaster throws the existence of an American third world into the spotlight. The class polarity is obvious. Our current leadership has the responsibility of developing a strategy to rebuild the area so that its residents can return to their homes. The question is whether they have any REAL ability to do so.
I applaud Americans who are sharing what they have to help their neighbors. In the best scenario, we will discover some true leaders as a result.
September 9th, 2005 at 9:26 amThat is such bull. I’ve lived in Louisiana all my life and know for a fact that federal money going to the levees, were never used for the levees. Why should Congress give anymore money to something that was a black hole? And why not spread some of the blame on Mary Landreau? People have know since the 60’s that the levees would not withstand a cat 4. How come your hero Clinton never did anything? You people do not live in reality, your remarks are derived from your hatred of Bush and are in no way based on facts.
September 9th, 2005 at 9:31 amCan the victims of Katrina sue the federal government for this dereliction of duty? Clearly there is some negligence here as its obvious that the proverbial ball was dropped before Katrina and it continues afterwards…resulting in many thousands suffering as a result in ways that are unspeakable. NOLA had asked for $150M to bolster the levies and only received $34M (a bandaid) from the fed. gov’t, despite the fact that the levies were structured back in 1969 for barely a CAT 3 hurricane! According to the Army Corps of Engineers the powers that be decided that the cost of doing it right the first time back in’69 (Cat. 5 & higher) would have been too expensive since the probability of a category 5 hurricane to hit them would be not worth the speculation. Now one of the worst disasters to hit our Nation in its history has just threw up all over them! Why is it that we can DONATE millions and millions of dollars to other foreign plights (even a war in Iraq – costing us multi BILLIONS)all over the world, yet we cannot $150M to bolster an outdated levy system in one of our National treasure cities? I’ve seen lottery winners win that much! Was anyone paying attention when hurricanes plummeled the south JUST last year – and a few times targeting NOLA with potential cat. 4 and 5 winds? Clearly judging by the last hurricane season and this one (which was predicted to be another and maybe and even more “hurr”endous season by the National Weather Service) – it seems that the federal government’s agencies don’t care nor listen to warnings. The citizens of the US can AT LEAST expect that in this country that their safety is a top priority – afterall isn’t that why we have funded FEMA, Homeland Security, DHS, etc….For ALL the billions of taxes we pay in this country, is that too much to ask of a government FOR THE PEOPLE and BY the PEOPLE? Living in Florida, I know that only by the grace of God are we not the victims of a hurricane or natural disaster TODAY. And those of you in other states not touched by cat. 5 hurricanes, you still have your natural disasters too – has this response been good enough for you IF it were you? I just wonder what response our State would have had being that the governor of our State is Bush’s brother in this situation? Surely far different. My heart and prayers go sincerely out to those victims of Hurrican Katrina.
September 9th, 2005 at 10:14 amhttp://www.gratisnet.com/KatrinaHelp.pdf
This is a letter that Lousisana governor Blanco sent Bush on Aug. 28. It lists the southeastern Gulf parishes that are not mentioned in 8/27 White House FEMA document (http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050827-1.html). Presumably she sent the letter because she couldn’t understand why the document listed only the non-Gulf parishes.
We know that Bush asked Blanco to sign over power of the Louisiana National Guard to him ,and that the White House claimed that she had never declared a state of emergency (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/03/AR2005090301680.html). Had they intended to blackmail her into cooperating by withholding aid and/or publicly accusing her of not filing the paperwork correctly?
September 9th, 2005 at 10:34 amLet me start off by saying that I am not a very political person, but listening to the garbage from BOTH parties really upsets me. First of all, I can’t believe everything little thing that I read or hear. I just read a “time-line” yesterday that stated the complete opposite of what was written here. For me I guess I really have to do some digging for myself to really find out the truth. The thing is, we might not ever really find out the truth. I voted for Bush, twice. I believe in him and that I made the right decision in doing so. But, I’m also not saying that he has never made mistakes. No President has ever been or ever will be perfect. What makes me sad about this whole situation is exactly what everyone has played a part in on this website…it’s Division. We are not going to agree on who should’ve, could’ve and would’ve because the truth is NO-ONE really knows! So, why be so upset. If this country could actually come together and just focus on the REAL problem that these people were hit by a disastrous hurricane and now have been removed from their lives as they know it and quit playing the blame game, maybe we’d get somewhere. I’m from Houston and you wouldn’t believe the amount of survivors that have come into our city. What has blessed me more than anything is that MY city has come together and people have given and done everything they can to help their FELLOW AMERICAN’s out. Donating food, clothing and their time. These survivors have lost their family and friends and homes. Every single person has a story to tell. The one thing you DON’T hear from them though, is complaining about the Government. A lot of these people are being taken care of by the government, even before this tragedy happened. If this had happened to you and your family, you probably wouldn’t be focusing on what the government should do for you. You’d be happy to be alive. What I challenge all of you to do is to be a part of this. Do something if you feel like others haven’t done enough. Come down to Houston and volunteer or donate your money to the Red Cross who IS doing something. You can not sit there and complain if you are not doing anything yourself.
September 9th, 2005 at 10:55 amI’m deeply sadened by the tone of the Democratic party on this issue. I looked at both the Republican web site and the Democratic web site. The Republican web site does not accuse anyone and is very positive oriented. The site here is nothing but negative unproductive rhetoric. I’m ashamed to be an American reading the content of your site. I hope for all our sakes that the Democratic Party (whom I must admit was a great organization before radicals hijacked it) comes to its senses before our country is torn apart. We have just had a national disaster and all that I see here are wild acusations that should be addressed AFTER the rescue efforts.
September 9th, 2005 at 11:09 amI’m deeply sadened by the tone of the Republican party on this issue. I looked at both the Republican web site and the Democratic web site. The Democratic web site does not accuse anyone and is very positive oriented. The Republican sites are nothing but negative unproductive rhetoric. I’m ashamed to be an American reading the website content of right wing cheerleaders. I hope for all our sakes that the Republican Party (whom I must admit was a great organization before radicals hijacked it) comes to its senses before our country is torn apart. We have just had a national disaster and all that I hear from our federal government whose main being is for our protection, is we don’t want to play the blame game.
Love it or leave it! Isn’t that your line?
-Hype
September 9th, 2005 at 11:44 am“These survivors have lost their family and friends and homes. Every single person has a story to tell. The one thing you DON’T hear from them though, is complaining about the Government.”
Another Republican who didn’t watch the news at all. What a loser. I had another one last week telling me this was all the Governor’s fault and when I asked him if he watched the coverage at all, he said he hadn’t. Just like our Republican controlled Federal government, Republicans don’t care or are indifferent. They don’t watch the news, read the newspaper or educate themselves through books. They watch the TBN, read the bible and often care more about sports than reading books.
-Hype
September 9th, 2005 at 11:50 am263 says: “I just wonder what could possibly explain Chertoff and Brown’s distance from the situation.”
In light of what we’re learning about their backgrounds, I’m reminded of a movie I saw years ago (possibly “The Candidate” with Robert Redford?). After stuggling to get elected, the figurehead/puppet candidate finally achieves his goal –elected office– and says, “Great. Now what do I do?”
319 says: “Please think before accusing the president of inaction. That is of course if you still consider personal freedoms afforded by our constitution mean anything.”
Oh, they do mean something, exlcuding, of course, those that are totally usurped by the insanely named “Patriot Act”
331 says : “Chain of command: mayor, govenor, federal govt. No other comment necessary. ”
The apologists keep citing chain of command as some kind of shield protecting the administration. But the fact of chain-of-command is that responsibility goes UP the chain. If there *were* failings at the lower level, then its the duty of those higher up the chain to take responsibility for the mistakes. That’s why they’re in charge. If things had gone the other way, you certainly wouldn’t be seeing the Bush-cabal diverting *praise* back down to the state and local folks; they’d be patting themselves on the back and praising each other for a job well done (oh, wait a sec, they’re already doing that. Sorry, my bad). Harry Truman’s “the buck stops here” mentaility should be a pre-requisite for *any* President. To see one like Bush so agressivly avoiding taking responsibility shames the office so much more than Clinton’s libido did.
339 says: “they’re poor and uneducated is because that’s the way the Democrats want them.”
And if that’s so, then it’s also where the Republicans are perfectly happy to leave (read: abandon) them. “We didn’t make you this way, so we have no obligation to help you.” So much for Compassionate Conservatism.
re: 355: Bravo, Hype! Brilliant!
September 9th, 2005 at 11:52 amOne of the several points of this website is the freedom of speech – please remember that. Our founding fathers didn’t sit on their fingers when it came to the governm’t in England telling them what Church they were going to pray in and how much taxes they were going to pay….they spoke out, and then got out. We are the people…and if we have a problem with OUR government, it IS OUR BUSINESS. Please do not separate government and its people – we are one in the same (or should be)…some of you are forgetting that the President works for US. If we are not happy with the way things are going, we have the right to criticize. So many people, whether democrate or republican are lemmings, if you think party lines. Think human lines, and what I see are problems of the have’s and the have nots….which seems to be a widening river in this country. What can we do? We can vote….we need to stop voting for the guy with the pedigree, the money, the marketing machine, the influential friends….there was a time when this country was run by REAL men that weren’t pampered school boys with country club memberships, 4 month vacations, and that had a backbone and weren’t afraid to get their hands dirty! Our Government officials have lost touch with who the American people are and they don’t care – their lives go on in luxury. We see that in the victims of Hurricane Katrina…in fact they see them (us) as disposable. It hurts to say that, but thats how it seems.
September 9th, 2005 at 12:08 pm357 says the Republicans are perfectly happy to leave them there (in poverty). I think not. Because if they became self-sufficient, then our taxes wouldn’t be redistributed to them. Don’t you get it that these people have become wards of the state for so long that they can’t even get out of a storm’s way on their own? Where was Jesse Jackson? How come he didn’t demand that all those flooded buses be used to transport the helpless out? Instead him and Sharpton use this catastrophe to play race politics. These people are not disabled, they’ve just been wrongly influenced all their lives by the Democratic Party. How many of you know who Edwin Edwards is? The former Democrat governor is rotting in jail for taking bribes. He was notorius for using the slums of New Orleans to swing the state in his favor. I wonder how much of the levee money ended up in his pocket?
September 9th, 2005 at 12:27 pmThe tragedy of Hurricane Katrina exposed a systemic failure of local, state, and federal authorites to manage a disaster that, quite frankly, everyone knew was coming. This fact is the real legacy of Katrina.
September 9th, 2005 at 12:27 pm#360 that is the bottom line.
September 9th, 2005 at 12:32 pm“Don’t you get it that these people have become wards of the state for so long that they can’t even get out of a storm’s way on their own? Where was Jesse Jackson? How come he didn’t demand that all those flooded buses be used to transport the helpless out? Instead him and Sharpton use this catastrophe to play race politics. These people are not disabled, they’ve just been wrongly influenced all their lives by the Democratic Party.”
Thanks to Republican indifference more people are at or below the povery line. Everything we have had happen to us this past 5 years is a product of Republican policies.
Who is going to fix the buses? Most of those buses didn’t run before the flood. The flood made evacuation impossible for the locals. Get your facts straight. Right wing radio talk show parrots disgust me.
-Hype
September 9th, 2005 at 12:35 pmReadyman (359) – My point is that, for all their kvetching and (dare I say it?) “blame game(ing)” about why poverty is the fault of the Democrats, I don’t see Republicans doing anything about it either. If they truly were the problem solvers they claim to be, you’d think 5 years of federal monopoly would be enough time for them to at least make a dent in the problem. Unless of course, they just don’t see it as a problem worthy of their efforts…
September 9th, 2005 at 12:37 pmYour Katrina Time Line for disaster should have started at least 10 years earlier as environmentalists started to warn of the deteriorating shore line in the area and the very real possibilty of flooding the entire city of New Orleans. Instead, building and developing continued at unprecedented rates. Why must we continue to encourage development of vunerable shore line on every coastline in the United States? Why does the government encourage this?
September 9th, 2005 at 12:38 pmSquawk, the liberals in LA botched this up. Squawk, the federal government is not supposed to be able to take over a state. Squawk, the Mayor should have evacuated his people by force. Squawk, shoot to kill.
-Hype
September 9th, 2005 at 12:41 pmhype, you’re proving my point. Just keep blaming the government, no personal responsibility. You’re living in a metaphoric world saying indifference creates poverty. The only black Supreme Court Justice, put up by a Republican. The first black Secretary of State hired by a Republican. But I guess you will say they are Uncle Tom’s because they go against the Jesse Jackson’s of the world. Justice Thomas and Secretary Rice both grew up poor. I could go on and on about rags to riches stories, so don’t give me any indifference crap. You hypocrits disgust me.
September 9th, 2005 at 12:51 pmWhy is public safety for New Orleans the president’s responsibility? That responsibility FIRST goes to local and state officials. Isn’t that their job? The mayor of N.O. and governor of Louisiana failed miserably with regards to their evacuation plan and lack of effective communication between each other, their citizens and the federal gov. That is fact. Not even up for debate. If we must blame President Bush for anything (if you’re an emotionally charged, hysterical democrat you WILL find blame somehow and spew your negative spin, even when it means disregarding fact and common sense) then we should find fault with Bush waiting 24 hours to call the governor of Louisiana, telling her to take necessary action and what needed to be done. It’s too bad the governor of Louisiana (D) had to be prompted to do her job.
September 9th, 2005 at 1:09 pmAlso ~ the poll finding only 13% of people blaming President Bush was actually a Gallup Poll.
I used to be a registered Democrat. I left the party because of the lack of common sense exhibited by political leadership and the blatant extremism demonstrated by most liberal democrats. It’s embarrassing. The majority of Americans DO NOT support extremism from either political party. Why are the majority of clear-thinking Americans ignored?? No need to respond, the question is rhetorical.
Yes, hype is why I left the Democratic party. Rather people like him. Like I said, it’s a sad day when a great organization is hijacked by people who can’t even think for themselves. Pandering hate gets us nowhere.
September 9th, 2005 at 1:11 pmCan we have just one Bush hater at least acknowledge that the City and State have the primary responsibility for the preventable human suffuring that resulting from this natural disaster.
If the city had evacuated the people as their own plans dictate there would be no blame to place. The FEMA response plans are designed on the premise that the local authorities do what they are supposed to do.
Please one Bush hater please address the responsibilities of the local government. What are they? Did they do their job? If they had done there job would we even be having this discussion?
September 9th, 2005 at 1:11 pmA few notes of correction from someone 50 miles south west of New Orleans…Ray Nagin did something noone around here thought was possible…he evacuated 80% of New Orleans. Having been in the evacuation traffic, we know firsthand what a task that was. He and Jefferson Parish Harry Lee were telling the people of this area that after the storm they believed it would not be a search and rescue mission, but a recovery of dead bodies! And some people chose to stay. Yes, many had no way of getting out of harms way, and that part of the emergency plan needs to be addressed. But their warnings were strong enough to make many more eave. And they accomplished the evacuation with two days notice. We did not know until Friday night that this storm was takling aim at our area. And my husband is an avid hurricane watcher. During the week before, we were told by our weather forecasters that we shouldn’t have to be concerned about this storm because of a high pressure system that would drive it away from us. Another lesson on how unpredictable these storms can be. Finally, when the storm turned eastward, we all thought we had dodged the bullet. Prior to the storm, the officials thought that if the storm hit new orleans directly, the STORM SURGE would GO OVER the leeves. No one really thought that the leeves would BREAK!! And when they did, and the catastrophe was evident, OUR Gov, Kathleen Blanco did not take the same actions that I believe she would have taken had it been her hometown in southwest louisiana drowning! She was too worried about the “LOOTING!”, most of these people looking for food and water! People died because of the inaction of the Governor and the red tape that FEMA created. Trucksloads, people and resources that could have helped were turned away! Ice placed on the road to melt because FEMA needed the truck, firefighters flown in for photo ops, emergency communication lines cut by FEMA. I could go on for days, seeing firsthand what went on. Don’t believe everything you read. I hope one day soon, someone like Ray Nagin will be in a position where he can do what needs to be done and he’s calling the shots! He and Aaron Broussard are two of the only people making any sense around these parts!!!
September 9th, 2005 at 1:24 pmSee #173 for additional common sense….
September 9th, 2005 at 1:24 pmIt truely amazes me how people can politicize something as tragic and unpredictable as the disaster caused by hurricane Katrina. No one, not Presidents Bush, Clinton or Lincoln could have done anything to lessen the damage and loss of life.
In the late 1980s I was stationed at the Naval Air Station in Belle Chasse, LA, on the West Bank of New Orleans. Part of my duty was to maintain what we called the “Hurricane Locker”. It was filled with supplies of cots, fresh water, food staples and other necessities of life. During that time I was also involved in the planning for an evacuation of Plaquemines Parish to the Naval Air Station directly to the south.
The knowledge we had then was that 1) A category 5 hurricane was a very real possibility and 2) There would be massive damage and personal loss that could not be stopped. The levees of the 9th Ward and the canals leading from Lake Ponchetrain could be easily breached and the whole of SE Louisiana would be unindated with water. We knew it, the local governments knew it and the people were told. New Orleans is called the “city that care forgot” for a reason. The party was going on and the inevitable happened.
It is wrong to blame anyone for Katrina, especially the federal government and current administration. The local governments and the people wanting protection from flooding did nothing to ensure their own safety. For those who politicize this in some way to indict our President delight in the misery of our own society in order to make one person look bad. Shame on them. It is a time to help the suffering and not create more.
September 9th, 2005 at 1:29 pmResponse to 370. So lets say we agree that that 80% was an exemplary acheivement. Great, lets give him praise and say the misery of the other 20% was unavoidable due to the physical realities of the situation.
If we can get all Bush haters to stop there and not blame the federal government for the suffering of the other 20% then I’m willing to bet most will agree.
How about it Bush haters?
September 9th, 2005 at 1:30 pm364: I appreciate your sentiments, but this line of reasoning leads nowhere. Somehwere else I read we should blame the Dutch for inventing dikes. Let’s take it to an absurd extreme: it’s all God’s fault for putting water on the planet (emphasis: this is an absurd point, just being used to illustrate).
Readyman (366) “Just keep blaming the government, no personal responsibility.” This is the same point other are (trying) to make about Bush & Company: just keep blaming the locals and absolve the Feds of all responsibility. That’s the root of frustration for many (most?) so-called Bush-haters on this thread: the guy wants to be seen as a great leader, but refuses to take and responsibility when things go wrong. Truly great leaders will not hesitate to say, “This is on me”, then proceed to fix it. Bush not only doesn’t do that, he refuses to acknowledge that there’s even a problem to begin with. “We’re gonna find out what went right (i.e. everything that *we* did) and what what wrong (everything the others guys didn’t do)”.
“The only black Supreme Court Justice, put up by a Republican. The first black Secretary of State hired by a Republican.” OK, your right. A handful of appointments makes up for decades of indifference. Sorry, I didn’t realize those few jobs fixed the problem for good.
jdsalinger (368) – “Pandering hate gets us nowhere.” Sorry to disagree. Pandering hate seems to get quite a few folks nationally syndicated talk shows on AM radio.
Jeff (369) – OK, here I am. Call me a Bush hater if you must (since it seems easier to label and categorize people than to actually listen to thier concerns). Yes, the city and state share the blame for the debacle, as do those people who stubbornly refused to leave. No, they clearly didn’t do everything they could/should have done. Yes, people died for reasons ranging from simple mistakes to sheer ineptitude. NONE of that excuses Bush, the President, commander in cheif, leader of the greatest nation on Earth from his responsibility to the people of “his” country in a time of need. No reasonable American would accuse Bush of being solely responsible to the travesty that was out nation’s response to Katrina and her aftermath. Likewise, no reasonable American should say he has no responsibility for it either. He’s supposed to be our leader, yet in a time of crisis, he remains blissfully ignorant for far too long, then delegates responsibility to woefully inadeqaute underlings, and finally tries to shift all responsibility onto those that were directly effected in the first place. When his country needed a leader, he just simply wasn’t there.
After 9/11, Bush was praised for his strong leadership. But then, he had the shoulders of Rudy Giulianni to stand on. Nagin and Blanco are clearly not the leaders in a time of crisis that Rudy was, and now we see that neither is George Bush.
September 9th, 2005 at 1:48 pmFirst of all, I am a Bush supporter. I think his blame should be limited, mostly his blame that he had ineffective people where the most help was needed. BUT the photo ops do disturb me! What most people do not understand is that with TWO days notice, it would have been nearly impossible to get everyone out! I have long believed that during something like this, buses should be empoloyed to get people out, but no one seemed to have the power to make that happen. With the state calling for a state of emergency, last resort shelters should have been stocked with supplies, but they weren’t. They supposedly had food and water for 2-3 days, but what happened after that? No one was here to reinforce what was needed. You need to understand that New Orleans had a ridiculous policy that all N.O. police officers had to live in Orleans parish. These forces were tapped out trying to rescues people. Reinforcements were needed, and were not here. And for the other 20%, they are still not here!!! MORE RED TAPE! The mayor of Texas is doing more to help than FEMA ever will!!! I want to recommend that if anyone out there wants to help… make your donations to the MAYORS DISASTER FUND! They are housing our displaced neighbors. I wish that all the other local leaders that are helping our friends and families take matters into their own hands, like the Mayor of Dallas and N.O., and not rely on the CALVARY of FEMA that has been consistent in one area, hampering every effort that they possibly were able to hamper! I am hearing now that Michael Brown is no longer responsible for Hurricane relief efforts. Maybe now we can get it done!!
September 9th, 2005 at 1:49 pmResponse to 373. As I’ve said earlier in this thread.
The President is not at the head of a hierarchical government structure that starts at the local government and reports up a chain of command through the state governor to the President. The US constitution clearly defines a limited Federal Government that exists at based on authority that was given to it by the People and the States. The constitution clearly says that whatever powers that have not been transferred to the Federal Government remain with the State and the People.
It is against the law for federal forces to take over. The last time the federal government tried to take over and tell the states what to do there was a Civil War (and remember which side Louisiana chose).
Are you advocating that the Federal Government take over whenever it determines a local government is not doing its duty to protect its own citizens?
The President does not have the power that most people seem to think he does. Do you really what to give any president this power?
I call you Bush haters because based on everything I read, the only logical explanation for the criticism of the federal government for not doing something it is not supposed to do is that you hate Bush. Please give me another explanation for why the Federal Government is to blame for what is a local and state responsibility.
Evacuation – Local or Fed? Law Enforcement – Local or Fed? National Gaurd Command and Control – Local or Fed. Positioning of supplies during first 72 hours – Local or Fed?
September 9th, 2005 at 2:02 pmHow does one hold governmental officials responsible for the trust that has been placed in them and for which they are obligated to fulfill without being branded as pointing fingers and blaming? Someone is responsible for allowing an already disastrous situation to become a deadly national disgrace. In the final analysis are we to trust and rely on no one in the face of calamity? Recent events in the Gulf States certainly indicate this is so. When I hear references to not engaging in blame games and finger pointing, these are mere dodges which loosely translate to I don’t want to talk about it. Our elected and appointed officials are paid to talk about it, paid to be responsible, paid to do their jobs. Hurricane Katrina is an in your face American tragedy. Political dodging the issue on whatever side of the fence one might sit is indefensible. At a time when we should be coming together, we like New Orleans are falling apart and attacking each other. it doesn’t matter who is right; someone fell down on the job; this happened on someone’s watch; what has happened is just plain wrong and those entrusted with the responsibility to prepare and respond need to answer for it..
September 9th, 2005 at 2:09 pmEvacuation…local (better than they ever had before, although of course many lessons to be learned, and many many changes need to be made). National guard command- God help us…Blanco was in charge, and numbers were limited. I would have felt better if Tom Benson was in charge of them, rather than Blanco. Position of supplies 72 hours – local. But where were FEMA officials after 72 hours? Not here unless they were interferring with the local government! But most of this tradegy occured 3 days after the storm had hit! Again, I support our commander in chief, but when Blanco was indecisive, we would have been better off if he had taken over. Louisiana had lots of problems before hand, from corrupt politicians law officials, to high crime and poverty rates, to poor schools, but this is home and none of that matters now! Looking forward to when our state makes a comeback and can say, thanks to everyone who really did help!
September 9th, 2005 at 2:11 pmHype, I hope that shoot to kill is not suppose to be a partisan attack against the Repubs. It was the Governor of the LA that issued that particular order, as she was the only one besides the Mayor who had the authority to do so (and he could only order the NO Police to do so).
As for your other squawks, you are doing exactly what you accuse conservatives of doing, trying to deflect focus from the facts of the matter by repeating the Democratic talking points.
Fact: The Governor of LA is the ultimate authority on the ground. Even she admits this.
Fact: The LA and NO emergency plans (available online) calls for the use of the buses to evacuated those who cannot get out under their own power BEFORE the hurricane makes landfall. No one can deny that that was not done. (Can you please point out where it states that most of the buses didn’t work prior to Katrina hitting. At least two of them were borrowed by citizens AFTER the flood to evacuate themselves. They seemed to work fine then.)
Fact: The Constitution clearly spells out what powers the Federal government has, all others remain the sole domain of the respective States (unless specifically surrendered by the States). The managing of relief workers and National Guard, State Troopers, Local Police, etc.. after a natural disaster is not a Federal power. The Feds are there merely to facilitate whatever course of action the local authorities choose to implement. There is apparently a mechanism by which the President can seize control (through a series of Executive Decisions), but as it was pointed out earlier in this thread, it could not be LA specific and would essentially be like declaring Martial Law country wide. Would you prefer that?
Fact: The Governor refused to allow aid workers into the city (both the Red Cross and Salvation Army) so that only very small groups or individuals that worked below her radar could get supplies in.
These are the facts folks. They leave very little room for debated. You can however fight day and night about individuals motivations and reasons for doing specific things, malice, incompetance, indecision, just plain stupidity, but unless you develope the power to read minds, while somewhat entertaining, it is an ultimately pointless exercise at this point. It’s like two people debating about why their particular favourite color is the best.
After this is all over, hopefully a non-partisan committee (with no political cronies from either side, thank you) can figure out where things went wrong and where they worked (and despite the pictures on TV many things did work) so that the various Local and State governments along with the Feds, can devise better plans for future disasters.
September 9th, 2005 at 2:12 pmCommunist Propaganda
Deception Timeline
Will you communist backed leftists ever learn that your pro big Government nonsense will be resisted until the end on the Universe? lol
September 9th, 2005 at 2:29 pmJeff – You’re too concerned with teaching a civics lesson to hear my point. I in NOW WAY suggested or advocated that the Feds should have stepped in a siezed control in some kind of police-state maneuver around the local governments. This tactic of subtly shifting the argument from one you can’t defend to one you can is employed every day on brainwash…er, uh I mean “talk” radio. What I, and I think many others are trying to say, is that it was Bush’s responsibility to provide focus, direction, LEADERSHIP in a time when the locals were clearly struggling. He should have been assembling the cabinet and all his top advisors and saying, “Look, They’re not getting the job done down there, and people are dying. We can’t let this go on. How do we fix it NOW.” Instead, he was (unfortunately) eating cake, playing guitar, while others were mansion shopping, enjoying Broadway plays, etc, and remaining ignorant of what the rest of the country, indeed the world, was seeing. And once he does realize the magnitude, his first response is to deploy the Rovination spin machine to do damage control and arrange staged photo ops. I’m not saying he willfully chose to ignore the crisis, I’m saying there’s no excuse for him not being informed by *somebody* that this was serious. All (or at least much) of this could have been avoided if he had only gotten involved when it would have helped. A lifeguard doesn’t watch the person thrashing around in the pool and wait for them to politely ask for assistance. He recognizes the crisis, dives in and does what he can to help. Again, this does NOT mean the Feds should have stepped in and siezed control. But they absolutely could have and should have played a more prominant role in getting the logistical and administrative situation under control down there so that the relief workers, national guard, Red Cross and others could do their jobs. Instead, he sat back and waited until it was too late.
Certainly, there are times to lead from the rear. This was not one of them. He could have, *SHOULD* have immediately seen the magnitude of the situation and stepped forward as a LEADER. He did not. For that he deserves criticism. What’s worse is that he’s now agressively trying to shift the responsibility for all that went wrong onto underlings and others. That’s simply cowardice, and for that, he deserves whatever invective may be vented by your so-called Bush-haters. (Why not call them Incompetence-Haters instead?)
September 9th, 2005 at 2:38 pmMr. Progressive: “Will you communist backed leftists ever learn that your pro big Government nonsense…”
I love it when the right refers to the left as the “big government” lovers. Let’s see, who gave us the single biggest government beuracracy in the history of the nation? That’s right, your small-governemnt-lovin’ Republicans. Talk about hypocracy…
September 9th, 2005 at 2:45 pmDCJ2, if I turned on the TV and heard peoples saying I wish Bush was a better leader then I’d keep my mouth shut.
But people are saying he murdered thousands of people, wants African Americans to die, wants the elderly to die, should be impeached, is evil, is to blame the Huricane because of global warning, etc. etc. This is disgusting and must be responded to.
When people stop this then every can focus on helping the suffering. Please read my post 373.
September 9th, 2005 at 2:51 pmre: 372 – WHATEVER. 80% went right? a)90% WENT WRONG, bush-lover. b)20% is not acceptable anyway. Try another approach – like with the rationale for Iraq I’m sure there’s a ton of them.
September 9th, 2005 at 3:13 pmre: 373 – more accurately the first RIGHT WING BLACK JUDGE put up by a Republican (Bush 41, to be exact), a cynical replacement of Thurgood Marshall – a truly great man. That was the beginning of the Bushization of this great country. And Colin Powell and Condi Rice may, like Thomas, have dark skin, but aren’t “black”. Nelson Mandella is black. Martin Luther King was black. Harry Belafonte is black. Maxine Waters is black. Kanye West is black. The people dying at the Superdome, and now scattered across America, are black.
re: 381 – all those charges against Bush are true, and who cares whether you think they’re worth responding to or not. Thank God someone is saying them. What people are NOT going to say is they “wish he was a better leader” because that’s IMPOSSIBLE. He is not a leader in any sense. He is a prop, an empty suit. He’s less qualified to be president than Brownie is to be head of FEMA. It’s all about the Agenda. Weakened Homeland defense? Of course! They are INVITING another terror attack, so we can all rally behind him and they finally reach their neo-Nazi nirvana by making the entire country a New Orleans police state. Sound loony? THEN YOU ARE NOT PAYING ATTENTION. And please stop finger pointing and playing the blame game.
dcj2, I’m having trouble understanding your argument. You start by agreeing that Bush should not have tried to seize control of the state (a point several of us have made was next to impossible) and then go on to say that he should have instead taken control of the state? I’m really failing to see the distinction. The point we are trying to make is that despite his best efforts, he met with Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagins or was on the phone with them constantly, the Governor refused to allow him to have any control, which unfortunately is her legal right. It’s not a subtle shift to avoid the argument, it strikes at the very core of your argument. The President has NO authority to override a Governors management of her own State, regardless of the circumstances, unless the Governor is violating a Federal Law, and even then he may only be able to remove her and hope the next official in line is a bit more reasonable. And don’t forget, at the same time he was also dealing with the other States who also had entire cities wiped off the face of the earth. The only difference is those other Governors were handling their situations a hell of a lot better than Blanco. If you want to see where the spin machines got started just look at Blanco herself. From the beginning she appeared to be spending more time pointing fingers at the Feds than actually managing her State. She’s definately never met a camera she didn’t like.
And if you want to talk about Federal spin machines, you may want to look at the Dems. Even with the fact that they all know that the President has no legal authority over the situation, they have been lining up to blame him for all the deaths. You’re lucky if they even acknowledge Katrina’s involvement in the disaster let alone the people who were actually in control. To them , and to many here, it’s all Bush, all the time. And the race baiting that several have brought into it is beyond disgusting.
I’ve heard very few actual Republicans officials accusing Blanco or Nagins of murder or other over the top terms but I’m sorry I cannot say the same about the Dems. Rumsfeld was actually defending both the Mayor and Governor the other day, by bringing up some of the flaws in the current emergency system, such as the fact that the first responders, being the local authorities, are also often the victims of the disaster.
September 9th, 2005 at 3:43 pmThanks for posting this timeline — nice to see some plain facts out in the open for once, it helps to rein in all the spin going on.
Funny, how those saying “Don’t play the blame game!” the loudest are the ones pointing the fingers…at anyone other than themselves, of course.
September 9th, 2005 at 3:46 pmInstead of pointing fingers and trying to find someone to blame (oh, I’m sorry – you already found someone – The President of the United States – who you blame for EVERY bad thing that has ever or will ever happen!). Don’t get me wrong – I am actually not a huge Bush fan – however I do find it very frutstrating to see such one sided rhetoric! Instead of placing blame and bi#@#ing and moaning over this – try helping in some way – I truly hope you have all donated to the disaster relief for these poor people. There are probably very many people that could be blamed going back a number of years (yes, even when a Democrat sat in the Oval Office). Those leavees were built long ago and it has been known all those years that it was built to only withstand a category 3 hurricane – things could have been done to prevent this disaster at anytime. Also, I recall watching the morning news after Hurricane Katrina hit – news reporters were scattered about the affected areas – and I do recall them stating that it looked as though New Olrleans had dodged the bullet!! Well, obviously that didn’t happen b/c yet an second disaster struck a day later – FLOOD! So, I believe people had a false sense of security the day after the storm – including public officials. During this time of crisis is not the time to ‘investigate’ what failed &/or didn’t fail – let the people in charge (FEMA, etc) do their jobs – its a very large task at hand and will not be complete for an even longer period of time. Let them do the work – when things are in some sort of order – then reevaluate what happened – what worked well – what didn’t etc… We can only hope that things are learned from this tradgic disaster.
September 9th, 2005 at 3:47 pmHere’s the litmus test for anyone that has any doubt at all about wether all this uproar is partisan or not. Notice the liberals aren’t calling for the heads of the Louisianna governor and New Orleans mayor? Gee, Mr. Liberal why aren’t you yelling at the mayor of New Orleans for failing to mobilize the thousand plus public school busses to evacuate the poor and disenfranchised. Mr. Liberal why aren’t you yelling at the governor for hesitating so long to actually get her ass in gear? What will you stupid SOBs be saying when the proof comes out that it was the local governments (Democrats) that fucked up!
September 9th, 2005 at 3:56 pmBic (383) ” …and then [you] go on to say that he should have instead taken control of the state? ”
I’m sorry, are we reading the same thread? Where exactly did I say that?
Bush didn’t need to “take control of the state” to be a leader. I wish I could remember which commentator it was who, around day 3 or 4, asked the question, “Where is the face of the Federal response to this?” There wasn’t one. To illustrate: after 9/11, you couldn’t go more than a few hours without seeing Rudy giving a press conference, Rudy talking to first responders, Rudy consoling survicors, Rudy bolstering spirits, Rudy displaying the grit and determination this brought that city through an unimaginably horrific crisis. In a word, Rudy was a LEADER. He certainly didn’t have to be in charge of the fire, police, EMT, gas, electric, telecom, traffic, construction crews et.al. He didn’t take over the city. But he provided a focus, a direction, a touchstone that the rest of the efforts could be organized around. He didn’t tell them how to run their operations, but he held them accountable. All of these are what was lacking in the Federal (i.e. Bush) response to Katrina, and that, to me, is what’s at the core of people’s frustration, outrage, and anger. All the other criticism -the cake, the guitar, the staged photo-ops, even today’s reassignemnt of M Brown- could and would have been avoided if he had simply done the one thing a President is supposed to do in a time of national crisis: LEAD. We should cut him some slack because he was dealing with other states as well? Sorry, I don’t buy it. If he only wants to handle one state, let him go back to being a Governer; I’m sure Rick Perry will step down to make room. But once he became President, he took on the responsibility for all 50 of ‘em. (Besides, everyone’s been praising the efforts of Haley Barbour and Bob Riley, sans help from GW, so how distracted could he have been?)
So, let’s agree on a few things, now:
The race baiting is dispicable. I cringed when I heard Al Sharpton first bring it up on Day 2 or 3. It’s patently manipulative and accomplishes nothing positive. Both side will play it when its suits their purpose, and we all suffer for it.
I’m not granting a pardon to the Dems in all this. The spin machine is in full force on *both* sides. But one of the burdens of power is that you’re supposed to be *better* than your opponent. The Reps have control of 2/3’s (some would argue more) of the federal governemnt, and should be above it. It’s shameful that they’re not.
September 9th, 2005 at 4:28 pmAdd to your timeline:
August 30 – afternoon – Vancouver based 45 member Heavy Urban Search and Rescue (HUSAR) team is offered by British Columbia.
August 31 -late afternoon – State of Louisiana accepts offer.
August 31 – 8 PM – 41 members En route to St. Bernard Parish
So while Bush and company were still trying to figure out if it had rained, Canadians were already offering to send SAR techs.
And then while Condoleeza was watching Broadway, etc, Canadians were already responding to the disaster. As soon as the offer was accepted they were on their way in a couple of hours.
Glad I live in Canada.
September 9th, 2005 at 4:30 pm382, You say that all of those things about Bush are true. That statement is rooted in your hatred of Bush unless you address the specific issue brought up about responsibilities for evacuation, law enforcement, first response, and state/federak constitutional issues. How about it.
I’ve been accussed of giving a civics lessen. Unfortunately, the ignorant people who don’t understand the structure of our government make these disgusting accusations and people put them on TV.
September 9th, 2005 at 4:31 pmAlso to 382, No I don’t think that 80% evacuation is acceptable. I was only responding to another post who said it was a great acheivement. But since evacuation is a City responsibility it has nothing to do with Bush.
September 9th, 2005 at 4:36 pmIt’s really counter-productive to keep saying that anyone with a criticism of Bush must be a Bush-hater. Isn’t it possible that some of these criticisms are based on careful consideration of what happened? Isn’t it possible that some of those who have posted reasoned, well-expressed criticisms are actually Bush *supporters* who feel let down by his poor handling of this crisis? Isn’t it possible that some people may actually see things differently, and not base their position on some “seething hated of Bush” as they’re frequently accused of? Is there really only one way to look at things? Must we all just blindly endorse whatever the administration does or risk being labelled anti-American? (and by the way, when exactly did being anti-Republican or anti-Bush become synonymous with being anti-American?)
September 9th, 2005 at 4:53 pm386, I don’t really understand your post. Your say the Rudy did X, Y and Z. And then you bring up Katrina and compare it to Bush. Compare him to the Mayor of New Orleans. Again, since the local leadership failed and it is against the law for the president to take over and do the equivalent of X, Y and Z.
The failed generic Leader accusation is really weak. But if that’s all we had to deal with then we could get on with things.
September 9th, 2005 at 4:57 pm391, yes is it possible. That is why I ask them to address the specific causes of this human tragedy – Evacuation (local), Law Enforcement (local), etc.
Since they don’t address these things I can only assume that they hated Bush before and this is just an opportunity for them to advance their own political views.
Address the responsibility around these root causes of the images we see on TV and we can have a reasoned debate.
September 9th, 2005 at 5:00 pmThe Neo-Conservative Jack-Asses, who litter
this page with their back wash infested pablum,
are simply not of this earth and have absolutely no
humanistic accolades or compassion in their compositions.
To be honest, I am ashamed to be an American
who resides near them or their disgusting diatribes.
The fact remains that this administration has dropped
the ball time and time again with each and every one
of you political imbeciles giving nothing but excuses
for their lack of action and novice methodologies.
The blood of this tragedy falls on YOUR hands, as you
September 9th, 2005 at 5:01 pmnot only voted that idiot savant into his position but
continue to turn an almost impossible blind eye to his
foul ways, as if you were making ridiculous excuses for
your beloved Father, after he selfishly beat your Mother
to death…
I wonder how you are able sleep at night?
393, good one. Your arguments around the responsibilities of the Federal government as compared to local government are overwhelming. I see the error of my ways and will begin voting a straight Democratic ticket.
September 9th, 2005 at 5:05 pm382, I have never ever understood the lefts facination with ratings of blackness. You are either of a certain race or you are not, your political ideology cannot change that. The entire idea that to be a member of a certain race you much follow in lockstep with the prevailing mindset of their most visable leaders is just ridiculous on its face. Your basically stating that while other races have the freedom to make up their minds as to what they believe in, African Americans do not.
Does that make KKK members any less white because the overwhelmingly majority of white people do not believe as they do?
How about an African American who was born to wealthy parents, lives in a wealthy neighbourhood and only socializes with his/her wealthy friends but votes Democrat, are they more or less black than a middle income or poor African American person who happens to live in a poor neighbourhood but votes Republican.
Dems always point out this distinction between ‘real’ African Americans vs ‘fake’ African American when others point out the fact that despite several years in control, it has been Republican governments that have put more African Americans (and people of other minorities) into positions of real power than Democratic governments which merely pay lip service.
It is the same logic that gets the ‘civil rights’ leaders to come out and essentially forgive the looters (and by looter I don’t mean those looking for food and water but the ones looking for TVs and such). How is that being anything BUT condescending to other members of that community who choose not to break the law. Were they any less black because they did not go out and steal a Plasma TV? After all, if you listen to Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton it almost sounds like it was their civic duty as oppressed people to get all that they could.
People are people, black, white, red, yellow, green, whatever. You can feel free to glorify whoever you want and for any reason that crosses your mind, but regardless of your opinions, you are not the ultimate authority on who can or cannot call themselve black.
September 9th, 2005 at 5:34 pmJeff (391) “I don’t really understand your post.”
OK, let me simplify. My example of Rudy was simpy one of a leader doing just that: leading. Rudy lead in a time of crisis. Bush did not. Granted the scale of the crises are vastly different, but so are the responsibilies of the two offices. For the record, Nagin essentially failed as a leader, and so did Blanco. The point is, no-one seemed to be leading. Under those circumstances, when the lower ranks fail, isn’t it the responsibility of those higher up the ladder to counter the failings of those below? Isn’t that what leadership is all about? When the local and state leaders fail, isn’t it reasonable to expect the Federal government to provide focus, direction, a sense of purpose, a rallying point? None of these happened. We went all the way to the top, and still didn’t get the clear-eyed vision of how we were goiing to handle this crisis in the days immediatle following. This is By being at the top of the pecking order, this is ultimately where Bush failed us. (And please, don’t launch into another “the feds are limited by law”…etc. I understand your point, and even agree with it. What I’m saying is that just because they couldn’t step in and do *everything* doesn’t excuse the fact that for days and days, they seemingly did nothing.
The left loves to paint Bush as nothing but a figurehead, posturing for the cameras while the real power is brokered behind the scenes. It’s ironic that one time we could have used such talent, he failed even that.
El Vizzle (393): Just when the tone seems to have turned the corner, we’re blessed with this contructive discourse, which I’m sure will go a long way to healing the rift, and help those of us trying to understand what’s tearing this country apart. (egad, we’re all doomed…)
September 9th, 2005 at 5:35 pmi love “you liberals” what did they do now??? isn’t it the conservatives who are in charge? bush and his administration failed and fema failed.
September 9th, 2005 at 5:45 pmdcj2, I can agree with you to some degree on the visable leadership idea, but only to a certain degree. Bush could have done a better job immediately after Katrina in appearing a little less out of touch with the the suffering of the victims (the guitar thing was a bit much) but while some of his appointments could have been cancelled, he still would not have been able to assume the spotlight as Rudy did.
Simply put, with lack of authority comes lack of control. Rudy had both during 9/11 and could therefore speak knowing what he said would be done. Bush on the other hand, did not have that luxury. He could not make promises to the American people that he knew he could not follow through on due to the previously mentioned legal matters.
Even almost 2 weeks after the fact that problem is making itself apparent every day. Mayor Nagin, after finally recovering his wits, has begun to issue orders to try and get things under control. The problem is that the Governor is coming in right behind him and either recinding them or stating that she will not authorize them on a Statewide level (meaning no help from the Guard of State Troopers). This just adds to the appearence of incompetance.
In this case Bush would have been merely a figurehead, which if not for the fact security concerns kept him away from most of the devestated areas, may have still been a useful role. But as we have already scene, when he attempts to make himself visable to help assure ‘the people’ that things are going to be ok he gets attacked all over again for trying to make political gains out of the tragedy.
You cannot have it both ways, either he mostly stays out of the picture to allow the actual authorities to do their jobs or he has to perform photo ops to make himself visable, and help assure the public.
There has never been a leader which the phrase “damned if you do and damned if you don’t” has applied to more aptly.
September 9th, 2005 at 6:00 pm398, you said better than I could have.
September 9th, 2005 at 6:53 pmIn Blanco’s declaration:
“SECTION 2: The state of Louisiana’s emergency response and recovery program is activated under the command of the director of the state office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness to prepare for and provide emergency support services and/or to minimize the effects of the storm’s damage.”
The State has a responsibilty here, too. The State’s emergency response and recovery program should be linked here. Obviously, thinkparanoid conveniently has excluded it from discussion. (What a surprise) After reading it you’ll see that the program wasn’t followed.
September 9th, 2005 at 7:40 pmBic (398): At last, we’re beginning to come to some agreement.
“Bush could have done a better job immediately after Katrina in appearing a little less out of touch with the the suffering of the victims (the guitar thing was a bit much)”
That’s the crux of the issue. So many people are angry, outraged, disappointed, etc that in the face of obvious failures at the local and state levels, our last bastion of hope, the President, seemed no more in charge than anyone else. That left people feeling helpless, betrayed, and abandonded. And *that* IMHO, is the source of all the Bush-bashing that’s going on. My efforts here have simply been to try to explain to the automatically-defend-Bush-against-the-America-hating-left crowd where the outrage is coming from (OK, and to vent a little of it myself. Hey, I’m only human). The administration and its supporters need to understand that in times like these, appearences are extremely important. Those in power can’t get off by saying “Hey, we did everything we could. It’s on the other guy.” They’re supposed to be above that.
I agree with you that too many people criticizing the administration’s response don’t appreciate just how convoluted the system is, and how much red-tape needs managing between the various levels of gov’t. Some will argue that even *that* is the fault of the current administration, and I think there is a lot of merit to that opinion, though it’s not the whole story. I think part of the problem is that FEMA was cursed by its former successes. They’ve always been right on the front lines whenever disaster struck, and people came to expect them to be right there. For whatever reason, they were not this time, and it stung. Perhaps expectations of FEMA were unreasonably high, or perhaps we should expect only the highest standard from the FEDERAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE Administration (let’s parse that, just for fun…: FEDERAL, not local or state; EMERGENCY, if Katrina/NO flooding doesn’t qualify here, nothing does; RESPONSE, which for too many people appeared totally lacking; and the last word, Administration, which seems to be the only part they got right, too much administration not enough action). Those are issues to be resolved later. There are more important things to do right now.
The administration can cite all the numbers of trucks that were in transit, all the tons of food and ice and gallons of water that were at the ready, all the 10’s of thousnads of personnel that were dispatched, and, as legitimate as those numbers are, they don’t make up for the reality that for 5 days the citizens of this country watched in horror as men, women and children suffered unbearably, waiting for rescue that never seemed to come, in a major city teetering on the brink of anarchy.
When GW gave his megaphone speech on the still-smoking rubble of the WTC, he gave the country (left and right, red and blue, Dems and Reps, white and black) a rallying point, a sense of security, hope that we’d come out of this OK, and most importantly, the assurance that somebody was in charge. That’s who we needed/expected this time, too, but he was nowhere to be found. If he could have done that same thing for New Orleans that he did for New York, I honestly think this nation would not be engaged in the divisive discourse we’re in now (no, we’d be bickering about Supreme Court nominations, gas prices, drilling in ANWAR, etc. but, I digress…). This was a golden opportunity for him to shine as a leader, and I think he could have done it easily without overstepping the boundaries between federal and state authorities. The fact that he didn’t (or couldn’t) makes everything else come off as CYA excuse-making, which onl furtheroutrages his critics.
Be honest, if this had happened during the Clinton administration, the right would have ripped him to shreds (heck, they impeached him for a bj, I can’t imagine what they’d do in this situation…is boiling in oil too far fetched?). I don’t understand why the right acts so outraged when boot is on the other foot.
September 9th, 2005 at 7:48 pmMy last, long winded post is above. I’ve said all I can say. I’m only repeating myself. And let’s face it, for all our high-falutin’ dialog, we’re really not changing anybody’s minds here. the pro’s will remains pro’s, the con’s will remian con’s and the country will continue to slide into division. The best thing we can *all* do is close our yaps and open our ears; we learn so much more by listening that we do by talking. Consider me first in line. Anyone care to join me?
September 9th, 2005 at 7:52 pmThank you for having insight, and letting me become more aware of my government. We must address the horrible, disastrous mistakes made in preparation of a disaster and execution of a response to a disaster.
This timeline also brings light into our current ability of the government’s response. Hopefully this wakes all Americans up to recognize the need for assistance in our country as well as around the world.
September 9th, 2005 at 8:48 pmI have taken the timeline provided by Judd, and edited out all the steps (and missteps) taken at the federal level, leaving those actions taken by the state and local authorities (as listed by Judd’s timeline). I remain unimpressed in their response.
Friday, August 26
GOV. KATHLEEN BLANCO DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY IN LOUISIANA: [Office of the Governor]
GULF COAST STATES REQUEST TROOP ASSISTANCE FROM PENTAGON: At a 9/1 press conference, Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré, commander, Joint Task Force Katrina, said that the Gulf States began the process of requesting additional forces on Friday, 8/26. [DOD]
Saturday, August 27
5AM — KATRINA UPGRADED TO CATEGORY 3 HURRICANE [CNN]
GOV. BLANCO ASKS BUSH TO DECLARE FEDERAL STATE OF EMERGENCY IN LOUISIANA: “I have determined that this incident is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the State and affected local governments, and that supplementary Federal assistance is necessary to save lives, protect property, public health, and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a disaster.†[Office of the Governor]
Sunday, August 28
Monday, August 29
8AM – MAYOR NAGIN REPORTS THAT WATER IS FLOWING OVER LEVEE: “I’ve gotten reports this morning that there is already water coming over some of the levee systems. In the lower ninth ward, we’ve had one of our pumping stations to stop operating, so we will have significant flooding, it is just a matter of how much.†[NBC’s “Today Showâ€]
Tuesday, August 30
Wednesday, August 31
Thursday, September 1
2PM — MAYOR NAGIN ISSUES “DESPERATE SOS†TO FEDERAL GOVERNMENT: “This is a desperate SOS. Right now we are out of resources at the convention centre and don’t anticipate enough buses [there were of course hundreds of city school buses that had been unused and at that point underwater]. We need buses. Currently the convention centre is unsanitary and unsafe and we’re running out of supplies.†[Guardian, 9/2/05]
Friday, September 2
Saturday, September 3
September 9th, 2005 at 10:28 pmdcj2, I’d hate to disagree with you again after coming so close to an agreement earlier, but for the record, FEMA, is not actually a first responder agency. Their mandate is to facilitate the transfer of federal resources over to the control of the local authorities to do with as the see fit in cases where a state of emergency has been declared as well as remain on site to take on an advisory role. But the key is that all this is suppose to happen after the state and local emergency plans have been followed and the true first responders (police, Guard and State Troopers) have been able to assess the situation and determine what is needed. As such, there stated response time is actually 3 to 5 days after a disaster has occurred. That is the delay that all State and local agencies are told to expect and plan for.
If you look at past hurricanes, in this case FEMA was actually on the scene faster than usual. Of course that does little good if no one is accepting your help or listening to your advice. In fact, the governor apparently didn’t even invite a FEMA rep to her strategy meetings, at least not the ones early on.
Part of FEMAs response is help organize the American Red Cross (no need to reinvent the wheel when you already have a top notch relief organization), to help bring aid where needed. Of course as has been stated several places in this thread already, they were primed and ready to bring in supplies, but were being denied access by the authorities on the ground.
So in using your break down of FEMA’s title the key word, which you seemed to have given the least weight to, is in fact Administration. The actually did what they were designed to do which was to coordinate the Federal response and get the necessary Federal resources to the disaster area. Once there, FEMA only has as much, or as little control as the Governor allows and this Governor seemed not to be very willing to share power (for reason I cannot begin to understand). While I’m sure they could have done a better job, and possibly been more forceful in voicing their opinions, the bottom line is that even with FEMA on the scene, the state government still holds the reigns.
While I’m sure that blame will be spread around, and it appears Michael Brown may already be the first casualty, I cannot picture any future in which Governor Blanco will ever get elected to any office again. But stranger things have happened.
September 9th, 2005 at 10:35 pmAlmost – not quite, but almost as tragic is the continuing blind devotion to Bush by those on the far right. Although my memory is good enough to have been in contempt of the Republican Party for three decades now; it baffles me that the voters who think they are in favor of conservative ideals can not open their eyes and minds wide enough to see the blatant transgressions against the true values most Americans stand for. To hell with “acceptance”. The leaders of the Republican Party are nothing more than greedy, racist SOB’s, and anyone who aligns themselves with them is either a complete idiot or truly reprehensible human beings.
September 9th, 2005 at 11:53 pmDo bloggers understand that anyone with Internet access can read your post anywhere in the world?
Do you care that overseas friends are concerned about the trend from a “United” to a “Divided” States of America?
Do they realize that your enemies are thanking their God when they read that you are fighting among yourselves?
Is a Second American Civil War already in progress? The first one cost more than 600,000 American lifes! This one could be even more costly!
September 10th, 2005 at 12:13 amThis is a disgrace! Our president on vacation, as usual? You would have to live under a rock or be a part of this government (I guess) not to have known this was going to be a disaster. (Next time I think a hurricane is coming maybe I’ll go shopping or better yet take in a broadway show or plan my next vacation)The government is all set to rush troops and what ever it takes to help other countries, what happened here? Why wouldn’t we help our own first?
September 10th, 2005 at 12:22 amReidFleming -
Given that the majority of voters voted Republican in the last election, how is your statement going to help the Democrats in the next election?
I suppose you’re one of those people who says “Bush is an idiot”, but when asked why the Democrats can’t beat this “idiot”, you reply, “but… but… but… KARL ROVE!!!! he’s twice as clever as 100 Democrats put together!!!”
September 10th, 2005 at 12:25 amForeign Observer -
What exactly is the point contained in your rant?
September 10th, 2005 at 12:26 amCan someone please explain to me what the role of the Secretary of State is in domestic disaster relief?
September 10th, 2005 at 12:30 am…the devastation is heartbreaking, and the suffering is inexcusable. I hope everyone across our country is doing something (besides suffering at the gas pump) to alleviate this madness.
The Administration will or will not sizzle for its failures, but I’ll always remember the cluelessness exhibited by Federal officials about the levees, the significant National Weather Service, State and Local early warning efforts that went unanswered, watching the President take photo ops with firefighters and helicopters while food and water missions were delayed in his wake, dead bodies floating in filthy water, pleas for help, rapes and suicides at the Superdome and Convention Center as people lose hope and chaos descends, and hearing someone tell Cheney to fuck off live on CNN when he arrives on the scene. Condoleeza booed out of the theatre and confronted as she buys shoes on vacation. From ‘Brownie’ to Brown Stain.
September 10th, 2005 at 4:16 amYou may want to check the briefing from Baton Rouge on Wednesday with LA National Guard and FEMA officials. During the Question and Answer session the NG timeline was discussed. Time of arrival, activities, secondary arrivals, etc. I saw it on CSPAN Late on Wed. It is very informative as to Local and State action and response.
Did anyone notice the lines on Sunday going into Superdome? Yes of course you did. Did you notice any cars in line to get there? I didn’t. How did they get there? They all didn’t just walk.
Katrina formed quickly, strengthened, and hit so fast NOLA had no chance to evacuate even if they started when Katrina got into the Keys. NWS, NHC, and news media harped for days that it was going to turn North into the Panhandle.
By the time NOLA officials were informed they were in direct path they had a 36-48 hour window to evacuate. Evacuation models showed it would take 72 hours to evacuate NOLA, at best case scenario. NOLA wasn’t put into the projested path until too late, even with warnings all over the place from Meteorologists and hurricane trackers screaming about it, as early as the 25th when Katrina made initial turn and headed west across South FL and into the Keys.
Check the Katrina track! http://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/at200512.asp?imgfeature=verification&textfeature=track
The gray line is the NHC(Official) reported track. The black line was actual. All other models were much closer several days out, than the official reported by NWS and Media. I think the general public needs to be better informed other than just the Official version. The new Santorum Bill even makes this more scary, not allowing people access to pertinent information to track hurricanes accept when authorized.
September 10th, 2005 at 5:43 am–”Only 13% of Americans place most blame on the President!!!”–
While your at it why dont you add that only 39% think the president is doing a good job overall, which I assume includes his disgracful effort with Katrina. Again try not to have selective memories and painting partial pictures.
September 10th, 2005 at 9:46 amDear, every moron who can’t argue that the republican controlled federal goverment utterly failed New Orleans, so they have no choice but to cry “oh yeah, well what about your guys!” —
When the democrats control the House, the Senate, and the White House and when the Democrats have appointed the Director of FEMA, Homeland Security and every Cabinet position, and when the Democrats Chair every relevant congressional committee —- THEN YOU CAN BITCH ABOUT A DEMOCRATIC RESPONSE.
Until then, YOUR guys are in charge and they FAILED.
September 10th, 2005 at 10:53 amThat is all.
Sel
You forgot to list that Martial Law was delcared on Tuesday, Aug. 30.
That gave the military the authority to take over law enforcment.
September 10th, 2005 at 11:09 amLink to newspaper article on Martial Law:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-aorleans31aug31,0,5176571.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines
September 10th, 2005 at 11:11 am414, did you even bother to read the earlier posts? Do you understand the difference between the local and federal governments? If you do understand then how can you say this was a federal failure when it was a local and state responsibility? If you don’t understand (which clearly you don’t) then go learn first, then comment.
415, National Guard is owned by the state even if martial law is declared. State military (governor authority) not federal military (Presidential authority).
Learn, understand, comment.
September 10th, 2005 at 11:16 amI am not here to agrue with you Jeff. I didn’t say ’state’ or ‘federal’ or anything like that. Just ‘military’.
I just thought the martial law declaration should be added to the timeline.
Maybe you should read before commenting?
September 10th, 2005 at 11:25 amEugene, the problem is that adding things like that without adding context will allow uninformed people like 414 to refer to it as supporting their erroneous argument.
I would not have commented if you had written “martial law was declared giving the state military, under the authority of the governor, responsiblity for law enforcement.”
Sorry for the confusion.
September 10th, 2005 at 11:31 amHow can anyone read this timeline and not be horrendously ashamed of those who claim to be our legally elected national leaders? Obviously to them, caring for the citizenry of this country means nothing, while the appearance of competence is the only game in town. Hence, the photo ops which were staged for the President which realistically probably cost lives. What is wrong with people that they are ok with this?
September 10th, 2005 at 12:03 pmI think the timeline speaks for itself. I have been appalled from day one at the inanity of Bush and his cronies. They are in their own world . . . no, on their own selfish little planet, unable to see beyond their own agenda and their own perceptions. This is not a government by the people, of the people and for the people. It is a government by the Bush clique, of the Bush clique and for the Bush clique. They are simply too far removed from the rest of us. I think it is time we see that they are removed from power.
September 10th, 2005 at 12:10 pm420 and 421. I’m starting to think these types of comments aren’t sincere and are only posted to try and stir things up. If so, have fun. If not, please address the questions of local vs federal authority in your comments so we can understand the basis for your critism. Without any support based in fact your comments are useless.
September 10th, 2005 at 12:17 pmNice, factual job. Scary that anyone would get angry at YOU for putting this up, since it’s all documented. Has Fox News put a documented timeline together to prove this one wrong? I would be willing to take a look.
September 10th, 2005 at 12:46 pmWell, with everything that has happened since Ktrina came ashore I do believe that we as democrates are now going to have to take back this great country next election. I feel that the country will vote Democrat for they have sen what the president hasnt dont for the people. We will need to put up a strong running candidate so we can get the White house back…..then the country might get back to where it was when Mr. Clinton was in office……my prayers are with everyone that has been affected with the hurricane.
September 10th, 2005 at 1:01 pmRe: 411
September 10th, 2005 at 2:26 pmNobody has provided a response for this one. The USSOS shoull get involved in order to avoid screw-ups like this:
http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0905/259063.html
Excellent! Keep speaking truth to power!!!
September 10th, 2005 at 2:49 pmThe comments of uncompassionate conservatives here are shockingly mean and dumb, sound desparate.
#424 – I nominate Mayor Nagin for President!!!
September 10th, 2005 at 2:49 pm#407 – Foreign Observer, Yes we do realize our posts can be read anywhere in the world. I am proud of the fact that, in our nation, we have the freedom to publically express our opinions. That is one of the wonderful privildges of living in a democracy. Don’t mistake our freedom of speech for chaos; threaten us and you will discover that we stand united.
September 10th, 2005 at 3:02 pm#428,
I’m more concerned that these posts are being read by an enormous search engine buried in the bowels of the federal spy system. Big brother is here.
I’m also concerned that librarians and book sellers are being asked to provide the reading lists of their clients. That’s one reason I use cash in book stores and avoid those discount cards.
September 10th, 2005 at 3:31 pm#429 – Do you realize you are being videotaped at this very moment, sitting there in your underwear, while you are typing your messages?
September 10th, 2005 at 4:18 pm#430 – What underwear?
September 10th, 2005 at 5:38 pmHow did the number system in this thread get awry? Somehow two items were inserted somewhere above.
September 10th, 2005 at 9:55 pmHello, 422. With due respect, I do take issue with you. I’m hoping that the brash putdowns you directed at 420 and 421 were insincere and were posted only as an attempt to, as you put it, “stir things up.†If that is not the case, then I find your belittling approach, your curt judgment and dismissal of their viewpoints, which you labeled as “useless,†to be the cause of great concern to me.
That which hoists my red flags is what I deem to be your desire that others follow blindly behind you, unquestioningly accepting and perpetrating the values and agendas of those more powerful than yourself. I can envision your marching in another’s military parade, proudly demonstrating an allegiance to a power that promotes simplistic thought and is mired in dualisms (it is either black or white; wrong or right; evil or good; Republican or Democrat). I feel that you secretly want 420 and 421 to blindly accept your values, your political beliefs, even though you yourself do not have values or political beliefs of your own. Why do I say this? It seemed to me that you were quick to silence their responses to something that you obviously had not read yourself. If you had read the Timeline, you’d not have written, “Address the questions of local versus Federal authority in your comments so we can understand the basis for your criticism.†Why you demanded this of them is baffling to me. Read again what they wrote. They were not assigning blame based on, and categorized by, a “local versus Federal†authority. Maybe it would help me to understand your point if you did for me that which you wanted from them: cite supporting criteria to substantiate the basis of your argument.
Furthermore, your statement, “Without any support based in fact, your comments are useless,†seems to come from a foreign nowhere, and it makes no sense because it does not correlate with what they are writing or with the Timeline document. Admit it: You didn’t read the Timeline, did you? If you had, you’d see that your criticism is perplexing.
I suspect your don’t-think-for-yourself persuasion, in the realm of politics, anyway, will not motivate you to heed my request that you read the Timeline, especially if you haven’t done so by now; therefore, I will address what I consider to be your hidden agenda to find some way to assign blame to the state, parish, and city levels, while directing it away from the Federal level, from the Bush Administration.
If you had read the Timeline, you would have seen that 420 was responding to entries that delineated a blatant disregard by Bush of Governor Kathleen Blanco’s declaration of Louisiana’s State of Emergency status publicly made on Friday, August 26, almost three full days before Katrina’s devastating onslaught. If you had read the Timeline, you would have readily understood that 420 and 421 were ashamed and appalled by the Bush Administration’s brazen dismissal and sheer disregard and neglect of Governor Blanco’s pleas for Bush himself to declare a Federal State of Emergency in Louisiana. This plea was made on Saturday, August 27.
Let’s say that the Timeline is faulty, thereby mandating that we put Governor Blanco’s official request aside, I then wish that someone, anyone, had apprized Bush about the catastrophic natural disaster of record magnitude was aiming itself toward New Orleans. I wish he could have stayed up all Sunday night, as so many of us did, watching CNN and the Weather station in worry and fear. I wish that someone in contact with him had turned on a television a radio. If only someone had told the President of the United States that Sunday, August 28, that a Category 5 hurricane was on its way. If only I could believe that he didn’t know.
Jeff, since I do not believe your blind allegiance to Bush will tolerate an analytical reading of the Timeline, let me lead you to one particular entry — while keeping in mind that the Timeline chronicles other pertinent examples — that, if valid, proves that Bush chose not to help, that he turned his back on the plea for Federal aid. On Saturday, August 27, well in advance of the hurricane’s arrival, Governor Blanco is quoted in the Timeline as follows: “I have determined that this incident is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the State and affected local governments, and that supplementary Federal assistance is necessary to save lives, protect property, public health, and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of disaster.â€
I welcome you to research the claims presented by the Katrina Timeline. I welcome you to use your mind rather than letting others use it for themselves. After reading the Timeline, whether or not you agree or disagree with 420 and 421 is of no consequence to me. All I care about is that you don’t absentmindedly march in another’s parade and that you respect not only your own voice, but also the voices of others. Nothing less could I respect or advocate.
Please read the Timeline, Jeff. After you study it, analyze, synthesize, and question it. Formulate your own conclusions. Be the true patriot our founding fathers held in high esteem, one who believes in and protects the inalienable rights of each and every human being who calls the United States his country, one whose political belief system is anchored in the democratic principles upheld in our venerable U.S. Constitution.
September 10th, 2005 at 10:57 pmNo kidding.
But if you look through all the posts it appears the numbers have been a bit wonky from almost the beginning. There are posts in the 30’s that are off by 1, some in the 100’s that appear off by as many as 5, at least 1 in the 300’s that is spot on and now we appear off by 2.
I guess it pays to reference names instead of just posts numbers.
Reading back through the thread, it reads a bit like an English movie subtitled in English by a pirate in China. Sometimes things match pretty well, but then moments later it’s complete nonsense.
September 10th, 2005 at 11:09 pmOne thing the timeline shows:
For some bizarre reason, Governor Blanco NEVER officially requested federalization of the National Guard (which is constitutionally required before the President can assume control of the military situation in a “state of emergency”.
At least, that’s how I understand it has to work legally. The governor of a state MUST request federalization *before* federal troops and command and control can be used by federal military commanders (including the Commander in Cheif, the President) with a state.
While Governor Blanco did declare a state of emergency before Katrina landed and requested Bush declare a state of emergency in Louisiana — and while she specified money she wanted allocated to assist — she never seemes to have uttered the magic words that would actually allow the military to come in.
I don’t know if she was inexperience, ill-advised, shell-shocked or what. Maybe she thought the declaration of state of emegency was good enough. Maybe she thought FEMA (as part of the fabled Department of Homeland Security) would make the request for her. I don’t know, but as far as I can tell, she failed to make the specific request allow federal military presence in her state during those first 5 critical days. Unfortunately, this tragic bit of small print gives Dubyah the out that he and his spinmeisters are looking for to push responsibility onto the locals.
This is what happens when you don’t know ALL the rules of the game. Sure, somebody at the White House should have clued her in. That would have been “the right thing to do” — but she was a Democractic Governor, after all — and when are we going to wake up to the fact that this administration wouldn’t know “the right thing” to do if itcame up and bit them in their bank accounts?
September 11th, 2005 at 4:30 amI have to AMMEND my comment above. In researching the possee comitats act and the President’s powers within a state during times of emergency, I find in the Wikipedia that:
“TITLE 6 CHAPTER 1 SUBCHAPTER VIII Part H Sec. 466. Congress finds the following:
Section 1385 of title 18 (commonly known as the Posse Comitatus Act) prohibits the use of the Armed Forces as a Posse comitatus to execute the laws except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress.
…by its express terms, the Posse Comitatus Act is not a complete barrier to the use of the Armed Forces for a range of domestic purposes, including law enforcement functions, when the use of the Armed Forces is authorized by Act of Congress or the President determines that the use of the Armed Forces is required to fulfill the President’s obligations under the Constitution to respond promptly in time of war, insurrection, or other serious emergency.
Existing laws, including Title 10, Chapter 15 (commonly known as The Insurrection Act), and The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Title 42, Chapter 68), grant the President broad powers that may be invoked in the event of domestic emergencies, including an attack against the Nation using weapons of mass destruction, and these laws specifically authorize the President to use the Armed Forces to help restore public order. ”
So, it appears that even if Governor Blanco did not “say the magic words” — she clearly requested President Bush declare a state of Emergency in Louisiana 24 hours BEFORE Katrina made landfall — and President Bush did, in fact, declare a state of emergency BEFORE Katrina made landfall. Therefore, the President, as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, had the legal authority to order in the military at any time during this, the greatest natural disaster ever to hit this country, and instead fiddled about while the Gulf Coast died for the first 5 days.
It was a clear dereliction of duty on the part of the Commander in Chief. It was and remains an impeachable offense. At a time when the people of his nation needed him the most, the President failed to act in a timely and decisve manner, as required of him by not only by the constitution, but by the higher moral authority he is so fond of invoking.
September 11th, 2005 at 5:17 amWhy shouldn’t Bush finish his vacation in the middle on a National Crisis? As I read the comments on this page, I am completely stunned at the blind ignorance of the Bush supporters. The man is an insane, power hungry idiot! He ignored warnings about 9/11 and now he ignored warnings about the magnatude of this hurricane and lied about it both times. When are Americans, not just Democrats or Republicans, but ALL Americans going to realize that this President’s incompetence is a huge danger to the American people.
September 11th, 2005 at 7:34 amYOUR SITE IS FOR PUSSIES WITH NO SELF RESPONSIBILITY, First you can blame all the people who where capable of evacuation who did not evacuate for their own misery. Next you can blame, the Democrats and Liberal politicians who were very capable of evacuating all of the people on busses from their homes to the polls on “Election Day”, but did not care enough to bus them to safety during eminent danger of their lives. Shows you how much they real care, “just give me your vote and go away!!!!” Third, you can blame the local and state government for spending almost all of the money earmarked by the federal government for the “Levy” on everything but levy management.
Finally, why don’t we just evacuate all of the welfare recipients along with the politicians to FRANCE AND GERMANY. I am more than happy to present our nations finest citizens to them as a permanent gift and they would all fit in there just nicely.
To all you out there who disagree with me, “Get a life and some real personal responsibility, quit destroying our country with hand out mentality. This disaster is increased exponentially because of your attitudes and liberal policies.”
Mark
September 11th, 2005 at 9:03 amJR, while the Posse Comitatus Act does allow for the Military to be used for domestic missions, it mainly restricts those to humanitarian in nature (flying in aid, and S & R; see USS Bataan) or situations where local authorities are violating rights guarenteed under the Constitution (the Army was used to enforce de-segregation policies in States that refused to enforce them). It has been used in other situations, but mainly at the Governors requests, not simply because the President doesn’t like the way things are being handled.
It is expressly designed to prevent what you seem to be calling for, that is the pre-emptive assumption of command for any reason, including a natural disaster. The military could not act prior to the storm, as there was no Constitutional violations being commited, and after the storm, the Governor was given 40,000 National Guard troops to handle the clean-up. What were you expecting a few thousand Federal military personel to do that 40,000 Guardsmen couldn’t?
The Army is not some all-powerful being whose mere presence would instantly make everything ok. They have to deal with the same logistical nightmares that the State and Local authorities have to deal with (flooded streets, transit times, etc..). The main issue here was that decisions were made late which magnified an already bad situation. For example looting was originally ignored and permitted to happen but once it became aware that the lawlessness was affect S&R efforts, the National Guard and NOPD were given the responsability to stop it. If they had not, and the violence had been allowed to go on unchecked, then the President may have been able to make a case to send in the Army as a police force. But if the mayhem that was going on in the streets was enough to enact the PCA exceptions, the President could make a case to seize control of almost any major American city on almost any given day.
As has been previously mentioned (by me and several others) the over riding of a States inherent rights is not something that should ever be made an easy process. The Posse Comitatus Act was designed for the express purpose of making that an illegal act punishable by jail time. By lowering the bar, so that a sitting President can essentially invade a state whenever they disagree with the way a Governor is doing things is a VERY dangerous thing to do.
While the State and municipal governments really screwed the pooch on this one (for lack of a better term), their actions did not rise to the level of direct violation of Constitutional rights required by the PCA.
And Governor Blanco, unless she is a complete and utter idiot (which I do not believe to be the case) would have complete knowledge of the process to Federalize the Guard. She has already shown that she has no intention of allowing the Feds to take control (even when the request came directly from the President), which is her right as the elected leader of her State.
And to CapSolo (and others), as for the vacation meme that keeps going around about Bush, it is a simple red herring that any honest person would admit makes no sense. While I’ll admit it was just stupid to not have cancelled most of his PR appointments, the very fact he has appointments that take him all over the country on his ‘vacation’ should be clear sign enough that just because he is not in the White House proper, he is not away from his job. He does more on a regular ‘vacation’ day than most people do all week at ‘work’. As most work done at the White House is through the phone anyways, does it really matter if he is in Crawford or 1600 Penn? Are you now going to tell the millions of telecommunters that they shouldn’t be paid because as you see it they were on ‘vacation’ because they were not in what you designate an official ‘work’ area? Ohh, but he rides his bike in Crawford, that’s a vactiony thing to do! Well, he rides his bike wherever he goes, just like Clinton liked to jog and other Presidents like to take their dogs for walks. Get over it already, it’s a stupid argument and you know it.
Attack the man on policy, like weak immigration enforcement, or lack of a strong energy policy, or whatever your pet cause is, but really, stop it with the lazy arguments (and that’s not meant for you JR, since bringing up the PCA was a good point).
September 11th, 2005 at 9:14 amI have read a lot of the comments on here. I have heard a lot of hate going back and forth.
Heres my opinion to add to the fray.
What some republicans on this group fail to realize is that it is your party that is in charge.
The Executive branch is controlled by the republicans.
The Legislative branch is controlled by the republicans.
Who makes federal appointments, why the republicans. So, using logic, it is safe to say that the head of FEMA, who is a room mate of a friend of Bush, is a rpublican. After 9/11, which you republicans threw in our faces time and again, Bush said we would get our crap together so we don’t have to go through another catastrophy like this. So, he reduces FEMA and puts in under Homeland Security. As I’m sure you all know that FEMA used to be a cabinet position answerable directly to the president. So now, here we are.
Since it is known that the governor declared a state of emegency on the 26th, FEMA was in charge. They were suppose to walk in and help the people. However, they failed miserably because “brownie” had no experience and did not know what to do. And, by their own admission:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,167240,00.html
they were suppose to be in charge and were supposedly ready with supplies. However, as we have seen, that this was not the case. As a matter of fact, there was nothing and he had no clue as to what was happening.
You can attempt to blame the mayor and governor, but it was FEMA who was in charge. It was FEMA who said they had it all under control. It was BUSH who appointed this man. It was BUSH who did not look at his resume. And, when one of your underlings screws up, you are responsible. Since he is the one who put this clown in charge, it is he, Bush, who is responsible and should answer for it.
September 11th, 2005 at 12:19 pmThank you, drive through!
Smurf, please, it’s beginning to hurt.
If you notice, the only two actual quotes (well one is a summarization) in your link point to officials stating A)people should follow the lead of their local authorities and B)that FEMA is continuing to coordinate with the various local and State officials. The claim that they are actually the authority on the ground is just a line by the writer (and he is actually only stating they have the authority to coordinate), not an official government statement and if you’ve seen tv for more than 5 minutes this week you’ll know that the media has been getting as many or more things wrong than right (murders, rapes, cannibalism, etc..).
Ignoring the Constitution of the United States of America, does not make it go away and does not change the fact that the ultimate authority in cases of emergency within a state is that states elected officials, namely the Governor.
And I’d like to say for the last time, although with people like you around I seriously doubt it, DECLARING A STATE OF EMERGENCY IS NOT A METHOD OF FEDERALIZING CONTROL. It is merely a tool by which a State can request Federal aid and the Federal government can give it. Look at the actual declaration, it’s essentially a shopping list as to what Blanco wants and how much it is expected to cost.
That being said (and said many, many, many ties) FEMA often does take the lead because the Governor voluntarily steps out of the way to let the professionals do their job. That was not the case in LA. Blanco, from day 1, decided to run the response from her office.
As for supplies, unless you’ve been living under a rock the last couple of days you would know that they had supplies ready and waiting to enter NO from day 1 but the Governor ordered them not to go in. There has been a lot of confusion over this because, once again with the media’s amazing ability to get things wrong, they were unable to keep straight the fact that it was the State Department of Homeland Security, a dept. entirely under the authority of the governor, and not the Federal Department of Homeland Security, the department under which FEMA operates, that gave the order. Even the Red Cross and Salvation Army have stated quite publically that they were there but STATE officials kept them out; initially for security reasons (that part makes some sense) and then because the Governor did not want to give people any excuse to stay in the city (that part not so much).
FEMA has it’s part to play, and they have played some parts well and some parts badly (although there are suprisingly few real world examples of FEMA controlled screw ups that may have cost lives), but the fact is they are not the people in control on the ground.
Blame the Republicans all you want, if it makes you feel any better, but legally none of the Federal branches that they control means a whole hell of a lot if the Governor of LA is incompetant.
September 11th, 2005 at 1:06 pmYou may also find an exact timeline at NOLA.com. They reported the hurricane hour by hour. You might find some desturbing facts about your democratic mayor, your democratic govenor, and your democratic senator by the local paper of a democratic city in a democratic state. You will find some quotes from these officials that have not been aired that are also a little disturbing.
September 11th, 2005 at 2:55 pmA lot of you people make me sick. The people who are sitting in the middle of hell in pain, with nothing, countless lost loved ones- DO NOT CARE IF YOU ARE A DEMOCRAT OR A REPUBLICAN. At this point 100% of your energy should be towards HELPING the survivors and preventing crimes so they don’t become the deceased! Christ! Stop saying “liberal propoganda, this is exaggeratted etc. etc.” It doesn’t matter! That helps no one!
There was obviously negligence in responding to this crisis- and admitting that and that Bush has acted ridiculously doesn’t make you a bad American. Refusing to admit what’s right in front of you simply because it may make your party or the guy you voted for look bad is what makes you stupid and cold-hearted- admitting mistakes were made and working to solve that is what makes someone strong and intelligent. I almost think if the way many of you are thinking and acting today, Nixon wouldn’t have been impeached because it would “make the republicans look bad” and “But what about what the Democrats did?? Nixon shouldn’t have pay because this and this and…”
Shut your mouth. Open your heart, open your mind, and get your priorities straight.
September 11th, 2005 at 5:02 pmGeorge Bush and Dick Cheney clearly determined that “Brownie” was inept and incompetent and therefore removed him from the Katrina response loop. Since George Bush appointed this unqualified, incompetent person to head up FEMA in the first place, what does it say about Bush?
Most of the comments above about who is responsible for this and that seem largely beside the point to me. Why wasn’t it a priority of the Bush administration to lead the reorganization and restructuring of our response to major disasters whether natural or terrorist initiated? Why do we continue to have this endless problem of who is in charge and how to proceed rapidly and efficiently? It does little good to go into endless and minute detail as to why it cannot work. Leaving our national response to major national disasters or potential terrorist attacks to hundreds of local leaders around the nation can’t possibly work unless by some miracle every single one of them is competent. Hoping that this is true is simply foolish. A large measure of responsibility for the poor response to Katrina must fall on this administration simply because they have not restructured the rules in order to make things work efficiently. As far as I’m aware they have not even attempted to do so. I am not a political junky so if this is not true please let me know.
My major problem with the Bush administration is that they simply seem to be grossly incompetent.
September 11th, 2005 at 5:10 pmWhy is this administration not up in front of a grand jury. Oh yea they own that too. Or will shortly. Canada is looking better all the time!!!!!
September 11th, 2005 at 6:44 pmStephanie, please read your statement over. You start saying we shouldn’t be placing blame and just be helping and then go one to do exactly what you accuse the other side of doing, place blame. Of course almost every comment in this thread that starts with the “we should not be placing blame” does just that, so you are in good company.
Matthew, your comment “Most of the comments above about who is responsible for this and that seem largely beside the point to me.” just shows how little you understand about the situation. Pull you head outof the sand and read the comments above to try to educate yourself about exactly how hard it would be for the Bush administration to simply restructure “the rules in order to make things work efficiently”. It would be easy if it just wasn’t for that darn Constitution of yours. Maybe you can call your Senator and ask to have it repealed.
If I sound like I’m being condescending, it’s because I am. You people who want to Blame Bush for every thing that goes wrong in the world really need to move on, he’s not really all that powerful. If your coffee was luke warm this morning, it was not Bush’s fault, if you get a flat tire on the freeway, it’s not Bush’s fault, and if the people of NO and LA elect incompetant local and State officials, it is not Bush’s fault. And I don’t give a damn which party they belong to. Sure Blanco is a Dem but Nagins, for all intents and purposes is as much a Repub as a Dem, he just ran under whichever ticket would get him the most votes (and that might just tell you something about the man right there).
The Federal government is not in the business of running the country on a micro level. Why do you think you even elect local and State representatives? Everyone in the chain has specific roles and responsabilities and the role of the feds in this type of situation is merely to support the locals. They can, if requested take a leading role, but that request was never made! End of story!
However, now that people have actually left the disaster areas, the Feds are now tasked with a much more of a lead role, providing financial and work related assistance to those people affected by Katrina. Now if they start failing in that role (and they have already had problems with their poorly implemented $2000 debit card program) you can bitch about that all you want. I’m sure there will be enough administrative screw ups during the recovery stage to make you all happy.
And just to be straight, I in no way think Bush is a perfect President. He has not yet put enough pressure on Congress to get a proper energy bill written and passed, he seems unwilling to try and control the borders and he’s allowed Federal spending to skyrocket. But the difference is these are all things he has some control over, the terrible response by the local and state officials in LA is not.
On a related note, did anyone happen to catch Weekend Today’s interview with Myrtle Beach Mayor, Mark McBride. When asked about his views of having ‘Brownie’ removed from LA but put in charge of a possible response to an Ophilia hit next week, he said he had no worries about it. He stressed repeatedly, to Campbell Brown’s obvious dismay (just look at her face if you can find a clip) that SC has a very good working relationship with FEMA, including atttending FEMA training course as recently as last year. He also helped educate her about the fact that any emergency response was a Local issue first, then a State issue and the Feds were only to get involved as a last resort. He made perfectly clear that all their emergency plans are based on the assumption that no Federal assistance will arrive until 3 or 4 days after the storm leaves, as spelled out by FEMA themselves. All Campbell could do was reword her questions, prefaced with ‘yeah, but’, hoping his answers would change. It would have been interesting to be in the studio when instead of blaming Brown, he said he believe he was being scapegoated.
While not directly admonishing Nagins and Blanco for their performance over the past two weeks, he did state that under the SC and Myrtle Beach plans a)emergency personnel and equipment are to be removed from the danger zone so that they can quickly jump back in after to storm leaves, and b)all buses are to be used to evacuate those who cannot get out on their own (this part at least is in the NO plan as well). What he considered two of the most basic of emergency procedures (and simple common sense) were never executed in NO. Of course, he’s probably just kissing up to Bush so that he won’t use his awesome might to destroy his city.
/rant off
September 11th, 2005 at 8:52 pmI’m with you, Jeff. This president should be brought up on charges of criminal neglect. I am astounded by the radio talk show hosts who continually call holding the federal government accountable for its action and inaction a “blame game.” This is no game. This is very scary stuff. Canada looks very inviting.
September 11th, 2005 at 8:55 pmAfter having read and browsed all of your comments, I am particularly surprised that everyone is shocked at the reaction of officials. Government reflects the mindset of those they govern-in this case in their lack of give-a-damn. Instead of throwing blame around we should be asking ourselves how we allowed our public officials to become so powerful that thousands can die-simply sue to lack of planning, communication and interest in constituent welfare. Both parties are guilty. I only hope the hard working, tax paying citizens of New Orleans (those who survived) can forgive the rest of us for sitting on our butts playing “I’m Right-You’re Wrong” from high ground while they try to put together new lives.
September 11th, 2005 at 10:00 pmThere was a commentator on CNN I believe who stated succinctly that the problem with FEMAs actions was they put process in front of people.
In other words they were more concerned about bureaucratic BS that actually helping people.
September 12th, 2005 at 12:27 am(HYPE)”Another Republican who didn’t watch the news at all. What a loser. I had another one last week telling me this was all the Governor’s fault and when I asked him if he watched the coverage at all, he said he hadn’t. Just like our Republican controlled Federal government, Republicans don’t care or are indifferent. They don’t watch the news, read the newspaper or educate themselves through books. They watch the TBN, read the bible and often care more about sports than reading books.”
Oh, I’ve seen the people on TV complaining. Please, I was hooked on the coverage and couldn’t stop watching for the first week. I do educate myself and I care what happens to the people in my country. The people I were referring to are the ones here in Houston and in the Astrodome that are not complaining about the Government. Of course the media is going to show you the 2 people who are and make you believe that everyone who was affected is complaining. Don’t sit there and assume anything if you are not actually involved and doing something. Have you volunteered? Are you some where helping these people and hearing their stories? (yeah, I didn’t think so)So, when you want to call someone a loser, you might want to ask yourself…what have I done to make a difference today? Or are you just sitting around reading your books and trying to educate yourself?
September 12th, 2005 at 10:01 amPlease add this to the timeline.
Federal response to New Orleans was ‘faster’ than after Hugo and Andrew …
Shows that this was actually a monumental acheivement rather than the unmitigatied failure that uninformed people want to believe.
Please alos note that the estimates of 10,000 deaths was an extreme exageration.
The suffering and deaths are a true tragedy. We should be thankful we have the resources we do. The great majority of the suffuring was due to an unavoidable natural disaster. Unfortunately, some want to use the suffering of others to advance a political campaign.
September 12th, 2005 at 10:08 amSorry about the link in post #452. I hope this one works better.
Federal response to New Orleans was ‘faster’ than after Hugo and Andrew …
September 12th, 2005 at 10:11 amGov. Blanco was being beaten up by the morning news shows about why she wasn’t more specfic about what the State of Louisiana needed. She explained that she called Pres Bush asking for a State of Emergency to be declared both before and immediately after the storm hit. It wasn’t until she called back and talked to an Assistant Homeland Security director that anything happened.
Gov. Blanco should have realized that she needed to call and speak to a responsible adult to get results!
September 12th, 2005 at 11:00 am454, (Cheryl): Governor Blanco located a “responsible adult” in the Bush administration? Amazing.
September 12th, 2005 at 12:36 pmLook, without pointing fingers in any direction, any rational adult in this country should question the actions or lack of actions taken in this natural disaster for their own future safety and the safety of their loved ones. The time it took to get resources where they needed to be is, to me, unforgiveable and not something I will ever forget. It boils down to this: there are elected officials that appoint certain people; these people are supposed to be competent enough and have enough authority to react to this kind of thing happening on our own shores. I would definitely watch the hearings into this disaterous, ineffectual response to human suffering within our own borders. I am saddened that people are bickering like children in these posts. Simply cry out for an investigation, all of you, collectively, and it will happen. Let the blame fall where it may but at least we will get something fixed to prevent this from happening again. Isn’t that what everyone wants?
September 12th, 2005 at 1:03 pmBush should’ve reacted quicker than he did he is a racict
September 12th, 2005 at 1:50 pm457, Steadman Powell. Can you present some evidence of his racism? The fact that the majority of people that live in New Orleans belong to a particular race is not evidence of the President’s racism.
September 12th, 2005 at 2:15 pmCheck out Le Monde’s timeline! http://www.lemonde.fr/web/module_chrono/0,11-0@2-3222,32-686062@51-685987,0.html
September 12th, 2005 at 3:33 pmCheryl, Blanco is starting to get beaten up by the press because pretty much every emergency response person from every State that has made a comment has talked about how pathetic LA emergency response plan was and how even more pathetic their implementation of if was.
That and the fact reporters have just started to do their jobs and have discoverd that legally, she had the final say in all response efforts in her state, a power she executed regularly and with terrible results. They had their week of beating up on the feds (and many will continue unabated by the truth), but now that the facts are coming out it’s becoming more and more clear that it in fact Blanco who was calling all the shots and doing a damn poor job of it (just look up the Red Cross and Salvation Army response).
And since she was on TV from day one blaming anyone she could think of (except herself of course) it does not lend her a whole lot of credibility. I haven’t even heared her using a sorry Nagins-like “I blame myself too, for not yelling louder” excuse (of course if he had done his job instead of yelling at all thousands of more people would have been evac’d prior to Katrina).
Simply put, she wanted to keep control so that if things turned out well she could be seen as the new Rudy. Now that it turns out she was driving the state straight down the highway to hell, she’s looking to put the blame on anyone she can.
September 12th, 2005 at 4:09 pm457, Steadman Powell- I know of no evidence to suggest that Bush is a racist. He treats all poor and disadvantaged with an equal amount of contempt.
September 12th, 2005 at 4:26 pmIt is so clear this is an Anti_Bush, Anti- Government, Anti- American web site! Your timeline is misguided, misstated, and outright incorrect!You failed to mention a few key causes to the senseless deaths! Lets remember the Mayors own words, the poor, the elderly, and the bed stricken are ON YOUR OWN!! Nice Mayor, Guess he cares about his poor black brothers and sisters eh? It was his responsibility to use it’s city buses and then it’s private fleets FIRST! Get the old, the poor, the hoispitalized out FIRST! Not abandon them like he did! Not Bush!
September 12th, 2005 at 5:45 pmThe Governor did not make unanswered requests to our President, though she did ask for more time, like 24 hours to make up her silly Liberal, Democratic mind!This was a failure of local and State Goverment at it’s worst! They are the FIRST responders, not FEMA, Not The President, not the Secrectary of Defense, but local Government! You disgraceful, dispicable communist!
TimeLine is Incorrect… please correct… President declared L.A a disaster area on Aug 27th as requested… That huge error was left off this time line. The Gov. of L.A. did not request help for 2 days..
September 12th, 2005 at 6:14 pmThis article makes it sound as if the Federal Government WAS moving toward stepping over state lines.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/10/AR2005091001529.html?referrer=emailarticle
It’s a shame there was so much foot-dragging and indecision by most folks with any kind of authority. But it ain’t over yet.
September 12th, 2005 at 7:31 pmIf you want a more accurate time-line of things that actually matter see http://rightwingnuthouse.com/archives/2005/09/04/katrina-response-timeline/
September 13th, 2005 at 3:26 amOh p-l-e-a-s-e… I’m from New Orleans. I lived there until a year ago. Let me tell you something…
I have held my thoughts and tongue in check until now because it is really ignorant to waste time on finger-pointing and blame when Katrina search and rescue missions are being executed but I cannot read your message without responding. There will be more than enough blame to go around for all, regardless of political party affiliation, contrary to the opinion of the author of this pathetic *timeline*. The city of N.O. did have a plan to evacuate its people. All of the city and state officials knew of the plan AND they all knew that it would take more than a day to get the people out of N.O.
For whatever reasons… and I’m not suggesting the reasons were deliberate to put the people in harms way… but N.O. Mayor Nagin waited until Sunday to issue the mandatory evacuation. By then, there was NO WAY they could have gotten all the people out of town. IT WAS ALREADY TOO LATE!!!! According to the plan, the mandatory evacuation should have been issued on the Thursday before the hurricane hit. They would have had plenty of time to safely get everyone out of the city. Instead they waited until Sunday; shame on them! If N.O. officials had done their job like they were supposed to, Mayor Nagin would have found all the buses and bus drivers he would have needed to successfully get everybody out before Katrina hit N.O.
I realize that those who dislike everything President Bush stands for would love to put all the blame for this on him. But if you insist on wasting time pointing fingers, then point the first one at Mayor Nagin and his crew. If they had done their job when they were supposed to, nobody would have been held up at either the Superdome or the N.O. Convention Center and folks like “Mr. Time Lineidiot” would not be blaming President Bush for something that the officials of the city of N.O. could have prevented.
Why did Mayor Nagin pitch a fit in his radio interview and begin cussing “the feds”, calling them all sorts of names for “moving so slow”? I’m glad you asked. It’s because Nagin goofed and he knew he goofed and he was trying to cover his butt. Just like a child who does something wrong and they get angry and blame others… so did Nagin.
September 13th, 2005 at 11:30 amThis is the most useless piece of liberal-based misinformation I have ever run across in my life.
I’m sorry I wasted time reviewing the highlights of the left-biased timeline posted on this site.
Do all you liberals actually think that a hurricane making landfall is reason for every Republican in America to drop what they are doing, clear their agendas and rush to the site of the destruction? Who cares who was playing golf or tennis the day before landfall? Would it have changed anything if every government official in Washington were chewing on their fingernails and watching the weather channel reporters get blown around the streets of New Orleans? Would the levee have held?
Do any of you have a clue how logistically complicated it is to move 25,000 troops into place EFFEECTIVELY? Sure, every person in American could rush to New Orleans to help right now, but without a coordinated effort; it will be a circus of futility.
Remember, my liberal friends, the major levee breach didn’t occur until Tuesday evening (while the first was being repaired)… this means that 50 – 60 hours later the troops arrived. How fast do you expect help to arrive when the possible response area is the size of Great Britain? The Coast Guard was plucking people from the water hours after the level breached and the major flood started. Has anyone given Bush CREDIT for this?
Also remember that without the levee breach, the power would be coming back on in some areas as it is in parts of Alabama and Mississippi now. Bush had NOTHING to do with funding the levee. That was the state government’s responsibility.
You guys slay me. You sit there, comfortable in your easy chairs with a beer in your hand, scratching you butts while you listen to the liberal media attack Bush for not doing enough. Are there no Democrats that were playing golf or tiddlywinks before the storm?
A good portion of the “poor and disadvantaged people” who were not evacuated stayed behind on purpose. I’m from an east coast state and every time a storm hits the coast, there are those who stay behind to loot… AND those who collapse on the devastation to swindle. Check out this excerpt from another, more objective website…
“People are leaving the Superdome to go to Canal Street to loot.â€
“Some people broke into drug stores and stole the drugs off the shelves. It is looting times five. I’m telling you, it’s like Sodom and Gomorrah.â€
We all saw the news clips showing the people wading in knee-high water, floating rafts down the street and looting the stores. I saw no rafts filled with food and water, but i saw plenty of TV’s VCR’s and clothes…
These are the same people, who, when the levee collapsed and the city flooded, were screaming into the cameras claiming “some body needs to do something!!!” For this you blame Bush?
C’mon… get real. You people need to quit pointing fingers and get busy helping. Instead of wasting time creating biased time lines that serve no useful purpose, spend the time driving to the gulf coast and helping out a fellow American in need.
BTW
I also find it interesting that this liberal web site has so much disrespectful, insulting and abusive information relating to conservatives, yet has the nerve to have the following statement in their “terms of use”…
“…please do not threaten, insult, abuse, intimidate or harass….”
“•Post any messages or provide links to any messages that endorse or oppose a particular political party or candidate for office.”
talk about hypocrites….
Don’t waste your time responding to this note, i shall never visit this website again.
September 13th, 2005 at 2:10 pmFor anyone interested in timelines, The Daily Howler has a great timeline for the whole ‘Convention Center’ meme going around.
As it turns out, and you could have knocked me over with a feather on this one, the whole FEMA not knowing about the common knowledge Convention Center crisis turns out to be a media creation, pure and simple.
In fact, as Somerby clearly points out in rich detail, the ‘24 hours of widespread coverage’ actually consisted of a couple mentions by Chris Lawrence on a couple CNN shows of a few thousand people gathering at the Convention Center (hardly a call to arms) and a small report on Scarborough Country, at 10:20 Wednesday night, by a guest who was reporting what he had heard from other sources. In fact ABC made no mention of it until 2:30 the Thursday, around the same time the first videos of the Center were shown. This was also around the actual time FEMA had learned about the Center being used as an evacuee site (it had never been mentioned in any State or Local plans) and by that evenings news shows they had already begun trying to organize relief efforts.
For those poor unfortunate people without a television, the first they had a chance to learn about the common knowledge disaster was on Friday. Of course that’s not the impression people were led to believe by the so-called ‘professional’ journalists.
Read the whole thing. As an added bonus he just destroys Sen. Mary Landrieu’s appearance on Fox News Sunday (video available from The Political Teen).
If you don’t read the Howler, I’d suggest giving it a try.
September 13th, 2005 at 6:39 pmI would prefer a timeline with less bias and more facts, but worth reading compared to many other sources of information. Most media focused on “dramatic footage” with little regard to how well it reflected what was going on, and equally bad much of the coverage was of a purely political partisan nature.
Seems to me that many normal human sized errors were made. Some fraction of the people trapped in New Orleans acted heroicly, others made the situation much worse for the rest. How both groups are treated will tell much about what I think of the community.
Finally I suggest people reserve judgement and look at more than a few sources of information, then think about what you read and see what makes sense about what happened.
September 13th, 2005 at 7:39 pmI think that America is in trouble we have shown the world that while we are in their countries telling them and trying to make them like us we can’t live up to our own example a good leader needs to lead by example, maybe if we all watch Independence Day (the movie) that is the kind of president we need one who will put his own life on the line for the good of the people, it is ridiculous that the men who were from the gulf coast region were able to come home from Iraq stay a couple of weeks then go back I say we leave Iraq drive electric cars and clean up our own mistakes before we try to tell someone else how to live
September 14th, 2005 at 12:47 amI agree with Mike. There is so little fact to your timeline that it makes clear your political agenda is to seek out and destroy! You are as guilty for the New York terrorist attack on our soil as the terrorists themselves because of the hate that you spread. I only hope that the people that find your website will seek out the truth and arm themselves with that and not your words. I am from Louisiana, about 45 minutes away from New Orleans. The truth is that locals here, and that includes our local politicians, knew what would happen if a cat.4 or 5 hurricane would hit New Orleans. They were the ones responsible for change and if it didn’t happen it was because of their lack of concern, not President Bush. They knew it for the 25+ years that I have lived here. I wish that people who are not from here, would quit making comments because of what they THINK the truth is. Investigate, research, THEN comment.
September 14th, 2005 at 10:37 am470 – You stated that you lived in N.O. until a year ago. What you don’t realize, is that until Friday afternoon, we here in the affected area were told that Katrina was nothing for us to worry about. The weather forecasters were reporting that landfall would probably be around the alabama/mississippi border. So Ray Nagin couldn’t have issued a mandatory evacuation on Thursday, because there was a high pressure system over us that would keep it away from us, so we thought we were in the clear. Having lived here, I am sure you understand how unpredictable these storms are, so Katrina is at fault for not letting us know where she really wanted to go. I do agree that more should have been done by the local officials in preparing the last resort shelters. But you know how people are determined, for one reason or another, to ride it out at home. Buses did run prior to the storm trying to get people to the last resort shelters, because the enormity of the evacuation, prevented them from getting everyone out. Many people stayed in their homes, and then were forced to flee by foot (in the water) to the last resort shelters when the water started to rise. 10,000 people were in the superdome during the storm…40-50,000 were there after the water started to rise. Ray Nagin did the best job he could with the time and resources he had availible.
September 14th, 2005 at 11:30 amBush bashers fail to realize that Bush was going on what he was being told by this official and that official. Ray Nagin said himself that once he was able to talk to Bush himself and tell him directly what was needed, he got what he asked for. Bush’s failings include having idiots in high level positions that had no idea how to do what was needed of them. Also, the photo ops disturb me.
Kathleen Blanco- her floundering and indecision have made this situation much worse. I would be willing to bet, she would have turned over control to the federal government, if a democrat was running this nation. And things would probably be must better. Not a time for politics, Gov. Where is Edwin Edwards when we need him..oh yeah…he is detained at this time! :0) Although he is a crook, he did more to help the people of this state than most Govs, and I would rather see him directing the state from his jail cell right now, than having to live under Blanco’s fiasco.
FEMA- what a joke, and continues to be. How many people have I talked to that have nothing left, and FEMA was turning them down or giving them the run around. It is sad that this is the group getting most of the relief money.
So yes, every level of government could have done their part better than they did, but hindsight is 20/20.
Please show me where the request for additional forces was made on Friday, Aug. 26? I read (in the DOD article you supplied) that the request on the 26th was for; “defense coordinating offices to be established in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. Those were established in those states over Friday and Saturday”. The request for assitance above and beyond coorinating offices was made on Sunday Aug. 28. At least try to get your facts straight. By the way, you forgot to mention the fact that Al Gore chartered privite jets on Sept.1 to rescue his personal doctor and some 270 patients at Charity Hospital in New Orleans. To bad he wasn’t president, he could have single handedly saved the city. He could have been a hero. All he could do now is say “I could’ve fought better Howard”.
September 14th, 2005 at 12:56 pmI have to give George Bush credit for being “man enough” to admit that our government’s response to Katrina was seriously flawed. Frankly, I didn’t think he had it in him to accept responsibility. The neo-cons on this thread and elsewhere who have been defending the response of the Bush administration and desperately looking for scape goats to shift the blame away from the federal government have seemingly been betrayed by the truth, and will now have to either cease and desist or do some godawful, torturous and irrational flip-flopping. The wild attempts which I have seen, in many cases, to falsely separate our grossly incompetent response to Katrina from the issue of responding to a serious terrorist attack has likewise been effectively repudiated by the president himself. The question remains: What in God’s name has our government been doing since 9/11 to prepare us for disaster within our borders?
Quotes from multiple sources (Sept. 14, 2005):
“Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capabilities at all levels of government,†Mr Bush said during a White House news conference with President Talabani of Iraq. “To the extent the federal government didn’t fully do its job right, I take responsibility.â€
Asked whether Americans should be worried about the Government’s ability to respond to another natural disaster or a terrorist attack, he replied: “Are we capable of dealing with a severe attack? That’s a very important question and it’s in the national interest that we find out what went on so we can better respond.â€
“I’m not going to defend the process going in, but I am going to defend the people who are on the front line of saving lives,” he added. “I also want people in America to understand how hard people are working to save lives down there in not only New Orleans, but surrounding parishes and along the Gulf Coast.”
September 14th, 2005 at 4:18 pmI think you should add this to the timeline:
“October 1, 2001:
New Orleans is a disaster waiting to happen. The city lies below sea level…each loss gives a storm surge a clearer path to wash over the delta and pour into the bowl, trapping one million people inside and another million in surrounding communities. Extensive evacuation would be impossible because the surging water would cut off the few escape routes. Scientists at Louisiana State University (L.S.U.), who have modeled hundreds of possible storm tracks on advanced computers, predict that more than 100,000 people could die. The body bags wouldn’t go very far.”
Scientific American Article http://sciam.com/print_version.cfm?articleID=00060286-CB58-1315-8B5883414B7F0000
I think it fits quite nicely with the Bush quote “nobody expected the levees to break.”
September 14th, 2005 at 6:57 pmVery helpful!
I suggest searching for and abstracting the hurricane and flood contingency plans that must have been produced by FEMA, other city, state, federal or advisory agencies and any modifications made in response to the 2001 area warning or recent hurricanes. I have seen no mention of such in the news, though it has been obvious that many institutions, hospitals, companies, etc. have performed remarkably in response to such local plans.
In addition I suggest that your timeline include brief quotations of warning statements by weather forcasters beginning about August 24.
Finally I have seen no mention by you or the news of any hurricane and flood contingency plans produced by FEMA or other federal agencies and any modifications which have occured since the 2001 warnings, and recent hurricanes. It would be if shorts could be in your timeline.
Thanks.
September 14th, 2005 at 11:53 pmSept. 8, President signs proclamation waiving the prevailing wage law for Louisiana and Mississippi, so contractors (any come to mind?) can make more profit.
September 15th, 2005 at 11:34 amOops. Proclamation link:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/09/20050908-5.html
September 15th, 2005 at 11:35 amIt’s been explained numerous times, but what’s one more. Almost all experts expected ‘over-topping’ of the levee system to occur but no one, prior to Katrina, seems to have ever consider the actual breaking of the levees.
Over-topping would have allowed water to flood the city during the storm, but after the winds and rains had died down the water would have ceased and the pumps, if they were working, could begin the work of removing the water right away. This would have still resulted in a extremely large disaster area, but things would have been no where near as bad as they were.
Breaking, as Bush stated, was totally unexpected, and as the water entering the City would not stop, even after the storm, there was no way to pump out water.
And Harold, disaster contingency plans of all sorts are a State and Local responsability. No one could expect the Federal government to have emergency plans drawn up for every town and city in the United States (and please don’t anyone try to claim that only NO rates a Federal plan and the rest can all fend for themselves). They rely on the local governments, those with the most knowledge of the areas, to draw up the detailed plans and file them with FEMA, then when they arrive on the scene, they have some idea as to what has, is and needs to be done.
One of the biggest problems with the entire NO disaster is that none of the local governments fully implemented their emergency plans so that when FEMA arrived, expecting certain things to have been done, they found themselves essentially starting from scratch.
Of course, most experts from other hurricane prone states who have reviewd the NO and LA emergency plans seem to agree that they are terribly inadequate. Partially due to the fact they do not really contain coningency plans in case things do not go perfectly, and partially because they are sorely lacking in detail.
I’m sure the next municipal and State government will put a little more time and effort into their nexts version. Hopefully they will actually look at their neighbors plans and avail themselves of their expertise.
September 15th, 2005 at 12:39 pmWhen in the timeline did Mayor Nagin make the decision not to use the hundreds of school busses available to him to evacuate the city? And when did Governor Blanco make the decision to block the Red Cross from delivering supplies to the Superdome and the convention center?
September 15th, 2005 at 12:57 pmI have to give an A+ for the creative writing in your Time Line. Well done and reads like a fictional novel.
September 15th, 2005 at 2:54 pmGee Fred did you somehow miss George Bush’s statement where he takes responsibilty and says there were problems “at all levels of government?” P.S.- “all levels” includes the federal level:
“Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capabilities at all levels of government,†Mr Bush said during a White House news conference with President Talabani of Iraq. “To the extent the federal government didn’t fully do its job right, I take responsibility.â€
September 15th, 2005 at 7:29 pmFred, I liked what you wrote. I wish I would have thought of it. Matthew? Are you from Louisiana? No, I didn’t think so. Taking responsibility is what honest people like President Bush do, that doesn’t mean that he had to DO anything personally, but as the commander in chief he is ultimately responsible for ANYBODY’S bad choice. This is the character that the man has shown consistantly through the years. I would not have expected anything less. I will say once again that the Locals all new that anything over a cat.3 hurricane would destroy the levee. It was only built to withstand a cat 3, not 4, not 5. We all (LOCALS) knew it was coming sooner or later. I heard (with my own ears) a spokesman from the Army Corp of Engineers, here in my home about 30 minutes away from New Orleans, say that they spent millions and millions upon Millions of dollars on rebuilding the levies but there was NOTHING that could have been done if it was stronger then a Cat.3 hurricane. Investigate, Research THEN Comment.
September 16th, 2005 at 12:18 amCitizens of NOLA are dead or misplaced, and conservatives and liberals are fighting about who is right.
September 16th, 2005 at 2:50 pmThis country disgusts me…
Excellent work. The main topics are outlined, straightforward and to the point.
There must be an atonement for the crimes that have been perpetrated in the name of those who suffer cruel and unmanageable deaths at the hands of this administration.
The very act of “standing down†in the mist off a national crises is in my opinion treasonous.
Additional entries addressing FEMA’s turning away truckloads of water and food. Their not allowing the Red Cross in, their cutting the communication lines to the sheriff’s office. The turning away of fuel that was directed to the Sheriff’s office.
Continue to fill out these holes and you will have a complete picture of the depth that FEMA under the direction of Mr. Brown who was taking his orders from Mr. Chertoff, the Director of Homeland Security who was serving at the pleasure of the President.
Their must be a reckoning.
September 16th, 2005 at 4:52 pmI always find it incredible that those more loyal to the man Bush than to the nation can read statements, with documented sources for the quotations, and still scream that those quoting are liars.
September 16th, 2005 at 10:53 pmCharles, a few small points.
1)It was the Governor of LA that turned back food and water and did not allow the Red Cross to enter LA. Her office has admitted it (and their reasoning behind such a decision, which was flawed at best) and both the Red Cross and Slavation Army have both publically stated it. But you can just continue on trying to push forward this already debunked story as ‘proof’ of federal incompetance. The fact that it has been debunked several times in this very thread just makes you look like a fool.
2)Most of those other examples you state came directly from Jefferson Parrish President, Aaron Broussard, who has already been caught flat out lying on TV in an attempt to make the federal response look worse than it was.
I’m not saying they didn’t happen, but:
A) I wouldn’t trust anything coming out of Jefferson until after the independant assessments are completed and
B)if these things did occur as claimed, I would like to see an official explaination of the reasoning behind the decisions. There may have been a legit reason to do those things or it may have been just a idiotic decision by somebody. If the latter, then yes, someone from FEMA (or whichever agency order it) will have to face the heat. It’s hard to actually convict them until you know the ‘why’ of the matter.
If you look at the two of the biggest screw ups in this whole matter, the not using the available buses to evacuate people and keeping food and water out of LA, we have, on record, the various leaders reasoning (not enough bus drivers and didn’t want to give people a reason to stay in the city) so feel free to defend or attack those desicions all you want. For most other cases, the link between the action and the ‘why’ is not as clear cut so you’ll have to wait before using them as solid evidence of mismanagement by anyone.
And dana…, could you site some of your examples. I’ll be glad to look them over.
September 17th, 2005 at 9:56 amGreat work! on the timeline
September 18th, 2005 at 6:01 amYou need to keep this timeline running. Add last week’s observation made by MSNBC’s Brian Williams about how Bush had the power turned back on for his visit and then had it turned back off when he left.
sure does make one speculate…
September 18th, 2005 at 9:01 am486, Karen:
I think I see; you believe George Bush took responsibility for the Wholesale debacle after Katrina simply because he’s like the Archangel Michael or something and he’s simply bearing the burdens of the world on his immense shoulders? Cool. It must be really tranquilizing and soothing to be free of the burden of consciousness and thought.
You said:
Matthew? Are you from Louisiana? No, I didn’t think so.
Odd. I’m from New York where 9/11 happened, remember? But I don’t recall anybody suggesting that my opinions concerning 9/11 and its aftermath were somehow magical enhanced due merely to my proximity to the disaster. Maybe the brain magic is stronger in Louisiana?
September 19th, 2005 at 1:47 pmTo blame the Liberals and Democrats and not the Bush Administration is just plain ignorant. It’s sad that some people will go so far out of their way to make Bush look like a hero, like he actually CARED about this unitl he was forced to. What is so hard about admitting that this is such a sad, sad excuse for an administration? Believe it or not, it does not make one unpatriotic to disagree with the INHUMANITY that is this president and his office!!! How many times does the president and his people need to successfully lie to, cheat, and ignore the people of this world? Katrina is YET ANOTHER example of this administration’s irresponsibility and selfishness!
September 19th, 2005 at 2:08 pmHey Bonnie,
I’m not blaming the Liberals or Democrats for the mess, I’m blaming the ONLY people who had the legal responsability and authority to handle the situation, the Mayor and the Governor.
Honestly, I think I only mentioned the Governors party once in all my posts, and that was in response to someone else, and as I have stated before, Nagins is a Dem in name only, he was a Republican until he need the Dem vote to get elected.
Incompetance does not understand party lines. If it was all a federal issue why are the neigboring states, one of which was actually hit harder than LA, doing so much better in their relief work? The same federal government was on the scene in all 3 cases, but almost every major problem has been focused in LA. Could it possibly be due to their more centralized disaster response authority structure, something which LA has failed to implement. Nah, somehow, it must have been Bush’s fault.
Step back from your Bush hatred and actually try to look at the situation from a distance, with an impartial view. Now, try and point out exactly where the Federal government failed in their responsibilities , and I do mean their responsabilities, not some perceived notion you have of what the Feds should be in charge of, what they are actually allowed to control.
Just be honest, it doesn’t matter what Bush does or doesn’t do, people like you will only see the negative. Just look at Cindy Sheehan last week calling for Bush to pull his troops out of an ‘occupied New Orleans’.
Damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t. At least the actual victims themselves appear not to be sharing your view of the situation.
September 19th, 2005 at 4:40 pmCan the time line be updated weekly or monthly to continue the thread and follow along with this story?
JR
September 20th, 2005 at 11:46 amForgotten timeline from one of your quoted sources the Boston Globe -
Saturday
The calm before the storm Jasmine Haralson remembered a closed-door briefing at City Hall on the Saturday before the storm hit. Nagin was there, as were Police Superintendent Eddie Compass, the city’s department heads, and several City Council members. But the atmosphere was calm, routine. Haralson, chief of staff for a New Orleans city councilman, Jay Batt, was not worried.
Yep, No one seem to really care when it was their (Parish & City Officals) resposnibility to implement the State of Louisana’s SE District Emergency Response Plan which required all parishes and the city of NO to use buses (City & School) to evacuate all those who could not evacuate themselves. Instead just as Nagin said he would do in a July 2005 Public Service Announcement if the Big-one hit it is every person for themselves (Tuff luck you stupid poor people) !!!
Here from Meet the Press trascript:
RUSSERT: But, Mr. Mayor, if you read the city of New Orleans’ comprehensive emergency plan– and I’ve read it and I’ll show it to you and our viewers–it says very clearly, “Conduct of an actual evacuation will be the responsibility of the mayor of New Orleans. The city of New Orleans will utilize all available resources to quickly and safely evacuate threatened areas. Special arrangements will be made to evacuate persons unable to transport themselves or who require specific life-saving assistance. Additional personnel will be recruited to assist in evacuation procedure as needed. Approximately 100,000 citizens of New Orleans do not have means of personal transportation.”
It was your responsibility. Where was the planning? Where was the preparation? Where was the execution?
MAYOR NAGIN: The planning was always in getting people to higher ground, getting them to safety. That’s what we meant by evacuation. Get them out of their homes, which most people are under sea level. Get them to a higher ground and then depending upon our state and federal officials to move them out of harm’s way after the storm has hit.
RUSSERT: But in July of this year, one month before the hurricane, you cut a public service announcement which said, in effect, “You are on your own.” And you have said repeatedly that you never thought an evacuation plan would work. Which is true: whether you would exercise your obligation and duty as mayor or that and evacuate people, or you believe people were on their own?
MAYOR NAGIN: Well, Tim, you know, we basically wove this incredible tightrope as it is. We were in a position of trying to encourage as many people as possible to leave because we weren’t comfortable that we had the resources to move them out of our city. Keep in mind: normal evacuations, we get about 60 percent of the people out of the city of New Orleans. This time we got 80 percent out. We encouraged people to buddy up, churches to take senior citizens and move them to safety, and a lot of them did. And then we would deal with the remaining people that couldn’t or wouldn’t leave and try and get them to higher ground until safety came.
You forgot that inyou timeline – Nagin Leaves 100 thousand to die in New Orleans just as he said he would do !!!!!
If that storm had not veered 50 miles east as it did late sunday night/early monday morning, the relief effort fo N.O. would have even mattered, the water would have been 10 to 15 feet higher than it already was and most of those roofs you saw people being plucked from would have been under water.
September 20th, 2005 at 4:59 pmFirst,
FEMA turned away food and supplies when there were being brought in, stating that their timing was bad and they would get in the way…..WALMART PUBLICLY CONFIRMED THIS.
Second,
It’s time we faced this as AMERICANS. The people in power fucked up, plain and simple. It’s easy to put the blaim on Republicans because they are in office now and they really are running things. No I don’t think the president needs to constatly take vacations and especially for the length of time that he does but where there is a national diaster, everyone should jump up and react. They failed to do so. I feel the Govenor and Mayor did the best the could under the circumstances, especially in preparing for the storm. I can’t disclose everything but it is true that they requested the national guard well before the storm hit and as well as a decleration of emergency for the area which fell on deaf ears. This situation could have been handled better, but it wasn’t and it’s because of the unprepared people we have in office. My God, Ms Rice was shopping for shoes 3 days after the storm hit and the president was playing his guitar with some country singer. Where is the compassion. I know some people will think I am picking on the Repubs, but just look deep down inside and just think, if this had been in Beverly Hills, would the situation still have been handled the same. I think we know the answer to that is no….and this is coming from someone who voted for bush and I have to say I am really appauled at the entire administration.
September 21st, 2005 at 8:56 amIt’s asked several times on here how Bush supporters can continue to defend him in the face of facts. We will see this more and more as facts repudiate the attributes that his supporters have claimed for him (such as moral, leader, Christian, will keep us safer, etc.). And the reason is simple–as it becomes more and more clear that Bush is responsible for the deaths of thousands, it also becomes clear that those who support him and put him in office are also responsible for those deaths.
These people don’t want to take responsibility for the death, pain and suffering they have foisted on the world. They are clearly in denial and will do/say anything to protect themselves from the truth that they are not the morally superior people that they have been claiming. Imagine how the Germans felt after WWII–these people don’t want to be in that same position.
September 21st, 2005 at 2:48 pmYes I can truly understand you’re point. I was democrat until I saw Kerry was running, then I thought that maybe we better stick with Bush….what a mistake! At the same time, the word impeachment has been thrown around about because it’s clear that he is not doing his job and its sad because it’s costing us financially as well as the stability of the country. The world population has dropped drasticly due to a tragedy we call BUSH.
September 21st, 2005 at 2:55 pmNot to split hairs, but as a reporter I have to make an observation about the timeline, or more importantly, an omission in your version. I have official documentation from our CBS affiliates that states the Pres actually DID declare a state of emergency existed as early as Saturday, 8.29 at 3pm… I am happy to give you what I have…
Saturday, August 27:
President George W. Bush’s weekly radio address focuses on Gaza withdrawal and the Iraqi constitution. He makes no mention of Hurricane Katrina.
President Bush officially declares that a “state of emergency” exists in Louisiana and orders Federal aid to the affected areas to complement state and local relief efforts.
4:00 pm CDT: Per Governor Blanco’s order, Contraflow begins , reversing all traffic on inbound interstate lanes and making more room for evacuating vehicles in outbound lanes.
September 21st, 2005 at 6:04 pmGoto WIKIPEDIA site below they paint a not so slanted timeline. It was interesting that every instance that Blanco asked for the Pres for help he did immediately.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Hurricane_Katrina#Before_landfall
This sight talks about the Radical Right Wing agenda…as if this site was Mother Theresa. America bashers. Where freedom of speech and expression trump treasonry.
September 22nd, 2005 at 1:51 amSkeptical,
Not to shoot holes in your pet theory but my defense of Bush has absolutly nothing to do with a feeling of shared responsability with putting him in office, I’m not even American so had absolutely no involvement with electing him.
It has more to do with the differences in what we consider ‘facts’. The facts many of us defenders look at are the ones like, say, the responsibilities and powers as spelt out under the law and the Constitution that govern the Federal response, the lack of preparedness by State and Local officials, the various orders given by the Governors office, the actual role of FEMA during a disaster, the federal response timeline in comparison to previous events of this nature, etc…
While most of the ‘facts’ presented on your side of the argument are more along the lines of emotional outcrying that people in America were dying so therefore Bush is a bad leader, or as is so often the case, a reference to other ‘facts’ as if they are sure proof but you just don’t want to bother repeating any of them (of course the always popular German references really help your argument too).
Check out the WIKI entry Peter links to. While not necessarily perfect (it includes a few things that I have not yet seen confirmed) it does a pretty good job of spelling out who could and could not do what and when. But then again, it probably doesn’t agree with who you ‘feel’ should be held responsible.
September 22nd, 2005 at 5:17 pmThis timeline is stupid.
September 23rd, 2005 at 9:41 amreally stupid
September 23rd, 2005 at 9:42 amwho cares if conoleeza rice goes shoe shopping?
September 23rd, 2005 at 9:43 amor if bush eats a cake?
September 23rd, 2005 at 9:47 amor if bush plays the gitar with mike willis?
OR if conodoleeza rice watches a play?!?!?!?
There are a lot of people at fault for not timely reacting from their status in office to promptly respond to the needs required by Katrina’s destructive force. We as Americans only have the truth of it all, via what media sources chop up, alter and channel on out to us. Their failure (the media) in staying with pertinent info, and their malicious acts in straying away from the truer facts of the issues at hand in lieu of following more ‘viewer interesting’ soap opera hype pipe subjects, was just as catastrophic to our nation as anything else that could be blamed. How so? Hurricanes are devastating, and there’s no dispute to it. They tear things up, they destroy stuff and they kill people. Those are facts no paper, TV network or radio station can change. No government is perfect, no person is either. However, the ‘media hype pipe’ is no more truthful as they claim our government leaders to be. If it isn’t ‘blood n’ guts’ news worthy, or isn’t some form of political scandal and grime, it isn’t news! What happened here in reader’s comments and the failure to create “informational truthful” feeds to the factual information openly available to us all was disappointingly normal. What about the fact that Bush WAS there and Governor Blanco openly refused help for 24 full hours prior to governmental assistance, too late! What happened to the fact that Mayor Nadin had 400 city school buses at his disposal for evacuation efforts, which sat drowned and dead throughout and after the wrath of Hurricane Katrina? What about his stupidity in suggesting New Orleans business owners return, just before Hurricane Rita hit and the levees overflowed their tops again?!?! What about the non-validity to Jesse Jackson’s claims concerning “President Bush’s failure to place blacks in top positions in the federal response to the disaster, particularly when the majority of victims remaining stranded in New Orleans are black…that represents a kind of incompetence.” ?!?!?! Are we to fail to take note that U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Russell Honore, head of the military task force overseeing operations after hurricane Katrina, is of black lineage? Take note NOW that under his command, provisions of full search and rescue, medical help and supply shipments to the New Orleans’ area are under his operational control in support of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Why all the lies and fiction in reader’s comments of police officers or deputies being ordered by their Sheriff to shoot ‘blacks’ attempting to leave an overpass? I’m not opening up a column here on discrimination. It’s merely one of the subject lines that I am asking WHY too. Why the attempt to alter the truth and warp the reality of such an already realistically devastating hurricane. Why? Because people suck up that kind of junk and hype, like vampires rushing a blood bank or a sump truck lapping it up in a septic tank. I am more disgusted with the media and the common citizen and population of America at their own personalized addiction too such crap with their one sided selfish response and viewpoints after Hurricane Katrina, than I will EVER be upset with governmental (City, County, State, or Federal) failures at prevention and relief efforts. The whole situation from Federal Government through local governments, or from news agencies to the homes of the American people, this situation can be likened no better than to the occurrences related when actual New Orleans’ police officers were filmed by an NBC news crew and caught looting at locations after Katrina. The whole of the police force, though under the same stress and similar circumstances dutifully performed their jobs above and beyond, adjusting as best they could under such chaotic situations. However there is always trash to any municipality. There are waste disposal services for that trash, but you can still once in a while smell the trash. The not-as-pretty proportional truths of our society come floating to the top during such tragedies. They always have and they always will. Our Nation’s weaknesses and errors are always more predominately exposed when such tragic calamities occur. Whether terrorist or airline crashes, tornadoes or hurricanes, we will always see the sadder state of affairs more openly broadcasted over and above the good. Other Americans of our Nation gave willingly of themselves, donated their personal time in dangerous situations or from far away sent supplies and/or money. Those multitudes that showed care and love for survivors outweigh and put to shame these whiners and criers that would rather swallow deceit and lies and spread their own versions of verbal and literary diarrhea. I am shamed by that percentage of our populace, but I am NOT ashamed of America. I would rather be equally ashamed to find out that those with such blinded opinions, though with free right as given to one and all by our Constitution to have them and voice or print them as they wish, consider themselves Americans too. It is a time for change again yes, once again. It is a time to re-grow, yes once again. It is a time to rebuild once more. However, to those out their that would rather ‘float to the top’ with the rest, and live their lives on lies and soap opera scenarios as an excuse for their real world during such a tragic time of devastation and catastrophe, most REAL Americans out here simply wish you would please, just shut-up.
September 26th, 2005 at 2:51 amI have personally just gone through hurricane Rita. All we are asking for is HELP, please SHUT UP about who is the blame everyone messed up here. This is NOT about who is BLACK or who is WHITE, nor is it about the poor. We choose to live where we want to live, no one made us come here, we came because we love the State of Louisiana. Everyone messed up here from the top to the bottom, and you know what you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure this out. You know we have a family where the wife went to the gas station to put gas, saw one of her families from texas there and said to come to my home, they sd what about all these othere people from Texas..she sd bring them along, you know what she has small home and brought 76 people, thats right 76 people into her home, she and her husband gave up there bed and are sleeping in the back of there truck in the bed of it so these people can sleep safe. This is what Louisiana is all about. So for GOD sakes, shut up and help. You who messed up know who you are and when you get up to the pearly gates there will be hell to pay.
September 27th, 2005 at 12:48 pmHow about making a print friendly version of this, so I can bring along in my pocket to shut up neocons with actually verified facts in response to their ‘talking points’?
September 27th, 2005 at 3:13 pmits not very easy to read for those of us doin a project on the stupid thing.
September 27th, 2005 at 7:10 pmThis time line is NOT stupid. Pony boy Brown just perjured himself in claiming that Gov. Blanco did not request FEMA aid for New Orleans. Even the White House’s own webpage version of their statement, which can only be made after Gov. Blanco requests FEMA aid, omits New Orleans, yet in Blanco’s request, she SPECIFICALLY mentioned New Orleans and environs. Nice try Brownie. Why are we still paying this guy’s salary????!
September 27th, 2005 at 7:41 pmThis Timeline is only stupid to those that feel uncomfortable with the undisputable facts that this plain speaking timeline gives, one that they would normally have been shielded from while watching a government controlled puppet media.
September 27th, 2005 at 9:22 pmEvery level of our Government failed to a certain extent. Dems and Republicans alike. The bottom line here is this. Who was in charge for the past 4 1/2 yrs? Bush…..When 9/11 happened he had only been in office for less than a year and his administration/cons dumped the blame on Clinton. Now, using the same thinking, the current administration is at fault….PERIOD….. The Army Corp of Engineers is responsable for the levees there. The levee that retains the Mississippi has never breached. Why? It was build correctly. The US government has been warned for many years this was going to happen and ignored it, both Dems and Republicans. But, guess what? As I mention before WHO’S BEEN PRESIDENT FOR THE PAST 4 1/2YRS? The buck STOPS WITH YOU GEORGE W BUSH! IF THERE IS A WILL THERE IS A WAY………..
September 28th, 2005 at 10:41 amOne of the reasons that the Mississppi levees seemed to fair pretty well is that, as the Mississippi river has always been seen as the most likly threat to overtop (notice, even the doomsayers weren’t predicting levee collapse as much as severe overtopping, a fact too many seem to convienently forget), more of the money went to that side of NO than to the lake side.
That being said, it is very hard to pin the blame on the condition of the levees to any one particular administration as the plans for the levees were agreed upon decades ago, and the fact they had done the job in the past, just led people into a false sense of security. The same sense of security that led so many who had a way out to choose to stay behind.
The rampant pork barreling and general lack of concern of LA politicians at all levels of government didn’t help much either.
Truth is, 30 some odd years ago a group of politicians sat down with their pens and paper and calculated what the likelyhood of damage from a higher that level 3 hurricane would be to the NO area. They then crunched the numbers and decided on the preventative measures they would pay for. Ever since then each successive administration has been pretty much just gone with the flow just hoping that when the time for the big one to hit, it wouldn’t be on their watch.
September 28th, 2005 at 5:54 pmYour Katrina timeline is a great piece of revisionist history, which liberals are so skilled at. PRESIDENT Bush did take responsibility, but have you stopped to think why? He is smarter than all libs put together. Who was the last democrat to take responsibility for anything?
September 29th, 2005 at 1:14 pmCan you add some stuff about the meetings (Bush and Balaco) about who will be in charge rather than getting the relief underway full speed ahead?
September 29th, 2005 at 4:03 pmOn Sunday, September 4th, we attended church on the beach at Biloxi. Just as the service ended, the navy came ashore in 2 hovercraft. My son and I greeted the Commodore (Capt. Harris) and his staff. My son, (an active duty naval officer) had driven from Virginia the previous Wednesday to help us.
October 5th, 2005 at 9:10 amTask Force Katrina had waited for 2 days off shore from Biloxi awaiting directives from FEMA. When none came, Captain Harris took the initiative and came ashore with badly needed men, supplies and equipment. I was there. I heard his words, and shared his frustration. FEMA and POTUS get an F- in my book…A phrase also made by Congressman Gene Taylor in describing Brown’s ineffectiveness..
Kanye was right. The President does NOT care about BLACK people. Esecially if they are of a certain Socio Econonical status. BUT YALL PUT HIM IN. The map was bleeding during the election.
October 11th, 2005 at 1:40 pmEspecially (my bad)
October 11th, 2005 at 1:42 pmYou guys are idiots. Quit trying to blame the federal goverment response for the diaster created by state and local governments in Louisiana and Mississippi.
Was FEMA overwhelmed, yes they were, but partially because of clueless Nagin and Blanco administrations. Could they have done better, yep, all of us in public safety can and do learn from such events
Any half-witted local government official knows, (or should know), that you are on your own, (i.e. local and state public safety agencies have to to handle the initial response), for the first 72 hours. After that the federal government will ride in with cavalry.
Funny thing, that’s what happened in New Orleans. The storm hit Monday morning and cleared out of the area Tuesday morning. The cavalry arrived first thing Thursday morning.
I was sitting in an E.O.C in Northwest Florida before during and after Katrina with several FEMA staff. There was discussion before it made landfall of what assistance would be needed. Florida public safety agencies were pre-staged in our area to head west, which they did when they were requested by Missippi on Thursday, two days after the storm made landfall.
That’s the way it works with mutual aid, the state or local government has to request the assitance, you don’t just ride off to the rescue like in a cartoon.
Wednesday after the storm I was meeting with FEMA, Red Cross and other local agencies to set up a refugee shelter in our community, even before anyone from LA or MS made a request.
FEMA is not an emergency response agency. They don’t own fire trucks or helicopters. They are a coordinating and logistical operations and function pretty darn good.
It’s funny how we in Florida didn’t have anywhere near these problems last year when we were blitzed with four storms over a course of a few months, including Ivan.
Quit your assinine ranting and stick to global warming and gun control.
October 13th, 2005 at 5:08 pmOK, I will accept the fact that eveyone deserves part of the blame, but why or why does the current administration have to make every effort to appear as if they cared. A “leader” does just that. And if breaking the laws would have saved a few lives, then instead of doing what was politically correct, so be it. I’d have more respect for the man, instead, people died. If the died for unforseen reasons or in duty to their country, I forgive that (we won’t go there now), but needless deaths are criminal.
October 14th, 2005 at 10:30 amAfter reading many of these comments,I am keenly aware that this disaster debacle lies at the feet of the most bitter bipartisanship period of our time. 24 hour news cycles have not gotten us any closer to an informed public. The press cultivates false contraversy by providing snipets of news instead of an objective frame of reference.I ask now-IS OBJECTIVITY POSSIBLE?
What we need now more than ever is to raise our expectations of our public servants. We are not cultivating an environment where our best and our brightest are encouraged to serve. Mud slinging and campaign compromises keep all of us- Liberals and Conservatives from getting the representation we deserve.
I honestly do not beleive that people are as divided as the media makes us out to beleive. We all want a more responsive government that is accountable for its actions period.We all know that the Federal Government could have done a better job as well as the local governments and citizens in the gulf coast.This bipartisanship and shock jock press creates an “all your fault” or “not your fault at all” mentality It is the labels and rancor between the parties that causes us to believe that there are evil forces at hand instead of bureaucratic human error that runs rampent in any government.
The shit hit the fan. We all got caught on the can on this one.
We have big issues facing us. The Republicans and Democrats have got to remove some of the small special interest groups from their inner circle and start leading this country with common sense and moderate policies.
With every label and accusation of bias, the media grows and is given permission to avoid the roots of problems. Before you know it we will face another challenge bigger than Hurricane Katrina. The bird flu pandemic,China,North Korea etc.Our solutions will only be as good as our unity.
Now, am I saying “follow the leader” no matter what? Absolutely not. I know the truth is somewhere in the middle on all of these issues. We must demand moderation and progressive ideas from our leaders.
If Katrina taught me anything it taught me that the citizens of this country get the government is asks for AND what it pays for. Average citizens cannot access this government without large amounts of money. Whose fault is that?
But here is a different thought about Katrina and New Orleans….
Florida knows how to prepare for a hurricane. They know they are not immune to unspeakable tragedy and they understand the limitations of all the levels of government. They expect to have one at least once a year, and the individuals in that community know that they must work together to survive it. They are prepared with survival plans and Home Depot to Wal-Mart stock their shelves accordingly in the Hurricane season. Citizens buy flood insurance because they know someone who lost everything because they didnt. The average income and automobile ownership is much higher than in other areas. Individual resources obviously equal better prepardness.
The citizens of New Orleans have not had that much experience with them as Floridians and Jeb Bush has. I think W and the rest of the country expected a Fla. like response. FEMA and W were shocked when they saw how quickly Blanco and Nagin were overwhelmed. The citizens were in denial or powerless to respond. Low income, low automobile ownership and lack of individual experience conspired to create this tragedy.
I live in Georgia away from all of this. I wouldn’t know how to begin to prepare for a catagory 5 hurricane. Shirley Franklin is clueless how to handle the evacuees we have here in the city. I wonder what she would do in Gov. Blanco’s place? The last big one hit New Orleans in 1969. That is a lot of time to go back to sleep and tell yourself that bad things happen to other cities like Homestead Fla. or Bande Ache Thailand.
So, Nola is no Florida. Got it. Now lets move on.
I think we can find out what went wrong here without trashing anyone. Cut out the name calling and try to stay objective eventhough you lean one way or the other. Maybe, the press will follow and then our politicians will do the same.
You may say that I am a dreamer. Let me know if I am the only one.
October 14th, 2005 at 11:32 amI want some sort of comment taken by our President on the incorrect initial FEMA response. GOVLA requested help on 8/26. FEMA responded on 8/27 by providing assistance to the WRONG PARISHES!! When was the correct assistance provided?
Could this grave error be the reason why federal response was delayed?
btw, Louisisana, specifically SW LA is my home. I care what has happened there even though I don’t live there.
October 17th, 2005 at 10:45 amWith Hurricane Katrina behind us, FEMA received a valuable lesson in “First Response.” Many, many lives were put at stake for the political games played during the worst hurricane of the century (regarding damages in the millions). Sometimes it’s too late to fix something that’s after the fact. The City of New Orleans should rebuild bigger and better.
October 19th, 2005 at 1:11 pmWay to suck you ignorant people. Democrats cant find anything else better to do. Try taking care of your city/state. Then there wouldnt be a problem.
-Pathetic
November 3rd, 2005 at 5:26 pmYou need to have more on where it formed when it became a hurricane more on everything
November 5th, 2005 at 10:14 amDid someone forget that FEMA is not a first responder?
How about checking the timelines of hurricanes while slick was in office? Ever think of that? The people responsible are the individuals who refused to leave, the major who refused to ship them out by school bus and train, and the governor who refused to declare an emergency in a timely fashion. This timeline is ALL lies.
And this is NOT a “murderous” administration. President Bush got left with the garbage slick left, because slick didn’t do his job. Too busy getting Monica’ed. Now we have a POTUS who will actually defend America. It’s insane to not be able to see it.
November 26th, 2005 at 9:11 pmHow inteleegent you all are in your poleetical arguments! Great blog, yes,excellent arguments…
FOR ME TO POOP ON!
November 29th, 2005 at 5:30 pmPartisan nerds! You will all die alone!
Now that we’ve all seen his e-mails and Mike Brown has started his own Catastrophy Consulting firm, I wonder what all the Bushies are now thinking…as for all you folks insisting that we take care of ourselves, ask yourself this…why did this administration pay millions of your tax dollars to the families of 9/11 victims?
December 2nd, 2005 at 10:58 pmBush sucks!
December 4th, 2005 at 8:31 pmHe handles situations so poorly!
December 4th, 2005 at 8:32 pmI’m researching Katrina’s timeline for a video and your incredibly biased blend of the tragic circumstances associated the event and the president, sect. of state and sect. of defense’s schedule are a page out of the Michael Moore playbook. It’s not the criticism as related to the fed’s response, it’s the shameless implication that sect. of state Rice’s playing tennis with Monica Seles somehow indicates she didn’t care what was happening.
December 13th, 2005 at 10:25 amTRUELY I SAY UNTO YOU, YOUR FREEDOMS ARE GOING STRAIGHT TO HELL!
December 24th, 2005 at 6:05 pmMy situation with this whole mess is more centered around FEMA and the lack of asssistance I have (NOT) received from this shoddy operation. In the last three months I have been able to watch them wiggle ever-so-carefully out of the aid and assistance that they had started out promising to the Katrina evacuees. I lost my home, my truck, my belongings, and my pets from this disaster. I do not expect anyone to be responsible for replacing those items…I just want my Government to be able to lift me up a little, until I can get back on my feet. I have been a taxpayer from the early age of 16. WHERE IS MY GOVERNMENT DAMN IT!?
December 29th, 2005 at 12:14 pmAt this point, I am looking for a Katrina Evacuee VS FEMA Class action lawsuit…Can U hear me now? Thank you, Curio13
I believe there is evidence, surpressed, which indicates that someone (White House, FEDS, or local elites or government) bombed the levee to flood the black 9th ward in order to protect the white neighborhoods because this is an old southern tradition. I believe that the long delayed presidential response was a case of intentional neglect on the part of government. I believe that its possible that Mayor Nagin knows all of this and was threatened to stay quiet. I believe that Katrina, itself, was due due neither to global warming, nor to regular severe weather, but rather was the product of weather design technology used and held by our military. I am surprised that more people are not pursuing these stories, but why would they if they are convinced that Bush is a bumbling idiot? Supposed that he’s no idiot at all. Then what?
January 29th, 2006 at 12:11 amYou may want to add this little news bit to your timeline.
And Henoch, I really hope your kidding and just trying to make a joke, although sadly I have seen some other just as unreasonable conspiracy theories being thrown around.
February 1st, 2006 at 12:27 pmhenoch, i believe the exact same thing. not only katrina but also the tsunami. hey folks log onto HAARP and get educated. sadly this is the true reality of the reichwing. why is it when florida gets hit with 4, yes 4 major hurricanes in one month there is help before the hurricane moves off shore. why are floridians still in fema trailers 15mo. after the hurricanes. shouldn’t they be the ones to start dispersing all across the us. why did we get to the tsunami faster than katrina, common sense, “american interest.” and dont forget the poorest of the poor and not white, rich, religious folks are the ones that are being “cleansed.” and don’t get started about 9+ fema, workers are now in deep doo doo for stealing monies.
February 3rd, 2006 at 1:45 pmwhy are multiple major disasters happening on bushies watch. and all happening to the poor and middle class. another example the mines are blowing up left and right. get it together folks. all you need is common sense and a conscious. stop being sheeples.
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Anyone who believes that the levees were bombed deliberately “to flood the black people” really has no knowledge of the geography of New Orleans. I lived in New Orleans and have been there since the storm. Block after block, mile upon mile of the city was destroyed. White neighborhoods and black neighborhoods.
Anyone who believes the stories of explosions being heard has not spent much time riding out hurricanes. I have ridden out major hurricanes and minor ones: Betsy, Camille. Hurricanes are LOUD. The sound of the roaring wind makes it hard to hear anything else. But there are other noises, LOUD noises: trees ripped from the ground, houses blown apart, flying debris crashing. Near the Industrial Canal levee, surely the noise of that barge breaking loose and bashing into the wharf and levee sounded like a war.
The same levee breaches that flooded the Lower 9th Ward also flooded Arabi.
The same levee breaches that flooded Bywater, Treme, Broadmoor, the Upper 9th Ward also flooded Gentilly, Lakeview and Uptown.
Many, many white families are homelss today due to the same levee breaches that destroyed black families’ homes.
TV has distorted this crisis. This is not a poor black people crisis. This is an American crisis.
February 10th, 2006 at 8:48 am.
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Bienville, you’re absolutely correct. I grew up in Gentilly and the area is still devastated. This is not a race issue as all races were effected by the faulty levees and lack of proper response by our government. I also have ridden out storms in the past and they are loud. In the storm of 1927, levees were blown to flood one area to save another. This is why people think it was done again. It wasn’t!
February 11th, 2006 at 5:20 amI lived through Katrina in South Mississippi. My family, friends and relatives have suffered greatly. I was in the US Coast Guard for 3 years in New Orleans. I have a lot of friends there too. Most of my family lives in what used to be Biloxi, MS. I can say this about it all now. The US Government failed us miserably and that included George Bush. I think his administration should resign or be impeached over the whole Iraq mess and the way Katrina was handled from beging until now. I don’t know where all the money is going because the people who need it are not getting it. I think the entire Federal Govt. needs to be shut down and someone who knows what they are going should rebuild it from the ground up and get rid of the THUGS up there now.
March 9th, 2006 at 3:23 pmSince she recognized a “state of emergency” as early as the 26th, why didn’t Blanco require Nagin to enforce a mandatory evacuation beginning on the 26th?
Did she make any effort to utilize state resources or her influence as governor to organize an evacuation of New Orleans and the surrounding areas BEFORE the storm hit?
Did she make any effort to get buses from sources other than FEMA? As a resident of Louisiana, I am certain there are enough buses in this state, both privately and publicly owned, to have evacuated everyone who had no other means of escape. Also, if the evacuation had begun early enough, some of the buses could have made more than one trip. One really didn’t have to go very far to escape the reach of the storm. Schools, LA Guard bases, churches all over the state could have been utilized as shelters before the storm as well as after.
What bothers me most about this whole thing is that the focus of the investigation, the press, the politicians, and the people is entirely on how to respond to a disaster after the fact vice PREPARATION FOR DISASTERS. I realize unpredictable disasters will occur and response planning is crucial. However, the real shame of Katrina is the amount of time the people of Louisiana and Mississippi had to get out before it was too late! This was not a terrorist attack, or an earthquake, or a biological outbreak that could not have been predicted or prevented.
“Better safe than sorry” is not just a cliché! Sometimes you have to evacuate when the best the weatherman can say is you “might” get hit. Yeah, it’s a pain in the rump if the storm turns the other way. Yeah, it costs money to shut businesses down and give employees a few days off to evacuate “just in case.” Yeah, the kids will miss a few days of school. Yes, it’s difficult to organize evacuation assistance and enforce a mandatory evacuation without help from FEMA, but that’s part of the job GOVERNOR/MAYOR! If you don’t care enough about your own people to take matters into your own hands (beyond making some phone calls), how can you expect others to care?
I can’t help but wonder why major disasters (the kind where the people affected had NO WARNING) haven’t been handled so badly in other states during this same president’s term? Is it because the elected officials and the people of those states did something differently in response to a tragedy in their own back yard, or is it more likely that President Bush & FEMA officials just don’t give a darn about LA & MS?
March 11th, 2006 at 1:10 amI think if you are playing the blame game then you need to read the stafford act, specifically sec 501, 502, and 503:
The Stafford Act from the FEMA website:
sec 501: says a) the governor is to request assistance (done in the SOE) and the President may declare the emergency exists (done in the FEA)
b)tells president he can excercise authority in sections 502 and 503.
sec 502: says
a) 1. (most important so i will quote exactly) “direct any Federal agency, with or without reimbursement, to utilize its authorities and the resources granted to it under Federal law (including personnel, equipment, supplies, facilities, and managerial, technical and advisory services) in support of State and local emergency assistance efforts to save lives, protect property and public health and safety, and lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe;
a)2. “coordinate all disaster relief assistance (including voluntary assistance) provided by Federal agencies, private organizations, and State and local governments;”
a)3 through 7. but i like 3E the best “provide technical and advisory assistance to affected State and local governments for management, control, and reduction of immediate threats to public health and safety”
b) Whenever the Federal assistance provided under subsection (a) with respect to an emergency is inadequate, the President may also provide assistance with respect to efforts to save lives, protect property and public health and safety, and lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe.
sec 503: basically goes over costs.
April 11th, 2006 at 3:42 pmBe sure to add the “year” to your timeline, cause people will search on this for years to come.
April 12th, 2006 at 1:09 amGreat work! I find it unbelievable that the US spends all this money on war and leaves the victims of Katrina in the dirt.
April 21st, 2006 at 5:40 amhi
April 26th, 2006 at 4:42 pmcool article in popular science may 2005 (before storm hit) ” when earth attacks
” It takes scott kiser only a split second to name the one city in the US and probably to world that would sustain that most catastrophic damage from a category 5 hurricane, New Orleans says Kiser”
April 26th, 2006 at 5:32 pmhope you are cool people
May 19th, 2006 at 2:51 pmIt looks like he had better things to do, than save the lives of countless numbers of people. At the very least, involuntary manslaughter. Impeachment means formally charged with something, not kicked out of office. He has done enought to get charged with something. Let future presidents know that we will not stand for a president who does not care about the lives of US citizens.
June 16th, 2006 at 7:34 pmBrandy Bryant — March 11, 2006 @ 1:10 am
Douglas Brinkley’s book “The Great Deluge,” discusses Blanco’s bus efforts on Monday and Tuesday. She eventually commandeered all teh school busses in the state.
Blanco has a timline on her website that discusses it, too.
In summary, busses started to arrive in Metairie on Tuesday night, or before dawn on Wednesday. They encountered large crowds around Causeway and I-10 interchange and couldn’t get much further for next few days, while more people kept arriving.
As far as your other comments, the two sources I cited discuss those in greater detail than I can relate in this space.
One more thing – most NO people I’ve talked to were really impressed by the pre-storm evacuation. More than 1,000,000 people. They had a lot of problems with Huricane Ivan, but they ironed them out and ran a very effective evacuation for Katrina. Some who were in Houston for Rita couldn’t believe the traffic mess and were doubly impressed with New Orleans’ Katrina evacuation.
July 14th, 2006 at 5:44 pmI’m amazed at how i many lies were spread by the media during their coverage of Katrina.
July 22nd, 2006 at 11:18 pmThe biggest mistake they made was in assuming that Brown and FEMA were legally in charge
of therelief. This blog also states that lie once again. Neither this blog nor the media had the slightest idea of what powers FEMA had and didn’t have and what had transpired. I will
agree that Brown didn’t defend his and his department’s actions the way he should have. He was too passive. and didn’t understand that the media will screw up a story in a heartbeat, which they did. For days the media led the public to believe that FEMA was authorized to
send asistance to those collecting at the Superdome. FEMA ,in fact, had been prohibited
from sending assistance by the LA gov’s office, who didn’t want those at the Superdome
to collect there. If at least one of those dozens of reporters had simply travelled 25 milesup the road, they could have asked Borwn why FEMA hadn’t gotten there yet. Unbelievable, no reporter ever did that. They were too busy complining about FEMA’s
non-response. They were also ignorant of the fact that FEMA could only do what the Gov;s allowed or asked them to do. They also didn’t mention that Brown had advised the Myor to evacuate before the levees began flooding. The Katrina media coverage was , without doubt, the worst example of incompetent journalism I have ever witnessed. The coverage was a never ending stream of false information and hype.
I think all we need is a giant vacuum to suck up all these nasty hurricanes in the future. That way ALL of you can rest easy because you obviously don’t recognize how hectic and devastating natural disasters can be. There is NO PERFECT RESPONSE to occurences of this magnitude. Quit your belly-aching and finger pointing. It looks like a kindergarted class room. WAH WAH!!!!!!
August 8th, 2006 at 9:02 pmI was in Mississippi twice in five months (February 06 and July 06) doing hurricane relief work. I think it also should be publicized how the Federal government has failed the Mississippi Gulf Coast. These people are not (and did not) get the help they need. Time and time again, I had people say to me: “If it hadn’t been for the churches, we don’t know what we would’ve done.” As a pastor, I’m thrilled that the churches have been so responsive—but what about our government? What about the common good?
Pastor Kim
August 22nd, 2006 at 2:35 pmNice work TP. So many folks are furious. Spike Lee’s special I heard is really sticking in peoples mind. I wish I could see it.
August 25th, 2006 at 11:26 am