Dad emailed me with a Slate article that makes an attempt at seeming scholarly and thoughtful, but still finding a way to pin all the Katrina Blame on Bush. Needless to say, it fails, and demonstrates the sad state of the American political debate these days. As I was writing a response to my Dad, I was looking around for examples of how badly the leadership in Louisiana and New Orleans fucked up. I started finding enough stuff, I thought it really deserved its own blog entry.
First off, this: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/03/AR2005090301680.html
Behind the scenes, a power struggle emerged, as federal officials tried to wrest authority from Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D). Shortly before midnight Friday, the Bush administration sent her a proposed legal memorandum asking her to request a federal takeover of the evacuation of New Orleans, a source within the state's emergency operations center said Saturday.
Blanco refused. I know that George Bush is thinking about this event when he sees people try to blame him for this catastrophe. He tried to make this situation his responsibility, and was rebuffed. To me, this says volumes about the situation.
- It points out one key element that people don't seem aware of... Authority belongs to the Governer. It's a FEDERAL government people. Federal has a meaning. “Of or constituting a form of government in which sovereign power is divided between a central authority and a number of constituent political units.“ For example, Louisiana National Guards report to the Governer. They're not off in Iraq. There's plenty here. They report to Kathleen Blanco. If they show up late, that has nothing to do with George Bush.
- It demonstrates that the Feds were aware that the situation was beginning to spiral out of control, and no longer had faith in the local leadership. They attempted, through legitimate legal channels, to “wrest“ control of the situation away from the obvious incompetence of Blanco, Nagin et al. “Where was Bush?“ Well, this is where he was. He's the President, not some stupidfuck who was never taught the basics of American government in our liberal run public school system. He understands that he's the Federal government, not the State of Louisiana. So, he requests that he be given control over the relief effort, so it can be put on the right track. He is rebuffed.
- Finally, it's worth noting that even though the situation is officially FUBAR, Bush still tries to take control. He's not worried about how bad it will look when the Feds are officially in control of a clusterfuck. He could easily wash his hands and say “you guys fucked it up, you deal with it.“ He's willing to eat the shit sandwich somebody else made. Perhaps it's not such a noble gesture, it's pretty obvious that the idiots in the mainstream media, the Michelle Moores, etc. don't know what federalism means, so really, there's not much of a political risk to taking over mid-shitstorm, but it's still worth noting that Bush made the effort.
President Bush authorized the dispatch of 7,200 active-duty ground troops to the area -- the first major commitment of regular ground forces in the crisis -- and the Pentagon announced that an additional 10,000 National Guard troops will be sent to Louisiana and Mississippi, raising the total Guard contingent to about 40,000.
Worth noting, simply due to the number of troops. Something like 47,200 troops. Ms. Moore would have you believe that these troops were all in Iraq. I guess they all just hopped on planes, flew home, threw on the hip waders and got to work, huh Mike? No. That's 47,200 troops. About a third of the total deployment currently in Iraq. Did a third of our Iraq force just fly home, Mike? No. They were here all along, ready for the task, if only they'd be lead properly by their state Governor.
Louisiana did not reach out to a multi-state mutual aid compact for assistance until Wednesday, three state and federal officials said. As of Saturday, Blanco still had not declared a state of emergency, the senior Bush official said.
Just more logs on the fire.
This next item is more like a can of gasoline. Newsbusters is an obviously conservative source, but their commentary is worth reading. The short version: “For two days now Fox News' Major Garrett has reported on first the Red Cross, and then the Salvation Army, being denied entrance to New Orleans by Louisiana State authorities.“ Luckily, even if you don't want to believe sources that have “Combating Liberal Media Bias” in their page banner, you can go directly to the Red Cross, which Newsbusters links. Again, the noteworthy bit: “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.”
How is this a case of George W. Bush failing to help the people of New Orleans?
Then, there's Ray Nagin, who is a real prize, and fine example of poise under fire. I have to give Rush credit for this one, but, as usual, it's all over the internet too. The basic issue here is that Nagin had a bunch of busses at his disposal, and failed to make use of them, even as he shrieked on TV about his need. This site has some Google Maps photos. It's hard to say if they're really accurate to the actual dates of the storm, but this does seem to be their holding area, and thus, where they'd be if they were not in operation.
Some more coverage here, by RedState.org. Again, conservative site, but it's got a transcript from CNN, and CNN is incapable of lying. “The city's emergency plan clearly states that the mayor should take the lead, and New Orleans has a detailed written plan for evacuating 300,000 via transit and school bus.” Neat. Did you say “mayor?” As in Mayor Ray Nagin? As in Mayor Ray Nagin, the guy who said “I need reinforcements, I need troops, man. I need 500 buses, man. We ain't talking about -- you know, one of the briefings we had, they were talking about getting public school bus drivers to come down here and bus people out here.” Hmmm. Where are your busses Ray? Oh, I know: “[B]usses meant to evacuate people were not mobilized and left in areas where they were flooded.” There's 146 of your 500 busses right there, Ray. You're the mayor. Why didn't you handle this?
The full transcript of Nagin's comments are worth reading. It's worth noting his jive talking style, and his general lack of poise and professionalism. The things he doesn't know, as a mayor, that I know as an average internet moron. This is modern black leadership. Talk smooth, blame it on 'the Man' and you're good to go. Your constituents are drowning, and you forgot about 146 busses you used to have before you let them sit in four feet of water. But you're good to go, and it ain't yo' fault. Worrrrd up.
I will add more as I find it. I think this is a good start, though.