You seem to want to hit your political notes. I’m done.

Many victims of Hurricane Katrina and many observers believe that President Bush grants or withholds aid based on racial, political and financial biases.

You can harp on about the Corps of Eng all you want.. in fact, please do so.

All you are doing is proving my case…

THE FEDERAL GOVT CAN NOT PROTECT YOU FROM WEATHER. THAT IS THE JOB OF THE LOCAL GOVT.

People DIE when they give up control of thier lives.

Am i take from your continual harping that no one should have left the city because of nothing but blind faith in a levee?

How many people need to die so that you can make a political point?

“The cascade of compounding failure started” with the faulty levee design and construction. These “pre-storm activities” were the sole responsibility of the Corps of Engineers and were completely beyond the control of the City and State.

The Corps repeatedly, for decades, assured the City and State and Congress that the levees were proof against the very storm that occurred. Had the levees held, there would have been no disaster.

So, you see, the implication that the City and State are entirely at fault (”The Federal Govt’s only role in these types of events has been after-event assistance.” – Comment by Vince P — January 24, 2007 @ 7:30 am) is completely false.

You’re wrong again.

The “force of magic” is the Fedral government’s own choice. The Federal government has taken on itself the role of preparation – and in that role it has failed utterly.

It has chosen to make itself responsible – or, irresponsible – for the levees. The leveees were designed and built to resist a Category 3 storm. The actual conditions that caused the most damaging levee failures – the wind and water conditions on Lake Ponchartrain – were Category 1. The levees failed under conditions that were well below the supposed design parameters.

It has chosen to make itself – through the Stafford Act – the rescuer of last resort. They stockpiled food, fuel and ice – then didn’t distribute it. The local government bought and stockpiled fuel, and FEMA commandeered it. The local government built a radio tower and FEMA disabled it. It promised to arrive within three days; it did not arrive for 5. It knew on Monday that the levees had failed and refused to act, then lied about knowing to hide its inaction.

Did you know that 95% of the City’s residents evacuated before the storm? Pre-storm estimates were that about 30% would stay – 30% is about 150,000 people. No way that many were rescued. Many, many more left when the time came.

Did you know that the State provided the busses that brought evacuees to Baton Rouge and Houston and other cities? Did you know that the State – according to its preparation – had hundreds of boats in the water as soon as the storm passed? Did you know that the State prepared a highway evacuation plan – and practiced and perfected it over the years – that would convert interstate highways into one-way roads to move more people north and west?

Did you know that WalMart and Harry Connick managed to bring truckloads of water and food into the city, while FEMA did nothing?

It is you that skirts the real issue. As though the inaction of the Federal government is somehow absolved because you don’t know or don’t approve of the preparation and action of the City and State. The Federal government made itself responsible for preparation and relief and it did neither. Period.

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/washington/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1168673400293640.xml&coll=1

You are wrong on both counts.

In the almost 200 years since Lousiana was admitted to the Union, the United States Army Corps of Engineers has been the “primary authority” responsible for the design and construction of the levees protecting New Orleans and other cities along the Mississippi River (this includes the Lake Ponchartrain and Gulf Coast levees). After Hurricane Betsy (in 1965), Congress ordered the Corps to increase the flood protection system of New Orleans and the surrounding metropolitan area.

“Some pesky thing called Federalism.”

It is well-established that the design and construction were flawed and that those flaws were primarily responsible for the flooding and subsequest death and destruction. I believe this makes the Federal government “the primary authority that was in fault.”

Under the Stafford Act, after the Governor of any state declares that a state of emergency beyond the ability of state or local capacity to respond and requests Federal assistance, the United States of America becomes the “primary authority”. That declaration and request were made on Saturday, August 26, 2005.

Comment by Vince P — January 24, 2007 @ 3:05 am

We do. Bush is the chief of the EXECUTIVE branch of the government.

Doh.

Some pesky thing called Federalism.

The city knew its poor blacks would have no way out of the city, it was even acknoweldged in their newspaper the summer before the storm.

If you truely care about this injustice then perhaps you should aim your indignation at the primary authority that was in fault.

Duh.

If this hurricane hit somewhere like Palm Beach or The Hamptons, he would have done something. Bush only cares about people who have fat wallets.

1) Evil dwarves, flying on a giant albino magpie were going to drop giant magpie droppings on the Mall of the Americas (prevented from happening)

2) Lex Luthor was plotting to send humongous blocks of green kryptonite at the reflecting pool in front of the Washington monument (saved by Bush)

3) Bizarro Superman was going to spin the Earth so we would be back in time to when Mr. Clinton was president (again, didn’t happen thanks to Bushy)

4) An attack was planned (instigated by the “tarrerists” (this is the way Bush sounds out terrorists) involving Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, and Chupacabra in which they would kidnap Bush’s dog and dress it up in red velvet (never happened).

5) The Joker was going to set off a giant earthquake that would cause such seismic disruption and quakes that it would deflate the pastries being cooked by “Paula” on the Food Channel…again, thwarted by Bushy’s secret troops.

Bush also, through his limitation of our freedoms, has kept Harpies from attacking construction workers, preventing giant snakes from eating King Kong, and is singlehandlely eliminating the 13th floor from buildings.

His speech would have been too long if he had listed all these.

Half of the audience looks asleep, and I am reading Nancy Pelosi’s mind, who , even though she is occasionally clapping, her thoughts are “Bulls*t,
Bulls*t, Bulls*t, yada yada yada”.

He talks about assimilating the illegals already here, but “without animosity, and without amnesty”, but his plan is essentially, AMNESTY.

I have noticed that Cheney’s mouth is not moving when Bush’s mouth is moving. Perhaps, to complete this vaudeville trick, Nancy should hand old DeadEye Dick a glass of water so he can drink while President Queeg talks.

I keep wanting to see a good, long distance side shot to make SURE that Cheney’s hand is not up the back of Bush’s jacket, working the levers making the pie hole open and close.

Just watch Cheney and his evil grin….Pelosi MUST take a bath after being close to these slimy weasels.

MY thoughts and ENDofRANT…( 4 now)
~Code